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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #53982 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53982)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 7,
-August 15, 1840, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 7, August 15, 1840
-
-Author: Various
-
-Release Date: January 17, 2017 [EBook #53982]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRISH PENNY JOURNAL, AUG 15, 1840 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Brownfox and the Online Distributed Proofreading
-Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
-images generously made available by JSTOR www.jstor.org)
-
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-
-
-                        THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.
-
-      NUMBER 7.        SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1840.         VOLUME I.
-
-[Illustration: REMAINS AT MONASTERBOICE. COUNTY LOUTH.]
-
-To the observing and imaginative traveller, our island must present a
-great number of peculiarities of aspect which will not fail to excite his
-notice, and impress themselves indelibly upon his mind. The scantiness of
-wood--for its natural timber has nearly all disappeared--and the abundance
-of water, are two of the characteristics that will most strike him; and,
-next to these, the great extent of prospect usually afforded to the eye in
-consequence of the undulating character of its surface. Sparkling streams
-are visible everywhere, and shining lakes and noble rivers come into view
-in rapid succession; while ranges of blue mountains are rarely wanting to
-bound the distant horizon. The colours with which Nature has painted the
-surface of our island are equally peculiar. There is no variety of green,
-whether of depth or vivid brightness, which is not to be found covering
-it; they are hues which can be seen nowhere else in equal force; and even
-our bogs, which are so numerous, with all their mutations of colour, now
-purple, and anon red, or brown, or black, by their vigorous contrasts give
-additional beauty and life to the landscape, and assist in imparting to it
-a sort of national individuality. Our very clouds have to a great degree a
-distinctive character--the result of the humidity of our climate; they
-have a grandeur of form and size, and a force of light and shadow, that
-are but rarely seen in other countries; they are _Irish clouds_--at one
-moment bright and sunny, and in the next flinging their dark shadows over
-the landscape, and involving it in gloomy grandeur. It is in this striking
-force of contrast in almost every thing that we look at, that the
-peculiarity of our scenery chiefly consists; and it appears to have
-stamped the general character of our people with those contrasting lights
-and shades so well exhibited in our exquisite and strongly-marked national
-music, in which all varieties of sentiment are so deeply yet harmoniously
-blended as to produce on the mind effects perhaps in some degree
-saddening, but withal most delightfully sweet and soothing. A country
-marked with such peculiarities is not the legitimate abode of the refined
-sensualist of modern times, or the man of artificial pleasure and
-heartless pursuits, and all such naturally remain away from it, or visit
-it with reluctance; but it is the proper habitation of the poet, the
-painter, and, above all, the philanthropist; for nowhere else can the
-latter find so extensive a field for the exercise of the godlike feelings
-of benevolence and patriotism.
-
-Yet the natural features of scenery and climate which we have pointed out,
-interesting as all must admit them to be, are not the only ones that
-confer upon our country the peculiar and impressive character which it
-possesses. The relics of past epochs of various classes; the monuments of
-its Pagan times, as revealed to us in its religious, military, and
-sepulchral remains; the ruins of its primitive Christian ages, as
-exemplified in its simple and generally unadorned churches, and slender
-round towers; the more splendid monastic edifices of later date, and the
-gloomy castles of still more recent times--these are everywhere present to
-bestow historic interest on the landscape, and bring the successive
-conditions and changes of society in bygone ages forcibly before the
-mind; so that an additional interest, of a deep and poetical nature, is
-thus imparted to views in themselves impressive from their wild and
-picturesque appearance. So perfect, indeed, is this harmony of the natural
-and artificial characteristics of Irish scenery, so comprehensively do
-both tell the history of our country, to which Nature has been most
-bountiful, and in which, alas! man has not been happy, that if we were
-desirous of giving a stranger a true idea of Ireland, and one that would
-impress itself on his mind, we should conduct him to one of our green open
-landscapes, where the dark and ruined castle, seated on some rocky height,
-or the round tower, with its little parent church, in some sequestered
-valley, would be the only features to arrest his attention; and of such a
-scene we should say emphatically, This is Ireland! And such a scene is
-that which is presented by the ruins represented in our prefixed
-illustration.
-
-Passing along the great northern road from Drogheda to Dundalk, and about
-four miles from the former, the traveller will find himself in an open
-pastoral country, finely undulating, thinly dotted with the cottages of
-the peasants, and but little adorned by art. On one side, to his left, he
-will see a little group of ruins, with a lofty but shattered round tower,
-giving index of their age and character. These are the ruins of the long
-since celebrated religious establishment of Monasterboice, one of the most
-interesting groups of their kind in Ireland. They consist of two small
-churches, a round tower, and three most gorgeously sculptured stone
-crosses, standing in the midst of a crowd of tombs and head-stones of
-various ages. Both the churches are of great antiquity, though, as their
-architectural features clearly show, of widely separated ages--the larger
-one exhibiting the peculiarities of the ecclesiastical structures of the
-twelfth century, and the smaller those of a much earlier date. Both are
-also simple oblongs, consisting of a nave and choir; and the round tower
-appears to be of coeval architecture with the earlier church.
-
-The tower, which is of excellent construction, is built of the slatey
-limestone of the surrounding hills, and is divided into five stories by
-belts of stone slightly projecting. The upper story has four oblong
-apertures, and the lower ones are each lighted by an aperture having an
-angular top. The doorway, which faces the south-east, has a semicircular
-arch, and is constructed of chiselled freestone: it is of the usual height
-of five feet six inches, by one foot ten inches in breadth, and is six
-feet from the present surface of the ground. The circumference of the
-tower is fifty-one feet, and its height is one hundred and ten; but its
-original height was greater, as a considerable portion of its top has been
-destroyed by lightning.
-
-In these churches and this tower Monasterboice has nothing which may not
-be found in many other early religious foundations in Ireland; but in the
-magnificence of its sculptured stone crosses it may be said to stand
-alone. They are the finest of their class in the country; but, as we shall
-make them the subjects of distinct notices, with illustrations, in our
-future numbers, it is not necessary for us to enter into a more particular
-description of them here.
-
-Monasterboice, or, as it is called in the Irish language,
-Mainistir-buite--that is, the monastery of Buite, or Boetius--owes its
-origin to a celebrated bishop and abbot of this name who flourished about
-the close of the fifth century, and who is said to have been a disciple of
-St Patrick: according to our ancient annalists, he died on the 7th of
-December 522. Of its subsequent history but little is preserved, beyond a
-few scattered records of the deaths of several of its abbots and
-professors anterior to the twelfth century, of whom the celebrated poet,
-antiquary, and historian, Flann, was the most distinguished, and whose
-death is thus recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters:--
-
-“1056. Flann of the Monastery, lecturer of Monasterboice, the last
-fountain of knowledge of the Irish, in history, poetry, eloquence, and
-general literature, died on the fourth of the calends of December (28th
-November), of whom it was said,
-
-    ‘Flann of the great church of sweet Buite,
-    The piercing eyes of his smooth head were modest;
-    The godly man of Meath was he of whom we speak;
-    The last professor of the country of the three Finns was Flann.’”
-
-A considerable number of historical poems by this distinguished man have
-descended to our times, of which a list is given in O’Reilly’s Irish
-Writers; but his more valuable remains are his Synchronisms of the Irish
-Kings, with the Eastern and Roman Emperors, and of the Christian
-Provincial Kings of Ireland, and the Kings of Scotland of the Irish race,
-with the Chief Monarchs of Ireland. Of these works, which are of
-inestimable value to the Irish and Scottish historian, perfect copies are
-preserved in the MS. Book of Lecan, in the Library of the Royal Irish
-Academy.
-
-The notices in our Annals of the other distinguished men connected with
-Monasterboice are of little interest; but as they have never been properly
-collected together, we think them worthy of publication, for the use of
-the Irish topographical historian, to whom we trust our Journal will
-become a valuable repertory of authorities:
-
-722. Ailchon, of Monasterboice, died.
-
-769. Cormac, the son of Ailliolla, Abbot of Monasterboice, was drowned in
-the Boyne.
-
-786. Dubdainber, the son of Cormac, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-800. Cuanna, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-836. Flaithri, Abbot of Monasterboice, a Bishop and Anchorite, died.
-
-844. Muireadhach, the son of Flann, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-853. Radgus, the son of Maicniada, Abbot of Monasterboice, was drowned in
-the Boyne.
-
-864. Colga and Aodh, two Abbots of Monasterboice, died this year.
-
-875. Maolpatrick, the son of Ceallach, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-881. Dunadach, the son of Cormac, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-887. Fothaidh, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-922. Muireadhach, the son of Donall, Abbot of Monasterboice, chief
-beadsman to all the men of Bregia, youths, clerks, and the stewart of
-Patrick’s people, from Sliabh Fuaid (the Fews Mountain) to Leinster, died.
-
-933. Maolbrigid, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-965. Dubdaboirenn, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-1004. Donall, the son of Macniadha, Abbot of Monasterboice, a Bishop and
-Holy Senior, died.
-
-1039. Macniadha, a Bishop, and Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-1059. Donall, the son of Eodhossa, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-1067. Echtigern, the son of Flann, Aircinneach of Monasterboice, died.
-
-1117. Eogan, the son of Echtigern, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.
-
-These notices, extracted from the Annals of Ulster, and of the Four
-Masters, will show the great antiquity of the Abbey of Monasterboice, as
-well as the distinguished rank which it held among the religious
-establishments of Ireland previous to the occupation of the ancient
-kingdom of Meath by the English, after which period it disappears from
-history.
-
-The following records from the same authorities relate to its general
-history:--
-
-968. Monasterboice and Lan Lere were plundered on the Danes by Donall,
-King of Ireland, and he burned three hundred and fifty of them in one
-house.
-
-1097. The _Cloictheach_ (viz. round tower belfry) of Monasterboice,
-containing books and several other valuables, was burned.
-
-This last notice, and many others of the kind which occur in our Annals,
-are of great value in showing the original uses of our round towers, as
-set forth in Mr Petrie’s Essay on the Round Towers of Ireland, now in
-course of publication.
-
-In concluding these notices of a spot so long the abode of the piety, art,
-and learning of remote times, we may add, that in its present deserted and
-ruined state it is a scene of the deepest and most solemn interest; and
-the mind must indeed be dull and earthly in which it fails to awaken
-feelings of touching and permanent interest. Silence and solitude the most
-profound are impressed on all its time-worn features; we are among the
-dead only; and we are forced, as it were, to converse with the men of
-other days. In all our frequent visits to these ruins we never saw a
-living human being among them but once. It was during a terrific
-thunder-storm, which obliged us to seek shelter behind one of the stone
-crosses for an hour. The rain poured down in impetuous torrents, and the
-clouds were so black as to give day the appearance of night. It was at
-such an awful hour, that a woman of middle age, finely formed, and of a
-noble countenance, entered the cemetery, and, regardless of the storm
-raging around, flung herself down upon a grave, and commenced singing an
-Irish lamentation in tones of heart-rending melancholy and surpassing
-beauty. This wail she carried on as long as we remained; and her voice
-coming on the ear between the thunder-peals, had an effect singularly wild
-and unearthly: it would be fruitless to attempt a description of it. The
-reader, if he know what an Irishwoman’s song of sorrow is, must imagine
-the effect it would have at such a moment among those lightning-shattered
-ruins, and chanted by such a living vocal monument of human woe and
-desolation.
-
-We subsequently learned on inquiry that this poor creature’s history was a
-sad one; she was slightly crazed, in consequence of the death of her only
-son, who had been drowned; and her mania lay in a persuasion, which
-nothing could remove, that he was not lost, but would yet return to her to
-bless her, and close her long-weeping eyes in peace.
-
-                                                                       P.
-
-
-
-
-THE RED MEN OF AMERICA.
-
-SECOND ARTICLE.
-
-
-We could relate many instances of the gratitude with which Indians repay a
-kindness, and of their firmness in friendship, but our limits restrain us.
-We must besides admit, that they are equally resentful of injury as
-mindful of favours, and persecute an enemy with as much constancy as they
-cherish a friend. Mr Catlin has preserved the portrait of a Mandan chief,
-named Mah-to-tôh-pa, or the Four Bears, whose life affords many singular
-illustrations of the above truths. We have room for one only. His brother
-had been surprised while asleep by a Riccaree, who left the spear with
-which he had murdered the sleeping man in the wound, and boasted of what
-he had done. The Four Bears took possession of the spear, preserved it
-carefully, with the blood of his brother encrusted on its point, and swore
-to cover that stain with the heart’s blood of the Riccaree. Many moons
-elapsed, many snows even went by, and the Four Bears had not yet found the
-much desired opportunity of revenge. At length the _culpability_ of his
-enforced delay became too heavy a reproach, and he resolved on seeking the
-Riccaree in his distant home, to do which he had to steal his way through
-his enemy’s country for hundreds of miles; a task, the difficulty of which
-can be appreciated only by those who know the watchfulness of Indian
-habits, and the vigilance of those whom he had to circumvent. But “when
-Greek meets Greek,” we all know what “comes;” in this case, however,
-“diamond-cut-diamond” were perhaps the more appropriate metaphor: let our
-readers settle that point. The Four Bears accomplished his task; he had
-traversed many a weary plain, had threaded many a tangled forest, swam
-many a river; but at length he stood, famished and outworn, before the
-village of his enemy. This was surrounded by a stockade, but he overcame
-that with little difficulty. It was night, but the dwelling of the
-offender was known to him, and entering it, he sat down before the fire,
-over which hung a pot containing food, which the provident squaw had set
-to simmer through the night. The family were in their beds, which consist
-of skins stretched on low frames, and ranged around the walls of the hut.
-The Riccaree, the object of the Mandan’s visit, was also on his couch,
-with his arms close beside him, as is the custom. But he was not asleep;
-the flame as it rose fitfully was reflected from his glittering eyes,
-which rested, but with no particular interest, on his visitor. The latter,
-conscious that his then exhausted strength was not equal to the _duty_ he
-became to perform, sat collected within himself for a certain time; he
-then took part of the food that filled the pot, and ate in such measure as
-he thought advisable. This done, he lighted his pipe, and sat to smoke it.
-The squaw meanwhile had asked her husband what man it was who was reposing
-at their hearth. “He is a hungry man, for thou seest he is eating; what
-matter for the rest?” was her husband’s reply, and the uninvited guest
-concluded his meal without interruption. Was the Mandan shaken by what we
-feel to be the most touching appeal of this deep confidence to his better
-sympathies? He scarcely felt that it was one. Among Indians, hospitality
-is neither offered nor accepted as a matter of favour, but of right, and
-of course; nor would he have replied to such an appeal could he have felt
-it. He believed himself to be in the performance of a most solemn duty,
-and would have scorned all vacillation as weakness. Nor shall we be just
-ourselves if we lose sight of this in our abhorrence of his deed.
-
-The pipe of the Mandan exhausted, he adjusted his raiment for departure;
-he rose, collected his force, sprang on his unsuspecting host, whom he
-stabbed to the heart with the spear already named, then scalped him, and,
-springing from the hut, was out of the village, and deep in a neighbouring
-watercourse, by the time that his enemies’ dogs were upon him; again, by
-many a night march and day of hunger and suffering, he arrived in his
-village, _his_ conscience set at rest by the act at which _we_ shudder.
