f lllllwl y:m'yyysu: iiii YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DEPOSITED BY THE LINONIA AND BROTHERS LIBRARY JOHN L. STODDARD'S LECTURES IRELAND I IRELAND II DENMARK SWEDEN Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick £if Smith Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. Macdonald ty Sons, Bookbinders, Boston JOHN LfSTODDARD'S LECTURES ILLUSTRATED AND EMBELLISHED WITH VIEWS OF THE WORLD'S FAMOUS PLACES AND PEOPLE, BEING THE IDENTICAL DISCOURSES DELIVERED DURING THE PAST EIGHTEEN YEARS UNDER THE TITLE OF THE STODDARD LECTURES SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME BOSTON BALCH BROTHERS CO. MCMI Copyright, 1901 By John L. Stoddard Entered at Stationers' Hall, London all rights reserved IRELAND I PROLOGUE THE buffer-State of Europe, the first of Old World countries to confront and check the surges of the North Atlantic, which have till then felt no curb for two thousand miles, Ireland looks, half lovingly, half sadly, over the waste of waters toward the distant continent that has received so many of her children, having long held her face averted from that nearer land where few of them have found a home. BEAUTIFUL IRELAND IRELAND When one reflects that dur ing the last eight)r years more than four million Irish men and women have landed in the United States, it is surprising that Americans know so little of a country whence have come such numbers of their citizens. Of all the thousands of American tourists who every year sail by the coast of Ireland, few care to pause there, and probably still fewer think of the island otherwise than as a pov erty-stricken place from which all those who can escape, do so as soon as possible. A study of its history, hoAvever, and above all a sympathetic visit made to it, better to understand its cities, villages, scenery, and people, reveal a multitude of attractions, to which tbe great majority of mankind are totally indifferent, and of whose very existence few save its loyal children seem aAvare. My first trip through Ireland was like the tour usually made by those Avho, in their eagerness to reach Great Britain and the Continent, rush through the Emerald Isle as through the shabby, insignificant portal of a IRELAND 9 splendid palace. My recent tour convinced me that on the first occasion I had ignorantly passed by objects of tran scendent value, as one unskilled in mineralogy might live above the gold fields of South Africa, yet die in poverty. The fact is, that for certain forms of natural scenery, memorials of Druid paganism, wonderful prehistoric relics, and priceless souvenirs of primitive Christianity, Ireland has no equal in the world. If one begins by pitying her, one ends by loving her. Certain countries, like certain individuals, possess a power of winning our affection, when we come into their presence, and Ireland is one of them. The fascination exercised upon the traveler and student by such lands may be compared to that exerted by a charming woman ; for, as a rule, these countries are essentially feminine in character. This is by no means equivalent to calling them effeminate. Effeminacy is degen eracy. It shows a weakened type, a sex deformity. True femininity, however, may be as noble and heroic, as it is beautiful and winsome ; and it is Avorth remembering that A FEMININE LANDSCAPE. IO IRELAND nations which are distinctively masculine in their aggressive ness, indomitable energy, and indefatigable pursuit of the practical at the expense of the ideal, may be most feared, but they are not the best beloved. Now, whether we consider the graceful undulations of her verdant hills, her quickly varying climate of alternate sun and showers (so typical of human smiles and tears), or her sensitive, warm-hearted people, tinged with the trace of melancholy in- WHAT IRELAND NEEDS. sepa rable f r o m impressionable na tures, Ireland appears indisputably feminine. As such, the vision of her beauty charms us, the story of her heroism thrills us, and the long record of her suffering saddens us, until we often view her ruins through a mist of tears. When the delighted tourist in Ireland looks around him on an exquisitely beautiful and naturally fertile land, capable, under proper cultivation, of supporting twenty million people ; when he is made aware of many industries which might be profitably managed there Avith capital and suitable encourage ment ; when he beholds her many noble harbors, rarely QUEENSTOWN HAREOR. IRELAND 13 furrowed by a keel, or her magnificent river, Shannon, seldom shadowed by a sail, though rolling oceanward a greater volume than the Thames or Mersey ; and when he finds in art and architecture abundant proofs of Ireland's illustrious past; he asks himself in sorrowful surprise : What is the cause of all tbe poverty, starvation, cruelty, and massacres which have for centuries stained the annals of this lovely section of Earth's surface, and left to generation after Ji ~ generation an enduring legacy of hatred ? This question is persistent. Like Banquo's ghost, it will not down. Some terrible vampire has for a thousand years been draining the life-blood of Ireland. What is it ? Can it be idleness, as is so often stated ? The accusation is disproved by facts. The Irish are a race of workers, if there ever was one. The earth is full of their labors, ecclesiastical, mechanical, military, and manual. America to a large extent has been built up by Irish H IRELAND brawn. Englishmen have repeatedly said to me, "The Irish do well everywhere except in their own country." But what a confession is this ? What can it mean but that the conditions of their life and labor there have been made practically intoler able ? If they work elsewhere strenuously and successfully, is it not fair to suppose that they would do as much in Ireland, if they found adequate incentive there ? A sense of unjust treatment robs work of its joy, and what is superficially called idleness is often only the paralysis of hope deferred. RUINS OF INCH ABBEY. Others have claimed that Ireland's misfortunes have been due to her religion. But when and where have the Irish ceased to be religious ? Have they not taken their religion with them Avherever they have gone ? And if this has not proved an obstacle to their success abroad, how can it have produced their Avretchedness at home ? It is often said of the Irish that they are never without a grievance, and are per- IRELAND iS petually complaining. But neither individually nor collectively do people usually moan, unless they are in pain. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred a cry of distress means suffering. Dis satisfaction is frequently the child of envy, but it may also be the off spring of legitimate ambition. A noble discontent with one's inferior condition, or with unfair treatment, has ever been the spring of progress. The finer and more sensitive the spirit, the more acutely does it feel oppression,and the more resolutely will it beat against the barriers that prevent its free de velopment.To the pro- AN EVICTED FAMILY. AN IRISH FISHERMAN. i6 IRELAND testing spirits of one age a happier humanity often pays grateful tribute in the next. Whether the blame for Irish discontent should chiefly rest upon the governors or the governed, has been for years a matter of dispute; but it is quite incredible that all the misery which crushed for centuries this naturally cheerful, buoyant race was due exclusively to Celtic character and crimes. How ever anxious, therefore, one may be to avoid political topics in a general survey of this unfortunate country, it is impos sible utterly to ignore its past, if one would comprehend its pres ent. Hence certain facts, suggested by an approach to the Irish capital, may here appropriately be called to mind. The first misfor tune of Ireland is one of geography. The " silver streak," that is at once the (lory and defence of England, divides the mother country from the Emerald Isle. Had this been otherwise, and had the Irish coast been joined to England by a strip of land, narroAver even than the belt uniting Scotch and English territory, hoAv different might have been the history of Ireland ! Now that the barriers of mountains, seas, and rivers have practically sunk to insignifi cance, it is easy to forget how great their influence has been in the development of nations. It is, however, undeniable that wz aswasopo j zo > y\ 1 i. .' E V r m^^^mmmmmmmmmu mmmmm^^mmm THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. " The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast.' IRELAND 71 Wherever the buildings associated with these distinguished personages were still in existence, I gladly went to see them ; yet in some cases I almost regretted having done so. Moore's .birthplace, for example, is at present a saloon of doubtful respectability, where I was greatly annoyed by a drunken brawler. O'Connell's residence is still a fine, aristocratic man sion, and the bouse of Sheridan's nativity is a neat, though humble, dwelling ; but the birthplace of Wellington is exceed ingly shabby, the house where Mrs. Hemans died is dilapi dated, and the former home of Mrs. Jameson is positively disreputable. After all, the birthplace of a celebrated person, though always interesting, never appeals to me so forcibly as some locality associated with his active life, or even with his death. We often find the spot of his nativity greatly changed ; transformed, perhaps, into a huge commercial edifice, or pos sibly deteri orated into a wretched tenement. We may, in deed, discover equally strik ing contrasts, on visiting scenes con nected with his later life ; but here at least it is no longer of the undeveloped child that we are reminded, but of the BIRTHPLACE OF THOMAS MOORE. 74 IRELAND SIR WALTER RALEIGH S IRISH HOME, YOUGHAL. fancies into faultless prose, than on the modest house in Salem where he first saw the light ; and Dickens' home at Gad's Hill and his grave in West minster Abbey touch my heart more than could ever do the room Avhere he Avas born. It is the difference between seeing, on the Clyde, the empty cradle of a war ship, and looking on the spot Avhere, after desperate fight ing to defend the country from invasion, that same war vessel sent her powerful Manse man, whose genius has distinguished him from millions of his fellows in noble deeds, wise statesmanship, or contributions to the literature of his race. In a man's birthplace we think chiefly of bis family; but in his study, or beside his grave, we think of him alone. Thus, I Avould rather look upon the " Way side " or the "Old at Concord, Avhere Hawthorne wove his subtle STATUE OF LORD ADILAUN. IRELAND 75 antagonist to an ocean sepulchre, wrapt in a winding-sheet of flame. One of the most attractive features of Dublin is St. Stephen's Green — a charming public garden, which the phil anthropist, Sir Arthur Guinness, better known in Dublin as Lord Adilaun, presented to the city at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars, having first tastefully embellished it with ST. STEPHEN S GREEN. shade-trees, flower-beds, miniature lakes and fountains. Some of the houses fronting on this square are rich in literary memories. In number nine, for example, lived Sir Walter Scott, during his visit in Dublin, when, as Lockhart tells us, " If he entered a street, the watchword was passed down both sides like lightning, and the shopkeepers and their wives stood bowing and courtesying all the way down ; while the mob and boys huzzaed, as at the chariot-wheels of a conqueror." Num- 76 IRELAND ENTRANCE TO TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. ber sixteen was the residence of Archbishop Whately ; and, at one time, the poetess, Mrs. Hemans, lived in number thirty- six, to which she had removed, as she explains, "for the sake of having back rooms, as I suffered greatly from the noise where I lived before." It was her memory that I especially recalled, whenever I sat or Avalked in the pretty enclosure of St. Stephen's Green, for her poetry is the first of Avhich I have any recollection. One of the earliest reminiscences of my childhood is that of my mother singing or repeating to me, over and over again (for I never tired of hearing it), a poem by this gifted Irish lady, descriptive of a crusader who had been captured by the enemy and imprisoned in a solitary castle. One day the prisoner sees his former comrades on the plain below, passing his tower "on their homeward march from Palestine. They are ignorant of the fact that he is a captive there, and by a cruel irony of Fate the strains of IRELAND 77 their triumphant music drown bis cries for help. I am not sure how young I was when this was sung to me, but the mental picture that I formed of it is just as vivid to me now as that of any scene I ever looked upon ; and many a time, when I have gazed upon some ruined castle, especially in the Tyrol or along the Danube, I have recalled with deep emo tion the stirring lines : "Sound again, Clarion, Clarion loud and shrill! Sound! for the captive's plaintive voice Is still ; is still." Alas ! the voice of the singer of those words is also still. But all the blare of Earth's brief triumphs and the tumult of the passing world will never silence its sweet echo in the inner chamber of my heart, until that heart has ceased to beat. Old Trinity College, Dublin, is famous alike for the illustrious men who have been educated there, and for the literary treasures it possesses. The oldest of its classic halls is a rather sombre, but im posing, structure, three hun dred feet in length and ornamented with Corinthian columns. I looked upon it with great interest, for this old Irish University, founded by Queen Elizabeth, has been for more than three hundred years a brilliant beacon-light, piercing the gloom of Ire land's history ; and through its entrance-archway many youthful forms have passed whose spiritualized outlines glow imperishably now in STATUE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, DUBLIN. 78 IRELAND some of the most prominent niches in the Pantheon of Fame. Some of these forms have also found their replicas in bronze and marble ; and that of Goldsmith stands beside the College Gate. The pose is natural, and well expresses the character principally ascribed to Goldsmith, — that of a "dreamer." Although a wanderer from his native land, it was of Ireland that he really wrote both in his " Deserted Vil lage " and tbe "Vicar of Wakefield."The little vil lage of Lis- soy, near the Shannon, is supposed to be the " Sweet Auburn. loveliest village of the plain," which he im mortalized in his poem; and here the poet's father (the original of ™ the "Vicar"), lived as a poor coun try clergyman, more blessed with progeny than with provisions for their maintenance. Poor Gold smith ! He was. a typical child of Ireland, — talented, impecu nious, improvident, and unfortunate ; producing literary master- ¦ THE SHELTERED COT, THE CULTIVATED FARM. A TYPICAL IRISH VILLAGE, GLENCOE IRELAND pieces which place him in the front rank of English writers, yet receiving for them miserably insufficient compensation, and dying at last in London, to lie for years in an almost unknown grave, until the world awoke to an appreciation of his genius. Oliver Goldsmith's place in English literature is now secure forever. His works are classics. The " Deserted Village " has appeared in nearly every educational series for reading pub lished in the United States during the last three- quarters of a century, and, like Gray's " Elegy," is an exquisite picture of ru ral loveliness and peace; his comedy, " She stoops to conquer," still ranks among the best plays in the English language ; while the " Vicar of Wakefield " is so ideally realistic, that it will always be a perfect type of simple, trustful, human nature. Little did the young student imagine, as he worked his way through Trinity College in poverty and discourage- STATUE OF EDMUND BURKE, DUBLIN. 82 IRELAND ment, that Dublin would one day be proud to rear a bronze memo rial at this gateway in his honor, and that the products of his genius would be read and his name cherished wherever the English language should be known. On the left of the College entrance, and forming a pen dant to the statue of Gold smith, stands another ad mirable work by the same artist, — the Irish sculptor, Foley. It is the manly, spirited figure of Ed mund Burke. This gifted Irishman Avas a student here at the same time as Goldsmith, but there is no evidence that they were then particularly acquainted ; though later, in their London literary life, they were somewhat allied. The bold, impas sioned, parliamentary orator and polemical essayist was not cast in the same mould as the retiring poet ; yet each in his own way conferred undying glory upon Ireland. Burke's advocacy of his native land, in denouncing the tyrannical trade- restrictions placed by England upon Ireland, has been described by even an English statesman, John Morley, as being " accu rately, absolutely, and magnificently right" ; his splendid cham pionship of the oppressed in the impeachment trial of Warren Hastings also elicited the admiration of the Avorld ; and every American will recollect with gratitude Burke's noble efforts, at the time of the Revolution, in behalf of the struggling Colonists, STATUE OF THOMAS MOORE, DUBLIN. IRELAND §3 to whom he gave his entire sympathy. He had foreseen the approaching conflict, and had protested against the imposition of unjust taxes on the King's North American subjects, but in vain. His speeches on "American Taxation," in 1774, and on "Conciliation with America," in 1775, have an imperishable place in literature. For rhetorical fervor, thrilling eloquence and sound wisdom, the world has rarely seen their equal. Macaulay, an historian not particularly favorable to the Irish, nevertheless pronounced Burke " in aptitude of com prehension and richness of imagination, superior to every orator, ancient or modern": and the English statesman, Fox, declared, " If I were to put all the political information that I have ever gained from books, and all that I have learned from science, or that the knowledge of the world and its affairs have taught me, into one scale, and the improvement I have derived from the conversation and teachings of Ed mund Burke into the other, the latter would preponderate." What wonderful men poor Ireland has brought forth in her wretchedness and given to the world, as models of oratory, poetry, statesman ship, and valor ! The different stars composing this superb galaxy naturally shine with various degrees of lustre ; but all of them are suns, not satel lites, and they together form a Celtic constellation, whose brilliancy will never be extin guished until the stellar hosts themselves shall be dissolved, and " the heavens shall be rolled togetber as a scroll." STATUE OF THE EARL OF ROSSE, DUBLIN. 84 IRELAND Passing within the enclosure of the University, I paused in admiration before its Campanile, a beautiful combination of triumphal arch and belfry, the latter containing a melodious bell which calls the students to their various duties. This structure, the cost of which is estimated at sixty thousand dollars, was the gift of Lord George Beresford, whose exalted station as Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland did not prevent him from regarding his Alma Mater with the love and gratitude of a loyal son. It is evident from the stories still related of him by the collegians that he was no exception to the rule, that Irishmen are generally endowed with irrepres sible wit and humor. Thus, even Avhen Archbishop, during the meetings of the National Board of Ed ucation, over which he pre- sided, he would often graA'ely an nounce some scientific dis covery for the amusement of his col- leagues. On one occasion, referring to THE COLLEGE CAMPANILE. the Dai'tiCU- u&*im IRELAND 85 THE EXAMINATION HALL, TRINITY COLLEGE. larly flat-topped head of a neighbor, he propounded what he called a "new phrenological test." "Take," he said, "a hand ful of peas and drop them on the head of the patient. The amount of the man's dishonesty will depend on the number that remain there. If a large number fail to fall off, tell the butler to lock up the spoons." In the Examination Hall of this institution hang several interesting portraits, including those of Dean Swift, Bishop Berkeley, and Edmund Burke ; and, just as in the Dining Hall the likenesses of Grattan, Flood, and Beresford look down upon the students, when for a time the knife and fork are more important than the pen, so here the faces of these eminent graduates seem to survey with sympathy the youthful aspirants for fame, as they attempt to answer on the sheets of paper placed before them questions, which to the average collegian, breathlessly awaiting promotion, graduation, prize, 86 IRELAND or fellowship, inspire almost as much dread as the ingenious tests of mediaeval torture-chambers. But the special glory of Dublin's University is its famous Library, which contains nearly a quarter of a million of vol umes, and has, like the British Museum in London, the right to a presentation copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. The exterior of this Library is severely plain, though not without a certain dignity and rugged grandeur ; but the interior is really noble in the majestic height of its great central hall, with wainscoting and ceiling of old Irish oak. Along the sides are marble busts of many of the world's most eminent contributors to knowledge, from Homer, Socrates, and Plato, to Shakespeare, Bacon, and Dean Swift. Here also is a beautiful bust of Wellington by Chantrey ; and since these portraits are not strictly limited to literary benefactors of the race, I should have liked to see enshrined within these walls the face of Mr. Fawcett, who finally, in 1873, caused all religious tests of the University to be abolished, and all its scholarships and fellowships to be thereafter free for com petition to Catholics as well as Protestants. For, although Trinity College was founded in 1591, it was not until 1792, or more than two hundred years later, that Roman Catholics m^»fMS^i»iiila^miimmm^ nr : ; ~f%_ SiiljOQcltEE THE LIBRARY, TRINITY COLLEGE. IRELAND 87 were allowed to take degrees here, and even then for nearly one hundred years more they were excluded from a full share in the University's privi leges and endowments. In the centre of this long hall are cases which contain the precious manu scripts, rare books, and other interesting relics, of which the Irish are so justly proud. How literally splendid and beyond all price are some of those old manuscripts ! I was aston ished at their wonderful beauty, and was greatly impressed by the proof they give of the artistic skill and intellectual activity that once prevailed upon the island. Many of these parchments are decorated with intricate patterns that should be studied under a magnifying glass, and are illuminated in five or six different colors. It is plain, therefore, that the most loving labor Avas bestowed on their embellishment. The most remarkable of these works is a seventh-century copy of the four Gospels in Latin, known as the "Book of Kells," because it was written in the monastery and village of that name. This is undoubtedly the most beautiful book in the world. Nowhere have I seen in manuscript form anything equal to the splendor of its coloring, the delicacy of its tracery, and the exquisite designs of its ornamentation. By the aid of a microscope there can be counted in the space of one inch THE HOME OF THE MANUSCRIPTS, TRINITY COLLEGE. IRELAND AN INITIAL LETTER IN THE BOOK OF KELLS.' no less than one hundred and fifty-eight interlacements of tiny bands, each of which is composed of a strip of white, bordered on each side with a black line. Some of its leaves are entirely filled with ornament, and every sentence begins with an ingeniously decorated letter, each differ ent from the rest. Many of its superb pages look like gold plates, jeweled and en ameled. This wonderful vol ume rests during the daytime on a metal stand beneath a glass case, over which a curtain is drawn, when no one is inspect ing it, to prevent its colors from fading. At night it is removed into a fireproof safe, borne on the metal rack that supports it, so that the book itself may not be handled. In fact, only once in twenty-four hours does a hand touch the precious vol ume, and then merely to turn a page, exposing a new leaf daily to the light and to the ex amination of visitors. Another manuscript treasured here, con taining an entire copy of the New Testament, together with a " Life of St. Patrick," is almost as perfect a specimen of scriptic art as the "Book of Kells." (gjpMOTTCrTanrcTiiin Gxusoooieoa: ':': ^.;?