Young innocent, on whose sweet forehead mild
The parted ringlet shone in simplest guise,
An inmate in the home of RAYMOND smil'd,
Or blest his noonday walk.--She was his only child.
CAMPBELL.
The faculty having strongly recommended sea-bathing as salutary and
beneficial to the health of Lady Adelaide, the Duke, in consequence of
this advice, purchased a hunting lodge, not remote from the sea-shore,
and beautifully situated amid the romantic scenery of the county of
Wicklow, which, from its proximity to the metropolis, afforded a
convenient retreat, and from whence he could, with little or no delay,
receive and despatch the duties attendant upon his high official
situation. As soon as the mansion was placed in a state of proper
repair, and becomingly furnished to be worthy of the reception of the
representative of majesty, the Duke resolved, for the benefit of the
health of a beloved and only daughter, as well as for his own repose
from the fatigues of office, to retire to his newly-acquired purchase of
Lætely Abbey--for thus was this hunting lodge denominated; and this
resolve was not long without being carried into execution. The Duke and
Duchess of Tyrconnel, accompanied by Lady Adelaide, the sisters of the
Duke, not forgetting Sir Patricius Placebo, that witty knight; along
with a numerous attendant suite, left Dublin Castle for their sojourn at
Lætely Abbey, and after a few hours travelling, they safely reached the
place of their destination.
Letely (or Lætely) Abbey (_quasi lætus locus_), for by this latter
designation antiquarians insisted that it should be called, was indeed a
lovely place, surrounded as it was by all the combining beauties of
natural scenery: here stood the venerable ruins of a decayed abbey, its
walls wreathed and its summits crowned with ivy, while its grand oriel
or eastern window, magnificent even in decay, was festooned and
enlivened with various creeping plants, the sweet-smelling clematis, the
jessamine, and woodbine, trailed around the ruins of the stone casement,
through which the sun-beams cheerfully shone, while the foliage
gracefully waved in the blast, and the blossoms all sweetly perfumed the
surrounding air. To the right of the abbey arose an extensive
sheep-walk, whose boundaries were crowned by lofty groves of arbutus, or
the strawberry tree; laurel, holly, added their combining greens and
shades; and though last, not least, myrtle groves, which in this county
grow to an amazing height, verifying the very just description of the
great pastoral poet, Virgil, "_amantes littora myrtos_"--myrtles which
rejoice in being near to the shores of the sea. While in the fore-ground
of the landscape, in all its splendid azure majesty, burst forth upon
the delighted spectator's view the mighty ocean, its bosom studded with
frequent white sails, which, as they scudded along, brightly glistened
in the rays of a refulgent autumnal sun. The shore was indented by high
and undulating downs, all richly cultivated, whose green sward, in
smoothness and brilliance, vied with, if not rivalled, any carpet from
the looms of Bruxelles, Turkey, or Persia. A range of meadows succeeded
the downs, which were bordered with hedge-rows of oak, sycamore, and
ash. Adjoining this enlivening scene stood a dense grove of forest
trees, now glowing in all the rich and diversified tints of autumn. The
dark green hue of the American spruce formed a rich and striking
contrast with its deep brown cones, which gracefully clustered amid
their parent verdure, and undulated upon the waving branches, while they
bent to the breeze. The lemon-tinted leaves of the Alpine larch here
were also seen, which were finely opposed to the deep copper colour of
the umbrageous beech, and alternately blending with the bright green of
the Scottish fir, or the deeper shades of the ilex, or ever-green oak.
To the left yawned a rocky, dark, romantic glen, surmounted by
stupendous rocks frowning on the abyss beneath, whose sides were studded
with every variety of wild herb and plant indigenous to a mountainy
region, and, among others, that rare plant, the _adianthum_, fringed the
interstices of the frowning cliffs.
Beneath reposed in a secluded dell the cottage of the Duke's steward.
