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diff --git a/old/55603-0.txt b/old/55603-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fe2f062..0000000 --- a/old/55603-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1557 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 51, -June 19, 1841, 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. 51, June 19, 1841 - -Author: Various - -Release Date: September 22, 2017 [EBook #55603] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRISH PENNY JOURNAL, JUNE 19, 1841 *** - - - - -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) - - - - - - - - - - - THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL. - - NUMBER 51. SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1841. VOLUME I. - -[Illustration: SAINT SENAN’S WELL, COUNTY OF CLARE.] - -There are perhaps no objects in our own dear Ogygia, or Sacred Island, -as it was also anciently called, which strike the minds of strangers -with greater surprise, and excite them to more meditative reflection, -than the holy wells which are so numerous in it, and the religious -observances--to them so strange--which they see practised at them. By -the devout of the reformed creeds, among such observers, these sacred -fountains, with their adjacent and almost equally sacred trees, covered -with bits of rag and other votive offerings of propitiation or gratitude -to the presiding spirit of the spot, who is generally the patron saint of -the district, are usually regarded with horror, as objects closely allied -to pagan idolatry; and the religious devotions which they see practised -at them excite only feelings of pity or contempt for what they consider -the debased intellect of the votaries who frequent them. By the painter, -poet, and the mere man of taste, however, they are viewed in a spirit of -greater toleration, and with a more pleasing interest, particularly in -the western portions of our island, where the wild scenery amid which -they are generally to be met with, the symmetrical forms and often -beautiful faces of the devotees, and the brilliant colours of their -ancient national costumes, impart that interest and picturesqueness to -the spectacle of which our own great national painter Burton has so -admirably availed himself, and made familiar to the world, in his picture -of the Blind Girl at the Holy Well. It is, however, by the antiquary -and the philosopher that they are viewed with the deepest interest, for -to the one they present in all their vividness the still existing images -of customs which originated in the earliest period of the history of our -race, while to the other they supply the most touching evidences of the -strength of that devotional instinct, however blind and misapplied, that -humble faith in the existence and omnipotence of a Divine Intelligence, -which are among the loftiest feelings of our nature, and which, when -properly directed, must lead to the noblest results. In the minds of such -philosophers, a contemplation of the usages to which we have referred -will be apt to excite, not feelings of depression and despondency, but -rather cheering anticipations of hope for the future prospects and -ultimate happiness of the human race; and they who practise those usages -will be regarded, even in their present meanness of garb, and concomitant -vulgarity of habits, not as degraded outcasts from society, grovelling in -the mire of ignorance and superstition, but as members of the universal -human family, to be tolerated and cherished in all kindliness; while, -with respect to their peculiar devotion, for which so many censure them, -it can still be said, - - ----“This may be superstition, weak or wild, - But even the faintest relicts of a shrine - Of any worship, wake some thoughts divine.” - -The Pagan origin of well-worship is now established beyond the -possibility of contradiction, and its extreme antiquity is lost in the -night of time. This has been satisfactorily shown in a very interesting -essay, written with a view to the annihilation of its remains in -Ireland, by a Roman Catholic clergyman of distinguished abilities and -learning, the late Dr Charles O’Conor. This learned writer attributes -its introduction into the British islands, and Ireland in particular, -to the Phœnicians, and quotes several authorities to show that if it -had not its origin with the Chaldeans, it can at least be traced as -far back as to them, and that from Chaldea and Persia it passed into -Arabia, thence into Egypt and Lybia, and lastly into Greece, Italy, -Spain, and Ireland. In all these countries its vestiges are still to -be found, but in none of them at this day so numerous as in Ireland; -and it is remarkable that its usages are still identical in the far -distant regions of the east with those in our own _Ultima Thule_ of the -west. This identity is clearly evidenced by Hanway, in his “Travels -in Persia,” in which he says, “We arrived at a desolate caravanserai, -where we found nothing but water. I observed a tree _with a number of -rags to the branches_. These were so many charms which passengers coming -from Ghilan, a province remarkable for agues, had left there in a fond -expectation of leaving their disease also in the same spot.” Similar -instances have been adduced by later travellers in the east, in reading -whose descriptions we might almost suppose that they were depicting -scenes in Ireland; and if all other evidences were wanting, these facts -alone would be sufficient to establish the conclusion that the worship -of fountains in Ireland was of Pagan origin. But we have in our ancient -manuscripts the most satisfactory historical evidences to establish the -fact. Thus, in Tirechan’s Life of St Patrick, preserved in the Book of -Armagh, and St Evin’s Life as published by Colgan, it is stated, in -detailing the progress of the Irish Apostle through Ireland, that he came -to the fountain called Slan [that is, health], “because it was indicated -to him that the Magi honoured this fountain, and made donations to it as -gifts to God.” This fountain was square, and there was a square stone in -the mouth of it, and the water came over the stone, that is, through the -interstices; and the Pagans told him that a certain Magus, who worshipped -water as a divinity, and considered fire as a destroyer, when dying, made -a shrine for his bones in the water beneath the stone, in order that they -might be preserved. Patrick told the assembled congregation that it was -not true that the king of the waters was in the fountain, and bade them -raise up the stone, remarking that the bones of a man were not beneath -it, but that he thought there was some gold and silver appearing through -the joinings from their impious offerings; no such valuable offerings -were, however, found; and Patrick consecrated the stone so raised to -the true Divinity. It may not be unworthy of remark, that the well of -Finnmagh is still, as in the time of St Patrick, equally reverenced, -though under a different name and with a different faith. It is now -called Tober Brighde, or Bride’s Well, having been subsequently dedicated -to that saint as well as all the churches in the plain of Finnmagh, -and under this name the Druidical well of _Slan_ is one of the most -frequented and honoured in the whole of the county of Roscommon. - -Several authorities of the same character as that now adduced may be -found in the lives of other early Irish saints, but it is not necessary -to our purpose to quote them. - -Dr O’Conor shows from various evidences that on the firm establishment -of Christianity in various parts of Europe the most severe ordinances of -the church were promulgated against the continuance of well-worship in -any form. “I have already stated,” he observes, “that well-worshipping -has been utterly abolished by the Catholic religion in Italy. The -_Fontinalia_ exist no longer; the fountain of Egeria, which I have seen -near Rome, is known only to the learned; and I have seen the common -peasantry of Castel Gandolfo and Marino washing their linen in the sacred -waters of the _Ferentine_ Assemblies of Latium and of Rome!” - -In reference to its abolition in England, he adduces a canon made in the -reign of Edgar, A.D. 960, by which it was ordained “that every priest -_do forbid the worship of fountains_, and necromancy, and auguries, and -enchantments, and soothsayings, and false worship, and legerdemain, which -carry men into various impostures, and to groves and Ellens, and also -many _trees_ of divers sorts, and _stones_.” - -He also shows that similar ordinances appear in the Capitularies of -Charlemagne, and that amongst