RORY O'llORE.

Tna scene of this novel is laid in Ireland, about the time of the last rebellion. The apparent object of the work is to paint the character of the peasantry and squireens ; its latent one, to show the evils springing from Protestant ascendancy—the combination of anarchy and tyranny it produces. This, however, is accom- plished naturally and easily. The current of the story is never turned aside, or the persons forced into improbable situations to point the purpose of the writer. The worst characters have no romantic traits about them—no melodramatic aspirations after liberty to redeem their profligacy and coarseness. The best are such as might be expected from a degraded caste smarting under Intolerable wrong and oppression. They are serfs, dashed with the feelings of serfs ; and though ready to peril their lives, and those of their clearest connexions, in any enterprise which pro- mises them a chance of redress, yet they embark in it with a full perception of its dangers, whilst their hopes of its success are manly, and they scarcely think of the benefits it might produce even should it succeed. Rory O'More, in short, is a tale involving misgovernment and petty tyranny, simply because it is a tale of Irish life ; and they both seem so closely in- terwoven with its social state, that a description of one is necessarily a description of all. If it were not for this per- fect and unforced truth, we should consider Rory O'More as likely to be one of the most effective appeals that has been made to England for "justice to Ireland," as well as the best excuse for the provincial policy and blindfold submission of O'CONNELL to the Ministry ; but, such is the humour of the delineation, that the unreflective reader will be apt to consider social evils as natural to Ireland as flaying to eels.

The story consists of the adventures of Rory O'More, in con

- neaten with those of De Lacy, an ardent young Irishman, who has been educated abroad, and holds a commission in the Republican armies of France, whence he has been despatched to England and Ireland on a confidential mission in reference to the expedition that was to have sailed under Hocns. Of course there is some love, some politics, and some public events; but not so many of the latter as might have been expected. The incidents are in keeping with the condition of the characters; and principally em- brace several powerful scenes with smugglers and United Irish- men—an Irish fair when mischief is brewing—several instances of insolence and tyranny by Ascendancy Magistrates—an attack of soldiers upon outlying rebels—and a truly Irish trial for mur- der. where a jury of "the right way of thinking" find the pri- soner guilty, though the person alleged to have been murdered is produced before them. It is not however in the contrivance of the story, or in the nature of the incidents, that the excellence of Rory °More consists, but in the force, truth, and nature of the characters and the dialogue. Both of these are so admirably humorous and characteristic, that the commonest occurreace is rendered interesting, either in solilo- quy or conversation ; and even the most serious are relieved by that dash of fun which Irishmen unconsciously interweave with the most solemn matters. This very high praise, however, must chiefly he limited to Irish or foreign life : in English characters Mr. LOVER is not quite so successful—perhaps because there is less raciness and breadth in the thing itself. As it is our object to point attention to what Orangeism was in the day of its glory and what in spirit it. still is, and would show itself if it had the power, we will take our extract from a display of imperatorial justice by Captain Slink of Slinkstown ; a capital portrait of a bull) ing, cowardly, yeomanry captain,— though, as a general representation of the class, apparently over- done in the article of fear. The following incident occurs after the repulse of a detachment of King's troops in a mountain fastness, whither they had gone to arrest a man, and where the yeomanry cavalry could not or would not follow. The infantry had fallen into an ambuscade, and their captain with a considerable part of his men had been killed : the surviving officer appeals in vain to Captain Slink to support him, or even bassist in carrying off Cap- tain Daw's body : the latter feat, however is performed by the remnant of the " sale " soldiers ; and they are now on their return,—the valorous Justice having thrown a peasant's load of corn into the road, and seized upon the ear to carry the Captain's body.

The car having been thus appropriated, the party moved onward ; and the Lieutenant's moodiness having increased, the Juice addressed him ill a cheer- ing tone: " Conic, Sir, don't be (limn-hearted ; 'tis a sad sight, to he sure, to see your comrade going home stiff; but at the seine time, Lieutenant, remem- ber promotion is the life and soul of the army, and this will be a step for you."

Such a remark, with the dead body of his fallen e sue before him, was so disgusting, that the soldier made no reply, rather than the one which his feel- ings would have prompted ; so the Justice proceeded : Very natural ; of course you'd be sorry for a brother officer ; you'd miss him at mess to-day. By the by, the last time I saw him at dinner was at Slinkstown ; lie had his legs under my mahogany last week, poor fellow ; it's oak they'll be under next." With a running tire of such sentimental conversation did the noble Captain pet secute the Lieutenant on their march ; cued, whelk his sentiment became ex- liaueted, he took a turn on military afftirs.

" By the by, in the midst of our engagement, I forgot to ask you exactly bow this d—d affair took place to. day. Stiange mistake of poor Daw to let himself be trapped : an ambuscade, you *ay ?"

" Yes."

" All, no good military man ever gets into an ambuscade : as my friend Captain Skutry used to say, • The moment you Sc, your enemy in an ambush, have nothing to do with bun.' Boor Daw ! very rash."

