houses, on pain of death, were prohibited from lighting fire for any culinary purpose during the continuance of the festival. It was on May-eve that St. Patrick and his disciples approached Tara, just as the holy fires were blazing. The Apostle hearing that it was deemed impiety of an inexpiable character for any one except the priests of Bel to light a fire on May-day, he, to convince the Heathen Druids that he was the servant of the living God, collected a large pile of dry wood, which he ignited by a miraculous flame, and the blaze soon illuminated the surrounding hills. No sooner had the Druids seen the flames ascend, than they called upon the King, whom they intimidated with superstitious fears, to send out a guard to arrest the sacriligious Patrick and his followers, alledging at the same time, that if the fire was not instantly extinguished the vengeance of Bel would destroy the royal family of Ireland. stances connected with the arrest of St. Patrick on this occasion in our history, But as we will relate the entire of the circumwe will not detail them here. At Tara, and almost in every village, during the solemn festival, it was customary to offer sacrifice to Bel, the chief deity of the Island; after the hour of devotion the inhabitants brought their children who were marriageable to a high hill, on which a long pole, decorated with flowers and garlands, was planted. Around this May-pole seats were placed, and, to prevent confusion, the young men ranged themselves on one side, and the girls on the other, and when the preliminary terms of contract were adjusted between the parents of those who expressed an attachment for each other, the Druidical priest made them walk into the centre of the ring, and the nuptial ceremony was then performed. Indeed the custom of dancing round a May-pole is prevalent to this day in many parts of Ireland. Early of a May morning a green hawthorn bush is placed opposite the door, which the young maidens decorate with May-flowers, primroses, and all the floral gifts of Spring. At noon the youth of both sexes assemble at what is called a May Fair, where they spend the day in dancing and merriment. This is also the custom in England, for Stow tells us that "in the month of May, early on the first day of this month, every man, not sick, would walk into the sweet meadows and green woods, there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and savour of fragrant flowers, and with the harmony of birds praising God in their kind." "The Mayings," says a late writer, "are still kept up with great spirit in the city of Dublin, by the milk-maids, who go about the streets with their garlands and music, dancing and singing, in Irish, we bring home the summer.'" In the highlands of Scotland the herdsmen of every village hold their Beltein, or rural sacrifice, after the manner of the Irish, on the first of May. They cut a square trench in the ground, leaving the turf in the middle, on which they kindle a fire of wood, and over this fire they cook a large caudle of ter, oatmeal, and milk, and bring, besides the ingredients of this mess, beer and eggs, butwhiskey. All these things are levied by contribution, for the May-feast. The superstitious rites begin with pouring some of the beer and whiskey on the ground, by way of libation. Baker, in his chronicles, tells us that in the reign of Henry VI. "the Aldermen and Sheriffs of London being on May-day at the Bishop of London's wood, and having there a worshipful dinner for themselves and other comers, the Rev. Mr. Lydgate, the monk of Bury, sent them by a pursuivant, a joyful commendation of the Season, beginning thus : : "Mighty Flora, Goddess of fresh flowers, To do pleasance of intent full cleane, Hath VER sent down her own daughter dear." Mr Borlase, in his curious account of the manners of Yorkshire, tells us, that an ancient custom still retained by the men of York, is that of decking their doors and porches, on the first of May, with green sycamore and hawthorn boughs, after which they made an excursion into the country, and having cut down a tall elm, brought it into town, fitted a straight and taper pole to the end of it, and painting the same, erect it in the most public places, and on holidays and festivals adorn it with flowers, garlands, and streamers." Even after the introduction of Christianity in Ireland, May-day was always appropriated to the inauguration of the provincial Kings. Dr. Burke, who was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory in 1776, gives us to understand, in his Hibernia Dominicana, that on May-day the Prior of the Black Abbey, at Kilkenny, caused his cellars and refectory to be opened" for the entertainment of the poor and the stranger, and that all the May Maids who applied with regular licenses, were married gratuitously in the season of May." We have in "Flemming's genealogy of the O'Donnell," an account of the inauguration of Rory O'Donnel, at Kilmacrenan, on May-day 1147. This solemnity, according to our historians, was marked with all the pomp and circumstances that could give eclat to the assumption of royal authority. Early on May morning, the Column of the May was wreathed by twenty-four virgins, with garlands of flowers, shamrocks and holly near the stone altar on the summit of the rock, the ensign of O'Donnel was raised on a long staff, the crown and sceptre were placed on the altar, the Abbot of Kilmacrenan, in rich pontificals, seated