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rope. It was, perhaps, impossible to do without him; but had it been prac ticable, we should rather have had no O'Donnell at all.

Old James Morris and Tom Black, two Protestant settlers, are characters of another stamp, conceived with vigorous originality. Morris, a Covenanter-severe, sanctimonious; Black, an Episcopalian-blunt and jocose, but roughly pious. A son of Morris having lost his life in one of the earlier broils between the Royalist Rapparees and the Protestant settlers, in that part of Donegal where the principal scene is laid, his burial gives occasion to a scene of startling power :

"A few grains of clay had been flung upon the coffin; and the musketeers were preparing to discharge their farewell volley over his still open grave, when a tall gaunt person stood at its head, and waving his hand to prevent interruption, spoke in a voice whose naturally harsh intonations were not improved by the strong Scotch accent in which he spoke :

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Ye ken, my brethren,' said be, 'that we of the Scotch Kirk do not use to pray at the burying of the dead; not' -said he, as if remembering the presence of many Episcopalians- not that there is, in itself, anything superstitious or ungodly in praying for the living, as we bury the dead; but because these things may too easily be turned into superstition. And, perhaps, ye may wonder to see me, a true and faithful minister of the faithful and covenanting portion of that church, taking a part here this morning.' This will introduce the speaker to our readers, as no less a personage than the Rev. Reuben M Gregor, the minister of the covenanting congregation to which Morris belonged.

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I speak, however, now,' he said, as a soldier more than as a minister, though I make no distinction between the two characters: every faithful minister is at all times a soldier of the Lord; and surely, in times when wickedness and Popery are placed in high places in the nation, every faithful soldier is the best and truest minister of the Lord. But, brethren,' he continued, in a voice distinctly audible to the extreme limits of the crowd, I would improve this solemn occasion to the good of our holy religion. Protestants have been divided, Protestants have been distrustful of each other; here, now, over the open grave of our murdered brother, by the red light of these torches, and by the everlasting light

of yon stars, that fought once against Sisera in their courses, let us take a solemn oath and covenant to stand true to each other, come weal, come woe, fire, or sword, or famine. Let us swear never to desert the cause. Let us be sworn brothers.'

"We will! we will!' burst from a hundred voices. Hamilton hinted to Sir Robert Oakley to withdraw; the latter made his way back to the corner of the enclosure, where he stood concealed from observation under a tree.

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"Then I will give you the oath,' he continued; and first of all,' he said, I ought to give it to him whom we all love, the sheriff of our county; but, brethren, there is one here who has a right at this grave before even him. James Morris,' he continued, 'stand forth, and let no earthly sorrow mar now your duty to your God.'

Morris slowly rose upon a little rock which was beside the grave; his form, thus elevated above the crowd, was distinctly visible in the strong light of the torches. He reverently removed the tartan bonnet, which, a tribute to his Scottish descent, was the usual covering of his head. His tall and manly form, bent by the grief which weighed him down, rose erect as he looked upward; still as was the morniug, his long, iron-grey hair, which the position of his head threw back upon his shoulders, appeared to move and tremble with the slightest motion of the air; while over his naturally fine, but stern and unforgiving features, passed an aspect of unchangeable and relentless resolution that, mixed as it was with an expression of religious zeal and devotion, gave to the features a dauntless firmness that was absolutely grand. He raised his outstretched hand to heaven, to call God to witness what he said: and, after the dictation of the minister, he slowly repeated the words: In the presence of Almighty God, that to every Protestant brother he should be leal and true; that by him he would stand in peace and in war, come weal or woe-in fire, in sword, and famineagainst pope, bishop, and king-until death he would be true to the Protestant cause, and, when he betrayed it, might God give up him.-So help him God.'

"He was evidently struggling with intense emotion. As he spoke, his chest almost visibly dilated-his figure seemed to expand his eye flashed with fire. When he had finished the oath, he dropped his arm from the extended posture to which he had raised it; after a moment he elevated it again. 'Brethren,'

he said, it is a hard thing for a father to stand by the grave of his only son; but had I ten sons, I would not grudge their blood for the cause: but here, in the sight of God, I swear everlasting enmity to them that murdered my boyI swear eternal enmity to bloody Tyrconnell, and every Popish governor of Ireland: so help me God! And it is not because he has left my heart black and my home desolate to-day, it is not because he has left the pride of my heart in that cold grave, that I take this oath -no, I could, as a Christian man, forgive the murderer of my child-but it is because he is the enemy of God, and of his cause; because he would destroy the Protestant faith, for which my people bled, under the blue banner, on the heather and the hill: for this I swear everlasting hatred to him and all Popish governors; and for this, and for no personal ill-will I bear him, I would plunge this sword in his heart, if God would so highly honour me as to give me the occasion.'

