io'" s. in. APRIL 22, 1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
303
the pompous self-glorification of the one and the easy banter of the other becomes intensely amusing to all who are in the secret. Glendower begins by asserting, as a matter beyond contradiction, that he is the true shaker, the true Shakespeare:
At my birth
The frame and huge foundation of the earth
Shaked like a coward.
The rebuff comes promptly:—
"Why, so it would have done at the same season, if your mother's cat had but kittened, though yourself had never been born!"
Poor Glendower can only repeat himself:—
I say, the earth did shake when I was born.
It is needless to quote the whole passage, which is truly delightful when its secondary meaning is thus read into it. The iteration of "it shook" "did tremble," "In passion shook," is obviously intentional.
Bacon is half inclined to give in, feeling that the contest is becoming unequal:—
Cousin, of many men
I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave, &c.
The true self-conscious ability of the man breaks out in the irrepressible words:—
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men ……
And bring him out that is but woman's son
Can trace me in the tedious ways of art
And hold me pace in deep experiments.
The personal reference in those keen words—"deep experiments"—can hardly be missed. But all the reply that is vouchsafed to him is: "I think there is no man speaks better Welsh." And when, even after this, Bacon still persists, Shakespeare roundly tells him that the only way "to shame the devil" is "by telling truth." It was excellent advice.
SARAH CURRAN, ROBERT EMMET, AND MAJOR SIRR'S PAPERS.
Recently I saw the original inquiry of Francesca (9ᵗʰ S. iii. 349), who quotes from 'Irish Pedigrees' (John O'Hara), but I wonder upon what authority Mr. O'Hara has stated, in referring to "the love letters from Sarah Curran to Robert Emmet," that "Major Sirr of 1798 memory" found them "so pathetic that he says he wept over them."
Mr. H. Gerald Hope, at 9ᵗʰ S. iii. 472, quoted from 'Ireland in '98' (compiled by Daly from Madden's 'United Irishmen'), and suggested an examination of "the truculent major's" papers in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, to verify the declaration that Miss Curran's correspondence was burnt by Major Sirr some years before his death. The use of the extremely misleading epithet "truculent," derived from Madden, is a sufficient warning that statements concerning Major Sirr do indeed require verification. An interesting anecdote with which Madden's autobiography ('Memoirs of A. A. Madden,' London, 1891) opens, and which ought to have appeared much earlier in 'The United Irishmen,' shows that "truculent" is not borne out—the 'Dictionary of National Biography' should suffice to satisfy the general reader. Indeed, Madden in this anecdote admits that Major Sirr's consideration possibly saved the lives of both the autobiographer and his mother.
The note at the foot of a letter among the Sirr Papers in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, bears out Mr. Daly's declaration as to the fate of the correspondence between Miss Curran and Emmet. I give a copy of the letter and of the note. The initials J. D. S. are those of Major Sirr's eldest son, the Rev. Joseph D'Arcy Sirr, D.D. Doubtless this note was Mr. Daly's authority:—
From Rᵗ Hon. Jr. Wickham on arrest of
Miss Curran.
Dʳ Sir,—I lament exceedingly the circumstance of Mʳ Curran's absence from his country house on your arrival there, and am much distressed to learn the state of Miss Curran's mind as described in your letter.
I think it better, on the whole, that you should leave the house & return without delay to town. It is probable that Mʳ Attorney General will be with you as soon as this letter, but in any case I think you had better come away leaving Miss S. Curtail to the care of her sisters.
Major Sirr.Wᵐ Wickham.
One letter from Emmet was torn into fragments immediately upon my father's visit. They were preserved & with great care reunited. The atrocious, sentiments it expressed were all but diabolical. Never was such tenderness shewn to anyone as to this unfortunate & misguided lady. I saw the correspondence between her and Emmet tied up & sealed, in six or seven immense piles, & occupying a space of about a yard square. They were afterwards deliberately consumed out of compassion to the family. Never was such a correspondence carried on between lovers. Projects of domestic peace were all subordinated to those of public massacre & wrong. In one letter the poor maniacal woman gloated with satisfaction at the prospect of seeing her father hung from a tree in his own orchard. J. D. S.
I believe I have seen it stated that Curran never forgave his daughter for bestowing her affections on Emmet. H. Sirr.
Easter Eggs.—Eggs payable at Easter were usually part of the rent due from