-
-Mr Catlin, who knew this chief intimately, relates many stories of his
-bravery and general elevation of character, but we have room for the tale
-of his death only. In the year 1837, Mr Catlin had left the friendly
-Mandans some three years, when the small-pox was carried among them by the
-traders; the whole family of the Four Bears perished by this disease;
-wife, child, not one was left him; he stood alone in his desolation, and
-gathering the corpses together, he covered all with skins, after the
-manner of his people; the songs for the dead then performed, he seated
-himself by the mound he had raised, which he addressed from time to time
-in the most touching terms of endearment, as each individual composing the
-mournful group rose to his memory. This continued through nine days and
-nights, during all which he took neither food nor sleep, and on the tenth
-he was himself a corpse.
-
-The native American is deeply imbued with religious feeling; no Indian who
-maintains a fair character in his tribe is without some place of
-retirement for worship and meditation; a lonely tree, a nook in the bank
-of a stream, the hollow of a rock, are frequently selected for this
-purpose; nor is the habit confined to such tribes as have no fixed
-religious ceremonies; it was practised by the Mandans and others, many of
-whom possessed oratories such as we have just described, in addition to
-their “medicine” or “mystery lodges,” which may be called their public
-temples. The Osages, Kansas, and other tribes west of the Mississippi,
-never fail to implore the blessing of the Great Spirit on breaking up
-their encampments, and they return thanks devoutly for the food they have
-found, and the preservation they have experienced, on arriving at the end
-of their journey. Thanks and praises are also publicly offered at every
-new moon, at the commencement of the buffalo hunts in spring, and at the
-ingathering of the corn; at which latter period a feast is held, called
-the corn feast: over this, among some tribes, the oldest woman presides.
-The Minatarrees boil a large kettle full of the new corn in presence of
-all the people, four medicine men, painted with white clay, dancing round
-the kettle until its contents are well boiled; these are next burnt to
-ashes as an offering to the Great Spirit; the fire is then extinguished;
-new fire is immediately created by rubbing two sticks together; with this
-they cook the corn for their own feast, and the remainder of the day is
-spent in festivity.
-
-Dances are also performed to the Great Spirit on various occasions, as
-among the Ojibbeways on the first fall of snow; this is danced in
-snow-shoes. All believe in a future state of existence--in the reward of
-the good by an eternal residence in pleasant and plentifully supplied
-hunting grounds beyond the great waters--and in the punishment of the
-wicked by transformation into some loathsome beast, reptile, or insect,
-and by banishment to barren, parched, and desolate regions, the abodes of
-bad spirits, for a period proportionate to the enormity of their guilt.
-Prayers are also offered to the evil spirit in deprecation of his enmity,
-but on none of these ceremonies is attendance compelled; that Indian is,
-however, less respected, who is known constantly to absent himself from
-all.
-
-The “medicine man” of the Indians is at once prophet, priest, and
-physician; he has sometimes great influence. The ceremony by which this
-dignity is attained among the Sioux, is one involving no little suffering.
-The candidate for this honour has innumerable splints of wood driven
-through the most sensitive parts of his flesh, and being suspended by some
-of these to a pole, with his medicine bag in his hand, he is expected to
-keep his eyes steadily fixed on the sun from its rising to its setting,
-when he is taken down, and entitled to be called a medicine or mystery man
-for the remainder of his life; but he has to make ceaseless efforts for
-the support of his character, since the failure of either his cures or his
-prophecies renders him liable to universal contempt.
-
-Almost every family has its medicine or mystery bag, which consists of a
-beaver or otter skin curiously ornamented; this contains the medicinal
-stores and smaller consecrated articles of the family; it is considered a
-great disgrace to sell or otherwise part with an article once consecrated,
-and the medicine bag is always held sacred and inviolate to every hand but
-that of its owner. When a warrior of the Sac and Fox tribe falls in
-battle, his widow suspends his mystery bag on the pole before his tent,
-and sits herself within the lodge; the warriors, returned from the battle,
-and adorned with the scalps they have taken from the enemy, then assemble
-before the lodge; they dance to the medicine bag of their lost brother,
-and throw presents to his widow, of such articles as they think may best
-console her for her loss.
-
-The Indian dwelling is much varied in its form and manner among the
-various tribes; the Pawnees, for example, live in lodges thatched with
-prairie grass, and which are not unlike immense bee-hives.
-
-The Sioux, the Camanchees, the Crows, and others inhabiting a vast tract
-on the upper waters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and extending
-to the base of the Rocky Mountains, have moveable tents formed of buffalo
-skins richly ornamented, according to Indian notions of ornament, and
-fastened to poles sometimes twenty-five feet high; some of these tents
-will shelter eighty persons, and require from thirty to thirty-five
-buffalo skins to cover them.
-
-The Riccarees, Mandans, &c. are, or _were_, lodged in villages fortified
-by strong stockades eighteen feet high; their huts are formed of poles
-covered closely and smoothly with earth, and this in process of time
-becomes so compact and hard, that men, women, and children, recline and
-play on their tops.
-
-It has been sometimes asserted that the Indian people have a common
-language, but this is not the case; scarcely any two of their nations
-between whom no intercourse exists, possess a language understood by both,
-but this inconvenience is obviated by a “language of signs,” so effective
-and eloquent that by this every Indian is enabled to communicate with his
-brother of whatever nation or tribe, and hence perhaps has arisen the
-supposition that all speak a common language. The mode of writing among
-Indians is entirely hieroglyphic, and is of course liable to wide
-misconstruction; but they lay down maps with no mean degree of accuracy,
-and the chiefs wear the boundaries of their hunting-grounds traced on
-their robes; a counterpart being kept in the public lodge among such other
-records as the nation may possess, and those are referred to if any
-dispute arise among neighbouring tribes.
-
-Their manufactures are of course few and simple. Stones are cut into
-pestles and mortars, tomahawks, knives, pipes, &c.; pottery is formed for
-domestic purposes from the clays furnished by all parts of their country;
-mats are woven from grass or rushes, and blankets from the hair of the
-buffalo. These articles are mostly the work of the women, who with the
-children plant, cultivate, and gather in the crops, collect wild rice and
-pash-e-quah, a large bulbous root, in form like the sweet potato and in
-taste like the chesnut, but more juicy. Nuts of many sorts, several kinds
-of plums, osage oranges, gooseberries, strawberries, and many sorts of
-grapes, are also collected in their season. Besides this, the women dress
-buffalo skins, procure wood and water, and in some tribes fetch home the
-game which the hunter, having tracked and killed, then leaves to their
-further disposal.
-
-Beaver and other skins, belts of wampum, and coloured shells ground to an
-oval form, serve as coin; but the most important wealth of the Indian is
-in his horses and dogs, which assist him in the chase, and of which some
-possess great numbers. Many tribes of Indians are exceedingly bold and
-expert horsemen, the Camanchees more particularly, many of whom perform
-feats of dexterity on their wild horses that would astonish our boldest
-equestrians. These men are often seen to throw themselves on one side of
-their horses, to avoid the arrows of an enemy or the attack of an enraged
-buffalo, in such a manner that the extremity of one foot only seems to
-hold by the animal, and that while he continues to move at full speed;
-nay, some have been even known to shoot arrows while in that position, the
-tenure of which is altogether inconceivable to the European rider.
-
-Their weapons for hunting are lances five or six feet long, and tipped
-with stone or the bone of some animal, and bows with arrows similarly
-pointed. The buffalo is sometimes hunted by men who have partially
-concealed their persons in the skin of the white wolf, and who creep to
-within shot of their game by favour of this disguise; for the buffalo,
-accustomed to the white wolf, and safe from his attack unless, when,
-separated from the herd, he becomes the prey of a pack, permits the
-approach of the Indian thus masked, the latter being careful to keep to
-leeward of his game, whose scent is very acute.
-
-Indians sometimes drive whole herds of buffalo, elk, and deer, into
-impassable ravines or to the brink of precipices, when they slaughter as
-many as they may need; but none were ever destroyed wantonly before the
-introduction of whisky; whereas at this time whole herds are killed merely
-for their skins, the flesh being left to decay on the prairies; and this,
-by depopulating the hunting-grounds, induces famine, and is another cause
-of Indian suffering and final extinction.
-
-Buffaloes are often destroyed by the panther; solitary individuals
-sometimes fall a prey to a pack of wolves; others perish in the burning
-prairies, that awfully peculiar feature of the American solitudes; a few
-are drowned every season in attempting to cross the ice of rivers not
-firmly frozen; but the principal element of their destruction is in the
-rapacity of the trader; and it has been calculated that the activity of
-this last-named agent will ensure the extermination of this most valuable
-creature within a very short period of time.
-
-The education of the Indian child is an object of the most profound
-interest, not only to his own family but to the whole tribe. He is taught
-to love his country and tribe, to contemn falsehood, to reverence age, to
-be modest and silent; he is strictly enjoined to reward a kindness, but
-also to avenge an injury; to aid and guard a friend, but also to injure,
-by every means in his power, and relentlessly to persecute, an enemy; to
-abhor theft, unless it be practised on the property of an enemy, when it
-is called highly meritorious. The sports of youth are watched attentively
-by their elders, and all evidences of cowardice, meanness, &c., are
-followed by the needful discipline. The Indian usually retains his
-mother’s name until he has entitled himself, by some remarkable act of
-prowess, endurance, &c., to choose one for himself, or been distinguished
-by some appellation bestowed by the tribe. Some of these “names” are
-sufficiently amusing, as, for example, “He who jumps over every one,” “The
-very sweet man,” “The man of good sense,” “No fool,” “The bird that goes
-to war,” “He who strikes two at once,” &c. The names of women are not
-always inelegant. Take as a specimen of Indian taste in this matter, “The
-bending willow,” “The pure fountain,” “The sweet-scented grass.” Others
-are scarcely so complimentary, as, “The female bear,” “The woman who lives
-in the bear’s den,” “The creature that creeps,” &c.
-
-The constancy with which an Indian endures tortures, is among the best
-known traits of his character, but his power of enduring labour has been
-less insisted on; nay, it has been denied by those who despair of the
-civilization of the race, or who believe that its destruction is a
-consequence inevitable to the white man’s progress: but those who so judge
-know little of our Red brothers. We could adduce many facts in proof of
-this, were our space not wholly exhausted; but we must defer these, as
-well as the account we had purposed giving of the very extraordinary
-religious ceremonies practised among some of the tribes. We may, however,
-possibly return to the subject at some other time.
-
-
-
-
-THE IRISH FIDDLER.
-
-BY W. CARLETON.
-
-
-What a host of light-hearted associations are revived by that living
-fountain of fun and frolic, an Irish fiddler! Every thing connected with
-him is agreeable, pleasant, jolly. All his anecdotes, songs, jokes,
-stories, and secrets, bring us back from the pressure and cares of life,
-to those happy days and nights when the heart was as light as the heel,
-and both beat time to the exhilarating sound of his fiddle.
-
-The old harper was a character looked upon by the Irish rather as a
-musical curiosity, than a being specially created to contribute to their
-enjoyment. There was something about him which they did not feel to be in
-perfect sympathy with their habits and amusements. He was above them, not
-of them; and although they respected him, and treated him kindly, yet was
-he never received among them with that spontaneous ebullition of warmth
-and cordiality with which they welcomed their own musician, the fiddler.
-The harper, in fact, belonged to the gentry, and to the gentry they were
-willing to leave him. They listened to his music when he felt disposed to
-play for them, but it only gratified their curiosity, instead of
-enlivening their hearts--a fact sufficiently evident from the circumstance
-of their seldom attempting to dance to it. This preference, however, of
-the fiddle to the harp, is a feeling generated by change of times and
-circumstances, for it is well known that in days gone by, when Irish
-habits were purer, older, and more hereditary than they are now, the harp
-was the favourite instrument of young and old, of high and low.
-
-The only instrument that can be said to rival the fiddle, is the bagpipe;
-but every person knows that Ireland is a loving country, and that at our
-fairs, dances, weddings, and other places of amusement, Paddy and his
-sweetheart are in the habit of indulging in a certain quiet and
-affectionate kind of whisper, the creamy tones of which are sadly curdled
-by the sharp jar of the chanter. It is not, in fact, an instrument adapted
-for love-making. The drone is an enemy to sentiment, and it is an
-unpleasant thing for a pretty blushing girl to find herself put to the
-necessity of bawling out her consent at the top of her lungs, which she
-must do, or have the ecstatic words lost in its drowsy and monotonous
-murmur. The bagpipe might do for war, to which, with a slight variation,
-it has been applied; but in our opinion it is only fit to be danced to by
-an assembly of people who are hard of hearing. Indeed, we have little
-doubt but its cultivation might be introduced with good effect as a system
-of medical treatment, suitable to the pupils of a deaf and dumb
-institution; for if any thing could bring them to the use of their ears,
-its sharp and stiletto notes surely would effect that object.
-
-The fiddle, however, is the instrument of all others most essential to the
-enjoyment of an Irishman. Dancing and love are very closely connected, and
-of course the fiddle is never thought of or heard, without awakening the
-tenderest and most agreeable emotions. Its music, soft, sweet, and
-cheerful, is just the thing for Paddy, who under its influence partakes of
-its spirit, and becomes soft, sweet, and cheerful himself. The very tones
-of it act like a charm upon him, and produce in his head such a bland and
-delightful intoxication, that he finds himself making love just as
-naturally as he would eat his meals. It opens all the sluices of his
-heart, puts mercury in his veins, gives honey to a tongue that was, Heaven
-knows, sufficiently sweet without it, and gifts him with a pair of feather
-heels that Mercury might envy; and to crown all, endows him, while
-pleading his cause in a quiet corner, with a fertility of invention, and
-an easy unembarrassed assurance, which nothing can surpass. In fact, with
-great respect for my friend Mr Bunting, the fiddle it is that _ought_ to
-be our national instrument, as it is that which is most closely and
-agreeably associated with the best and happiest impulses of the Irish
-heart. The very language of the people themselves is a proof of this; for
-whilst neither harp nor bagpipe is ever introduced as illustrating
-peculiarities of feeling by any reference to their influence, the fiddle
-is an agreeable instrument in their hands, in more senses than one.
-Paddy’s highest notion of flattery towards the other sex is boldly
-expressed by an image drawn from it, for when he boasts that he can, by
-honied words, impress such an agreeable delusion upon his sweetheart as to
-make her imagine “that there is a fiddler on every rib of the house,”
-there can be no metaphor conceived more strongly or beautifully expressive
-of the charm which flows from the tones of that sweet instrument. Paddy,
-however, is very often hit by his own metaphor, at a time when he least
-expects it. When pleading his cause, for instance, and promising golden
-days to his fair one, he is not unfrequently met by, “Ay, ay, it’s all
-very well now; you’re sugary enough, of coorse; but wait till we’d be a
-year married, an’ maybe, like so many others that promised what you do,
-you’d never come home to me widout ‘hangin’ up your fiddle behind the
-door;’” by which she means to charge him with the probability of being
-agreeable when abroad, but morose in his own family.
-
-Having thus shown that the fiddle and its music are mixed up so strongly
-with our language, feelings, and amusements, it is now time to say
-something of the fiddler. In Ireland it is impossible, on looking through
-all the classes of society, to find any individual so perfectly free from
-care, or, in stronger words, so completely happy, as the fiddler,
-especially if he be blind, which he generally is. His want of sight
-circumscribes his other wants, and, whilst it diminishes his enjoyments,
-not only renders him unconscious of their loss, but gives a greater zest
-to those that are left him, simple and innocent as they are. He is in
-truth a man whose lot in life is happily cast, and whose lines have fallen
-in pleasant places. The phase of life which is presented to him, and in
-which he moves, is one of innocent mirth and harmless enjoyment.
