BUINI. If he be charged with treachery, we will not leave grounds for even suspecting our honour.

SOLDIER. (To Naisi.)

rear of the castle.

[Enter a Soldier, hastily.]

My Lord, the enemy are rapidly marching on the

NAISI. Quick, my gallant comrades, to the point which they menace. BUINI. My Lord, entrust me with a band of fifty spearmen, and as many archers, and I shall sally out and repulse the foe.

NAISI. I grant your request and expect success, from your courage, bravery, and skill. (They all hastily retire.)

[SCENE-the rear of the castle.-Enter King and soldiers.]

CONNOR. Now, another intrepid and bold assault, and the victory is ours! The rebel foe will soon strike his banner and surrender. (BUINI and his battalion issue out of the castle.) By Bel! they come to fight on our very vantageground, and their arrows already make roads through my ranks, like the lightning that blasts the heath-but they come to their fate.. (Both armies contend furiously-the royal troops give ground, and Buini cuts his way through the royal guard, and approaches the King.) Who art thou, in the glittering armour, that hast swept away my ranks with the besom of death?

A

BUINI. I am Buini, the ruthless red, the son of thy cousin Fergus, for whose faith and guaranty, I and my brother are hostages, with the sons of Usnach. CONNOR. And can you be so disloyal, Buini, to your king and father, as to pluck the crown from my head, and cut off his succession to it, by aiding the ambitious Naisi, who aspires to the throne of our family. Desert, Buini, the rebel cause, and I shall reward you with a rich gift, and honour and distinguish you with my special friendship.

BUINI. As Naisi aspires to the throne, then this moment I renounce his cause! But what is the rich gift, with which your majesty preposes to reward me?

CONNOR. All the fertile manors that stretch their fair fields along the mountain of Foad.*

BUINI. Then I and my army are at your majesty's disposal. Comrades! . (to his soldiers) join the royal ranks! let us courageously combat for our good king, and not for recreant rebels!

CONNOR. NOW, my dear and gallant cousin, let us quickly assault the castle. (They march off at a quick pace.)

SCENE-the great Hall in the castle.—Enter NAISI, DEIRDRR, Officers and Soldiers.]

NAISI. From the battlements, I have discerned Buini's prodigies of valour, and the royal army flying before him, like timid doves before the hawk-(enter a Soldier hastily.) Speak! thy countenance is more expressive of disaster than victory. What of Buini?

SOLDIER. My Lord Prince! Buini with his forces has deserted to the king, in whose battalions they now advance to assail the castle.

NAISI. O treason and perfidy! Arden, fly and array all the garrison! We must drive back the foe. (Exit Arden.) Buini shall die by my hand, or I by

his!

DEIRDRE. Now, Naisi, you are convinced you should have listened to my advice. You see Buini is a traitor: but why should not the son have the baseness of the father?-the corruption pervades the blood!

This district of the county of Armagh, is still called in Irish, "The Bribe of Buini."

ILLAN. My Lord! that my brother acted ignobly and perfidiously, I am ashamed to acknowledge: but if he has forfeited his honour, (kneeling) here I call on the sacred Gods to witness my oath, on those arms of chivalry, that I never shall betray the sons of Usnach, or never play the craven coward in the combat.

NAISI. I believe you will not dishonour the order of the Red-Branch, by the vile infamy of perjury. Therefore, go and take your station at the head of your band. (The sound of a martial trumpet is heard without.) Ha! Connor is at the gates-let us away to meet him! (They all hastily retire.)

O'CONNELL AND SHEIL CONTRASTED.

An article, bearing this title, and possessing all the energy, force, and elegance, which always cast such a halo of interest and attraction over the pages of the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, exhibits a fair and spirited contrast of the illustrious Irish liberators of DANIEL O'CONNELL, the Corinthian pillar of IRELAND'S HOPE— the pious and patriotic Eneas--and of his devoted Achates, RICHARD SHEIL. The style of oratory of these illustrious patriots is as different, and far apart, as the poetry of Lord Byron and Thomas Moore. They are both refulgent stars in the firmament of eloquence, but as distant and dissimilar as Saturn and Mercury. O'Connell's speeches, like the paintings of Michael Angelo, in the Vatican, astonish us by the boldness of his design, and the beauty of his outline; he gives us, if we may so express it, the very statuary of eloquence, exhibiting the bones, limbs, and joints of his subject, with every muscle and feature distinctly marked and ǹaturally modelled, so as to cnable the most careless and cursory observer to recognize his representations.

Sheil's harrangues-the splendid emanations of a poctic mind-like the pictures of Raphael, are embellished with gorgeous drapery, and all the diversified beauty of the light and shade of eloquence; nothing can be more graceful than his narrative, or more rich and florid than his language; and his originality of conception fling out in his orations, pure and poetic diamonds of sentiment, that appear to have been sublimated in the refining fires of a daring imagination. Mr. Sheil is, in our opinion, the most elegant and electric speaker of the age.

