courage and their fortitude. The fortitude displayed by Morrogh determined Carolus and Conmaol, two Danes of distinction, to attack in conjunction this prince, and both fell by his sword. It was observed, that he, with other chiefs, had retired from the battle more than once, and after each return seemed to be possessed of redoubled' force. It was to slake their thirst and cool their hands, swelled with the use of the sword and battle-axe, in an adjoining brook, over which a small guard was placed, and this the Danes soon destroyed. On rejoining his troops the last time, Sitric-Mac-Lodair, with a body of Danes, was making a fresh attack on the Dalgais-him Morrogh singled out, and with a blow of his battle-axe divided his body in two through his armour! The other Irish commanders in like manner distinguished themselves, though their exploits are not so particularly narrated; and it would seem, from the number of prime nobility that fell on both sides, that, besides its being a general battle, the chiefs on each side every where singled out each other to single combat.

The courage of the Irish was not to be subdued. Till near four o'clock in the afternoon did the issue of the day remain doubtful, and then it was that they made so general an attack upon the enemy that its force was not to be resisted. Destitute of leaders, and of course of order, the Danes gave way on every side. Morrogh, at this time, through the uncommon use and exertion of the sword arm, had both his hand and arm so swelled and pained as to be unable to lift them up. In this condition he was assailed sword in hand, by Henry, a Danish prince; but Morrogh, closing in upon him, seized him with the lefthand, shook him out of his coat of mail, and prostrating him, pierced his body with his sword by forcing its pummel on his breast, and pressing the weight of his body on it. In this dying situation of Henry, he nevertheless seized the dagger which hung by Morrogh's side, and with it gave him, at the same instant, a mortal wound. The Dane

expired on the spot, but Morrogh lived till next morning, employing the intermediate time in acts of piety and devotion; in making, says my manuscript, a general confession, receiving the eucharist, and dying as a hero and a christian should die.

The confusion became general through the Danish army, and they fled on every side. Corcoran, one of the monarch's aides-de-camp, seeing the standard of Morrogh struck, for this notified the fall of the chief, and in the general déroute unable to distinguish friend from foe, concluded that the imperial army was defeated. He hastily entered the tent of Brien, who was on his knees before a crucifix, and requested he would immediately mount his horse and escape, for all was lost. "Do you," said the hero," and my other attendants fly. It was to conquer or die I came here, and my enemies shall not boast the killing of me by inglorious wounds." So saying, he seized his sword and battle-axe, his constant companions in war, and resolutely waited the event. In the general confusion, Brodar and a few of his followers entered the royal tent. He was armed from head to foot, and yet the gallant old chief pierced his body through his coat of mail! two more of his attendants met the same fate, and Brien received his death by a fourth.

The intrepid Sitric, Prince of Ulster, the faithful companion of Brien in all his wars, was witness to the death of Morrogh, and revenged it by that of Plait, a Danish knight of great intrepidity, and by others of less note. Eagerly pursuing Brodar and his party, he saw them enter the tent of Brien, and cut to pieces the remains of them. But when he beheld the aged monarch extended on the ground his grief was extreme. He threw himself on the dead body, the many wounds he had received in the battle burst forth afresh-he refused every assistance, and expired in the arms of his friend and faithful ally.

Thus fell the immortal Brien, one of the most uniformly perfect characters that history can produce. In twenty

five different rencontres, and twenty-nine pitched battles, did he engage his Danish and other enemies, and victory always attended his standard! But if he was terrible to his enemies in the field, he was mild and merciful to them in the cabinet, and, during his whole reign, a single act of cruelty or injustice cannot be laid to his charge."

We intended here to have concluded this sketch of Brien, but the following poetic effusion from the pen of Moore claimed its insertion:

:

I.

Remember the glories of Brien the brave,
Though the days of the hero are o'er,
Though lost to Mononia *, and cold in the grave,
He returns to Kinkora + no more!

That star of the field, which so often has pour'd
Its beam on the battle is set,

But enough of its glory remains on each sword,
To light us to victory yet.

II.

Mononia! when nature embellish'd the tint

Of thy fields, and thy mountains so fair,
Did she ever intend that a tyrant should print
The footstep of slavery there?

