against conspirators, to think of resuming his labours, and they were laid aside until the arrival of Sir Francis Burdett, to give his testimony to his character on his trial at Trim, and the promise he then inade to him induced him to resume and complete the work. The publisher was Sir Richard Phillips, the great radical publisher of the day, and the work must have been very costly, as it contains coloured charts of the wanderings of the "Gaal-Sciot-Iber from Asia to Ireland during many ages," with frontispiece to each volume-the first volume containing the portrait of the Author, the second giving a coloured print representing the "interior" (so it is stated) "of the High Chamber of Taimor in Jobrad during the convention of the National Assembly at Tara," where in a crowded meeting is seen the ArdRigh, or High King, in his Chair of State, with his mitred Irish crown of gold, and hanging around on the walls are the circular shields of the chieftains and warriors. Mr. O'Connor's summary of the first chapter of the work is as follows: A. c. 1368 to 1355, Eolus, chief of the Gael-gag, gives the traditionary history of the Scythians from the earliest period to his own days." "This chapter," says Mr. O'Connor, "contains an account of the mighty revolution that put an end to the Scythian dominion in Asia, and the foundation of the Assyrian Empire, on the ruins thereof, being in space of time noted of 3,144 rings or years." But to give a specimen of that language which was to bring conviction to the reader's mind of the truth of these ancient records, as it could not be imitated, hear Eolus himself: "Attend now, my son. Our great fathers dwelt on the left side of the sun rising beyond the sources of the great waters-of days marked, while Baal performed 1,011 circuits of his course. Then did they spread themselves from the flood of Sgeind even to the banks of the Tith-gris." "Sgeind," in the dialect of Eri, as Mr. O'Connor shows in his “ Dissertation," is the same as Indus Scindus, or Scind, and applied to water, means a current now slow, now rapid, of an uneven, unsteady course. Tithgris, in the same dialect, is "sparks of heat," descriptive of the peculiar appearance or quality of this river from the influence of the sun on its waters. "And Mr. O'Connor thus breaks forth at the end of his labours: now having completed the elevation of this gigantic arch, of which one base rests on the banks of the Indus, the other on the flinty margin of the waves that wash the feet of my beloved Eri." Mr. O'Connor's means being exhausted, as he stated in the Preface, the whole must have been done at Sir Francis Burdett's expense. The Preface is signed royally—" O'Connor," like "O'Neill," greater than the title of the greatest kings, and is dated, Paris, 1821. Mr. O'Connor states, in bidding farewell for a time to the public, that, perhaps, there might be objections made to the work; but these it would not be proper for him to anticipate. All that he had then to He say was that all objections would be satisfactorily answered. further says that he was preparing another volume, which would bring the work down to A.D. 1169, to be ready in March; a fourth would bring down events to the day of his (Mr. O'Connor's) birth; and if he lived, a fifth would follow, being the history of his own times; and reverting to the language of the Chronicles, written, he elsewhere says, "in Gaelog,' 1,365 years before the birth of Christ," he apostrophises his fellow-countrymen: "Oh, that I could restore them to the utterance of their ancient native tones again! . . . And if ye cannot feast each other's ears with tales of joy, let not your sighs be uttered in language foreign to your lips, as those who speak it are to our hearts! "Maidens and matrons, young men and old, as squatting on the damp floor of your filthy sties after a weary day's work on lands that were once your sires', your spirits yet unbroken-you tell of other times, &c." Whatsoever may have been Roger O'Connor's faults, a want of courage was not one of them. At a time when it was almost death to oppose the party in power, and to express patriotic sentiments, even from behind his prison bars, and after all his sufferings, he did not hesitate to stand firm to the original principles of the United Irishmen, which were totally unconnected with treason or rebellion till after Lord Fitzwilliam's sudden recall, in the spring of 1795, when the leaders, despairing of relief, turned the organisation to military and rebellious purposes. In January, 1798, awaiting his trial for his life in Cork, in his published letter to Earl Camden, he says to his fellow-countrymen : "Hear me through the grate of my jail; be watchful as owls, resolute as lions, ready to die for your country: be humane; but above all BE UNITED"-words that were enough, if he were at large, to have caused his imprisonment, perhaps trial and conviction. And in December, 1799, from his prison at Fort George, when concluding another pamphlet, suddenly hearing of the projected legislative Union, to be accompanied, as he was informed, by his own release, he adjures his country to reject it, that he would prefer to die in jail. An enthusiastic, a romantic love for "Innisfail" was the great feature of his existence. "Children of Innisfail! a country which may be called not our mother but our grave—a land where sighs and groans are made, not marked!" Such sentiments uttered in his day rendered him so odious, that the grossest charges would be willingly believed, and there is no doubt but that the strangeness of his conduct made them credible. The worst feature of his life is his "Chronicle of Eri," palmed off upon his firmest, noblest friend. THE "TE DEUM" OF NEW YEAR'S EVE. BY RUTH O'CONNOR. WE thank Thee, Lord, adoringly we thank Thee, For all the gifts Thou'st yielded unto us Kneel we in love-awed silence, Liking to render our thanksgiving thus. In the gone year. Too blind, too weak is human understanding, Thus, Lord, we thank, not only for the favours, Would that our hearts were fair as fragrant lilies, Fain would we lay them at thy sacred feetSome steeped in joy, some others sorrow-freighted, All thank-pulsated with each throb and beat. Give unto us, whilst making this thanksgiving, More faith