66 MEMENTO MORI." (From the New York Nation, Feb. 17, 1849.) By the letter of a Derry correspondent, the friends of Ireland in America will be informed of the particulars of the new national calamity which has befallen that island, in the death of the Catholic Bishop of Derry--the Rt. Rev. Dr. Maginn. At any time this would have been a sad and heavy loss to a struggling country, necessarily unfavorable to the ripe development of great characters. If last year our politics had prospered, and, in the midst of jubilee, this news had reached the Irish capital, "How would the triumph of our ranks But, as it is, when patriotism is felony, and public virtue is circumvented and spirited away by jealous and arbitrary power, Ireland could far, far less afford this loss. Safe in the dignity of his office, Dr. Maginn might have made the sanctuary in which he ministered the nursery of a wiser and more fortunate struggle than that of '48. By the force of his character, and that spell of sincerity which was the charm of his style and the secret of his fame, he might have attracted and reinvigorated the sinking hearts of his people, and replenished their courage out of the abundance of his own. Then, also, if longer life had been allotted him, he might have added a finished reputation to the few we have in our recent history. Our monuments for many years are a mournful multitude of broken columns and unfinished cenotaphs. One more, alas, is added to the number, and this shaft has been broken abruptly off at the very hour its support was most needed in the world. The public services of Dr. Maginn to his own country need scarcely be repeated here. All who take an interest in Ireland remember them. He was the earliest and most ardent friend of the union of parties. He was utterly opposed to the antiquated folly of petitioning England. He was a believer in the right of nations to resort to arms for the defence, or assertion of their just claims, and if banners had appeared last year in the summer air over the fields of Ireland, his benediction would have hailed them as they rose. The utter vanishing of all our brave prospects, beyond a doubt, weighed on his enthusiastic spirit, and, perhaps, induced that fever of mind and body, which has ended in his death. Born in Ulster, nursed up in the native region of religious conten tion, the trials of his creed hardened, but never darkened, his intellect. He was equally free from bigotry and compromise. That he had influence enough last year to prevent the usual partizan tomfooleries of both denominations in the city of Derry, is the best proof of his influence, and the good uses he made of it. May his successors be as successful in the same work If we dared to mingle private sorrow with the grief of our race, we would be bound, peculiarly, to regret his loss and reverence his memory. In days of danger and calamity, we had reason to be grateful to this great man, for timely aid and warning. Before that time we had respected and honored him; since then, a not unnatural personal gratitude mingled with our estimate of his character. We had hoped some day or other to render to the living the thanks that are now turned into a lament. Fondly, we thought, we may go a pilgrimage over the grey hills of lake-bound Innishowen, to repay the obligation we owe, and to acquit the debt of gratitude. But in that wild peninsula, where once before the last dreaded chief of a broken confederacy met a sudden death, we will find hereafter, if not his home, his tomb, and no more fervent prayer than ours, and no more reverend step, shall be about his grave from this till then. May the soul of the good Bishop rest in peace! APPENDIX. THE DEVON COMMISSION The Rev. Edward Maginn sworn and examined. WHERE do you reside? I am parish priest of Buncrana and the union of Fahans and Dysertigney, in the county of Donegal. What is the extent of the district with which you are acquainted? Including the three parishes, about 66,000 or 67,000 acres. What is the general description of the district; is it tillage, or is a large portion of it mountain? With respect to the portion of mountain and tillage in Upper Fahans and Dysertigney I cannot say with certainty. With respect to Lower Fahans I can state pretty accurately the quantity of improvable ground. The parish, including two extra parochial places, comprises about 26,000 acres. As far as I recollect, it is a long time since I received these documents from one of the government surveyors; at that time there were about 4,000 or 5,000 acres in a state of cultivation; about 12,000 acres that could be improved; and the remainder con sisted of rocks and mountains of a certain elevation, which rendered them unprofitable and unimprovable. Have there been as many as twelve thousand acres improved since you obtained that information? No; I stated there were about four thousand in a state of cultivation. Since that time about one thousand or one thousand five hundred acres may have been brought in from pasture ground. Is that district very populous? Some portions of the district are populous and densely inhabited, but a certain portion of the district is uninhabited. Does the district afford, in your opinion, opportunities for extensive and remunerative improvements? Yes; I think most extensive and profitable improvements can be made in the country. Is the state of agriculture improving or otherwise, and in what particulars? Yes, I do think that it is improving. The nature of the times has forced the people to extend their farms up the ascent of the mountain, and to take in some of the land to meet the demands upon them; they have done more in that way in the last four or five years than in the ten years before. What are the manures chiefly used? In localities bordering upon the sea shore they use sand, and what they call sea-weed or wrack. They also use animal manure in the mountains, mixed with bog. Are there any farming societies or agricultural schools in the district, and what has been their effect? There has been a branch farming society established in connexion with the poor-law union, a short time ago; as yet it has not had any effect; we have got an agricultu |