-Marriages, weddings, dances, and merry-makings of all descriptions, create
-the atmosphere of mirth and happiness which he ever breathes. With the
-dark designs, the crimes, and outrages of mankind, he has nothing to do,
-and his light spirit is never depressed by their influence. Indeed, he
-may be said with truth to pass through none but the festivals of life, to
-hear nothing but mirth, to feel nothing but kindness, and to communicate
-nothing but happiness to all around him. He is at once the source and the
-centre of all good and friendly feelings. By him the aged man forgets his
-years, and is agreeably cheated back into youth; the labourer snatches a
-pleasant moment from his toil, and is happy; the care-worn ceases to
-remember the anxieties that press him down; the boy is enraptured with
-delight, and the child is charmed with a pleasure that he feels to be
-wonderful.
-
-Surely such a man is important, as filling up with enjoyment so many of
-the painful pauses in human misery. He is a thousand times better than a
-politician, and is a true philosopher without knowing it. Every man is his
-friend, unless it be a rival fiddler, and he is the friend of every man,
-with the same exception. Every house, too, every heart, and every hand, is
-open to him; he never knows what it is to want a bed, a dinner, or a
-shilling. Good heavens! what more than this can the cravings of a human
-heart desire! For my part, I do not know what others might aim at; but I
-am of opinion that in such a world as this, the highest proof of a wise
-man would be, a wish to live and die an Irish fiddler.
-
-And yet, alas! there is no condition of life without some remote or
-contingent sorrow. Many a scene have I witnessed connected with this very
-subject, that would wring the tears out of any eye, and find a tender
-pulse in the hardest heart. It is indeed a melancholy alternative that
-devotes the poor sightless lad to an employment that is ultimately
-productive of so much happiness to himself and others. This alternative is
-seldom resorted to, unless when some poor child--perhaps a favourite--is
-deprived of sight by the terrible ravages of the small-pox. In life there
-is scarcely any thing more touching than to witness in the innocent
-invalid the first effects, both upon himself and his parents, of this
-woeful privation. The utter helplessness of the pitiable darkling, and his
-total dependence upon those around him--his unacquaintance with the
-relative situation of all the places that were familiar to him--his
-tottering and timid step, and his affecting call of “Mammy, where are
-you?” joined to the bitter consciousness on her part that the light of
-affection and innocence will never sparkle in those beloved eyes
-again--all this constitutes a scene of deep and bitter sorrow. When,
-however, the sense of his bereavement passes away, and the cherished child
-grows up to the proper age, a fiddle is procured for him by his parents,
-if they are able, and if not, a subscription is made up among their
-friends and neighbours to buy him one. All the family, with tears in their
-eyes, then kiss and take leave of him; and his mother, taking him by the
-hand, leads him, as had been previously arranged, to the best fiddler in
-the neighbourhood, with whom he is left as an apprentice. There is
-generally no fee required, but he is engaged to hand his master all the
-money he can make at dances, from the time he is proficient enough to play
-at them. Such is the simple process of putting a blind boy in the way of
-becoming acquainted with the science of melody.
-
-In my native parish there were four or five fiddlers--all good in their
-way; but the Paganini of the district was the far-famed Mickey M’Rorey.
-Where Mickey properly lived, I never could actually discover, and for the
-best reason in the world--he was not at home once in twelve months. As
-Colley Cibber says in the play, he was “a kind of a here-and-thereian--a
-stranger nowhere.” This, however, mattered little; for though perpetually
-shifting day after day from place to place, yet it somehow happened that
-nobody ever was at a loss where to find him. The truth is, he never felt
-disposed to travel _incog._, because he knew that his interest must suffer
-by doing so; the consequence was, that wherever he went, a little nucleus
-of local fame always attended him, which rendered it an easy matter to
-find his whereabouts.
-
-Mickey was blind from his infancy, and, as usual, owed to the small-pox
-the loss of his eyesight. He was about the middle size, of rather a
-slender make, and possessed an intelligent countenance, on which beamed
-that singular expression of inward serenity so peculiar to the blind. His
-temper was sweet and even, but capable of rising through the buoyancy of
-his own humour to a high pitch of exhilaration and enjoyment. The dress he
-wore, as far as I can remember, was always the same in colour and
-fabric--to wit, a brown coat, a sober-tinted cotton waistcoat, grey
-stockings, and black corduroys. Poor Mickey! I think I see him before me,
-his head erect, as the heads of all blind men are, the fiddle-case under
-his left arm, and his hazel staff held out like a feeler, exploring with
-experimental pokes the nature of the ground before him, even although
-some happy urchin leads him onward with an exulting eye; an honour of
-which he will boast to his companions for many a mortal month to come.
-
-The first time I ever heard Mickey play was also the first I ever heard a
-fiddle. Well and distinctly do I remember the occasion. The season was
-summer--but summer _was_ summer then--and a new house belonging to Frank
-Thomas had been finished, and was just ready to receive him and his
-family. The floors of Irish houses in the country generally consist at
-first of wet clay; and when this is sufficiently well smoothed and
-hardened, a dance is known to be an excellent thing to bind and prevent
-them from cracking. On this occasion the evening had been appointed, and
-the day was nearly half advanced but no appearance of the fiddler. The
-state of excitement in which I found myself could not be described. The
-name of Mickey M’Rorey had been ringing in my ears for God knows how long,
-but I had never seen him, or even heard his fiddle. Every two minutes I
-was on the top of a little eminence looking out for him, my eyes straining
-out of their sockets, and my head dizzy with the prophetic expectation of
-rapture and delight. Human patience, however, could bear this painful
-suspense no longer, and I privately resolved to find Mickey, or perish. I
-accordingly proceeded across the hills, a distance of about three miles,
-to a place called Kilnahushogue, where I found him waiting for a guide. At
-this time I could not have been more than seven years of age; and how I
-wrought out my way over the lonely hills, or through what mysterious
-instinct I was led to him, and that by a path too over which I had never
-travelled before, must be left unrevealed, until it shall please that
-Power which guides the bee to its home, and the bird for thousands of
-miles through the air, to disclose the principle upon which it is
-accomplished.
-
-On our return home I could see the young persons of both sexes flying out
-to the little eminence I spoke of, looking eagerly towards the point we
-travelled from, and immediately scampering in again, clapping their hands,
-and shouting with delight. Instantly the whole village was out, young and
-old, standing for a moment to satisfy themselves that the intelligence was
-correct; after which, about a dozen of the youngsters sprang forward, with
-the speed of so many antelopes, to meet us, whilst the elders returned
-with a soberer but not less satisfied manner into the houses. Then
-commenced the usual battle, as to who should be honoured by permission to
-carry the fiddle-case. Oh! that fiddle-case! For seven long years it was
-an honour exclusively allowed to myself, whenever Mickey attended a dance
-any where at all near us; and never was the Lord Chancellor’s mace--to
-which, by the way, with great respect for his lordship, it bore a
-considerable resemblance--carried with a prouder heart or a more exulting
-eye. But so it is--
-
-    “These little things are great to _little_ men.”
-
-“Blood alive. Mickey, you’re welcome!” “How is every bone of you, Mickey?
-Bedad we gev you up.” “No, we didn’t give you up, Mickey; never heed him;
-sure we knew very well you’d not desart the Towny boys--whoo!--Fol de rol
-lol.” “Ah, Mickey, won’t you sing ‘There was a wee devil come over the
-wall?’” “To be sure he will, but wait till he comes home and gets his
-dinner first. Is’t off an empty stomach you’d have him to sing?” “Mickey,
-give me the fiddle-case, won’t you, Mickey?” “No, to _me_, Mickey.” “Never
-heed them, Mickey: you promised it to me at the dance in Carntaul.”
-
-“Aisy, boys, aisy. The truth is, none of yez can get the fiddle-case.
-Shibby, my fiddle, hasn’t been well for the last day or two, and can’t
-bear to be carried by any one barrin’ myself.”
-
-“Blood alive! sick is it, Mickey?--an’ what ails her?”
-
-“Why, some o’ the doctors says there’s a frog in her, an’ others that she
-has the cholic; but I’m goin’ to give her a dose of balgriffauns when I
-get up to the house above. Ould Harry Connolly says she’s with fiddle; an’
-if that’s true, boys, maybe some o’ yez won’t be in luck. I’ll be able to
-spare a young fiddle or two among yez.”
-
-Many a tiny hand was clapped, and many an eye was lit up with the hope of
-getting a young fiddle; for gospel itself was never looked upon to be more
-true than this assertion of Mickey’s. And no wonder. The fact is, he used
-to amuse himself by making small fiddles of deal and horse-hair, which he
-carried about with him as presents for such youngsters as he took a fancy
-to. This he made a serious business of, and carried it on with an
-importance becoming the intimation just given. Indeed, I remember the time
-when I watched one of them, which I was so happy as to receive from him,
-day and night, with the hope of being able to report that it was growing
-larger; for my firm belief was, that in due time it would reach the usual
-size.
-
-As we went along, Mickey, with his usual tact, got out of us all the
-information respecting the several courtships of the neighbourhood that
-had reached us, and as much, too, of the village gossip and scandal as we
-knew.
-
-Nothing can exceed the overflowing kindness and affection with which the
-Irish fiddler is received on the occasion of a dance or merry-making; and
-to do him justice he loses no opportunity of exaggerating his own
-importance. From habit, and his position among the people, his wit and
-power of repartee are necessarily cultivated and sharpened. Not one of his
-jokes ever fails--a circumstance which improves his humour mightily; for
-nothing on earth sustains it so much as knowing, that, whether good or
-bad, it will be laughed at. Mickey, by the way, was a bachelor, and,
-though blind, was able, as he himself used to say, to see through his ears
-better than another could through the eyes. He knew every voice at once,
-and every boy and girl in the parish by name, the moment he heard them
-speak.
-
-On reaching the house he is bound for, he either partakes of, or at least
-is offered, refreshment, after which comes the ecstatic moment to the
-youngsters: but all this is done by due and solemn preparation. First he
-calls for a pair of scissors, with which he pares or seems to pare his
-nails; then asks for a piece of rosin, and in an instant half a dozen boys
-are off at a break-neck pace, to the next shoemaker’s, to procure it;
-whilst in the meantime he deliberately pulls a piece out of his pocket and
-rosins his bow. But, heavens! what a ceremony the opening of that
-fiddle-case is! The manipulation of the blind man as he runs his hand down
-to the key-hole--the turning of the key--the taking out of the fiddle--the
-twang twang--and then the first ecstatic sound, as the bow is drawn across
-the strings; then comes a screwing; then a delicious saw or two; again
-another screwing--twang twang--and away he goes with the favourite tune of
-the good woman, for such is the etiquette upon these occasions. The house
-is immediately thronged with the neighbours, and a preliminary dance is
-taken, in which the old folks, with good-humoured violence, are literally
-dragged out, and forced to join. Then come the congratulations--“Ah, Jack,
-you could do it wanst,” says Mickey, “an’ can still; you have a kick in
-you yet.” “Why, Mickey, I seen dancin’ in my time,” the old man will
-reply, his brow relaxed by a remnant of his former pride, and the hilarity
-of the moment, “but you see the breath isn’t what it used to be wid me,
-when I could dance the _Baltehorum Jig_ on the bottom of a ten-gallon
-cask. But I think a glass o’ whisky will do us no harm afther that.
-Heighho!--well, well--I’m sure I thought _my_ dancin’ days wor over.”
-
-“Bedad an’ you wor matched any how,” rejoined the fiddler. “Molshy carried
-as light a heel as ever you did; sorra a woman of her years ever I seen
-could cut the buckle wid her. You would know the tune on her feet still.”
-
-“Ah, Mickey, the thruth is,” the good woman would say, “we have no sich
-dancin’ now as there was in my days. Thry that glass.”
-
-“But as good fiddlers, Molshy, eh? Here’s to you both, and long may ye
-live to shake the toe! Whoo! bedad that’s great stuff. Come now, sit down.
-Jack, till I give you your ould favourite, ‘_Cannie Soogah_.’”
-
-These were happy moments and happy times, which might well be looked upon
-as picturing the simple manners of country life with very little of moral
-shadow to obscure the cheerfulness which lit up the Irish heart and hearth
-into humble happiness. Mickey, with his usual good nature, never forgot
-the younger portion of his audience. After entertaining the old and
-full-grown, he would call for a key, one end of which he placed in his
-mouth, in order to make the fiddle sing for the children their favourite
-song, beginning with
-
-    “Oh! grand-mamma, will you squeeze my wig?”
-
-This he did in such a manner, through the medium of the key, that the
-words seemed to be spoken by the instrument, and not by himself. After
-this was over, he would sing us, to his own accompaniment, another
-favourite, “There was a wee devil looked over the wall,” which generally
-closed that portion of the entertainment so kindly designed for _us_.
-
-Upon those moments I have often witnessed marks of deep and pious
-feeling, occasioned by some memory of the absent or the dead, that were as
-beautiful as they were affecting. If, for instance, a favourite son or
-daughter happened to be removed by death, the father or mother,
-remembering the air which was loved best by the departed, would pause a
-moment, and with a voice full of sorrow, say, “Mickey, there is _one tune_
-that I would like to hear; I love to think of it, and to hear it; I do,
-for the sake of them that’s gone--my darlin’ son that’s lyin’ low: it was
-he that loved it. His ear is closed against it now; but for _his_
-sake--ay, for your sake, avourneen machree--we will hear it wanst more.”
-
-Mickey always played such tunes in his best style, and amidst a silence
-that was only broken by sobs, suppressed moanings, and the other tokens of
-profound sorrow. These gushes, however, of natural feeling soon passed
-away. In a few minutes the smiles returned, the mirth broke out again, and
-the lively dance went on as if their hearts had been incapable of such
-affection for the dead--affection at once so deep and tender. But many a
-time the light of cheerfulness plays along the stream of Irish feeling,
-when cherished sorrow lies removed from the human eye far down from the
-surface.
-
-These preliminary amusements being now over, Mickey is conducted to the
-dance-house, where he is carefully installed in the best chair, and
-immediately the dancing commences. It is not my purpose to describe an
-Irish dance here, having done it more than once elsewhere. It is enough to
-say that Mickey is now in his glory; and proud may the young man be who
-fills the honourable post of his companion, and sits next him. He is a
-living storehouse of intelligence, a travelling directory for the
-parish--the lover’s text-book--the young woman’s best companion; for where
-is the courtship going on of which he is not cognizant? where is there a
-marriage on the tapis, with the particulars of which he is not acquainted?
-He is an authority whom nobody would think of questioning. It is now, too,
-that he scatters his jokes about; and so correct and well trained is his
-ear, that he can frequently name the young man who dances, by the
-peculiarity of his step.
-
-“Ah ha! Paddy Brien, you’re there? Sure I’d know the sound of your
-smoothin’-irons any where. Is it thrue, Paddy, that you wor sint for down
-to Errigle Keerogue, to kill the clocks for Dan M’Mahon? But, nabuklish!
-Paddy, what’ll you have?”
-
-“Is that Grace Reilly on the flure? Faix, avourneen, you can do it; devil
-o’ your likes I _see_ any where. I’ll lay Shibby to a penny trump that you
-could dance your own namesake--the _Calleen dhas dhun_, the bonny brown
-girl--upon a spider’s cobweb, widout breakin’ it. Don’t be in a hurry,
-Grace dear, to tie the knot; _I’ll_ wait for you.”
-
-Several times in the course of the night a plate is brought round, and a
-collection made for the fiddler: this was the moment when Mickey used to
-let the jokes fly in every direction. The timid he shamed into liberality,
-the vain he praised, and the niggardly he assailed by open hardy satire;
-all managed, however, with such an under-current of good humour, that no
-one could take offence. No joke ever told better than that of the broken
-string. Whenever this happened at night, Mickey would call out to some
-soft fellow, “Blood alive, Ned Martin, will you bring me a candle?--I’ve
-broken a string.” The unthinking young man, forgetting that he was blind,
-would take the candle in a hurry, and fetch it to him.