" Ile certainly was not a coward," said the Lieutenant, in a tone that might have touched a nicer sense of bearing thou Captain Slink's; " and its for 'his imprudence in this affair, the blame is very much lessened, when we remember he was led into the snare by the very person on whom he relied for guidance."

" How do you mean ?" " I mean that olri scoundrel, in advance there among my men, led us into the trap." " You don't mean to say the tinkering vagabon' played false ? "

0 I do, though." " My dear Sir, why didn't you tell me this before ? " Then, raising his tone to the pitch of military co llllll and, he cried " Halt ! " The party obeyed. " Why didn't you tell Inc this sooner, and I would kave hanged the old villain on the spot ? however, we can du it now. I say you old scoundrel!" cried he to Solomon; " cmne here, you d—d rebel ! you treacherous tinkering traitor !'

Solomon looked round in much alarm at the tone of this address ; and when he saw the menacing actions which accompanied the words, his heart sank with- in him.

" Get that rope ready," said the Justice pointing to the one which bad Ile. cured the load of corn to the car.

The Lieutenant, though admitting the substantial justice of the sentence, remonstrates against this summary proceeding, and suggests a court-martial as the more regular course : but in vain. He then

As the last argument, represented there was no place whereon to hang the old man, as the Justice would have it so ; but to this Captain Slink replied, " That's all you know about it. Now I'll give you a lesson in banging may In useful to you yet, if you're in a hurry, as I 1/111 now, to get rid of a rebel."

" I'm no rebel : the God that hears me ktitavs I never was a rebel ;" fah tered the old tinker : and it was one of the few truths he had ever uttered.

" Unyoke that car," said Justice Slink ; take the Captain's body off and lay it beside the ditch till we finish this business. Do your duty, Seroggins," said he to the trumpeter of his troop, who was a tutlianly dependent IA his; and, nothing loth, the gentle Scroggies whipped the noose of the car-rope round the withered neck of old Solomon, who screamed as he felt his he withio the loop.

" Turn up the car," said the Justice.

The vehicle was thrown back on its end, and the shafts thus became suffi- ciently elevated to give a purchase for the fatal rope across the back-hind; and as the coward Captain cried, " Away with him ! " the unfortunate tinker was dragged screaming to the impromptu gallows, and his cr ies were only smothered in the writhing twirl with which he swung upwards to his death.

The yeomanry corps gave a eliout; but the soldiers looked on in silence, and the Lieutenant in disgust.

" It will be soon over," said Justice Slink, "and then you can have the car again for the conveyance of the Captain " " Sir," said the Lieutenant indignantly ; "pour yaliows shall never be the resting-place of a soldier. Take up the Captain, boys," added he to his men ; from which the purple grapes hang in clusters, is beautiful ; and thisilil ' who obeyed at the word, and, glad to escape from the scene of atrocity, which we have seen most of the persons before, we are glad to meet with was enacting, they turned from the yeomanry in the midst of their gibbeting glory, and gladly heard the word " March !" from the Lieutenant. them again in such a gay scene and so gracefully grouped. By the teeis 4, That fellow's disaffected, though he wears the King's cloth," said Slink, the execution of this picture is rather hard.

pointing after the Lieutenant when he war, out of hearing; " and, by God, I'll JOSEPH NAS1I has several designs showing pictorial skill am report him to the commanding officer." surprising power and richness of colouring, but a want of vitant, " It would be only right," was answered by several of the corps. in the dramatis personar that is fatal to the interest. " King Lea;

s, Things are come to a pretty pass, indeed, when we are to be left unsup- in the Storm " (190), is another version of Wear's, melodramatic ported by the military in the discharge of our duty, and endeavouring to pacify picture of the same subject ; " Falstaff, Bardolph, and Hostess; the country." (46), is a failure in point of character ; and in " Taming the " How d—d bard that old rascal's dying; your hand's out, Scroggias, to- Shrew " (218), Petruchio's passion is real, while Katharine looks like a day.. " He's a tough old thief," said Scroggius. faces are dragged into forced expressions of terror and surprise, u is a Give him another pull, or he'll keep us here all day," said the Justice ; SMIRKE'S pictures. The two scenes from Woodstock (211 ape " and it's beginning to rain, and there's no fun in getting wet to see a tinker

hanging. D—n him ! lie will never die? better finish him at once, and 24), are less defective in character, but the figures are "still life • ride home. Stand aside, Scroggins," added the Captain, as he drew a pistol In the one where the chaplain is reading prayers to old Sir Iles; from his holster ; we can't wait till he's dead, and we mustn't leave unfinished Lee and his daughter, this fixedness of look and posture is less objets. work behind us." And levelling his pistol as he spoke, he fired at the still- tionable, but it is equally apparent. The painting of this pictnre ad writhing body of the old man, whose mortal agonies terminated with the short of the Lear looks like oil, or a bastard material between oil and water

muscular jerk which the bullet of Justice Slink produced as it passed through colour, partaking of the defects of both. The effect is hot and ear. a vital part, and down dropped the legs of the suspended victim in the rigidness ing : the transparent freshness of water colours is lost : we prefer the

of death. purer medium of Nests's other pictures, where he has shown the at.