The latticed windows were trellised with the rose, jasmin, and woodbine;
the blue smoke which ascended and curled into clouds amid the
overhanging foliage, betokened habitation and comfort. To the cottage
was annexed an extensive farm-yard, with all the appendices of
corn-stacks, turf, and hay likewise, _cum multis aliis_, besides the
various addition of live stock, all of which added interest and
animation to the scene.
Through the bosom of this glen slowly meandered along a mountain
stream, (in winter a torrent,) whose devious course was distinctly
outlined by an accompanying range of alder trees, that in double columns
densely shaded its winding banks.
In the back ground, veiled in dark neutral tint, arose a craggy
mountain, whose base was richly dotted with groves of larch and spruce.
Prominently in the fore-ground was situated the Duke's hunting lodge,
which, as we have already said, was denominated Lætely Abbey. This
structure was built in the style of architecture of the family mansions
of the Elizabethan period. An extensive lake, supplied by a copious
mountain stream, presented itself in front of the house, until, winding
onward, it was lost amid the adjoining woods. Close by was a deer-park,
well enclosed, and numerously stocked with deer, some of whom
gregariously reposed, while others were seen trooping through the dense
woods, and gazing at the passing stranger, which added interest and a
picturesque beauty to the scene.
But the pride, grace, and ornament of Lætely Abbey was to be found in
the attractive and lovely Adelaide, who had now entered upon her
fifteenth year--so rapidly onward does time advance. Indeed it was no
flattery to say, that Adelaide was most truly engaging in her manners.
Her statue would have graced the design of Phidias or Praxiteles; her
lovely and expressive countenance captivated every beholder; the rose of
youth was upon her cheek, and her skin was fair and pure as the unsunned
lily; her dark blue eyes sparkled intelligence, beaming beneath her
beautifully arched eye-brows. Her look, gesture, and demeanour,
communicated joy; and we shall not deny a parental pride to the Duke and
Duchess, at the same time, that her looks beamed forth delight upon all
who beheld her; while her converse, sustained with a voice sweet,
distinct, and melodious, charmed every listening ear. Her manners were
unaffected, as they were natural, and all was silence when she spoke.
Her figure was graceful, as we have before noticed, and beautifully and
finely proportioned. When animated by discourse her features seemed to
be lighted up by almost celestial fire; her brilliant eyes sparkled
bright as the native diamond, and her entire countenance became
irresistibly charming.
To those of inferior rank her deportment was kind and unassuming, and
down to the lowest domestic she was beloved, for they felt and knew that
her delight was to protect those beneath her power, and not to tyrannise
over them.
With an ardent and sanguine admiration of the beauties of nature,
Adelaide too possessed an enthusiastic love of literature, conjoined to
a correctly formed and delicately refined taste. Every day her mind
expanded, from the literary lore which she imbibed, and gradually, but
extensively, her brilliant talents developed their powers. Poetry,
painting, and music, principally fascinated, as they are ever wont to
do, the feeling and romantic mind of youth. Some of those impressions
thus elicited Adelaide was occasionally in the habit of committing to
writing. One day, while some workmen of the Duke were employed in
breaking up ground upon the confines of an ancient, but neglected
cemetery, which surrounded a small dilapidated church, stationed on a
green and rising knoll, whose ruinous walls were thickly overspread with
ivy, while the alder, holly, and thorn, had stoutly installed
them-selves in what had been once the chancel--it happened that, upon
digging at the foot of an ancient thorn, they threw up a human skull,
which the Duke caused immediately to be reinterred in the same spot; and
within no distant space of time a tombstone was prepared to surmount the
grave, upon which was duly chiselled a crucifix, with the usual
accompaniments of a death's head, &c., and having called upon his
daughter's muse for some lines to be inscribed thereon, the interesting
Adelaide wrote the following, which was sculptured upon the tomb:--
INSCRIPTION.
Rest here in peace beneath this ancient thorn!
Perhaps thou once didst rural life adorn,
And raised thy hopes to heaven in yonder aisle:
Now droops thy relick nigh yon ruin'd pile!
