Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub
[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Remember, beauty will decay,
At beft a fhort-liv'd flower;
And when it fades and dies away,
Then, Bridget, where's
power?

your

[blocks in formation]

For I myself can boaft fome blood.
Say, Connaught, fam'd for woods
and waters,

Can I forget thy lovely daughters ?
As ftraight as any folar beam,

To thefe I fhall beg leave to add the As pure as auy limpid stream;

following:

[blocks in formation]

With fnowy neck and coal-black

[blocks in formation]

CIN tears

There plenty flows in copious tides; There Bacchus fhews his honeft face,

And there chafte Dian wings the chase.

Where'er I chance to roam by day, In Connaught let me país the night;

There let me modulate the lay, There let the mufe take het laft flight.

IF Thaddeus Ruddy could not paint his paffion in all the glow of Petrach, it was at leaft as warm and as pure; and if Bridget was not fo beautiful as Laura, fhe was at least as cruel poets, in truth, are feldom fuccessful in love; the haughty fair feldom yields to the "concord of fweet founds" and our bard may be added to the number of those who have fung, bnt fung in vain; for Bridget gave her hand to a young man, that found a powerful advocate in a large herd of fwine, and a Block of theep. I could not learn how the poet bore this fevere ftroke; it appears, however, that he found confolation in religion, the never failing balm of ■ bleeding heart! The battles between the Danes and the Irish have furnished the poets of both countries with fruitful themes, particularly the latter. As the fong of Dearg is one of the most popular of thefe bal lads, efpecially in the Weft of Ireland, I have attempted a literal tranflation of it, but must confefs that it is not an eafy talk to catch the spirit of the original, as it was undoubtedly composed in moments propitious to poetry, and is allowed by the best judges of the original to be the moft happy effufion of any that now remain of Thaddeus Ruddy, whole memory will be dear to the few who have auy tafte for productions of this kind.

(Anecdotes of eminent Perfons.)

The Anti-popery Club at Fitzpatrick's.

IN our laft number we paffed by unnoticed the aggregate meeting of the Catholics of Dublin, held in William-ftreet, on the 19th of January: We did fo because it WAS NOT THEN our wish to expofe to our AntiCatholic enemies and neighbours, the petty cabal and the bad views of the FEW leaders who acted as the movingfprings of that meeting.-As Catholics we felt indignant at the usmanly, the head-hiding manner in which a peer and his compeers fkulked together, not daring to give public notice to their fellow citizens or with meaner arrogance wishing to exclude them from a deliberation on their own rights. We fhould have ftill preferved this prudent filence, had not thofe bad men fince developed their felfif principles, and fully proved to their brethren the rottennels of the patriotifm which they affe&t to poffefs. We confels that we always doubted the political integrity of men who once teceded from the great and auguft Catholic body; we suspected they were merely the MISCALLED CATHOLIC partizans of a party from whom they expected for themselves wealth and power, by becoming good fervile tools for mifplacing by their clamour, the oppofers of that party; we furmifed that they were willing to become at any time, the convenient hand-ftones of an oppofition to be flung at the PITT, and fince the NoPOPERY MINISTRY. But never did we think that a fingle fpark of love of Court y animated their public conduct. When every reverence for vire tue has fled the heart, we often fee the ruffian ftill wear its clothing to hide his deformity, and poffefs a fenfibility for fame that would feem to proceed from worth itself; a daftardy fhame prevents our PSEUDO-CATHOLIC PATRIOTS from becoming declared apoftates; they wish to be

confidered

confidered as adhering to the religion of their ancettors whilft they divest themselves of thofe principles for which their ancefters died. For our part we conceive the character of the Butlers and the Kavanaghs, far more praife-worthy than that of Lord Fingal, who, it feems, has at length dif covered that he can retain the name of a Catholic, and at the fame time fell the privileges of the Irish Hierarchy to the British King. It was the opinion of fome of the wifest among the Catholics thefe few years paft, that the men who appeared to be at the head of their meetings, with very few exceptions, would, in their thirst for power, endeavour to make emancipation palatable to Englishmen, by new-modelling the Irifh Church. The club exifting and organizing at Fitzpatrick's, has verified thofe fufpicions and the time is now come for denouncing to the people the worst enemies they have. As a real patriotic Irish print, the Irish Magazine will uphold to the much abused and blinded Catholics, the black picture of political machination against their religion, in which a number of powerhunting agitators, calling themfelves the natural reprefentatives of the Irish Catholics, prominently prefent themselves. We wish that the body which never thinks. fhould not be led away with paffions artfully blown up by infiduous felfish courtiers. We wifh not to fee our deferving, long perfecuted fellow countrymen, the dupes of defigning men, whofe impulfe is not their country's love but avarice or ambition. We are actuated by no party or private motive, but with honeft indignation, we mean to hunt into day and execration every hypocritical brawling adventurer, who would make a watch-word of liberty, whilft he confpires to give a death blow to that religion, againft which no perfecution could prevail. Let no one mistake our principles we are Catholics, but not fuch Catholics as