"There was a wild strain of natural eloquence in this outburst of strong passion, that would at any time have powerfully swayed the feelings of an excited crowd; delivered, however, with all the adjuncts that gave intensity to its power, the crowd moved under its influence like the wave before the storm. Hamilton felt embarrassed, and perhaps alarmed; he waited a few seconds, until

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the excitement to which the assembly had been wound up had in some degree subsided. He stood on the rock beside Morris, and grasping his hand in one of his, with the other raised to heaven, he repeated the words of the oath which Morris had first taken, laying especial emphasis upon the words pope, bishop, and king, especially the two latter. waited for no farther expression of feeling, but said loudly, What I have sworn, swear ye all." A thousand voices answered to his demand-a thousand arms were raised to the starry heavens, as the deep and confused murmur of a multitude repeating that oath, rose upon the morning air. As it died away, the harsh voice of the minister once more was heard it was in prayer: Eternal and Almighty Lord God, Thou that hearest all that is spoken upon earth, Thou that keepest covenant, and lovest them that keep it, hear this our solemn oath and covenant, and deal Thou, O God, with each man here, as he keeps the Vow and covenant we have now made with each other in Thy name.' hoarse murmur of Amens responded to this prayer, with more solemn effect than ever swelled the response of the choir in the cathedral's vaulted aisles.

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There are few Irish Protestants, from Cavan to Derry, who will not feel their hearts burn within them at passages in the scene we have tran. scribed; but we should do them little justice as Irishmen, as we should grievously wrong our author, both as an Irishman and a man of talent, if we hesitated to place before them the other side of the picture, drawn here, for, we might almost say, the first time, by this new and able hand. The book is plainly written for no party purpose of this day. If any one will read it aright, he will feel for both parties-exclusively with neither. God forbid that similar times should ever again arise among us; but perhaps the best preparation we can make against such a misfortune, is to ac quaint ourselves with the elements of strife which still survive around us, that we may, with God's help, guide them into new and safer combinations; for unquestionably much of the unreasoning bigotry of the Morrises and Blacks of that day remains amongst us, as well as much of the fanatical hostility against England and the English, which, in this stirring picture of past troublesome times, our author has impersonated in another of his characters, Father Meehan. There is matter for much useful reflection in the following dialogue, which we earnestly commend to the consideration of our country squires :

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All over the world races coalesce; the land of their birth unites them. Why, with one solitary exception of the Geral. dines, is Ireland different from every other country upon earth? The Saxon has forgotten the curfew, the Norman has become English. In Ireland only, the aliens and the natives refuse to blend.'

"Remember,' replied Spencer, 'the tenure of our estates is forfeiture.'

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"I know it, I know it!' said the priest, passionately. Curse, a treble curse, upon these forfeitures, which make you, that call yourselves the gentry of Ireland, feel yourselves aliens in your native land! But did the Moors get no lands of the conquered Goth? Had Norman barons no confiscations of the plundered Saxon Thanes ? And yet these people coalesced.'

"But in every instance, father, the new proprietors kept their estates; the Moorish race are still lords of the Castile: the descendants of the Norman barons still hold their grants of the Conqueror; and the Geraldines are owners of the fairest plains of Leinster.'

"Spencer's historical allusions were not very accurate, but they told. The priest slightly coloured, as if confused by an argument that slightly deranged the flow of his reasoning and his thoughts; it was but for an instant.

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And so would you, if, like the Geraldines, you became the people of the soil. By wrong you got your possessions; but the greatest injustice, in human affairs, is often in the fanaticism of justice to undo all that was originally founded in wrong. Fieri non debet factum valet. In some few and recent instances,' he added, as if rather thinking with himself than reasoning with his companion, there might be a difficulty in deciding between newly-acquired interests and old rights-the confusion that is the penalty and consequence of rapine; but all might be adjusted, and the rights of all respected.'

"Spencer felt it was impossible to doubt that, whatever might be the intention of his party, this man, at least, would do justice to all.

