Mr. Moore, it seems, is an
Irishman, and, we believe, a Roman Catholic; he appears to be, at least
in his poetry, no great friend to the connexion of Ireland with England.
One or two of his ditties are quoted in Ireland as _laments_ upon
certain worthy persons whose lives were terminated by the hand of the
law, in some of the unfortunate disturbances which have afflicted that
country; and one of his most admired songs begins with a stanza, which
we hope the Attorney-General will pardon us for quoting:
"Let Erin remember the days of old,
Ere her _faithless sons betrayed her_,
When Malachy wore the collar of gold,
Which he won from her proud Invader;
When her Kings, with standard of green unfurl'd,
Led the Red Branch Knights to danger,
Ere, the emerald gem of the western world,
_Was set in the crown of a Stranger_."
This will pretty well satisfy an English reader, that, if it be any
ingredient of patriotism to promote the affectionate connexion of the
English isles under the constitutional settlement made at the revolution
and at the union; and if the foregoing verses speak Mr. Moore's
sentiments, he has the same claims to the name of "_patriot_" that Lord
Byron has to the title of "trustworthy;" but if these and similar verses
do not speak Mr. Moore's political sentiments, then undoubtedly he has
never written, or at least published any thing relating to public
affairs; and Lord Byron has no kind of pretence for talking of the
political character and public principles of an humble individual who is
only known as the translator of Anacreon, and the writer, composer, and
singer of certain songs, which songs do not (_ex-hypothesi_) speak the
sentiments even of the writer himself.
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