Sir John Throckmorton or Sir Jerome Fitz patrick. We are of opinion that feffion after feflion petitions fhould inceffantly affail the Imperial Parliament, but we are not of opinion that thofe petitions fhould be foftened to the acceptance of the No POPERY MEN, by a derilton of the principles which in the worst of times has made that religion out-live the ravages of the gibbet and the fword. We should be but feeble advocates of liberty, if we did not participate in the widelydiffufed deteftation of flavery, which pervades every true Irish breaft; if we did not ardeutly long for the day. which is to dawn on our freedom, which is to appear for the poor, humbled, oppreffed Irishman, with brighter fun than he had feen for centuries. With this profeffion of our opinion and holding in contemptuous hatred those who would, even for emancipation, fhrink an iota from the tenets or privileges of their religion; we beg the reader to attend us thro' a detail of facts, and a delineation of characters, that will fully enable him to judge rightly of the men who menace the fafety of the Irish Catholic church, and who arrogate to themfelves the right of dictating to their brethren.

a

From the period of Mr. Perceval's and his junto's promotion to the fift offices of the flate to the beginning of the year 1808, Ireland wore a gloomy, fearful afpect. They fucceeded honester men than themselves, and they fat in their places. high and mighty keepers of the king's confcience, with bigotry on one fide, and frong meafures on the other. The political furies carried the mace before them, No Potery was in their months, and the venom of Afps was under their lip‹• The wand of peace and benevolence fell to the earth, and the fceptre of perfecution, red and reeking with Irish blood, seemed to be taken up again. England felt a convulfion, and the wort paffions of human na

ture

ture were excited for the worft purpofes of political men. Ireland faw the change and trembled, with piefentimental horror. Her own guardian genius deferted her, and over her hrinking head the beheld all the terTors of the INSURRECTION BILL bung.

In this fate of fullen quiet and dreadful expectancy did the Catholics continue for near ten oths, until from the cautio us conduct of the executive they were convinced that the pretended religious and moral principles with which the prefent government went into office, were put on, merely to ferve a purpose and to adapt themfelves to the confciencious feelings of a ai tuous, fcrupulous Monarch At length the public mind (which in Ireland is Catholic) began to rife from the low level to which it had been funk, and to more in its ufual progreffive mode to the affertion of its rights. The place-hunters perceiving this inclination in the body to which they NOMINALLY belong, feized the propitious opportunity, and the OLD SECEDER, Lord Fingal, with fome who would be Lords, and with others who would be Place-men, ftole together to Fitz-Patrick's, and there held a CABINET COUNCIL, at which our best friend, the real old lifh Catholic, the true patriotic Irifhinan, Mr. Keogh, did not attend, nor one of thofe who were in the habit of thinking with hun. He difdained the difhonourable confederacy, and he fuffered the OLD SECEDER to walk by himself, with all his minions after him. None of the Virtuous, independent citizens of Dub lin knew of this meeting. The minutes of it were never published. In five or fix days after, the news-papers told us that fuch a meeting took place, and that an aggregate affembly was determined on for the 19th of January. This information we might believe or might not; there was no requifition; no fecretary fummoned the public; all depended on the faith of the editor of a news paper, and even

by him the place of meeting was not hinted at. By chance, however, we had the good fortune to learn that it was to be at the Exhibition Room, and we attended. The OLD SECEDER came in with pomp, and, as if the acknowledged head of the Irish people, in other words, the Irish Catholics, he arrogantly took the chair

WITHOUT BEING CALLED TO IT.

