any undue influence, any formidable authority at the disposal of the priest, grant the question of emancipation, and it will disappear for ever. Restore the Catholics to their civil liberties, and, like all other sects, they will look on their clergy but according to their deserts; and they will be equally prone to regard them as claimants on their purse, and as restraints on the freedom of their actions. Those persons, moreover, are much mistaken who consider the priests as the mainsprings of the recent movement. True it is, that publicly from the altar they have declared to the people the friends of their rights, and denounced the enemies of their emancipation. True it is, they have exhorted the freeholder in the street; and in the polling-booth, where they could not raise their voice, they have imposed on him by the terror of their eye; but in this the priests were but the subaltern and subordinate agents, puppets in the hands of circumstance, a link in the chain of causation. In Waterford, where the triumph over the landlord was the most complete, and where the effervescence of popular feeling was the most violent, many causes conspired to produce the result. The Catholics in that county are rich and enlightened; the liberal Protestants wealthy and influential. A young, a rich, an eloquent, and a noble candidate, called the party to battle. Frequent meetings of the Catholic body had given a loud and an angry expression to the sense of injury, and roused a patriotic and a religious spirit among the people. That the priests partook of this spirit, that they abused, in the excitement of the moment, their spiritual influence to electioneering purposes (if, indeed, such was the case), has nothing in it extraordinary or alarming, nothing which ought to disturb the tranquillity of the most timid. The movement was a national movement; and the clergy are citizens: and surely if ever a case can occur in which clerical interference in politics is justifiable, it is when religion is made the cause of oppression, the pretext and the shibboleth of an implacable and endless persecution. This conquest of national over selfish feeling, has not been made without a struggle, which, while it diminishes in no respect from the result, adds materially to the interest of the contest. The freeholders were not insensible of the vengeance which awaited their assertion of right. No effort has been spared by the landlords to maintain their long undisputed usurpations; no exertion has been wanting to raise the peasant to a sense of his duty to the public and to his religion. The internal struggle of the half-starved tenant, pressed on the one hand by his desire for emancipation, and on the other, harassed by the threats of agents, the prospect of ruin, and the tears of a supplicating wife and children, was painful and protracted; and not even the pencil of Hogarth could render such a struggle ridiculous, by all the circumstance which his accumulative ingenuity could throw into his groupings, when the cause at issue is a nation's emancipation, and the right of every man to worship God, each according to the dictates of his own conscience. Vast, however, as were the interests at stake, the issue was not long doubtful. The rich and populous county of Waterford was carried by storm; and the power of the Beresfords, whose will in Ireland was long its law, was prostrated before the energies of the people, as the idol Dagon fell before the ark of the living God. In the whole county, their candidate did not poll half the number of their own

personal freeholders. In Westmeath, the result was not less striking. In Armagh, the strong hold of the high church and the power of Orangeism, the party were unable to shake Brownlow in his seat; though every nerve was strained, to punish his abandonment of its factious ways. In Louth, one Orange candidate was driven from the hustings, and the other, Leslie Foster, the most powerful of the landed proprietors, saved his election by a majority of five, through the courtesy and forbearance of the Catholics. In Monaghan, the result was equally decided: and if in Dublin, the triumph of the emancipators was less marked, if the election of White and Talbot was for a minute in doubt, the circumstance is explained, by a misplaced security, and the total inapprehension of a contest.

But the absolute increase of strength to the Catholic party, in the new Parliament, is the least part of the victory thus gained. The majority of the county members was before favourable to emancipation : but for the future, it may be anticipated, that no candidate will present himself, without being ready to pledge himself to emancipation. Even Leslie Foster, the calculating Leslie Foster, who proves ascendency by A+B-X, will discover before the death of the present Parliament, reasons for advocating the Catholic claims. But what is of infinitely more importance, the Irish constituentcy, from having been the most corrupt and servile, has suddenly shown itself the most independent and unmanageable body of the entire empire. A single tenant may be displaced; but a whole tenantry cannot be removed from their holdings. This secret has transpired, and the oligarchy of landlords is no more. To recover their influence, the proprietors of the soil must "Stoop to conquer." To rule their tenantry, they must rule for the advantage of all. They must abandon their fanatical prejudices, or they must surrender their places; they must give up their supremacy over the consciences of the Catholics, or they will not be left with political influence to make a single tide-waiter. In the mean time, the example is dangerous, the disease catching, and it is impossible that the ministry can behold such a condition of things with indifference. To disfranchise the rebels cannot now be attempted; "once warned forearmed;" and to disturb them in this moment of their popularity, is folly to conceive, and impossible to effect. Their claims, therefore, must be heard, the ministerial majorities in the House of Commons are at issue; and will ye, nil ye, Messrs. Peel, Eldon, &c. must submit. Thus then it is, that the Catholic Association, maugre all opposition, has effected its purpose. It has said, "Let there be light," and there is not a cabin in Ireland, from which the darkness of political ignorance has not been dispelled.

sources.

HINDOO COMIC STORIES.

