The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-15 00:00:00

MAGAZINES-(CONTINUED).

THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY

Daughter" opens the present number. Ani e x
tory note is prefixed, stating that the manuscript has
A very beautiful translation of
been for some time in the hands of the editor. This
statement was due to the talented translator, as an-
other version has recently appeared from the pen of
the Honourable Edmund Phipps. The drama is
" KTigßp
leanneals
founded on an incident supposed to have happened to
the daughter of King Regnier, and sister to the un-
fortunate Queen of Henry the Sixth of England.
folanthe, the heroine, is betrothed in her infancy to
Count Tristan of Vaudemont, in order to settle the
disputes relating to Lorraine, which had been claimed
by the King and the Count of Vaudemont. lolanthe,
however, shortly afterwards loses her sight in conse-
quence of a fire in which she had nearly perished ;
but Ebn Jahia, a Moorish physician and astrologer,
encourages her father to hope that she will recover
her vision when she attains the age of sixteen years.
She is by his direction brought up in strict seclusion,
without knowing anything of the nature of her de-
privation, which is kept a strict secret, lest it might
defeat the proposed arrangement. On the day when
the grand experiment is to take place, Count Tristan
encounters her by accident, and notwithstanding her
blindness, and that he is ignorant that she is the per-
son to whom he is betrothed, he becomes deeply ena-
moured. From him, for the first time, she hears of
the mysterious power of sight. We should gladly
give the entire scene if our space permitted ; we can-
not, however, refrain from extracting the portion
where he discovers that she is ignorant of her in-
firmity. He asks—
" Then tell me, to what end dost thou suppose
Omnipotence hath gifted thee with eyes?
Of what avail to thee ar© those twin stars,

That sparkle with such wondrous brilliancy,
They scorn to grasp the common light of day.
lOLANTEE —You ask of what avail—how can you ask?
And yet, I ne'er have given the matter thought.
My eyes! my eyes! 'Tis easy to perceive.
At eve, when I am weary, slumber first
Droops heavy on my eyes, and thence it spreads
O'er all my body, with no thought of mine,
As feeling vibrates from each finger's tip.
Thus then I know my eyes avail me much.
And bast not thou experience had enough,
Wherein thine eyes can minister to thee?
Only the other morn, as I was planting
A little rosebush here, a nimble snake

Leapt out and bit me in the finger; then
With the sharp pain I wept. Another time,
When I had pined for many tedious days,
Because my father was detained from home,
I wept for very gladness when he came!
Through tears I gave my bursting heart relief,
And at mine eyes it found a gushing vent.
Chen never ask me, unto what avail

Omnipotence hath gifted me with eyes.
Through them, when I am weary, comes repose ;
Through them my sorrow's lightened; and through them
Hy joy is raised to rapture."
Dere are many other equally beautiful passages,
particularly where the King explains the nature and
power of light. We trust that our readers will judge
for themselves this exquisitely poetical sketch. " Irish
Rivers" traces the " Lee" from its junction with the
Sullane below Macroom, until it loses itself in the
ocean ; and various legendary tales are related of the
districts through which it passes. " Paddiana" is a
very severe criticism on a recently published work,
which appears to have excited the indignation of the
reviewer in an extraordinary degree. " Marston of
Dunoran" is concluded. The unfortunate man ac-
knowledges himself the real murderer of Sir Wyn-
ston Berkeley, and perishes by his own hand. There
are two other reviews—" The Artist's Married Life"
and " The Early Progress of Christianity." Mr.
Mangan has contributed one of his delightful transla-
tions—" The Eve of Saint Silvester.' " The Irish
Fisheries" contains a sad account of neglected oppor-
tunities, and offers some suggestions for turning to
advantage the stores of wealth that exist in the bays
and creeks by which the coast of Ireland is indented.
It is indeed lamentable to find such culpable careless-
ness on the part of an almost starving population.
Something,'we trust, may speedily be done to stimu-
late their energies, and to make the Irish fisheries a
source of national wealth. " The State Prosecutions,"
the concluding article, is strongly tinctured by
political predilections. Although we must dissent

'rom the censure passed on the Government and the
Roman Catholics as a body, we cordially concur in

thinking that Mitchel was the real leader of the in-
surrectionary movement in Ireland, and that in his
case " the righteous penalty of the law honestly
Administered has, in crushing one public offender,
saved perhaps the lives and fortunes of innocent thou-
:Ands. On the whole, the number is an excellent
one, worthy of the well-established reputation of this
talented periodical.