Tied appearance, that give such a classic air and touching interest to the Mrs. Beverly of the most accomplished tragic actress on the American boards. If we except Mrs. Siddons, and Miss O'Neil, perhaps Mrs. Beverley never had a more forcible and efficient representative than Mrs. Duff, particularly in the last act of the Gamester, where she affects and astonishes the audience by her powerful conception of conjugal love; proving by the severest and most seductive trials, its passion and delicacy; its glowing tenderness-its unconquerable fidelity of constancy-and its unshaken firmness, and unalienable attachment. Here Mrs. Duff exhibits a picture so potently and so naturally drawn, and so vividly coloured, that it touches the coldest sensibility, and melts the most frigid heart in the bosom of apathy. MR. BARRY'S Beverly, was a correct and animated performance, and were it not depreciated now and then, by bellowing rant, we would pronounce it a masterly outline of that character. We always like to see MR. SIMPSON, in light, gay, and genteel comic characters, which he sustains with ease and fine a flow of natural feeling; but the vivid delineation of a hypocritical double-dealer, like Stukely, is beyond the grasp of his histrionic powers. We must, however, admit that in the scene with Mrs. Beverly, in the third act, he displayed conception and respectable specimens of spirited acting. Mrs. Sharpe, in Charlotte, acquitted herself with her usual effect and vivacity. We have not had before an opportunity of speaking of a grotesque and tasteless spectacle, called " Thierna Na Oge," or the country of youth, which has been exhibited in this house, at the expense of Irish feeling, and indignation, for several nights. This miserable farrago of nonsense, vulgarism, and stupidity, was got up in London, by the vile recreant apostate, CROKER, the wretched traducer of Lady Morgan; who, in what he termed his "Legenus of the South of Ireland," caricatured, and burlesqued the characters and the manners of our nation. To the exaggerated and distorted portraits which he has daubed of Daniel O'Rielly, and the old and young Kate Kearney, Mr. Mercer, and the Mesdames Hilson and Wheatley, have added by their buffoon and graceless besmearing, the coarsest and the most disgusting colours of vulgar caricature and monstrous burlesque. We are sorry that delicacy alone did not deter the ladies from assuming such modest blundering, and negative characters as Dame and Kate Kearney. We would advise Mr. Mercer, not to" say more than is set down for him.” Let him remember in future that the grimace of a Jack-pudding is not the smile of an Irishman. Were it not for the splendid scenery of this burlesque spectacle, and the interest and consequence which Mr. Richings gave to O'Donoghue, no audience of taste could endure a repetition of the trashy thing of absurdity. SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. We had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Caldwell in Charles Surface, in which he was vivacious, natural, and impressive. This gentleman's performance, is not marred by the affectation and frippery frivolity of Mr. Barrett, who always represented Charles as a reeling drunkard. Mr. Caldwell, on the contrary, gives us the character as the author intended-—a gay, pleasant table companion, who loves his bottle for the sake of his company, and who, though a generous open-hearted rake of fashion, never forgets that he is a gentleman. Mr. Caldwell treads the stage with ease, grace, and firmness, and he seems to act from the impulse of nature. We never saw Miss Kelly so vapid, cold and constrained, as she was in Lady Teazle. In the discovery scene she evinced an unusual degree of chilling insensibility. We missed there the appropriate action, and expressive gesture of MISS ROCK;-her timid confusion;-and her nervous but emphatic enunciation in exposing the hypocrisy of Joseph. Mr. Barnes's Sir Peter, was a childish and trifling performance. We know he can make Sir Peter a gentleman, when he thinks proper. As that unrivalled representative of Scottish characters, MR. MAYWOOD, is in the city, we hope shortly to have the pleasure of seeing Sir Archy in his usual flow of spirits and talents, on the boards. Mr. Simpson always treats the audiences of his house with genius. THE STATUE OF THE LATE MR. GRATTAN. The nobility and gentry of Ireland, with a spirit of liberality that grateful_remembrance of the virtues and the eloquence of the Irish Demosthenes, have as their employed