the laws of the reign of Ecgbright, A.D. -740, the 148th canon is:--“If any man, following the custom of the -Pagans, introduce diviners or sorcerers into his house, or attend the -_lustrations_ of Pagans, let him do penance for five years.” - -It may be asked, then, how has it happened that the veneration paid to -wells has continued in Ireland even to the present day, and to this -question it is not very easy to give a satisfactory answer. It may be -remarked, however, that no evidences have yet been discovered to show -that similar local ordinances were made to destroy their continuance in -Ireland, and that it may hence be inferred that the attachment of the -Irish People generally to their ancient usages in this instance, as well -as in their funeral lamentations, May-fires, and many other ceremonies -of a religious character derived from the same eastern and Pagan origin, -was too strong even for the power of the clergy to eradicate or greatly -diminish. Certain it is, that the pilgrimages to Lough Derg, which, there -is every reason to believe, derive their origin from the same source, -were abolished by an order of Pope Alexander VI, in 1497, and yet the -people returned to them again, and they are at the present moment as -numerously made, if not more so than ever. And, in like manner, the -pilgrimages to wells, even where discountenanced and punished by the -Roman Catholic clergy, as they are now in almost every part of Ireland, -are still continued in secrecy, with a tenacity to ancient usages -singularly characteristic of the Irish race, and which will ensure their -existence for a considerable time longer. - -St Senan’s Well, which we have selected as a characteristic example of -the holy wells of Ireland, is situated near the west bank of the Shannon, -near Dunass, in the county of Clare. There is nothing very peculiar to -distinguish this well from a thousand other fountains of the same kind, -but the unusual character of the votive offerings made at it, which, as -our engraving exhibits, consist chiefly of wooden bowls, tea-cups whole -and broken, blacking-pots, and similar odd offerings of gratitude to St -Seanan Liath, or Seanan the Hoary, the patron saint of the parish. - - P. - - - - -A FAIR-DAY IN NORMANDY, - -BY MARTIN DOYLE. - - -Having a strong desire to procure some of the small compact Norman -draught horses for my farm-work, I ventured last year to visit Normandy, -for the purpose of making the desired selections. I took with me a young -friend, who had been partly educated in France, as my interpreter with -the French horse-dealers, and to arrange every particular for me during -my intended hasty intercourse with the foreigners. But previously we went -for passports to the office in Poland-street, where the Consul filled -up the documents without ever looking at our faces, and I believe very -incorrectly as to portraiture. “Your profession?” inquired he in French, -as he was scribbling down the length of my nose, the colour of my hair -and eyes, &c. “Homme de lettres,” responded my companion for me. I nodded -my head in acquiescence, without knowing anything about the matter; but -I was quite satisfied when my friend explained it afterwards to me, and -assured me that Lord Brougham, when Lord Chancellor, had from sheer -modesty sunk his rank and other artificial honours on going to Paris, and -simply designated himself as “Avocat, et homme de lettres.” “Does not -all the world,” said my companion, “know perfectly well that you are, in -the first place, one of the props of the Irish Penny Journal?” “Enough,” -said I, somewhat tickled by the reference to Lord Brougham; “be it as you -please--though I think that, as a farmer going to France merely to buy -horses, I might as well have been written down under the useful character -of ‘agriculturist.’” My passport, however, was by this time in my pocket, -and any alteration in it was out of the question. - -I had ascertained that a fair would be held on a particular day at -Falaise, and having time enough to make a long journey by land, and much -curiosity to see Calais, I determined to go there: we reached that port -early in the day. - -“Well, then, I am in France,” said I, as we landed from the steamer -on the pier; “here I am, actually on the Continent, looking at French -soldiers, who won’t shoot me, stab me, nor take me prisoner, and on -fishwomen, with kerchiefs tastily arranged on their heads, large -ear-rings, and brown faces, and hearing a language altogether strange to -me.” After staring about me there for half a day, and eating a very nice -dinner in a very grand hotel, fitted up as if there was never any winter -in that part of France, we moved onwards in a most extraordinary kind of -coach: such a lumbering machine!--less than an entire troop of cavalry -appeared to me insufficient to move its prodigious wheels; yet five -miserable-looking horses, with dirty half rotten harness, were compelled -to pull it along towards Boulogne at the rate of more than four miles an -hour. - -I know not how it happened--perhaps it was fatigue--possibly a dose of -claret, which caused me to fall asleep in the cuppy[1] soon after I had -passed the barriers of Calais. Be this as it may, while I was dreaming -of home, there was a sudden stop, which aroused me. I could have sworn -at the moment that I was upon a dreary part of the road between Wexford -and Dungarvan; for, besides the general features of the locality, I saw -on the door of a very Irish-like looking public-house, these words--“John -Cullen sells beer and brandy.” “Where am I?” said I to myself; “surely -not in France.” The matter was explained to me. There are several -hundred families of English manufacturers, principally from Nottingham, -employed at their trade in Calais and its vicinity; and John Cullen, who -says he is a Yorkshireman, and has certainly been for more than twenty -years established where he now is, and has married a Frenchwoman, finds -it his interest to brew good beer, and to keep a public-house for the -entertainment of his neighbours and the operatives of Calais, although -the town is three miles distant. But at the moment I was fully impressed -with the notion that John Cullen and his house were in the barony of -Bargy, or in that of Forth. - -As the horses at this place were not disposed to run away with the -diligence, and the conductor had no indisposition to a glass of brandy, -I contrived to enter John Cullen’s house, which certainly has nothing -English about it, and asked for the landlord, who soon appeared--an -apparently thoroughbred Irishman, and with a fry of half-bred youngsters -at his heels, speaking the oddest jargon that ever man heard. At first I -hoped that it might have been the old dialect of the barony of Forth, but -I was grievously disappointed. Though John Cullen brews very good beer, -which he sends regularly into Calais, and sells very fair brandy, it -would be no harm, from what I could learn, if Father Mathew could spare -time to make a morning visit to his neighbourhood. - -The greater part of the way from Calais to Boulogne is bleak, open, and -ill drained, and altogether more of a snipe-shooting country than a -farmer would desire to see, with a good deal of wheat, however, here and -there, but not in the regularly formed ridges which I had seen in England. - -We reached Boulogne that night, and fixed ourselves quietly in an English -kind of hotel, after having been well tormented, before we were fairly -housed, by emissaries from half a dozen establishments, pressing us in -French, English, and German, to patronise their respective employers. -We started at five o’clock the next morning from a coach-office very -like one of our own in its arrangement of desks, clerks, way-bills, and -weighing machines. - -On _some_ parts of my journey, as we receded from the coast, the drill -husbandry, the garden-like culture, and the open country entirely under -tillage, resembled portions of England, especially in those districts -where the rural population is confined to villages very distant from each -other, and concealed from the road. The French peasants are very early -risers; I saw many of them at their various labours at four o’clock in -the morning; some women at that hour were leading cows by a string--three -very frequently connected together--or a few wretched-looking sheep, to -pasture on the margin of the road. The dresses of these people, and the -appearance of the sheep, in those spots, informed me very unmistakeably -that I was no longer in England. Sometimes, however, an entire flock of -sheep met our observation. One of these, under the care of a