O'Connell is the great architect, who has quarried from his own mind, the noble' masses of exquisite marble, and fashioned the colonnade, dome, and pediment of the temple of Catholic emancipation; while Shiel, like a skilful sculptor, has enriched the frieze and entablature, with beautiful basso-relievos of fancy, and adorned the shrine with those precious gems of peerless eloquence, which reflect so much lustre on his rhetorical fame. O'Connell wins the judgment and enlists the conviction of his auditory, by his deep logical deductions and forcible arguments, Shiel appeals to the imagination and the passions in eloquent strains, that soar to the highest noon of splendour," while they make our hearts vibrate with a melody of admiration, to which the feelings and affections respond in unison. It is then he obtains, like a magician, a complete dominion over the attention, bears his auditory on the rapid and impetuous current of his impassioned declamation, wherever he pleases, and, like Curran, "ascends from man to the deity, and again almost seems to call down to earth, fire from heaven."

66

But let us proceed to made our extracts from the admirable delineation, which the able writer in the New Monthly, exhibits of O'Connell and Shiel.

"The names of the celebrated individuals who give a title to this article, have become almost relative and correlative terms, as the grammarians would say, in the English language; the mere mention of one-immediately suggests the other, and it would require something more than an act of parliament, to dissolve this association. As a natural consequence of being thus brought together, a comparison of their respective merits, has long since been instituted. The

joint career of O'Connell and Shiel had, from its commencement, furnished an occasion for this species of criticism, and, as such has not been overlooked, especially in these stages of it, when the expectation of their being tried in the highest ordeal of talent is most likely, at no very distant period, to be fulfilled.

"In making the following remarks, however, we shall not use the language of advocacy. A true estimate of talent must furnish the gross amount, and exhibit the items both of profit and loss. Speaking in the general, with respect to capacity, we believe prevalent opinion has allotted to Mr. O'Connell a supremacy, at the same time that the sentiments of a very considerable party, are more favourable to the claims of his colleague. Now, we are more disposed to strike a balance between the parties. We think that the talents of both differ more in kind than in degree, and that, on the whole, there does not exist any material disparity. Talent is a very wide word; it comprehends many grades of intellect, from ardent reasoning, up to cold calculation. There is nothing which shows so little insight into the structure of the mind, as to pronounce a sentence of general incapacity, upon those who fail in any of its departments.

Mr. O'Connell had been heretofore presented to us, in that sphere of action, which was perhaps better calculated than any other, to develope to the best advantage his highest powers. As the bold, dauntless, and talented reformer, he has, perhaps, but few equals, and is fully deserving of a place beside the great German beretic, astonished as the learned gentleman may be, to find himself in such company.-The question has been mooted as to who obtained Catholic emancipation. We think it might as well be asked, as does the worthy in the farce," Who wrote Shakspeare?" We do not seek to detract from the gracious prudence of royalty, or from the manly, straight-forward, and statesman-like policy of the "great Duke;" who, though he might not have been enlightened as to the full benefit of the contemplated change, was thoroughly persuaded of its expediency, and whose dignified demeanour throughout, was strongly contrasted with the wretched obstinacy of the Eldens and the Winchelseas, refusing to yield up the object of their bigotry, without tears and uproar; but if we are asked to point out the man, who was the ORIGINATER of that measure, who awakened that "gracious prudence," who heaved the stone up to the top of the mountain, and held it on the summit, either to be planted there as its proper site, or if not, to be hurled back again, bearing destruction and desolation, until moral force had fufilled political right,— if we are asked to declare this man, we shall lay our finger on that tall Irishman, who is to be seen in the Four Courts, robed in the humble folds of a stuff gown, and who is emphatically denominated the 'member for Clare.' We think the voice of the empire will, sooner or later, echo this opinion, the voice of posterity always responds by anticipation, to the prophetic inspirations of unbiassed minds. These observations bring at once under consideration, the most prominent and characteristic of Mr. O'Connell's numerous talents, and that one we would denominate under the general name of CONDUCT. It was not his energy of declamation-his powers of reasoning his knowledge of the law, that won the day;-it was what we call his conduct,' the practical tendency of all his speeches, the business-like measures that he devised and put in execution, the vital principle of action which he infused into all, the machinery of facts, the moral tactics that he brought into play, the strong holds, the redoubts, the fortifications, and the batteries, which he erected and planted throughout the land. It was that unquailing and undismayed spirit, that step which never faltered, that erect port which never bent-that skilful, talented, and energetic application of the substantial realities of practical_conduct-these drove the vessel on its course. Pitt was an able advocate of emancipation; Grattan spake in its cause with the tongue of the archangel; Canning, Plunket, Grey, all, all were inspired on the theme; but though the preachers were powerful, "the word" availed not, and its execution was left for an humble apostle of the mission.