*^liuXTjcucasccujsaer0i)sni J^yV^SbcrapcuspgciudcopuTTaJi » «§§l§J*s>®*m^0 aiuapryuc duosttc 1 •'"''^cRouesuHumccoeicpas^- e^t abum a.sanfCRTs cms jaro tTvceaasc-scfii'puiK' r cjHcfecIiat -^pnriTBlcrgjs'oc^ puarcas est? ^v^-^plMicceE eunocs 6cusplicincL v^\ 6iuftr i^inn mouefftrs capicA sun vSxlicoTtCb,' uir iiundUtmiTc un) piirrn CLnraab: Tjiciv. aedipan'nc cud striiruii i ce-coxipsurrroi .> vui J- -iSST-f— -_Vgr*Ki TjecRuae >- ., SrjimhreR suinrm ;«iv]j.>hw ORDINARY TENT IN THE "BOOK OF KELLS.' IRELAND 89 It is not difficult to account for the vast amount of labor expended on these works of art. In the first place, writings of any kind were in those days rare. Printing was not to revolutionize the world for centuries. The copyists also had abundant time at their disposal, and could spend days, if need be, on the illumination of a single letter. Then, too, they loved and reverenced their work. It was for them a pious duty to transcribe the sacred text, and they took genuine delight in rendering it as beautiful as possible. We cannot, therefore, be surprised at the value placed upon such treasures in the early centuries ; for, even if one lacked the learn ing to decipher them, he saw at least their beauty, and looked upon them also with a supersti tious reverence, as the words of God. Accordingly, they were often carried into battle by old Irish warriors, as aids to victory, and a single manuscript was sometimes offered and accepted as ransom for a captive king. As we should naturally ex- pect in a land, the piety of which was so renowned, and in an age, most of whose literature and learning centred in the monasteries, a large proportion of these writings have a religious character, and several are copies of the Scriptures. The longest of them, however, the "Book of Leinster," produced about the year 1160, con tains in its four hundred and ten pages nearly one thousand Irish literary compositions, treating in prose and poetry of great historical events and popular romantic tales. Some of a BIT OF INTERLACED ORNAMENT IN TH '' BOOK OF DURROVV." go IRELAND WHERE COPYISTS USED TO WORK, CASTLE- DERMOTT ABBEY, KILDARE. these parchments also are devoted to the study of medicine ; for it appears to have been an ancient custom in Irish fami lies to keep for consultation one or more manuscripts, in which the doctors of the time were wont to write, year after year, and generation after generation, the results of their experience. There is something pathetic in looking on those carefully traced words, and thinking of the painfully slow progress that they mark toward a correct interpretation of the laws of health. It is all the more pathetic because even now, so many centuries later and in the full blaze of scientific research and discovery, we see " How little we have gained, How vast the unattained ! " in finding suitable defensive Aveapons for the ill-matched strug gle, forever going on betAveen mankind and death, in Avhich IRELAND 9i each victory gained by man is but a respite from his ultimate defeat. Another thought suggested to me by these Irish writings was that the language of their script is practically moribund. Some things of value must exist in the old literature of a land whose institutions once drew to their halls students from Rome itself; and yet, so obsolete has that ancient tongue become, that much of the contents of those parchments is practically unknoAvn. Only a few scholars now remain who can translate them, and even their number is steadily diminishing. As win ter's glacial hand arrests the river's flow, and holds it locked in icy immobility, so has the chill of age crept over Erin's early language. Its flow of eloquence is checked. Its gems of literature lie concealed beneath the freezing mantle of neglect. Some Irish men and women, it is true, loyal to Ireland's past and to the Celtic tongue in which THE MUSEUM, TRINITY COLLEGE. 92 IRELAND her poets wrote, are trying to revive its use, and even to make it obliga tory in the public schools ; but the great trend of modern life, like a huge, irresistible glacier, will doubtless crush out of existence these few tardy flowers of hope. The warmth of the young year will annually melt the fetters of a frozen stream, and send it singing on its way ; but it is hardly probable that any vernal breath will ever wake to music the old speech of Ireland, or call to life again the spirit lying in its A'ellum shroud. AN UNFETTERED STREAM, LOVE WATERFALL, KILLARNEY. IRELAND 93 But calligraphy was not the only fine art that prevailed in Ireland in those early days. Not far from Trinity College stands a handsome edifice known as the New Museum of Dub lin. Within its walls are many objects of transcendent value, not only to the student of ethnology and archaeology, but to all visitors Avho take the slightest interest in specimens of gold and silver handicraft, which would in any age win admiration, but which are truly wonderful, when one considers the time and place of their production. The most remarkable of these is a sacred reliquary, called the Cross of Cong, designed, as its inscription states, to contain a portion of the true Cross. Fully to appreciate this masterpiece of early Irish art, one should examine this also with a magnifying glass. It consists pri marily of a cross of oak, two and a half feet high, with arms that measure from one extremity to the other about eighteen inches. This oaken frame, however, is sheathed in copper, THE NA'IIONAL MUSEUM, DUBLIN. 94 IRELAND which is, in its turn, covered with a beautifully designed and exquisitely finished filigree of gold. Originally eighteen gems were set along the arms and shaft, thirteen of which remain in place, while in the centre is a large quartz crystal, covering a cruciform piece of wood, apparently much older than the rest. This, it is believed, is the relic of Christ's Passion for which the shrine was made. The archaeological interest of this reliquary rivals even its artistic value, for it is possible from its lettering to learn not only the approximate date of its production, but also the names of the patron who commanded it and the artisan who made it. Along the edges of the cross have been engraved five sentences, the first of which states in Latin : " In this cross is preserved the Cross upon which suffered the Founder of the world." The other inscrip tions are in the Irish language, and request prayers for Turlough O'Conor, "the King of Erin for whom this shrine was made " ; for the Archbishop and Bishop of Con- naught, under whose supervision it was constructed; and finally for Maelisu O'Echan, its artificer. The mention of these personages fixes the date of the work as being early in the twelfth century, prob ably in 1 123 a.d. ; for % ¦ y 1 Hi,.! . t£? 1 THE CROSS OF CONG. IRELAND 95 THE ABBE the ecclesiastics referred to are well known to students of Church history, and were con nected with the beautiful Augustinian Abbey of Cong, where the cross which bears its name was reverently kept until the ruin and abandonment of the noble edifice. The last mitred Abbot of Cong subsequently found it in a chest of oak in a little cottage in the village of Abbotstown, where it had probably been placed by pious hands at the period of the Reformation, and where it had for more than two centuries lain concealed. Turlough O'Conor, by whose order the work was undertaken, was even better known than these Church Fathers, since he was one of the best and most renowned of Irish kings, his reign having lasted more than fifty years. Difficult as it may seem, for those who have not investigated the subject, to associate such men and deeds with the early history of Ireland, it is nevertheless a fact that this illustrious monarch was called the Augustus of western Europe, and that 96 IRELAND CONG'S DESERTED CLOISTERS. he Avas distinguished for his culture and munificence, and for his patronage of art, especially where it illustrated and enriched religion. Of the artist himself, however, nothing but his name is known; and this has been preserved to us only because he inscribed it on his masterpiece, the last of all, humbly entreat ing those Avho looked upon his work to pray for him, as well as for the king and prelates. After all, it is of him that we think longest here. His birth, condition, history, the school where he acquired his skill, his death, his burial-place, — of all these Ave know nothing ; but Ave are touched to find at the foot of this memorial of Calvary his name, as if his soul still lingered there in prayer. Nearly eight hundred years have passed since his deft fingers pressed the last gold spiral into place. The brain that planned, the hands that fashioned it, the eyes that probably grew dim at parting from the precious object IRELAND 97 of his toil, have long since mingled with the elements ; but the fair reliquary, which no doubt sums up the work and aspiration of his life, has happily survived the storms of cen turies almost intact ; and in the centuries to come, when it will probably be treasured still more tenderly than in the past, each lover of the beautiful, as he thinks of Madisu O'Echan, will answer his petition with the heartfelt utterance : May he rest in peace ! In the same room with this rare work, but in a separate case, stands another splendid specimen of Irish handicraft — the Ardagh Chalice. From certain features of its decoration this is supposed to be three centuries older than the Cross of Cong ; but of its origin nothing definite is known. Some years ago, a peasant lad was digging in a field, when suddenly his spade turned up into the light of day one of the oldest and most exquisite pieces of metal work that Christian art has any- THE ARDAGH CHALICE. 93 IRELAND where produced. It is a massive silver cup, adorned with bands and medallions of gold filigree, wonderfully rich and elaborate in design and execution. In these, at regular inter vals, are set enameled bosses, resembling jewels. Like all the other art-relics of early Christian Ireland, this chalice shows that skillful artisans performed their work upon it lovingly and PAGAN MONUMENT. conscientiously. Whether they wrought thus faithfully for Art's own sake, or whether they were inspired by the thought that they were laboring in this instance for the Eye that search eth out the hidden things, and seeth in secret, the result was the same. The wonderful cup is composed of no less than three hundred and fifty-four distinct pieces ; but no difference in at tention to details can be discerned between the upper and more conspicuous decorations, and those which are concealed from ENTRANCE TO BALTIMORE HARBOR, COUNTY CORK. IRELAND 101 ordinary observation in its hollowed base. That this may be appreciated, the chalice has been placed above a mirror, upon whose surface is reflected a crystal enclosed in a fine circle of gold arabesques, as perfect in their workmanship as any portion of the bowl. What tender care this sacramental cup received in its construction is evidenced by the fact that, after centuries of chance and change, and its long burial in the earth, it yet appears in well-nigh perfect preservation. But who the faithful artist was we do not know ; nor can we tell whose consecrated hands presented it to kneel ing worshipers. Those hands have left no record of its history. Mute, also, are i the lips which touched its burnishedbrim, to drink, as from the fountain of eter nal life. We only know it is a priceless relic of the time when Ireland sat enthroned as the High Priestess of the West ern world, to whom the scholars of all Christendom were glad to come for inspiration and instruction. Turning from this memorial of Ireland's early Church, I noticed with surprise an object which at first seemed out of place amid the sumptuous ornaments surrounding it. It was a bell of bronze and iron, about a foot in height, with simple ST. PATRICK S WELL DOWNPATR1CK. 102 IRELAND shape, crude work manship, and bat tered sides. Yet to the antiquary, as well as to the Churchman, it has a greater value than any jeweled shrine or cross of gold. In the first place, it is unques tionably authentic, having an unbroken history of fourteen hundred years, and as such is the oldest specimen of Irish Christian metal work in existence. More over, it possesses the added value of having been used by Ireland's great patron saint. To the average " man in the street " St. Patrick is a leg endary being, vaguely asso ciated with a serpent exodus from Ireland. But there are few historic characters more authentic, and few whose influence has been more powerful and perma nent. When the great Roman Empire began to feel the chill of death at its extremi ties, and its remotest northern garrison took the first back- ST. PATRICK S BELL. ST. PATRICK S GRAVE, DOVVNl'ATRICK. IRELAND 103 ward step in Scotland, there went with the retreating troops, south of the great wall of Severus, a youth about fourteen years of age, who, in 396 a.d., had been born near Dumbar ton, on the Clyde. The Picts, emboldened by the withdrawal of the Roman legions, made incursions into the territory of their foes. In one such raid they captured this young man, and sent him as a slave to Ireland. After six years the prisoner escaped, espoused the Christian faith with ardor, and devoted himself to the priesthood, with the determination to convert the inhabitants of the island to Christianity. This may ..,,.,;-.-.. be called the prologue of St. Patrick's life. The second part begins in the .: year 428 a.d., the best- established date in his his tory, when he addressed the king and Druids on the royal hill of Tara. From that time on, his wonderful success needs no eulogium. Suffice it to say that his life and labors laid tbe foundation upon which Ireland was pres- >: ently to stand as the great centre of religious influ ence in northern Europe. Whether or not his dust reposes in the shadow of the cathedral at Downpatrick, under the granite slab that bears his name, he is, and ever will be, the dominant figure in Ire land — the keystone in the bridge by which men passed from Irish Paganism to Christianity. So many new-born Irishmen have been named after the great saint, that "Pat" has come THE COVER OF ST. PATRICK S BELL. 104 IRELAND to be a synonym for almost every son of Erin, and youthful Irish-Americans are prone to be ashamed of the fact that they bear the name of Patrick. They should be proud of it. There is no name on earth that in its own legitimate meaning is more aristocratic. It signifies patrician, as contrasted with plebeian, and it is quite presumable that the young monk thus named was worthy of the title. Most men are glad to trace their lineage to old Norman conquerors. But who among them all stands out more prominently on the stage of history than St. Patricius ? The conquest that he made was not of this world ; but which of all the mailed robbers from the north achieved such glorious triumphs and such bloodless victories, and left such blessings to posterity ? Beside St. Patrick's bell in the Museum is a beautiful metal case specially made, in the latter part of the eleventh century, to enclose it. This is itself a reliquary of remarkable richness, upon whose frame of brass are ornaments of gold and silver, wrought in intri cate designs, while several gems and crystals sparkle on. its surface. It is an inter esting fact that such bell- covers seem not to have been made in any part of Christendom save Ireland; but the sanctity in which the relic of the great apostle was regarded caused the bells of other saints to be similarly protected. Many of them, like the bell of St. Patrick, had special guardians, their custody often remaining for « corner of ™e museum. many generations in one IRELAND ios OLD IRISH FLINT IMPLEMENTS. family. Yet, after all, despite the elegance and antiquity of this case, one turns from it at last to contemplate again the older and plainer, but far more precious, bell itself, and in imagination to hear once more its silent tongue, which, when the dawn of a new Faith was stealing o'er this farthest island of an unknown sea, so often made the hills and valleys echo with its call to prayer. But Christian relics are not the only treasures of the past preserved in this Museum. In some of its galleries are souve nirs of an antiquity, compared to which that of the early Church seems modern. For Ireland, like all other European countries, had her Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and passed through the same stages of development that all the different races of humanity have gradually reached and left behind them in their upward march from barbarism. An instinct, common to all peoples of the earth, leads them along the same adven turous path, groping their way through blood and tears, and clinging to a bit of flint, or scrap of metal, as mountain climbers clutch a root or piece of rock, to give them vantage ground for another upward step. How harmless now appear these rows of flint flakes, ranged like ornaments within a case ! io6 IRELAND But every one of them has a history, closely connected with the life of man. Some of the larger ones were used as knives and ax-heads, to fashion a rude boat ; others, as sharp and cruel as a tiger's teeth, once served as weapons at the ends of spears; while some in their collision, at first by chance, then purposely, struck out the spark, which gave to the astonished savage the possibility of fire, and lit the way to higher civiliza tion by means of warmth, cooked food, and the use of metals. But these old implements of prehistoric times refuse to tell their secrets, and lie before us like loosely scattered type, wait ing for some great printer to combine them into words and sentences, and tell the story of the Stone Age to the Avorld. Vastly more inter esting, how ever, than these flints, are some rough pil lars ; a feAv of which are in the Mu seum, while many similar ones exist intact in va rious parts of Ireland. They are called " Og ham " stones from the leg endary Og- ma, the Cad- OGHAM STONE. IRELAND 107 mus of the Celts, who gave to them the art of writing, for on their edges have been cut rude let ters, distinguished from one another by their dif ferent lengths and angles. Impossible as it would seem to be, the patient labor of enthusiastic scholars has deciphered these inscriptions, as perfectly as other stu dents of antiquity mas tered the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphics ; and the crude language of the primitive Celt is now as legible as that of Cleopatra. As I stood looking at the strange incisions, carved in the twilight of the Irish dawn on these rough monoliths, as messages to posterity, I thought of the stupen dous temple-palaces at Thebes which I had seen but a feAv months before ; and more than ever was I impressed with the mysterious law that seems to regulate the rise and fall of nations. Thus, at the very time when Egypt's brilliant civilization flourished on the Upper Nile ; and, later, when Hellenic art and wisdom shed their lustre over the yEgean ; and when the feet of Jesus trod Judea's hills ; here, on this island (even then comparatively near to Egypt, Greece, and Palestine, and now within a few hours' journey to them), an A BISHOPS CROZIER OF THE OLD IRISH CHURCH. io8 IRELAND unknown race was slowly emerging from the bog of barbarism,. to take, in turn, its part in the great drama of humanity, when the illustrious actors of those other lands should have forever disappeared, leaving the splendid theatres of their exploits in ruins. Strange, is it not, that the historic kingdom of the Pharaohs should to-day be governed by the Ruler of Ireland, while the Sirdar, who takes the place of Ramses II., as the conqueror of the Soudan, is the Irishman, Lord Kitchener? LORD KITCHENER. IRELAND II THE people of Dublin are the proud possessors of a park no less than seven miles in circumference, Avith an area of seventeen hundred acres. Laid out in admirable driA'eways, richly wooded, and commanding lovely views, it well deserves its reputation of being one of the finest pleasure-grounds in Europe. Its name, Phoenix Park, suggests a previous conflagration here, especially as there rises, at the intersection of its principal aA'enues, a handsome column sur- THE PHCENIX COLUMN, PHCENIX PARK, DUBLIN. I 12 IRELAND LORD CHESTERFIELD. Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1747, merly a deer park) to the public, embellished it with walks and drives, caused the erection of the Phoenix Col umn, and by judicious plant ing gave to the broad ex panses of green turf rare touches of arboreal beauty. Not far from the entrance stands the massive granite obelisk, two hundred and five feet high, reared to the mem ory of the Duke of Welling ton. Residents of the Irish capital are justly proud to mounted by the legendary fire-born bird. But, since the name is said to be merely a corruption of the Irish "fionn- uske," meaning a spring of running water, the title of the park and the interpreta tion naturally placed upon the figure of the phoenix are alike misleading. One is accustomed to associate Lord Chesterfield only with a code of exquisite politeness and the famous letters on fine manners which he addressed directly to his son, and in directly to the world. Yet it was he who, as the Lord granted this vast enclosure (for- THE WELLINGTON MONUMENT, PHCENIX PARK IRELAND "3 reckon the Iron Duke among the distinguished men whom Dublin has produced. Whenever I passed this fine memorial to his genius, I always noticed one or more persons reading the titles of his victories inscribed upon the monument, or gazing at the bronze reliefs of some of his most famous battle-scenes. What a race of warriors the Irish have always been ! How many of them fought against the Roman legions in the days when Celtic chieftains ventured down into the plains of Italy and threatened the we do not know ; but ber of them joined their resisting Julius Ca;sar, BIT OF PHOINIX PARK. Eternal City, that a num- Gallic brethren in we may well believe. There can also be little doubt that, later, when degenerate Roman citizens avoided military duty, the Celts, like other vanquished tribes, were enrolled to take their places in the imperial armies ; while, in comparatively recent times, driven from their unhappy land by persecution and starvation, the Irish swelled the ranks of French and Spanish armies with ii4 IRELAND Avhole regi ments of sol diers, whose reckless brav ery was unsur passed. For many years Ireland was Europe's fa vorite recruit ing ground. So great was the exodus of Erin's valiant sons, after the conquest of the island by King William, in 1691, that a French histo rian estimates that during the next fifty years four hundred thousand Irishmen perished as soldiers of France. Their reputation was most brilliant. The Prince of Orange said that they Avere born soldiers ; the French king, Henry Fourth, called Hugh O'Neill the third soldier of the age ; and it was in the battle of Landen that the gallant Irish gen eral, Sarsfield, the hero of Limerick, while commanding the left wing of the French army, fell, mortally wounded, murmuring, as he saw his life-blood ebb aAvay, " Oh, that this was for Ire land ! " In fact, there was not one of all those Irish Avarriors who did not cherish in his heart the hope that some day his right arm might Avield the sword for Ireland's independence, STATUE OF GENERAL SARSFIELD, LIMERICK. IRELAND n5 and who, like Sarsfield, did not grudge the blood which poured so freely from their wounds upon a foreign soil. What won der, then, that Avhen at Fontenoy, with the cry " Remember Limerick," — " Like lions leaping at a fold, when mad with hunger's pang, Right up against the English line the Irish exiles sprang," the English king exclaimed : " Cursed be the laws that deprive me of such subjects ! " It is a proof of the valor and ability of these Irish exiles that some of them rose to be generals, and even marshals, in Russia, Austria, and Spain, as well as in France. Irish blood flowed in the veins of Marshal McMahon, for six years President of the French Republic ; while Leopold O'Donnell, a direct descendant of the old O'Donnell chieftains, once so powerful in Ireland, held, from 1843 to 1848, the post of Captain General of Cuba, and subsequently was for several years, as Minister of War and Premier of the Cabinet, the virtual Sovereign of Spain. It must also be said for Ireland that, notwithstanding all her grieA'ances, she has not hesitated to fight for England nobly. At one time Irish troops formed nearly one-half of the military forces of the British Empire; the Irish Grenadiers at Waterloo covered themselves with GOUGH S STATUE, PHCENIX PARK. n6 IRELAND glory ; and, turning from quantity to quality, who can estimate the value of Ireland's gift to England in the Duke of Welling ton, and the Napiers, whose homestead, Celbridge House, near Dublin, was called " The Eagles' Nest " on account of the high spirit of the sons of Colonel Napier, all of whom attained dis tinction. Charles, for example, was the conqueror of the great province of India, known as Sind, containing no less than forty-eight thousand square miles and nearly three million inhabitants. Like a true Irishman, General Napier was as ,, , ,„ ... witty as he was brave, and when he sent his dispatch announcing his final victor)-, he perpetrated the best military pun on record ; for, in stead of writing, " I have Sind," he used the single word " Peccavi ! " Still another Irish contribution to her Majesty's service in India was Viscount Gough, whose statue stands in Phoenix Park, and who by his success in the far East Avon for himself the enviable title of " Conqueror of the Punjaub." IRELAND 117 ROBERTS THREE IRISH HEROES, KITCHENER. Moreover, passing by many more who might be mentioned, we come to the significant fact that at the present time most of the celebrated leaders of the British army are Irishmen. Thus, who among the military heroes of Great Britain are more admired, trusted, and beloved than the sons of Ireland, — Lord Wolseley, Commander in Chief ; Lord Roberts, Field Marshal in the Transvaal ; Sir George White, the hero of Lady- smith ; and Lord Kitchener, conqueror of the Soudan ? The presence of these men at the head of the British armies assures the world that Irish loyalty and devotion to the Empire were never better shown than noAv. Happily, too, they now receive abundant recognition and appreciation. The recent visit of the Queen to Ireland was virtually an aged sov ereign's personal tribute of thankfulness for Irish hero ism in the African War. As such, it gratified her Celtic subjects immeasurably more than any gifts or formal LORD WOLSELEY. n8 IRELAND ARCH OF TRIUMPH FOR QUEEN VICTORIA, APRIL, I9OO. thanks from a distance could have done. One of the many evidences of tact which she displayed on that occasion was her granting permission to all Irishmen to enjoy the " wearing of the green"; thus Aviping out the memory of an era when, as an indication of hostility to England, it had been prohibited. Whether or not Saint Patrick made use of the three-leaf sham rock to explain to the pagan Celts the doctrine of the Trinity, that little trefoil is to Ireland what the thistle is to Scotland, and the rose to England. Accordingly, it Avas with the utmost satisfaction that Ireland learned of the Oueen's recent order that the shamrock should be formally Avorn by her Irish soldiers on Saint Patrick's Day as an emblem of nationality. Apparent trifles often have great weight Avith ardent temperaments, and the fate of individuals and nations has sometimes been decided by a word of sympathy, or a fancied slight. Certainly the people of Dublin were immensely pleased that the first pur- IRELAND 119 chase made by the Queen, after landing on Irish soil, was a bunch of shamrock, which she carried conspicuously during her drive of six miles from Kingstown harbor to Dublin. I shall not soon forget the impression made upon me by her triumphal entry into the Irish capital. In the bright sunshine of that April morning the lovely Bay of Dublin presented an enchanting picture. The royal yacht, in which her Majesty had crossed from Wales, lay on the crisp, green Avater, like a gull at rest. The Wicklow Mountains cut their deep blue pro files sharply on a cloudless sky. The air was scented with the breath of blossoms, mingled occasionally with a briny fragrance, as the light breeze puffed inward from the sea. Thousands of people of all classes and conditions, who had been pouring into Dublin from various portions of the island, filled Kingstown's streets, and lined the entire route between the seaport and the LEAVING KINGSTOWN HARBOR 120 IRELAND capital. As I stood waiting in the throng, I felt no longer any apprehension as to the warmth of the Queen's reception. I must confess that, before leaving England, I had been fearful lest some insult might be offered her by bitter partisans. But from the moment of my landing I had seen how groundless were my doubts of Ireland's hospitality. The Irish seemed to have but one desire, — to give an affectionate greeting to their venerable sovereign. Particularly noticeable were the happi ness and cordiality of the common people, and many were the evidences that I gathered of their ready wit. " Are the hotels full ? " I had inquired of my cabby, on arriving in Dublin. "Axin' yer lave, sor," he replied, "ye'd better save yer time and throw a " What do few stones at a windy." you mean ? " I asked in astonish ment. Well, sor," an swered the I driver, " ye'd get locked up thin, and that's the aisyest Avay to find a room in Dublin this night, Hiven be praised ! " Close to the spot where I was standing, aAvaiting the Queen's coming, was an old woman, busily engaged in selling oranges. For some time business had been good with her ; but, as the crowd grew denser, she could not move about to offer her Avares. " Kape back there, Mrs. Flanagan," shouted a policeman, good-humoredly ; " her Majesty Avon't buy any oranges ; she hates thim." ING TO MARKET IRELAND 121 COME TO SEE THE QUEEN, MOTHER AND SON. previous encouragement to give a hearty welcome to a British sovereign, made the enthusiastic shouts, the clouds of fluttering handker chiefs and waving hats, and the unfeigned excitement, reverence, and pleasure de picted on innumerable faces, one of the most remarkable public spectacles I ever looked upon ; and when, in presence of the gracious lady, so lightly crowned with more than fourscore years, that multitude of Irish men and Avomen began to sing "God bless her sowl," replied the old woman, " sure it's only the color of thirn she hates. I wish I had some green oranges ! " At last vociferous cheer ing in the distance announced the coming of the Queen. I have seen royal advents which were more magnifi cent, but rarely one that left upon my mind such pleas ant memories. The reali zation that the people round me were inhabitants of an island which had had little PASSING BENEATH THE ARCH. 122 IRELAND the national anthem, " God save our Noble Queen," there came a sudden choking in my throat at thought of the reconciliation of the two peoples, and for a moment I could not join in the grand old harmony, upon whose volume the royal carriage seemed to move along, as on a tidal wave of sound. The fact that not a single act of incivility marred this reception, together with the grand display of loyalty afforded by the Irish troops WHERE THE QUEEN LODGED, VTCE-REGAL LODGE, PHCENIX PARK in Africa, are cheering signs of happier relations between the sister-islands. The " terrible Celtic memory " seems to have been disarmed by the recently adopted means of confidence and kindness; and at the dawn of the twentieth century we see a new significance given to the proverb : " England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity " ; for the old motto has been completed, not with the words, "to do her injury," but with the nobler utterance, " to give her aid." IRELAND 125 The tour of the average traveler in Ireland comprises Killarney, Blarney Castle, Dublin, and the Giant's Causeway, with scarcely more than a day allowed for each. Even of these Dublin is apt to receive the least attention, and its vicinity none at all. Yet, in reality, the country lying within a radius of fifty miles from the Irish capital is thickly strewn with objects, which cannot be surpassed or equaled in any part of the Avorld outside of Ireland. Among these are the cromlechs, — those ancient relics of the Celtic race, which add an interest to almost every portion of the island. These primi tive structures, three hundred and fifty of Avhich may still be seen, consist, in each case (Avhere they haA'e not been over thrown), of two or more upright stones, supporting an immense rock sometimes tAventy feet in length and six in thickness. Hoav these colossal blocks were brought to their positions and then elevated, is a question that presents itself to any one who looks at them and thinks how few were the appliances for such A CROMLECH, 126 IRELAND tremendous labor in those early days. As a rule, they stand on hilltops and suggest huge altars reared to pagan gods. They were, indeed, at first supposed to have been used, if not for human sacrifices, at least for solemn Druid ceremonials. Some of the rocks composing them are boulders, brought hither in that distant age when Ireland was covered with a sheet of ice Avhich in its southward march ground down the mountains, grooved out valleys, and launched its hosts of icebergs on the deep, as Greenland's glaciers do to-day. Some bear strange marks upon their surfaces, as if they would reveal to us the secrets of the past, if we would only learn their lan guage. Year after year, and century after century, they make the same appeal ; but no one enters into converse with them. Men come and go; governments change; new faiths replace the old ; but their mysterious coils and spirals still lie undeciphered, and children play among their moss-grown shapes where Druid priests performed the sacred rites connected with the burial of Celtic kings. For there is now no doubt that all CELTIC TOMB, NEWCASTLE. IRELAND 127 these cromlechs Avere the tombs of royal or distinguished per sonages. Beneath their ponderous roofs have been discovered, in some cases, skeletons, in others urns of clay containing calcined human bones. From this it seems that both inter ment and cremation were practiced by the early Celts. Far more elaborate, however, than the cromlechs, are the sepulchral mounds of Ireland. One of these at New Grange, easily reached from Dublin in a day, proved a most weird and interesting place. Leaving the jaunting-car which had brought me from the railway station a few miles away, I found myself confronted by what seemed to be merely an ordinary bill about seventy feet in height, covered with bushes, grass and trees. In reality, however, like the Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico, it is almost entirely artificial, and its green mantle covers an enormous cairn of stones, occupying nearly :avo acres, and estimated as weighing one hundred and eighty thousand tons. 128 IRELAND THE GREAT STONE CIRCLE, NEW GRANGE. Formerly a circle of thirty monster stones surrounded it, but all save twelve have disappeared. On reaching the entrance of this tumulus, I noticed that the huge stone threshold was carved with spirals, coils, and diamond-shaped figures in regular designs, which seemed like reproductions, on a gigantic scale, of the ornamentation wrought in gold filigree on some of the specimens of Celtic art preserved in the Dublin National Museum. A narrow passage, sixty feet in length and lined with enormous blocks of stone, enabled me to go, without much difficulty, to what I found by lamplight to be a rotunda, whose dome-shaped roof, about twenty feet in height, was built by means of slabs which overlap one another toward the centre, like a flight of steps. What most surprised me here Avere the mysterious carvings which the lamplight showed on every portion of the walls from floor to ceiling. Why Avere they Avrought here Avith such care, Avhen it was known they IRELAND 129 would remain in total darkness, without an eye to note their beauty or significance ? The hieroglyphics in the secret halls and apartments of Egyptian temples, such as Denderah and Edfou, though never greeted by the light of day, Avere seen at least by priests as they passed through those corridors with lamps ; but this old Celtic tomb was closed designedly forever ; and, like the Pyramids, would probably never have been dis turbed but for the sacrilegious greed of man. Did the devoted labor of those mound-builders spring from affection for the king who was to be buried here ? Or did they hope that he Avould recompense them from the spirit world ? The royal tombs of Egypt are immeasurably grander, and display dec orations worthy of the art and civilization of the Pharaohs ; but they resemble Celtic burial-mounds in this, that the motive for their construction was the same, — the old, old longing to rest undisturbed. Among the mighty ones of earth, in view of death, the dread of desecration has at times proved greater than the fear of being forgotten, and has caused their graves ENTRANCE TO THE TUMULUS AT NEW GRANGE. 130 IRELAND to be made both as secret and as strong as possible. It is, however, pathetic to recall how seldom this desire has been realized. "The Scipios' tombs contain no ashes now." W'here is the body, Avhere even the superb sarcophagus, of Alex ander the Great? Whither did Father Tiber bear the ashes of the Roman emperors, flung by the Goths from the im posing Mausoleum of Hadrian ? Even the Pyramids, the oldest, mightiest and most-enduring structures ever reared by man, could not retain Avithin their chambers, hidden with such skill, the bodies of their royal builders. So, in this Celtic cairn, plundered by Danes eleven hundred years ago, no trace remains of him Avho was in all probability buried here with pomp and pageantry, characteristic of the Irish kings. Whether, indeed, it was the tomb of one king, or of many, who can tell ? From its shrouded solitude there comes to us no whisper, even of a name. CINERARY URNS, FOUND IN CELTIC TOMBS. IRELAND 131 Ht% The sight of several of these prehis- ™ ' \ toric relics of old Ireland gave me a keen desire to visit Erin's ancient capital, Tara. I knew from what I had been told that very little was to be seen there, but experience had taught me that there are places where historical associations are so powerful that the localities themselves, although retaining scarcely a vestige of their former greatness, suffice to fire the imagination and to touch the heart. Some previous reading is of course essential for the enjoyment of such scenes, just as the preparation of a camera is necessary for the making of a photograph, for no amount of subsequent study on the subject, or late perception of what ought to have been felt on some abandoned stage of the world's drama, can ever take the place of an emotion experienced at the time of viewing it. Moreover, the recollec tion of inspiring sentiments, awakened on a spot of world-wide fame, will often outlast that of the site itself, and make life 13^ IRELAND AN IRISH JAUNTING-CAR richer till its close. It is in the after glow of such memories that many of our SAveetest pleas ures lie. Such thoughts had occupied my mind, one lovely summer morning, dur ing a railway ride of twenty-seven miles from Dublin ; but these gave way to anticipations of immediate enjoyment, when, on leaving the train at a little station, I started in a jaunting-car for the Hill of Tara, plainly visible three miles away. It is not a precipitous elevation, as I had supposed, like Edinburgh Castle or the Acropolis at Athens. On the contrary, the road winds up to it without a single steep ascent ; and though the drive way could be easily continued to the summit, it ends at a small farmhouse on the east ern flank of the hill. Leav ing the A'ehicle at that point, I walked on for five minutes over grassy slopes to reach the crest. Once there, the advantage of the situation is perceived. On every side the' country falls away in gentle undulations to the iT"! ST. PATRICK S STATUE, TARA. IRELAND 133 distant horizon, and one looks off on an unbroken circuit of as soft and beautiful scenery as even Ireland can reA'eal. The Hill of Tara was in ancient times the glory and the pride of Erin. Here stood the palace of her early kings ; and here, too, Avas their grandest burial-place. On this his toric eminence laws were made, justice was administered, and by one soA'ereign three schools were established, to teach respectively law, literature and the art of war. On every SITE OF THE BANQUET HALL, TARA HILL. third year a national convention assembled on this hill, to which the lesser kings with their subordinate chiefs came to pay homage to their Ard-righ, or Supreme Ruler. From this point also, as a centre, five roads went forth in different directions through the island ; as, on a grander scale, the high ways through the Roman Empire started from the Golden Milestone in the Forum. To-day, however, the Hill of Tara is, as the Roman Forum was for centuries, a cattle-pasture! 134 IRELAND NAVAN RING, ARMAGH, THE RESIDENCE OF A SUBORDINATE IRISH KING. Stripped of its old-time splendor, it lies exposed to sunshine and to storm, as naked and uncared for as has often been tbe land of which it was the crown. This fate is preferable to that of being covered with incongruous buildings ; but why do not some Irish patriots buy the hill, deed it to the Historical Society, and rear a monument upon its summit commemorative of its glorious past ? I spent the greater part of a long sum mer day on this impressive height, reading, reflecting, or look ing off upon the charming landscape that surrounded me. But during all that time not a single individual intruded on my reveries, nor did I hear a human voice, save that of the young driver of the jaunting-car, Avho at the appointed hour brought me my basket-lunch. There Avas in some respects a sadness in such solitude ; and yet those lonely hours spent in communion with the past drew me more closely to the heart of Ireland than any other experience could have done. What IRELAND 135 though some grassy mounds and a mysterious stone are all that now remain to tell of Tara's triumphs ? It is not difficult to recreate those scenes, if only mind and heart respond to the memories that the place evokes. The history of Tara stretches back to a remote antiquity, upon whose legendary background we discern, illumined by the glint of romance or the fire of tragedy, some shadowy figures, magnified by the twilight into huge proportions. According to Irish chroniclers, there reigned here more than one hundred and forty Master-Mon- archs, to whom the adjoining province specially belonged, that they might have the means of keeping up their Court with dignity. Besides this, they claimed tribute from the subordi nate kings of the other provinces. One of the sovereigns of Tara, Laegaire, whose grave is marked by a mound four hun dred feet in length, was buried, as he had asked to be, stand ing erect and fully armed, his face turned toward the territory AN ANCIENT CELTIC COPPER CAULDRON. 