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Leader (1850-1860), 7th June 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 541, Untitled Article

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      up "with the heiress as the only practicable means of acquiring it . ** Had there been but one of these suitors , or had either of them been content to yield to the claims of the other , or had they not been so equal in the number of their followers and the strength of their fastnesses , the fate of the poor girl would soon have been decided ; but the lord of Annagh Buie was a politician ; he understood the balance of power , and saw

      clearly the advantage of being himself the pivot on which to balance these powerful neighbours . Both were received courteously—both were admitted into the castle to pay their addresses to the fair Bragelah ; but at the same time extreme care was taken , not only that their respective retinues should be evenly balanced , but that both together , should they by any accident come to a good understanding with one another , should not have a chance of overpowering the garrison .

      «* Things were in this state , when , one summer evening , a young harper made his appearance at the castle gate , and was readily admitted ; as , when no war or other pastime was going on , the sources of amusement open to this great lord were very limited indeed . " Who that harper was , or to what tribe he belonged , no one could say ; even the old seneschal was puzzled ; and , as he himself preserved an impenetrable silence on the subject , the laws of hosp itality would not suffer him to be too closely questioned .

      " He was fair and light-haired , and had not the bearing of either a Maguire or an O'Rourke ; and yet no one could consider him exactly as a stranger , so well was he acquainted with every locality and every circumstance of the neighbourhood . Every one , too , had some confused idea of having seen him at some period or other of their lives , but no one could say exactly where or when ; and the name which he gave—Slievan—which signifies merely a mountaineer , gave no clue to the curious , as it might apply equally well to any individual of the mountain tribes .

      " People , however , soon ceased wondering , and Slievan , popular from the first , soon became indispensable in the castle , and was permitted to remain , on his own terms , delighting the ears of the rivals with his unearthly melodies , and taming down even the hard , scheming , political soul of the lord of Annagh Buie . '* In process of time he was requested to teach the mysteries of his art to the fair Bragelah , the young lady of the castle . What these three old ignorant statesmen could have been thinking about ,

      or how they could be so ignorant of human nature as to place a fair-haired youth of lightsome temper , gay conversation , and wonderful skill on the harp , in such close communion with a young lady , who was expected to be thankful for a bearded old ruffian , old enough to be her father , I cannot tell ; but the event was , that , some treaty of statesmanlike accommodation having been proposed and accepted by the two potentates , one article of which was the disposal of the fair Bragelah to one or other of them , the lady disappeared , and—curious coincidence—the harper disappeared also .

      " Hot and immediate was the pursuit . The O'Rourke summoned his horsemen from Kinloch to guard the western passes ; the lord of Enniskillen barred the whole cast ; to the north flowed the then bridgeless and impassable Erno ; while to the south lay the waters of Lough Melvin . la was im possible that they could have escaped beyond the guarded ring ; within it the Yellow Bog furnished the only hiding-place , and Maguire ' s men were all well accustomed to its dangers . l or o whole day tho search was ineffectual , though a hundred pair of eyes were on the look-out ; and the Maguires on tho

      one side , mid the O Kourkcs on the other , searching every inch of ground before them , were gradually narrowing tho circle ; when , just as the buii ' h lower limb touched tho horizon , shout after shout re-echoed through the bog . The EnniskillenerH closed in ; tho O'liourkes pressed , their horses to tho very edge of the soft ground ; while louder and louder rung tho shouts of the men of Annagh Buie ; and the old chief himself dashed into the golden willows , as ho caught slight of the fugitives emerging on that long projecting tongue of hind just opposite to uh , which id , its you nee , ho nearly isolated , that at this distance it looks like mi island .

      " ? We luivo them now , ' he shouted . ' ( "lose in ! close in ! it is importable they can escape uh now ! ' " But the nun had now sunk , and twilight had already begun , and the time of fairy power had commenced . From the end of that point of land , and terminating sit (» rove Inland opposite , there arose a bo ft blue miHt from the luke , which , as it opened , disclosed a magnificent bridge of white marble , supported on a hundred arches , and lighted by a thousand pale Humes , which , Only tlmt they were stationary , re-¦ ombled those with which tho wandering will-o ' -tlicwliittp beguileB unwary travellers . " The fugitives had already gained the bridge . " ' Follow ! ' cried tho fierce O'ltourko . ' ' Follow ! ' cried tho lord of Knniskillon . " And pell-mell , horse and foot , MaguireH and

      O'Rourkes commingled , they rushed on the ! bridge , shouting , cursing , impeding each other by their very eagerness . " Already they had reached the crown of the bridge , when the harper , Slievan , turned , deliberately facing the rushing crowds , and slowly casting off his saffron-coloured , hooded cloak . " All stood aghast—for his glittering coronet of snow , and his russet robe trimmed with purple , revealed the king of the mountain fairies . ..

