The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 367, April 25, 1829. Various
or the attorneys sent by them, shall have power to enter into our said country of Munterolish, and into our aforesaid lands, and to levy a distress, (pledge,) and to take the same with them, and to keep it until full payment is made, to wit, of forty-two pounds, and of arrears, if any such should be—On condition, that he, the said John, shall be our protector and chieftain over us; and also that he shall repair from time to time to Dublin, to advocate our cause before the lords justices and council, at our sole charge, over and above the aforesaid sum, which we give him on account of his services; and on condition that the said John shall not put any of us out of our lands; and we promise to behave ourselves most dutifully to him, and not to adhere to any of the O'Rourkes. In witness whereof we have put our hands and seals to this writing the 5th day of December. 1556.
Cahal Mac Conochar.
There were present at this agreement, when it was ratified, and when it was interchanged, and when the seals were put upon it, to wit, God in the first place; Richard O'Hivganane; Anlan O'Molloy; Toraylach Mac Ranald; the two sons of Teig, the son of Ayan, to wit, Owen and William; Kiruah Mac Manus; Gerald, deacon of Feana; Cormac, deacon of Cloon; Conachar Mac Giolla Sooly; Manus Mac Giolla Roe; Owen O'Colla.
From the avowed object of the above deed, to detach the Magranals from the interest of O'Rourke, against whom war was at that time in preparation, as well as from the deed itself having been found in the Castle of Dublin, more than two hundred years afterwards, there can be little doubt that the whole affair was got up by the lords justices, and that Magranal of Claduff was an agent in their pay. The Magranals, however, took nothing by their motion; for although they were arrayed under their new chief against O'Rourke in the war which followed, their estates were confiscated at the same time with his, the lawyers having discovered, that as O'Rourke was their feudal lord, they were partakers in the guilt of his rebellion, although they had been fighting against him.
DISCOVERY OF THE MINES OF HAYNA, FROM AN INCIDENT IN IRVING'S LIFE OF COLUMBUS
Oh, go not yet, my lord, my love, lie down by Zenia's side,
And think not for thy white men friends, to leave thy Indian bride,
For she will steer thy light canoe across Ozuma's lake,
To where the fragrant citron groves perfume the banyan brake;
And wouldst thou chase the nimble deer, or dark-eyed antelope,
She'll lend thee to their woody haunts, behind the mountain's slope,
And when thy hunter task is done, and spent thy spirit's force,
She'll weave for thee a plantain bower, beside a streamlet's course,
Where the sweet music of the leaves shall lull thee to repose.
Hence in Zenia's watchful love, from harmful beast, or foes,
And when the spirit of the storm, in wild tornades rides by,
She'll hide thee in a cave, beneath a rocky panoply.
Look, Zenia look, the fleecy clouds move on the western gales,
And see the white men's moving home, unfurls her swelling sails,
So farewell India's spicy groves, farewell its burning clime,
And farewell Zenia, but to love, no farewell can be mine;
Not for the brightest Spanish maid, shall Diez' vow be riven,
So if we meet no more on earth, I will be thine in heaven.
Oh, go not yet, my godlike love, stay but a moment more
And Zenia's step shall lead thee on, to Hayna's golden shore,
No white man's foot has ever trod, the vale that slumbers there,
Or forced the gold bird from its nest, or Gato from his lair;
But cradled round by giant hills, lies many a golden mine,
And all the treasure they contain, shall be my Diez thine,
And all my tribe will be thy friends, our warrior chief thy guard,
With Zenia's breast thy faithful shield, thy love her sweet reward.
The valley's won, the friends are true, revealed the golden tide.
And Diez for Hispania's shore, quits not his Indian bride.
RECENT VISIT TO POMPEII
For the following details respecting a city, accounts of which, (although so many are already before the public,) are always interesting, I am indebted to the oral communication of a friend which I immediately committed to paper.
My object in visiting Naples was to view that celebrated relic of antiquity—the city of Pompeii, of which, about one half is now supposed to be cleared. The workmen proceed but slowly, nevertheless something is always being done, and some new remnant of antiquity is almost daily brought to light; indeed, a fine statue was discovered, almost immediately after my visit to this interesting place, but as I had quitted Naples I could not return to see it. A stranger, is I think, apt to be much disappointed in the size of Pompeii; it was on the whole, not more than three miles through, and is rather to be considered the model of a town, than one in itself. In fact, it is merely an Italian villa, or properly, a collection of villas; and the extreme smallness of what we may justly term the citizens' boxes, is another source of astonishment to those who have been used to contemplate Roman architecture in the magnificence of magnitude. Pompeii however, must always interest the intelligent observer, not more on account of its awful and melancholy associations, than for the opportunity which it affords, of remarking the extreme similarity existing between the modes of living then, and now. "'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more!" for in truth, we are enabled to surmise, from the relics of this buried and disinterred town, that manners and customs, arts, sciences, and trades, have undergone but little change in Italy since the period of its inhumation until now. In Pompeii, the shops of the baker and chemist are particularly worthy of attention, for you might really fancy yourself stepped into a modern bottéga in each of these; but, the museum of Naples, wherein are deposited most of the articles dug from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Pæstum, is a most extraordinary lion, and one which cannot fail to affect very deeply the spectators; there you may behold furniture, arms, and trinkets; and the jewellery is, I can assure you, both in materials, pattern, and workmanship, very similar indeed to that at present in fashion, and little injured by the lapse of years, and the hot ashes under which it was buried.2 There too, you may behold various domestic and culinary utensils; and there it is quite curious to observe various jars and bottles of fruits, and pickles, evidently preserved then, the same as they are by our notable housekeepers now; of course they are blackened and incinerated, nevertheless, the forms of pears, apples, chestnuts, cherries, medlars, &c. &c. are still distinguishable. Very little furniture has been found in Pompeii; probably, because it was only occasionally resorted to as a place of residence, like our own summer haunts of the drinkers of sea and mineral waters; or, the inhabitants might have had warning of the coming misfortune, and conveyed most of their effects to a safer place; a surmise strengthened by the circumstance of so few human skeletons having been found hitherto in the town; in the museum, however, is a specimen of the inclined couch or sofa, used at meals, with tables, and other articles of furniture. The method of warming apartments by flues, and ventilating them, as now practised, was known to the inhabitants of Pompeii. Of this town, amongst public buildings, the Forum, the Theatre, and the Temple of Isis, have been discovered; and the latter has revealed, in a curious manner, the iniquitous jugglery of the heathen priests. The statue of Isis, was, it seems, oracular, and stood on a very high pedestal, or kind of altar in the temple of the goddess. Within this pedestal a flight of steps has been discovered, ascending to a metal tube or pipe; which, fixed in the hollow body of the statue, and attached to its lips, the priest of Isis was enabled by speaking through this tube, to make the poor deluded multitude believe that their idol gave articulate answers to their anxious queries! We have heard of similar delusions being practised
"Witness," said my friend, "the bracelets which I am now wearing; they are modelled from a pair found in Pompeii." These were made of gold, quite in the fashion of the present day; beautifully chased, but by no means of an uncommon pattern.