and hope to estimate the crown; Grant Thou us grace to clasp each cross presented, And kiss the hand that sent the trial down. Yea, Lord, we thank Thee, though in sorrow conscious That these poor hearts are quite too weak, too small, To render to Thee adequate thanksgiving; L We can but murmur: "Thank Thee, Lord, for all." NEW BOOKS. CHRISTMAS-BOXES will have been chosen before these pages are able to give any further advice in the selection thereof; but we shall be in time to have a voice in the choice of New Year's Gifts. In the matter of books, when mamma has a good many constituents to bribe, and cannot, therefore, afford to go much beyond three shillings apiece, we are strongly inclined to plump for "Gems for the Young, from Favourite Poets," edited by Rosa Mulholland, author of "The Little Flower Seekers," "Puck and Blossom," "The Wild Birds of Killeevy," "Hetty Gray," &c. (Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son). It is very attractively bound, it is well illustrated by Mr. W. C. Mills, and it is given at a price which seems too low for so thick and handsome a book. These external charms form the least part of its worth. It is a most admirable anthology of the best poetry written in English, culled with a special view to the young, but sure to please the most mature reader of taste. Miss Mulholland's preface is dated Christmas, 1883, and is so short and pointed that we quote it all :— "Perhaps it would be difficult to over-estimate the importance to young minds of an early familiarity with good poetry. The foundations of courage, tenderness, fortitude, even heroism, are often laid in a character by acquaintance with noble verse, the ring of which catches the imagination of a child, while its sentiment finds a way to the heart. The vigour of Byron, the stirring manliness of Scott, the strength and simplicity of Wordsworth, the pathetic grace of Mrs. Hemans, all tell upon the soul of youth like winds blowing one way upon a sapling. Strong lines lay hold of the memory, to echo long in the mind above the uproar of the world's battles; vivid pictures of right and ruth, of valour and virtue, arise and line the walls of the fancy, and, lingering there for ever, give colour to the background of the drama of life. "In the present collection an effort has been made to bring together a large number of those pieces which are old favourites with young people, to add to these some others less known which it is hoped may prove attractive, and to exclude everything that is not wholesome, healthy, and pure." In compiling this thick volume of four hundred compact pagesin which, very properly, the type is large enough to be pleasantly readable-Miss Mulholland has adopted the policy of that Gospel householder who brought forth out of his treasury old things and new. Among the old we have a good deal of Shakspeare, a little of Pope and Goldsmith, of Cowper and Burns, and plenty of Moore, Byron, Scott, Wordsworth, Mrs. Hemans, and Coleridge-whose "Ancient Mariner" is given in full-together with Longfellow and many other favourites, who will seem old to the young readers of these "Gems." But there are a great many exquisite pieces which will have the charm of novelty for most of us, some of these being own taken from copyright works, not without considerable outlay on the part of the Irish publishers. There are few poems here so exquisite as the samples of Christina Rossetti and Adelaide Procter; and the poems that seem closest of kin to these are Miss Mulholland's "Lament of the River," and "The Builders." Ireland, of course, is well represented in this assemblage-Goldsmith, Moore, Gerald Griffin, Callanan, Davis, Mahony, Mangan, Knowles, T. D. Sullivan, Allingham, Denis Florence Mac Carthy, Banim, Aubrey de Vere, Arthur Perceval Graves, Miss Katherine Tynan, Thomas Irwin, Lady Dufferin, and Oscar Wilde's mother; and, besides the editor, another name, which blushes at finding itself in such high company. If there were space, sundry curious felicities might be pointed out in the selection and arrangement of these "Gems for the Young," for the possession of which the old also will compete with them. We prophesy for this delightful book a great and enduring popularity, not confined to Ireland nor to this side of the Atlantic. A new year's gift of a different kind from the foregoing, and more acceptable to many, will be "The Catholic Prayer-book and Manual of Meditations," compiled by the Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran, Bishop of Ossory (Dublin: Browne & Nolan). One of its attractions meets us on opening its first pages-the saints of Ireland stud the calendar very thickly. For instance, to different days in January are assigned the feasts of St. Munchin, St. Fintan, the virgin St. Fiadhnat, St. Donnan, St. Albert of Cashel, St. Finan of Lindisfarne, St .Diarmaid, St. Suibhne, St. Cummian of Bobbio, St. Aibell of Armagh, St. Ita, St. Fursey, St. Fechin, St. Cannera, virgin, and St. Aidan of Ferns. In February we count 24 Irish saints; in March, 21; in Apri!, 23; in May, 20; in June, 20; in July, 19; in August, 17; in September, 19; in October, 17; in November, 16: and in December, 18. Alas! for the panegyric of some of these Irish saints, an appropriate text would be the one that Dr. Cahill is said to have taken when preaching on the patron feast of St. Audoen's Church, Dublin: quis est hic, et laudabimus eum? It is a pity the Bishop of Ossory did. not devote a few pages to the lives of these saints whose very names reach their countrymen first through this new prayer-book. The pious reader will be glad to have here special prayers at Mass for deceased friends; others for Mass offered up as a preparation for death; and others, again, for Mass offered up in propitiation for our sins, which may be used as an excellent preparation for confession. There are also two new, beautiful, and most practical series of prayers to be said during the Masses before and after Communion. One hundred and thirty pages are devoted to Holy Communion. As the title-page promises, this prayer-book is also a book of meditations. We have examined nearly all its contents carefully, and we wonder how, with these special features, the ordinary prayers and devotions can be given |