"To Mr. O'Connell, then, be imputed that posture of affairs-to him be ascribed the splendid iniquity of that glorious machination."

In the foregoing extract, the readers of the SHIELD will perceive that the able writer exactly coincides in the opinions we have uniformly promulgated respecting the Irish Liberator, virtually recognizes the very principles for which we always contended, and gives a more elegant expression to the very ideas that we advanced, in claiming for Daniel O'Connell, the praise and pre-eminence due to the most virtuous and successful patriot that Ireland ever produced.

The article then enters into a speculation on the brilliant figure O'Connell will make as a Parliamentary speaker, and then opens its luminous comparison of the rival orators as follows:

"We now turn from the Great Agitator' to his colleague. Laying claim to a more lofty and transcendental order of intellect than his learned compeer is possessed of, Mr. Sheil demands a proportionably higher order of analysis to form an estimate of his powers.

"As far as our fiat goes, we for the most part acknowledge the claims of Mr. Sheil; at the

same time, we think it only fair to give him notice, that we shall have to qualify somewhat this decree when we come to speak less abstractedly. We think there is more of the philosophy of eloquence about Mr. Sheil than is usually su-pected. Of a very inflammable temperament, like most of his countrymen-embarked-in a spirit-stirring cause, his political liberty the prize contended for, it was natural that the dictates of a higher order of reflection should have been laid aside, in his famous oration at Penenden heath, ere they were matured for the im. pulse of his feelings. Placed in the front of the battle, an object of obloquy, contumely, and scorn, the same elements of declamatory strife were consequently elicited from him in return. "The occasions on which Mr. Sheil has hitherto been brought before the public, were such as required a highly animated and impassioned speaker, and as such he supplied that want. The notion that a fervid enthusiasm, and a strong imagination, are incompatible with the highest exercise of the understanding, is now classed amongst the exploded hypotheses of former times; and experience has shown, that intellect is inert until impregnated by the fires of the soul. If naturally destitute of these, we in vain, like the sacriligious pilferer of old, endeavour to filch them from heaven. Chatham, Grattan, Canning, Plunket, Grey, Brougham, all possessed, and possess these kindling principles; the first two more apparently, as being more frequently engaged in measures which were calculated to fan them into a flame. The absence of passion and enthusiasm on the part of a patriot, struggling in the same cause that Mr. Sheil did, would have formed a strong presumption of impotence in his temperament, as destitute of those qualities, or misconception in his judgment in coercing them; and on the few occasions on which circumstances required a different conduct in his speeches, we find our opinion of his graver powers fully verified by the chaster, more argumentative, and more philosophic tone. But at this or at any other time, we unreservedly give as our verdict, that the nature of Mr. Sheil's talents is by no means indicative of their insufficiency, but of their vigour and strength."

The writer follows up his critical investigation of Mr. Sheil's qualities as an orator, and then proceeds to wind up his comparative estimate of the distinct merits and correlative talents of the master spirits of the Catholic Association :

"We imagine that it is pretty generally conceded, that whatever value we may place upon Mr. Sheil's abilities, as tending to aid emancipation, we must estimate Mr. O'Connell at a considerably higher rate. His powers of conduct at once stamped him as the great leader. The machine once set in motion, Mr. Sheil, by the potent energy of his eloquence, added abundantly to its momentum; but his was not the sinewy and brawny arm that gave it the first impulse. It was with the vis inertia of the question that Mr. O'Connell had to contend. On every relapse to inactivity, it was the lever of his mind that forced it on again. He was the master mover, who would have procured emancipation without the aid of Mr. Sheil.

What we would assert is, that with respect to the cause in which they were embarked, Mr. O'Connell possessed more of those useful powers, more of that business-like conduct, the application of which was necessary for its advancement. Cast in a rougher mould than his colleague, less sensitive, less fastidious, less morbid, more anxious about the end than the means, desirous of resting his reputation and the question on some tangible basis, and comparatively careless of occupying an eminence in the ideal world, preferring to be an object of sight rather than of faith, Mr. O'Connell descended at once into the paths of literal life, and forcing his way through the crowd with the earnestness of a person intent on arriving at a certain and definite goal, he was wholly unconcerned whether the bystanders should remark the slovenliness of his gait, or the rustic violence of his speed, provided he at length reached the object that he sought.

"This singleness of purpose, this unity of design it was that rendered such service to his cause, and impelled it forward in a rectilinear course. There was no complication of views or interests in his system to create any divergency. The resting-places of his ambition were also the pivots of the Catholic question. This was the line of conduct that declared the first Clare election; this was the spirit in which it was undertaken.

