The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-27 00:00:00

TOWER, AT BRECHIN CHURCH-.

This tower has long excited the attention of
the curious, both as to the period when it was built, and the
uses for which it was at first intended. In the course of an inves-
tigation now making by a Mr. Home, from Edinburgh, among
the ancient writings of that burgh, at desire of the Magistrates
thereof, it has been ascertained from one of these, which contains
an inquiry by the Bishop of Brechin, and his chapter, relative to
a pension payable to them from the church of Letlinot, that a
person of the name of Elisias Wright had come from the neigh-
bourhood of Forfar, with a horse and cart, for the purpose
of leading stones to the building of the belfrey (or as it is
there rendered, ad edificand rampanil), during the incum-
bency of a Patrick, Bishop of Brechin, who, it has been as-
certained by the same writings, lived between the years 1350
and 1380.—Hence it may be reasonably inferred that this
belfrcy could be no other than the round tower in ques-
tion, as there is the strongest presumption that the cathe-
dral church itself was .built .by King David 1., and that the
square tower forming the steeple must have been part of
the original building, 'from its appearance of great anti-
quity. The: charter of erection does not indeed now exist,
but as several of these writings, many of which are very cu-
rious, make mention that King David had conferred upon
the Bishop the privilege of holding a market in the city on
Sundays, it is more than probable that this privilege
had formed one of the clauses of the charter of foundation,
and this market continued so for a long period of time, but was
at length transferred to the Monday by King James 111., in
1468. During the course of the 14th, 15th, and part of the
16th, centuries, the donations given to the cathedral church
of Brechin were exceedingly numerous, and for which the chap-
lains were bound to perform various kinds of divine service, hut
these, however diversified in other respects, were almost uni-
formiy accompanied with the ringing of bells, and, in some in-
stances, even through the streets. There seems to have been no
particular distinction given to one day more than another,
and the chaplains and chorusters appear to have been in use to
commence about 10 in the forenoon, when the great bell sum-
moned them to high mass, and were afterwards occupied
paying vows and performing masses de requiem at the dif-
ferent altars, until the tolling of the curfew in the even-
ing. It was also usual in those days for the persons giv-
ing donations to the church, to direct that there should
be two candles burning upon their tombs, upon the day
of the anniversary of their deaths ; and others, of the
more opulent, had them burning
ut stated hours during
the whole year. From these circumstance; the performances
of religious duties must have been almost incessant, and there-
fore the utility of such a contrivance as the small tower for such
purpose, must have peen very obvious,as it is probable the bells
on the large steeple were then of considerable magnitude, and, on
that account, heavy and unwieldy; and, from the massive thick-
ness of the walls, the sound of small bells (admitting such to have
been placed in it), could not have been distinctly heard. This
supposition would seem to derive still farther support from
the circumstance of the round tower having been raised to
such a height above the square steeple as to prevent the
sound being obstructed by it, and from the openings at
the top of it being so placed as to leave the large steeple be-
tween two of them, as the most obvious would have been
to have placed them at right angles with the church.—
Amongst the few remaining specimens of sculpture vhich now
remain upon those ancient edifices,
is a figure of the cruci-
fixion, upon the top of an opening, which appears to have
once formed the entrance into the round tower, and which
seems to have been very well carved ; a little way down, on
each side, are two figures, nearly the same size ; and, at the
bottom, are two figures of elephants, of which that on the west
side is still very distinct.—(Scotch Paper.)

PARIS THEATRES.—In the Almanac des Spec-
lacks, and other publications devoted to the
stage, appear at this time the numbers and names
of all the new pieces played at the different
theatres of Paris during the year that has just
elapsed, the names of their authors, and an
account of the success which attended each. If
the quality of this new accession of scenic
wealth corresponded with its abundance,
the dramatic literature of all the rest of
Europe and of the world would be ob-
liged to hide its (4 diminished head." From
Malta to the Pole, from Moscow to Lisbon, nay,
it may be added, in all the four quarters of the
globe (to the exclusion of the department of the
Seine) there has not appeared half the number
of newpieces hich have been exhibited to the
admiration
ali lawto
inhabitants of this single city.
It
for example, on a recapitulation, that
the Paris stag nf thel:
e has this year received 217 new
P 8 are tragedies, 22 comedies,
122 icevs}: ofnd whicheyiii
es, 19 melodrames,l4 comic operas,
and 4 grand operas : the rest are ballets and pieces
of various kinds. if our readers have any desire
to know the names of the rival establishments which
have been thus prolific in new entertainments, and
the proportion in which each has contributed its
share, the following enumeration may be satis-
factory :—The Grand Opera, or the Royal
Academy of Music, has given five pieces ; the
Theatre Francais, 9; the Opera Comique, 14;
the Odeon, 16 ; the Italian Opera, 3 ; the Vau-
deville, 30 ; the Gymnase Dramatique, 36 ; the
Varietes, 25 ; the Gaiete, 13 ; Porte St. Martin,
18; the Ambigu-Comique, 22; the Cirque Olym-
pique, 6; and the Panorama Dramatique, 15. But
what number of active playwrights have been en-
gaged to in vent,disguise,"transpose or trausprose,"
this immense mass ofdramatic lore? The list exhi-
bits no less than one hundred and forty-eight
authors of dialogue or songs, 15 compositors, and
5 choregrapher or inventors of ballets. The most fer-
tile genius in this list would appear to be a M. Car-
mouche, who is down for 13 vaudevilles, perhaps
(to use a vulgar pun) indicating by the baker's
dozen that he makes his bread by the stage. The
class of dramatic authors, though, perhaps, not
,4
the most necessary, will not be thought the least
useful at Paris,w hen it is stated that their united
productions entertain Rightly about 20,000 people.

ISTIDsoa, J.tx. 25.—This morning the Prin.
ce.is AUGUSTA, accompanied by the Dowager Countess of Har-
court, attended Divine Service at the Pariah Church, wl-.ere au
excellent sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Gossett —Yes-
terday her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, at-
tended by a Lady in Waiting, took an airing in her carriage,
from Bagshot Park, and paid a visit to the Princess Augusta
at Frogmore, where the Royal Visitor staid some time and after-
wards returned to Bagshot to dinner.
A letter from Valparaiso of the 26th Sept.
states that the Government had issued a decree,
ordering that all goods which had recently been
permitted to be landed at the custom-house in
transitu, should he taken out, and the duty paid
on them immediately.
The Etoile of Saturday states, that the wretched
mother Lecoutre, and her son, who were con-
demned some weeks ago fur assassinating and
robbing an old woman who was their neighbour,
in May last, were executed together on that day
in the Place de Greve. The Journalist remarks
that this was the first time for a long period, that
the scaffold of Paris witnessed the execution of
mother and son as accomplices.
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S, DEC. 9.--Two weeks
since a privateer ship, belonging to Capt. Natta, arrived, and
had on board about 80,000 dollars in specie, gold spoons, forks,
jewels, and merchandise. She lay at anchor two days, when
the crew cut their cables, turned the officers ashore, and started
with every thing on board, except the ship's papers. It is sup-
posed she has gone on a piratical voyage. An English brig,
belonging to Malta, from Gibraltar, with a valuable cargo of
Spanish goods, left this on the 30th ult. for Vera Cruz, and
two hours after was taken by a Colombian privateer waiting for
her.