The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-04-26

Set :. :ae "a. q she Netteryille's glory.
HosTse in our sseuish W. whisper the stosS.
And men, - tSsy Astss, like wousen arc Mailing
Voc! woo 70 u.-woe! shall SO him NO mere:
o.; :sss. ss the ..ps q sowins
Alone to his exile Of sorrow Is going.
"Alone mot alone! for our dastardly foemen-
A. G atS e esse in The day Of their power
USroeted the tree, and then tramplea the flower
ss.! q ::a.sss
rfs e. I'd .s 4 y
%stn M TO- s s.hs tsy aax
widowed and childless-two-fod is thy sorrow
We'll may We mourn her--when We, too. depore her
it. Scoa sheu her
Restore her to thee and thy loving embrace.
Yet not for her only, or thee. weeping:
Which n b oSt from sr aas sns oh
Till it looks us if Redeemed and rusted by rain ling
oh! when shall a leader to true hearts be given,
nd a on a ,hn STR % and iorfs to
And Erin stand up in her strength. and he free!"
line of minstrels who, with harp and voice,
had recorded the triumphs of the house of
Netterville, or mourned over the death or
sOrrOw of its chieftains. For, in spite of
the law by which it was strictly forbidden,
the English of the Pale had persisted in the
national custom of keeping a bard or min
strel-whose office was always, or almost
always, ereditary-attachedt to their house,
holds and, in its palmy days of power,
the family of Netterville was far too Jealous
of its own Importance not to have been
always provided with d similar appendage.
Its last recognized minstrel had fallen, how
ever, in the same battle which had deprived
Nellie of her father, and, Hamish being then
too young to take up his fathers Office, the
harp had, ever since, literally, as we'll as fig
uratively, hung mute and unstrilng i'll the
halls of NetterviIle. But grief and indigna-
ton over it's utter ruin had unlocked at last
the tide of poetry and song, ever ready to
flow over in the Celtic breast, and Hamish
felt himself changed into a bard upon the
spot. Forgetting the presence of the Eng
lish soldiers, or, more probably, exulting in
his feelings, he stepped out into the midst
of the people, pouring forth his lamenta-
tions, stlnZ;l after stanza with all the readl-
ness and fire of a born improrisatorc and
when at last he paused, more for want of
breath than want of matter, the keencrs
took up the tale, and told, in their wild,
wailing chant, of the goodness and great
ness, the glory and honor of their departed
chieftain and his heiress, precisely as they
would have done had the twain over whom
they were lainenting been that very day
deposited in their graves. Up to this mo-
ment, Mrs. Netterville had preserved, in II
marvellous degree, that statue-like calmness
of outward bearing which hid, and even at
times belied, the workings of a heart full of
generous emotions; but the wild wailing of
the keeners broke down the artificial re-
straint she had put upon her conduct, and,
unable to listen quietly to what seemed to
her ears u positive prophecy of death to her
beloved ones, she hastily re-entered the
house and retreated to her own apartment.
This was small, dark chamber, which, in
happier times, had been set apart as quiet
retreat for prayer and household purposes,
but which now was the only one the mis-
tress of the house could call her own-the
soldiers having, that very morning, taken
possession of all the others, devoting some
of them to their own particular accommoda-
ton, and locking up the others. 1t was, in
fact, as a very singular and especial favor,
and Us some return for the kindness she had
shown in nursing one of their number, who
had been taken suddenly ill, on the night of
their arrival, that the use even of this small |
chamber had been allowed her; for it was
not the custom of CrOmwell's army to deal
too gently by the vanquished, and many of
the 90 transplanted," as hign-born and edu-
Gated as she was, had been compelled, in
similar circumstances, to retire to the outer
offices of their own abode, while the rough
soldiery who displaced them installed them
selves in the luxurious apartments of the
Hidden from all curious eyes in this dark
retreat, Mrs. Netterville yielded at last to
the cry of her weak human heart, and,
hlnglnS herself face downward on the floor,
gave way to a passion of grief, which was
all the more terrible that it was absolutely
fearless. One OF two of tie few remaining