shepherd, -and two dogs which showed remarkable sagacity, we particularly noticed. -The sheep, when I caught the first view of them, were huddled together -in a fallow field, looking wistfully at, but not presuming to touch, a -compartment of luxuriant clover within a few feet of them. The shepherd, -leaving one of the dogs with the flock, and having the other at his -heels, paced off a square of ten or twelve yards, slightly marking the -limits with his foot; he then made a signal to the sentry dog, which at -once allowed the sheep to pass on to the clover, while the other dog -perambulated the prescribed limits, and prevented them from encroaching a -single foot. - -As I do not mean to trouble the reader with all the details of my -journey, I need only say that I reached in safety the very heart of -Normandy; and on the way, while admiring the woods, rivers, meadows, and -undulating scenery through which we passed, I perceived a resemblance to -the county of Wicklow, and many other well-wooded and fertile parts of -Ireland. - -I had been unable to reach Falaise the night before the fair, but I was -there in time for an early breakfast; and certainly this breakfast was -of an extraordinary kind. We had broth well thickened with vegetables; -the bouilli from which the juices had been extracted made its appearance -as a matter of course, and the whole company took a bit of it. Then came -the liver of a sheep fried in oil, a dish of white beans well mashed and -buttered, cheese, cider, and (though last not least appropriately to the -breakfast table) coffee and boiled milk, with eggs and bread and butter. -Many of the company, including some lady-like looking females, dipped -their well-buttered bread into their coffee, and swallowed it in this -nasty greasy manner with great apparent relish, and several of the party -pocketed the lumps or sugar which they did not use with their coffee. -But every country has its own fashions; and if people are here put upon -an allowance in the article of sugar, and pay for a fixed quantity, why -should they not take away that for which they pay, if they please? - -I hastened away from the breakfast table to the place where the fair -was held, and was surprised at the similarity of the scene before me to -those which I have so often witnessed at home. It had nothing of the -English character, excepting some wooden drinking-booths and caravans -for showmen; there were no smart-looking horse-jockeys, no well-dressed -grooms, not a white smock-frock, a laced buskin, a well-trimmed bonnet, -nor a neatly appointed tax-cart or gig in view; but a crowd of men -generally dressed in blue jackets and trousers and glazed hats, among -whom were interspersed some wearing the blue blouse, and a cloth cap -or red worsted nightcap, and a great number of women in their striped -woollens, and high white linen or muslin coifs--nay some of these (on -the heads of the rich farmers’ wives) were of lace, and worth scores -of pounds sterling. The whole assemblage (combining with it groups of -country fellows mounted on hardy ponies, with here and there a woman -_en croupe_, or independently on a pad, with bags behind and before -her, kicking away at the ribs of their horses with their heavy sabots) -reminded me of what we see on a market-day in several parts of Ireland. -Then, to render the similitude more striking, there were the clamour -and jargon of persons buying and selling; and now and then a half -drunken fellow singing in the lightness of his heart, or very noisy in -argument; but generally courteous, and _never_ daring to strike a blow, -and a pedlar selling beads and almanacks amidst a din of oaths and -imprecations, and the embarrassments occasioned by the movements of a -team of four bullocks and three little horses in single file, dragging -each other along with a huge tonneau of cider for the refreshment of the -thirsty crowd, on a two-wheeled waggon, in the rear. We had passed this -rude and very dirty vehicle, when the roll of a drum startled me. Thinks -I to myself, “war is about to commence in earnest,” but it was only the -preliminary flourish of a drummer, who immediately afterwards read out -a notice that a celebrated dentist was about to appear in his voiture, -for the purpose of relieving sufferers from those ailments which, alas! -are incidental to us in every stage of life. Having raised his hat from -respect to the majesty of the sovereign people, he moved off to an -adjacent street, while the great operator himself appeared at hand in a -showy kind of cab drawn by two horses (one in the shafts and the other in -the outrigger style), with a tawdrily dressed postilion to guide them. -Being in haste to reach the open square where the horse fair was held, I -had little time for witnessing the operations of the tooth-drawer, who -was flourishing his case of instruments in a most attractive way. When he -had trapped his victim, he blew a long loud blast upon a horn to intimate -that he was going to operate before the crowd, and after keeping the -sufferer in an agony of suspense and nervousness, he pulled out one or -more teeth with a _large nail_ (sometimes a screw) in the twinkling of an -eye, and with a degree of dexterity which I had conceived impossible. I -was afterwards told that he had several patients in succession, from whom -as they sat backwards in the cab, within view of hundreds of spectators, -he extracted teeth at the rate of sixpence each. This practitioner, -however, was not without a rival: another dentist was mounted on a high, -raw-boned horse, with his case of instruments, and some physic for -curing the rheumatism, in a leathern portmanteau strapped upon the pommel -of his saddle: his dress was of a military character--his coat being -braided like an undress frock; his bridle and saddle of the cavalry form; -his headpiece, a forage cap; and his boots and spurs like those of a -dragoon in the days of the Duke of Marlborough; a _coronet_ hung from his -saddle-bow; and whenever the other dentist sounded his bugle, this man -blew from beneath the overhanging cover of thick hair on his upper lip, a -longer and a louder strain. But the peculiarity of his style of operating -was really striking: instead of dismounting and removing the tooth, he -remained steadily in his saddle, examined the mouths of the patients who -presented themselves for relief, and from his vantage ground pulled or -rather pushed out the diseased grinder. While I was looking on, he poked -out three with a hooked nail for one sous, saying, successively, as he -drew them in a few seconds (as my companion translated his expressions -for me), “Here’s a long one; here’s a longer; and here’s the longest of -all.” - -A quack doctor in a huge caravan drawn by four horses, appeared next, and -apparently with much profitable practice, among the dupes who crowded -about him to read his puffs and buy his physic. A pedlar in another -part of the _place_ where the crowd was considerable, without coat or -waistcoat (the wind was at north-east), and labouring very hard with his -hands and lungs, was disposing of coloured cotton handkerchiefs by a sort -of auction form. He took a piece from a lot of the same pattern, tied it -round his waist or on his head as an indication that the handkerchiefs -he was about to put up for sale were of the same sort, and then named -a price, lowering the amount, perhaps, from twenty to fourteen sous, -until he heard such an amount bid as satisfied him; then with the -rapidity of a conjuror he flung the article to the bidder. Another and -another purchaser followed as fast as he could unfold and throw the -handkerchiefs at their faces, stopping occasionally for a few seconds to -receive payments from many customers; then he opened a fresh lot, and -thus perpetually exhibited varieties, selling all the time at a rate of -rapidity which I had never seen equalled, and which could only occur -where every individual in the little crowd is strictly honest. - -Little bags of silver and copper were, in the open booths, carelessly -slipped into unlocked boxes, from which any clever rogue might easily -have helped himself; but such an occurrence is almost unknown in the -provincial parts of France. These latter exhibitions were certainly -neither English nor Irish. - -It would afford no interest to any of my readers to inform them of the -number of horses which I purchased, nor of the prices which I paid, nor -of the arrangements which I made for sending them to Liverpool. It is -enough to tell them that out of the many strings of horses which had been -conducted to the fair in the English way by ropes from the head to