himself at the foot of the altar, and the cotemporary Princes and vassal chiefs, occupied a row of benches opposite to him. The young Prince supported by his Knights ascended the steps and took his seat on the right hand side of the Abbot. The assembly of the states being then full, O'NEIL, King of Ulster, rose up, holding in his hand a white wand, and addressed his cousin as follows: "Receive, as the descendant of Nial the great, the auspicious ensign of your dignity, and remember to imitate in your life and government, the whiteness, straitness, and unknottiness of this rod; to the end that no evil tongue may asperse the candour of your actions with blackness; no corruption pervert your justice, nor any ties of friendship make it partial. Take therefore, upon you in a lucky hour, the government of your people, and exercise your power according to the dictates of freedom and the injunctions of the holy Roman Catholic faith." As soon as his exhortation was concluded, the Abbot placed the crown upon his head, presented the sceptre, and then pronounced the benediction which ended the ceremony. Dr. Moresin says, "that the English Mayors received their name from May, in sense of lawful power. The crown, a mark of dignity and symbol of power, like the mace and sceptre, was also taken from the May, being representative of the garland or crown, which, when hung on the top of the Mayor-pole, was the great signal for convening the people, in days of yore, in England. The arches of it, which spring from the circlet, and meet together at the mound or round ball, being necessarily so formed to suspend it on the top of the pole." Nothing can be more delightful than the appearance of meadows, hills, valleys and groves, in May, the balmy season of poetry, health and love. How pleasing, how delightful to the poetic and philosophic mind, is the dawning of the season of flowers, when the meadows are green and the streams pellucid, the orchards redolent of odorous blossoms, and the wooing birds melodious in their concert of love. Behold! how busy, blithsome May strews our path with spangled Anemonies, the speckled primroses, the mild blue violets, and the purple orchis, while she decks the shruby canopy over our heads with her blossom-wreathed garlands ! See! how Flora, her hand-maid, adorns the gardens and fields; with what lustral hues attach, with what painted beauty enchant the sight; and observe what a variety of odours, and a richness of perfume she scatters around to embalm the sweet gale. Who can walk forth of a May morning into the country and see the ruby Cowslips and golden Crocus, shining with dew, unfolding with coy, reserve their velvet caps, and again retiring with modest blandishment from the kiss of Zephyr, without feeling his heart throb with the sensation of pleasure, and his mind elated with the glow of poetry? For surely such a morning is calculated to refresh and revive not only the vegetable, but the animal system. On such a morning, when the zephyr but gently breathes, as if afraid to disturb the hushed, mild tranquillity of nature; when the gratified eye is charmed by the emerald plain, the richly parterred hillock, bending its grassy verdure under the visitation of the breeze; and when the luminous rainbow throws its softened arch across the babbling brook, illuminates the mossy shades, or paints the shepherd's cottage with prismatic dyes; is there a bosom so callous and congealed as not to melt into joyous emotion, under the genial influence of the charming scene? QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE DRAMA.-NO. II. SHAKSPEARE'S OTHELLO, AND Dr. Young's REVENGE. HORACE in his epistle to his friend Piso, decries the abuse of language, irregularity of disposition, and disregard of striking peculiarity of characters, as well as faintness of colouring, which marred and mutilated the Roman Drama, in his days. "If in a picture, PISO, you should see, A handsome woman with a fish's tail;- But to come to our inquiries. Ought Othello and Zanga to be represented on the stage, as Black Moors?-Did historical evidence warrant Shakspeare to represent Othello a Moor holding a chief command in the army of Venice, in preference to her proud and chivalric Nobles; and moreover, entrusted with an important government, in Cyprus, at a time that the republic was in the Zenith of her power and glory, and when her arms gained the most splendid triumphs?-Perhaps Mr Hackett, who has like a literary Don Quixote, sallied forth with his mace of reeds, to demolish the monuments, and his farthing rush-light of emendation, to illuminate the Catacombs of Shakspeare, can inform us ! How Othello acquired, as a Black, under the line, consummate knowledge of the tactics of Europe; and by what means he satisfied the jealous policy of the senate and obviated their distrust of and repugnance to aliens, are questions worthy of Mr. Hackett's solution. We believe the term "Moor" did not exist in our language until after the Saracens had spread their conquests from the Euphrates to the Loire, and under the appellation of Moors or Morescoes, established themselves in Spain. The word in its origin, served as contradistinctive of Moor from Negro-of white Moor from black Moor. In the interesting and lively scene of "the Caskets," in the MERCHANT OF VENICE, MOROCHEUS is denominated as Tawny Moor." If the subordinate circumstances of dress, attitude, and a local or personal adaption be requisite to the cunning and illusion of the scene, how much more essen ial, in our judgment, is the strict avoidance of even a seeming incongruity or non-accordance in sentiment, in language, and especially in countenance. 