-
-“Faix, Ned. I knew you wor jist fit for’t; houldin’ a candle to a dark
-man! Isn’t he a beauty, boys?--look at him, girls--as cute as a pancake.”
-
-It is unnecessary to say, that the mirth on such occasions was convulsive.
-Another similar joke was also played off by him against such as he knew to
-be ungenerous at the collection.
-
-“Paddy Smith, I want a word wid you. I’m goin’ across the counthry as far
-as Ned Donnelly’s, and I want you to help me along the road, as the night
-is dark.”
-
-“To be sure, Mickey. I’ll bring you over as snug as if you wor on a clane
-plate, man alive!”
-
-“Thank you, Paddy; throth you’ve the dacency in you; an’ kind father for
-you, Paddy. Maybe I’ll do as much for you some other time.”
-
-Mickey never spoke of this until the trick was played off, after which, he
-published it to the whole parish; and Paddy of course was made a standing
-jest for being so silly as to think that night or day had any difference
-to a man who could not see.
-
-Thus passed the life of Mickey M’Rorey, and thus pass the lives of most of
-his class, serenely and happily. As the sailor to his ship, the sportsman
-to his gun, so is the fiddler attached to his fiddle. His hopes and
-pleasures, though limited, are full. His heart is necessarily light, for
-he comes in contact with the best and brightest side of life and nature;
-and the consequence is, that their mild and mellow lights are reflected on
-and from himself. I am ignorant whether poor Mickey is dead or not; but I
-dare say he forgets the boy to whose young spirit he communicated so much
-delight, and who often danced with a buoyant and careless heart to the
-pleasant notes of his fiddle. Mickey M’Rorey, farewell! Whether living or
-dead, peace be with you!
-
-There is another character in Ireland essentially different from the mere
-fiddler--I mean the country dancing-master. In a future number of the
-Journal I will give a sketch of one who was eminent in his line. Many will
-remember him when I name BUCKRAM-BACK.
-
-
-
-
-THE PASSING BELL.
-
-BY J. U. U.
-
-
-    With its measured pause, and its long-drawn wail,
-    The minster bell swings on the gale,
-    And saddens the vale with its solemn toll,
-    That passeth away like a passing soul--
-    Pulse after pulse still diminishing on,
-    Till another rings forth for the dead and gone.
-
-    The minute-sound of that mourning bell
-    Is the lord’s of the valley--the rich man’s knell:
-    While it swells o’er his lawns and his woodlands bright,
-    He breathes not, hears not, nor sees the light:
-    On the couch of his ease he lies stiff and wan--
-    In the midst of his pomp he is dead and gone.
-
-    The pride hath passed from his haughty brow--
-    Where are his plans and high projects now?
-    Another lord in his state is crowned,
-    To level his castles with the ground;
-    Respect and terror pass reckless on--
-    His frowns and favours are dead and gone.
-
-    Had he wisdom, and wealth, and fame,
-    Mortal tongue shall forget his name:
-    Other hands shall disperse his store--
-    Earthly dream shall he dream no more:
-    His chair is vacant--his way lies yon,
-    To the formless cells of the dead and gone.
-
-    Passing bell, that dost sadly fling
-    Thy wailing wave on the air of spring.
-    There is no voice in thy long, wild moan,
-    To tell where the parted soul is flown,
-    To what far mansion it travels on--
-    While thou tollest thus for the dead and gone.
-
-    Yet, bell of death, on the living air
-    Thy tones come bound from the house of prayer--
-    They speak of the Valley of Shadow, trod
-    On a path once walked by the Son of God,
-    Whose word of promise inviteth on,
-    Through the gate unclosed for the dead and gone.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-CURRENT COIN OF CHINA.--The only coin made in China is the tchen, or
-_cash_, as it is called in Canton. It is composed of base metal, having
-the date and reigning emperor’s name stamped on it. According to Gutzlaff,
-they had coins of this description a thousand years before our era. It is
-nearly as large as an old shilling. There is a square hole in the centre,
-to admit of a number of them being strung on a bamboo. From seven to eight
-hundred of these, according to the exchange, may be had for a Spanish
-dollar. Silver is the commercial medium of barter; it is not coined, but
-passes by weight, after being purified, when it is called sycee silver. It
-is then cast into lumps of one tael, or Chinese ounce, each, the value of
-which in English money is about six shillings. When decimal parts are
-required, it is cut. Spanish dollars are current in Canton, and they are
-also cut when required for lesser portions. Whenever one of these gets
-into the possession of a Chinese, he stamps his name on it; hence in a
-short time the Spanish marks become quite obliterated, and then they are
-called chop dollars, and are melted into sycee silver. Gold is like any
-other article of trade, and is not used as a medium of barter.--_Dr
-Fulton’s Travelling Sketches in Various Countries._
-
-
-
-
-EXTRAORDINARY ANOMALY.
-
-BERNARD CAVANAGH.
-
-
-In the hope that the narration of the following singular circumstances may
-attract the attention of medical and scientific men towards its
-extraordinary subject, we lay it before the readers of the _Irish Penny
-Journal_:--
-
-Bernard Cavanagh is about twenty-four years of age, and now living with
-his parents at nearly a mile distant from the little town of Swineford,
-county Mayo. The parents are respectable, of reputable character, and in
-comfortable circumstances. They assert--indeed they have made affidavits
-before a magistrate of the county--that for nearly the last four years he
-has existed without tasting sustenance of any kind. They state also that
-from the 2d September 1836 to the 2d July 1840, he neither spoke nor rose
-from his bed except to allow it to be arranged, during which operation he
-never opened his mouth; and this portion of the statement is borne out to
-a considerable extent by the fact of his having been visited frequently,
-and at various periods, by persons of high respectability as well as of
-the lower class, on all which occasions he was observed invariably in the
-same position, with his hands on his breast and his eyes fixed on the
-window.
-
-The night before he betook himself to bed, he knocked at the door of the
-priest’s house, and stated that he wished to communicate something to him;
-but the reverend gentleman declined admitting him, in consequence of the
-lateness of the hour, saying that he could impart whatever he wished to
-state on the morrow.
-
-“But I will not be here to-morrow,” responded Cavanagh; and he was right:
-the next day he took to his bed.
-
-In the interval between September 1836 and the present season, public
-attention on a limited scale was occasionally directed towards Cavanagh.
-But the report of his utter and continued abstinence from food was treated
-as a monstrous fable by every one at any distance from his immediate
-locality, and the extraordinary allegations respecting him were beginning
-to fade from general recollection, when, to the utter astonishment of
-every one in his neighbourhood, he arose from bed and recovered his speech
-and powers of moving about; since which time he continues, according to
-the accounts, without sustenance in any shape, and has been visited by
-thousands of persons from various quarters.
-
-In boyhood, Cavanagh’s education extended barely as far as the acquirement
-of reading and writing; but he constantly exhibited strong marks of
-religious enthusiasm, often proceeding to Meelick chapel (about three
-miles from his residence) to one mass, and then attending another at his
-own parish chapel of Swineford. It is said, too, that he at one time
-constructed a sort of rude building for his private devotion in the open
-fields, and repeatedly went to prayers at meal-times in his father’s
-house, contenting himself with _one_ meal in the day, as if preparing
-himself for his total fast. Accordingly, since resuming his speech and
-motion he haunts the chapel at all hours by day and night, continuing for
-hours together apparently in private prayer, and generally attended by a
-large concourse of the peasantry, whom he addresses by fits and starts,
-and many of whom are naturally, under the circumstances, beginning to deem
-him not a human being at all, but a shadow.
-
-He seems not inclined to speak much, though he states he has had “high
-visions.” His reply to the clergymen respecting his revelations and
-fasting, is, that he is fed by the Word; that he is not at liberty to
-detail his visions for the gratification of man; and that no one should
-judge lest he be judged.
-
-Cavanagh is about the middle height, of a grave emaciated countenance; his
-motions are quite unembarrassed, and his voice is sonorous and distinct
-when he speaks, which is still but seldom, as he seems to utterly
-disregard his visitors, whatever their rank.
-
-As we said before, he continues daily to draw thousands of the peasantry
-around him, who eagerly watch every word that falls from his lips, as they
-place implicit faith in the assertion that he has lived without any
-description of food for the last four years, and of course regard him as
-something entirely beyond the pale of ordinary humanity. _We_ are,
-however, not so easy of belief in a case so much at variance with the
-ordinary regulations of nature; at the same time that we are free to admit
-that it is hard to conceive what motive the young man or his parents could
-have for carrying on such an imposition, as the latter endeavoured at
-first to conceal the matter altogether, and, in the next place, have
-repeatedly refused money offered by their respectable visitors, though,
-in fact, their means are a good deal diminished by the hospitality
-extended to each successive guest; while a young sister, who has
-constantly attended Cavanagh since he has lain and fasted according to the
-statement, persists in declaring, with the strongest appearance of
-innocence and belief in the truth of her own assertion, that it was
-impossible he could have tasted any thing during any part of that time
-unknown to her, and that he never had.
-
-That a person of narrow intellect and strong devotional propensities
-should be seized with a religious monomania, and that to a being of a weak
-mind and a debilitated frame strange visions should occur, is perfectly
-comprehensible; but that the frail materials of the human frame, which
-needs the nourishment of food as much as the flower requires sunshine and
-moisture, should endure for such a period without support, is so
-unprecedented in all the records of mankind, and so contradictory to the
-general laws of nature, that it would require the most powerful proofs
-indeed to convince the intelligent mind of its truth. We therefore again
-express our strong hope that this slight sketch may produce the effect of
-having Cavanagh’s case submitted to the test of eminent medical skill--a
-test to which the parents profess their entire willingness to assent, and
-thus a case of the grossest imposition be detected, and thousands of
-simple beings disabused, or one of the most extraordinary of nature’s
-anomalies be clearly ascertained and exhibited.
-
-                                                                       A.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-SCENE IN THE THEATRE AT LEGHORN.--My time passed delightfully while I
-remained in Leghorn. The Russian fleet was at anchor in the Bay, commanded
-by Admiral O’Dwyer, a distinguished seaman, and an Irishman by birth. The
-Storaces and myself often went on board his ship, and were delighted by
-hearing the Russians chaunt their evening hymn. The melody is beautifully
-simple, and was always sung completely in tune by this immense body of
-men. There was at the same time in the harbour a privateer from Dublin,
-called the Fame, Captain Moore: he and his first officer Campbell were
-Irishmen, and had a fine set of Irish lads under them. When Storace’s
-benefit took place, the officers and crew who could be spared from their
-duty, to a man (and a famous sight it was) marched to the theatre, and
-almost filled the par-terre. At the end of the opera, Storace sang the
-Irish ballad “Molly Astore,” at the conclusion of which, the boatswain of
-the Fame gave a loud whistle, and the crew in a body rose and gave three
-cheers. The dismay of the Italian part of the audience was ludicrous in
-the extreme. The sailors then sang “God save the King” in full chorus, and
-when done, applauded themselves to the very skies: nothing could be more
-unanimous or louder than their self-approbation.--_Reminiscences of
-Michael Kelly._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-TRUTH.--Truth is the foundation of virtue. An habitual regard for it is
-absolutely necessary. He who walks by the light of it has the advantage of
-the mid-day sun; he who would spurn it, goes forth amid clouds and
-darkness. There is no way in which a man strengthens his own judgment, and
-acquires respect in society so surely, as by a scrupulous regard to truth.
-The course of such an individual is right on and straight on. He is no
-changeling, saying one thing to-day and another to-morrow. Truth to him is
-like a mountain landmark to the pilot: he fixes his eye upon a point that
-does not move, and he enters the harbour in safety. On the contrary, one
-who despises truth and loves falsehood is like a pilot who takes a piece
-of drift-wood for his landmark, which changes with every changing wave. On
-this he fixes his attention, and, being insensibly led from his course,
-strikes upon some hidden reef, and sinks to rise no more. Thus truth
-brings success; falsehood results in ruin and contempt.--_Dr Channing._
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-GAMING.--I look upon every man as a suicide from the moment he takes the
-dice-box desperately in his hand; and all that follows in his fatal career
-from that fatal time is only sharpening the dagger before he strikes it to
-his heart.--_Cumberland._
-
-
-    Printed and Published every Saturday by GUNN and CAMERON, at the
-    Office of the General Advertiser, No. 6, Church Lane, College Green,
-    Dublin.--Agents:--R. GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley, Paternoster Row,
-    London. SIMMS and DINHAM, Exchange Street, Manchester. J. DAVIES,
-    North John Street, Liverpool. J. DRAKE, Birmingham. M. BINGHAM,
-    Broad Street, Bristol. FRASER and CRAWFORD, George Street,
-    Edinburgh. DAVID ROBERTSON, Trongate, Glasgow.
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s Note: In the original, the date of 766 was given for the
-death of “Dubdainber, the son of Cormac, Abbot of Monasterboice”. Based
-on its order in the chronology (and cross-reference with other historical
-sources) this is presumed to be a misprint and has been changed to 786.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 7,
-August 15, 1840, by Various
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRISH PENNY JOURNAL, AUG 15, 1840 ***
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 7,
-August 15, 1840, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
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-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 7, August 15, 1840
-
-Author: Various
-
-Release Date: January 17, 2017 [EBook #53982]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
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-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRISH PENNY JOURNAL, AUG 15, 1840 ***
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-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
-
-<h1>THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.</h1>
-
-<table summary="Headline layout">
-  <tr>
-    <td class="smcap">Number 7.</td>
-    <td class="center">SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 1840.</td>
-    <td class="right smcap">Volume I.</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<div class="figcenter gap4" style="width: 424px;">
-<img src="images/monasterboice.jpg" width="424" height="377" alt="The ruins of Monasterboice" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>REMAINS AT MONASTERBOICE. COUNTY LOUTH.</h2>
-
-<p>To the observing and imaginative traveller, our island must
-present a great number of peculiarities of aspect which
-will not fail to excite his notice, and impress themselves indelibly
-upon his mind. The scantiness of wood&mdash;for its natural
-timber has nearly all disappeared&mdash;and the abundance
-of water, are two of the characteristics that will most strike
-him; and, next to these, the great extent of prospect usually
-afforded to the eye in consequence of the undulating character
-of its surface. Sparkling streams are visible everywhere,
-and shining lakes and noble rivers come into view in rapid succession;
-while ranges of blue mountains are rarely wanting
-to bound the distant horizon. The colours with which Nature
-has painted the surface of our island are equally peculiar.
-There is no variety of green, whether of depth or vivid brightness,
-which is not to be found covering it; they are hues which
-can be seen nowhere else in equal force; and even our bogs,
-which are so numerous, with all their mutations of colour,
-now purple, and anon red, or brown, or black, by their vigorous
-contrasts give additional beauty and life to the landscape,
-and assist in imparting to it a sort of national individuality.