the -tail, and the tail to the head, in succession, and were now drawn up in -rank and file under the shade of a wall for inspection, I bought some of -those which were most free from the characteristic defects of the Norman -horses, and had them safely stabled. - -I returned to the scene of gaiety and confusion. There was a young woman -there, bare-headed, but decently dressed in the main, playing upon a -violin, while her male partner blew a terrible blast upon a bugle at -intervals, at the conclusion of each, announcing a grand spectacle for -the evening. The female had given a finishing scrape, and in a moment -was on the ground, flat upon her back, but fortunately without injury -to herself or her fiddle. I looked about and perceived the cause of the -disaster: a horse had been pressed forward very rudely through the crowd, -with a calf dangling from each of his sides, and one of these coming into -violent contact with the fair musician, had thrown her down. - -The mode by which those wretched animals had been conveyed to the fair -was truly horrible. The four legs of each being bound, a rope connecting -the poor creatures together by their tortured limbs was passed over the -back of the horse, keeping them _in equilibrio_, and with the heads -hanging downwards in agony, while the ligatures confining the legs by -which they were suspended were impressed, by the weight of the body -below, into the very bone! Oh, for a Humane Society in France to prevent -such monstrous cruelty, taking for their motto the sentiment of her -own Montaigne: “even theology enjoins kindness to brute animals; and -considering that the same Master has given us our dwelling-place with -them, and that they like ourselves are of his family, we should have a -_fellow feeling_ for them!” - -Attracted by a concourse of children in another spot, I soon found myself -standing close to an old woman who was dealing out small thin cakes in -a curious kind of manner. Before her was placed what appeared to be a -small round table, but with an index, which, after being set in motion -by a boy, stopped suddenly, and pointed like the hand of a clock to one -of twelve numbers described in a circle. The perpetual invitation was, -“Play, play! twelve cakes for a halfpenny;” and the little urchins, -preferring the chance of twelve cakes for a halfpenny to the certainty -of perhaps only three or four from a regular vender elsewhere, came up -in rapid succession and with eager eyes to the game. Joy sparkled in -the countenance of the juvenile speculator if the hand pointed to a -high number; disappointment lowered upon his brow if a unit or two was -the number which fortune assigned to him, while the hearty laugh of the -spectators increased the acrimony of his temper. - -I tried my own luck, and had one cake for my share, to the unrestrained -delight of the little folk. - -“Cakes for a halfpenny!” said I to myself. “What a good subject for a -moral reflection!” - -Here we have the seeds of gambling sown at an early season in the lively -soil, and the systematic culture of this baneful and vivacious principle -subsequently ensures its establishment in the human heart through the -length and breadth of the land; it finds its congenial bed every where, -from the child of the poorest mechanic to the grey-headed gamester in -the polished societies of higher life. The avaricious principle thus -precociously introduced into the youthful heart among the many natural -weeds which are but too ready to spring up there, has its own distinctive -fruits; and though it may be urged by those who think not deeply on the -effects of early impressions on the ductile mind of childhood, that the -disappointment which the little gamester experiences in his play of -“twelve cakes for a halfpenny” counterbalances (as a trial of temper) the -evils arising on the other hand from success in his object, this defence -is really untenable in its general points. - -In the little party before me I saw the willing and prepared pupils of -a higher order of play--of rouge-et-noir, and hazard, and ecarté--by -which so many of our own countrymen are infatuated, and sometimes ruined, -when they take up their residence in France, heedless of the value of -that time and those opportunities for the right use of which they are -responsible to the bountiful Giver of them. - -We now entered a low kind of café, in which the next scene of the serious -drama of “twelve cakes for a sous” was exhibited. In one room was a -billiard-table, at which two common-looking fellows were playing, at -the rate of threepence an hour for the tables, for a cup of coffee and -a glass of brandy. In a corner sat a bloated, half-drunken looking old -man in a blouse and nightcap, while his bustling wife discharged all the -labours of the establishment. - -In walked a burly-looking customer, who ordered a glass of brandy for -himself, and another for the landlord Nicole. Immediately afterwards--and -this was a daily practice with old Nicole--a game of cards was proposed, -which terminated in favour of the customer, who walked off scot free. - -In several instances the old man played in this way--double or quits with -his customers--for the amount of coffee, wine, cider, or brandy, consumed -in his company (he himself copiously partaking of all), and no one seemed -without some play for it, to pay for what he had ordered. At several -tables there were many parties playing in this way at different rates; -and certainly if some of them had seen the contortions of their faces in -a mirror, they would have been disgusted with a vice which so agitates -the human frame, and unfits for every wise and rational pursuit. - -Having only played “spoil-five” and “five-and-forty” in my youth, -I neither understood nor wished to learn the game which was played -around me. My young friend and I went to our hotel, and there found the -chambermaid and the waiter, while they were awaiting our arrival, playing -ecarté together on the dinner table for the amount of their morning’s -gratuities. “Twelve cakes for a halfpenny!” said I to myself again. - -It only remains for me to tell how I got back to England. - -I had reached Havre, by the beautiful Seine from Rouen, in the evening, -without any particular adventure, and gone to an hotel kept by an -Englishman, just as a waiter was cursing an unlucky boy, who had broken -a wine-glass, in true English style. I heartily regretted that I had not -gone to a French house, in which, if the waiter had cursed for a month in -his own language, I should not have understood him. - -An accident had happened to the regular steamer for London, and there -appeared no chance of my getting off for three days; I was in despair, -especially as my horses had preceded me from another port, and I wished -to be in Liverpool contemporaneously with their arrival there. - -In the course of the night I was informed that a steam-vessel had just -arrived in Havre from Gibraltar, with some of the Braganza family on -their way to Paris, and that she was going on to London at day-break. I -tucked up my portmanteau under my arm, and my young friend and I sallied -out to the part of the quay where the steamer lay, in profound darkness -and the most perfect silence. “Qui vive?” said a watchman, as he put -his lantern to my face and a hand upon my throat, while I was advancing -to the gangboard. My companion explained; and as I had the prudence to -give a franc to the watchman, he lighted us carefully to the side of the -vessel. - -Down we groped our way to the cabin; all was darkness there, and every -one on board was asleep. The vessel was so full that the steward and -his wife were lying on the floor (in a heavy slumber), and directly in -my way. I spoke: no one answered. I caught the stewardess by the nose, -and could not conceive what it was that I had in my hand. She screamed, -and gave her husband a smart blow on the head, thinking that he was the -assailant. “Pordonnez,” said I, trying to speak civilly in French, and -supposing they could not understand English. “Who the deuce is there?” -roared out the steward. “Oh, English,” said I to myself. I explained, -and slipped a five-franc piece into the man’s hand, and apologized at -the same time to his wife for having pulled her nose instead of the -bell-handle. - -“The captain is asleep,” said he, “but I shall awake him.” “Good fellow,” -said I. - -My interpreter and I followed him, and the captain, who had heard the -bustle, opened his cabin door. I repeated the purport of my unseasonable -visit, telling him, by way of a clincher, that the Irish Penny Journal, -to which I contributed by far the best articles (“and which,” said I, -“you of course take for the gratification of your passengers”), could not -flourish during my absence from home. - -“Come on board, both of you,” said he, “if you like, but don’t bother me -with any more talk at this unseasonable hour of the night.” - -“An Irishman!” thought I to myself. - -He banged the door, and I suppose was instantly asleep again. - -I was soon in the same condition, and did not awake until we had made -considerable progress with the very next tide towards London. - -[1] Mr Doyle probably means the coupée.