136 IRELAND personal blemish. tially disclosed by passages in ancient manu scripts. Thus, one of them de scribes the Ban quet Hall as be ing more than seven hundred feet in length, and entered by no less than four teen doors. This vast apartment had, on each side, roAvs of of his foes. An other king, the famous Cormac, who reigned from 227 to 266 a.d., having met with the accidental loss of one of his eyes, was obliged, in accordance with the law of Tara, to abdicate and leave his palace, since no king might reside here who was marked by any What Erin's early capital was. like is par- OLD CELTIC NECKLACE THE TARA BROOCH. IRELAND 137 seats and tables, between Avhich, in the centre of the room, stood vats of liquor lamps and fires. Here frequently a hundred guests were entertained at once. At one end sat the king- and his chieftains, below whom were arranged according to their rank the Court's historians, doctors, poets, priests, and min strels, and finally its jugglers, jesters, and servants. The king, '- ^*Ui» ANCIENT CELTIC FORTRESS, ARAN ISLANDS. in one of these accounts, is represented as a handsome man of royal bearing, with flowing golden hair. His costume was a crimson cloak, held at the breast by a magnificent brooch, Avhile his shirt was interwoven with gold threads, and around his waist was a girdle sparkling with precious stones. That such decora tions were by no means tawdry or barbaric is proved by the arti cles which have come down to us from that epoch, and which are now preserved in the National Museum at Dublin. Among these is the celebrated Tara brooch. This remarkable orna ment resembles, in the style and exquisite delicacy of its work- 138 IRELAND manship, the Ardagh chalice ; and, like that beautiful memorial, it too was found by accident, — discovered in 1850 by a child among the pebbles of the seashore. Composed of white bronze, it shows no less than seventy-six different patterns of filigree work, similar to those used by the copyists in their illumination of the Irish manuscripts. To appreciate the fine ness of the metal traceries, a magnifying glass must be employed, and even the fastenings used to keep the patterns in place are hardly visible to the unaided sight. It is worthy of remark, too, that in this case also the reverse side is as elaborately and conscientiously finished as the front. On one of the mounds that crown the Hill of Tara stands a statue of Saint Patrick, which, though possessing little value as a work of art, recalls a memorable episode. It was on Easter morning, in the year 428 a.d., that Saint Patrick came here to the Court of King Laegaire, to expound the Christian faith before the Irish sovereign, his chiefs and courtiers, and the Druid priests. The Saint and his assistant missionaries are said to have advanced into the royal presence, arrayed in white, and carrying crosses in their hands ; and such was the TARA S MYSTERIOUS STONE. IRELAND 139 ANCIENT CELTIC FORTRESS, INTERIOR. impression produced by their appearance and their words that, notwithstanding the opposition of the pagan priests, Laegaire permitted them to preach the neAv religion through his kingdom. Close by the statue of Saint Patrick, which is of recent origin, stands a mysterious stone, possessing great antiquity. It is a roughly shapen monolith, undoubtedly con nected with the early history of Tara. In fact, Professor Petrie, the distinguished Irish archaeologist, who devoted his life to the study of Celtic antiquities, believed this to be the famous "Stone of Destiny," on which for many generations the kings of Ireland were crowned. We know that there was such a stone, and if the supposition of Professor Petrie be correct, it would be hard to over-value this souvenir of Irish sovereignty. The customary belief, however, is that the origi nal stone was removed from Tara to Scotland in 503 a.d., to solemnize the coronation there of the Irish prince, Fergus, who 140 IRELAND OLD CELTIC HEAD ORNAMENT AND CLASP. then became the first king of Scots. It is further believed that this remained in Scot land more than seven hundred years and Avas the block on which all Scottish sovereigns were croAvned ; and it is well known that, in 1297, it was taken by King Edward I. to London, where it has ever since been used in the coronation ceremonies of all English monarchs, and where it still rests under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. If, then, the Irish stone Avas actually removed to Scotland, as seems to me most probable, the lonely monolith on Tara Hill is not the " Stone of Destiny." \ It is impos sible, hOAV- ¦ ever, to re gard it as an i ordinary ob ject. Its soli- ¦ tary situation, : shape and ! size prove | that it must I have played | some part in ; Ireland's his- HARP OF KING BRIAN BORU. IRELAND 143 tory, even if not so prominent a one as that connected with the crowning of her kings. Standing erect, as it now does, I could but fancy it a nameless monument marking the tomb of Erin's former greatness, which has been buried here for fourteen hundred years. Hence, as I stood beside this mute memorial of departed glory, I realized, as I never could have done elsewhere, the pathos of Moore's touching lines : " The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed, . Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled. " No more to chiefs and ladies bright The harp of Tara swells ; The chord alone, that breaks at night, Its tale of ruin tells.'' When I first read these words, I thought the allusion to the harp was merely symbolic, either of music in general or of Celtic minstrelsy, and hence attached no special importance to the instrument itself. But investigation of the subject soon revealed to me the prominent J^ yX'4 | ;,, ,,- DONEGAL CASTLE, THE HOME OF THE O'DONNELLS. 144 IRELAND ROCK OF CASHEL, RESIDENCE OF THE KINGS OF MUNSTER. harp has played in Erin's history. There is no doubt that Ire land early became famous as a musical country, and that her teachers of music were solicited to give instruction in foreign lands. Thus, in the seventh century, tAvo Irish monks taught music in the convent of Nivelle in Belgium ; and at a later date the cloister schools of Saint Gall, Switzerland, Avere trained in music by an Irishman, until their singing became celebrated. But it was for their skill in playing on the harp in Ireland's feudal castles that her musicians were especially renowned. A writer of the tAvelfth century states that the Irish harpers of bis time were " incomparably more skillful than those of any nation he had ever heard." As recently as one hundred and fifty years ago, Ireland still retained her supremacy in this respect, and students of the harp in Wales and Scotland went, as a mat ter of course, to take their finishing lessons of Irish masters. IRELAND 145 The Celtic harpers did not play, originally, merely for money and applause. Their work was serious and important ; for they were then the recognized national bards, who, through their close association with the Druid priesthood, were universally reverenced and feared. In fact, the chief bard stood at one time next in importance to the king himself ; and even as late as the sixteenth century the malediction of a bard was something to be dreaded and avoided at almost any price. In later years, however, their songs assumed a more political char acter ; and as they traveled through the land, from Court to Court and festival to festival, singing the ancient lays descrip tive of the exploits of their race, they stimulated those who heard them to such an ardent love of country and heroic deeds, that they were regarded by the country's conquerors as spies, informers and fomenters of rebellion. Accordingly, these wandering bards were finally driven from place to place and persecuted, until they practically disappeared. About a century ago, however, a few survivors of the order were dis covered and brought before a patriotic musical assembly in WHERE ERIN S MINSTRELS SANG, DONEGAL CASTLE 146 IRELAND Belfast. These aged men, on that occasion, decided to name some one who should succeed them, at least nominally, and be the recognized guardian of the harp of Ireland. They naturally chose for this ideal post her sweetest singer, Thomas Moore, whose beautiful and pathetic "Irish Melodies " (set to old Irish airs, in many cases so ancient that both the authors' names and the dates of their com position are unknown) will live and quicken the emo tions as long as English liter ature exists. Appropriately is the harp emblazoned on the flag of Ireland. Apart from the traditions that endear it to her race, it is an emblem of which any nation might be proud. The harp was one of the earliest of stringed instruments, and has suggested many more. What is the piano but a harp enclosed ? It origi nated one of the most exquisite movements in musical com position, the arpeggio. In its simpler form of the lyre, it served as the distinctive badge of some of the greatest gods and heroes of mythology. For ages it has been associated with the highest exponents of music, poetry and religion. The hands of Orpheus and Apollo swept its strings. Da\-id, the King of Israel, Avas its piaster. Homer, the Father of Poetry, as delineated in sculpture, often holds it in his hands. We find it represented in mural pictures in the The- ban tombs of kings. It is carved on some of the oldest Celtic crosses, as a sacred emblem. The painters of the Renaissance A HARP-CROWNED FOUNTAIN, NEW ROSS. IRELAND 147 depicted many of their angels using harps as accessories to their adoration of the Madonna and her Child ; and in the Bible's portraiture of Paradise it is upon the harp that many of the heavenly host accompany their solemn chanting to the Deity. Who has not sometimes marveled at the recklessness and waste of Nature ? When, in the spring, the soft winds and warm rains, attendant on the northward moving sun, have wooed to life again the dormant powers of vegetation, and leaves and buds have sprung forth at their ardent -call, who has not seen a freezing blast turn suddenly the vivifying rain into a winding-sheet of ice, and in a single day transform what Avas so fair and promising into a blackened ruin ? Or, in the fall, who has not felt disheartened and perplexed to see excessive rains spoil splendid harvests ready to be garnered, and bring to naught the output of the entire year ? A similar feeling saddens one who looks back at the Golden Age of Ireland. There was a time when she seemed likely to excel, in learning, piety, and culture, all the rest of northern Europe. tf$mS%5?» ST. FINNIAN S ORATORY, KILLALOE. 148 IRELAND During the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, especially, this farthest boundary of the Continent held aloft and kept aflame the torch of Christian faith, and glittered like a star upon the dark horizon of the western world. Its hills and valleys were adorned with countless churches and monastic institutions, from which enthusiastic missionaries, burning with the zeal and rapture of new converts, crossed the seas, and preached the Gospel to the pagan tribes of Scotland, England, Germany, RELIC OF 1KELANDS GOLDEN AGE, ADFERT ABBEY. and Gaul. Churches were founded by Irish monks in the Black Forest, at Schaff hausen in Switzerland, and at Wiirtzburg in Bavaria ; and of the students who received their education in the Irish monasteries, free of cost, thousands on returning to their native lands brought back Avith them the influence and learning of this " Island of the Saints." Even so cautious and reliable an historian as Green, in his " Short History of the English People," says: " For a time it seemed as if the course AN IRISH STRONGHOLD IRELAND 151 of the world's history was to be changed ; as if that older Celtic race which the Roman and German had SAvept before them had turned to the moral conquest of their conquerors ; as if Celtic and not Latin Christianity was to mould the des tinies of the Church of the West.' In this ~ connection it is impos sible not to dwell a moment on the second grand eccle siastical fig ure in Ire land in those early days, — Saint Columba.AroundSaint Pat rick, av h o introduced Christianity there, many myths have gathered; but of the charac ter and life of his remark able successor there exists a vast amount of undisputed and indisputable testimony. Of princely birth, and closely related to one of the supreme kings of Ireland, this wonderful man received in his youth part of his education from Saint Finnian, surnamed "The Wise," whose ST. COLUMBA S HOUSE, KELLS. A WICKER BOAT. IRELAND oratory is one of the interesting ecclesiastical sights of Killaloe. His name, Colum- ba, signifies a Dove ; but if he resembled that gentle bird in the sweetness of his character, he was more like an eagle in the energy which he exhib ited, and the lofty heights to which he rose. In his extraordinary career he is said to have founded one hundred monasteries and three hundred and sixty-fiA-e churches, and to have ordained three thousand priests. In the year 565 a.d., when forty- four years old, Columba with twelve of his dis ciples left Ire land, to preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of Scotland, cross ing the interven ing water in small, primitive boats, which were noth ing more than baskets made of ST. COLUMBA S BEDROOM. IRELAND 153 willow twigs coA'ered with skins, such as, in fact, are used even now by some of the natives on the river Boyne. Establishing himself on the island of Iona, off the Scottish coast, he speedily made of it a stronghold of religious influence, which presently became so reverenced, as the "Holy Island," that to its conse crated soil the bodies of the kings of Scotland, Ireland, and Norway were often brought for burial. Difficult as it may be for some to think of Ireland as a seat of learning, it is a fact that in the sixth and seventh centuries stu dents flocked to her shores from every part of Europe, eager to gain instruction in her schools. Adhelm, an Eng lish bishop of the sixth century, states that they went to Ireland from Great Bri tain in " fleet- loads." The Emperor Charlemagne, also, admired the scholar ship of the Irish so much that he invited several of them to his Court, and placed them in positions of high honor. In the meantime England had practically lapsed into paganism. It was recovered to Christianity by two vigorous attacks : one on the south, conducted by Saint Augustine, sent out from Rome ; the other from the north, accomplished by the followers of Columba. We have already seen how many of the fine arts flourished at this time in Ireland. Never had any Christian ST. BRIDGETS WELL, ARMAGH. 154 IRELAND THE WORK OF THE ICONOCLAST. people better prospects of a glorious future. But suddenly the dark clouds gathered; a chilling, deadly storm swept downward from the dis tant north ; and the fair blossoms, floAvers and fruits of Erin's national greatness and prosperity were blighted for a thou sand years. This storm was the invasion of the Danes. The Scandina vian Sea Kings command a certain amount of ad miration because of their indomitable courage, energy and spirit of adventure. In these qualities it is probable that the Avorld has never seen their equals. But they Avere certainly for centuries a frightful scourge to west ern Europe, and they injured Ireland irreparably. When their ships swept for the first time toAvard the Celtic coast, the Irish had become converted to the milder doctrines of Christianity. Thousands of priests had risen from the ranks of pagans, and world-famed scholars had succeeded warlike savages. A new ideal had been placed be fore the na tion. Hands that had grasped the sword, now held the pen. A CELTIC STRONGHOLD, NEAR DERRY, IRELAND 155 Cromlech and cairn were less conspicuous than church and cross. Upon this promising field of intellectual culture and national development the Scandinavian invasions fell. The worshipers of Odin met the followers of Christ in a pro longed and fearful struggle which lasted for tAvo hundred years. The latter ultimately triumphed; but when, in 1014, the last Dane had been killed or driven into the sea by the great king of Munster,Brian Boru, it was per ceived, alas, that, just as the king him self, as Avell as his son and heir, bad perished in the decisive battle, so, in the long-con tinued con flict of tAVO centuries, Ire land had been wounded well nigh unto death. What won der ? Year after year the Danish hordes had rushed out from their northern lairs, like packs of famished wolves. Making descents upon the Irish coast, they fought with desperation, plundered, murdered, and were quickly off again upon their boats, laden with spoils and ONE OF THE MANY, MUCKROSS ABBEY. 156 IRELAND captives. Libraries, monasteries and churches were their favorite looting ground ; for they had found that in them were preserved the island's greatest treasures, manu scripts, ecclesiastical ornaments and sa cred A*essels. More over, when these buildings had been pillaged, so bitter Avas the Scandina- vian's hatred of Christianity that the edifices themselves were as far as possible destroyed. Weary at last of going home and coming back again, the northern van dals built for themselves towns and fortresses at certain advan tageous points in Ireland, from which they could conveniently make raids, when they felt so inclined. Two hundred years is a long time to live in such perpetual insecurity ; and after churches have been sacked and burned a score of times, one has no longer courage to rebuild them. Accordingly, the result of these re peated acts of rapine and disorder Avas disastrous to the culture and Christianity of the island. Still, after the expulsion of the Danes, a sIoav recovery might haA-e been possible, if Erin had had time in Avhich to recuperate, before another calamity fell upon her. But great confusion had at first prevailed after the death of Brian Boru, and in 1166 occurred the invasion from England, which inaugurated a conflict that continued more or less openly for nearly seven hundred years. Even to-day its AN EXILE S MOTHER. IRELAND -57 fires are still smoldering. Whatever, therefore, we may think of Ireland's rights and wrongs, the fact remains — persistent, sad and terrible — that the superlatively brilliant prospects of her early national life have never been fulfilled. Conquest, oppression and bad government are principally responsible for the blighted fruit. And how the sons of Ireland have felt it ! How they have longed for the revival of her ancient glory ! In every speech of her unrivaled orators, in every stanza of her gifted poets, the same lament breaks passionately forth, the same fond hope is uttered with the fervor of a prayer. Driven by hunger from their mother's side, their love goes back to her across the sea. The Irish exile's heart is never cold. If, therefore, on the grave of Ireland's blighted promise an epitaph could be inscribed, I would select for it these words, which I discovered on a tombstone near the ruined church of Glendalough : " Could Love have saved, thou hadst not died." One of the greatest charms of Ireland is that her prehistoric relics and the memorials of her Golden Age are usually to be seen, not in a desolate, abandoned waste, like that of Babylon or Baal- ,*M bee, but in the midst of some of THE OLD HOME iSS IRELAND the loveliest scenery that Earth affords. Her old gray crom lechs, stately Round Towers and ruined abbeys, environed by green turf and brilliant foliage, suggest antique Egyptian scarabs set in frames of emerald and gold. Nor are these difficult of access. Thus, when one bas examined to his satisfaction the many important objects of attraction in the capital itself he can, while still continuing to reside there, make daily excursions to at least a score of charming places, scenic, ecclesiastical, literary and historical, the farthest of which can be reached in a feAV hours. The railway time-tables are so arranged that one can always return to Dublin from any of these trips on the same day. It is not, hoAvever, necessary to do this, for many a little inn in the vicinity of the metropolis is clean, commodious and comfortable. One instance of this fact I never can forget, so utterly did it put to flight my preconceived ideas of Ireland. Close by a lovely bit of County Wicklow, called the Glen of the Downs, nestles the little village of Delgany, through which I one day passed while making a tour of that region in a jaunting- car. It was with some misgivings, born of the universal out cry against Celtic untidiness, that I yielded to the advice of my THE VALE SPECTACLE BRIDGE, LISDOONA'ARNA. IRELAND 161 driver, and halted for a few hours at what its sign announced as " Lawless's Hotel." My doubts and hesitation vanished, hoAvever, at the threshold. A neatly dressed and pretty maid, Avith hair like burnished bronze, ushered me into a cool and shaded dining-room, at sight of which I stopped involuntarily, and uttered an exclamation of surprise. The paper on the LAWLESS S HOTEL, DELGANY, Avails seemed the reflection of a sunset of pale gold, over which Avandered sprays of yellow roses, which it was hard to realize Avere not actual, perfume-breathing flowers. In the centre stood a massive, Avhite-draped dining-table, bright Avith slender glasses containing delicate ferns and scarlet blossoms. A handsome sideboard, furnished with silver and fine glass, a cot tage piano, an old-fashioned mahogany sofa of generous and hospitable proportions, and a cabinet of rare Sevres china, which the maid did not need to assure me had cost " lots of 1 62 IRELAND THE SIDEBOARD. money," fur ther enriched the cozy and attractiveroom ; while on the walls hung several good engrav ings and pret tily framed photographs, among which I was amazed to see some views of clas sic spots in Italy, and one or two places in the Pyrenees for which I have a special fondness. Pleased with my genuine admiration of these objects, the maid inquired blushingly if I would like to see the " drawing-room." Of course I assented, and on beholding it my astonishment increased. It was a little gem of sweet domestic decoration, with dainty, chintz- covered furniture of graceful, comfortable shapes, and cabi nets and tables holding bric-a-brac from many a distant corner of the world. Among these I observed a silk screen from China; brass jardinieres and trays from old Benares on the Ganges, brought home perhaps by a soldier relative; and vases from Bohemia, filled Avith fairy-winged sweet-pea blos soms ; together Avith additional pictures, more rare china, and another piano, for which a plenty of good music lay upon an elegant stand. In my enthusiasm I asked to see the proprietor of this artistic inn, Avho presently appeared in company Avith his wife, both coming in directly from the garden where they had been working. Cleverer, brighter and more agreeable peo ple than this young, happy and industrious couple I have rarely IRELAND 163 met. Thoroughly Irish by birth, education, residence, and patriotism, they had learned, even in the midst of arduous labor, to enjoy life. The pictures I had seen upon the walls had been collected by them in their travels on the Continent, and they were planning a trip to Egypt in the following winter. I gave them, therefore, the address of my old dragoman there, smiling meantime to think how totally different from the usual idea of Irish innkeepers Mr. and Mrs. LaAvless were. After a stroll with them through their large and well-kept garden, it was with genuine regret that I said farewell to my warm-hearted hosts, who by their cordial sympathy had become so like old friends, that I could scarcely realize that an hour before we had been utter strangers, and that I probably should never speak with them again. Their pretty home I cannot truthfully offer as a repre sentative type of Ireland's hotels ; but it exists, as any one may verify who cares to do so. Sweet little inn of leaf-embowered Delgany ! The dainty picture that you left upon my memory can never fade. ' Ich sah Dich einmal Und ich sehe Dich immer.' A CORNER OF THE DRAWING-ROOM. The same ex cursion which brought me to Delgany revealed to me another charmingsection of the celebrated County Wick low. Less