-Our very clouds have to a great degree a distinctive
-character&mdash;the result of the humidity of our climate;
-they have a grandeur of form and size, and a force of light
-and shadow, that are but rarely seen in other countries; they
-are <em>Irish clouds</em>&mdash;at one moment bright and sunny, and in the
-next flinging their dark shadows over the landscape, and involving
-it in gloomy grandeur. It is in this striking force of
-contrast in almost every thing that we look at, that the peculiarity
-of our scenery chiefly consists; and it appears to have
-stamped the general character of our people with those contrasting
-lights and shades so well exhibited in our exquisite
-and strongly-marked national music, in which all varieties of
-sentiment are so deeply yet harmoniously blended as to produce
-on the mind effects perhaps in some degree saddening,
-but withal most delightfully sweet and soothing. A country
-marked with such peculiarities is not the legitimate abode of
-the refined sensualist of modern times, or the man of artificial
-pleasure and heartless pursuits, and all such naturally
-remain away from it, or visit it with reluctance; but it is the
-proper habitation of the poet, the painter, and, above all,
-the philanthropist; for nowhere else can the latter find so
-extensive a field for the exercise of the godlike feelings of
-benevolence and patriotism.</p>
-
-<p>Yet the natural features of scenery and climate which we
-have pointed out, interesting as all must admit them to be,
-are not the only ones that confer upon our country the peculiar
-and impressive character which it possesses. The relics of
-past epochs of various classes; the monuments of its Pagan
-times, as revealed to us in its religious, military, and sepulchral
-remains; the ruins of its primitive Christian ages, as
-exemplified in its simple and generally unadorned churches,
-and slender round towers; the more splendid monastic edifices
-of later date, and the gloomy castles of still more recent
-times&mdash;these are everywhere present to bestow historic interest
-on the landscape, and bring the successive conditions
-and changes of society in bygone ages forcibly before the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
-mind; so that an additional interest, of a deep and poetical
-nature, is thus imparted to views in themselves impressive
-from their wild and picturesque appearance. So perfect, indeed,
-is this harmony of the natural and artificial characteristics
-of Irish scenery, so comprehensively do both tell the history
-of our country, to which Nature has been most bountiful,
-and in which, alas! man has not been happy, that if we were
-desirous of giving a stranger a true idea of Ireland, and one
-that would impress itself on his mind, we should conduct him
-to one of our green open landscapes, where the dark and ruined
-castle, seated on some rocky height, or the round tower, with
-its little parent church, in some sequestered valley, would be
-the only features to arrest his attention; and of such a scene
-we should say emphatically, This is Ireland! And such a
-scene is that which is presented by the ruins represented in
-our prefixed illustration.</p>
-
-<p>Passing along the great northern road from Drogheda to
-Dundalk, and about four miles from the former, the traveller
-will find himself in an open pastoral country, finely undulating,
-thinly dotted with the cottages of the peasants, and but little
-adorned by art. On one side, to his left, he will see a little
-group of ruins, with a lofty but shattered round tower, giving
-index of their age and character. These are the ruins of
-the long since celebrated religious establishment of Monasterboice,
-one of the most interesting groups of their kind in Ireland.
-They consist of two small churches, a round tower,
-and three most gorgeously sculptured stone crosses, standing
-in the midst of a crowd of tombs and head-stones of various
-ages. Both the churches are of great antiquity, though, as
-their architectural features clearly show, of widely separated
-ages&mdash;the larger one exhibiting the peculiarities of the ecclesiastical
-structures of the twelfth century, and the smaller
-those of a much earlier date. Both are also simple oblongs,
-consisting of a nave and choir; and the round tower appears
-to be of coeval architecture with the earlier church.</p>
-
-<p>The tower, which is of excellent construction, is built of the
-slatey limestone of the surrounding hills, and is divided into five
-stories by belts of stone slightly projecting. The upper story
-has four oblong apertures, and the lower ones are each lighted
-by an aperture having an angular top. The doorway, which
-faces the south-east, has a semicircular arch, and is constructed
-of chiselled freestone: it is of the usual height of
-five feet six inches, by one foot ten inches in breadth, and is
-six feet from the present surface of the ground. The circumference
-of the tower is fifty-one feet, and its height is one hundred
-and ten; but its original height was greater, as a considerable
-portion of its top has been destroyed by lightning.</p>
-
-<p>In these churches and this tower Monasterboice has nothing
-which may not be found in many other early religious foundations
-in Ireland; but in the magnificence of its sculptured
-stone crosses it may be said to stand alone. They are the
-finest of their class in the country; but, as we shall make them
-the subjects of distinct notices, with illustrations, in our
-future numbers, it is not necessary for us to enter into a more
-particular description of them here.</p>
-
-<p>Monasterboice, or, as it is called in the Irish language,
-Mainistir-buite&mdash;that is, the monastery of Buite, or Boetius&mdash;owes
-its origin to a celebrated bishop and abbot of this name
-who flourished about the close of the fifth century, and who is
-said to have been a disciple of St Patrick: according to our
-ancient annalists, he died on the 7th of December 522. Of
-its subsequent history but little is preserved, beyond a few
-scattered records of the deaths of several of its abbots and
-professors anterior to the twelfth century, of whom the celebrated
-poet, antiquary, and historian, Flann, was the most
-distinguished, and whose death is thus recorded in the Annals
-of the Four Masters:&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>“1056. Flann of the Monastery, lecturer of Monasterboice,
-the last fountain of knowledge of the Irish, in history, poetry,
-eloquence, and general literature, died on the fourth of the
-calends of December (28th November), of whom it was said,</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">‘Flann of the great church of sweet Buite,</div>
-<div class="verse">The piercing eyes of his smooth head were modest;</div>
-<div class="verse">The godly man of Meath was he of whom we speak;</div>
-<div class="verse">The last professor of the country of the three Finns was Flann.’”</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>A considerable number of historical poems by this distinguished
-man have descended to our times, of which a list is
-given in O’Reilly’s Irish Writers; but his more valuable remains
-are his Synchronisms of the Irish Kings, with the
-Eastern and Roman Emperors, and of the Christian Provincial
-Kings of Ireland, and the Kings of Scotland of the Irish
-race, with the Chief Monarchs of Ireland. Of these works,
-which are of inestimable value to the Irish and Scottish historian,
-perfect copies are preserved in the MS. Book of Lecan,
-in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy.</p>
-
-<p>The notices in our Annals of the other distinguished men
-connected with Monasterboice are of little interest; but as
-they have never been properly collected together, we think
-them worthy of publication, for the use of the Irish topographical
-historian, to whom we trust our Journal will become a
-valuable repertory of authorities:</p>
-
-<p>722. Ailchon, of Monasterboice, died.</p>
-
-<p>769. Cormac, the son of Ailliolla, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-was drowned in the Boyne.</p>
-
-<p><a href="#transnote" title="See note">786.</a> Dubdainber, the son of Cormac, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>800. Cuanna, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.</p>
-
-<p>836. Flaithri, Abbot of Monasterboice, a Bishop and Anchorite,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>844. Muireadhach, the son of Flann, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>853. Radgus, the son of Maicniada, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-was drowned in the Boyne.</p>
-
-<p>864. Colga and Aodh, two Abbots of Monasterboice, died
-this year.</p>
-
-<p>875. Maolpatrick, the son of Ceallach, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>881. Dunadach, the son of Cormac, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>887. Fothaidh, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.</p>
-
-<p>922. Muireadhach, the son of Donall, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-chief beadsman to all the men of Bregia, youths, clerks,
-and the stewart of Patrick’s people, from Sliabh Fuaid (the
-Fews Mountain) to Leinster, died.</p>
-
-<p>933. Maolbrigid, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.</p>
-
-<p>965. Dubdaboirenn, Abbot of Monasterboice, died.</p>
-
-<p>1004. Donall, the son of Macniadha, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-a Bishop and Holy Senior, died.</p>
-
-<p>1039. Macniadha, a Bishop, and Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>1059. Donall, the son of Eodhossa, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>1067. Echtigern, the son of Flann, Aircinneach of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>1117. Eogan, the son of Echtigern, Abbot of Monasterboice,
-died.</p>
-
-<p>These notices, extracted from the Annals of Ulster, and of
-the Four Masters, will show the great antiquity of the Abbey
-of Monasterboice, as well as the distinguished rank which it
-held among the religious establishments of Ireland previous
-to the occupation of the ancient kingdom of Meath by the
-English, after which period it disappears from history.</p>
-
-<p>The following records from the same authorities relate to
-its general history:&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>968. Monasterboice and Lan Lere were plundered on the
-Danes by Donall, King of Ireland, and he burned three hundred
-and fifty of them in one house.</p>
-
-<p>1097. The <i>Cloictheach</i> (viz. round tower belfry) of Monasterboice,
-containing books and several other valuables, was
-burned.</p>
-
-<p>This last notice, and many others of the kind which occur in
-our Annals, are of great value in showing the original uses of
-our round towers, as set forth in Mr Petrie’s Essay on the
-Round Towers of Ireland, now in course of publication.</p>
-
-<p>In concluding these notices of a spot so long the abode of the
-piety, art, and learning of remote times, we may add, that in
-its present deserted and ruined state it is a scene of the deepest
-and most solemn interest; and the mind must indeed be dull
-and earthly in which it fails to awaken feelings of touching
-and permanent interest. Silence and solitude the most profound
-are impressed on all its time-worn features; we are among
-the dead only; and we are forced, as it were, to converse
-with the men of other days. In all our frequent visits to these
-ruins we never saw a living human being among them but
-once. It was during a terrific thunder-storm, which obliged
-us to seek shelter behind one of the stone crosses for an hour.
-The rain poured down in impetuous torrents, and the clouds
-were so black as to give day the appearance of night. It was
-at such an awful hour, that a woman of middle age, finely
-formed, and of a noble countenance, entered the cemetery,
-and, regardless of the storm raging around, flung herself
-down upon a grave, and commenced singing an Irish lamentation
-in tones of heart-rending melancholy and surpassing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
-beauty. This wail she carried on as long as we remained;
-and her voice coming on the ear between the thunder-peals,
-had an effect singularly wild and unearthly: it would be
-fruitless to attempt a description of it. The reader, if he know
-what an Irishwoman’s song of sorrow is, must imagine the effect
-it would have at such a moment among those lightning-shattered
-ruins, and chanted by such a living vocal monument of
-human woe and desolation.</p>
-
-<p>We subsequently learned on inquiry that this poor creature’s
-history was a sad one; she was slightly crazed, in consequence
-of the death of her only son, who had been drowned;
-and her mania lay in a persuasion, which nothing could remove,
-that he was not lost, but would yet return to her to bless her,
-and close her long-weeping eyes in peace.</p>
-
-<p class="right">P.</p>
-
-<h2 class="gap4" id="THE_RED_MEN_OF_AMERICA">THE RED MEN OF AMERICA.</h2>
-
-<h3>SECOND ARTICLE.</h3>
-
-<p>We could relate many instances of the gratitude with which
-Indians repay a kindness, and of their firmness in friendship,
-but our limits restrain us. We must besides admit, that they
-are equally resentful of injury as mindful of favours, and
-persecute an enemy with as much constancy as they cherish
-a friend. Mr Catlin has preserved the portrait of a Mandan
-chief, named Mah-to-tôh-pa, or the Four Bears, whose
-life affords many singular illustrations of the above truths.
-We have room for one only. His brother had been surprised
-while asleep by a Riccaree, who left the spear with
-which he had murdered the sleeping man in the wound,
-and boasted of what he had done. The Four Bears took possession
-of the spear, preserved it carefully, with the blood of
-his brother encrusted on its point, and swore to cover that
-stain with the heart’s blood of the Riccaree. Many moons
-elapsed, many snows even went by, and the Four Bears had
-not yet found the much desired opportunity of revenge. At
-length the <em>culpability</em> of his enforced delay became too heavy
-a reproach, and he resolved on seeking the Riccaree in his
-distant home, to do which he had to steal his way through his
-enemy’s country for hundreds of miles; a task, the difficulty of
-which can be appreciated only by those who know the watchfulness
-of Indian habits, and the vigilance of those whom he
-had to circumvent. But “when Greek meets Greek,” we
-all know what “comes;” in this case, however, “diamond-cut-diamond”
-were perhaps the more appropriate metaphor:
-let our readers settle that point. The Four Bears accomplished
-his task; he had traversed many a weary plain,
-had threaded many a tangled forest, swam many a river;
-but at length he stood, famished and outworn, before the
-village of his enemy. This was surrounded by a stockade,
-but he overcame that with little difficulty. It was night,
-but the dwelling of the offender was known to him, and entering
-it, he sat down before the fire, over which hung a
-pot containing food, which the provident squaw had set to
-simmer through the night. The family were in their beds,
-which consist of skins stretched on low frames, and ranged
-around the walls of the hut. The Riccaree, the object of the
-Mandan’s visit, was also on his couch, with his arms close
-beside him, as is the custom. But he was not asleep; the
-flame as it rose fitfully was reflected from his glittering eyes,
-which rested, but with no particular interest, on his visitor.
-The latter, conscious that his then exhausted strength was
-not equal to the <em>duty</em> he became to perform, sat collected within
-himself for a certain time; he then took part of the food that
-filled the pot, and ate in such measure as he thought advisable.
-This done, he lighted his pipe, and sat to smoke it.
-The squaw meanwhile had asked her husband what man it
-was who was reposing at their hearth. “He is a hungry man,
-for thou seest he is eating; what matter for the rest?” was her
-husband’s reply, and the uninvited guest concluded his meal
-without interruption. Was the Mandan shaken by what we
-feel to be the most touching appeal of this deep confidence
-to his better sympathies? He scarcely felt that it was one.
-Among Indians, hospitality is neither offered nor accepted
-as a matter of favour, but of right, and of course; nor
-would he have replied to such an appeal could he have felt
-it. He believed himself to be in the performance of a most
-solemn duty, and would have scorned all vacillation as weakness.