Still peaceful rest beneath thy parent earth,
Until awakened to a nobler birth!
The Duke and Duchess having attentively perused this brief inscription,
fondly and affectionately embraced their lovely and much beloved child,
no less pleased with the religious feeling which had called forth their
warm approbation, and which they distinctly expressed, than delighted as
they were with the poetic feeling (for thus their partial fondness
adjudged) with which it was written; considering it as no unfavourable
specimen of the expanding powers of a youthful mind. Adelaide was
infinitely far more delighted by this praise of her parents, an incense
so grateful to her heart, than any aspirant to fame in these our
degenerate days could receive from the partial praise and prejudiced
columns of any literary critick.
Time rapidly moved onward, the winter had passed over with an uncommon
mildness; but the spring, which had now succeeded, proved unusually
harsh, tardy, and severe. The cold north-east wind had incessantly
blown, and vegetation had consequently been chillingly repelled; while
the usual flowers that form the chaplet of spring were chained in their
petals, or wholly destroyed by the frost. And when the merry month of
June arrived, it was indeed unusual and extraordinary to behold the
blossoms of the wild rose, hawthorn, and the laburnum, all mingling
their beauties and their perfumes amid the numerous hedge-rows, and
presenting a diversified mass of colours and foliage, like to the bloom
of a Russian spring, when, melted by a genial vernal sun, trees, plants,
and flowers bud, and immediately burst forth into luxuriant and varied
vegetation; the annual resurrection of nature vigorously springing forth
in renovated youth from the tomb of winter!
One morning while Lady Adelaide was seated in the library reading some
interesting work with that deep attention and wrapt enthusiasm with
which she always dwelt upon a book of merit, she was suddenly
interrupted in her studies by the approach of that important person, (as
in her own estimation she considered herself;) we here speak of the
redoubtable Mrs. Judith Braingwain, who, rushing incontinently into the
library, and quite out of breath, exclaimed, "Oh, my Lady, who would
have thought it? But however marvellous it is, see, yonder they come;
see, there they are, Bishop Rocket along with his tall wife, who, by the
bye, is hardy as a seagull; and, moreover, a whole flock, aye, a
beautiful bevy of dainty damozels besides! See, my Lady, there--there
they are; they are now just entering the porch; aye, there they come,
sure enough!"
"How strange!" replied Lady Adelaide, "we left them at Tyrconnel; what
unaccountable anomaly brings the bishop and family from his palace to
this retired spot?"
Here Mrs. Judith catching at the word _anomaly_, and wholly
uncomprehending it, while she thought proper to confound its meaning,
thus rejoined:--"Anne O'Mally! Oh yes, my dear young Lady, just as if
now before my eyes, I ken that sweet and charming creature, worth a
whole fleet and cargo of such like ladies as Dame Rocket. I remember, ay
faith do I, she was the finest----Oh no, not the finest--that belongs to
another; but as fine a girl as a body might see on a fair May-day in
ould Connaught, any how! And beside, and moreover, she was right loyally
discended [lineally descended] from the great bould pirate princess,
Grace O'Malley, in troth, and sure enough, far and near, and abroad and
at home, far better known, mavourneen, by the famous name of Grana Uile,
who (it is a storical fact) visited Elizabeth,[18] the grand and
conquering queen of all England, in her gallipot [galliot,] afar across
the salt water seas. Oh, Lady Adelaide! Anne O'Malley was indeed a
promising young lady--the finest----"
[18] Queen Elizabeth received her graciously at court, and offered
to create her a Countess.--See _Notes_ v. III.
"Nay, nay, nurse," said Lady Adelaide, "be not so flippant in thy
praise, else I shall grow positively jealous. I therefore must stop you
just now, for it seems your tongue runs riot quite with your discretion;
and has bounced off at a tangent in full gallop, jumping pell-mell, hop
and step, from the young and lovely Anne O'Malley to grey-head old
Grana Uile, (of neither of whom, by the bye, did I speak,) until in most
crab-like motion you pounce upon the majestic Elizabeth; and all this
in most manifest and notable contempt of time, place, and circumstance.
