peer of Addison, whose father was private secretary to the Duke of Ormonde, it is likely also spent his early years at this school. The names now enumerated fully justify the remark of Banim, that it was after the restoration of its original charter 'this seminary rose to the height of its fame, and that young Irish noblemen and gentlemen crowded its classes for the most approved preparation for University honours. It might be called the then Eton of the sister country.' Dr. Ledwich, in his History of Kilkenny, says of the institution-This school has had a succession of eminent masters, has produced men of great learning, and is justly esteemed the first school for the education of youth in this kingdom.' The names of the masters since the Duke of Ormonde's foundation are as follow: 1670. Edward Jones, D.D. 1680. Henry Ryder, D.D. 1684. Edward Hinton, D.D. 1702. William Andrews,D.D. 1714. Edward Lewis, A.M. 1743. Thos. Hewetson, LL.D. 1776. Richard Pack, A.M. 1781. John Ellison, D.D. 1793. Antony Pack, D.D. 1810. A. O'Callaghan, A.M. 1820. William Baillie, LL.D. 1842. John Browne, LL.D. Amongst these, Dr. Edward Jones was afterwards made Bishop of Cloyne, and Dr. Ryder Bishop of Killaloe; but alas! 'tempora mutantur'—the masters are no longer made Bishops; our great men and our little men are not satisfied with education in Ireland, and the lamentable consequence, obvious to all, is an unlearned and mentally dwindled race, instead of the giants of those days when Ireland educated her own sons. The earlier portion of the Register, which I have caused to be transcribed for the library of the Society, commences with October, 1684, and ends with July, 27th, 1688; after this occurs a lacuna of nearly three years, an omission which is explained by the heading prefixed to the next entries, viz.-The names of such as were admitted into His Grace the Duke of Ormond's Schoole at Kilkenny since the Warre ended in Ireland in the year 1691.' The first entry of this portion is dated January 20th, 1691-2, and the series is com plete up to August 6th, 1716, from which date no entry occurs until the year 1743, from whence the Register is continued in regular series up to the present day. There are also some notices of the pupils who left the school for College, or to enter into various professions, &c., which are very curious; these entries commence with the date 1684, and end with the year 1704; since which period, with the exception of a few entrics commencing 1743, this portion of the Register has been discontinued. We learn, on the authority of Ledwich, that there formerly existed, in Primate Marsh's Library, Dublin, a book of poems, intitled 'Sacri Lusus,' by the young gentlemen of the College of Kilkenny, which, I am sorry to say, is not now to be found there. I may also mention in conclusion, that I have heard from Mr. B. Scott, sen., of this city, an interesting anecdote connecting Dean Swift's name with Kilkenny College, which is as follows:-When the old College was pulled down, Dr. Ellison was master of the school. The oak timber-work was purchased by his (Mr. Scott's) uncle, the father of the late Mr. Martin Scott, of Kilkenny, who therewith erected his tenement in High-street. After the work was finished it came to Dr. Ellison's knowledge that the name of Jonathan Swift' existed, carved in school-boy fashion, on some part of the woodwork. Anxious to obtain this treasure, Dr. Ellison obtained permission from Mr. Scott to pull down that part of the work in which the particular board had been used; but after considerable progress in the work of demolition, Mrs. Scott declared that she could no longer suffer the business of the establishment to be interrupted, and put a stop to the search. I understand that the timber-work of the house erected at that period remains, the frontage only having been re-built within a few years back. If such prove to be the case, I will use every exertion towards the recovery of this interesting relic." * * See a most interesting paper entitled "Kilkenny College." By the Rev. John Browne, LL.D., in the "Transactions of the Kilkenny Archæological Society," for the year 1851. Vol. I. Part ii. p. 221. APPENDIX II. DAMON AND PYTHIAS. To many of our readers this tragedy and its plot must be quite as little known as The Celt's Paradise; it is as follows The Senate of Syracuse chooses as its President, Philistias, a tool of Dionysius, an ambitious soldier. Dionysius directs another of his creatures, Procles, to induce the populace, by divination, to name him ruler, and he succeeds. Damocles, another tool, urges Dionysius to revenge himself upon Damon, who is a friend to the old laws of Syracuse, and a foe of the Dictator, and as the.soldiers return from storming and plundering the citadel, they encounter Damon, who, incited by a love of country, calls them "obstreperous traitors," and reproaches Procles, as— "Thou most contemptible and meanest tool, That ever tyrant used." The soldiers are about to kill Damon for this bold speaking, when his friend, the warrior Pythias, rushes in and saves him, crying Pyth. Back, on your lives! Cowards, damn'd, treacherous cowards, back, I say ! Damon. False-hearted cravens ! We are but two-my Pythias, my halved heart!-- Ye hirelings of a tyrant! dare advance A foot, or raise an arm, or bend a brow, And ye shall learn what two such arms can do Pyth. Off! Off, villains, off!-Each for the other thus, [Soldiers advance. Why, Procles, art thou not ashamed, for I To rush in coward numbers? Fie upon thee! Pro. For thy sake, Who art a warrior like ourselves, we spare him— From Agrigentum, to lift up thine arm In the defence of that long robe of peace Wherein he wraps his stern philosophy. Come, teach him better manners. Soldiers, on. Pythias has come to Syracuse for the purpose of wedding Calanthe; he informs Damon of this circumstance, and it is agreed that he shall attend the nuptials of his friend. The Senate debate as to the guilt of Dionysius, and the punishment to be inflicted for his attack on the citadel. The faction in the assembly devoted to the traitor's interests, declare that for his great services to the state on former occasions, he shall be pardoned; and proceeding yet more boldly it is proposed to the Senate, and agreed by them that he shall be King. Dionysius had surrounded the building with his most trusted soldiers; he knew that Damon would oppose his election, and this was to be the great day of his triumph. He had wrought out the triumph "In all that biting bitterness of heart Which clings, and gnaws, by inches, to its object, A thought inwoven with my inmost being." Damon had been his chiefest opponent in all his schemes, and against him were the most strict precautions taken. When the Senate are upon the point of decreeing that Dionysius shall be King, a noise is heard without the Senate-house, and Damon, having broken through the guards, rushes in and cries, referring to the proposed decree Damon. And all! are all content? A nation's rights betray'd, And all content! O slaves! O parricides ! O, by the brightest hope a just man has, I blush to look around and call you men ; What! with your own free willing hands yield up To be a garrison, a common barrack, A common guard-house, and for common cut-throats! Each to each other's necks, and drown like dogs To after ages, or at best, but float A buoyant pestilence? Can ye but dig Your own dark graves, creep into them, and die? Third S. I have not sanction'd it. Fourth S. Nor I. Fifth S. Nor I. Damon. O! thanks for these few voices! But alas ! How lonely do they sound! Do you not all Start up at once, and cry out liberty? Are you so bound in fetters of the mind, That have been grandsires; women with their children, And those old men should lift their shivering voices, And palsied hands-and those affrighted mothers |