corner, and is used for the vilest purposes. The abbey church is
choked up with trees and brambles, and being a little out of the
way a very few of the carved stones still remain there, two of the
most interesting of which I found used as coping-stones to the wall
which surrounds it. The connection between the ancient churches of
Ireland and the North of England renders the preservation of the
Irish antiquities especially interesting to the English
antiquarian; and it is with the hope of drawing attention to the
destruction of those ancient Irish monuments that I have written
these few lines. The Irish themselves are, unfortunately, so
engrossed with political and religious controversies, that it can
scarcely be hoped that single-handed they will be roused to the
rescue even of these evidences of their former national greatness.
Besides, a great obstacle exists against any interference with the
religious antiquities of the country, from the strong feelings
entertained by the people on the subject, although _practically_,
as we have seen, of so little weight. Let us hope that the public
attention directed to these objects will have a beneficial result
and ensure a greater share of 'justice to Ireland'; for will it be
believed that the only establishment in Ireland for the propagation
and diffusion of scientific and antiquarian knowledge--the Royal
Irish Academy--receives annually the munificent sum of L300 from
the Government! And yet, notwithstanding this pittance, the members
of that society have made a step in the right direction by the
purchase of the late Dean of St. Patrick's Irish Archaeological
Collection, of which a fine series of drawings is now being made at
the expense of the Academy, and of which they would, doubtless,
allow copies to be made, so as to obtain a return of a portion of
the expense to which they are now subjected. Small, moreover, as
the collection is, it forms a striking contrast with our own
_National_ Museum, which, rich in foreign antiquities, is almost
without a single object of native archaeological interest, if we
except the series of English and Anglo-Saxon coins and MSS."

The Catholic clergy were long and naturally the guardians of our
antiquities, and many of their archaeological works testify their
prodigious learning. Of late, too, the honourable and wise