Chantry, the celebrated sculptor, to make a statue of that renowned patriot. By a letter from a friend in Dublin, we understand that the statue, which is highly creditable to the genius of the artist, is an admirable likeness of the Tully of the Irish house of Commons, was erected in the Royal Exchange, Dublin, early in the month of August last. The figure is full of spirit, expression, and dignity. The sublime orator is exhibited in a graceful oratorical attitude, with his countenance so animated, that its expression seems glowing with the bright flame of eloquence that burned in his mind. The left hand holds a roll of parchment, upon which is pressed the palm of the right. The drapery is not antique, but the artist skilfully gave the statue the air of being arrayed in the classic costume, by the felicitous disposition of a flowing cloak, which hangs in loose and graceful folds upon it. This statue, which is seven feet high, and of Italian marble, rests on a pedestal of three feet square by five in height. It is situated in the western corridor, looking towards Dame-street. The inscription on the pedestal is from the elegant pen of G. CERRY, ESQ. who was the devoted friend of the great original. "FILIO OPTIMO CARISSIMO, PATRIA NON INGRATA As an orator MR. GRATTAN had few equals, particularly in keenness of invective, and sarcasm of retort, as in wielding these rhetorical weapons, he manifested a Giant's strength, and inflicted wounds that were incurable. His celebrated speeches in the Irish parliament during a most momentous period of Irish history, were always in support of the best interests of his country, and in reprobation of her foes. His style of eloquence was often grand, lucid and impressive, reflecting the brilliancy of an enlightened and classic mind, on every subject of which he treated. The Biographer of Mr. Grattan, in narrating the events of his life, must give the history of Ireland from the period" that he rocked the cradle of Irish liberty in 1779, until he followed her to the grave," in 1800. He might be said to have been the architect of the once mighty fabric, the Irish Parliament, which, alas! in spite of all his efforts, was demolished by English intrigue, and Irish corruption. Mr. Grattan's splendid career in the Irish senate, constituted a new epoch in our history, and gave birth to transactions, in whose importance the recollection of prior occurrences were sunk, by the superior interest of existing events. Original Poetry. THE LAY OF THE PERI: A FRAGMENt of an eastern TALE.* KALMA-the fairest vale that lies Why cease the smiles that beamed from thee? [blows: * Vide "Tales of the Genii," Vol. I. p. 46-50 London ed, 1763, Is bathed in the crystal drops of wo- Weep'st thou the chieftain, whose martial form O'er the kings of the East bath in triumph pealed, Weepst thou the chieftain? well mayst thou weep! MERVIN. APOSTROPHE TO THE HARP of DENNIS HAMPSON, THE MINSTREL OF MAGILLIGAN,* IN THE COUNTY OF DERRY. [For the following elegant effusion, which was called forth from the author's muse, on his visiting the residence, and viewing the harp of Denis Hampson, one of the last of our wandering minstrels, about four years ago, we are indebted to the poetic pen of ADAM KIDD, Esq. of Quebec. This talented gentleman has now in press a dramatic poem entitled the "HURON CHIEF," of which we shall give a review as soon as it is published.] In the gloom of repose from the hand that has often Through transport the purest touch'd gently thy strings, Thou art destined, ah, never! again once to soften The heart with such rapture as melody brings. Ah, no! dearest Harp! bleakest ruin hangs o'er thee, [dead,t Thy chords are all torn- and the minstrel now Who first through his own native Isle proudly bore thee, And loved from thy bosom soft music to shed. Yet the children of Erin shall guard safe the willow, That bends in luxuriance o'er his lone grave, And nods in the night-winds, half fann'd by the billow, Which loves the Magilligan shores still to lave. MAGILLIGAN is a rocky promontory, whose point extends three miles into Lough Foyle in the County of Londonderry. This long ridge of rocks, rising high above the marine level, is remarkable for its cascades, caverned rivers, and giant graves. The traditionary tales of the peasantry state, that a great battle was fought at Magilligan, between Fingal's Irish Militia and a band of Danish pirates who made a predatory incursion into Ireland, in which many of the Finian heroes fell before they had routed the invaders. The