TO THE EDITOR OF THE IRISH SHIELD AND MONTHLY MILESIAN. SIR-I beg leave to congratulate you on the excellence of your last number. Continue to give such an interesting journal as that to the public, and you may confidently expect success. Your" Grecian Females, Biography, and History of Ireland," &c. possess considerable variety and entertainment for every literary reader, no matter of what country. I often wondered, sir, that the amatory poems of the author of Paradise Lost, have been doomed to strange and unmerited neglect. The clouds of oblivion that shroud them, should be scattered by the rays of genius. Although they were trifles too minute for the daring sublimity of Milton's powers, yet some of them will be found to possess, in an extraordinary degree, the touches and tints of the brilliant colouring of that great master. The study of Italian literature has never been cultivated with so much zeal, ardour aud success as at present, when the compositions of a Byron, a Lady Morgan, a Mathias and a Roscoe awaken so much interest and curiosity to learn every thing of the country of Petrarch, Tasso, and Dante. I trust. sir, that a translation of a Sonnet of Milton's, a poet, who, except Byron, soared higher in the regions of sublimity than any other British Bard, will not prove unacceptable to your readers, however deficient it may be in the colouring and spirit of the original. Qual in colle a pro, &c. On some bleak hill, imbrown'd in evening's shades, Th' exotic flower whose blushing hues In a strange sun grows pale, then droops and fades ;- So love awakes to foreign notes my lyre, And strikes the Ausonian springs of soft desire, From the green shades and bowers of Thames I rove- To seek thy banks of Arno and of love. Love leads! Alas! that always led astray! For those sweet plains devoid of earth-born care. The SONNET, though so ill adapted to the English language, has been attempted by almost every Eng. lish Poet. Shakspeare's sonnets are pretty, but they want the point and affecting simplicity of Petrarch; nor have Byron, Moore, or Campbell been able to embue this species of composition with the passion, spirit, and sensibility which sparkle in the effusions of the Lover of Laura. Except Milton's, CHARLOTTE SMITH's sonnets are, in my humble opinion, the best models in the English language. Mil. ton has, indeed, transplanted into English literature the fairest and most fragrant flowers of the Italian soil; his classic mind saw and seized its beauties, and blooms, but to compose in our language, a good sonnet, requires the genius of the author of Paradise Lost, while every Italian rhymer is equal to the task. The language of Italy, so rich, luxuriant, and fertile in similar terminations, affords a choice which our's denies: the English sonnet, therefore, embraces all the difficulty of the Italian, without any of its facilities, while the necessary recurrence of the same rhyme compels a stiffness of style, an harshness of expression, and a quaintness of sentiment. Hence has the sonnet become an object of parody but the manner of parody has been sadly mistaken by Cowper, Shenstone, and the Lake Poets By. RON disdained to light on this molehill of poetic composition; his daring genius, like the Bird of Jove, would never descend, but on the cloud-canopied crag of the mountain of sublimity. Moore, Camp. bell, or Sir Walter Sott, have gathered no laurels in the field of sonnets. In the perusal of a sonnet, the reader should be led along, as if the parody were serious; the deception should be delicately managed, and not until the last line, nay, if possible, the last word, should the ridicule be discovered. The reader should be surprised into the laugh; but if the writer plunges even with his first line, into the broad burlesque, the effect of the parody is utterly lost. That I may not, however, be accused of laying down rules which cannot or should not be observed, I beg to sub join the following attempt, as a specimen of the parodical sonnet : Broadway A SENTIMENTAL SONNET. Ah! I am very sad, indeed I am! Come melancholy Muse, my wanderings meet ; And as along the willowy banks of CAM, Or Isis' sedgy side, my pensive feet Forth stray-Oh lead me thou! The innocent LAMB, Lonely as they who left the land of Ham- 1 envy the poor Indian youth his yam. But ab why 'plains my song so sadly sweet? JUVERNA. THE IRISH SHIELD AND MONTHLY MILESIAN, A HISTORIC, LITERARY, AND DRAMATIC JOURNAL. The origin of the Milesians or Scots traced to Phonius. An account of his sue cessors; and their migrations, until they invaded Ireland, A. M. 2736. WE come now to treat of an epoch of Irish history which has been, more than any other in our annals, illustrated and attested by a combination of genius and historical testimony that establishes its basis on a rock of irrefragable accuracy, which can no more be shaken by the cavils of doubt and scepticism, than the pyramids