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“If there is one heir-loom I prize more than another,” said Lord Belfast, “it is the dedication of the ‘Irish Melodies’ to an ancestress of mine, and the beautiful letter on music which Moore addressed to the same Lady Donegal.”—Lectures on the Poets and Poetry of the Nineteenth Century. By the Earl of Belfast. London: Longmans. 1852.

The latter words are quoted from the Earl of Belfast's Dedication of his Lectures to the Earl of Carlisle.

The rare virtues and accomplishments of this lamented young nobleman; his active exertions in promoting and encouraging a taste for literature and art, particularly in the town from which he derived his title; and his early death in a foreign land, awakened so many feelings of sorrow and respect for his memory, and of sympathy with those who in a nearer and dearer relation had lost him, that it was found impossible to avoid giving them expression in some conspicuous and lasting form. A public statue was determined on, and the work was intrusted to Mr. Macdowall, than whom, as well from his distinguished position as an artist, as from his connexion with Belfast, no more appropriate selection could have been made. The statue, which fully sustained Mr. Macdowall's high reputation, was publicly inaugurated at Belfast on November 1, 1855, by His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Carlisle. Some weeks previous to this ceremony, the Author had the honour of receiving from the Marchioness of Donegal a request that he (as an Irish writer for whose poetical efforts her Ladyship was kind enough to say her dear son had an especial liking) would write some lines appropriate to the

occasion. The Author, who had long wished for some opportunity of paying his tribute of regret and gratitude to the memory of one whose premature death he had reason to consider not only a public loss, but (to him) a private calamity, at once acquiesced, and these lines were written with a rapidity which at least proved the genuine nature of the feelings which originated them. The Author having resided at Naples a short time previous to the Earl of Belfast's arrival and death there, will account for the Italian colouring which pervades the earlier portion of the Poem.

The Sonnets printed at the commencement of the Ode were written subsequent to the public delivery of the Ode itself in Belfast.

A few months before the lamented death of the Earl of Belfast, the author had the gratification of receiving from him the following letter, which is now published for the first time. Whatever difference of opinion there may be as to the literary judgment evinced by his Lordship in this particular instance, there can be none of the generosity and good-heartedness which dictated so kind and encouraging a communication:—

“29, St. James's-street, London, “September 17, 1852.

“Sir,—In order to obtain permission to publish some words of yours in connexion with some music which I have adapted to them, I believe it were sufficient to apply to the publisher of your volume of Poems; but I cannot let pass an opportunity so apt of expressing to you the deep sense of admiration with which it has inspired me. It is not only yourself that I would congratulate upon the possession of so truly poetical a genius—it is rather our country that deserves gratulations upon her good fortune, in having given birth to one who seems likely and able to reawaken that strain of poesy (so purely her own) which has slept since the silence of Moore.

“One who can combine, as you have done, the stirring energy which characterizes your Ballads with that sweet plaintiveness that lends such a charm to such poems as ‘Summer Longings,’ ‘A Lament,’ ‘Devotion,’ &c., &c., cannot but play a part, if he will, in his country's destiny.

“The first of these is the one which has inspired me with a few bars of simple music. I am well aware that it possesses ‘a music of its own—a music far beyond all minstrels' playing.’ Yet should I feel gratified at seeing my name coupled, in however humble a capacity, on the title with that of one of my most gifted countrymen.

“I am, Sir, yours “Obediently and admiringly, “Belfast. “D. F. Mac Carthy, Esq.”