an abbot. The head, the hands--which
appear to have been clasped--and the feet, are broken off and lost;
but the fragment thus truncated has much appearance of grace in the
folds of the drapery and the disposition of the limbs, while a series
of rich ceremonial ornaments appear to have been brought out with
great force and minuteness. The other figure, still more mutilated, is
simpler in the ordinary details, but has attached to it some adjuncts
which have perplexed the learned. The feet appear to have rested on
the effigy of a beast, the remains of which indicate it to have
represented a lion. It has, from this circumstance, been inferred that
the statue was that of William the Lion, the founder of the abbey. The
figure has, however, been attired in flowing robes, and a purse hangs
from the girdle. But the portions of this fragment which chiefly
contributed to rouse curiosity, are some incrustations, which had at
first the appearance of the effigies of lizards crawling along the
main figure. It was supposed that these reptiles were intended to
embody the idea of malevolent spirits, and that the piece of sculpture
might have been designed to represent a myth, probably in reference to
the machinations of the infernal world. But, upon a closer inspection,
it was found that these tiny figures represented pigmy knights in
armor, scrambling, as it were, up the massive figure. One appears to
be struggling with the drapery below; another has reached the waist;
and the fracture, which is across the shoulder, leaves dangling the
mailed heels of two others, which must have reached the neck. Is it
possible that there can be here any reference to the slaughter of
Becket, to whom the abbey was dedicated?

FOOTNOTE:

[3] New Stat. Account, Forfar, p. 80.

HISTORICAL SKETCH.

The historical circumstances connected with the foundation of this
monastic institution are remarkable. It was founded and endowed by
William the Lion, King of Scots, in the year 1178, and dedicated to
St. Thomas a Becket, the martyr of the principle of ecclesiastical
supremacy, whose slaughter at the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral
occurred in 1170, and who was canonized in 1173. This great
establishment, richly endowed, was thus a magnificent piece of homage
by the Scottish King to a principle which, especially under the bold
and uncompromising guidance of its great advocate, had solely
perplexed and baffled his royal neighbor on the English throne, a