66 "Where dawns the high expression of the mind?" History may be pronounced a species of DRAMA, for indeed the exquisite histories of Salust, Gibbon, and Robertson are Dramas full of incident interest, and character. Ben Johnson, in his "Cataline, has given one of the Roman historians' works, in blank verse and dialogue almost verbatim. The laws of the Stagyrite may sometimes be dispensed with, as it is indeed a privilege of genius to burst the fetters of criticism, wander from the common track of mediocrity, and rise on pinions of daring orignality to that bright atmosphere where the Bird of Jove gazes on the sun in its glory; as when our immortal Bard represents, in the first act of his " Winter Tale" the infancy, and in his last, the manhood of its hero: but this indulgence would be carried too far, in any case where sentiment and language adapted to a SUPERIOR class of beings, are given to another class, designated as an inferior genus of the human species, as in the case in respect of Othello and Zanga, in which the essentials of character, country, climate, and colour, are confounded. Hence our sympathy and interest are diminished, the emotions of the soul and the feeling of the heart are abated, and repressed nature has not play. Hume and Buffon concur in the opinion, that the blaze of intellect was never kindled in the mind of a Negro, for say they " no black ever yet was capable of investigating a problem of EUCLID," sensation and not reflection, gives an impulse to their mental powers. A Negro and a Greek differ not more in the shape and colour of their bodies, than they do in the complexion, characteristics, and peculiarity of their minds. But if Othello be considered as a Moor or a Moresco, and not a Black, it is consonant to probability that a Moresco officer of reputation might obtain a command at Venice; and especially from his knowledge of the Turkish mode of warfare, might be deemed a proper opponent to those conquerors of the eastern Empire. So conscious was Garrick of the insuperable difficulties that oppose the natural and vivid representation of the characters of Othello and Zanga, that he never could be prevailed upon to assume these parts. Barry and Mossop, personated the black heroes, we are told, with all the force and vitality that fine acting could impart to render the illusion perfect, and encircle their representations with the shades and features of life; yet the powers of these great and gifted actors, aided by the genius of Shakspeare and Young, fell short of their ordinary effect; the impressive and picturesque acting of Barry, accustomed to penetrate the heart and charm the soul of sensibility, in the performance of Othello, "Play'd round the head but came not to the heart." And the transcendant powers of the Irish Roscius Mossop, who, in attitude and expression of the majestic and strong eloquence of the British Eschylus, at once recalled the combined ideas of Homer's Jove, thundering from the heights of Ida; or Phidias's statue of the Olympian Deity; and with all these attributes and matchless conception, he could, in Zanga, only surprise the audience, and elevate the personification as high as representation could possibly raise it. There is, indeed, no affecting scene in the REVENGE where the character of Zanga can unlock the main-spring of tragedy-pity. In the personations of Othello and Zanga, no inferior, or even second-rate actor, could ever yet be endured; in OTHELLO especially, risibility has oftener been excited than sensibility. KEAN'S Othello deserved the eulogium of Lord Byron, for it certainly is "the noblest effort of human genius." And yet in Richard he carries the perfection of his art to a still higher point of excellence: when Kean performs Richard III. the audience forget the actor, resign their consciousness to their imagination, and actually "in the mind's eye," "Roll back the flood of never-ebbing time," become spectators of the battle of Bosworth field, and hear the tyrant Plantagenet rav ing amid the din of the conflict. All ideas of the present are suspended-the mind of the auditor beholding Kean retraces, not by recollection, but by the magic powers of personification the mighty past, and traverses around the globe his enraptured attendant. The London critics have agreed that the late John Kemble was unrivalled in the part of Zanga. All the critiques that we have read on his performance bear testimony to his conception and admirable execution in that character. His delivery of the declamatory speech at the end of the third act, beginning, and ending, "What think 'twas set up the Greek and Roman name," &c. "Do this and tread upon the Greek and Roman glory," produced magic effects in the minds of the audience. IRISH AFFAIRS. Thank God! the reign of bigotry is drawing to a close in Ireland, and that accursed demon, who, while clad in vestments stolen from the altars of Heaven, and brandishing a torch lit in the fires of hell, has scattered a moral pestilence and a physical degradation, for centuries, among the Irish people, is vanishing like an evil spirit before the rays of the morning star of emancipation. Would to heaven that the remembrance of the evils with which prejudice and policy afflicted poor Erin, could be expunged from the page of history, and that the cruel persecutions to which they subjected millions of Irishmen, for no other cause than that of adhering tenaciously to the faith of the Saint, the hero, and the philosopher, may be forgotten and consigned to the chaos of oblivion. It is truly horrific to look back through the vista of years elapsed, at the miseries and privations of our country, while clinging like an unconquerable martyr to her ancient faith, regardless of the terrors of death or the agonies of torture, and elevating the standard of her religious conscience under the axe of the executioner, VOL. I.