M. DE SACY has traced the migration of the Fables of Vichnou Sarma (Pilpay) from India, through the various nations of Europe: and we suspect that most of the stories which have delighted our childhood, whether under the name of Arabian, Persian, or Turkish Tales, are derived from Indian Whatever may be urged against their invention of chess and decimal scale, nobody we suppose will dispute the right of the Hindoos to be regarded as the first inventors of apologue, or the possessors of the oldest and most numerous collections of domestic stories in existence. The well-known "Tutti-Namah" (Tales of the Parrot) have a Sanscrit original, and many of the tales in the Bahar Danush, the Persian Tales, and the additional volume of the Arabian Nights, translated by Dr. Scott, have been shown by a learned and ingenious writer in the Calcutta "Quarterly Magazine," to be mere rifacimenti of some Hindoo stories of which he has given translations. In the tales to which we have alluded, we perpetually discover the sources to which European, as well as Oriental conteurs have been indebted; and find not only the springs that nourished the luxuriant harvest of invention which sprung up in Europe on the revival of letters, but the apparent origin of many of the classical fictions. The Indian elephant filled with armed men, is the prototype of the Trojan horse. The huge birds of the Sanscrit tales, the Roc of the Arabians, is evidently the Phoenix of the Greeks, as well as the Griffin of chivalry. Not only are the Fabliaux traccable to Indian stories, but even Bondello and Boccaccio have borrowed from them some of their most diverting incidents. Not only are Queen Margaret of Navarre's Pentameron, the Gesta Romanorum, and the Disciplina Clericalis, largely indebted to the Sanscrit tales for some of their most amusing inventions, but even those stories which we reckon eminently English-Whittington and his Cat, for example-are derived from the same sources. The romantic tale of Edgar and Elfrida, which Hume has elevated into a historical fact, has been proved by Dr. Lingard to be a fiction of Gulielmus Malmsburiensis, and to have been taken by him from an old ballad, of which all the incidents exist in a Sanscrit story. It is sometimes curious to trace the changes which a fiction has undergone in its transmission through many ages and nations. In an old Sanscrit tale, the hero and heroine are each presented with a red letter which is to fade when either becomes inconstant. The red lotus in the old romance of "Perceforest," and in Wieland's "Oberon," is a rose-in Amadis of Gaul, a garland-in "Des Contes à rire," another flower-and in Spenser the girdle of Florimel. In some old romances, (Tristan, Perceval, and La Mort d'Arthur) the test is a cup of red wine-as in Ariosto, and in La FonBut we have already, we think, bestowed taine who has copied him. "leave our enough of learning and tediousness on our readers, who are of course desirous that we should now, as Hamlet says, (or should have said) damnable prefaces, and begin" with our Hindoo Comic Stories. The truth is, that the first sentence of our article, touching the migrations of the Fables of Pilpay, (from the Abbé Dubois's translation, of which we have borrowed whatever is amusing in the present paper) suggested to us the preceding reflections on the migration of their fictions in general, which we now beg leave to conclude, and proceed to business.

crous.

Among the Hindoo comic stories at the end of the volume of which we have spoken, the adventures of the Gourout Paramarta are eminently ludiParamarta is a sort of Indian Abraham Adams, without the sense or the learning which that inimitable creation of Fielding's wit always possesses, and sometimes chooses to display. His disciples, however, are at once profoundly stupid and malignant, and the disagreeable accidents which their superior perpetually encounters in consequence of their malice and their

* Le Pantcha Tantra, &c. Traduit par M. l'Abbé Dubois. Eve. Paris, 1826. + Indian priest./

ignorance, make the subject of the story. There is a grotesque exaggeration of absurdity about the personages in this comic tale which sometimes reminds us of Rabelais; while the whimsical misfortunes of the worthy Gourou resemble in character those which befall Don Quixote. We must contrive to condense more than a hundred folios of the Abbé Dubois into three or four of our more crowded pages.

The Adventures of the Gourou Paramarta.

THERE was formerly a gourou called Paramarta*, who had five stupid disciples. One day as the gourou was visiting his district, he and his disciples arrived at a river, which they were about to cross, when Paramarta cautioned them not to advance until they should have ascertained whether the river was asleep or awake, as many tragic accidents had befallen those who had ventured to ford the stream when it was not in a state of slumber. One of the disciples, called Stupid, was sent forward to reconnoitre. He approached the stream cautiously, and thrusting in the lighted match of his cheeroot+ was alarmed to find the water bubble and hiss furiously. Alarmed at these phenomena, he hastened back to his master and brethren, who determined to repose themselves in the shade till the river should sink into sleep. After a long delay, the party saw a man on horseback cross the river without difficulty, and Stupid was again sent to the water-side to make his experiments in natural philosophy a second time. This wise disciple, taking the same match which the water had already extinguished, plunged it into the stream; and as no hissing followed, he concluded that the river was asleep for the nonce. Paramarta and his disciples then crossed the river; but when they arrived on the other side, one of them, named Idiot, took it into his head to count the party lest any of them should have been drowned; but he forgot to count himself. Alarmed at the result of his profound calculation, he recommenced it; but could still only make out five persons. He counted again and again; but as he still omitted himself in his reckoning, he was convinced that one of the number had been drowned in crossing the river.

