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| THE CELTIC CROSS, MONASTERBOICE, COUNTY LOUTH. -This sketch gives a splendid view of the Celtic Cross and Round Tower at Monasterboice, county Louth, rendering the cross, which is one of the grandest specimens of its kind in Ireland, more prominent. The mighty emblem of salvation is surrounded by an iron railing, in order to protect it from the hammer of the "relic" vandal, who, like Brougham's Schoolmaster, is always "abroad." The intricate carvings in the stately memorial can be almost traced by the naked eye. The man with his hand on the railing has acquisitiveness in his eye, and may be planning how best to surmount the obstacle, and obtain a "chip" for a "pocket-piece." A civilian and two British soldiers form a small group on the left of the cross, which has been familiar with the English uniform-greatly to the cost of its surroundings-for several hundred years. It saw the archers of Strongbow, the Ironsides of Cromwell, and the "Fencibles" of Camden and Cornwallis. But the soldiers contemplating the ruins, as shown int he picture, seem peaceable fellows enough. How truly "English, you know," is the set of the "forage cap" over the right ear of the young red-coat farthest toward the left, and his hands, holding the inevitable ratten, are clasped behing his coat-tails in true John Bull style. |
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