--EDITOR. - - - - -ORIGIN AND MEANINGS OF IRISH FAMILY NAMES. - -BY JOHN O’DONOVAN. - -Sixth Article. - - -In my last article I gave examples of the process now in progress in -the several provinces of Ireland among the people generally in changing -their original names into names apparently English or Scottish: there -are others in Ireland among the genteeler classes who have changed -their old Milesian names in such a manner as to give them a French or -Spanish appearance; and the adopters of these names _now_ wish to be -deemed as of French or Spanish origin (any thing but Irish!) These, -it is true, are few in number, but some of them are respectable; and -their effort at concealing their origin is not to be recommended. We -shall therefore exhibit a few instances of this mode of rendering Irish -names _respectable-looking_ by giving them a foreign aspect, which the -bearers cannot by any effort give their own faces. The most remarkable -of these changes has been made by the family of O’Dorcy, in the west of -the county of Galway, who have assumed not only the name of D’Arcy, but -also the arms of the D’Arcys of England. But it is well known that the -D’Arcys of Galway are all descended from James Reagh Darcy, of Galway, -merchant, whose pedigree I know to be traced by Duald Mac Firbis, not to -the D’Arcys of Meath, who are of Anglo-Norman origin, but to the Milesian -O’Dorcys of West Connaught, who were the ancient chiefs of Partree, a -well-known territory extending from the lakes of Lough Mask and Lough -Carra, westwards, in the direction of Croaghpatrick. - -The next instance of this kind of change which I shall adduce, is found -in the adjacent county of Mayo, where a gentleman of the ancient and -celebrated family of O’Malley wishes all his friends to call him not -O’Malley, for that is Irish, but De Maillet; but though his friends -condescend sometimes to call him by this name, they can scarcely refrain -from laughter while pronouncing it, for they know very well that he -descends from Owen O’Malley, the father of the famous heroine Grania -Wael, and chief of Umallia or the Owles, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. - -The third instance I have met with of this false Irish vanity is in the -far-famed Thomond, where a gentleman of the O’Malronies has followed the -plebeian corruption of that name, by which it is metamorphosed to Moroni, -by which he affects to pass as one not of Irish but of Spanish descent; -but he cannot prevent his neighbours from calling him _O’Murruana_ when -they speak the native language, for by a strange corruption in that part -of Ireland, where the Irish language is in most other instances very -correctly pronounced, when the prefix _maol_ is followed by _r_, the _l_ -is itself pronounced _r_, as in the instance under consideration, and -in O’Mulryan, a well-known name in Munster, which they now pronounce -O’Murryan. Thus an accidental corruption in the pronunciation of a -consonant is taken advantage of to metamorphose a famous old Irish name -into a Spanish one. It is indeed most lamentable to see the native Irish -think so little of their names and of their _own natural country_. - -I have many other instances of this audacious kind of change of surnames -at hand, but I refrain from enlarging on them, from the apprehension of -exceeding my limits without being enabled to bring this subject to a -close in the stipulated space. A few others, however, are necessary to -be exhibited to public scorn. The next instance, then, which has come -under my notice, is in the province of Connaught, where the family of -O’Mulaville have all changed their name to Lavelle, and where those who -know nothing of the history of that family are beginning to think that -they are of French descent. But it is the constant tradition in the -county of Mayo that they are of Danish origin, and that they have been -located in Iarowle since the ninth century. Of this name was the late -Editor of the Freeman’s Journal: a man of great abilities and extensive -learning, who among other ancient languages had acquired a profound -knowledge of his own native dialect. This name is scotticised Mac Paul in -the province of Ulster. - -Another name which some people are apt to take for a French or -Anglo-Norman name, is Delany, as if it were De Lani; but the Irish origin -of this family cannot be questioned, for the name is called O’Dulainé in -the original language, and the family were originally located at the foot -of Slieve Bloom in Upper Ossory. Another instance is found in the change -of O’Dowling to DuLaing, but this is seldom made, and never by any but -people of no consequence. - -Some individuals of the name of Magunshinan, or Magilsinan, upon leaving -their original localities in Cavan and Meath, have assumed, some the name -of Nugent, and others that of Gilson. Of this family was Charles Gilson, -the founder and endower of the public school of Old Castle, a man of -great benevolence, who found it convenient on his removal to London to -shorten his name to Gilson. - -Other individuals of Irish name and origin, upon settling in London and -other parts of England, have changed their surnames altogether, as the -ancestor of the present Baron of Lower Tabley, whose name was Sir Peter -Byrne, but who was obliged to change his name to Leycester, to conform -to the will of his maternal grandfather, who had bequeathed him large -estates in England, on condition of his dropping his Irish name and -adopting that of the testator. He is the most distinguished man of the -O’Byrne race now living, and we regret that his Irish origin is entirely -disguised in his present name of Warren. He descends from Daniel, the -second son of Loughlin Duff of Ballintlea, in the county of Wicklow, a -chief of great distinction, and is related to the Byrnes of Fallybeg, -near Stradbally, in the Queen’s County, who descended from the first -son of this Loughlin--a fact with which his lordship is altogether -unacquainted; and the writer of these remarks has often regretted that -his lordship has not been made acquainted with this fact, as it might be -in his power to serve the sons of the late venerable Laurence Byrne of -Fallybeg. - -Other changes have been made in Irish surnames by abbreviation; but -though we regret this, we are not willing to condemn it altogether, -especially when the changes are made for the purpose of rendering such -names easy of pronunciation in the mouths of magistrates and lawyers, who -could not, in many cases, bring their organs of speech to pronounce them -in their original Irish form. Of these we could give a long list, but we -shall content ourselves with a selection. - -In the province of Connaught the name Mac Eochy has been shortened to -M’Keogh, and latterly to Keogh; O’Mulconry to Conry and Conroy. In -Ossory, Mac Gillapatrick has been manufactured into Fitzpatrick. In the -county of Galway, and throughout the province of Connaught generally, -Mac Gillakelly has been manufactured into Kilkelly; O’Mullally to Lally; -Mac Gillakenny, to Kilkenny; Mac Gillamurry, to Kilmurry; Mac Gilladuff -to Kilduff; Mac Geraghty, to Geraghty and Gearty; Mac Phaudeen, to -Patten; O’Houlahan, to Nolan. This last change is not to be excused, for -it entirely disguises the origin of the family; and we would therefore -recommend the Nolans of the county of Galway to reject their false name, -and re-assume that of O’Houlahan. This family were removed from Munster -into Connaught by Oliver Cromwell, under the name of O’Houlahan, and they -have therefore no just right to assume the name of another Irish family -to whom they bear no relation whatsoever. The real Nolans of Ireland -are of Leinster origin, and were the ancient chiefs of the barony of -Forth, in the now county of Carlow, anciently called Foharta Fea, where -they are still numerous; but the Connaught Nolans are not Nolans at all, -but O’Houlahans, and are a family who bore the dignity of chieftains in -ancient times, though it happens, that, not knowing their history, or -taking a dislike to the sound of the name, they