than an hour's travel by rail from Dublin con- 164 IRELAND veyed me to the seaside resort of Bray, where, taking a jaunt ing-car, I drove directly inland toAvard the estate of Lord Powerscourt. The beauty of this part of Ireland is beyond description. Words can of course be used, which accurately enough define the prominent features of the landscape ; but when compared Avith the scenes themselves, one feels that, though the body has been faithfully portrayed, its captivating spirit still eludes him and smiles upon him mockingly from every graceful hill, fair lake, and mossy glen. Leaving the jaunting-car at the eastern entrance of the PoAverscourt demesne, and sending it around to meet me at a point some two miles distant, I started with an enthusiastic Irish friend to saunter through that portion of the park known as the Dargle. What an enchanting walk was that, and how the vision of its shadowy loveliness and the soft music of the river, purling on its rocky bed, still linger in my recollection ! For nearly an hour we strolled along in the cool twilight of the giant trees which clothed both banks of the ravine and met above us, not as enemies but friends, with boughs and tendrils interlacing like clasped hands. Then Ave walked on and upward ENTRANCE TO THE POWERSCOURT ESTATE. IRELAND 1 65 ALONG THE DARGI.E beneath can opies of oaks and elms, the blaze of scar let floAvers sometimesstartling us among the sombre gray of the stones and the dark green of ivied walls. Mean while, below us ran the river, gurgling, murmuring, singing, or shouting, according to its distance from us, or the opposition it encountered. Sud denly, in the heart of this sylvan solitude, we met a man of considerably more than middle life, accompanied by his daugh ter. Naturally we exchanged greetings. "It is more than fifty years since I was in this country," said the old man, in a trembling voice ; " I've been all that time in America, but I couldn't die without beholding Ireland once more, and I've brought my daughter here to see it with me." "How does it look to you?" I asked him. "Oh," he replied, " I can't speak of it. It's all so beautiful, it quite un mans me." BEAUTIFUL COUNTY WICKLOW, 1 66 IRELAND Loyal, no doubt, to his adopted land to which he was soon to return, he nevertheless was realizing here the old asso ciations of his boyhood, of which in all probability no human souvenir remained. These tender memories, combined with the wonderful beauty of the place, and his paternal joy and pride in bringing his daughter to behold it, made his emotion easy to understand ; and, as I Avatched them pass on, hand in hand, until the great trees hid them from my view, I felt my OAvn eyes fill Avith tears. Joining again our jaunting-car, we drove on for about five miles, Avithout once leaving the Powerscourt estate, over a stretch of wooded hill and dale, hardly to be surpassed for natural beauty. Complaint is sometimes made that Ireland is sparsely wooded ; but certainly County Wicklow is not want ing in arboreal wealth. A view from any elevation reveals luxuriant vegetation of great variety. Dense groves crown many of the knolls and charmingly diversify the vales and VIEW FROM THE POWERSCOURT GARDENS. IRELAND i6j meadows. The fields are separated by fine hedges, or by rows of trees which are some times the only evidences of shy, tranquil brooks glid ing around the softly swelling hills. The drive ways in the Powerscourt demesne are especially rich in noble beeches, oaks and elms, and its collection of pines is said to be one of the finest in northern Europe. The deer-park alone in this estate is measured by the square mile, and other game preserves extend for miles along the mountain sides. It is to me incomprehensible that the owner of such a piece of property should habitually absent himself from it. Yet, save for a few weeks in the shooting season, it is occupied only by servants. Where could a more delightful, restful, and inspir ing residence than this be found, I asked myself, as I beheld the famous waterfall at one extremity of the grounds. For, aside from the park itself, the mansion is an imposing struc ture built of gray stone, turreted like a castle, furnished with THE POWERSCOURT WATERFALL. 1 68 IRELAND every luxury, and having its own gas and electric works on the premises. Its gallery, too, is rich in art treasures. But even if its halls did not contain a single painting, the pictures always visible from its windows and extensive garden are in finitely more attractive than anything the grimy streets of London can present. A gratifying contrast to this absentee ism is the conduct of Lord Monck, whose land is sepa rated from Lord Powerscourt's only by the frolicsome river, Dargle. This gentleman spends the entire year among his people, and, I Avas told, is greatly beloved by them. But, serious as the evil of absenteeism is to Ireland, the Irish peasant I knows, as usual, how to jest about it. Thus, to his Irish guide, who had been pointing out to him a number of localities under the names of "The Devil's Glen," "The Devil's Bridge," and similar Satanic titles, an English tourist re marked : " The devil seems to own a good deal of property around here." " Yes, sor," replied the guide ; " but he's ^pt an absentee landlord, and lives in England." The wit of the Irish is thoroughly delight ful, especially when it takes the form of repar tee, in which they are unrivaled. "Where are you going, Pat?" asked a priest, who saw one of his parishioners stepping into a train. "To the races, yer riverince," was the reply. "You are going to hell then," said the priest. "Faith, it's no matter," rejoined Pat; "I've a return ticket." And who can forget poor Sheridan's response to the doctor when the latter told him that he seemed to be coughing with greater difficulty ? WIT IN RAGS. AN IRISH CATTLE MARKET. IRELAND 171 "That's odd," whispered the dying man, "for I've been practicing all night." Late in the afternoon of a day spent on the hills and in the vales of County Wicklow, I came upon the pretty village of Glendalough, where I proposed to pass the night. As I drew near to it, I thought of all that its musical name had stood for in the history of Ireland. As early as the sixth century it was Avell known as a place of Christian culture, where the ¦y^yyf.:i:y.-^0$& H: ¦'":¦¦.. CUTTING PEAT. Irish monk, Saint Kevin, had founded the first of the seven churches which subsequently flourished here. Those churches now are only a collection of gray ruins ; but one of the finest of the famous Round Towers of Ireland still dominates the peaceful valley, and is almost as perfect at the present time as when constructed a thousand years ago. I had not thus far seen an Irish Round Tower, and had been slightly appre hensive, as I drove along, lest my anticipations of these struc- 172 IRELAND tures should not be fulfilled. But even from a distance, when I first discerned its slender, tapering form, I knew that all the praise these buildings had received was fully justified. What interesting relics of the past they are ! For years they have furnished an attractive theme for speculation and romance. Some have attributed their origin to adventurous Vikings ; others have seriously tried to prove that they were built by wanderers from the Orient ; while others still have regarded GLENDALOUGH. them as penitential residences of ascetic monks. At present, hoAvever, antiquarians practically agree in thinking that these singular edifices, Avhich are ahvays found in close proximity to churches, Avere designed as places of refuge for ecclesias tics, whenever the surrounding territory was exposed to the ravages of invading Norsemen. Up to the year 800, Irish monasteries and churches needed almost no defense, so easy and effectual had been the conversion of the pagan Celts. IRELAND 173 But Avith the dawn of the ninth century began those terrible invasions of the Danes, which rendered absolutely necessary some places of retreat and shel ter both for the monks and for the treasures they possessed in sacred vest ments, altar-ornaments, and manuscripts. To this necessity the Round Toav- ers oAved their origin. They certainly were well adapted for defense. The toAver at Glendalough, for example, is one hundred TOWER AND CROSS, GLENDALOUGH. and ten feet high and fifty-two feet in circumference, with Avails about four feet in thickness. Built of mas sive stones, hammer-dressed to the curve, the attacks of nature and of man have slipped off from its rounded sides, and failed to make the least im pression on its sturdy strength. In fact, so well has it resisted all the ravages of time and the still worse assaults of bigoted iconoclasts, that nothing but a por tion of its conical roof has had to be ROUND TOWER, SCATTERV ISLAND. 174 IRELAND RUINS ON HOLY ISLAND, LOUGH DERG. repaired. The interior staircase, it is true, is gone ; but that was only recently removed by the town authorities, after the recklessness of visitors had occasioned several accidents. Every thing shows the care employed to insure the safety of the con tents of these toAvers. Their entrances are usually twelve or fourteen feet above the ground, and must have been reached by ladders, Avhich were drawn up after the last refugee had clambered in. The windows of the different stories, too, were so constructed as to give the slightest possible chance of ingress to the missiles of assailants. That these old towers Avere in that age almost indestructible, is proved by their remarkable preservation ; for among eighty which haAre outlived nearly a millennium of history, twenty are substantially intact. That they were also campaniles for the neighboring churches is con sidered certain ; and no doubt from these detached belfries the alarm was often sounded, Avhen from the upper windows, which IRELAND 175 commanded distant views on sea and land, the dreaded Danes were seen approaching. To one who has traveled in Moslem lands there is in these tall towers a suggestion of the mina ret; and although close inspection renders the differences between the styles of architecture more apparent, I found great pleasure in comparing them. Thus, from the gallery of the minaret it is the human voice that summons worship ers to prayer ; but from the Irish tower the appeal was made in the soft tones of a melodious bell. The Moslem shaft is graceful, and often richly ornamented with stone-carving. The Christian monument is usually devoid of decoration, save where the clinging ivy thrusts its tiny fingers into crevices, and climbs aloft to mantle it with green. The minaret (fre quently made of snow-Avhite marble) looks like a beautiful wax taper rising from an altar. The heavier Celtic column suggests a taper turned to stone. ROUND TOWER, ANTRIM. 176 IRELAND These two forms, minaret and tower, seem almost emble matic of the religions Avhich they serve. The work of Islam is artistic and poetical, like the gifted race that gave it to the world. The storm-defying, unembellished tower of the Irish Church is typical of the stern, ascetic faith which there pre vailed. These lonely monuments of Erin are now silent. No silver-throated bells sound from their summits either notes of warning or calls to holy rites. Their slender shadows make a daily circuit rarely broken by a sign of life. What thoughts they stir in one who watches them in idle reverie, as their thin silhou- ettes lengthen through a summer afternoon ! What tragedies have been enacted Avithin them, and without! For, if it be true that there is hardly a hill or valley in Ireland that has not echoed to the sounds of early Christian prayer and praise, it is, alas, equally true that there is hardly one that has not been made tragic by the , life-story of this hapless people ; hardly a brook or river that has not been crimsoned with their blood. What manner of men were they who reared these lofty belfries ? Whence came they ? Whither did they go ? Their dust has probably been resurrected in leaf and bud and WHERE THE IVY CLIMBS, AT SWORDS. A BIT OF GALWAY BAY. IRELAND 179 bloom many a time since their hands placed these stones in their ascending curves. But where are the restless souls that once sought peace and pardon in their shadow ? Are they mourning for the sorrows and sins of Ireland in the moaning of the wind, wandering through these empty chambers ? Is it their un seen feet that lightly bend the heads of yonder ferns and floAvers ? Have they inscribed a message on the" leaves that tremble on their stems, and then drift down to earth to lie unheeded ? And when the tempest tosses the bare branches of the trees, is it the same old struggle carried into the spirit life, — the conflict between priest and pagan, the old faith and the new ? The spirits cannot tell us, for their to-ngue is strange ; and, were there really mes sages to read and hear, who could translate to us their mean ing ? Such thoughts will doubtless seem too fanciful to any ROUND TOWER, ARMOY. i8o IRELAND one who reads these words outside of Ireland ; but I am writing them where poetry, paganism and mythology still exercise a potent charm. It is a land of beauty, mystery and grandeur, encompassed by a shifting pageantry of sea and sky ; a land of ruined castles, weirdly solemn mountains, lonely rivers and innumerable lakes, surrounded by a vast expanse of tossing waves. Beyond its cavernous cliffs and giant headlands lies the ocean, stretching away apparently to the edge of the world, over which daily, century after century, the islanders have watched the sun plunge into an abyss of waters as mysterious as the grave, propounding in its glorious exit the perpetual enigma, Whence and Whither ? These influences have com bined to make the popular faith of Ireland tend to a spirit- haunted universe, and give to the entire island even now a subtle fascination easy to feel, but difficult to explain. '' The pillar towers of Ireland, how wondrously they stand By the lakes and rushing rivers, through the valleys of our land ; In mystic file, through the isle, they lift their heads sublime, Those gray old pillar temples, those conquerors of time ! " But Ireland has other monumental features, as A SHIFTING PAGEANTRY OF SEA AND SKi," DUNLUCE CASTLE. IRELAND ISI ' WHENCE AND WHITHER ? " characteristic of the past as are its Round Towers. Not many years ago there appeared in the cemeteries of America a new style of mortuary memorial, — a finely ornamented cross, with arms united to the shaft, above and below, by a circle. It was called the Celtic cross ; and though I supposed from this that it had originated in Ireland, I had formed no idea, before I travelled there, how rich the island is in such mementos of the early faith. No less than forty-five of Erin's ancient crosses still remain, some of which reach a height of twenty-seven feet, and are adorned with sculptured ornamentation. Some also bear the names of Irish kings or abbots of the tenth and eleventh centuries. I felt anew, in looking at them, how great was the religious fervor of that Golden Age of Ireland. Whether her monks reared lofty watch-towers, erected churches, fash ioned jeweled chalices, or carved elaborate crosses, they worked with an enthusiasm and devotion rarely equaled. No I 82 IRELAND doubt they labored thus with an implicit faith, not only in per sonal immortality, but in a speedy termination of the world's existing system, and the inauguration of another. Yet these stone figures are as carefully carved as if they were to last till time should be no more. In fact, the story of the Cross meant far too much for even the slightest detail in the treatment of the theme to be neglected. To fashion and embellish one of these majestic crosses no effort was too great, and no de vice too intricate. Even when it was intended to be merely an ornament, the sculptor felt that it would stand within God's Temple, its arms out stretched beneath the dome of heaven, with the sun, moon and stars for altar-lights, and guarded by angelic hosts ; and when it Avas designed as the memento of some sainted soul, no doubt the artist hoped his faithful labor would be both recognized and rewarded by the reminiscent and appre ciative dead. How comforting must have. been this simple faith to those who worked on bravely, though their primitive tools could not respond to their ideals ! One thinks, too, as he stands beside these old millennial crosses, of the aching hearts to Avhich they have been as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. How many tears of penitence have been poured out before them, and hoAv much CROSS AT DRUMCLIFFE. IRELAND 183 the si CONSOLATION, KILBRONEY CROSS. chilled them ; and thus the elements have labored to reduce to the original dust these sculptured bits of the old earth. They have been partially suc cessful. In many in stances the figures chis eled on their surfaces have well-nigh disap peared, although the cross itself remains. Is this symbolic of the fact that, while with time the superficial differences in sorrow has been solaced there ! How many scenes of crime and horror also have they witnessed in Scan dinavian conflicts, and in civil and religious Avars, while the stars looked down in silent pity for man's weak ness, and the wind moaned sadly over the blood-stained fields ! The rains of centu ries, however, have washed from them all traces of men's sin and suffering ; the snows have drifted down and clung to them, winter after winter ; has Avarmed, the night has OLD CROSS ON ROCK OF CASHEL. 1 84 IRELAND theological beliefs diminish, that which is essential still sur vives ? What is indisputable is the fact that the old crosses are inevitably crumbling into elemental dust. The sharpness of their once distinctive features is gradually softening to the base line, and presently only the simple shape will be discerned, its limbs united yet, perhaps, by the unbroken circle. Then this, too, will disintegrate, and chaos may again claim every THE MIDDLE LAKE, KILLAKNEY. grain and crystal of the stone. But in the universe there is no pause. Another world will be evolved from this world's ruins, and the strange story of awakening life and conscious ness, with its slow progress, mental, moral and spiritual, will be told once more ; and so, perhaps, will a new Ireland be born again, to live in a far happier incarnation, with better opportu nities and a kinder fate. IRELAND 185 A comfortable train conveys the tourist now in four and a half hours from Dublin to Killarney's far-famed lakes, whose crystal waters have few equals. Enchanting as the region is, it is nevertheless unfortunate that the majority of travelers seem to regard it as so much more beautiful than any other part of Ireland, that the remainder is not worth exploring. A greater error could not well be made ; and now that travel ing conveniences are so much improved in Ireland, and good A CHARACTERISTIC IRISH VALLEY, OVOCA. hotels are found in most of the attractive regions, this notion will soon be dispelled, and tourists will no longer speak of fair Killarney as if it were the alpha and omega of fine Irish scenery. Wherever looked" upon, that scenery is un mistakable. Bring back to it, blindfolded, on a magician's carpet, any one who has once reveled in its beauty, and when he is seated on the turf that makes the ground an emerald rug, remove the bandage from his eyes, and ask him where he is, 1 86 IRELAND and he will make but one reply. For, as he sees the pure blue atmospheric veil that softens the horizon, blending earth and sky ; or views the mountains mantled with the heather's royal purple ; or notes the laughing river at his feet tenderly twi- lighted by overarching trees ; or follows with his vision miles of hedges radiant with blossoms ; or traces the entire landscape's undulating background lined with glossy ivy, golden gorse, or glistening laurel ; he will not for a moment doubt that he is in the fairest of the three united kingdoms — Ireland. What has not nature done for Erin, and what has not man done to make these gifts of nature null and void ? These were the words that rose continually to my lips as I rode on, day after day, through fields that are forever green, by streams that seem to sing for joy, or in the shade of trees which Druids would revere, were the old pagan faith still extant in these peerless glens. What musical names many of Ireland's rivers, villages and valleys have ! The Vale of Clara, the Vale of Ovoca, Glenda lough, Avonmore, Killarney, Adare, Lisdoonvarna, — these, and a hundred others, spoken softly and usually Avith an unexpected ROSS CASTLE, KILLARNEY. KILLARNEY HOUSE, RESIDENCE OF THE EARL OF KENMARE. IRELAND accent, are as melodious as any names in Italy. Measured by the standard of pounds, shillings and pence, Killarney is by no means wealthy, but as a depository of some of nature's choicest treasures it is a Golconda. Happily lovely scenery is a pos session of which even Ireland cannot be deprived ; and in these days of popular travel, when so many tourists seek the beautiful in nature, a famous landscape often brings more money to a country than a manufactory. Millions of dollars annually flow VIEW FROM KILLARNEY HOUSE. into Italy because of her artistic and historical attractions, and Switzerland is substantially supported by those who every sum mer scatter gold and silver with a lavish hand throughout that little paradise Avhich man and nature haA'e combined to make the pleasure-park of half the world. Killarney, though of course less prosperous, owes practically all the revenue it does receive to visitors ; and it is safe to say that were it located in England, or on the Continent, the number of these tourists 190 IRELAND would be quadrupled. A more ideally beautiful situation for a private residence could hardly be imagined than that of Kil larney House, the Irish home of the Earl of Kenmare. The spacious ivy-mantled house is an imposing mansion, lovely without and sumptuous Avithin. Before it lie elaborate gardens with a luxuriant display of flowers, while, beyond these, the eye, enchanted with the matchless view, strays lakeward over a mag nificent park, as well-kept by man's care, as it is glorious through nature's bounty. A charge of sixpence is very properly made for admission to these grounds, the view from which can never be forgotten ; but even sixpence is a prohibitive price to most of the poor natives of the district. In fact, the contrast here between the rich and poor dis turbed my happiness not a little. I grudge to no man living a reasonable amount of real estate, but there is something radically wrong when one man can enclose and keep from cultivation square miles of fertile territory, while, just outside his gates, in one of the loveliest sections of the earth, such poverty exists that the population of the village between 1881 and 1891 fell from 6651 to 5510. Some thing assuredly should be changed when in a thinly populated country thousands of able-bodied men and women, unAvilling to be drones and yet unable to earn a liA'elihood, go yearly from the land they love across the seas. Such emigration is like an open wound, from which the nation's freshest life-blood ebbs away. It is precisely what is poorest and least energetic THE INDUSTRIOUS POOR. IRELAND 191 GOOD MORNING, YOUR HONOR. that remains. Nor can one quite forget among these charming scenes that this is a corner of the land where thousands upon thousands have, within sixty years, died literally of starvation. This makes one patient under the annoyance of the beggars at Killarney. For, though less common than it was a score of years ago, begging is met with oftener around these lakes than anywhere else in Ireland, and constitutes a serious drawback to the traveler's enjoyment. Yet Irish wit goes far to reconcile one to a mendicant's persistency. " Will yer honor drop a sixpince into this Amirican hat ? " said a Killarney beggar to me, as he held out an old derby full of holes. " Why do you call it an American hat ? " I asked. " Sure," was the reply, "because there's no Crown in it." Sometimes a sharp re fusal calls out from Irish beggars a biting, though a bright, response. "You ought to ask for manners, not money," said a traveler to one who had addressed him somewhat brusquely. YOU WILL LAUGH WHEN HE STEAKS. 