THE

ANALECTIC MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1820.

ART. I.-Sketches of an Excursion from Edinburgh to Dublin.

(Continued.)

THERE is a pain which attends the separating from a fellow countryman in a foreign land, which, though at times modified and reduced by connecting circumstances, can never weigh lightly on a bosom of common sensibility. Simply an identity in the land of their birth, however remote therein may be the places of their abode from each other, is sufficient at a distance to attach individuals in ties of close fellowship, who else, if mutually brought into the society of each other, would be contented with a cold and formal intercourse. A disunion moreover of such a connection would be followed by regrets, which it would be difficult to subdue, however they might be disguised; but where, as is sometimes the case, separation takes place from a companion united to another, not conventionally, but by the intimacies of a tried and lengthened regard, the aching heart bears testimony to the void which is produced, and experiences a sensation of loneliness, which it can neither repress nor define. Such was the state of feeling with which I yesterday bade adieu to * * * *. Returning from Dawson street where we had parted, I retraced my steps to my lodgings, in a mood which was any thing but cheerful. Though surrounded as I was aware, by friends, new indeed, but who testified every desire to contribute to my enjoyment, I could not devest myself of a sense of solitariness. I experienced in fine, the maladie du pays in its full force, and thought that I could then rightly appreciate the feelings of one whose doom it may be to wear out his days in a distant land, in involuntary exile. There was something in the state of the atmosphere around, which rather served to augment, than to allay the gloom which oppressed me. It wanted an elasticity; and there was a density in it, such as is common in the evenings of a New England November, and which, in the present instance added to the indistinctness of twilight, and gave to each passing countenance, an expression which conveyed the belief, that it was the index of feelings different perhaps in kind, but no ways inferior in intensity to those which I was experiencing. I know not whether expositors are agreed in the nature of that 'evil spirit,' which is related to have afflicted Saul, and which was happily charmed away by the minstrelsy of David. Be the opinion what it may, it is not improbable, I conceive, that a person, from causes of which he is wholly guiltless, may labour at times under a morbid temperament, not unlike in its effects, that which was experienced by the royal sufferer, and which may yield to the kindly influence of a similar remedy. At any rate, I was resolved to make trial of the application, and on my return, recollecting to have heard that the race of the ancient Irish harpers was not wholly extinct, and that one or two were still to be met with in the city, I despatched a servant immediately on the search. An hour or more had elapsed, and I was beginning to despair of his success, when a noise upon the staircase, and subsequently along the passage leading to my apartments, induced me to apprehend, that the 'bards of an hundred harps' were approaching, and that no less than the court of Brien, with the chieftain's ghostly self were coming on the 'rustling blast,' to regale upon the song of former years, and listen to the voice of their praise. The door was opened, and two men entered bearing a harp, the form and size of which showed plainly enough that it was of no Irish origin, and had never sounded in the halls of Tara, however it might in those of Lewellyn. The harper came next, supporting himself by a staff with his right hand, and leaning upon the arm of one of the house servants with the other. A stripling of an interesting appearance followed, who, from his age and countenance, I supposed was his grandson. Behind these, at some distance, were two or three of the family household, who were drawn after by motives of curiosity. Though far from expecting the Welsh harp, and particularly with such a convoy, I had little leisure to ruminate on the disappointment. The harper himself soon arrested my attention, and produced an impression which can never be erased. His appearance throughout, was prepossessing and venerable. Though his countenance was much furrowed, it retained a benignant expression; and his person was tall and commanding, notwithstanding a slight inclination, the effect of his years. What remained of his hair, which was almost white with age, was collected behind, and hung loosely upon his shoulders. His dress was comme il faut; in other words, sufficiently singular to be in keeping. But the interest which was inspired by his general appearance, was heightened by perceiving that whatever might be his joy in the 'light of the song,' he mourned the extinction of the visual ray, and that at least in fate, if not in renown, he claimed kindred with

Blind Thamyris, and blind Mœonides
And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old.

Being led to a seat, and having paused a little to recover breath, he commenced putting his instrument in order, and at the same time returned replies to the inquiries which I made, in a manner which still further awakened sympathy. He was from Wales, he said, and a native of Anglesea. In early life he was deprived of his sight, and obliged, by consequence, to resort for a livelihood to his present occupation.* Finding hinıself at length neglected in common with his few other associates, he resolved on crossing the channel, in the hope of bettering his condition by pursuing his calling among a people of kindlier feelings. He had been in this city a number of years, and had met with encouragement, though that, he said, had declined. 'I can remember,' he added, 'when the harper was every where received with a welcome, and found a ready home. But times have changed, and I too have changed. I feel the chills of age increasing daily upon me, and I fear that there will be little seeming cause of wonder at my declining estimation, should any past skill which I may have possessed, be judged of from my present efforts.' I assured him, that he wronged me if he thought that I was not already sufficiently interested to admire any trials on his instrument; and to his inquiry if there were any airs which I would propose, he was gratified by my replying that his own native music would be preferable, although I wished him to consult his own taste in the particular selection. While his hand passed over the strings and touched a hasty