The learned men of many generations have been much exercised as to the origin, object, and use of the round towers, of which there are two in Scotland and seventy-six in Ireland, and, like the campaniles of Italy, are altogether detached from any neighbouring structure. In Scotland one is at Brechin, and the other at Abernethy. The height is eighty-six and seventy-two feet; the building tapers gradually, and the interior is divided into seven sections. The entrance in one case is on the west side; the other on the north side, in the form of a semicircular arch, surmounted by a figure of the Crucifixion, a small statue on each side, one carrying a pastoral staff, the other a cross-headed staff, and also a book. The walls are three and a half feet thick, and the diameter of one is about thirteen feet and the other eight feet in the interior. These structures are both in ancient churchyards. The learned have concluded that the Scotch towers were erected by Irish monks between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Those being warlike ages, it is conjectured that they were meant as a defence against the savage irruptions of the Danes--not only as a refuge for ecclesiastics, but also as a secure hiding-place for relics, shrines, books, bells, crosiers, and other treasures of the Church. PETER DAMIANI ADVOCATES WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN. Peter Damiani was born at Ravenna in 1002, and soon became a famous teacher. He developed a strong turn for asceticism, wore sackcloth, fasted and prayed, and used to tame his passions by rising from bed and standing for hours in a stream till his limbs were cold and stiff, and then he would hasten to visit churches and recite the Psalter. Once, on offering a silver cup to some monks as a present to their abbot, and which they refused because it was too heavy to carry, he was so pleased with their unworldly views that he soon became monk, and no one could equal him in his austerities. He was early enlisted by Hildebrand to propagate the doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope over all emperors and kings; and though his style of preaching was only a rhapsody of scriptural phrases and allegories, he always carried out the High Church doctrines of his employer. He distinguished himself by his deification of the Virgin and his devotion to flagellation. His glorification of the Virgin consisted in making her the centre of all power in heaven and in earth. His enthusiasm on this subject led to offices of prayer being framed for her, which afterwards became developed into a series of prayers known as the Rosary. But Damiani's masterpiece was the discovery and education of Dominic, a priest, and the greatest master of the art of self-flagellation. Dominic wore a light iron cuirass, which he never put off except to chastise himself. His body and arms were confined by iron rings, his neck loaded with heavy chains, his clothes were scanty rags. His usual exercise was to