This really is not to be endured. Besides, I pray you to remember, that
_once_, however, _there was a time_ when no one was so handsome, so
good, and all so angelic and so forth, as _your own Adelaide_! And, in
undisguised truth, I was in a very fair and hopeful way of being utterly
spoiled, but that happily I turned a deaf and obdurate ear to all your
too partial praise, as well I knew that your commendations all sprung
from overweening kindness. However, just now I am happy to find that you
are converted from your former heresies, and that at length you behold
your poor idol in its mortal shape, imbued with all its natural and
perverse imperfections; and that you are now free to confess that, in
sooth, I am not, as I never was, that angel of excellence, and that
paragon of beauty, which your early devotions conceived me to be. You
have broken your idol, and it has fallen from the pedestal upon which
you had proudly placed it, shivered into atoms on the earth!"
This Lady Adelaide said in a playful way, half pretendedly serious, and
the other half wholly comic.
"Ah, my dear young Lady! and so you are still the idol of goodness, and
the very dragon of beauty! none who ever saw you, who ever knew you, can
think otherwise; this I ever thought you were; and I defy Guy of Warwig,
the seven Champions of Chrysostom, and Saint Patrick himself, to boot,
to deny it if they durst, but that you are the best, the brightest, and
finest young lady in the 'varsal world; and I challenge ould England and
ould Ireland to gainsay me!
It now becomes necessary to say a word or two of this said Bishop
Rocket, who came a visitor to the Duke. Patronage--all powerful
patronage--had placed the mitre upon his brow, as it too often has done
upon the head of many an unmeritorious aspirant to the hierarchy. His
classic acquirements and literary attainments will best be told by the
subsequent details:--Three friends who came to dine _en famille_ one day
at his house in Dublin, sat down, previously to dinner, to play a snug
rubber of whist, thus to pass the intermediate time. It happened to be
of a Friday, during a parliament winter; the printed proceedings of the
House of Lords of the preceding day were brought in, and, as is always
the case, the day of the week and the date of the month surmounted the
top of the page, as the head and front of these transactions. It ran
thus:--"_Die jovis_," &c. "What?" inquired the prelate, addressing one
whom his Lordship considered as the most classic of the trio, "pray,
what is the meaning of _Die jovis_?"
And in order that such of our fair readers who are not conversant with
the Latin tongue may not burst in ignorance with the hierarchical
inquirant, we shall give, _in totidem verbis_, the answer of the learned
Theban, the bishop's friend:--"Why, my good Lord," said the facetious
gentleman, smiling withal, "'fore Jove, my Lord, the two words conjoined
mean nothing more nor less than _Thursday_! upon which day your Lordship
gave your _benedicite_ to the House of Peers!"
His Lordship lost the odd trick, looked all quite discomposed; nor did
he recover himself again until the sumptuous and savoury dinner smoked
upon the board.
Bishop Rocket had enlarged the palace at the See-house of----and had
built, or caused to be built, with his usual want of tact and judgment,
a grand and heavy portico, which fronted the north! Upon the final
completion of this most notable and extraordinary structure the prelate
seemed quite pleased; in which it was conceived that he remained solely
in the singular number. However, he thought fit most condescendingly to
write to a friend, then residing at Rome, a long letter, the burden of
which ran to the following tenor:--"Now, dear and Reverend Sir, as you
are seated, or I, who am a bishop, may say, enthroned at the fountain
head of the fine arts, I have to request that you would have the
goodness to purchase for me twelve statues of the heathen gods and
goddesses to adornate my grand portico, which I have built at an immense
expense; and it is allowed by all the curates in my diocese to have been
accomplished with no inconsiderable portion of taste! And by so doing
you will vastly oblige me."