have, with questionable -propriety, assumed the name of a Leinster family, which seems to sound -somewhat better in modern ears. In the province of Ulster, the name Mac -Gillaroe has been shortened to Gilroy and Kilroy; Mac Gillabride, to -Mac Bride; Mac Gillacuskly, to Cuskly, and impertinently to Cosgrove -and even Costello! Mac Gilla-Finnen, to Linden and Leonard; Mac Gennis, -to Ennis and Guinness; Mac Blosky, to Mac Closky. In Munster the noble -name of Mac Carthy (or, as it is pronounced in the original Irish, Maw -Caurhă) has dwindled to Carty (a vile change!); O’Mulryan, to O’Ryan and -Ryan; Mac Gilla-Synan, to Shannon; Mac Gillaboy, to Mac Evoy, &c. &c. -In Leinster, all the O’s and Macs have been rejected; and though a few -of them are to be met there now, in consequence of the influx of poor -strangers of late into that province, it is certain that there is not -a single instance in which the O’ or Mac has been retained by any of -the aboriginal inhabitants of that province, I mean the _ancient Irish_ -Leinster, not including Meath. The most distinguished of these was Mac -Murrogh, but there is not a single individual of that name now living in -Leinster; the descendants of Donnell Mac Murrogh Cavanagh, who, although -illegitimate, became by far the most distinguished branch of that great -family, having all changed their surnames to Cavanagh, and the other -branches having, as the present writer has strong reasons to believe, -changed it to Murphy. The writer has come to this latter conclusion from -having ascertained that in the territory of the Murrows, in the county -of Wexford, once the country of a great and powerful sept of the Mac -Murroghs, the greater number of the inhabitants, who are perhaps the -finest race of men in Ireland, are now called Murphy. He has therefore -come to the conclusion, and he hopes not too hastily, that the Murphys -of this territory are all Mac Murroghs. At the same time, however, he is -well aware that the name generally anglicised Murphy is not Mac Murrogh, -but O’Murchoo, which was that of a branch or offshoot of the regal family -of Leinster, who became chiefs of the country of Hy-Felimy, and whose -chief seat was at Tullow, in the now county of Carlow. The writer is well -aware that the Murphys of the county of Carlow and Kilkenny are of this -latter family, but he cannot get rid of the conviction that the Murphys -of the Murrowes, in the east of the county of Wexford, are Mac Murroghs. -On the subject of the difference between these two families, we find the -learned Roderic O’Flaherty thus criticising Peter Walsh towards the close -of the seventeenth century:-- - -“An O’ or a Mac is prefixed in Irish surnames to the proper names of -some of their ancestors, intimating that they were the sons, grandsons, -or posterity of the person whose name they adopted; but it was not -proper to use one name promiscuously in the place of another, as he -writes O’Murphy, king of Leinster, instead of Mac Murphy, or rather Mac -Murchadh; but the family of O’Murchadha, which in English is Murphy, is -very different from and inferior to this family.”--Ogygia, Part III, cap. -xxvii. - -There are also some few instances to be met with, in which the O’ has -been changed to Mac, and _vice versa_, as in the remarkable instance -of O’Melaghlin, chief of the Southern Hy-Niall race, to Mac Loughlin; -also in those instances in which O’Duvyerma has been changed to Mac -Dermot, O’Donoghy to Mac Donogh, O’Knavin to Mac Nevin, O’Heraghty to Mac -Geraghty, and a few others. - -These latter changes are not calculated to disguise the _Irish origin_ of -the families who have made them, but they are still to be regretted, as -they tend to disguise the origin, race, and locality of the respective -families, and we should therefore like to see the original names restored. - -Similar changes have been made in the family names among the Welsh, as -Ap-John into Jones, Ap-Richard into Prichard and Richards, Ap-Owen into -Owens, Ap-Robert into Probert and Roberts, Ap-Gwillim into Williams, &c. -&c. - -Having thus treated of the alterations the Irish have made in their -surnames, or family names, for the purpose of making them appear English, -I shall next proceed to point out the changes which they have likewise -made in their Christian or baptism names, for the same purpose. Many of -their original names they have altogether rejected, as not immediately -reducible to any modern English forms; but others they have retained, -though they have altered them in such a manner as to make them appear -English. The writer could furnish from the authentic Irish annals and -pedigrees a long list of proper names of men which were in use in the -reign of Queen Elizabeth, and which have been for a long time laid aside; -but the limits of this Journal would not afford room for such a list: -he must therefore content himself by pointing out the original forms of -such names as have been retained in an anglicised shape. These changes -in the Christian names have been made, not only by those families who -have adopted English surnames, but also by those who have retained the -Milesian O’s and Macs; but these families have assumed that the English -forms which they have given this class of names are perfectly correct. -This was assumed to be true so early as the year 1689, in which we find -Sir Richard Cox writing on the subject as follows:-- - -“The Christian names of the Irish are as in England; Aodh _i. e._ Hugh, -Mahoone _i. e._ Matthew, Teige _i. e._ Timothy, Dermond _i. e._ Jeremy, -Cnogher _i. e._ Cornelius, Cormac _i. e._ Charles, Art _i. e._ Arthur, -Donal _i. e._ Daniel, Goron _i. e._ Jeofry, Magheesh _i. e._ Moses.” - -Now, I absolutely deny that these names are identical, though I -acknowledge that they are at present universally received and used as -such. In the first place, the name _Aodh_, which has been metamorphosed -to Hugh, is not synonymous with it, for the name Aodh signifies _fire_, -but _Hugh_, which has been borrowed from the Saxon, signifies _high_ or -_lofty_. Since, then, they bear not the same meaning, and are not made -up of the same letters, in what, may it be asked, does their identity -consist? It is quite obvious that they have nothing in common with -each other. In the second place, Mahon, or, as Sir Richard Cox writes -it, Mahoone, is not Matthew; for if we believe Spenser and some Irish -glossographists, Mahon signifies a _bear_; and if they be correct, it -cannot be identical, synonymous, or cognate with the Scriptural name -Matthew, which does not signify a _bear_, but a _gift_, or a _present_. -In the third instance, the Irish name Teige, which according to all the -Irish glossaries signifies _a poet_, is not synonymous with Timothy, -which means _the God-fearing_, and therefore is not identical or cognate -with it; and I therefore doubt that the Irish people have any right to -change Teige into Timothy. It was first anglicised Thady, and the writer -is acquainted with individuals who have rendered it Thaddæus, Theophilus, -and Theodosius. - -In the fourth instance, Dermod, or, as Sir Richard Cox writes it, -Dermond, is not identical with Jeremy, nor is it synonymous or even -cognate with it. On this name, which was first very incorrectly -anglicised Darby, the learned Dr O’Brien writes as follows:--“_Diarmaid_, -the proper name of several great princes of the old Irish. This name -[which had its origin in Pagan times] is a compound of _Dia_, god, and -_armaid_, the genitive plural of the Irish word _arm_, Latin _arma_, -_armorum_, so that _Dia-armaid_ literally signifies the same as _Deus -armorum_, the god of arms. Such is the exalted origin of this Irish name, -which does not screen it from being at times a subject of ridicule to -some of our pretty gentlemen of the modern English taste.” - -It must, however, in candour be acknowledged that this is not the meaning -of the name Dermod, and that Dr O’Brien invented this explanation to -gain what he considered respectability for a name common in his own -illustrious family, and which was considered vulgar by the fashionable -people of the period at which he wrote. We have the authority of the -Irish glossaries to show that _Diarmaid_, which was adopted at a remote -period of Irish history, as the proper name of a man, signifies a -freeman; and though this meaning does not sound as lofty as the _Deus -armorum_ of Dr O’Brien, still it is sufficiently respectable to show -that Dermod is not a barbarous name, and that the Irish people need -not be ashamed of it; but they will be ashamed of every Irish name in -despite of all that can be said, as the writer has very