read, "Thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with
plaster;" and there is a large, upright stone in Ireland, which,
according to the legend of the country, was once covered over with gold.
On some of these pillars it is likewise probable that certain characters
were traced, as among the Israelites words of the law were written upon
similar obelisks or columns.

The earliest temples in Greece were formed of obeliscal columns; and in
some parts of Africa the custom obtains to this day. Hence the pillars of
our present temples are the most ancient; and subsequent builders of holy
sanctuaries filled up the intercolumniations till the temples were
constructed as we now see their ruins in Athens and elsewhere. But many
of the early temples were round; and it is a curious fact, hitherto
unnoticed, I believe, that the altar end, the sanctum of our earliest
Saxon churches, is circular.

JAMES SILVESTER.

* * * * *


ST. OLAVE.--A MANX LEGEND.

(_For the Mirror_.)


[Magnus, King of Norway, having committed sacrilege, by opening the grave
of St. Olave, he was commanded by the spirit of the offended saint to
perform the voluntary penance of quitting the kingdom in thirty days. He
obeyed this intimation, and immediately left Norway. Having conquered