134 IRISH ORATCRS, 



LETTER XXXIl. 



Utica, August 1, 1820o 



My Dear Sir, 



Ox\E of the modern poets has elegantly said, 



W -^■ 

 " One small spot 



Where ray tired mind may rest and call it HojnG . 



There is a magic in tiiat little word : 



It is a mystic circle that surrounds 



Comforts and virtues never known beyond 



The hallowed limit." 



The same feelings which attract us to home. 

 when absent, enhance the importance of our na- 

 tive country when in foreign climes. Every- 

 thing which relates to Ireland has now a double 

 charm and a double interest in my estimation. 

 I can stop and converse by the hour with the 

 humblest laborer from my native land, and do 

 not postpone my^attentions to inquire whether he 

 is a Catholic or a Protestant, a Royalist or an 

 Oppositionist. Even a panegyric on Castlereagh 

 now sounds melodiously in my ears. 



With all these predilections I cannot shut my 

 eyes against the false taste which has pervaded 

 the Irish oratory, and which has extended to this 

 country, Grattan, Curran, and Phillips, are con- 



