The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01


 there is in them which will make them an enduring Aart of the best English literature. If in the hall of fame Miss Edgeworth's niche is not very broad or very deep, still it is a niche of respect able size and permanently built. Her stories are good stories, well told in excellent English, and we can get from her pages knowledge of certain phases of Irish life which we can get in the writing of nobody else; "Ormond" is full of wonderful scenes of feeling, wit and humor and the character of King Corney and Sir Ulick O'Shane are won derfully drawn. Maria wrote "Ormond" during her fathers last illness, pro- ducing gay and brilliant pages while her eyes were suffused with tears, her heart filled with anxiety and her hand trembled with apprehension of the doom impending over the household. Maria Edgewood was 50 years old when she wrote "Ormond," and approaching 70 when she wrote "Helen," last of her well known novels. r T was between 10 and II o'clock at
 night when Sir Ulick oShene came \ bursting into the drawing room of Castle Hermitage with his hearty laugh and cheery voice and sang out: What. no uluSiCy no udIClHS III 0dSlle age tonight? And all the ladies sitting in formal circle petrifying into per- feet state statues" Sir Ulick was fol- lowed by what he called his rear guard" veterans of the old school of good fellows who in those days in Ire land deemed 1t essential to health, hap piness and manly character to swallow, and show themselves able to stand aft CT swallowing, a certain number of bottles of claret by day or night The gloomy circle of ladies frightened up at the entrance of Sir Ulick-he always had a way of saying something pleas ant to everybody. Lady O'Shane, how ever, mature person, widow whom Sir Ulick had married for her money in London-remarked to her spouse that: The ladies could do little else than sit in a petriied circle when the gentlemen persisted in lingering at the bottle.'
 Miss Black, Lady O'Shane's 'com panion," an acidulous old maid who pre- sided at the tea table, asked Sir Ulick if he would have some cold coffee" There was enough of difference In every way between Sir Ulick and his lady without Miss Black making mat ters worse, but making matters worse was Miss Blacks strong point, and 1t was only a lingering sense of gratitude to Lady OShane for having paid his bills when she married him that kept Sir Ulick from arranging a separation between himself and wife.
 While the revels were at their height Ornnond and Marcus arrived. And they brought with them a wounded man who had been shot by Ormond in a quarrel on the way home. The young men, heated by wine, were on their way from the Block Island to the castle, when they found their way stopped by some carts of the peasants. One Moriarty Carroll had refused 10 move aside as quickly as Marcus de- manded and Marcus had cursed him for a rebel, declared that all the Car rolls were rebels and had struck him with his whip. Ormond had raised his whip and Moriarty had grabbed it. The man refused to let go Ormond had drawn his pistol and threatened him. The pistol had gone off and Moriarty had been shot through the breast.
 Sobered and filled with sudden re- morse. Ormond had had Moriarty brought to the castle and placed in the gardeners cottage, while Marcus declared it served the scoundrel right and that he regretted the incident not a jot. Florence Annaly' was in the con servatory talking with Lady OShane when Ormond came to demand from Her Ladyship the keys of the gates so that he might bring the wounded man in. He came in secretly that way, seeing Lady Oshane there through the windows. There was blood on him, for he had helped carry the wounded Mori- arty Lady O'Shane. in panic. gave up the keys, and Ormond disappeared just as Sir Ulick. looking for his wife and Miss Annaly, came Into the conserva- tory
 Sir Ulick was man O. action. He saw that something untoward had hap pened, learned a much as Lady O'Shane could tell him, bidding the women be quiet and not alarm the guests, took them out through a French window cn to the lawn where he kept them un- til he saw his son and Ormond ap- preaching to place the wounded man i'll the gardeners cottage Florence Annaly sank down fainting upon the turf. but Lady O'Shane and Sir Ulick re- stored her and got her, by a back way, to her room The other guests of the castle knew nothing of the occurrence. Why did Florence Annaly faint when she saw Ormond covered with blood and, learned that some tragic thing had happened? Her Knowledge of Ormond was only that he was a rather wild of Sir Ulick. The two had not been es pecially intimate and nothing could have astonished either of them than to have hinted that there was anything like love existing between them No 1t was simply the excitement of the thing which had overcome Miss Annaly.
 Sir Ulick had been a rake in his day but had reformed, and was now a poli- ttcian, member of the Irish parliament, a persistent seeker after ministerial fa- vors and reputed to be the biggest "job- ber" in Ireland. Tn order to smooth his way to political preferment he had turned Protestant and really was a man of i'm portance, standing we'll with the ministry, however much the opposition might abuse him and lampoon him in their scurrilous sEeets. He had established bank, in vested in the development of mines in dif- fcrent parts of Ireland and lived royalty Dublin. It is true that the lord lieu