-19 and the threats of the oppressor. Humanity, on beholding the spectacle, heaves a sigh, Religion drops a tear, and even vile Prejudice is confounded at the exaltation of the victim to the glory of the martyr. If the Bill for the relief of the Catholics, now in progress through the British Parliament, pass into law, it may be regarded as the concession of fear rather than the boon of English justice; for we have the authority of history to say that Ireland never received any act of kindness or affection from her cruel and ill-natured step-sister, in the moment of her prosperity. England was always a bloated promiser, but a lank performer to Ireland; and her flagrant and dishonourable violation of the treaty of Limerick, is a historical proof of her perfidy and injustice. Let no shallow politician give credit to the liberality of Wellington, or the wisdom of Peel for the "Catholic relief Bill," because it was the CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION, Wrung it from the bristled fangs of the bayed Lion. The English ministers were alarmed by the array of spirit and unanimity which the Association marshalled under its banner, and opening their eyes to the danger that menaced them, they, as a dernier resort, to avert its impending evils, were driven by absolute NECESSITY, to the expedient which they have adopted. The draft of this Bill, which is far, indeed, from presenting a full measure of equitable justice to Ireland, will still have the effect of quenching the thirst of her discontent; for she is, and has ever been grateful to England for even a partial favour; the gratitude of the Irish heart can be revived even by a gleam of English sunshine. The fifteenth clause of the proposed bill demands, it will be perceived, a sacrifice of the elective privileges of the Forty Shilling Freeholders, a body of men that fought and conquered in the van of freedom and independence, during the late elections in Ireland. For this sacrifice, Ireland can receive no adequate concession, as it demolishes the strongest citadel in which she could hold out against her oppressors. It remains to be seen whether the elective franchise of the forty shilling freeholders shall be surrendered. The following are the heads of the Bill: 1. Its basis is the removal from the Roman Catholics of civil disabilities, and the equalization of political rights. 2. Roman Catholics are to be admitted into both houses of Parliament. There are to be no restrictions as to numbers. Catholics becoming members of either house are to take an oath to support and defend the succession of the Crown-abjuring the sentiment that Princes excommunicated by the Pope may be deposed and murdered by their subjects-denying the right of the Pope to any civil jurisdiction in the British Kingdom-disclaiming, disavowing and solemnly abjuring any intention to subvert the present Church Establishment as settled by law, &c. 3. Roman Catholics are to be incapable of holding the office of Lord Chancellor, or of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 4. They may hold all Corporate offices-may be sheriffs and judges. 5. But they are not to hold places belonging to the Established Church; the Ecclesiastical Courts, or Ecclesiastical foundations, nor any office in the Universities, the Colleges of Eton, Winchester, and Westminster; nor any School of Ecclesiastical foundation. The laws relative to Roman Catholic right to presentations are to be retained. In cases where any Roman Catholic shall hold an office with which Church patronage is connected, the Crown is to have the power of transferring the patronage. No Roman Catholic to hold any office to advise the Crown in the appointment of Offices connected with the Established Church of England and Ireland. 6. The existing Penal Laws affecting Roman Catholics are to be repealed. 7. Roman Catholics are to be put, with respect to property, on a footing with Dis senters. 8. Catholic Members of Parliament are not to be obliged to quit the House upon any particular question. (Mr. Wilmot Horton's suggestion upon this subject is held to be objectionable.) 9. There is to be no Declaration required against Transubstantiation. 10. Upon the subject of Ecclesiastical Securities, the Roman Catholics are to be placed on the footing of all other Dissenters. 11. There is not to be any Veto, nor is there to be any interference with the intercourse, in Spiritual matters, between the Roman Catholic Church and the See of Rome. 12. The Episcopal titles and names, now in use in the Church of England, are not to be assumed by the members of the Roman Catholic Church. 13. When Roman Catholics are admitted to corporate and other offices, the insignia of such offices are in no one case to be taken to any other place of worship of the Es |