No, freedom whose smile we shall never resign,

Go, tell our invaders the Danes,

That 'tis sweeter to bleed for an age at thy shrine,

Than to sleep but a moment in chains.

III.

Forget not our wounded companions +, who stood

In the day of distress by our side,

While the moss of the valley grew red with their blood,

They stirr'd not, but conquer'd and died:

The sun, that now blesses or arms with his light,

Saw them fall upon Ossory's plain :

Oh! let him not blush, when he leaves us to night,

To find that they fell there in vain!

* Munster.

+ The palace of Brien.

This alludes to an interesting circumstance related of the Dalgais, the favourite troops of Brien, when they were interrupted in their return from the battle of Clontarf, by Fitzpatrick Prince of Ossory. The wounded men entreated that they might be allowed to fight with the rest :-" Let

DR. EDMUND BORLASE.

Or this skilful physician and celebrated historian so few particulars are known, that we should have been inclined to have passed him over in silence, had not his interesting account of the great rebellion in 1641, claimed our peculiar notice. He was the son of Sir John Borlase, master of the ordnance, and one of the lords justices of Ireland. He was born in Dublin, and received his education in the university of that city, and afterwards travelled to Leyden, his inclination for medicine leading him to prefer finishing his studies at that place, which was then the best school to acquire a knowledge of that art. He remained there for some years, and took his degree as doctor of physic in 1650, soon after which he returned to England, and was admitted to the same degree at Oxford. At length he settled at Chester, where he continued till his death in 1682, practising his profession with great reputation and success. The following may be enumerated among his productions; "Latham Spaw in Lancashire; with some remarkable Cases and Cures effected by it," London, 1670, dedicated to Charles, Earl of Derby. "The Reduction of Ireland to the Crown of England; with the Governors, since the Conquest by king Henry II. anno 1172, and some Passages in their Government. A brief Account of the Rebellion Ann. Dom. 1641. Also the Original of the University of Dublin, and the College of Physicians." "Brief Reflections on the Earl of Castlehaven's Memoirs of his Engagement and Carriage in the War of Ireland. By which the Government of that time, and the Justice of the Crown since, are vindicated from

stakes," (they said) " be stuck in the ground; and suffer each of us, tied to and supported by one of these stakes, to be placed in his rank by the side of a sound man."—" Between seven and eight hundred wounded men,” (adds O'Halloran)" pale, emaciated, and supported in this manner, appeared mixed with the foremost of the troops!-Never was such another sight exhibited." History of Ireland, book xii, ch. 1.

Aspersions cast upon both." And lastly, his most extensive and celebrated work, "The History of the execrable Irish Rebellion, traced from many preceding Acts to the Grand Eruption, October 23, 1641; and thence pursued to the Act of Settlement 1672." Wood informs us that much of this is taken from "The Irish Rebellion; or, the History of the beginning and first Progress of the General Rebellion raised within the Kingdom of Ireland, October, 23, 1641," which was written by Sir John Temple, master of the rolls, and one of his majesty's privy council in Ireland, and father of the celebrated Sir William Temple.

The following observations on this work are by Dr. Nalson, who says, "That besides the nearness of his relation to one of the lords justices, and his being avowedly a favourer of the faction, men, and actions of those times, he is an author of such strange inconsistency, that his book is rather a paradox than a history. And it must needs be so; for I know not by what accident the copy of a MS. written by the Earl of Clarendon, happening to fall into his hands, he has very unartfully blended it with his own rough and unpolished heap of matter; so that his book looks like a curious embroidery, sowed with coarse thread upon a piece of sackcloth. And truly had he no other crime than that of a plagiary, it is such a sort of theft to steal the child of another's brain, that may well render him suspected not to be overstocked with honesty and justice, so necessary to the reputation of an unblemished historian; but it is far more unpardonable to castrate the lawful issue of another man's pen, and thereby disable it from propagating truth, and to teach it to speak a language which the parent never intended. And yet this is the exact case of Dr. Borlase's history, in which he has taken great pains to expunge some, and alter many passages, which he thought were too poignant against his favourites, or spoke too much in vindication of his late majesty and his ministers!"