The Reverend friend thus wrote back a letter, the chief paragraph of
which, in reply to Bishop Rocket, ran to this effect:--"Most dear and
Right Reverend Lord, as your Lordship requires the statues which you
specify, to adorn the portico of a Christian bishop's palace, what would
your Lordship think--(and oh, good, my Lord, I pray you not to be
offended at the voice of truth, which is seldom heard with patience
either within the precincts of courts or the palaces of
prelates!)--what, I pray, my Lord, would you think if I should select
for you, instead of the heathen gods of antiquated Greece and Rome,
_videlicet_: Jupiter, Vulcan, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Bacchus, and Co.,
shall I, most dear and Reverend Lord, transmit to you statues of the
twelve apostles, which surely, most venerated Prelate, you will find to
be, upon mature deliberation, every way far more episcopal, apostolical,
more in good taste, and indeed I must add, quite orthodox. And
assuredly, my good Lord, I feel, and am most fully confident to say and
pronounce it, that the Reverend Head of the holy see would most freely
and cheerfully acquiesce in yielding his assent and consent to permit
these said apostolical statues to be removed and transported to 'the
Island of Saints,' so soon as His Holiness shall be informed that these
stone-sculptured saints are destined for a brother bishop!"
But know, gentle reader, that Bishop Rocket, whatever might have been
the cause, never even deigned to return any answer to this remonstrative
letter of his too candid friend; and here consequently the proposal fell
to the ground, and never was again resumed. The portico, however, still
stood, presenting its dark _facadè_ to the bleak northern blast,
unsurmounted by statue either mythological or apostolical.
Mrs. Rocket _had been_--we must speak here historically in the past
tense--had once been a fine woman, and still a portion of that beauty,
though somewhat clipped by the shears of old Father Chronos, still
remained. It was this attracted the bishop when only a curate, and
"Passing rich on forty pounds a year."
But all powerful love, whose transcendant sway remains undisputed from
the days of the Teian bard down to those of the mighty minstrel of our
own time, in whose own words we are told,
"Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
And men below, and saints above,
For love is heaven, and heaven is love!"
This potent urchin slily sprung a shaft, which securely settled in the
curate's reverend breast, but which was not long permitted by the
compassionate lady hopelessly to rankle in the bosom of her accepted
mate; for ere long the "happy, happy pair" were indissolubly united in
the bands of holy wedlock. Some folks however, and, by the bye, not few
in number, gave it as their opinion, that the lady happening to be the
niece and nearest relative to the bishop of----who was unmarried, and
besides much attached to his niece, that there appeared to be more of
prudent calculation for the future, than ardent love at the present, in
the transaction; inasmuch, that a large portion of the uncle's fortune,
if not the entire, would ultimately vest in the selected fair one; and
perchance, moreover, a rich benefice to boot, which might be expected
from his Lordship's great episcopal patronage, that in the developement
of time would be bestowed upon Curate Rocket. And all these conjectures,
in due and ordinary course, finally and fully occurred. Indeed, in
confirmation of these conjectures, there existed an additional cause for
nobody's doubting the truth of this popular surmise; it was no less a
cogent reason than this, that the lady was by some ten years, at least,
elder than the man to whom she was affianced. This was indeed an
objection not to be overruled by any thesis or syllogism of the schools;
there was here
"No quirk left, no quiddit,"
to defeat its truth. It was in contradiction to sense, to propriety,
and meet discretion. Upon this subject thus speaks the immortal
Shakespeare, the great moral bard, and poet of nature:--
"Too old, by heaven; let still the woman take
An elder than herself; so wears she to him,
So sways she level in her husband's heart.
For----however we do praise ourselves,
Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm,
More longing, wavering, sooner lost or worn,
Than women's are!"