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'But,' said Spencer, 'you do us English colonists injustice; we are as warmly attached to Ireland as you.'

"Yes, you are, in one sense,' said he; but you mean by Ireland, yourselves. You look upon yourselves as the Irish nation; you look upon Ireland as the Council of Ten look on Venice; you would be patriots, while you were permitted to trample upon the Irish. Enlarge this narrow patriotism into a circle wide enough to embrace all; fling from you your prejudices, become of

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'But do you not know,' said Spencer, catching something like enthusiasm from the eloquence to which he was replying, that there are hearts among us that would guard the rights of Protestant Ireland from the aggression of any power upon earth, as well as from the assaults of the enemies among whom they have been planted?'

Enemies!" said Meehan, reproachfully, I do know that, among the Protestants, there are brave, and earnest, and steadfast hearts; and therefore it is that I feel it a pity that you will not throw yourselves on us, and coalesce with us.'

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"It is not we,' said Spencer, thoughtfully, that prevented the blending of which you speak. The original popula tion were taught to hate us because of our religion; perhaps, at first, this teaching was not because we were Protestant, but because we were English. But religious difference was made the pretext; and religious difference has survived, or rather has made immortal, the difference of races which in other countries a few generations has sufficed to blend; but this is not our fault, the blame lies with those who made the people hate us as Protestant.'

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Religious differences !' said Meehan, earnestly. I am, Captain Spencer, a sincere believer in my religion; would to God I could hope to live to see the day when Irishmen could remember only that they have a common country! Let Ireland be a nation, embracing all its people; let Protestants and Roman Catholics have the weight in that nation to which their relative positions entitle them; and I will trust the God of Truth for the success of his church and his religion.'

Anglo-Irish and Italo-Irish—it was an evil day when Ireland saw either distinction established within those bounds, which ought to encircle Irishmen only. For whether they direct their operations from Rome or Westminster, they equally involve us in endless and hopeless conflict, and per petuate for themselves vexation and disappointment, who seek to establish within Ireland any dependence on external influence, beyond the legitimate duty due from one portion, to the residue, of the United Kingdom. We are not Englishmen or Britons in this country, any more than we are Ita

lians; but Englishmen and Britons are alike subject with us to the imperial authority of one United Kingdom, in which, if we Irish do not bear the part we ought, the fault has been our own. These considerations necessarily suggest themselves, as we turn over page after page of the volume before us. Tom Blacks and Father Meehans still shout their respective war-cries, from their Orange Lodges and Confederate Clubs-each as far from the attainment of his particular aim, as were his prototypes at the end of the seventeenth century. Recent troubles have but called forth new disciples of the conflicting schools in fiercer antagonism. A true patriot in the "Gap of Barnesmore" reads indirectly an instructive lesson to both and to us all. We pray heartily that we may profit by it; for, heaven knows, a people never stood in greater need of good advice.

We forget, however, that we are dealing with a novel, and not with a political essay. Our author possesses enough of pathos and humour to vary his graver suggestions with abundance of entertainment for the feelings and fancy. We conclude him to be a lawyer, from the fidelity of a legal portrait, drawn with much good-humoured accuracy. Few things are more detrimental to the administration of justice, in the eyes of unprofessional observers, than the needless obstructions thrown in the way of witnesses desirous to tell their story. Stop, sir! Don't answer that question!-don't give us your impressions, sir!-never mind what you thought, sir!-answer my question-yes, or no !"-these are some of the commonest interruptions to which a candid witness has to submit, when frankly wishing to perform the terms of his oath, by telling the whole truth about the matter in controversy. In the wrangle of lawyers to prevent any but legal evidence going to the jury, the best part of the evidence often escapes, or is forgotten. As a good example of this sort of examination, let us quote part of the proceedings before Mr. Justice Wright, relative to the discovery of a certain diamond-hilted sword, on the ownership of which a question of the birth

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"This witness was sworn in the usual way, and was proceeding to tell his story in his own way, when the magis. trate stopped him

"Remember, sir, you are upon your oath; this gentleman will examine you: answer the questions put; and mind you say nothing but what you are asked, and remember you are not bound to criminate yourself.'

"Be sure to take down, Mr. Townclerk, that this witness was duly sworn not to criminate himself: go on nowask him about this terrible affair.'

"The town-clerk, in rather an audible whisper, suggested that, as he was in utter ignorance of the whole matter, it might be as well to let the witness give them some information in his own way.

