HOWORTH'S HIBERNICA.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 203, 23 February 1877, Page 9

HOWORTH'S HIBERNICA.

11 It is particularly interesting to compare the views of Irish scenery, which, are here brought so vividly before the spectator, with the face of nature presented by New Zealand, so that we may be able to perceive how powerful are the memories and associations that belong to any given locality, and how they serve to impress upon it a distinctive character, and to give it a value and dignity which it could not otherwise own. So far as natural beauty is concerned, there, probably, can be found nothing in the world to surpass the scenery of these islands in which we dwell; but mountain and valley, lake and river, harbor and sound, when unable to influence the mind by historical remembrances, fail in a matter of vast importance, and lose immeasurably in interest. On the other hand, how much grander do the more rugged features, and how much more beautiful do the soft vales of Erin become, when we view them in connection with the men and deeds of the past, or regard them as associated with some strain of the poet, or legend that lingers in the imaginations of the peasantry ? The bold heights of .the reek, for instance, that tower above the treacherous waters of Clew Bay assume an additional dignity, if we recollect that tradition assigns them as the spot whereon the Apostle of Ireland stood when he banished all venomous creatures from the island he had newly won to the kingdom of Christ ; for, baseless though the legend niay be, still the mountain top that suggests it likewise reminds us that the holy bishop, even had he never needed to pass sentence of exile on toad or snake, had yet been empowered from on high to overcome a far worse brood than these in the Pagan superstitions, which at his preaching were replaced by the light of Gospel truth. Again, lovely though the Meeting of the Waters must have been from times primeval, who shall say that it did not take a fresh charm from the immortal verse of Moore, or that its crystal waves were not enriched when, by the magic art of the bard, they were made potent to speak to all who should thereafter look upon them of the aspirations and feelings of the human heart. Or what mind is so dull as not to perceive how much enhanced the beauties of each river-bank or mountain-side become by the venerable ruins that we find upon them, every one of which proclaims a plaintive story of the past — a story, too, which, though it always is suggestive of sorrowful recollections, is likawise not devoid of glory. For what Irishman, when he looks upon the tower-crowned summit of the Bock of Cashel, for example, and deplores the havoc wrought by tyranny and heresy conjoined, does not also rejoice that, despite of all, the faith still shines as brightly in his island as it did, when in its honor those noble buildings were erected there ; or whab son of Erin, contemplating the dismantled and crumbling walls of Holy Cross Abbey, does not recall with exultation the fact that the sacred tree, from which that ancient pile was named, is to the full as much revered at this day by the great body of his fellow-countrymen as when its remnant was enshrined within those aisles now fallen to decay, and there richly lodged, protected by gold and gems. The Hibernica we treat of affords to our subscribers a ready means of renewing their patriotic recollections. The views presented there are, as we have already said, admirably executed and remarkable for their fidelity to the features of the scenes from which they were copied, and an hour or so spent in their contemplation I cannot fail to be attended with satisfaction. In addition to which the lovers of frolic will find their tastes provided for by the dances 1 and merriment of the performing company, which continue to afford amusement, and nightly to attract large audiences, who are unanimous in their expressions of approbation at all they witness.