of Egypt by the idle blast of the Sirocco. In this era the horizon of our history was overcast by no fictitious clouds; letters and light were introduced into Ireland by our Milesian ancestors, and TRUTH was the deity they worshipped. Our Scythian origin has not been even questioned by INNES or Macpherson, in all their visionary essays to despoil Erin of the unfading garlands which her Fingals, (Fion Mac Cumhal,) Ossians, and Columbas entwined round her brows. For Buchannon himself says, "the Scythians becoming too numerous in Spain, many of them forsook that country and settled in Ireland, which they called Scota, in honour of the wife of Milesius, their chief." Phænius, who, next to Cadmus of Phoenicia, is most eminent for the invention of letters, was the great progenitor of the Milesian line. He was the descendant of Magog the son of Japhet, the son of Noah. We have scriptural authority for saying that Japhet had seven sons, whose posterity peopled not only Europe, but part of Asia. The descendants of Gomer inhabited Gaul and Germany; those of Magog occupied Scythia, which they rendered so renowned for martial glory. Madai and Juvan settled in the different provinces of Greece. Thubal, who was the inventor of the Jewish harp, possessed Spain and Portugal. Messech, Italy. And Thyras obtained the sovereignty of Thrace Of the children of Magog, the great progenitor of the Scythian nation, the inspired pensman has given us no account; but all our chronicles, particularly those that are deemed most authentic, as the Book of Invasions, the White Book, called Leabhar-Dhroma-Sneachta, and the Book of Conquests, concur in the assertion that he had three sons, Baath, Jobath, and Fathochta; from Baath descended Feniusa Farsa, king of Scythia, who was the founder of the Gadelians. Jobath was the ancestor of the Bactrians, Parthians, and Amazons. Fathocta was the progenitor of Partholanus, and consequently of the Nemedians, Firbolgs, and Tuatha de Danans, as well as of the Goths and Huns. VOL. I.-15 Our Ethiric historians commence their annals of our Scythian origin with Phaenius, the son of Baath, the great source whence flows the Milesian stream. Our antiquarians say that Phaenius got the name of Farsa, or the sage, from his knowledge of philosophy, and his intimate acquaintance with the different languages that originated from the confusion of tongues at Babel. He also gained immortality by inventing eight letters of the alphabet, in addition to the sixteen signs of Cadmus. Possessing sovereign authority in Phoenicia, he selected seventy-two learned men whom he dispersed to the different countries that were then inhabited, to learn the language that prevailed in each, commanding them to return at the expiration of seven years. When that period was elapsed, these literary missionaries came back to the court of Phænius, with minds enriched and elevated with foreign lore. Schools were founded by the Prince, for these linguists to impart a portion of their acquired knowledge to their countrymen. But no sooner wore these schools opened than Phænius discovered that the memory of the teachers was not sufficiently tenacious of the principles they had studied in their respective peregrinations, so that the necessity of fixing on some arbitrary characters to impress the recollection, and represent the original elementary sounds of the human voice, forcibly suggested itself. To attain so desirable an end, his first object was to ascertain the number of these primary sounds that enter into the composition of words; and to effect this he judged it expedient to add eight letters or signs to the alphabet of Cadmus. He is said to have been assisted in this invention by Gadel and Gar, two Hebrew philosophers of erudition. The Irish appellation for our mother tongue was "Bearla Pheni," or the language of Phænius. This alphabet served to record the transactions of history, philosophy, and science; but the sacred mysteries of religion were registered in a character which was only understood by the Druids or high priests. Raymond, in a long dissertation, satisfactorily proves that the occult letters or signs used by the Phoenician priesthood, were in formation and identity the same characters, in which the Irish Brehons preserved their records. Before paper or parchment was invented, the ancient Irish Druids caused the sacred signs to be cut on tablets of marble, and sometimes inscribed with a red hot iron on smoothed boards of the beech tree. Several of these Druidical records are still to be seen in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. Ware, Camden, and the Welsh antiquarian, Lhuyd, have adduced insurmountable arguments and logical deductions to support the fact alleged by our historians, that the use of the Phoenician alphabet was coeval with the landing of the Milesians in Ireland. "The Phoenician and Irish languages," says Lhuyd, “ are similar