66

Perhaps this was determined at FitzPatrick's; if fo, it was SECUNDUM ORDINEM," and why fhould we poor plebeans think it an indignity. Count Dalton was prevailed on to offer a refolution, "That the prefent was a fit and proper time to fend a petition to Parliament ;" and immediately Mr. John Byrne, one of the natural reprefentatives of the Irish people, for whose convenience Lord Gormanstown was to be abfent two hours on account of family misfortune, ftood up and in an inflammatory fpeech feconded the motion. 'Tis a pity that we should pass this man by in a hurry. He apes patriotifin, but his mimicry is bad, and every one fees the ignorant DIVES, who pants after a title. This gentleman, we are affured, was for an exclufive meeting and for keeping out what he called the Mos, that is, all the Whify-felling, and Tea felling, and Wine-fing, and Clotb-felling tellows, who should dare to intrude themfelves to hear the fpeech which Mr. Byrne was to make. Mr. Byrne wishes to be called a patriot; but the citizens of Dublin will be astonished to hear that this fame Mr. Byrne would not ride in an Irish carriage; that he would not walk in Irish boots; and that he would not wear an Irish-made coat. "Tis the fpirit of patriotism furely, which actuates him in acting thus; 'tis a defire to encourage Irish

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

and forgetting the lowlinefs of its original fituation, appear in all the qualities and confequence of virtue and talent.

After Mr. Byrne had made his long and elaborate fpeech, which entitled him to a conspicuous poft in the news papers, we had the real fatisfaction of heating the eloquent exertions of an O'Connor against the fhameful manner in which the Catholics had been dealt with. The Catholics fhould have liftened to him; He came before them with all the dignity of a great Irish name, and with all the confequence of the oldeft Irish family. He difdained the meannefs of the pretended patriots, and he deprecated the cowardly, the unmanly conduct of the men who endeavoured to fteal a meeting on their fellow-citizens. He begged a week's delay, not that he was against the petition; but that an opportunity might be given to all the Catholics to attend. He was followed on the fame fide by Councellor Clinch, whofe various talents and copious learning fhould have entitled him to to the refpect even of his enemies.The display of eloquence which all expected from Mr. Clinch, raifed the fears of the OLD SECEDER'S minions, and immediately his voice was drowned by overwhelming cries of "Queftion, qu.flion" thefe peals of clamour were immediately hushed to filence, when the Bully Orator made his appearance. We could perceive a man whom we wished to fee in a better ftation, urging the favourite orator to ftep forward. He was the humble holder of Mr. O'Connell's coat, and we fuppofe he thought himself dignified by touching the hem of his gar. ment. He will not in pity mention this man's naine. We faw him the companion of better men. Even the night before the meeting we know that he promised to act a part different from that of Mr. O'Connell's coat-holder. Will we be permitted to make a very few remarks on the converted orator of the Seceders party.

Like another Goliah did he ftifle the voice of the modeft Clinch. Such was the terrific afpect with which he advanced to the change. Such the bustle of his tremendous form with which he actually fought his way to a pre-eminent ftanding place. Such the treatning attitude in which he began his POPULAR HARANGUE, that we feared much for the BONES of the mild and filenced man who had spoke before him. Mr. O'Connell brawled a great deal about flavery aad chains, about the piousMr. Percival, the poetical Mr. Canning, and Lord Cafiereagh. He fummoned up all the common place which everyagitator finds convenient to ufe, when he wishes to throw reafon off its guard by calling up the paffions, and to infuse in the unwatch ed and heated moment the poison of his own opinions. Mr. O'Connell was fuccefsfull, and must have been gratified as far as exulting halloos, clapping of hands and clamorous plaudits could make him. And oh! the fweet expectancy of reading in the newfpapers the overflowings of his own eloquence. Mr. O'Connell too, propofed his refolution, and Mr. Randle Mac Donnell alfo had his refolution, and Counsellor O'Gorman, had a refolution, and the reft junto who were ambitious of being confidered leaders by the people, brought up the rear as fecnders to the worthy movers. One gentleman was heard to exclaim by thofe about him, when the motion of thanks was made to Mr. Hay the fecretary, ""Tis I who am to fecond that motion, don't forget Sir, that I am the feconder."---Poor fellow bow he longed to be in print. At length Lord Germantown, who for Mr. Byrne's convenience was to be abfent two hours on account of fami ly aisfortune, came and finished the bulinefs of the day, by taking the chair, whilst his own minions were paffing a vote of thanks to the OLD SECEDER

་་

Having

« ПредишнаНапред »