-Nor shall we be just ourselves if we lose sight of this
-in our abhorrence of his deed.</p>
-
-<p>The pipe of the Mandan exhausted, he adjusted his raiment
-for departure; he rose, collected his force, sprang on his
-unsuspecting host, whom he stabbed to the heart with the spear
-already named, then scalped him, and, springing from the hut,
-was out of the village, and deep in a neighbouring watercourse,
-by the time that his enemies’ dogs were upon him;
-again, by many a night march and day of hunger and suffering,
-he arrived in his village, <em>his</em> conscience set at rest by the
-act at which <em>we</em> shudder.</p>
-
-<p>Mr Catlin, who knew this chief intimately, relates many
-stories of his bravery and general elevation of character, but
-we have room for the tale of his death only. In the year 1837,
-Mr Catlin had left the friendly Mandans some three years,
-when the small-pox was carried among them by the traders;
-the whole family of the Four Bears perished by this disease;
-wife, child, not one was left him; he stood alone in his desolation,
-and gathering the corpses together, he covered all with
-skins, after the manner of his people; the songs for the dead
-then performed, he seated himself by the mound he had raised,
-which he addressed from time to time in the most touching
-terms of endearment, as each individual composing the mournful
-group rose to his memory. This continued through nine
-days and nights, during all which he took neither food nor
-sleep, and on the tenth he was himself a corpse.</p>
-
-<p>The native American is deeply imbued with religious feeling;
-no Indian who maintains a fair character in his tribe is
-without some place of retirement for worship and meditation;
-a lonely tree, a nook in the bank of a stream, the hollow of a
-rock, are frequently selected for this purpose; nor is the
-habit confined to such tribes as have no fixed religious ceremonies;
-it was practised by the Mandans and others, many of
-whom possessed oratories such as we have just described, in
-addition to their “medicine” or “mystery lodges,” which may
-be called their public temples. The Osages, Kansas, and
-other tribes west of the Mississippi, never fail to implore the
-blessing of the Great Spirit on breaking up their encampments,
-and they return thanks devoutly for the food they have
-found, and the preservation they have experienced, on arriving
-at the end of their journey. Thanks and praises are also publicly
-offered at every new moon, at the commencement of the
-buffalo hunts in spring, and at the ingathering of the corn; at
-which latter period a feast is held, called the corn feast: over
-this, among some tribes, the oldest woman presides. The
-Minatarrees boil a large kettle full of the new corn in presence
-of all the people, four medicine men, painted with white clay,
-dancing round the kettle until its contents are well boiled;
-these are next burnt to ashes as an offering to the Great Spirit;
-the fire is then extinguished; new fire is immediately created
-by rubbing two sticks together; with this they cook the corn
-for their own feast, and the remainder of the day is spent in
-festivity.</p>
-
-<p>Dances are also performed to the Great Spirit on various
-occasions, as among the Ojibbeways on the first fall of snow;
-this is danced in snow-shoes. All believe in a future state of
-existence&mdash;in the reward of the good by an eternal residence
-in pleasant and plentifully supplied hunting grounds beyond
-the great waters&mdash;and in the punishment of the wicked by
-transformation into some loathsome beast, reptile, or insect,
-and by banishment to barren, parched, and desolate regions,
-the abodes of bad spirits, for a period proportionate to the enormity
-of their guilt. Prayers are also offered to the evil spirit
-in deprecation of his enmity, but on none of these ceremonies is
-attendance compelled; that Indian is, however, less respected,
-who is known constantly to absent himself from all.</p>
-
-<p>The “medicine man” of the Indians is at once prophet,
-priest, and physician; he has sometimes great influence. The
-ceremony by which this dignity is attained among the Sioux,
-is one involving no little suffering. The candidate for this
-honour has innumerable splints of wood driven through the
-most sensitive parts of his flesh, and being suspended by some
-of these to a pole, with his medicine bag in his hand, he is expected
-to keep his eyes steadily fixed on the sun from its rising
-to its setting, when he is taken down, and entitled to be called
-a medicine or mystery man for the remainder of his life; but
-he has to make ceaseless efforts for the support of his character,
-since the failure of either his cures or his prophecies renders
-him liable to universal contempt.</p>
-
-<p>Almost every family has its medicine or mystery bag, which
-consists of a beaver or otter skin curiously ornamented; this
-contains the medicinal stores and smaller consecrated articles
-of the family; it is considered a great disgrace to sell or otherwise
-part with an article once consecrated, and the medicine
-bag is always held sacred and inviolate to every hand but that
-of its owner. When a warrior of the Sac and Fox tribe falls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
-in battle, his widow suspends his mystery bag on the pole before
-his tent, and sits herself within the lodge; the warriors,
-returned from the battle, and adorned with the scalps they
-have taken from the enemy, then assemble before the lodge;
-they dance to the medicine bag of their lost brother, and
-throw presents to his widow, of such articles as they think
-may best console her for her loss.</p>
-
-<p>The Indian dwelling is much varied in its form and manner
-among the various tribes; the Pawnees, for example, live in
-lodges thatched with prairie grass, and which are not unlike
-immense bee-hives.</p>
-
-<p>The Sioux, the Camanchees, the Crows, and others inhabiting
-a vast tract on the upper waters of the Mississippi and
-Missouri rivers, and extending to the base of the Rocky
-Mountains, have moveable tents formed of buffalo skins richly
-ornamented, according to Indian notions of ornament, and
-fastened to poles sometimes twenty-five feet high; some of
-these tents will shelter eighty persons, and require from
-thirty to thirty-five buffalo skins to cover them.</p>
-
-<p>The Riccarees, Mandans, &amp;c. are, or <em>were</em>, lodged in villages
-fortified by strong stockades eighteen feet high; their
-huts are formed of poles covered closely and smoothly with
-earth, and this in process of time becomes so compact and
-hard, that men, women, and children, recline and play on their
-tops.</p>
-
-<p>It has been sometimes asserted that the Indian people have
-a common language, but this is not the case; scarcely any two
-of their nations between whom no intercourse exists, possess
-a language understood by both, but this inconvenience is obviated
-by a “language of signs,” so effective and eloquent
-that by this every Indian is enabled to communicate with his
-brother of whatever nation or tribe, and hence perhaps has
-arisen the supposition that all speak a common language.
-The mode of writing among Indians is entirely hieroglyphic,
-and is of course liable to wide misconstruction; but they lay
-down maps with no mean degree of accuracy, and the chiefs
-wear the boundaries of their hunting-grounds traced on their
-robes; a counterpart being kept in the public lodge among
-such other records as the nation may possess, and those are
-referred to if any dispute arise among neighbouring tribes.</p>
-
-<p>Their manufactures are of course few and simple. Stones
-are cut into pestles and mortars, tomahawks, knives, pipes,
-&amp;c.; pottery is formed for domestic purposes from the clays
-furnished by all parts of their country; mats are woven from
-grass or rushes, and blankets from the hair of the buffalo.
-These articles are mostly the work of the women, who with
-the children plant, cultivate, and gather in the crops, collect
-wild rice and pash-e-quah, a large bulbous root, in form like
-the sweet potato and in taste like the chesnut, but more juicy.
-Nuts of many sorts, several kinds of plums, osage oranges,
-gooseberries, strawberries, and many sorts of grapes, are also
-collected in their season. Besides this, the women dress buffalo
-skins, procure wood and water, and in some tribes fetch home
-the game which the hunter, having tracked and killed, then
-leaves to their further disposal.</p>
-
-<p>Beaver and other skins, belts of wampum, and coloured
-shells ground to an oval form, serve as coin; but the most
-important wealth of the Indian is in his horses and dogs, which
-assist him in the chase, and of which some possess great
-numbers. Many tribes of Indians are exceedingly bold and
-expert horsemen, the Camanchees more particularly, many of
-whom perform feats of dexterity on their wild horses that
-would astonish our boldest equestrians. These men are often
-seen to throw themselves on one side of their horses, to avoid
-the arrows of an enemy or the attack of an enraged buffalo, in
-such a manner that the extremity of one foot only seems to
-hold by the animal, and that while he continues to move at
-full speed; nay, some have been even known to shoot arrows
-while in that position, the tenure of which is altogether inconceivable
-to the European rider.</p>
-
-<p>Their weapons for hunting are lances five or six feet long,
-and tipped with stone or the bone of some animal, and bows
-with arrows similarly pointed. The buffalo is sometimes
-hunted by men who have partially concealed their persons in
-the skin of the white wolf, and who creep to within shot of
-their game by favour of this disguise; for the buffalo, accustomed
-to the white wolf, and safe from his attack unless,
-when, separated from the herd, he becomes the prey of a pack,
-permits the approach of the Indian thus masked, the latter
-being careful to keep to leeward of his game, whose scent is
-very acute.</p>
-
-<p>Indians sometimes drive whole herds of buffalo, elk, and
-deer, into impassable ravines or to the brink of precipices,
-when they slaughter as many as they may need; but none were
-ever destroyed wantonly before the introduction of whisky;
-whereas at this time whole herds are killed merely for their
-skins, the flesh being left to decay on the prairies; and this,
-by depopulating the hunting-grounds, induces famine, and is
-another cause of Indian suffering and final extinction.</p>
-
-<p>Buffaloes are often destroyed by the panther; solitary individuals
-sometimes fall a prey to a pack of wolves; others
-perish in the burning prairies, that awfully peculiar feature of
-the American solitudes; a few are drowned every season in
-attempting to cross the ice of rivers not firmly frozen; but
-the principal element of their destruction is in the rapacity of
-the trader; and it has been calculated that the activity of
-this last-named agent will ensure the extermination of this
-most valuable creature within a very short period of time.</p>
-
-<p>The education of the Indian child is an object of the most
-profound interest, not only to his own family but to the whole
-tribe. He is taught to love his country and tribe, to contemn
-falsehood, to reverence age, to be modest and silent; he is
-strictly enjoined to reward a kindness, but also to avenge an
-injury; to aid and guard a friend, but also to injure, by every
-means in his power, and relentlessly to persecute, an enemy;
-to abhor theft, unless it be practised on the property of an
-enemy, when it is called highly meritorious. The sports of
-youth are watched attentively by their elders, and all evidences
-of cowardice, meanness, &amp;c., are followed by the needful
-discipline. The Indian usually retains his mother’s name until
-he has entitled himself, by some remarkable act of prowess,
-endurance, &amp;c., to choose one for himself, or been distinguished
-by some appellation bestowed by the tribe. Some of these
-“names” are sufficiently amusing, as, for example, “He
-who jumps over every one,” “The very sweet man,” “The
-man of good sense,” “No fool,” “The bird that goes to
-war,” “He who strikes two at once,” &amp;c. The names of
-women are not always inelegant. Take as a specimen of Indian
-taste in this matter, “The bending willow,” “The
-pure fountain,” “The sweet-scented grass.” Others are
-scarcely so complimentary, as, “The female bear,” “The
-woman who lives in the bear’s den,” “The creature that
-creeps,” &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p>The constancy with which an Indian endures tortures, is
-among the best known traits of his character, but his power
-of enduring labour has been less insisted on; nay, it has been
-denied by those who despair of the civilization of the race, or
-who believe that its destruction is a consequence inevitable to
-the white man’s progress: but those who so judge know little
-of our Red brothers. We could adduce many facts in proof of
-this, were our space not wholly exhausted; but we must defer
-these, as well as the account we had purposed giving of the
-very extraordinary religious ceremonies practised among
-some of the tribes. We may, however, possibly return to the
-subject at some other time.</p>
-
-<h2 class="gap4" id="THE_IRISH_FIDDLER">THE IRISH FIDDLER.</h2>
-
-<p class="center">BY W. CARLETON.</p>
-
-<p>What a host of light-hearted associations are revived by that
-living fountain of fun and frolic, an Irish fiddler! Every thing
-connected with him is agreeable, pleasant, jolly. All his anecdotes,
-songs, jokes, stories, and secrets, bring us back from
-the pressure and cares of life, to those happy days and nights
-when the heart was as light as the heel, and both beat time to
-the exhilarating sound of his fiddle.</p>
-
-<p>The old harper was a character looked upon by the Irish
-rather as a musical curiosity, than a being specially created
-to contribute to their enjoyment. There was something about
-him which they did not feel to be in perfect sympathy with their
-habits and amusements. He was above them, not of them;
-and although they respected him, and treated him kindly, yet
-was he never received among them with that spontaneous
-ebullition of warmth and cordiality with which they welcomed
-their own musician, the fiddler. The harper, in fact, belonged
-to the gentry, and to the gentry they were willing to leave
-him. They listened to his music when he felt disposed to play
-for them, but it only gratified their curiosity, instead of enlivening
-their hearts&mdash;a fact sufficiently evident from the circumstance
-of their seldom attempting to dance to it. This
-preference, however, of the fiddle to the harp, is a feeling generated
-by change of times and circumstances, for it is well
-known that in days gone by, when Irish habits were purer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
-older, and more hereditary than they are now, the harp was
-the favourite instrument of young and old, of high and low.</p>
-
-<p>The only instrument that can be said to rival the fiddle, is
-the bagpipe; but every person knows that Ireland is a loving
-country, and that at our fairs, dances, weddings, and other places
-of amusement, Paddy and his sweetheart are in the habit of
-indulging in a certain quiet and affectionate kind of whisper,
-the creamy tones of which are sadly curdled by the sharp jar
-of the chanter. It is not, in fact, an instrument adapted for
-love-making. The drone is an enemy to sentiment, and it is
-an unpleasant thing for a pretty blushing girl to find herself
-put to the necessity of bawling out her consent at the top of
-her lungs, which she must do, or have the ecstatic words lost in
-its drowsy and monotonous murmur. The bagpipe might do
-for war, to which, with a slight variation, it has been applied;
-but in our opinion it is only fit to be danced to by an assembly
-of people who are hard of hearing. Indeed, we have little
-doubt but its cultivation might be introduced with good effect
-as a system of medical treatment, suitable to the pupils of a
-deaf and dumb institution; for if any thing could bring them
-to the use of their ears, its sharp and stiletto notes surely
-would effect that object.</p>
-
-<p>The fiddle, however, is the instrument of all others most
-essential to the enjoyment of an Irishman. Dancing and
-love are very closely connected, and of course the fiddle is
-never thought of or heard, without awakening the tenderest
-and most agreeable emotions. Its music, soft, sweet, and
-cheerful, is just the thing for Paddy, who under its influence
-partakes of its spirit, and becomes soft, sweet, and
-cheerful himself. The very tones of it act like a charm upon
-him, and produce in his head such a bland and delightful intoxication,
-that he finds himself making love just as naturally
-as he would eat his meals. It opens all the sluices of his heart,
-puts mercury in his veins, gives honey to a tongue that was,
-Heaven knows, sufficiently sweet without it, and gifts him
-with a pair of feather heels that Mercury might envy; and
-to crown all, endows him, while pleading his cause in a quiet
-corner, with a fertility of invention, and an easy unembarrassed
-assurance, which nothing can surpass. In fact, with great
-respect for my friend Mr Bunting, the fiddle it is that <em>ought</em>
-to be our national instrument, as it is that which is most
-closely and agreeably associated with the best and happiest
-impulses of the Irish heart. The very language of the people
-themselves is a proof of this; for whilst neither harp nor bagpipe
-is ever introduced as illustrating peculiarities of feeling by
-any reference to their influence, the fiddle is an agreeable instrument
-in their hands, in more senses than one. Paddy’s
-highest notion of flattery towards the other sex is boldly expressed
-by an image drawn from it, for when he boasts that
-he can, by honied words, impress such an agreeable delusion
-upon his sweetheart as to make her imagine “that there is a
-fiddler on every rib of the house,” there can be no metaphor conceived
-more strongly or beautifully expressive of the charm
-which flows from the tones of that sweet instrument. Paddy,
-however, is very often hit by his own metaphor, at a time
-when he least expects it. When pleading his cause, for instance,
-and promising golden days to his fair one, he is not
-unfrequently met by, “Ay, ay, it’s all very well now; you’re
-sugary enough, of coorse; but wait till we’d be a year
-married, an’ maybe, like so many others that promised what
-you do, you’d never come home to me widout ‘hangin’ up your
-fiddle behind the door;’” by which she means to charge him
-with the probability of being agreeable when abroad, but
-morose in his own family.</p>
-
-<p>Having thus shown that the fiddle and its music are mixed
-up so strongly with our language, feelings, and amusements,
-it is now time to say something of the fiddler. In Ireland it
-is impossible, on looking through all the classes of society, to
-find any individual so perfectly free from care, or, in stronger
-words, so completely happy, as the fiddler, especially if he be
-blind, which he generally is. His want of sight circumscribes
-his other wants, and, whilst it diminishes his enjoyments, not
-only renders him unconscious of their loss, but gives a greater
-zest to those that are left him, simple and innocent as they
-are. He is in truth a man whose lot in life is happily cast,
-and whose lines have fallen in pleasant places. The phase of
-life which is presented to him, and in which he moves, is one
-of innocent mirth and harmless enjoyment. Marriages, weddings,
-dances, and merry-makings of all descriptions, create
-the atmosphere of mirth and happiness which he ever breathes.