immense sepulchral tumuli are composed of stone and sand. The point was formerly connected with the opposite shore of Green-Castle, from which it is now separated by an arm of the sea, that is two miles in breadth. Instead of imputing this separation to its natural cause, the violence of the raging billows, it is regarded by popular superstition as the work of a fairy," in whose days," says the old legend," the low land, now the bed of the sea, from the Point Rock to Green-castle, was corn ground belonging to the Good People." Some sacrilegious wight, a this time, stole a carpet from the "gentle farm," (Vide page 320) which so provoked one of the Fairy-Queens, that she cursed Magilligan, and predicted that every year the breadth of the carpet should be swept away from the land until all the heights should fall into the abyss. In one of the precipitous rocks here, there is a fine cave called Solomon's Porch. In the sunshine of days now but living in story, About five miles north of Magilligau is Down HILL, the magnificent Italian mansion, which was erected by the late Earl of Bristol in 1784, when that noble patron of the arts and literature, was Bishop of Derry. The spot on which he raised this palladian temple was then one of the wildest peaks on the shores of the Atlantic, but his improvement soon opened "a Paradise in the wild." The portico and pediment of the grand front are after the model of those with which Palladio adorned the One side of the vestibule is theatre of Vicenza. a bronze statue of Eurytus, and on the other that of Hercules. This Earl's collection of paintings and sculpture, surpassed in value and variety, that of the Earl of Charlemont. At a short distance from the steps of the portico, there is a superb pyramidical cenotaph of Galway marble, whose apex is" dipped in heaven," which the noble prelate erected to commemorate the memory of his predecessor, the Earl of Bristol. He was succeeded in his property and Irish estates by his cousin, SIR HERVEY BRUCE, a man of little mind and vitiated taste. This unworthy successor of the learned and munificent Earl of Bristol, despoiled the mansion of Down Hill of all its pic. tures, sculptures, medals, and antiques, which he sold; and before his death,an event which happened only three or four years ago, he not only deprived the old widow of Denis Hampson of the cottage, which the Earl had bestowed on the minstrel, but actually carried off the harp for arrears of rent. the heir of the Mecenas of his age; such was the heartless conduct of the modern Hun to the destitute relict of the Irish Marullus. Down Hill is five miles from Coleraine, and twenty-six from the city of Londonderry. The wish of the poet is realized-DANIEL Such was DENIS HAMPSON, except O'NEIL, the late celebrated harper of the Belfast Harp Society, was the most accomplished performer on the national lyre, that ever "raised the voice of song," in the halls of the Irish nobility, since the days of our Orpheus CAROLAN. Denis, though illiterate and blind, having lost his sight at three years of age, had a mind illuminated with the rays of inherent genius, and also a memory eminent for its retentive powers. Every event of Irish history, every deed of our ancient chivalry, and every pedigree of the Milesian chieftains, was indelibly impressed upon his recollection, and the names of the O'Neils, O'Donnels, O'Briens, M'Carthys, O'Connors, and O'Moores, names that cannot be effaced from the O'CONNELL has restored freedom to Erin. O'CONNELL'S CIVIC WREATH. || No, for its emerald gem is dy'd Not with the laurel wreath of fame, With which she crowns the hero's tomb, Erin's star! will we twine thy nameAlthough it wears eternal bloom ; B In adamantine monuments of their glory, by the revo lutions of destiny, were consecrated in his song, and enshrined in the veneration of his heart. 1806, LADY MORGAN, in collecting materials for her admirable and affecting novel of the Wild Irish Girl, visited the "sou of song," in his cottage at Magilligan, and describes him thus:-"We found the venerable bard cheerful and communicative and he seemed to enter even with an eager readiness on the circumstances of his past life, while his "soul seemed heightened by the song, with which at intervals he interrupted his narrative." Hampson had the honour to be introduced to the unfortunate Prince Charles Stuart, at Edinburgh, by Colonel Kelly of Rosscommon, in 1744, whom he delighted by his execution on the harp. He contin ued in Scotland in the Prince's suit until after the