Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-04-05
st. PATRICk's DAY IN IRELAND.

the hG5eas eorpas, the customary cele-
brations Of St Parick's Day in the En-
eral Isle passed of quietly. And this is
not 10 be wondered at, for it is an occasion
more Of religious fesivity than political
rejoicing. It is an anniversary among
the Catholic communities Of Ireland that
awakens fond memories Of the past, fill
ing their bosoms with joyous emotions,
and elevaung their souls With aspirations
Of glory. It leads them back to the days
when the wolf-5og lay down by the harp,
when the bard and the minstrel sang the
songs OF the Gael, when her chieftaiLs
called their clansmen together on the
green swad Of Erin, when her daughters
wove gariands for the gallant and brave,
When her kings with standard OF green m
Led tbe Red Branch Knights to danger
Was sci in the crown Of a stranger
Tinctured with the grandeur Of anti
quity, with the essence Of religious pu-
rity, with q sublimity Of holiness equal
in its glowing beauty 70 a sunburst at sea,
1t is not alone a day Of fun and frolio, Of
pastime and pleasure, but pointing to
q period when the bale-fire blazed from
the tops Of her round towers, those sa-
cred mausoleuus Of the Druids. that Ike
the pyramids Of Egypt have been the
wonder Of ages, it is venerated as the
time when God sent into the world
child who was to bring glad tidings Of
Truth to the children Of Irene.
The power Of Providence in the con 4
version Of this rude, proud people, is beau 7
tifuIly exemplifed by the instrument Z
used 70 represent the Trinity St Pat T.
rick, speaking with the Irish king near I
the hall Of Tara, said 70 him " Master, 4
there Is a Being higher and greater than Z
the god Of the DrUids, q divinity Of three 7
persons in one. The king, laughing, /
asked: &" How can there be three in onee' [
The saint, STOPPING down, plucked from 4
the soil q shamrock, and showing it to /
the king, said Behold three leaves
branching from one stem, possessing the
same essence, alike arrayed in color and /
beauty. The king, smiling, replied
lam convinced,' p and taking the sham
rock from the hand Of the Saint, be
placed it in his crown as an emblem Of
Christian faith.
This incident, 50 simple and still so
grand, so child-like and yet so God-llke,
wrought the conversion Of nation that
has stood fast to its first principles Of
religious duty against the most violent
sud wicked attacks ever waged by one
people AGAINST another Worthy, then,
is the shamrock Of honor, OF reverence
and ren0Wn fifty is ittwined around the
Irish harp, fifty is it woven with the
affections Of the Irish heart The round
towers stin remain, Ike the temples Of
antiquity in Greece and Rome, to show
that the idOlatry Of Ireland has faded
away; the bale-fires have long been
eztinguished, bat the Light Of religion
and the love Of the shamrock stil re-
main.
a0n Lough Neagh's banks as the fisherman
When he clear. cold ewes declining.
He sees the round t0Wers o. Other DAYS
In tha waves beneath him shining;
Thus shan memory oiienr in dreams sublime,
Catch q glimpse ol the Gays mat are over.
T11us. sighinE. LOOK through the waves Of time Z
For llelong fadec glori1s thsy cover
This day generally draws to the Celtic
mind It's golden traditions. Every Irish ]
hillside has its tale ofchivalry; every rock =
its sIegend oflOve. The wiIdfOwer and the
oak, the rivulet and the ril, the glade
and the glen, the cave and the cove, all I
have their golden histories in the Irish 7
heart traditions that may seem cold and /.
insipid to the stranger, but TO the child Of /
Erin they are like the dew that gives
freshness 70 the rose, like the sunlight that {
enlivens The soul Of natre-tradidons I
poured into his ears by nurses and play 4
mates, fmbibed so lovingly and 80 sweetly,
like milk from the breast Of his mother Z
traditions 50 imbedded ia his heart, 50
mixed with his mind, so tempered with :
his soul, that they live with him as long j
a. he lives, and 60 with him wherever
he goes.
Hence, the first strain Of music hehears S
playing 'Patrick's Day % recalls to his G
memory the halls Of Tara, where
the Brebon laws were expounded in i
the Irish tongue; or the hill Of Hoth,
rising so majestically above the dark y
blue waters Of the bay Of Dublin; or the
Giants CaGseway, that crystallized for
nation Of basaltic columns that look as I
II they might have been used for the 9
pillars Of Paradise; or the lakes Of XIII
larney, placid and lovely az the river 4
q bliss: OF the vale of Avocas q
where birds make q chorus Ike
the music u bells; or the walls Of
Limerick, where the Irish matron stood
by her loved ones in the hour Of danger 9
or the shannon, where, a. the old song 2
says, 90 the trout and salmon play at
bagammon - or the Slsney, with It's !
castles and cottages 50 graceful and eozyi J
or the Barrow and the More, the Black Z
water and the Boyne, 50 mingied with
song and story; or the IVY b
crowned abbies that peer above a
those magnificent landscapes that MI the
mind Of the traveller with admiratiOn
and wonder. It reminds him, too, Of the v
poets Of Erin, from Ossian, the Solomon 8
Of song, to Moore, the Anacrean Of sen
timent; Of her orators, Burk, Grafton ard I
Currin, the Cicer0s Of Irish eloquenceI a
and the Catos Of Irish honor; Of her he q
roes. from Brian Boroihnle, who
swept the Danes into the sea, \.
to Patrick Sarsfeld, whose bravery de-
serves q fame bright and beautiful, sub
anse and lasting, ss that given 70 the Il
valor Of Achilles by the pen Of Homer.
But it also brings b bis mind dark
scenes Of wretchedness and cruelty, Y
shadows Of objects that urge him to n
revenge. He who loves his native u
land as he loves his life, whose early 4
associations bind his affections 10 the {
scenes Of his childhood, whose first
lessons were thelegends Of bis forefathers,
when the equestrian statue Of William l
If Nassau appears to his "mind's eye d
he feels as Tell felt when that hero Of
liberty beheid the cap Of Gesler in the
streets Of Altorf; when he sees the ruin
Of his country, her parliament gone, her
manufactures flcheds her looms idle, her /
factories as silent IS the grave, her homes Z
deserted. .herfelds lyingwaste, her gentry
becoming absentees, her aristocracy fad
ing away, her peasantEy seeking other
climes. be feels Like a lOness that has
lost her young, and with a FIRE Of mad {
ness in his heart, a wild glare ef defiance s
in his eye, a groan Of bitterness IN lla
throat, a fierce determination la hlH
head, he becomes ready 70 pounce on the {
robber, to tear out the heart Of England, J
crush her Parliament, and deFoqr her I
ministers, marrow, bones and All }
England herself has been The cause q {
this feeling with her atroclous laws, her ,
taxes. her tithes, her penal statutes. and {
her feudal system among a high-borD !