We must now attempt to present to the reader's eye a just description
of the peripatetic, or walking-dress, of Mrs. Rocket, which no doubt
pertained to a strange, peculiar, and extraordinary costume, which was
in vogue in the times to which we advert. Upon her head she wore a small
cap of Valenciennes lace, which was enveloped in a large and ponderous
machine, ycleped a _calash_; which was so denominated from its structure
and conformation, bearing a close similitude to the head or leather
covering of the French vehicle which is called by a similar name. This
structure was formed of various hoops of whalebone, arranged in
equidistant, semicircular, parallels, forming _en massè_ a huge and
outlandish head-gear; the outside was covered with black lutestring; and
the penultimate circle of this pent-house was adornated and fringed with
deep lace; the interior was lined with rose-coloured silk, which
artfully threw a bloom upon the wearer's visage, whether wife or widow.
This ponderous machine could be advanced or drawn back (like the head of
a modern barouche or landau) by the occupant _ad libitum_, according as
wind or weather permitted, or caprice might dictate. Likewise, with
equal facility, the head of the wearer might be wholly divested of this
incumbrance, which, in such a case, was handed over to the custody of
the attending lackey.
The reader will please to observe, that this head costume was prevalent
before the modern umbrella, or still more recent parasol came into
general use; and indeed, in some degree, so far as the covering of the
head was taken into calculation, this invention, strange though it may
at the present time appear, so far fully answered the functions and
intentions of these later discoveries of modern art. The lady wore a
large silk cloak, trimmed and flounced with ermine; she also carried a
muff, small in size and calibre, formed of the same materials. To these
were added, as the _materialè_ of her dress, a stiff flowered silk
mantua, supported upon a bell-hoop; an apron trimmed with lace; high
heeled shoes formed likewise a part of the dress, with the dangerous
appanage of pattens, long since exploded in these parts.
Such was the strange costume which formed the morning or peripatetic
habiliments of Mrs. Rocket. This lady also carried a walking-staff, or
cane; by this we do not, in any measure, mean to assimilate it to the
most formidable and terrific walking-staff once borne by the bluff king
Harry of tyrannic memory, and now exhibited in the tower of London with
sundry other curiosities that belong not to our province to enumerate.
No, gentle reader, the simple staff which the lady bore was of a most
placable description; it was, in sooth, a tall tapering indian cane, and
adorned on the top with a head of beautiful china porcelain, upon which,
in rich and brilliant colouring, were depicted some of the most
beautiful wild flowers of summer. And through every change of weather,
hail or snow, storm, rain, or sun-shine, was to be seen this
indefatigable pedestrian trudging her daily peregrinations. Often, when
remonstrated with for thus running the risk of catching cold, and so
forth, when in good humour, which was _not always_ the case, she was
wont to hum or troll forth an old ditty, one stave of which ran pretty
much to the following effect and tenor:--
Why at home should I budge,
Not abroad freely trudge,
My bairns and I altogether?
While my skin I don't grudge,
So be heav'n my judge!
To melt or to freeze with the weather.
Very often her temper was extremely cross, which she vented in scolding
the servants right and left, wrong or right; and Sunday being a day of
rest, was very often selected, with due circumspection, for this
wholesome exercise of her lungs. An auld Scottish steward, who
superintended the agricultural establishment, upon having auricular
proof how matters stood within the mansion, slily remarked: "Ah, wae to
the hoose where hens craw, and the cocks are silent!"
Madam Rocket had the reputation all throughout her husband's diocese of
being truly a most notable lady in every sublunary concern. She was
constituted as sole manageress of the entire home department at the
See-house of----; and it was there bruited abroad and around the
country far and near, that the "_omnia Romæ cum pretio_" of Juvenal,
might be fairly applied to Madam Rocket's establishment; but it was
insisted that the "_cito peritura_" did by no means belong to the lady.
However, rumour went on, with its gossip tongue, to whisper that at the
See-house of----every thing was vendible, from the produce of the
farm, the barn, the poultry-yard, the piggery, the dairy, the fruit and
flower garden--nay, even down to the kitchen garden; every article of
which was duly transmuted, as was insisted, into the _Regina Pecunia_.