in meaning, and generally in orthography; so much so, indeed, that they agree as much together as any one of the Greek dialects doth with another, and more exactly, in fact, than the languages of two remote parts of the same kingdom." But it is time to turn to Phænius. This Prince thirsting after new knowledge, committed the care of the kingdom to his eldest son, NEANIUL, and setting out on his travels, he visited several seminaries, in order to increase the acquisition of his accomplishments. After a long peregrination, he took up his residence in the vicinity of Babylon, where he opened a school and gave instructions to several Egyptians, for according to Herodotus, the youth of Egypt in those days derived all their knowledge of letters, geometry and architecture from the Babylonians. Leaving this seminary under the superintendance of competent preceptors, he returned to his kingdom with the view of promoting a general system of education throughout all his dominions; but shortly after his return he was arrested in his laudable career by the hand of death. NEANIUL took the reigns of government, and his brother Niul (the remote progenitor of the royal dynasty of O'Neil,) was appointed to the office of high priest. His legislative wisdom and literary attainments spread his fame over Europe and Asia. Pharaoh Cingress, king of Egypt, hearing of the celebrity of this paragon of learning, became so extremely anxious to see him that he sent ambassadors to invite the erudite Prince to his court. Flattered by the invitation, he repaired to Egypt, attended by a gorgeous retinue. At the court of Pharaoh the graces of his person and the insinuation of his manners captivated the heart of the Egyptian princess, Scota, while the display of his talents prepossessed the king and courtiers in his favour. A matrimonial alliance was soon solemnized, and Niul received possession of the territory of Capacirunt, on the borders of the Red Sea, as the dowry of his wife. The issue of this union was a son, whom Niul named GADEL, in honour of his father's preceptor, who had borne the same name. Keating and O'Flaherty entertain us with a historical detail of the intimacy of Moses and Niul, which, from the silence of other creditable writers, we think we may more properly call it a tale of Romance. CORMOC, the royal historian, nor St. Fiech, the Biographer of St. Patrick, makes no mention of the connexion of Moses and Niul, though each of these authors states that Ireland was anciently called Tuatha Phæni, or the Island of Phænius. Indeed King Cormoc in his Psalter, instead of synchronizing the Jewish Prophet and the Phoenician Prince, informs us, that between the period of the Gadelians quitting Egypt, and that of the deluge, 470 years had elapsed, whereas the era of Moses' departure from captivity, is fixed by the most accurate chronologists 160 years later than that of the birth of Gadel-glas. But as the story has been interwoven in our early annals, we have no right to tear the threads of interpolation out of the historic web. Sir Isaac Newton mentions, somewhere, "that if the alloy of fiction could be separated from the pure ore of fact, many ponderous folio volumes, assuming the name of history, might be committed to the flames, without any loss to the republic of letters." But let us give our version of the story, and embody its substance in our own language. It was during the residence of Niul, at Capacirunt, adjoining the Red sea, that the Israelites, under the command of Moses and Aaron, attempted to free themselves from their Egyptian bondage, and in the course of their march they encamped near the house of the Prince, who surprised at their number and hostile appearance, went in person to know who they were, and whether they came in peace or war. On his approaching the camp he met Aaron, who gave him a brief detail of the Hebrew nation, and the bondage to which they had been so long subjected in the land of plagues. He then related the wonders and miracles that God had wrought for their deliverance, and the punishments which he inflicted on their unrelenting oppressor. Niul moved and affected by the relation of the holy man, proffered him his assistance, and offered to supply him with corn, and such other necessaries as his country produced. Aaron, after giving a feeling expression to his gratitude, returned, to his Brother, and joyfully informed him of his interview with a neighbouring Prince, and the kind offers of assistance that he so generously made. Moses elated at the intelligence, communicated it to the assembled hosts, to whose bosoms it imparted the vivid beams of hope. It happened on the same night, that the young Prince GADEL, was bit in the neck by a serpent, while bathing in the river. The virulent venom quickly diffused itself through his veins, and poisoned the currents of life, so that he was soon reduced to the last extremity. Niul, alarmed