192 IRELAND " Faith, I axed for what I thought yer honor had the most of," was the instantaneous reply. It is hard to explain the prevalence of " Irish Bulls " among a people so indubitably bright and witty ; but they are prob ably the result of mental stumbling. The Celtic wit runs on so fast that it escapes from the control of judgment. If wit is caused by the unexpected association of ideas, an Irish Bull is made by their preposterous association. A dozen instances of this illogical drollery will occur to every reader, but none perhaps will illustrate it better than the Irishman's remark on reading on a tombstone the words : " I still live." " Bigorra," said Pat, " if I were dead, I'd own up to it." Such blunders are sometimes perceived and laughed at by their perpetrators, when they have time to think of them. But they may also be unrecognized until a penalty has been paid, as in the case of the two Irishmen who asked how far it was to Dublin. "Twelve miles," Avas the reply. "Come on," said one of them to his companion ; " it's only six miles apiece. Let's walk." THE UPPER LAKE, KILLARNEY. IRELAND 193 Perhaps it Avas my fault, but I could never quite satisfy myself as to the meaning of the fol lowing police regu lation, conspicuously posted in the North of Ireland : " Until further notice every vehicle must carry a light when darkness begins. Darkness always begins as soon as the lamps are lit." Moreover for several days I saw dis played in a shop window, unchal- lenged and unchanged, the remarkable notice : " Our superior butter, ninepence per pound, No one can touch it." Sweet beyond words are the hours that one spends in float ing on Killarney's trio of bewitching lakes, in whose clear waters seems to sleep the replica of all that captivates us in that upper world. Deep are the draughts of peace and pleas ure that one takes, as from his boat he looks off on the heath- ered hill-land, aspiring toward summits which continually change, chameleon-like, through shades of purple, blue and gray. Soothing to tired nerves is the soft ripple at the prow or- the light dripping of the oar, as one is rowed among the islands covered with arbutus, green in the summer, gemmed with scarlet berries in the fall. Solemn and memorable also are the moments passed in Muckross Abbey, for whose grand THE YEW-TREE, MUCKROSS ABBEY, 194 IRELAND yew-tree, wedded now to Time by centuries of slender rings, I always shall retain a tender feeling, because on my initial trip to Europe this was the first old ruin that I saw. What shall I say, too, of the Isle of Innisf alien, as charming in its scenery as it is musical in name ? I can recall few more delightful hours than those enjoyed upon that little wave- encircled garden of green lawns, luxuriant flowers, and bright holly, above which rise a multitude of noble oak and ash trees. I sympathize Avith the Celtic Druids in their love and rever ence for trees. Great groves of stately oaks are said to have formed their temples, and while they worshiped the oak as a repre sentation of the Deity, they taught that the mistle toe, growing on it, symbol ized man's de pendence upon God. To me tbe most attractive object in the vegetable kingdom is a majestic tree. Nothing, I think, exists more exquisite in color ing than an apple-tree in bloom ; nothing more graceful than an elm, nobler than a rugged oak, or kinglier than a Norway pine. A country without trees is as unpleasant to look upon as a face devoid of eyelashes and eyebrows. Ireland ought to be one of the most richly wooded countries in the world, and despite much that man has done to injure it in this respect, the Emer ald Isle still wears its leafy crown. The trees of Innisfallen would of themselves suffice to make the island linger in the THE EDGE OF INNISFALLEN. GLENGARIFF BRIDGE, IRELAND 197 memory ; but in addition to its natural beauty, the ruins of an ancient abbey give to it a human interest, and perfectly com plete its charm. I had determined not to draw comparisons between the dif ferent scenes that called forth my enthusiasm in Ireland, but to this rule I am tempted to make one exception. Glengariff, at the head of Bantry Bay, is one of the very few places in the world about which there can never be either disappointment or AT GLENGARIFF. a difference of opinion. As an ideal of exquisite and tender loveliness, it is one of nature's masterpieces. Glengariff is a mountainous glen, about six miles in length and a quarter of a mile in breadth, the sides of which are strewn with rocks of all conceivable degrees of picturesque wildness, covered with luxuriant foliage. From every opening springs a stately yew- tree or a glistening holly. From every crevice droops a flower ing plant. Each roughness is concealed by myrtle or arbutus, IRELAND A TOURIST COACH, GLENGARIFF. against whose deep green walls swing lightly in the breeze the crimson bells of myriads of fuchsias. Save for the voice of the d e- sc en ding tor rent and the songs of feathered denizens, the glen's sweet silence is unbroken. Above it rise the solemn peaks, below it lies the sparkling sea, through it sweeps sea ward between flowery cliffs the river, breathless from the plunge which it has just made in a cataract of foam. On the north, east and west, this glorious gorge, softened by semi-tropical vegetation, is completely sheltered, but toward the south it opens on to an enchanting fjord, an inlet from the beautiful expanse of Bantry Bay, studded with numerous fantastic isles. Here rhododendrons, pomegranates and azaleas flourish in profusion, and roses and geraniums bloom in the open air the Avhole year round ; for the strong saline freshness of the neigh boring Atlantic is tempered by the Gulf Stream's balmy breath. Glengariff, therefore, is a natural sanitarium. During the Avin- ter months the mercury rarely falls below forty degrees, and, as no fogs intrude upon this paradise of sun and floAvers, it is considered by some medical authorities to rank among the finest of the milder climates of the world. Beautiful Ireland ! It was at Glengariff that I best appreciated the lines which one of thy devoted sons addressed to thee : IRELAND 199 " The sea wind freshens thy eternal garland, The salt ooze perfumes thy delicious hair, And on the cheek where death had set its signet The rose of immortality blows fair." Unlike some places of transcendent beauty, Glengariff is not only easy of access, but the routes leading to it are among the most delightful in the world. The forty-eight miles which lie between Killarney and this sylvan glen are traversed comfort ably in four-horse coaches, or in private carriages, over an admirable road, and in the full enjoyment of magnificent scenery. Yet, although such an experience could be repeated many times without a loss of charm, it is not necessary to return by the same route ; for by another lovely drive of eleven miles, commanding glorious vistas of the sea, one can proceed to Bantry, between which and the city of Cork, only fifty-seven miles away, several well-appointed trains run daily. Of course one's pleasure on such trips depends somewhat upon the weather, and Irish weather is proverbially capricious. Hence I can hardly urge too strongly the advice to travel leisurely through Ireland. The fault that most Americans make in visiting the island is being in such haste either to go to England or to catch their returning steamer at QueenstOAvn, that they allow themselves no time to wait for sunshine, if their tour is interrupted by a storm. Light, water proof wraps, made not of rubber but of a special cloth obtain able in Ire land, together with over shoes and umbrellas, KILLARNEYAND GLENGARIFF 200 IRELAND should form invariably part of the tourist's outfit on any of these excursions. But it should be remembered as a consolation, that if the rain falls easily here, it ceases just as readily; and many a loAvering morning will be followed by a lovely afternoon. The scenery around Bantry Bay is a mild introduction to the bolder views which characterize the western coast of Ire land, for it unites the two distinct and widely different types of Irish landscape : that of the coast and that of the interior. Both possess features that I have never seen equaled in any quarter of the globe. Beauty, sur rounded by sublimity, would be a concise and jtruthful de scription of the island. Nowhere has Earth sur passed in peaceful loveliness some of Ireland's valleys, and no- where else does she display such a stupendous battle-ground of land and sea as on its western rim. Erin's "emerald" has a magnificent setting. Around its edge a range of mountains, sometimes twenty miles in width, almost encloses it, outside of Avhich is the indented shore, cut by the ocean's bold artificers into a frame that is in sunshine beautiful, in storm sublime. There was a time when these unrivaled headlands Avere difficult of approach, and when the tourist, even if he knew of them, was not disposed to pay the price of dirt, discomfort and fatigue in order to behold them. That time has passed away. Rail- »». ¦¦¦ v \ y; • ¦ ^ V W \ f 'a >.--*£;, I y * \ sSaSHP^ -**• V i\i HP* IRELAND 203 ways, extended from such cities as Galway, Limerick, and Sligo, now convey the traveler to good hotels in the vicinity of the finest points, whence one can walk or drive to the bluffs themselves. But, not content with viewing them from the land, Avere I a yachtsman, my first cruise would be around the Irish coast, in order to examine leisurely its wonderful formation. For, through unnumbered ages, the Atlantic's bil lows, with an unchecked impetus of thousands of miles, have been engaged in beating into a fantastic fretwork monster cliffs, which it would seem no violence of wind or wave could possibly affect. A glance at even an ordinary map of Ireland shoAvs how its western edge bears traces of this conflict with the ele ments. Wherever the sea has found a weak spot in the island's bastions, it has made a breach, and forced its waters through it, widening the gap, and forming what are here called "bays," although a more appropriate name would be fjords. Even where the rock formation has been firmest, the im pact of the sea has wrought incalculable injury ; sometimes detaching masses from the mainland, to gradually gnaw them into tiny archipelagoes; at other times undermining mountain walls with caverns, in whose gloomy solitudes the billows shout in anticipa tion of the day Avhen the entire preci pice will fall. At other points the Avaves have carved colos- sal proto types of man's best architectural <> TEMPLE ARCH, HORN HEAD. *^^HPHp*s 204 IRELAND ^SSg&M which rise from out gods, who, like their and temples, whose pure sap phire of the sea: these and a thou sand other forms encom pass Ireland in infinite va riety and aAv- ful majesty. To give de tailed word- pictures of achievements. Towers, spray- swept and glitter ing in the sun ; huge, solitary monoliths whose ledges are the homes of countless screaming birds ; arches surmount ing chasms white with flying foam ; cathedrals where the winds and waves chant weird re sponses in an unknown tongue ; vast, empty amphitheatres haunted by the spirits of the storm ; fragments of de tached cliffs, worn by the waves to table-lands the seething flood like altars reared to lights and worshipers, are gone forever; long, narrow aisles are paved with the ON THE MOHER CLIFFS. A SEA-SCULP TURED BRIDGE, K1LKEE. IRELAND 205 the scenes presented, especially after a tempest, on the CHffs of Moher, by the shores of CleAv Bay, and in Connemara, would require a volume. They seem innumerable, because at every turn the panorama changes, and even the same vieAv assumes a different aspect under a clear or clouded sky. At times, as I advanced, each vista in succession seemed to me more marvel ous than tbe last, until the cumulative splendor crushed me into silent awe. Though the materials that compose these scenic pic- THE GIANT S CAUSEWAY tures are but few in number, and invariably the same, — rock, sea, and sky, — to criticise their paucity would be like finding fault with the small number of notes that form the scale. In either case it is the wonderfully varied combinations of these elements that give to eye and ear the realization of the beauti ful or the sublime. Nor do these scenes, because of their great number, leave a confused impression on the mind. They are sufficiently unlike for each to reproduce under the 206 IRELAND lens of memory its special individuality ; just as the Milky Way, which to the naked eye seems nebulous and uniform, resolves itself beneath the telescope into a zone of countless, separate and brilliant suns. If Wind and Water are the agents that have carved out Ireland's western coast, upon its northern rim another element has left its mark. As if determined not to be surpassed here by these rivals, Fire, at one time, poured upon a corner of the island molten lava, and pressed upon it a majestic seal which Avill endure until the isle itself has passed away. Water and Wind are still at Avork in carrying out their plans ; Fire con cluded his task thousands of years ago, and then Avithdrew, leaving the Avorld to marvel evermore at his mysterious car touche, known as the Giant's Causeway. This wonderful phe nomenon will either delight or disappoint the visitor, according to his previous conception of it. Those who anticipate stupen dous headlands, shattered by the sea, will find the CauseAvay tame, and time will be required before appreciation can replace the first surprise of disillusion. It should be, therefore, borne in mind that in general the Causeway is to be looked doAvn THIi CAUSEWAY GATE, IRELAND 207 GEOMETRIC BLOCKS. upon, not up to. It is, as its name indicates, a path, and this particular pathway is a mighty platform of basaltic columns extending seaward from the base of neighboring cliffs, and disappearing northAvard under the Atlantic. Nevertheless, no traveler, whatever may have been his expectations, can fail to be profoundly moved by the immensity and marvelous forma tion of this columnar mass. Here are no less than forty thou sand pillars, fitted together into a vast pavement, the joints of which are so exact that neither falling rain nor beating billows can find space for penetration. The more these columns are examined, the more remarkable they appear. Not only are they fashioned into pentagons and hexagons of perfect geo metrical construction, but they are also divided into sections like a. bamboo rod, each with a convex surface joined with the utmost nicety to the concave meeting it. Moreover, as if to show her versatility, nature has made here a few special blocks, 208 IRELAND with nine or seven sides. There are also, in the entire multi tude, one column with three sides, one with four, and one with eight ; the latter being called the Keystone of the Causeway. In places this volcanic platform is irregular in height, as if an earthquake wave had passed beneath it, leaving it fixed in undulations, never to subside. In general, however, it suggests the mosaic floor of a gigantic temple, the roof and walls of which were never finished or have disappeared. One feels this still more strongly when one goes a little inland, and finds the same formation reaching greater heights. For on the cliffs, as well as on the plain, the molten lava, shrinking as it cooled, produced with no less geometric skill and accuracy groups resembling amphitheatres, chimney-tops, and organ pipes, or massive walls between which one can walk as through the roofless halls of Karnak. Standing upon this paA'ement, laid so many ages ere a human foot was pressed upon its surface, the unseen was to me more marvelous than the seen. For, far away across the water, off the coast of Scotland, lies the island of Staffa, pierced by the far-famed Fingal's Cave. WHERE SMUGGLING IS EASY IRELAND 211 That cavern (see the Scotland Lecture, Vol. IX.) is lined with just such igneous columns as those upon whose tops we walk in traversing the Giant's Causeway. The latter disappears beneath the ocean in the direction of that island eighty miles away. It is well-nigh certain, therefore, that on the shores of Ireland we see one end of this basaltic viaduct, the other end of which is visible at Staffa. The intervening portion, like an ocean cable, has sunk into the sea. Pathetic symbol of the fate of Ireland ! The natural bond uniting Erin and Great Britain was long since overwhelmed by the rapacious waves of jealousy and passion ; and though we see to-day the corresponding termini, the path of union has been lost. On one of those memorable days whose sunshine, linger ing far into the night, makes summer in the north of Europe so delightful, I sat in a secluded spot upon the Irish coast, SOLITUDE, KILKEE. 212 IRELAND BATTERING DOWN A HOME, AN EVICTION SCENE. from whose sea-sculptured cliffs the ocean stretched away, with not a sound of surf or glint of passing sail. Absorbed in reading Irish history, I had not noticed an approaching squall, Avhich struck the shore so suddenly that I had hardly time to reach a neighboring cabin, from whose rude shelter I looked out upon the tumult of the elements. The ocean, recently so beautifully clear, was soon completely hidden by a steel-gray wall of slanting rain. Upon a cloud of inky black ness unseen fingers traced at intervals mysterious characters of fire. Between loud peals of thunder, the wind moaned mournfully around the cliffs, as if their splintered crags were strings of an Eolian harp. This tempest seemed a fitting back ground for the mental picture I had just been forming; for where indeed can Ireland's tragic history be more appropri ately read than in the midst of lurid lightning and appalling thunder, suggestive of the storms of human passion which IRELAND 213 have so often drenched with blood and swept with flame her naturally fertile fields ? The page grew blurred before my eyes as I recalled the long, long list of Ireland's calamities, and thought of all that she had given promise of becoming, when she was famous throughout Europe for her piety and learning. Summed up in a few words, a study of her history leaves upon the mind the sad conviction that, on the whole, no country in the world has suffered more, and probably none, but for man's wickedness and folly, need have suffered less. Filled with these thoughts, I once more walked out on the lonely cliffs. The storm had swept across the water to the distant west. Its rear-guard of black clouds dropped, one by one, below the edge of the Atlantic, until at last, in a long, radiant curve, the ocean's dark-blue rim met that of heaven's turquoise dome. The solemn, limitless expanse, unruffled by the transient agitation of the previous hour, heaved gently in the opalescent light of summer's waning day. " Poor Ire land," I murmured, "would that this harmony of cloudless 214 IRELAND firmament and tranquil sea might be symbolic of thy future, as the departed storm is emblematic of thy past ! " At pres ent I believe that wish is likely to be realized. A brighter sky than ever yet made luminous this emerald of the northern seas is dawning on her happier, hope-inspired children. The melancholy years of her heart-breaking history, dark with innumerable clouds of misery, have sunk below the horizon of the Past. Heaven forbid that any child of Albion or Erin should seek to resurrect the ghosts of those crime-blackened centuries ! Let them remain, amid the countless other wrecks of poor humanity, forever buried in the ocean of oblivion. A PRIMITIVE IRISH ANCHOR. DENMARK DENMARK is the most oddly shaped country in the Avorld. One-half of it is a peninsula, the other half an archipelago. The former juts out almost at right angles from the coast of central Europe, curving a little backward at the point, like the prow of a Viking ship. Behind it lies a group of islands of all shapes and sizes, on the larg est of which is situated Copenhagen. Eastward, these islands shield the mainland from the billows of the Baltic ; westward, in its turn, the pen insula serves as a gigantic break water, to shelter them from the North Sea. The Danish ter ritory, therefore, separates two oceans, both of which vent their fury on the bar rier that divides them, for it compels their currents to pass round the north ern point of Denmark by the treacherous, stormy channels of the Skager Rack and Cattegat. All CHRISTIAN IX., KING OF DENMARK. 218 DENMARK sections of the little kingdom show traces of a fearful conflict with the sea. A good-sized map reveals the ravages thus in flicted. Not only have the edges of both peninsula and islands been gnaAved away by the rapacious waves in all conceivable degrees of raggedness, but in a number of places the sea has stabbed the islands almost to the heart, leaving deep wounds that never heal. In other instances it has divided and subdi vided them into a multi tude of islets, between which labyrinthine chan nels wind like the tentacles of some huge sea-monster, preparing to enmesh and drag them down. Nor does this fate seem utterly impossible ; for, were a subsidence of ninety feet to occur, the majority of these islands would disappear. Even the pen insula has been unable wholly to Avithstand the onslaught of the ocean, which has quite recently cut through its northern part, detaching a large section of it from the mainland. Denmark's irregular form, deeply indented shores and numerous islands, give it a coast-line out of all proportion to its size. Thus it is said to have a mile of seaboard for every square mile of land, while so strong and shifting are the currents rushing through the archipelago that over one hundred lighthouses and lightships are necessary to protect the navigators of these seas. Even these beacons on the western coast are insufficient to avert disasters. Mariners dread the currents, fogs and reefs THE SEA S DEEP WOUNDS. DENMARK 219 A DANISH LIGHTHOUSE. which there combine with the North Sea in its ugly moods to drive them to destruc tion. So fierce 'and cutting are the winds that sweep that edge of the penin sula that women, working in the fields, protect their faces from them with black masks. Few people live along that coast, where sand-hills covered with rough grass seem like a motion less imitation of white-crested waves. Yet some of these mounds are relics of an age anterior to all other human memorials that we find in Denmark. They are the prehistoric " kitchen middens," consisting principally of discarded bones of animals and fishes, thrown into heaps by the original dwellers on these shores, the men and women of the Stone Age, whose wild lives are completelylost in the dark night before the dawn of Dan ish history. A KITCHEN MIDDEN. 