-With the dark designs, the crimes, and outrages of mankind,
-he has nothing to do, and his light spirit is never depressed
-by their influence. Indeed, he may be said with truth to pass
-through none but the festivals of life, to hear nothing but
-mirth, to feel nothing but kindness, and to communicate nothing
-but happiness to all around him. He is at once the
-source and the centre of all good and friendly feelings. By
-him the aged man forgets his years, and is agreeably cheated
-back into youth; the labourer snatches a pleasant moment
-from his toil, and is happy; the care-worn ceases to remember
-the anxieties that press him down; the boy is enraptured
-with delight, and the child is charmed with a pleasure that he
-feels to be wonderful.</p>
-
-<p>Surely such a man is important, as filling up with enjoyment
-so many of the painful pauses in human misery. He is a
-thousand times better than a politician, and is a true philosopher
-without knowing it. Every man is his friend, unless it
-be a rival fiddler, and he is the friend of every man, with the
-same exception. Every house, too, every heart, and every
-hand, is open to him; he never knows what it is to want a bed,
-a dinner, or a shilling. Good heavens! what more than this
-can the cravings of a human heart desire! For my part,
-I do not know what others might aim at; but I am of opinion
-that in such a world as this, the highest proof of a wise man
-would be, a wish to live and die an Irish fiddler.</p>
-
-<p>And yet, alas! there is no condition of life without some
-remote or contingent sorrow. Many a scene have I witnessed
-connected with this very subject, that would wring the tears
-out of any eye, and find a tender pulse in the hardest heart.
-It is indeed a melancholy alternative that devotes the poor
-sightless lad to an employment that is ultimately productive
-of so much happiness to himself and others. This alternative
-is seldom resorted to, unless when some poor child&mdash;perhaps a
-favourite&mdash;is deprived of sight by the terrible ravages of the
-small-pox. In life there is scarcely any thing more touching
-than to witness in the innocent invalid the first effects, both
-upon himself and his parents, of this woeful privation. The
-utter helplessness of the pitiable darkling, and his total dependence
-upon those around him&mdash;his unacquaintance with the
-relative situation of all the places that were familiar to him&mdash;his
-tottering and timid step, and his affecting call of “Mammy,
-where are you?” joined to the bitter consciousness on her
-part that the light of affection and innocence will never sparkle
-in those beloved eyes again&mdash;all this constitutes a scene of
-deep and bitter sorrow. When, however, the sense of his
-bereavement passes away, and the cherished child grows up
-to the proper age, a fiddle is procured for him by his parents, if
-they are able, and if not, a subscription is made up among their
-friends and neighbours to buy him one. All the family, with
-tears in their eyes, then kiss and take leave of him; and his mother,
-taking him by the hand, leads him, as had been previously
-arranged, to the best fiddler in the neighbourhood, with whom
-he is left as an apprentice. There is generally no fee required,
-but he is engaged to hand his master all the money he can
-make at dances, from the time he is proficient enough to play
-at them. Such is the simple process of putting a blind boy in
-the way of becoming acquainted with the science of melody.</p>
-
-<p>In my native parish there were four or five fiddlers&mdash;all
-good in their way; but the Paganini of the district was the
-far-famed Mickey M’Rorey. Where Mickey properly lived, I
-never could actually discover, and for the best reason in the
-world&mdash;he was not at home once in twelve months. As Colley
-Cibber says in the play, he was “a kind of a here-and-thereian&mdash;a
-stranger nowhere.” This, however, mattered little; for
-though perpetually shifting day after day from place to place,
-yet it somehow happened that nobody ever was at a loss where
-to find him. The truth is, he never felt disposed to travel
-<i lang="la">incog.</i>, because he knew that his interest must suffer by doing
-so; the consequence was, that wherever he went, a little
-nucleus of local fame always attended him, which rendered it
-an easy matter to find his whereabouts.</p>
-
-<p>Mickey was blind from his infancy, and, as usual, owed to
-the small-pox the loss of his eyesight. He was about the
-middle size, of rather a slender make, and possessed an intelligent
-countenance, on which beamed that singular expression
-of inward serenity so peculiar to the blind. His temper was
-sweet and even, but capable of rising through the buoyancy of
-his own humour to a high pitch of exhilaration and enjoyment.
-The dress he wore, as far as I can remember, was always the
-same in colour and fabric&mdash;to wit, a brown coat, a sober-tinted
-cotton waistcoat, grey stockings, and black corduroys. Poor
-Mickey! I think I see him before me, his head erect, as the
-heads of all blind men are, the fiddle-case under his left arm,
-and his hazel staff held out like a feeler, exploring with experimental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
-pokes the nature of the ground before him, even
-although some happy urchin leads him onward with an exulting
-eye; an honour of which he will boast to his companions for
-many a mortal month to come.</p>
-
-<p>The first time I ever heard Mickey play was also the first
-I ever heard a fiddle. Well and distinctly do I remember the
-occasion. The season was summer&mdash;but summer <em>was</em> summer
-then&mdash;and a new house belonging to Frank Thomas had been
-finished, and was just ready to receive him and his family.
-The floors of Irish houses in the country generally consist at
-first of wet clay; and when this is sufficiently well smoothed
-and hardened, a dance is known to be an excellent thing to
-bind and prevent them from cracking. On this occasion the
-evening had been appointed, and the day was nearly half advanced
-but no appearance of the fiddler. The state of excitement
-in which I found myself could not be described. The
-name of Mickey M’Rorey had been ringing in my ears for God
-knows how long, but I had never seen him, or even heard his
-fiddle. Every two minutes I was on the top of a little eminence
-looking out for him, my eyes straining out of their sockets,
-and my head dizzy with the prophetic expectation of
-rapture and delight. Human patience, however, could bear
-this painful suspense no longer, and I privately resolved to
-find Mickey, or perish. I accordingly proceeded across the
-hills, a distance of about three miles, to a place called
-Kilnahushogue, where I found him waiting for a guide. At
-this time I could not have been more than seven years of age;
-and how I wrought out my way over the lonely hills, or
-through what mysterious instinct I was led to him, and that
-by a path too over which I had never travelled before, must
-be left unrevealed, until it shall please that Power which guides
-the bee to its home, and the bird for thousands of miles
-through the air, to disclose the principle upon which it is accomplished.</p>
-
-<p>On our return home I could see the young persons of both
-sexes flying out to the little eminence I spoke of, looking
-eagerly towards the point we travelled from, and immediately
-scampering in again, clapping their hands, and shouting with
-delight. Instantly the whole village was out, young and
-old, standing for a moment to satisfy themselves that the intelligence
-was correct; after which, about a dozen of the
-youngsters sprang forward, with the speed of so many antelopes,
-to meet us, whilst the elders returned with a soberer but
-not less satisfied manner into the houses. Then commenced
-the usual battle, as to who should be honoured by permission
-to carry the fiddle-case. Oh! that fiddle-case! For seven
-long years it was an honour exclusively allowed to myself,
-whenever Mickey attended a dance any where at all near us;
-and never was the Lord Chancellor’s mace&mdash;to which, by the
-way, with great respect for his lordship, it bore a considerable
-resemblance&mdash;carried with a prouder heart or a more exulting
-eye. But so it is&mdash;</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">“These little things are great to <em>little</em> men.”</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>“Blood alive. Mickey, you’re welcome!” “How is every
-bone of you, Mickey? Bedad we gev you up.” “No, we
-didn’t give you up, Mickey; never heed him; sure we knew
-very well you’d not desart the Towny boys&mdash;whoo!&mdash;Fol de
-rol lol.” “Ah, Mickey, won’t you sing ‘There was a wee
-devil come over the wall?’” “To be sure he will, but wait
-till he comes home and gets his dinner first. Is’t off an empty
-stomach you’d have him to sing?” “Mickey, give me the fiddle-case,
-won’t you, Mickey?” “No, to <em>me</em>, Mickey.” “Never
-heed them, Mickey: you promised it to me at the dance in
-Carntaul.”</p>
-
-<p>“Aisy, boys, aisy. The truth is, none of yez can get the
-fiddle-case. Shibby, my fiddle, hasn’t been well for the last day
-or two, and can’t bear to be carried by any one barrin’ myself.”</p>
-
-<p>“Blood alive! sick is it, Mickey?&mdash;an’ what ails her?”</p>
-
-<p>“Why, some o’ the doctors says there’s a frog in her, an’
-others that she has the cholic; but I’m goin’ to give her a
-dose of balgriffauns when I get up to the house above. Ould
-Harry Connolly says she’s with fiddle; an’ if that’s true, boys,
-maybe some o’ yez won’t be in luck. I’ll be able to spare a
-young fiddle or two among yez.”</p>
-
-<p>Many a tiny hand was clapped, and many an eye was lit
-up with the hope of getting a young fiddle; for gospel itself
-was never looked upon to be more true than this assertion of
-Mickey’s. And no wonder. The fact is, he used to amuse
-himself by making small fiddles of deal and horse-hair, which
-he carried about with him as presents for such youngsters as
-he took a fancy to. This he made a serious business of, and
-carried it on with an importance becoming the intimation just
-given. Indeed, I remember the time when I watched one of
-them, which I was so happy as to receive from him, day and
-night, with the hope of being able to report that it was growing
-larger; for my firm belief was, that in due time it would
-reach the usual size.</p>
-
-<p>As we went along, Mickey, with his usual tact, got out of
-us all the information respecting the several courtships of the
-neighbourhood that had reached us, and as much, too, of the
-village gossip and scandal as we knew.</p>
-
-<p>Nothing can exceed the overflowing kindness and affection
-with which the Irish fiddler is received on the occasion of a
-dance or merry-making; and to do him justice he loses no opportunity
-of exaggerating his own importance. From habit,
-and his position among the people, his wit and power of repartee
-are necessarily cultivated and sharpened. Not one of
-his jokes ever fails&mdash;a circumstance which improves his humour
-mightily; for nothing on earth sustains it so much as knowing,
-that, whether good or bad, it will be laughed at. Mickey, by
-the way, was a bachelor, and, though blind, was able, as he
-himself used to say, to see through his ears better than another
-could through the eyes. He knew every voice at once,
-and every boy and girl in the parish by name, the moment he
-heard them speak.</p>
-
-<p>On reaching the house he is bound for, he either partakes
-of, or at least is offered, refreshment, after which comes the
-ecstatic moment to the youngsters: but all this is done by due
-and solemn preparation. First he calls for a pair of scissors,
-with which he pares or seems to pare his nails; then asks for
-a piece of rosin, and in an instant half a dozen boys are off at
-a break-neck pace, to the next shoemaker’s, to procure it;
-whilst in the meantime he deliberately pulls a piece out of his
-pocket and rosins his bow. But, heavens! what a ceremony
-the opening of that fiddle-case is! The manipulation of the
-blind man as he runs his hand down to the key-hole&mdash;the turning
-of the key&mdash;the taking out of the fiddle&mdash;the twang twang&mdash;and
-then the first ecstatic sound, as the bow is drawn across
-the strings; then comes a screwing; then a delicious saw or
-two; again another screwing&mdash;twang twang&mdash;and away he
-goes with the favourite tune of the good woman, for such is the
-etiquette upon these occasions. The house is immediately
-thronged with the neighbours, and a preliminary dance is taken,
-in which the old folks, with good-humoured violence, are literally
-dragged out, and forced to join. Then come the congratulations&mdash;“Ah,
-Jack, you could do it wanst,” says Mickey,
-“an’ can still; you have a kick in you yet.” “Why, Mickey, I
-seen dancin’ in my time,” the old man will reply, his brow relaxed
-by a remnant of his former pride, and the hilarity of the
-moment, “but you see the breath isn’t what it used to be wid
-me, when I could dance the <i>Baltehorum Jig</i> on the bottom of
-a ten-gallon cask. But I think a glass o’ whisky will do us no
-harm afther that. Heighho!&mdash;well, well&mdash;I’m sure I thought
-<em>my</em> dancin’ days wor over.”</p>
-
-<p>“Bedad an’ you wor matched any how,” rejoined the fiddler.
-“Molshy carried as light a heel as ever you did; sorra a woman
-of her years ever I seen could cut the buckle wid her. You
-would know the tune on her feet still.”</p>
-
-<p>“Ah, Mickey, the thruth is,” the good woman would say,
-“we have no sich dancin’ now as there was in my days. Thry
-that glass.”</p>
-
-<p>“But as good fiddlers, Molshy, eh? Here’s to you both, and
-long may ye live to shake the toe! Whoo! bedad that’s great
-stuff. Come now, sit down. Jack, till I give you your ould favourite,
-‘<i>Cannie Soogah</i>.’”</p>
-
-<p>These were happy moments and happy times, which might
-well be looked upon as picturing the simple manners of country
-life with very little of moral shadow to obscure the cheerfulness
-which lit up the Irish heart and hearth into humble happiness.
-Mickey, with his usual good nature, never forgot the
-younger portion of his audience. After entertaining the old
-and full-grown, he would call for a key, one end of which he
-placed in his mouth, in order to make the fiddle sing for the
-children their favourite song, beginning with</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-<div class="verse">“Oh! grand-mamma, will you squeeze my wig?”</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This he did in such a manner, through the medium of the key,
-that the words seemed to be spoken by the instrument, and not
-by himself. After this was over, he would sing us, to his own
-accompaniment, another favourite, “There was a wee devil
-looked over the wall,” which generally closed that portion of the
-entertainment so kindly designed for <em>us</em>.</p>
-
-<p>Upon those moments I have often witnessed marks of deep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
-and pious feeling, occasioned by some memory of the absent or
-the dead, that were as beautiful as they were affecting. If, for
-instance, a favourite son or daughter happened to be removed
-by death, the father or mother, remembering the air which was
-loved best by the departed, would pause a moment, and with
-a voice full of sorrow, say, “Mickey, there is <em>one tune</em> that I
-would like to hear; I love to think of it, and to hear it; I do,
-for the sake of them that’s gone&mdash;my darlin’ son that’s lyin’ low:
-it was he that loved it. His ear is closed against it now; but
-for <em>his</em> sake&mdash;ay, for your sake, avourneen machree&mdash;we will
-hear it wanst more.”</p>
-
-<p>Mickey always played such tunes in his best style, and amidst
-a silence that was only broken by sobs, suppressed moanings,
-and the other tokens of profound sorrow. These gushes, however,
-of natural feeling soon passed away. In a few minutes the
-smiles returned, the mirth broke out again, and the lively dance
-went on as if their hearts had been incapable of such affection
-for the dead&mdash;affection at once so deep and tender. But many
-a time the light of cheerfulness plays along the stream of Irish
-feeling, when cherished sorrow lies removed from the human
-eye far down from the surface.</p>
-
-<p>These preliminary amusements being now over, Mickey is
-conducted to the dance-house, where he is carefully installed
-in the best chair, and immediately the dancing commences.
-It is not my purpose to describe an Irish dance here, having
-done it more than once elsewhere. It is enough to say that
-Mickey is now in his glory; and proud may the young man be
-who fills the honourable post of his companion, and sits next
-him. He is a living storehouse of intelligence, a travelling
-directory for the parish&mdash;the lover’s text-book&mdash;the young
-woman’s best companion; for where is the courtship going on
-of which he is not cognizant? where is there a marriage on
-the tapis, with the particulars of which he is not acquainted?
-He is an authority whom nobody would think of questioning.
-It is now, too, that he scatters his jokes about; and so correct
-and well trained is his ear, that he can frequently name the
-young man who dances, by the peculiarity of his step.</p>
-
-<p>“Ah ha! Paddy Brien, you’re there? Sure I’d know the
-sound of your smoothin’-irons any where. Is it thrue, Paddy,
-that you wor sint for down to Errigle Keerogue, to kill the
-clocks for Dan M’Mahon? But, nabuklish! Paddy, what’ll
-you have?”</p>
-
-<p>“Is that Grace Reilly on the flure? Faix, avourneen, you can
-do it; devil o’ your likes I <em>see</em> any where. I’ll lay Shibby to a
-penny trump that you could dance your own namesake&mdash;the
-<i lang="ga">Calleen dhas dhun</i>, the bonny brown girl&mdash;upon a spider’s cobweb,
-widout breakin’ it. Don’t be in a hurry, Grace dear, to
-tie the knot; <em>I’ll</em> wait for you.”</p>
-
-<p>Several times in the course of the night a plate is brought
-round, and a collection made for the fiddler: this was the
-moment when Mickey used to let the jokes fly in every direction.