at this fatal accident, and aware of the miraculous powers with which Moses was gifted, carried the expiring Prince to his camp, and entreated that he would extend to his son the healing effects of those attributes with which the supreme Being had invested him. Moses touched with pity for the tortures of the child, instantly complied with the request of the afflicted parent, and laying his wand on the wound, the young Prince immediately recovered. As soon as the cure was performed, Moses locked a chain, which he held in his hand, round the neck of Gadel, whence he received the name of Glas, or of the lock. Moses then predicted, that wherever any of the posterity of Gadel-glas should reign, no venomous reptiles should ever infest the country, or be able to live on the soil on which they would once imprint their footsteps. Niul overjoyed at the recovery of his son, and the promise of the prophesy, cheerfully furnished Moses with such provisions as were necessary to his journey, not however, without apprehensions that his civility to the Iraelites might arouse the jealousy, and draw down the vengeance of his father-in-law upon his devoted head. As soon as he imparted these fears to Moses, he solicited Niul either to remove with him into the land of promise, where he should enjoy a part of the possessions destined for the Hebrews, or if this did not seem a pleasing alternative, he promised to deliver up the Egyptian shipping into his hands, by which means he and his people could keep aloof until he saw how God should settle affairs between him and Pharaoh, who was making preparations to pursue the children of Israel, in order to bring them back to bondage, The latter proposition having been accepted by Niul, Moses instantly despatched a thousand men to secure the Egyptian fleet, who succeeded in their design of putting Niul in the possession of it. He lost no time in embarking with all his followers, and standing out to sea to await the event of Moses' flight from the tyranny of Pharaoh. Next day, according to holy writ, the waters of the red sea were divided, and the Egyptian Monarch, in attempting to follow Moses, perished with all his hosts, by which memorable event, the fears of Niul being dissipated, he returned to his former possessions, and reigned in peace for many years. When our intelligent readers peruse the foregoing ingenious fictions, they will allow, that like the episode narrating the meeting of Dido and Æneas, they serve to decorate with the flowers of romance, a story, which the weight of its glaring anacronism must sink in the quagmire of utter discredit. What credulity can be persuaded that Moses could send a thousand men to seize on the Egyptian fleet, while Pharaoh with all his forces, was in actual pursuit of him? Dr. Keating endeavours to account for the imaginary alliance of Moses and Niul, by supposing that the latter, like many of the characters in scripture, lived some hundred of years; but a hypothesis is a bad ground-work on which to raise a fabric of historical fact. Those who reject the preceding story, which has indeed no claim to historical credence, derive the word Glas, the sirname of Gadel, from the brightness and brilliant polish of his arms, which reflected a green lustre. Glas the Milesians received the appellation of Gadelians, and from his Mother, "Phaem o' Phaemus adbearta: brigh gan dochta That is, we are unquestionably called Phænicians from our renowned progenitor, Phanius; Gadelians from Gadel-Glas, and Scots from Scota. Gadel succeeded his father Niul, A. M. 1996, and seems to have enjoyed a peaceable reign. It was, indeed, too short to witness many revolutions. His son Easru assumed regal authority; but his reign, which it is said lasted thirty years, is not distinguished in history. He died in 2036 of the world, and left a son named Sru, who succeeded to the throne. At this era, the sovereignty of Egypt was swayed by Pharaoh an Tuir, whom our historians represent as a brave and accomplished Prince, He recruited the forces of his kingdom, and exerted himself to repair the ravages with which the divine wrath devastated the country during the reign of his wicked predecessor, Pharaoh Cingcris. This Monarch, either not knowing the descendants of Niul, or according to some authorities, incensed at the assistance which the Gadelians afforded Moses in his flight from the Egyptians, entered the country of Capacirunt with fire and sword. SRU, unable to cope with so formidable an opponent, found no other resource of safety from the danger by which he was menaced, but in flying into the country of his ancestors, This flight took place, according to O'Halloran, A. M. 2046. The irruption of Pharaoh was, however, so rapid and unexpected, that Sru could only collect four ships, in which he embarked, with the principal nobility, their wives, and such valuable effects as they could carry with them in so pre |