defeat of that personage, whom he revered and followed as a descendant of the Irish kings, at the -battle of Culloden, in 1746, when he returned to his native isle, where he found friends and patrons| among the old Irish families, in whose houses he was always a welcome guest, and at whose hospitable tables he told the tale of Erin's renown, and sung of the days of the glory, and the actions of the brave of Hibernia. In 1788, General Hart, caused a full length portrait of him to be painted by a celebrated Limner. In 1802, he was invited by the Belfast Harp Society, to preside at the famous meeting of the Harpers, on which occasion, he was arrayed in the bardic habit of the ancient Irish minstrel, and though he was then in the 105th year of his age, his power of execution produced sach thrilling effects on the minds of all present, that the other Harpers, de pairing of equalling, declined playing any Irish air after him. The tunes he loved to play next to his own compositions, were CAROLAN'S "Ellen Aroon, Coolin, Cleandubhdilis, and the Dawning of the day." If we can procure materials we shall give a fuller biography of Denis Hampson, than the imperfect sketch which we now present to our readers in this note. He died in 1803, at Magilligan, in the 109th year of his age; and over his grave, in its church-yard, LADY MORGAN has caused a marble slab, with a suitable inscription, to be placed a few years ago. Thus has the grave of the last of the Irish bards,' been honoured by an illustrious lady, whose talents and patriotism, have conferred more honour and shed more lustre of genius on Ireland, than all the princesses, heroines, and authoresses, to whom she ever gave birth. During the life of the good Earl of Bristol, the venerable Amphion of Magilligan, as we mentioned in the preceding note, enjoyed | every comfort which he stood in need of at so advanced an age. ell. We believe it was his Lordship translated into English, Hampson's inscription on his harp, which was of white sally, that was dug out of a bog hole, in the vicinity of his residence, in 1702. "In the time of Noah I was green, After his flood I have not been seen, Until seventeen hundred and two. I was found With the crimson hue of the heart's young tide, And the shamrock that grows on EMMEr's bier Is stain'd with the maiden and inatron's tear! THE IRISH SHIELD AND MONTHLY MILESIAN, A HISTORIC, LITERARY, AND DRAMATIC JOURNAL. REFLECTIONS ON THE DISSENSIONS AND INTESTINE COMMOTIONS OF THE ANCIENT THAGE IN ANCIENT TIMES. The reader who has honoured the preceding chapters of this history, with a perusal, must have been surprised at the fatal feuds and bloody strife that scattered the unnatural and sanguinary miseries and calamities of civil war through Ireland, for a period of near three centuries. But though the gloomy records of those internal divisions, and melancholy discords, detail events that shock and sicken humanity, they are not still without numerous parallels in the history of every other nation in Europe. This assertion is raised by Voltaire, Hume, Robertson, and Sir Walter Scott, to a pinnacle of truth, which is too elevated for the assaults of objection. These historians furnish us with horrid recitals, equalling certainly, in the cruelty and barbarity which they unfold the most atrocious deeds that stain our annals, of their Princes murdering each other, in order to succeed to sovereign power. We find the royal rivals of Scotland and England, even in comparitively enlightened periods, guilty of inhuman enormities and stupendous wickedness, in their sanguinary career, to the goal of regal authority, which surpass the blackest and most barbarous crimes that have been imputed by history, to the heathen kings of Ireland. The ancient Irish princes were idolatrous worshippers of military glory and heroic courage; these were the divinities to whom they sacrificed the love of life, and every selfish consideration. For the moment a chieftain betrayed a symptom of pusillanimity in the martial field, he was debased; his name was obliterated from the emblazoned record of the valiant, and the herald broke his escutcheon and trampled his banner in the dust, in the presence of all his companions in arms. To evade this degradation, the chivalric Milesians entered the field of battle fully resolved to conquer their adversaries, or fall in the struggle covered with glory; as life without victory was not, in their opin ion, worth preserving. To outlive the blaze of heroic fame, after being extinguished VOL. I.-45. |