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'Stop! stop! sir,' said the magistrate, angrily 'you are not to go on in this manner: answer, sir, again I tell you, only the questions you are askedsay nothing but what you are asked: and remember, above all things, you are not bound to criminate yourself.'

"I have nothing, your worship, to criminate against myself,' replied Fenton; let me see the man that dare say I have!'

"So much the better for you,' said the magistrate, coolly; but, God bless me, sir! will you answer the questions put to you, or it is impossible to get through business; do you, sir, intend to keep me here all night? I protest I never met so stupid a witness.'

"Who did the prisoner murder?' said the town-clerk, making a desperate plunge in medias res to arrive at the

marrow of the transaction.

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There are many questions to which the true answer would be "Yes and no."

'Captain Gresson will not do,' said the magistrate, taking up a pen, and beginning himself to write; you must state his Christian name.'

"Thomas,' replied the witness. "Then, sir, you swear that the prisoner at the bar did murder your master Captain Thomas Gresson?—that appears to me to be good evidence. You swear that this man at the bar murdered your master?'

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How could I swear it,' said the witness, when I did not see him?'

"God bless my soul, sir!' said the magistrate, you swore it this moment: everything that you say now, sir, is upon your oath. I ask you now, sir, again, will you swear that the prisoner at the bar murdered your master Captain Thomas Gresson?'

"I'll swear no such thing for you or any man-why should I damn my soul for you or any other man?'

"God bless me, sir!' repeated the worthy magistrate, I never met so stupid a witness: if you cannot swear that, what did you bring him here for at all?'

"That is just what I was going to tell your worship in the beginning, but you worship stopped me; I went this morning, please your worship, to the sign of

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'Stop! stop! sir,' said the magistrate again; I told you before you were only to answer the questions that were put to you.'

"And your worship asked me why I brought that man here when I could not swear it was he that murdered my master, and I was trying to answer that question.'

I protest,' cried the magistrate, throwing himself back into his chairI protest this is the stupidest witness I ever met. Try, Mr. Town-clerk, if it be possible to get out of him what he knows of this horrible affair.'"

Into the history of the rapier, or the mystery of the parentage of Adeline Gray, we do not propose to enter. The reader who desires to beguile an hour of these unsatisfactory times with factitious cares and pleasures, will find enough of the agreeable excitement of a love-story, in the midst of the weghty matters of church and state, to which we have adverted, to occupy his mind very pleasantly; but, although the "Gap of Barnesmore" would take its place among the best of our ordinary novels as a tale of love and mystery, it is, in the aspect in which we first viewed it, of a book suggestive of political considerations of the highest present interest and applicability, that it

will chiefly commend itself to the thoughtful perusal of that large and increasing class of readers, who take an interest in the past affairs and present social prospects of Ireland.

Never, in our day, have these prospects been so gloomy. Many of the best friends of order, while we write, wish for a solution of the knot of strife in which we are entangled, by the sword. Those who hope for s peaceful issue have no expectation of a permanent restoration of confidence for a length of time to come. These volumes, penned by an unknown hand, conversant with the original feud out of which this disastrous growth of discord has arisen, appearing on what seems, or threatens to be, the eve of a renewed conflict similar to that which they record, have an ominous and yet a fascinating influence for us. As we open and reopen the pages which depict the jealous promptitude to fly to arms of the Ulster Protestants-the disregard or easy abjuration of the oath of allegiance-the furious fanaticism

of religious war-we become every moment more persuaded of the duty and obligation incumbent on all good men, to avert crimes and horrors which no solution of a temporary political difficulty could ever atone for. That there are enough of good men in the country still to interpose between the parties who are now in presence, and threaten speedily to be engaged in conflict, we confidently believe; and that councils of justice and moderation would still avail to arrest the dreadful catastrophe, we also believe; but we cannot help perceiving that this struggle once commenced, and rearing its head against the power of the executive for but a little time, may cease to be a servile or class insurrection, and assume the character of a national Irish war. Whatever bubbles of communism, socialism, or even republicanism, may have risen to the surface during the recent agitation, will very speedily burst, or be blown away. They deceive themselves and the nation, who treat these periodic spasms of society in Ireland, as the trivial affections arising from such irritants as the example of Barbes or Blanqui. The author of the " Gap of Barnesmore" sees his country's condition with an eye of far more profound discernment. The language which he has put into the mouth of

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