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Nor is this the only occasion on vvliich Mac Cullagh showed his 

 zeal in the cause of our national antiquities. More recently, when 

 it was understood that the Domhnach Airgid was to be had, — a reli- 

 quary which Mr. Petrie had made known to us, and which contains 

 the fragments of a manuscript copy of the Gospels, which may be 

 regarded as of the fifth century, — Mac Cullagh again stepped for- 

 ward, and paid down, from his own pocket, the sum of £300, in 

 order to secure this interesting relic to the Academy, and to obviate 

 the difficulty arising from the delay that must necessarily attend a 

 public subscription. In this case, although his own contribution 

 was a handsome one, yet he did not, of course, pay the whole cost 

 of the purchase ; but the zeal he exhibited was undoubtedly the 

 means of securing the Domhnach for our Museum, and entitles him 

 to the lasting gratitude of all lovers of our antiquities. 



Of his private life and character it is unnecessary to speak in 

 the presence of so many to whom he was intimately known, and by 

 whom his virtues were fully appreciated. Quiet, unobtrusive, mo- 

 dest, unaffected, he was, perhaps the most entirely unselfish of 

 human beings. His private charities were extensive, although 

 known to but few ; he was generous to a fault; and his teadiness to 

 assist the struggling and the poor often exposed him to the danger 

 of being imposed upon. With the keenest relish for society, he 

 was retired and almost ascetic in his private habits ; and there was 

 something in the purity of his character which commanded for him 

 universal respect. No man living ever heard a light or ribald word 

 from his lips ; few, however hardened, would have ventured such a 

 word in his presence. His religious opinions were strictly those of 

 the Church to which he belonged, and were founded on the deepest 

 and most cordial conviction, derived, in his case, not from acquies- 

 cence in the judgment of others, but from the fullest and most ex- 

 tensive examination of the subject for himself. This was, in fact, 

 one of the most singular parts of his character, which can be best 

 appreciated by those alone who were familiarly acquainted with 

 him; for his horror of ostentation on such a subject carried him 

 in general to the opposite extreme, and he observed on all religious 

 questions an habitual reserve, which was only broken when an occa- 

 sion presented itself of rebuking irreverence or refuting scepticism. 