"Now this manner of roughing it', as the phrase goes, does not suit Mr. Shiel's taste. His turn of mind is more aristocratical than that of his colleague; less fitted for the plebeian contact of matter-of-fact and practical life. He may desire to place himself and the cause on a summit, but then he is also solicitous that the ascent should be tracked with glories. His course was rather circuitous than direct. Yet here the transcendent spirit is apparent. The poetry of conception, and its utility, evidently strive in his mind for masteries. At one time he compares them to Briareus upraising his hundred hands;' then again he contemplates with enthusiasm the universal genuflection,-the common cry of liberty, issuing from the altars of God!' and then winds up with the practical effect, two thousand three hundred petitions signed upon two thousand three hundred altars, and rushing at the same time into the councils of the legislature, may not excite alarm, but cannot be treated with contempt.' But while Mr. Shiel was giving utterance to this energetic passage, and certainly demonstrating most powerfully the efficacious results that would follow from the project, Mr. O'Connel

was very probably drawing up a plan by which it was to be matured into fact, and absolutely setting the wheels of the engine in motion. In fine, Mr. O'Connell was the labourer, Mr. Sheil was the sculptor; but inasmuch as the skill of the one is useless without the energy of the other, since this is necessary, that indispensable,-we must pronounce that the first of these gentlemen was best calculated to further Catholic emancipation, and confirm the sentence of the public, which declares, that on this occasion Mr. O'Connell's talents and general capacity were paramount."

In the preceding well written parallel, the judicious reader will admit that its contrasts and distinctive lines have been drawn with impartial justice and critical discrimination.

IRISH TOPOGRAPHY, No. VIII.

EXCURSION FROM DUBLIN TO LONDONDERRY, Continued.
SWORDS.

It was in this town, that the famous remonstrance addressed to the Lord Chief Justices, denouncing the sanguinary cruelties inflicted on the Catholics by Sir Charles Coote, was drawn up in December, 1641, by the Lords Fingall, Gormanstown, Slane, Turvey, Dunsany, Louth, Netterville, and Trimblestown. There is a gentleman of the name of RUSSELL, the legitimate descendant of the celebrated Robert Russell, of Dryham, in the county of Dublin, who was the member for Swords, in King James's Parliament, A. D. 1689-residing here, whose patriotism is an honour to his country, and whose elegant house and tastefully embellished domain, are the grace and ornament of this village.

After leaving Swords, the road for two miles runs through the rural domain of Lissenhall, which presents fine lawns and gently rising hills, clothed with arborescent shrubs. When you ascend Turvey-hill, you behold an extensive tract of country, enlivened with the most picturesque scenery. The view on the right, terminated by the billowy pillars, that seem to totter under the verge of the azure dome of the horizon, is gemmed and speckled with stately villas, embosomed in undulating groves-and comfortable farm-houses, interspersed through cultivated plains, on which droves of oxen and snowy flocks of sheep were pastorally grazing.

In the back-ground of this cheerful perspective, are seen the turrets of the feudal castle of Malahide, the lofty steeples of St. Doulough's church, and the sombre pinnacles and round tower of the monastery of Lusk, which appear at a distance, like Leviathans elevating their crests above the waves. The hoary yet magnificent castle of Malahide is the residence of the patriotic member for the county of Dublin, RICHARD WOGAN TALBOT, Esq. a distinguished gentleman, who possesses the inherent virtues of his noble family, and who, like his illustrious ancestor, Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell, is and was ever ready to unsheath his sword, and wield his pen, for his beloved Ireland.

Under the encouraging auspices of Colonel Talbot, the village of MALAHIDE has grown to the maturity of comfort, opulence, and edificial respectability. Large cottonmills, and several other structures for manufacturing operations, have been built here; so that the village is a scene of industry, activity, and neatness. Malahide is seated on

"They added, that they had received certain advertisement that Sir Charles Coote, at the Council-board, had uttered some speeches tending to a purpose to execute upon the Roman Catholics a general massacre."—Curry's review, p. 239, vol. 1.

"The gallant Colonel Talbot, afterwards Duke of Tyrconnell, feeling indignant at the Duke of Ormond's conduct, in lending the sanction of the king's name to the decisions made in the court of claims, which confirmed Cromwell's grants, and deprived the devoted adherents of the two Charles's of their patrimonial estates, challenged the Duke to a single combat in the presence of Charles II.; but the patriotic gentleman, instead of obtaining the satisfaction he required, was sent to the Tower, from which however he was speedily released; and being reinstated in the King's favour, he continued with manly firmness to vindicate Ireland, in whose cause his sword and his pen were often employed."-TAAFFE.

Richard Talbot was familiarly called by the Courtiers, " Dick Talbot, the brave Irishman.”

CARTE.

"Charles II. called Dick Talbot the most gallant gentleman in Europe, and said, 'That if courage had forsaken every other person, it would find an asylum in his bosom.'"-Vide notes to Lord Clarendon's Hist.