Page 54 - Third Book of Reading Lessons
P. 54
RE DING LESSONS. 53
if they had been the children of the same parents. Another custom was that of goss pred. The chie and nobles equently became god- thers to the children of their vassals and dependants. One good e ect of these ancient customs was, that they helped, in some degree, to connect di erent classes in the bonds of a ection with each other.
3. There are many remains of early Irish build ings; of these, the most remarkable are fty-two round towers, of high antiquity, upon the origin and purpose of which the learned are much divided. Mr. Petrie holds. that the round towers were built by Irish Christians, at di erent periods between the 6th and 12th centuries, as appendages to their ec clesiastical establishments, as belfries and church castles r protection in time of danger. He grounds this opinion upon some very important cts. The rst is, that the towers never are und unconnected with ancient churches; the next is, that the archi tectural atures of the towers are und in the origi nal churches with which they are connected, where such remain; and nally, that Christian emblems are on several of them, and others exhibit a style of architecture universally acknowledged to belong to Christian times, while all have some architectural points not seen in any. known pagan remains in Ireland.
(Altered om O' V. Daunt's Cat. of His. and Dub. Rev.)
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