220 DENMARK AMONG THE ISLANDS. After a time the tourist in Denmark feels almost amphibious, so frequently is he obliged to change from land to water, or from water to land. These transitions are made Over creeks, fjords, or ocean-straits varying in breadth from a few hundred yards to several miles. Sometimes the railway carriages run directly on to spacious ferry-boats, and are conveyed by steam from shore to shore. At other times a train awaits the passen gers on the opposite bank. In one place there are actually " Amphibious Steamboats," which by turns crawl like monster turtles over the land on wheels, and paddle through the water of the lakes. TWO DANISH SEA-DOGS. DENMARK 221 Unfortunately for travelers who are subject to seasickness, Copenhagen lies a little too far from the Continent to be easy of access. The distance seems a trifle on the map, but it expands enormously when looked at in bad weather with the naked eye. The route from Hamburg through the Danish peninsula has the least amount of sea-travel, but almost every tourist avoids it, partly because it is by several hours the longest, partly because the ocean passages connected with the shorter routes appear so insignificant. After experience, however, one grows wiser. At least one ought to do so. I did not. Ten years before, I had made the six hours' voyage from KieltoKorsor, and my re membrance of it was still so vivid that I at once rejected it as undesir able. As a substitute for this, the jour ney from Berlin to Copenhagen via Warnemiinde was recom mended as the best and shortest. It certainly was the short est, according to the time-table, requiring but eleven hours from the German to the Danish capital. Moreover, only two of those hours had, in good weather, to be spent at sea. Lured by these prospects, therefore, I once more turned my back upon the long peninsula railway, and trusted to the mercies of the Baltic. In a compartment of the train that left Berlin at half-past eight in the morning I had for traveling companions a Danish gentleman and his daughter returning ON VIKING WATERS 222 DENMARK ^ I* !¦»,,!¦¦". "'— ?~i THE WIND-SWEPT BALTIC. from Carlsbad. Scarcely had we started, when I noticed that both of them were exceedingly anxious about the weather. They watched the grass and trees to see how strongly and in which direction blew the wind, they looked askance at every cloud, and shuddered when the sky grew overcast. At last I asked them if they thought the passage would be smooth. "I hope so," said the gentleman, nervously, "but one never knows. It can be quiet as a mill pond, and it can be terrible. In winter, I was once out twenty hours on this route contend ing Avith the ice and waves. Sometimes the steamers cannot cross at all." His daughter confirmed these statements Avith a ghastly smile. I had supposed that all descendants of the Vikings Avere good sailors ; but never have I seen more apprehension in a set of travelers than in the company which gathered in the dining-car that morning. With the exception of myself, all DENMARK 223 were Norwegians, Swedes, or Danes, but their chief topics of conversation were the probability of a good passage, the name and size of the boat, the weather and the Avind. Their fears at last became infectious, and when I stepped on board the little steamer at Warnemunde, and looked out on the wind swept Baltic, I felt an inward sinking, as if I were standing in a rapidly descending elevator. To my dismay I saw that the experts of both sexes went immediately down two flights of stairs into a kind of submarine cabin, where they lay out stretched on sofas with their eyes closed, before the boat had left the pier. A wan-faced maid, haggard from sights of wretchedness, seemed, as I looked upon her from a distance, to be dealing cards to these recumbent passengers. In reality she was distributing a generous number of small, colored bowls. Fleeing from the sight of this game in which most of the players were sure to be losers, I wrapped myself in a cloak, and, crouching on the deck in the shelter of a friendly smoke- a WELCOME PORT. 224 DENMARK stack, tried the " mind-cure " with what mental energy the Baltic left in my possession. I will not describe that voyage. Suffice it to say, it was exactly like a two hours' transit of the English Channel in half a gale, but on a smaller boat, whose lack of shelter would have been horrible in case of rain. But all discomforts vanished, as if by magic, when we touched the territory of King Christian IX. True, there remained a ferry and a bridge to cross, before we reached the island of SOLICITING A BREEZE. the capital ; but these were insignificant. The disagreeable features of the voyage at once gave place to lovely meadoAvs, where tethered cows (in some cases blanketed) grazed con tentedly; to windmills turning grotesque summersaults, appar ently for our special entertainment, or standing motionless with outstretched arms, as if soliciting a breeze ; and at brief intervals to glimpses of the sea, whose white-capped waA'es ended a long perspective of still whiter fruit-trees in full bloom, DENMARK 225 Wf^: iilte ^m&F BLOSSOMING FRU1T-TRKE. which in the 0 rchards rolled away in billows of foam, or in- d i vi d u a 1 1 y, stood like solitary foun tains spark ling in the sun. Sometimes the little farm - houses and quaint, rustic churches were almost hidden by clouds of blossoms. Never have I seen fruit-trees flowering in such rich profusion as in Denmark in the early days of June ; and these, together with laburnums drooping in soft shoAvers of gold, the pink and white masses of the hawthorn, and the purple plumes of lilacs, impart to Danish landscapes at this season a tender beauty unsurpassed in the lands of the orange and myrtle, and make the recollection of a Scandinavian spring a dream of loveliness.. Copenha gen has only about three hundred and seventy-fiA'e: thousand inhabitants,yet it en joys the dis tinction of being rela- A RUSTIC CHURCH. 226 DENMARK tively the largest capital in the world, since it contains more than one-sixth of the whole Danish people. It must not be supposed, however, from this fact, that the country is very sparsely settled. The density of the popu lation, more than one hundred and forty to the square mile, though small as compared to England, France and Germany, surpasses that of Sweden, Greece and Nor way. The metropolis of Denmark cannot be called a handsome city architecturally ; but its streets and sidewalks are almost immaculate, its bridges and canals are picturesque, and many of its public buildings have peculiarities that in stantly attract attention and linger in the memory. One of these is the tower of the Exchange, composed of the twisted tails of four bronze dragons, -the favorite symbol of the Vikings. Another is the Church of the Redeemer, surroundedby a richly gilded out side staircase of three hun- dred and ninety-seven steps. In strolling through the town one sees a great variety of DRAGON TOWER OF THE EXCHANGE. DENMARK 227 CLEAN STREETS AND PICTURESQUE CANALS. gables, dormer-windows and quaint carvings. The horses that one meets are usually noble animals, well-fed, and of great strength and size ; but dogs are conspicuous by their absence, both as companions and assistants. This is indeed a striking contrast to canine life in a German city, where laboring men and women frequently draw their carts in company with har nessed dogs. This style of work may possibly degrade the human partner, but it elevates the dog. Many of these ani mals seem proud and happy in their labor, pulling away with all their might, and now and then looking up at their masters for approval. Such industrious dogs evidently regard with contempt the idle pets, which must be held in leash, and work almost as hard as they in tugging at the chains which bind them to their owners. The Danes are very fond of excursions. Never have I seen such an immense popular exodus of pleasure-seekers from any 228 DENMARK THE LANGELINTE, A PROMENADE NEAR COPENHAGEN. city as I beheld streaming forth from Copenhagen into its charming environs on the Whitsuntide holidays. But there was no excitement Ansible among these people, and I heard no shouting, singing, or gay laughter. A more orderly crowd never assembled. In fact, the Danes, as a race, impressed me as being someAvhat reticent and undemonstrative. When a smile breaks over their naturally serious faces, the effect is as startling as it is agreeable. I do not mean by this that they are gloomy or morose, but merely that they enjoy their pleasures quietly. It is, however, probable that Hamlet was not the only " melancholy Dane." Below the surface of the stream of Danish life there flovvs an undercurrent of inexplicable sadness. The number of voluntary deaths in Denmark exceeds that of any other country in Europe. Thus, for every million of people there occur here, annually, two hundred and fifty-five suicides, as contrasted with one hundred and fifty-five in France, one hun dred and forty-three in Prussia, eighty-six in SAveden, seventy- two in Norway, sixty-eight in England, and thirty-seven in Itah'. Why this astonishing difference should exist, particularly in the neighboring country of Sweden, where the climatic influences are so similar, is a sociological problem Avorth im'estigating. DENMARK 229 Denmark is not a rich country, and I fancy that most of its inhabitants are obliged to practice strict economy. It is per haps to save the expense of bar-tenders and servants that "Automatic Cafes" have recently been introduced into Copen hagen. Curiosity led me to inspect one, but I never cared to repeat the experience. Imagine a long, lonely sideboard, from which emerge at regular intervals twenty or thirty faucets, resembling those of a soda-fountain. Each customer walks up to this mysterious tank, and selects from its extensive array of labels the beverage that he desires, whether it be whisky, brandy, gin, sherry, beer, or ale. Then, having taken one from a number of empty glasses, he "drops a nickel in the slot," and turns a faucet ; when lo ! the wished-for liquid gushes forth in just such quantity and quality as the coin has called for. The air of secrecy and lack of sociability that hung about this auto matic " bar-tender " were to me dispiriting, since the only employe visible about the premises was the servant, who A COPENHAGEN PARK. 230 DENMARK washed the glasses with a reticence worthy of a Trappist monk. Two or three patrons had ventured to sit down at a table, but they wore the restless look of one in haste to catch a train. Others were standing around and drinking furtively, as if they had stolen what they were imbibing ; and I was, myself, only too glad to leave my glass and hurry out again into the freer company of my fellow-men. Judging from the educated. Danes whom I met, I should say that both English and German are spoken by the upper classes fluently. Naturally the use of the latter tongue is more general in a country contiguous to the territory of the Kaiser ; but many of the shop-keepers, railway and steamboat officials, and even cab-drivers in Copenhagen speak English with much accuracy. This is not strange, however, when one considers that by far the greater part of Denmark's trade is with England. The two countries are in close commercial contact, and the wharves of Copenhagen present a scene of great activity. No less than thirty-five thousand ships and THE HARBOR OF COPENHAGEN DENMARK 231 COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY. steamers enter and leave the harbor annually, and business with foreigners has quadrupled in the last thirty years. The Danes receive from England timber, coal and firewood and in their turn send back to Britain live stock, butter and pro visions. Danish horses are in great demand abroad as draught animals ; and, for its size, this little kingdom has the largest herds of horned cattle in Europe. It is, however, from the ex portation of farm products that Denmark receives her largest re\'enue. About twenty million eggs are shipped to England every year, and nearly twenty-five million pounds of butter. I do not wonder that the latter commodity finds a ready market. Never have I tasted purer, sweeter and more delicious butter than in Denmark ; and if an extra charge of five cents be made for it at meals, one pays it gladly, not only on account of its excellence, but because the amount thus served is usually gen erous enough for a party of four persons. '-52 DENMARK Thorwaldsen is the glory of Copenhagen, and toward the tAvo buildings of that city made famous by his genius the trav eler soon wends his way. One of these is the Church of Our Lady, a modest edifice, the portal of which is a portico of Doric columns, surmounted by a pediment containing a group of six teen marble statues, representing the preaching of John the Baptist. The Avorks of Thorwaldsen may be sharply divided into two classes, — secular and sacred. In the early part of his life the sculptor devoted himself principally to heroic and mythological sub jects ; but after his first return to Copenhagen, from which he had been absent nineteen years, he directed his energies largely i to religious themes and enriched this church in par ticular with some of his greatest master- pieces. The Church of Our Lady may, in fact, be called the Sacred Museum of Thorwaldsen's works, since all its sculptural ornamentation, even to the mural decorations of the chapels and the collection- boxes for the poor, is due to him. No one whose privilege it has been to enter this northern sanctuary can ever forget the solemn impression produced by his famous Christ-figure — that matchless representation of divine compassion Avhich stands above the altar in a black marble shrine. This is approached between two lines of life-sized statues of the tAvelve apostles, THE CHURCH OF OIK LADY. THORWALDSEN DENMARK 235 identified by their traditional emblems or tokens of martyrdom. Saint Paul replaces Judas in the series, and these imposing, dignified figures, together with the noble form of the Master, constitute a group that has no rival in the realm of sacred sculpture. Of the Christ but little can be said, so profoundly does it move the reverent beholder. The ineffable pity, love and tenderness expressed in face and gesture, as with extended arms he stands ready to enfold all sorrow ing humanity, while uttering the words, "Come unto Me," cannot be adequately portrayed by pen or picture. In harmony with the spirit of this figure there runs above the chancel a high relief, depict ing the procession of the Man of Sorrows on its way to Cal vary. In the front of the chancel stands another exquisite Avork by Thorwald sen, a baptismal font, the boAvl of which is a beautiful fluted shell presented by an angel upon bended knee. The face is serene, the form stately, and the attitude dignified even in its posture of humility, while the wings, with their strong, feathered quills, are cut with con summate delicacy and fidelity to nature, and seem capable of untiring flight. THORWALDSEN S CHRIST, '¦36 DENMARK However plain, there- f o r e, the church itself may be in its severe sim plicity of ar chitecture, it certainly con tains a wealth of art in stat ues and reliefs unequaled in the world, as the produc tions of one master. It is interesting to remember that the statue of Christ was evolved slowly in the mind of Thorwaldsen through several stages of conception. Preliminary sketches and models show that his first idea was to have the face uplifted, the right arm raised, and the left extended. The Danish professor, Avho was present in his studio at Rome Avhen the sculptor finally decided on the attitude which he Avould give to this masterpiece, states that Thorwaldsen was on the point of going out with him, when, in the very act of crossing the threshold, he turned back and stood for a few minutes before the model of his Christ, contemplating it in silence. Suddenly he stepped forward, made several rapid changes, which gave to the gracious figure THE ANGEL FONT. DENMARK ^37 the appearance it now presents, and exclaimed : " That is my Christ, and thus it shall remain." The building known as the Thorwaldsen Museum contains a complete collection of the sculptor's works, either in origi nals, replicas, or models. What first impresses the visitor there is the wonderful productiveness of the Danish master. Tavo stories of a large edifice are filled Avith creations of his genius, which overflow from the rooms into the corridors and stairways. In all, no less than eighty statues, one hundred and thirty busts, two hundred and forty reliefs, and three large friezes here claim admiration, besides a multitude of ThorAvald- sen's models, sketches and personal relics. Among the latter are his modeling-stand and tools, and the unfinished bust of Luther on which the aged sculptor worked, only a few hours before his death. Although it is the contents of this treasure- house that principally interest us, it is impossible not to regret that its exterior should appear neglected. It is a matter of surprise that the government does not restore at least the weather-beaten frescoes on its outer walls, which represent the THE THORWALDSEN MUSEUM 238 DENMARK enthusiastic reception given the illustrious artist in 1838, on his return from Rome, where he had resided, in all, more than forty years. While the first part of that period had been marked by poverty and almost hopeless struggle, the later years had been replete with marvelous success and world-wide fame. Who can read, unmoved, of the turning-point in his career, when the first clay model of his "Jason" had crumbled into fragments because he could not afford to have it cast in plaster, and when the second model stood neglected and unknown ? Just as Thorwaldsen, baffled and discouraged, Avas on the ^ point of returning to Co penhagen, and when his trunks were actually packed for the journey, an English banker, Avho bore the appropriate WINTER. C IT L.- J C name 01 Hope, gave him an order for the " Jason " in marble. From that moment Fortune smiled upon the youthful Dane, and his genius, recognized and en couraged, speedily proceeded to enrich the world. The interior of the Museum is admirable in that it carries out, as far as possible, the master's wish that each room should contain only one statue, with the addition of two busts and a DENMARK 239 few reliefs, so that the attention of the visitor might be con centrated for the time on these alone. It can be safely said that Thorwaldsen (with the possible exception of Michael- angelo) is more widely known, and certainly more beloved, than any other sculptor in the world. There is scarcely a city or town, possessing the slightest claim to artistic cul ture, that can not show in terra-cotta,bisque, or pho tograph some reproductions of his figure of the Christ and his reliefs of Day and Night. That the latter have a remarkable intrinsic beauty is proved by their universal popularity.The contrast between them repays careful study. It is the difference between joyous movement and an almost solemn repose. Day is portrayed as springing upAvard, and scattering flowers in her rapturous flight, as the beautiful winged boy, resting lightly on her shoulder, holds aloft a lighted torch. Night, on the other hand, crowned with poppies, THORWALDSEN S NAPOLEON. 240 DENMARK gently downward. Even wings show the descend ing movement, and in her arms she holds two in fants, one representing" Sleep, the other his twin brother, Death. The feet of Da)' are sepa rated in activity ; those of Night are folded and turned back, while over them appears the emblem atic owl. The drapery of both figures is beautifully mod eled, and in each case is as expres- DAY. . r .. . r sive of radiant motion or peacelul immobility, as are the forms themselves. It is manifestly impossible to describe, or even to enumerate here, all the creations of this prolific genius ; but many of them, such as the Jason, Venus, Ganymede and the Eagle, Hope, Hebe and the bust of Napoleon, will occur at once to every reader. It may seem unfair to praise particularly any special department of his Avork, yet in my opinion it is the reliefs of Thor waldsen that best show his strength and originality This class of sculpture, which from the time of the first masters had fallen into neglect, he resurrected and per fected. His magnificent work, the Triumph of Alex ander, considered bv manA' DENMARK 241 to be his masterpiece in relief, is a remarkable illustration of his fertility of imagination, combined with scrupulous adher ence to nature and historic detail. His four medallions of the Seasons, also, are as eloquent and idyllic as pastoral poems, Summer and Winter being especially strong and refined. Serious and full of fine sentiment as ThorAvaldsen was, his delicate humor shows itself frequently in his delineations of the infant Cupid. Of these perhaps the most interesting is that which represents a shepherdess holding upon her knees a nest of little Loves. Two of them innocently kiss in pretty, baby fashion ; three sleep with unaroused emo tions in their cozy home, while a solitary, faith ful Cupid plays with the imper sonation of fidel ity in the lower animal kingdom, a dog. To all of these the shep herdess pays no heed ; but she extends her hand in vain to recover fickle Love, which flies away without regard to her entreaties. The dainty grace of the modeling, the simple charm of the design, and the careful fidelity to detail mark this as one of the cleverest of the artist's works, as well as one of the gen tlest satires ever expressed in marble. It was in his reliefs, also, that Thorwaldsen found himself most at ease, and he improvised them with an almost incredible facility. It is A NEST OF CUPIDS. 