The Bishop and his lady, albeit they were no favourites with the Duke
and Duchess, were nevertheless most hospitably invited, and even
pressed, according to the custom of the times, to remain to dinner, and
also to continue their guests for some days at Lætely Abbey. But this
was upon their part most gratefully declined. The Bishop and Mrs. Rocket
partook of a collation, and departed for Dublin, declining the warm and
hospitable invitation upon plea of business in the capital, and to
rejoin their family, who had been with them at Arklow for the benefit of
sea-bathing, and who had that morning proceeded on their way to the
metropolis.
During the residence of the vice-regal visitors in the county of
Wicklow, they visited all the romantic scenery and the various
picturesque views, each lofty mountain, retired valley, and secluded
stream or glen, within the precincts of that fairy region.
The lake of Luggelaw made a deep impression upon the Lady Adelaide. She
thus expressed her feelings upon viewing it: "It was," she said, "a
scene so sad, so lonely, and solitary; so wild, so rude, and
mountain-locked, that one here might almost imagine that they saw one of
the secluded pilgrims of Salvator Rosa studiously wrapt in silent
devotion, intent on the sacred volume which he held, and praying to his
Creator; the wilderness his temple, and his choir the roaring cataract
and the accompanying winds of heaven!"
"Vastly well, Adelaide," said the Duke, smiling with pleasure, "vastly
well, indeed; and now, my love, to complete your sketch, people these
craggy heights above us with three or four banditti; put helmets upon
their heads and lances in their firm hands; then on a sudden our whole
party, spurring onward our jaded steeds, are to fly from the attack; add
to this too to your sketch, and I really think it will be then a
finished _tableaux_, and quite in the due and terrific tone and style of
this great poetic painter."
Adelaide sweetly smiled, but replied not.
They next visited Glendalough, or the Seven Churches, and the "sweet
Vale of Ovoca." Ascending the high hill of Knockmokil, Adelaide, in
impromptu, repeated the following lines:--
Romantic spirit of this mountain glen
Tell the blest time we may here meet again!
Wilt thou to distant Aughnavanock stray,
Or wend, 'mid Lara's wilds, thy lonely way?
Or here ascend Knockmokil's lofty height,
Where vales transcendant burst upon the sight;
Sea, grove, and forest, rivers, all combine
Their matchless charms, to stamp the spot divine?
They next visited Loch Dan, the Demon's Glen and Waterfall, the
Waterfall of Powerscourt, &c. &c.
Lady Adelaide derived the greatest benefit from sea-bathing, and her
health became completely re-established, which one day called forth the
following eulogium from Sir Patricius Placebo; while engaged in
conversation with the Duchess, he observed, "Oh, my Lady, how truly
lovely the Lady Adelaide looks in renovated health and beauty! Each day
still adds to her charms; and, in verity, I should be fully justified to
speak of her in the words of the historic worthy, old Titus Livius,
(whose name, by the bye, the ridiculous French sink down into _Tit
Live_--just, my Lady, as if they were speaking of the little bird called
Tom Tit!) his words are these: '_Adulta virgo; adeo eximia, forma, ut
qûacunquè incedebat converteret omnium oculos_'--'An adult virgin of
such exquisite form, that wherever her steps were turned, thither with
delight the looks of all beholders were directed.'"
The Duchess duly curtsied, and thanked the Baronet for the classical
compliment which he had paid; and said, "that inasmuch as she was mother
to the object of his praise, she confessed that withal she was indeed
too partial to her beloved daughter to gainsay the polite eulogium of
Sir Patricius."
The Duke and Duchess determined to remain during each year for some
months at their delightful retreat amid the romantic beauties of the
county of Wicklow; this residence only to be interrupted by the
occasional absence of the Duke to hold a levee or a privy council at
Dublin Castle; the routine of state dinners, or when her Grace presided
at drawing-rooms, balls, &c. or in occasionally going in state to the
theatre royal, &c. &c. The autumnal months were passed at Tyrconnel
Castle, but the winter invariably was spent at Dublin Castle.