-The timid he shamed into liberality, the vain he praised,
-and the niggardly he assailed by open hardy satire; all managed,
-however, with such an under-current of good humour,
-that no one could take offence. No joke ever told better than
-that of the broken string. Whenever this happened at night,
-Mickey would call out to some soft fellow, “Blood alive, Ned
-Martin, will you bring me a candle?&mdash;I’ve broken a string.”
-The unthinking young man, forgetting that he was blind, would
-take the candle in a hurry, and fetch it to him.</p>
-
-<p>“Faix, Ned. I knew you wor jist fit for’t; houldin’ a candle
-to a dark man! Isn’t he a beauty, boys?&mdash;look at him, girls&mdash;as
-cute as a pancake.”</p>
-
-<p>It is unnecessary to say, that the mirth on such occasions
-was convulsive. Another similar joke was also played off by
-him against such as he knew to be ungenerous at the collection.</p>
-
-<p>“Paddy Smith, I want a word wid you. I’m goin’ across
-the counthry as far as Ned Donnelly’s, and I want you to help
-me along the road, as the night is dark.”</p>
-
-<p>“To be sure, Mickey. I’ll bring you over as snug as if you
-wor on a clane plate, man alive!”</p>
-
-<p>“Thank you, Paddy; throth you’ve the dacency in you; an’
-kind father for you, Paddy. Maybe I’ll do as much for you
-some other time.”</p>
-
-<p>Mickey never spoke of this until the trick was played
-off, after which, he published it to the whole parish; and
-Paddy of course was made a standing jest for being so silly
-as to think that night or day had any difference to a man who
-could not see.</p>
-
-<p>Thus passed the life of Mickey M’Rorey, and thus pass the
-lives of most of his class, serenely and happily. As the sailor to
-his ship, the sportsman to his gun, so is the fiddler attached
-to his fiddle. His hopes and pleasures, though limited, are full.
-His heart is necessarily light, for he comes in contact with the
-best and brightest side of life and nature; and the consequence
-is, that their mild and mellow lights are reflected on and from
-himself. I am ignorant whether poor Mickey is dead or not;
-but I dare say he forgets the boy to whose young spirit he
-communicated so much delight, and who often danced with a
-buoyant and careless heart to the pleasant notes of his fiddle.
-Mickey M’Rorey, farewell! Whether living or dead, peace
-be with you!</p>
-
-<p>There is another character in Ireland essentially different
-from the mere fiddler&mdash;I mean the country dancing-master. In
-a future number of the Journal I will give a sketch of one who
-was eminent in his line. Many will remember him when I name
-<span class="smcap">Buckram-Back</span>.</p>
-
-<h2 class="gap4" id="THE_PASSING_BELL">THE PASSING BELL.</h2>
-
-<p class="center">BY J. U. U.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-<div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">With its measured pause, and its long-drawn wail,</div>
-<div class="verse">The minster bell swings on the gale,</div>
-<div class="verse">And saddens the vale with its solemn toll,</div>
-<div class="verse">That passeth away like a passing soul&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">Pulse after pulse still diminishing on,</div>
-<div class="verse">Till another rings forth for the dead and gone.</div>
-</div>
-<div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The minute-sound of that mourning bell</div>
-<div class="verse">Is the lord’s of the valley&mdash;the rich man’s knell:</div>
-<div class="verse">While it swells o’er his lawns and his woodlands bright,</div>
-<div class="verse">He breathes not, hears not, nor sees the light:</div>
-<div class="verse">On the couch of his ease he lies stiff and wan&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">In the midst of his pomp he is dead and gone.</div>
-</div>
-<div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">The pride hath passed from his haughty brow&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">Where are his plans and high projects now?</div>
-<div class="verse">Another lord in his state is crowned,</div>
-<div class="verse">To level his castles with the ground;</div>
-<div class="verse">Respect and terror pass reckless on&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">His frowns and favours are dead and gone.</div>
-</div>
-<div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Had he wisdom, and wealth, and fame,</div>
-<div class="verse">Mortal tongue shall forget his name:</div>
-<div class="verse">Other hands shall disperse his store&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">Earthly dream shall he dream no more:</div>
-<div class="verse">His chair is vacant&mdash;his way lies yon,</div>
-<div class="verse">To the formless cells of the dead and gone.</div>
-</div>
-<div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Passing bell, that dost sadly fling</div>
-<div class="verse">Thy wailing wave on the air of spring.</div>
-<div class="verse">There is no voice in thy long, wild moan,</div>
-<div class="verse">To tell where the parted soul is flown,</div>
-<div class="verse">To what far mansion it travels on&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">While thou tollest thus for the dead and gone.</div>
-</div>
-<div class="stanza">
-<div class="verse">Yet, bell of death, on the living air</div>
-<div class="verse">Thy tones come bound from the house of prayer&mdash;</div>
-<div class="verse">They speak of the Valley of Shadow, trod</div>
-<div class="verse">On a path once walked by the Son of God,</div>
-<div class="verse">Whose word of promise inviteth on,</div>
-<div class="verse">Through the gate unclosed for the dead and gone.</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="gap4"><span class="smcap">Current Coin of China.</span>&mdash;The only coin made in China
-is the tchen, or <em>cash</em>, as it is called in Canton. It is composed
-of base metal, having the date and reigning emperor’s name
-stamped on it. According to Gutzlaff, they had coins of this
-description a thousand years before our era. It is nearly as
-large as an old shilling. There is a square hole in the centre,
-to admit of a number of them being strung on a bamboo.
-From seven to eight hundred of these, according to the exchange,
-may be had for a Spanish dollar. Silver is the commercial
-medium of barter; it is not coined, but passes by
-weight, after being purified, when it is called sycee silver. It
-is then cast into lumps of one tael, or Chinese ounce, each,
-the value of which in English money is about six shillings.
-When decimal parts are required, it is cut. Spanish dollars
-are current in Canton, and they are also cut when required
-for lesser portions. Whenever one of these gets into the possession
-of a Chinese, he stamps his name on it; hence in a
-short time the Spanish marks become quite obliterated, and
-then they are called chop dollars, and are melted into sycee
-silver. Gold is like any other article of trade, and is not
-used as a medium of barter.&mdash;<cite>Dr Fulton’s Travelling Sketches
-in Various Countries.</cite></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2 class="gap4" id="EXTRAORDINARY_ANOMALY">EXTRAORDINARY ANOMALY.</h2>
-
-<p class="center">BERNARD CAVANAGH.</p>
-
-<p>In the hope that the narration of the following singular circumstances
-may attract the attention of medical and scientific
-men towards its extraordinary subject, we lay it before
-the readers of the <cite>Irish Penny Journal</cite>:&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>Bernard Cavanagh is about twenty-four years of age, and
-now living with his parents at nearly a mile distant from
-the little town of Swineford, county Mayo. The parents are
-respectable, of reputable character, and in comfortable circumstances.
-They assert&mdash;indeed they have made affidavits
-before a magistrate of the county&mdash;that for nearly the last
-four years he has existed without tasting sustenance of any
-kind. They state also that from the 2d September 1836 to the
-2d July 1840, he neither spoke nor rose from his bed except
-to allow it to be arranged, during which operation he never
-opened his mouth; and this portion of the statement is borne
-out to a considerable extent by the fact of his having been
-visited frequently, and at various periods, by persons of high
-respectability as well as of the lower class, on all which occasions
-he was observed invariably in the same position, with
-his hands on his breast and his eyes fixed on the window.</p>
-
-<p>The night before he betook himself to bed, he knocked at
-the door of the priest’s house, and stated that he wished to
-communicate something to him; but the reverend gentleman
-declined admitting him, in consequence of the lateness of the
-hour, saying that he could impart whatever he wished to state
-on the morrow.</p>
-
-<p>“But I will not be here to-morrow,” responded Cavanagh;
-and he was right: the next day he took to his bed.</p>
-
-<p>In the interval between September 1836 and the present season,
-public attention on a limited scale was occasionally directed
-towards Cavanagh. But the report of his utter and
-continued abstinence from food was treated as a monstrous
-fable by every one at any distance from his immediate locality,
-and the extraordinary allegations respecting him were beginning
-to fade from general recollection, when, to the utter astonishment
-of every one in his neighbourhood, he arose from bed
-and recovered his speech and powers of moving about; since
-which time he continues, according to the accounts, without
-sustenance in any shape, and has been visited by thousands
-of persons from various quarters.</p>
-
-<p>In boyhood, Cavanagh’s education extended barely as far as
-the acquirement of reading and writing; but he constantly exhibited
-strong marks of religious enthusiasm, often proceeding
-to Meelick chapel (about three miles from his residence)
-to one mass, and then attending another at his own parish
-chapel of Swineford. It is said, too, that he at one time constructed
-a sort of rude building for his private devotion in the
-open fields, and repeatedly went to prayers at meal-times in
-his father’s house, contenting himself with <em>one</em> meal in the day,
-as if preparing himself for his total fast. Accordingly, since
-resuming his speech and motion he haunts the chapel at all
-hours by day and night, continuing for hours together apparently
-in private prayer, and generally attended by a large
-concourse of the peasantry, whom he addresses by fits and
-starts, and many of whom are naturally, under the circumstances,
-beginning to deem him not a human being at all, but
-a shadow.</p>
-
-<p>He seems not inclined to speak much, though he states he
-has had “high visions.” His reply to the clergymen respecting
-his revelations and fasting, is, that he is fed by the Word;
-that he is not at liberty to detail his visions for the gratification
-of man; and that no one should judge lest he be judged.</p>
-
-<p>Cavanagh is about the middle height, of a grave emaciated
-countenance; his motions are quite unembarrassed, and his
-voice is sonorous and distinct when he speaks, which is still
-but seldom, as he seems to utterly disregard his visitors, whatever
-their rank.</p>
-
-<p>As we said before, he continues daily to draw thousands of
-the peasantry around him, who eagerly watch every word that
-falls from his lips, as they place implicit faith in the assertion
-that he has lived without any description of food for the last
-four years, and of course regard him as something entirely
-beyond the pale of ordinary humanity. <em>We</em> are, however,
-not so easy of belief in a case so much at variance with the
-ordinary regulations of nature; at the same time that we are
-free to admit that it is hard to conceive what motive the young
-man or his parents could have for carrying on such an imposition,
-as the latter endeavoured at first to conceal the
-matter altogether, and, in the next place, have repeatedly refused
-money offered by their respectable visitors, though, in
-fact, their means are a good deal diminished by the hospitality
-extended to each successive guest; while a young sister, who
-has constantly attended Cavanagh since he has lain and fasted
-according to the statement, persists in declaring, with the
-strongest appearance of innocence and belief in the truth of
-her own assertion, that it was impossible he could have tasted
-any thing during any part of that time unknown to her, and
-that he never had.</p>
-
-<p>That a person of narrow intellect and strong devotional
-propensities should be seized with a religious monomania, and
-that to a being of a weak mind and a debilitated frame strange
-visions should occur, is perfectly comprehensible; but that
-the frail materials of the human frame, which needs the nourishment
-of food as much as the flower requires sunshine and
-moisture, should endure for such a period without support, is
-so unprecedented in all the records of mankind, and so contradictory
-to the general laws of nature, that it would require
-the most powerful proofs indeed to convince the intelligent
-mind of its truth. We therefore again express our strong
-hope that this slight sketch may produce the effect of having
-Cavanagh’s case submitted to the test of eminent medical
-skill&mdash;a test to which the parents profess their entire willingness
-to assent, and thus a case of the grossest imposition be
-detected, and thousands of simple beings disabused, or one
-of the most extraordinary of nature’s anomalies be clearly
-ascertained and exhibited.</p>
-
-<p class="right">A.</p>
-
-<p class="gap4"><span class="smcap">Scene in the Theatre at Leghorn.</span>&mdash;My time passed
-delightfully while I remained in Leghorn. The Russian fleet
-was at anchor in the Bay, commanded by Admiral O’Dwyer,
-a distinguished seaman, and an Irishman by birth. The Storaces
-and myself often went on board his ship, and were delighted
-by hearing the Russians chaunt their evening hymn.
-The melody is beautifully simple, and was always sung completely
-in tune by this immense body of men. There was at
-the same time in the harbour a privateer from Dublin, called
-the Fame, Captain Moore: he and his first officer Campbell
-were Irishmen, and had a fine set of Irish lads under them.
-When Storace’s benefit took place, the officers and crew who
-could be spared from their duty, to a man (and a famous sight
-it was) marched to the theatre, and almost filled the par-terre.
-At the end of the opera, Storace sang the Irish ballad
-“Molly Astore,” at the conclusion of which, the boatswain
-of the Fame gave a loud whistle, and the crew in a body
-rose and gave three cheers. The dismay of the Italian part
-of the audience was ludicrous in the extreme. The sailors
-then sang “God save the King” in full chorus, and when done,
-applauded themselves to the very skies: nothing could be
-more unanimous or louder than their self-approbation.&mdash;<cite>Reminiscences
-of Michael Kelly.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="gap4"><span class="smcap">Truth.</span>&mdash;Truth is the foundation of virtue. An habitual
-regard for it is absolutely necessary. He who walks by the
-light of it has the advantage of the mid-day sun; he who
-would spurn it, goes forth amid clouds and darkness. There
-is no way in which a man strengthens his own judgment, and
-acquires respect in society so surely, as by a scrupulous regard
-to truth. The course of such an individual is right on
-and straight on. He is no changeling, saying one thing to-day
-and another to-morrow. Truth to him is like a mountain
-landmark to the pilot: he fixes his eye upon a point that
-does not move, and he enters the harbour in safety. On the
-contrary, one who despises truth and loves falsehood is like a
-pilot who takes a piece of drift-wood for his landmark, which
-changes with every changing wave. On this he fixes his attention,
-and, being insensibly led from his course, strikes upon
-some hidden reef, and sinks to rise no more. Thus truth
-brings success; falsehood results in ruin and contempt.&mdash;<cite>Dr
-Channing.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="gap4"><span class="smcap">Gaming.</span>&mdash;I look upon every man as a suicide from the
-moment he takes the dice-box desperately in his hand; and
-all that follows in his fatal career from that fatal time is only
-sharpening the dagger before he strikes it to his heart.&mdash;<cite>Cumberland.</cite></p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="blockquote">
-
-<p>Printed and Published every Saturday by <span class="smcap">Gunn</span> and <span class="smcap">Cameron</span>, at the Office
-of the General Advertiser, No. 6, Church Lane, College Green, Dublin.&mdash;Agents:&mdash;<span class="smcap">R.
-Groombridge</span>, Panyer Alley, Paternoster Row, London.
-<span class="smcap">Simms</span> and <span class="smcap">Dinham</span>, Exchange Street, Manchester. <span class="smcap">J. Davies</span>,
-North John Street, Liverpool. <span class="smcap">J. Drake</span>, Birmingham. <span class="smcap">M. Bingham</span>,
-Broad Street, Bristol. <span class="smcap">Fraser</span> and <span class="smcap">Crawford</span>, George Street, Edinburgh.
-<span class="smcap">David Robertson</span>, Trongate, Glasgow.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<p class="transnote" id="transnote">Transcriber’s Note: In the original, the date of 766 was given for the
-death of “Dubdainber, the son of Cormac, Abbot of Monasterboice”. Based
-on its order in the chronology (and cross-reference with other historical
-sources) this is presumed to be a misprint and has been changed to 786.</p>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
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-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 7,
-August 15, 1840, by Various
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