242 DENMARK said, for example, that even his famous "Day" and "Night" were modeled in a single day. In Copenhagen, the city of his birth, rests all that is mortal of Thorwaldsen — the clay which the Divine Sculptor left when He removed His finished statue to the Halls of Immor tality. But hundreds of Thorwaldsen's noble thoughts, embodied in marble pure and white as his ideals, live to give delight and inspiration to generations yet unborn. It was his unexampled fortune to see completed, shortly before his death, an edifice exclusivelydevoted to the reception of his Avorks ; ;-;nd, as he superintendedtheir arrange ment, he ex pressed the wish that he might ulti mately rest among them. His desire was fulfilled. No other man possesses such a burial place ; glorious in artistic treasures of his own creation, yet simple as the humblest grave beneath the grass and flowers. In the Museum courtyard, whose only canopy is the blue dome of heaven, the sculptor lies at peace, beneath a coverlet of ivy, surrounded by a sleepless guard of gods and heroes, saints and angels. When the adjoining doors are open, on a summer day, the master seems to be reposing in a sunny garden, holding communion with his children. His is indeed an en\Iable immor tality, enshrined not only in a multitude of noble forms, but THORWALDSEN S GRAVE. THORWALDSEN'S GANYMEDE AND THE EAGLE. DENMARK 245 in innumerable souls made happier by his life and labors. Hence, as I turned for a last look at his low, ivied couch, it seemed appropriate to behold, through the great portal of the courtyard, bis stately figure of the Prince of Peace, with gaze bent lovingly upon the sculptor's resting-place, and hands out stretched in everlasting benediction. An interesting excursion from Copenhagen brought me one day in half an hour to Roskilde, the former capital of Denmark, and the residence of Danish sovereigns as late as 1416 a.d., when the seat of government was removed to its present site. Beneath the roof of Roskilde' s cathedral rest all the kings and queens of Denmark, from the tenth doAvn to the present century. I wondered, as I looked upon their tombs, where the fierce Vikings who preceded them are buried. They figure as the demi-gods of Denmark. Wild, reckless sea-rovers and conquerors, their forms appear colossal on the horizon of the Danish past. They are, howeArer, by no means mythical. No sterner realists ever existed. For them the rough seas had no ter rors, and unknown ROSKILDE CATHEDRAL 246 DENMARK lands aroused in them no fears. For centuries they ravaged Britain, Ireland, and the north of France; and for a time the Danish sovereign, Canute, was also king of England. Though this great conquest was in a few years lost to Denmark, the Scandinavian kingdom added to its territory on the east, and at the beginning of the thirteenth century Avas the most power- i i ww '"yy A1®@sSs THE BURIAL PLACE OF DANISH SOVEREIGNS, DENMARK 247 AMALIENBORG, THE ROYAL RESIDENCE, COPENHAGEN, ful realm of northern Europe, possessing the entire Baltic coast from the river Trave to the Gulf of Finland ; while, in the fol lowing century, Queen Margaret, daughter of the heroic Valde- mar, reigned as sole sovereign of Denmark, Sweden and Nor way. Remembering this, as I walked through Roskilde's royal burial place, I could but think how all the smaller European countries, which were once so powerful, have sunk into a sub ordinate position, dependent for their national existence on the rivalry of the greater Powers. Greece, Italy, Holland and Denmark, in numerical and martial strength, live only in the past. Yet it is well to remember, in these days of imperialism, that a nation's quality is fully as important as her quantity. In the opinion of scholarly critics the little kingdom of Denmark, with her two millions of inhabitants, has, during the nineteenth century, kept abreast of any country in Europe in intellectual activity, and in one department of art she has surpassed the world. Moreover, Denmark's present ruler, Christian IX., has done more to preserve the independence of his realm than the most warlike monarch could have possibly achieved. For from this quiet northern home his children have gone forth to govern lit erally more than half the world ; and, while they live, the Danish throne will stand secure from outward molestation. 248 DENMARK Thus, one of his daughters, Dagmar, as the consort of the late Alexander III., was Empress of the vast dominions of the Tsar; another, Alexandra, formerly Princess of Wales, is Queen of the great British Empire, on which the sun never sets ; the eldest son, the heir apparent to the Danish throne, has married a daughter of the King of Sweden ; while his brother George is King of Greece, and has for his heir to the Greek kingdom a son Avho is wedded to the sister of Kaiser William II. But A RECEPTION ROOM IN THE ROYAL PALACE. though these powerful alliances have now removed all danger of such loss of life and territory as little Denmark suffered in 1864, in her unequal, hopeless struggle with the combined forces of Austria and Prussia, the reign of the present king has not been free from much internal discord. After her crushing defeat and dismemberment by the two great Powers of central Europe, a part of the nation wished to expend large sums of money for the defense of the country. In particular, a line of fortifications THE PALACE SQUARE, COPENHAGEN. DENMARK 251 around Copenhagen was insisted on as absolutely necessary. The rest of the people, however, argued that the real defense of such a tiny land as theirs (which is only one-thirteenth the size of France, and has a population of only a trifle more than two millions) lay in moral safeguards, rather than in heavy armaments. They claimed, moreover, that the nation was impoA-erished, that its coast line was enor mous, and that if the capital alone were scientifically de- A DANISH VILLAGE. fended, the other ports of Denmark Avould be all the more ex posed to the attacks of an enemy. This difference of opinion led to a bitter conflict on financial matters, which has been in many ways a serious injury to the country. Year after year the official budget has been rejected, and only a provisional one has been obtained as a temporary measure. Hence it has been extremely difficult to make improvements and reforms which an unfettered govern- 252 DENMARK ment, with a free, full purse, could easily have accom plished. In 1886 a royal order was necessary to empower the ministry to pay the current ex penses; and from that time till 1894 there was no regular budget, and many expendi tures deemed necessary by the government were made un der continual protest from the Folkething, or House of Commons. Since then there has been a compromise between the two branches of the legislature, and regular budgets have been issued ; but it is probable that another controversy will soon arise over the old question of fortifying the capital, since the military party, supported by the government and tbe Lands- thing, maintains that the city is not sufficiently defended. In one of the busiest and brightest thoroughfares of Copen hagen stands a fine bronze fountain, representing a Arase sur mounted by three storks with outspread wings. It is a favorite THE STORK FOUNTAIN. DENMARK 253 resort for children, and perhaps this circumstance first led me to associate it with the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, that tender-hearted, lonely man, who, although childless himself, has nevertheless become the personal friend of the innumerable children who have read his fairy-tales. These (like the very different, but admirable, Franconia Stories by Jacob Abbot) have been largely superseded of late years by a more sensa tional literature; but childhood is the poorer by their loss. Unfortunate is the adult whose prosaic maturity has been reached from a fairyless childhood. Wherever Hans Ander sen's tales form part of the reading of the young, not only does the world itself become to them more beautiful, ideal and sig nificant ; but even the helpless birds and beasts are made hap pier, because such children will respect their rights, and shrink from any suggestion of their persecution. So deftly does he invest dumb beasts with human sentiments and affections, and so closely does he link their lives Avith ours, that children who become imbued with his spirit regard all animal life as sacred. Much of the love and sympathy that I have always felt for the furred and feathered members of life's lower kingdom, I owe to a familiarity in my early years with those charming tales, so eagerly devoured and implicitly believed. Life is with most of us a gradual disenchantment. As we advance, illusion after illusion is dispelled, and one by one the threads of faith break IN THE DEER PARK ?54 DENMARK under the strain of rude experience ; but of the losses of my child hood the most irreparable was that of my belief in the fairies with which Hans Andersen had peopled my little world. In the park of Rosen borg Palace at Copenhagen stands a simple, yet digni fied, monument erected by the grateful people to this gentle Dane who, touched by the hardness of their lives, devoted his OAvn to making theirs more beautiful. A grove of noble trees stretches away from the spot where the old man sits in serene repose. A tender smile rests on his aged face, softening and beau tifying its rugged, homely features. In one hand he holds a book, and with the other he seems to be blessing the children who romp in happy abandon through the adjoining avenues of spreading beeches ; for this garden is the favorite play ground of the little ones of Copenhagen. On one side of the pedestal is portrayed a stork carrying an infant, and on the other are three swans, commemorating two of his dearly loved stories. Around its base are beds of pansies and forget-me-nots ; but this mute, delicate appeal, made in the language of flowers, is not needed. Hans Andersen will not be forgotten. One may forget the volumes of philosophers, historians and scien tists ; but those delightful fairy-tales can never die in the mind of one who has read and loved them in his youth. They are as fresh in the memory of threescore years as any incidents or influences of life's first decade; and men and animals OAve more STATUE OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. DENMARK ^55 than ever Avill be rendered to this dear old son of Copenhagen, beloved by the children of every land. Two palaces in Copenhagen, known as Rosenborg and Amalienborg, stand in striking contrast to each other. The former was from the fifteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century the principal residence of Danish royalty ; the latter is the home of Denmark's present sovereign. One reared its stately form outside the city, and was separated from the people by stout ramparts ; the other is surrounded by shops, streets and dwellings, in the centre of the capital. Rosenborg was splendid. Amalienborg is simple. The castle of Christian IV. represented absolutism and the divine right of kings. The residence of Christian IX. is typical of constitutionalism and the increasing democratic spirit of the age. The tourist goes to Rosenborg to see how Danish sovereigns used to live. He knows that in Amalienborg they now live no less plainly than their subjects. Rosenborg is a storehouse for ancient royalty's stage scenery and costumes. It is divided into rooms, in each of which the ceilings, fireplaces, mural decorations and fu-ni- ture portray the style of art prevailing at the period Avhen the objects in that room were used. One gains here, therefore, a ROSENBORG PALACE. 256 DENMARK practical illustration of the weapons, dresses, ornaments, desks and chairs belonging to four centuries of kings and queens. Some individual relics of these rulers are extremely interesting. Thus, in the room of Christian IV., who is commemorated in the national song, — " King Christian stood by the lofty mast," are portions of the blood-stained uniform worn by that monarch in a naval battle in the Baltic, when he was wounded by a Swed ish cannon ball. Near by are two small, gold-enameled hands, each holding a tiny piece of the metal with which the king was struck, and these were worn as earrings by one of his daughters in memory of her father's heroism. The Dane Avho has in recent times done most to embel lish Copenhagen, and to benefit his countrymen, is Mr. Carl Jacobsen. One of the most imposing and elaborately orna mented buildings in the city is the New Glyptothek, erected mainly at the expense of this enthusiastic art-patron, to contain his previous gift of a large collection of modern sculpture. Like many other noble enterprises, this had a modest beginning. The statues which the donor first purchased Avere intended merely for his own gratification ; but the love of art and the joy of the THE NEW GLYPTOTHEK. DENMARK 257 A CORNER IN THE OLD GLYPTOTHEK. collector in creased with each new acquisition, till finally the accumulated treasure seemed to its OAvner too vast to be retained in private hands for personal enjoyment. Accordingly, in 1888, the entire collection was presented by Mr. Jacobsen and his wife to the Danish nation. This, of itself, Avould be enough to insure his country's everlasting gratitude ; but the philanthropist did more. Desirous of giving to Copen hagen specimens of Greek and Roman, as well as of contempo rary, art, he applied himself with indefatigable energy and princely generosity to the founding and furnishing of another museum, called the Old Glyptothek. The result is no less sur prising than superb. Here is now the most complete display of Roman busts and portrait-statues gathered in any one museum in the world. Yet the building and its contents were, in 1899, presented as freely to the State as the New Glyptothek had been. I was astonished and delighted to find two such collec tions in this comparatively unfrequented city of the North. At the time of my first visit here, ten years before, these noble halls had not been built, and the great masterpieces of Thorwaldsen were Copenhagen's only sculptures of transcendent value. But in a single decade, the patriotic devotion of one man has given to the Danish capital a wealth of art which every visitor must appreciate and admire. Denmark has been singularly fortu- 258 DENMARK . FkEDHklKSLOKC, CASI f.E. nate in possessing two sons who, within half a century, have royally enriched her : one a magnificent creator, the other a munificent collector. While she reveres the first, she must feel deeply grateful to the second. When, therefore, in addition to all the gifts that have been mentioned, I learned that this same noble-hearted Dane had placed in one of Copenhagen's parks twelve reproductions in bronze of famous antique statues ; had erected in one of the squares of the capital a statue of the Danish painter, Carstens ; and had built, entirely at his own expense, the beautiful "Jesus Church," with its richly decorated interior, besides establishing a fund for the future adornment of public places and gardens with Avorks of art, I thought I had never knoAvn of a single individual who had done so much for the embellishment of a city, the elevation of the popular taste, and the education of the people. Surely, if any modern Dane deserves a monument in marble or in bronze, and a still more enduring one in the hearts of those whose lives he will for centuries make happier and richer by his gifts, it is this national benefactor, whose services, it is to be hoped, will, contrary to DENMARK 259 custom, be appreciated and recognized while the generous heart Avhich prompted them can still be thrilled with pleasure by a people's gratitude and love. In a lovely section of country, only a few miles distant from the Danish capital, stand two castles, Avhose names, Frederiksborg and Fredensborg, are so similar that by a stranger one is frequently mistaken for the other. A greater contrast, hoAvever, than that existing betAveen these buildings it Avould be difficult to find. It is the difference between Rosenborg and Amalienborg intensified. Frederiksborg is a stately edifice, rising from a pretty lake of the same name, and covering no less than three islands, one of Avhich is occupied by the stables and the servants' quarters, another by the official apartments, and the third by the residence itself. Its walls of old red sandstone are diversified by fre quent layers and window-frames of gray. Quaint pinnacles and gables greet the eye at every turn ; statues surprise us on the corners of the roofs like elevated sentinels ; and numerous toAvers, half enclosed in the thick walls, give strength and grandeur to the massive pile, above which rise FREDERIKSBORG 260 DENMARK three spires crowned Avith ornaments of gold. Founded by the most renowned of Denmark's warrior-monarchs, Chris tian IV., three hundred years ago, this was for generations a royal residence, and is to-day a national landmark of which the Danes are justly proud. In 1859, however, a catastrophe occurred here that shocked the entire country. In the Avinter of that year, while Frederick VII. was living in the palace, a fire broke out Avhich in a few hours reduced the splendid structure and its contents to a mass of ruins. This was a blow at Den mark's heart. At once the nation mani fested its de sire to rebuild the castle in its original form ; and, costly as the undertaking Avas, it Avas speedily ac complished. Subscriptions for the enterprise poured in alike from rich and poor. Mr. J. C. Jacobsen, the -father of the patriotic citizen already mentioned, alone contributed for the furnishing and interior decoration of the castle one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, on condition that it should thenceforth be used as a National Museum. Such, then, it is to-day, bearing to Denmark about the same relation that the palace of Versailles maintains to France. Upon its walls hang admirable portraits of Denmark's famous heroes, musicians, poets, painters and sculptors ; as Avell as THE KNIGHTS HALL, FREDERIKSBORG. DENMARK 261 paintings portraying many of the prominent events in Danish history ; while tapestries and furniture of former periods reveal the taste and luxury of Scandinavian kings, and the fine work of Scandinavian artisans. A A'isit to Frederiksborg is a positive revelation to most travelers, even to those who think they have seen all that is worth inspecting in royal abodes. I knoAV of few rooms so richly ornamented as the Knights' Hall in this Danish palace ; and the Chapel, a res toration of the one Avhere many sove reigns Avere crowned, is one of the most magnificently deco rated apartments I have ever entered. One could spend hours here in studying and admiring the pulpit of ebony and silver, the exquisite mosaic wood work of the stalls, and the superbly embel lished ceiling, walls and arches ; while that portion of it known as the King's Oratory has a marvelous display of carving in wood and ivory, and more than a score of pictures on sacred themes by the celebrated artist, Carl Bloch. Its beautiful organ, too, is said to rank among the finest in Europe. One needs to bear in mind that almost all this splendor is but a reproduction of the castle's ancient elegance before its ruin in 1859. It is indeed this fact that justifies its exist ence ; for it has thus become a National Museum, not merely THE CHAPEL, FREDERIKSBORG. 262 DENMARK in its tents, also in con- but the framework which en closes them. It was on a famous na tional holi day, tbe 5th of June, that I last visited Frederiks- borg ; and on its lofty tow ers, as well as on innumerable private houses, I saw, conspicuous in the brilliant sunshine, the hand some Danish flag. Apparently no palace was too proud, no home too humble, to display the national emblem which, Avitl its clear-cut, beautiful design of«a white cross on a red field, is certainly one of the most attractive standards in the world. The Museum, as was natural on such an occasion, was visited all day long by crowds of patriotic Danes ; and, after having once more made the round of its apartments, I spent the summer afternoon ensconced with book and pencil among the shadoAvs of the neighboring forest, Avatching the people come and go, like pilgrims to a hallowed shrine. Yielding completely to the fascination of the place and time, I lin gered in the peaceful solitude and silence of the waning day, until there stole across the sunset-tinted lake the deep, sonorous tones of the new castle bells, successors of those melted by the flames. Foreigner though I was, I shall not soon forget the impression made upon me by both scene and sound ; and, had I been a Dane, my heart would have DENMARK 263 been thrilled, as those rich waves of harmony intensified the majesty and beauty of the noble structure, — a nation's gift, a nation's treasure-house, a shrine of art, a school of patriotism ! A pleasant drive of five miles from Frederiksborg to Fre- densborg conveys the tourist from the princely to the pastoral, from the past to the present, and from pageantry to peace. Fredensborg is the modest summer home of Danish royalty at ease. It is the little Trianon of Copenhagen. Its name, sig nifying the Palace of Peace, Avas given to it in commemoration of the peace-bringing treaty of 1720, and its walls and towers are appropriately white as the wings of a dove. A tiny lake, but a few paces from the door, reflects the smile of heaven ; while from its threshold stretches silently away a lovely park of oaks and beeches, beneath whose sheltering arms one walks enchanted with the softened light, the pure, sweet air, and that mysterious charm which such old trees possess for those who love and reverence them. It would be an ideal place for painter or poet, even if no human foot save theirs had ever pressed its shadowed turf. But Fredensborg is not devoid of history. Within this Castle of Repose there has been enacted, summer after summer for many years, a domestic scene, not less importantthan impres sive. For here the chil dren and grand-children of the king and queen have loved to assemble to render hom- AMONG THE DANISH BEECHES. 264 DENMARK age to that model couple, Christian IX. and wife, as well as to fraternize with one another in the delight of unconstrained and cordial intercourse. Beneath these mighty trees, or on the gently sloping lawns, have frequently been seen at one time, not only the aged sovereigns of Denmark, but their daughter Dagmar, the Tsarina, and by her side the heroic figure of her husband, Alexander III.; the Prince and Princess of Wales; the King and Queen of Greece ; the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland ; and the Crown Prince of Denmark with his Swedish bride ; and while this first genera tion of descend ants and their consorts have talked and jested here as brothers and sisters, their children have strolled through the park, or played upon the lawns, unmindful of the grave responsi bilities which in their different realms awaited them. At such a time, one may see, lying at a little distance from the shore on the blue waters of the Sound, several royal and im perial yachts ; such as the " Osborne," in which the Princess of Wales was wont to come when visiting her parents ; or the " Standard," that superb vessel built in Denmark, at a cost of one and a half million dollars, for the late Alexander III. The Russian Emperor for whom it was designed did not, however, QUEEN OF DENMARK, EX-EMPRESS OF RUSSIA, AND PRINCESS OF WALES. A FAMILY REUNION AT FREDENSBORG.