Thus days and months passed over, marked only in the calendar by health,
tranquillity, and social pleasure, without the occurrence of any event
of importance sufficient to be recorded here. Two years at this point of
time had passed over in peaceful serenity, Lady Adelaide daily improving
in the expansion of her mental powers, and in gradual increase of
personal beauty. The Duke, who had been long absent from Tyrconnel
Castle, proposed to pass the ensuing summer and autumn at that lordly
residence, and with all due pomp and solemnity there to celebrate
Adelaide's birth-day, who would at that time enter into her seventeenth
year; and from thence, these high ceremonials completed, his Grace
proposed to proceed to Dublin, to open the biennial session of
parliament: and preparations were immediately set on foot to carry these
intentions into effect.
During the absence of the noble proprietor Tyrconnel Castle had
undergone a thorough repair, and many judicious alterations and
improvements had taken place in the internal decoration of the castle,
as well as in the external adornment of the lawns, parks, and gardens of
this princely abode. Pursuant to their determination, their Graces set
out accordingly, upon a fine summer morning, on their journey to their
ancient castle; and the space of a week having been occupied in
travelling, the entire family of the Duke safely arrived at their
destination.
Adelaide was peculiarly delighted once more to behold the scenes of her
infancy, which to every feeling mind have indelible charms; and the
morning after her arrival at Tyrconnel she ascended the ramparts of the
castle, to review the surrounding prospect, so dear to her recollection.
It was a serene summer morning. Our readers perchance may recollect the
scenery which surrounds the castle of Tyrconnel, the lofty mountains of
Slieve-Doon, and the great gap or pass to the mountains, called
Barna-More, all of which we have endeavoured to describe in the second
chapter of this work. Adelaide's mind was fully in unison with the
serenity of the morning, and being deeply impressed with the poetic
impulse, she produced her tablets, and poured forth her tribute to the
_Genius Loci_, in the following
INVOCATION TO THE RIVER ESKE.
Roll onward, fierce torrent! roll on to the main!
What bastion or tow'r may thy billows restrain?
Resounds thy hoarse current's loud thundering roar
Round cloud-crested Slieve-Doon and wide Barna-More.[19]
How oft hath the foe-man deep plunged in thy wave,
Thy billows encrimsoned with blood of the brave!
These towers shall yet crumble, these rampires shall fall,
But thou, rapid Eske, be survivor of all!
While down to the confines of uncounted time,
Thy waters roll onward in measure sublime!
Swift emblem of LIFE, changing, flowing anew;
Still the symbol thou art of eternity too!
Unceasing thy current, impetuous thy force,
Speeding on, full-tiding thy unaltered course:
Still glide, regal stream! let thy bright waters flow,
And foam 'gainst these bastions, which frown'd on the foe.
Oh, murmuring Eske! from thy deep rocky bed,
O'er dream of my childhood sweet charms thou has
shed,
Whilst gurgling thy waters, to sleep lulled my head!
Nor shall mem'ry ever her pencil withdraw
From thy waters, bright Eske, and thy
heights, proud Tyraugh!
Flow on, rapid Eske! still roll in commotion;
Unite thy deep foam with the wave of the ocean!
[19] _i. e._ The great gap, or pass to the mountains.
Time onward rapidly fled on downy pinions, and the birth-day of the
Lady Adelaide, which occurred upon the Eve of All-Hallows, was now fast
approaching, in celebration of which most magnificent preparations were
making, had been made, and were in a progressive state of continuation
at this hospitable chateau. The Duke and Duchess seemed fully resolved
to spare no expense to testify, if indeed it were at all necessary so to
do, their love and attachment to an amiable and affectionate daughter,
who was most truly worthy of her parents' love, and of every respect and
honour that could be awarded her.