strong grounds -for asserting. The reason is obvious--because they have lost their -nationality. - -In the fifth instance, Concovar, or, as Sir Richard Cox writes it, -Cnogher, is not identical, synonymous, or even cognate with Cornelius; -for though it has been customary with some families to latinize it to -Cornelius, still we know from the radices of both names that they bear -not the slightest analogy to each other, for the Irish name is compounded -of _Conn_, strength, and _Cobhair_, aid, assistance; while the Latin -Cornelius is differently compounded. It is, then, evident that there is -no reason for changing the Irish Concovar or Conor to Cornelius, except a -fancied resemblance between the sounds of both; but this resemblance is -very remote indeed. - -In the sixth instance, the name Cormac has nothing whatsoever to do with -Charles (which means _noble-spirited_), for it is explained by all the -glossographers as signifying “Son of the Chariot,” and it is added, “that -it was first given as a sobriquet, in the first century, to a Lagenian -prince who happened to be born in a chariot while his mother was going -on a journey, but that it afterwards became honourable as the name of -many great personages in Ireland.” After the accession of Charles the -First, however, to the throne, many Irish families of distinction changed -Cormac to Charles, in order to add dignity to the name by making it the -same with that of the sovereign--a practice which has been very generally -followed ever since. - -In the seventh instance, Sir Richard is probably correct. I do not deny -that Art may be synonymous with Arthur; indeed I am of opinion that -they are both words of the same original family of language, for the -Irish word _Art_ signifies _noble_, and if we can rely on the British -etymologists, Arthur bears much of a similar meaning in the Gomraeg or -Old British. - -With respect to the eighth instance given by Sir Richard Cox, I have -no hesitation in asserting that the Irish proper name Domhnall, which -was originally anglicised Donnell and Donald, is not the same with the -Scriptural name Daniel, which means _God is judge_. I am at least certain -that the ancient Irish glossographers never viewed it as such, for they -always wrote it _Domhnall_, and understood it to mean a great or proud -chieftain. This explanation may, however, be possibly incorrect; but the -_m_ in the first syllable shows that the name is formed from a root very -different from that from which the Scriptural name Daniel is derived. - -With respect to the names Goron (which is but a mistake for Searoon), -Jeofry, and Magheesh, Moses, the two last instances furnished by Sir -Richard Cox, they were never borne by the ancient Irish, but were -borrowed from the Anglo-Normans, and therefore I have nothing to do with -them in this place. What I have said is sufficient to show that the -Christian names borne by the ancient Irish are not identical, synonymous, -or even cognate with those substituted for them in the time of Sir -Richard Cox. - - * * * * * - -The most valuable part of every man’s education is that which he receives -from himself, especially when the active energy of his character makes -ample amends for the want of a more finished course of study. - - * * * * * - -“Would you know this boy to be my son from his resemblance to me?” asked -a gentleman. Mr Curran replied, “Yes, sir; the maker’s name is stamped -upon the _blade_.” - - - - -ELEGIAC STANZAS - -ON A SON AND DAUGHTER. - - - In Merrion, by Eblana’s bay, - They sleep beneath a spreading tree; - No voices from the public way - Shall break their deep tranquillity. - - Clontarf may bloom, and gloomy Howth - Behold the white sail passing by, - But never shall the spring-time growth - Or stately bark delight their eye. - - Clontarf may live, a magic name, - To call up recollections dear-- - But never shall great Brian’s fame - Delight the sleeper’s heedless ear. - - They fell, ere reason’s dawn arose-- - They, sinless, felt affliction’s rod; - Oh, who can tell their wordless woes - Before they reached the throne of God? - - What being o’er the cradle leans, - Where innocence in anguish lies; - Writhing in its untold pains-- - That feels not awful thoughts arise! - - ’Tis dreadful eloquence to all - Whose hearts are not of marble stone-- - Such eloquence as could not fall - E’en from the tongue of Massillon. - - Their ills are o’er--a father’s cares-- - A mother’s throes--a mother’s fears-- - A wily world with all its snares, - Shall ne’er begloom their joyless years. - - They sleep in Merrion by the bay, - From passions, care, and sorrow free; - No voices from the public way - Shall break their deep tranquillity. - - T. - - - - -TESTIMONIALS. - - -Every one who has had any thing to do with the filling up of appointments -for which there has been any competition, must have been struck--taking -the testimonials of candidates as criteria to judge by--with the immense -amount of talent and integrity that is in the market, and available often -for the merest trifle in the shape of annual salary. In truth, judging -by such documents as those just alluded to, one would think that it is -the able and deserving alone that are exposed to the necessity of seeking -for employment. At any rate, it is certain that all who do apply for -vacant situations are without exception persons of surpassing ability -and incorruptible integrity--flowers of the flock, pinks of talent, -and paragons of virtue. How such exemplary persons come to be out of -employment, we cannot tell; but there they are. - -The number of testimonials which one of these worthies will produce when -he has once made a dead set at an appointment, is no less remarkable than -the warmth of the strain in which they are written. Heaven knows where -they get them all! but the number is sometimes really amazing, a hatful, -for instance, being a very ordinary quantity. We once saw a candidate for -an appointment followed by a porter who carried his testimonials, and a -pretty smart load for the man they seemed to be. The weight, we may add, -of this gentleman’s recommendations, as well it might carried the day. - -In the case of regular situation-hunters of a certain class, gentlemen -who are constantly on the look-out for openings, who make a point of -trying for every thing of the kind that offers, and who yet, somehow or -other, never succeed, it may be observed that their testimonials have for -the most part an air of considerable antiquity about them, that they are -in general a good deal soiled, and have the appearance of having been -much handled, and long in the possession of the very deserving persons to -whose character and abilities they bear reference. This seems rather a -marked feature in the case of such documents as those alluded to. How it -should happen, we do not know; but you seldom see a fresh, clean, newly -written testimonial in the possession of a professed situation-hunter. -They are all venerable-looking documents, with something of a musty smell -about them, as if they had long been associated in the pocket with cheese -crumbs and half-burnt cigars. - -A gentleman of the class to which we just now particularly refer, -generally carries his budget of testimonials about with him, and is -ready to produce them at a moment’s notice. Not knowing how soon or -suddenly he may hear of something eligible, he is thus always in a state -of preparation for such chances as fortune may throw in his way. It is -commendable foresight. - -As regards the general style of testimonials, meaning particularly that -extreme warmth of eulogium for which these documents are for the most -part remarkable, it is perhaps in the case of aspirants for literary -situations that we find it in its greatest intensity. It is in these -cases we make the astounding discovery that the amount of literary -talent known is really nothing to that which is unknown; that in fact -the brightest of those geniuses who are basking in the sunshine of -popular favour, and reaping fame and fortune from a world’s applause, is -a mere rushlight compared to hundreds whom an adverse fate has doomed -to obscurity, of whose merits the same untoward destiny has kept the -world in utter ignorance. As proof of this, we submit to the reader -the testimonials of a couple of candidates for the editorship of a -certain provincial paper, with which, along with two or three others, -we had a proprietary connexion. There were in all one hundred and -twenty applicants, and each had somewhere about a score of different -testimonials, bearing witness to the brilliancy of his talents and the -immaculateness of