      " The glamourie was at an end . Slowly , but inevitably , the bridge crumbled away from beneath their feet ; buttress after buttress , and arch after arch , melted away in thin mist ; nothing remained but here and there a patch of weed or a wave-worn rock , "with the fairy lights dancing round it , while a broad , trembling line of moonbeams dancing in the water marked the path of the bridge ; and all the time the fairy lights gleamed and flickered , and danced over horses and horsemen , as they sank into the cold waters of the lake . " On the pinnacle of an isolated rock , Bragelah , supported by her fairy lover , trusting still , yet trembling and terror stricken , was waving an adieu to the castle of Annagh Buie and its baffled lord .

      " Slowly the mists closed round them , and the fairy harps struck up a march of elfin triumph as the light evening breeze wafted them away to the blue and distant summit of Benbulben . "

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      BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Cosmos : a Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe . By Alex . Von Humboldt . Translated by E . C . OttC . Vol . III . ( Bonn ' s Scientific Library . ) H . J . Bohn . Mr . Bohn here presents us with the third volume of this magnificent work , which equals in grandeur anything yet achieved by philosophy . The introduction , containing an historical review of the various attempts made to bring all the phenomena of the universe under one comprehensive formula as the " Unity of Nature , we especially recommend to the study of thinking readers . Caleb Field . A Tale of the Puritans . By the author of Passages in the Life of Mrs . Margaret Maitland . Colburn . The charming authoress of Margaret Maitland and of Merkland can write nothing which will not disclose a mind of admirable culture and unusual power ; but in the art de conter she is not equal to hundreds who are very inferior in other respects to her . Merkland showed singular artistic faculty in every department except in that of selecting and conducting the incidents of a story . In Caleb Field the story is next to nothing ; but a graphic picture of London during the horrors of the plague , and a touching presentment of the calm heroism which animated religious men during these horrors , are sufficient to make all but the mere novel reader forget the deficiencies of the story .

      An Essay on Church llejorm . Simpkin and Marshall . Though opposed to the leading opinions of this essay , we applaud its scope and spirit , and bear willing testimony to its thoughtful treatment . After stating the peculiarities of the Church of England and the Church of Rome—after comparing their views of leading dogmas—after pointing out where both fail to meet the demands of the age , the author calls for a Reform in the Church , in order that an enlightened Church may not only meet its own pressing difficulties , but by diffusing education meet the great difficulty and danger of tho day , as he considers it , viz .,

      cormnuiuBm . Introductory Jjetsont in the J'Vench language . Hy J . C Dclille . Second edition . Uroumbridg ^ i ! and Boiih . Le Petit llimcur . ISeing- French and English Words and Sentences m llhyine . Groombridpfo and Bonn . Two educational works ; the first a graduated ascenfiion from the simplest elements of the French language up to the complexities of idiom . W ^ o observe no other pculiarity in Hub volume . In Le Petit Rimcur we are puzzled to detect the author ' u object . It is a mere vocabulary , of no more use than tho random opening of a dictionary . The Crystal Palace : its Architectural History and Constructive Marvels . Hy l *« t « r Herlyn and Charlt-H Kowler , Jim .

      . faincu Gilbert . By far the mont elaborate and satisfactory account , of the Cryntal Palace we have yet seen ; the authors were ho connected with tho undertaking an to secure accuracy in the details of their work , and they have cretlitubly made use of their position . The book is profiiHoly illustrated , and a companion volume is promined which will give an account of the marvels within the palace . Pleasures , Objects , awl Jl < liuu > ftt . f > es of lAlcraturn . A Dinc . ouriM ) It v I Ik * Itcvcri'iul KobcrL Ann WillinotL . I ' , ltonwort li .