This belief was shared by Paramarta and the other disciples, who, after uttering the loudest lamentations, began to pour forth curses against the devouring river, and prayed with peculiar energy that its waters might be set on fire. A traveller happening to pass that way, and witnessing this scene, asked them for an explanation of it; and the gourous detailed the affair at full length. The traveller secing their excessive stupidity, and being resolved to take advantage of it, professed to be a sorcerer, and offered for an adequate reward to restore, by his charms, the defunct to life. Paramarta assured him that he only possessed forty fanous of gold, but offered him that sum on condition of restoring the lost member of their society to life. The pretended magician observed that the sum was very disproportionate to the service required; but that, under all the circumstances, he would accept Paramarta's offer. He then showed the group a huge stick which he held in his hand:-" All iny magic power," said he, "lies in this stick; and it is from the end of this enchanted wand that the missing number must spring. You must range yourselves in a line, and each of you must allow me to apply a good blow with this stick upon his shoulders. On receiving the stroke, each must call out his name: at the same time I will count your number; and finally there will appear on the scene six persons-the number which there was before you crossed the river." He then made them stand in a line; and beginning with the gourou, he discharged on his shoulders a stiff blow with his magic wand. Gently," cried the patient, "it is 1-the gourou Paramarta."

"One," said the magician. Then giving Stupid a still harder blow on the back-Oh!" cried he, "my back is broken-it is I, the disciple Stupid." "Two," cried the magician; and continuing to apply smart strokes on the shoulders of the next three, he arrived at Idiot, who had made the erroneous

calculation. The sorcerer, giving him a heavy blow which laid him flat on the ground-" There," said he, "is the sixth-that is the lost one, whom I restore to you in perfect health." Paramarta and his disciples, fully convinced of the wonderful powers of the traveller's magic wand, paid him the forty fanous agreed on; and without testifying the slightest wish that he should repeat the calculation of their number, they thanked him, and returned to their mata (convent).

The sight of the horse, on which the traveller crossed the river, had inspired the disciples of Paramarta with a strong desire to procure one for their gourou. The cow, which supplied the convent with milk, happened one fine morning to stray, and one of the disciples, called Dunce, was despatched in search of her, but without success. However, he said that the loss of the cow was a very trißing affair in comparison with a discovery he had madethat for a small sum of money he could obtain a horse of an excellent breed. On being desired to explain himself, Dunce thus spoke :-" In looking for the cow, I had occasion to cross a tank, on the banks of which some mares and foals were quietly grazing. I there saw a great number of heavy round masses of a greenish colour*, so large that one was a sufficient load for a man. After gazing on them for some time, I inquired of a labourer what they were? "What!" exclaimed he, as if surprised at my ignorance, " don't you know a thing so common? These are mare's eggs!"—" Are they for sale, and what is the price of them?" I eagerly asked." They are not mine," replied he; but I can tell you that they are generally sold at five pagodast apiece; and if you like I will use my interest with the proprietor to let you have one of the largest at that price."-" Now," cried Dunce, in conclusion, "here is a fine opportunity for you to get a capital horse, which, as you have him in the egg, you can bring up to be very quiet."

་་

The account of Dunce was listened to by the disciples with applause. Paramarta having given him five pagodas, despatched him for an egg. On arriving at the tank, Dunce was rejoiced to find that the eggs were still there; and accosting the proprietor, he asked for one of the largest. "Ah!" cried the proprietor, "are you aware that my eggs are of a very peculiar quality, and that I sell them very dear?"-" Oh!" replied Dunce, “it is not the first time in my life that I have bargained for mare's eggs. I know the price of them well; they are sold every where at five pagodas apiece."-" Five pagodas!" rejoined the proprietor; "I sell them in general infinitely dearer : however as you seem to be an honest fellow, I'll let you have one at that price; but you must keep the matter a profound secret, for I should be ruined if it were ever known that I sold them so cheap."

Dunce having promised inviolable secrecy, was allowed to carry off one of the largest pumpkins, which with great difficulty he lifted on his head. He then hastened homewards, but in passing under a tree, the branches of which descended very low, he forgot to stoop, and the pumpkin striking against a bough, Dunce lost his balance and fell on one side, while the pumpkin falling on the other, split into pieces. A hare, which happened to be lurking in a bush near which the pumpkin fell, frightened by the noise, scudded off instantly; and Dunce, seeing the egg split and the hare run at the same moment, cried out, "Ah, there goes the little horse, which has broken its shell. I must pursue him."

Regardless of the thorns which covered the country over which the hare had run, Dunce followed in ardent chase, till at last his failing strength, his legs torn by briers, his feet wounded by the pebbles, and his clothes torn in pieces, obliged him to give up the pursuit. On returning to the convent in this state, and moreover fasting, he was thus consoled by the gourou: "It is true, I have lost five pagodas, but I don't regret it; for as you say the little horse was so restive when young, what must he have been when he got his