his character. We, the proprietors, had thus, as the -reader will readily believe, a pretty job of it. One hundred and twenty -candidates, with each, taking an average, 20 letters of recommendation; -20 times 120--2,400 letters to read! - -In the present case we confine ourselves merely to one or two of the -most remarkable, although we cannot say that the difference between -any of them was very material. They were all in nearly one strain -of unqualified, and, as regarded their subjects, no doubt deserved -laudation. The testimonials were for the most part addressed to the -applicants themselves, as in the following case: - -“Dear Sir--In reply to your letter stating that you meant to apply for -the editorship of a provincial paper, and requesting my testimony to your -competency for such an appointment, I have sincere pleasure in saying -that you possess, in an eminent degree, every qualification for it. Your -style of writing is singularly elegant, combining energy with ease, and -copiousness with concentration; nor is the delicacy and correctness of -your taste less remarkable than the force and beauty of your language. -But your literary achievements, my dear sir--achievements which, although -they have not yet, will certainly one day raise you to eminence--bear -much stronger testimony to your merits than any thing I can possibly -say in your behalf; and to these I would refer all who are interested -in ascertaining what your attainments are. As an editor of a paper, -you would be invaluable; and I assure you, they will not be little to -be envied who shall be so fortunate as to secure the aid of your able -services,” &c. &c. &c. - -Well, this was one of the very first testimonials we happened to open, -and we thought we had found our man at the very outset, that it would be -unnecessary to go farther, and we congratulated ourselves accordingly. -We were delighted with our luck in having thus stumbled on such a genius -at the first move. It is true, we did not know exactly what to make of -the reference to the candidate’s literary achievements, what they were, -or where to look for them; for neither of these achievements, nor of the -candidate himself, had we ever heard before; but as the writer of the -letter was not unknown to us, we took it for granted that all was right. - -What, however, was our surprise, what our perplexity, when, on proceeding -to the testimonials of the next candidate, we found that he was a -gentleman of still more splendid talents than the first; that, in short, -the light of the latter’s genius, compared to that of the former’s, was -but as the light of a lucifer match to the blaze of Mount Etna. - -“Gentlemen,” said the first testimonial of this person’s we took up (we, -the proprietors, being addressed in this case), “Gentlemen, having learnt -that you are on the look-out for an editor for your paper, and learning -from Mr Josephus Julius Augustus Bridgeworth that he intends becoming a -candidate for that appointment, I at his request most cheerfully bear -testimony to his competency, I might say pre-eminent fitness, for the -situation in question. Mr Bridgeworth is a young man of the highest -literary attainments; indeed, I should not be going too far were I to -say that I know of no writer, ancient or modern, who at all approaches -him in force and beauty of style, or who surpasses him in originality of -thought and brilliancy of imagination: qualities which he has beautifully -and strikingly exhibited in his inimitable Essay on Bugs, which obtained -for him the gold prize-medal of the Royal Society of Entomologists, -and admission to that Society as an honorary member, with the right of -assuming the title of F. R. S. In fine, gentlemen, I would entreat of -you, as much for your own sakes as for that of my illustrious young -friend Mr Bridgeworth, not to let slip this opportunity--one that may -never occur again--of securing the services of one of the most talented -gentlemen of the day; one who, I feel well assured, will one day prove -not only an honour to his country, but an ornament to the age in which he -lives. With regard to Mr B.’s moral character, I have only to say that it -is every thing that is upright and honourable; that he is, in truth, not -more distinguished for the qualities of his head than of his heart.” - -We have already said that the circumstance of finding in the bug essayist -a greater genius than in the candidate who preceded him, most grievously -perplexed us. It did. But what was this perplexity compared with that -by which we were confounded, when, on proceeding to look over the -testimonials of the other candidates, we found that the merits of every -new one we came to surpassed those of him who had gone before, and this -so invariably, that it became evident that we had drawn around us all -the talent and character of the country; that in fact all the talent and -character of the country was striving for the editorship of our paper. - -Thus placed as it were in the midst of a perfect galaxy of genius, thus -surrounded by the best and brightest men of the age, we had, as will -readily be believed, great difficulty in making a choice. A choice, -however, we did at length make; fixing on the brightest of the brilliant -host by which we were mobbed. Need I tell the result? Need I say that -this luminary turned out, after all, but a farthing candle!--a very -ordinary sort of person. He did, indeed, well enough, but not better than -a thousand others could have done. - -While on this subject of testimonials, let us add that we had once, with -one or two others, the bestowal of an appointment to a situation of -trust, and for which integrity was the chief requisite. We had in this, -as in the former case, an immense number of applicants, and, as in the -former case, each of these produced the most satisfactory testimonials. -We chose the most immaculate of these honest men--we appointed him. In -three weeks after, he decamped with £500 of his employer’s cash! - - C. - - * * * * * - -FRIENDSHIP.--Friendship derives all its beauty and strength from the -qualities of the heart, or from a virtuous or lovely disposition; or -should these be wanting, some shadow of them must be present; it can -never dwell long in a bad heart or mean disposition. It is a passion -limited to the nobler part of the species, for it can never co-exist -with vice or dissimulation. Without virtue, or the supposition of it, -friendship is only a mercenary league, or a tie of interest, which must -of course dissolve when that interest decays, or subsists no longer. It -is a composition of the noblest passions of the mind. A just taste and -love of virtue, good sense, a thorough candour and benignity of heart, -and a generous sympathy of sentiment and affections, are the essential -ingredients of this nobler passion. When it originates from love, and -esteem is strengthened by habit, and mellowed by time, it yields infinite -pleasure, ever new and ever growing. It is the best support amongst the -numerous trials and vicissitudes of life, and gives a relish to most of -our engagements. What can be imagined more comfortable than to have a -friend to console us in afflictions, to advise with in doubtful cases, -and share our felicity? What firmer anchor is there for the mind, tossed -like a vessel on the tumultuous waves of contingencies, than this? It -exalts our nobler passions, and weakens our evil inclinations; it assists -us to run the race of virtue with a steady and undeviating course. From -loving, esteeming, and endeavouring to felicitate particular people, a -more general passion will arise for the whole of mankind. Confined to the -society of a few, we look upon them as the representatives of the many, -and from friendship learn to cultivate philanthropy.--_Sir H. Davy._ - - * * * * * - -HUMILITY.--An humble man is like a good tree; the more full of fruit the -branches are, the lower they bend themselves. - - * * * * * - -No dust affects the eyes so much as gold dust. - - * * * * * - - 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; C. - DAVIES, North John Street, Liverpool; JOHN MENZIES, Prince’s - Street, Edinburgh; and DAVID ROBERTSON, Trongate, Glasgow. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. -51, June 19, 1841, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRISH PENNY JOURNAL, JUNE 19, 1841 *** - -***** This file should be named 55603-0.txt or 55603-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/6/0/55603/ - -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) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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