      Air . Willinott ' s last volume has all the characteristics of his former works ; tlu ; mime loving fondncsK for Nature and Art , the name tendency to illustrate his views by anecdotes and quotations , the siuno scholarly manner , the same curt , epigrummu i- " Htylo . Hut it in the fault of bis uubjoet tlmt it wunt . s purpose ; and coherence , which , with his naturally discursive manner , runs into a book of adversaria rather than a treatise on literature ; an adversaria , however , they are very inouHunt .

      Untitled Article

      THE SOCIETY OF PUMPKINS . Seneca has a decent name among mankind . He is supposed by most people to have been a very respectable philosopher , who wrote books about virtue , and was murdered because he was too good to live . Such luck it is to have written in Latin , to have got oneself read by schoolboys , and edited by clergymen . The Farce bearing the singular title at the head of this paper , and the history of the occasion on which it was written , point to a rather different sort of character—not quite so good—a great deal more clever . But it is not Seneca that I am writing about , but this Farce of his , which I regard as the most significant phenomenon of that remarkable age ; and I have only so much to say of Seneca as will serve for the understanding of it .

      Claudius ' s life had become a general nuisance . The Empress , not without reason , was afraid of his jealousy . Nero was in a hurry to be on the throne ; Seneca was bored with his pedantry , and besides owed him an old grudge . For other various reasons no one liked him ; he was in the way , and they determined to rid themselves of him . Agrippina did it ; Nero looked on , and Seneca , if he was not in the room , was certainly in the palace at the time . It was a cruel business . The first

      poison did not act fast enough , and a feather dipped in a more rapid solution was thrust down his throat . A laudatory oration was part of the funeral ceremony of an emperor . Nero was to speak it . Seneca wrote it . A very elegant puff , it was 6 aid , but rather overdone inflattery , for the people laughed at it . Whatever it was , however , it represented only the writer ' s official feelings : his personal feelings were very different . He had a long

      score against the Emperor , who had first dared to detect him in , and to punish him for , an intrigue ; and had afterwards bored him without ceasing for seventeen years . And the oration finished , he set himself down to write his ceitoKohoKvinucris-; or , in vulgar English , " the Translation into the Society of Pumpkins . " Such being the title under which Seneca was pleased to designate the company into which Roman Emperors , after death , were supposed to be received .

      This Farce opens with a dialogue between Apollo and the Parcae , on the prospects of Rome . The god , in good rolling hexameters , informs the old ladies that the earth is growing impatient ; a young Hero is waiting to make his appearance on the boards , comparable to no being , past , present , or to come , except to himself . He is to rise like the blush of the morning ushering in a golden day , the first of a golden age of such days ; like Lucifer dispersing the retreating stars , or Hesperus leading back the returning choir . The majesty of Heaven is on his face ; his locks flowing like the

      sunbeams . Such a Caesar , such a hero is to be given to Rome ; and his approach is not to be delayed any longer by the life of an intolerable old pedant . So far Apollo . The Fates obediently vote Claudius a nuisance ; the threads are cut , the web of life folded up and put away in their workbags , and Claudius dismissed to make room for tho young prodigy . We have seen above the historicil account of this dismissal ; in the farce the facetious philosopher describes it in lungiiage ^ vvhich , though singularly expressive in its contempt , I had rather not repent .

      His . spirit made its exit , and proceeded at best speed to tho gates of Olympus . Jupiter , hearing that a person of singular appearance had arr ived , unlike anything of the human or other known form , inquired who he was , and what he wanted . Certain wild , unintelligible muttering \ s being all he got in reply , Hercules , as a travelled god , and as having large experience in monsters , wuh dewired to examine thi . s amorphous creature . llerciileHwas a little iilarmcd at the first appearance of the thing , and Htill more at its voice and words . It wan a form of monster which he had not mibdued ; but looking closely at him , he conceived him to be more like u man than anything ctan , and addressed him in courteous Homeric phrase : —

      "Who and whence art thou ? Who thy Hire , thy kin ?" ClaiidiuK , pleased to find himself among philologistH who might perhaps appreciate liin own labours in Mint line , replied also by a Homeric a notation , though not exactly to tho point : —

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      June 7 , 1851 . ] fffje & £ && £ ?? 541

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      We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , or the Useful encourages itself . — Goethe .

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 7, 1851, page 541, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1886/page/17/