Irish Jesuit Province

Clavis Acrostica. A Key to "Dublin Acrostics". IISource: The Irish Monthly, Vol. 25, No. 286 (Apr., 1897), pp. 200-202Published by: Irish Jesuit ProvinceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20499111 .

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( 200 )

CLAVIS ACROSTICA.

A KEY TO " DUBLIN Acnos'1ics."

II.

S INCE the first article of this series was sent to the printer for

our March Number, one of the most distinguished contributors

to " Dublin Acrostics" died on the 3rd of February, 1897. The reader will be surprised to learn that I refer thus to the late Baron

Fitzgerald. It was not his high legal fame, but his connection

with the little book wnich I am interpreting and commentating,

that has preserveed the tribute paid to hiim by one whom a competent writer in 7'he Irish Times calls " another great Irish jurist of at

least equal repute." Two days after the death of Baron Fitzgerald,

the Lord Chief Baron, Christopher Palles, opened the day's pro ceedings in the Court of Exchequer with the following words:

" We cannot resume the business of the court without adverting to the distinguished man who, full of years and honours, passed

away from us on Wednesday. The best traditions of the Irish

Court of Exchequer are inseparably linked with the name of Francis

Alexander Fitzgerald. He was appointed a baron of this court

upwards of thirty-seven years since, and he continued to fill his

high office for nearly a quarter of a century. It is not for me to

enlarge on the conspicuous ability which he brought to the discharge

of his duties, to the vast store of legal knowledge which he had

made his own, to his unrivalled powers of reasoning, or to the lustre

which his administration and interpretation of the law shed not only

on this court, but on the entire Irish judiciary. These matters belong

to the history of our law-I may say to the history of the country.

They were known, too, and appreciated by each one who practised

before him-they were recognised and admired by each of his

colleagues on the bench. But I cannot avoid alluding to his kind

liness of disposition, which extended at once to the youngest practitioner at the bar, and to the most senior of his Qolleagues on

the bench. There is no one who owes more than I do to this

marked trait in his character. Appointed as I was to a position

in this court, nominally above that held by Baron Fitzgerald, I

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Clams Acrostica. 201

had the incalculable advantage of his unrivalled experience and assistance, of which he permitted me constantly and freely to avail myself. My intimate association with him early led me to the opinion which I have ever since retained, that he was a model type of the judicial character."

Both Baron Fitzgerald and his brother William, Bishop of Killaloe, contributed to " L)ublin Acrostics." It may be mentioned here that a third brother, Edward, was received by the Rev. John Callan S. J. (whom many remember with reverence) into the Catholic Church a few years before his death and died a fervent

Catholic.

Mr. Reeves has told us that, when they were collecting the best of their acrostics into a little volume, the Editors generally distinguished each acrostic by the initial of its author's surname.

But in the case of the Baron and the Bishop their initial bad

already been assigned to an earlier contributor, the present Lord

Justice Fitzgibbon. Bishop Fitzgerald is represented by E. (perhaps " Episcopus,") and the ex-Baron-who however did not retire from the Bench till long afterwards, in 1882-appears as I.11. Why ? It would be hard or impossible to conjecture the reason, but I heard it from Judge 0'HIagan and Mr. Robert

Reeves: namely, that Baron Fitzgerald joined, as we have said, the little band of acrosticians at a late stage of their proceedings

and that his first attempts were at once so successful that they

dubbed him the Inf ant Hercules; and the initials of this whimsical title form his signature in " Dublin Acrostics."

Next mouth we shall give the solutions of Nos. I and 2 which we proposed last molth. At present we may propose to our ingenious readers No. 3, of which the signature is " F, " denoting

another eminent judge, still living, whom we mentioned a moment ago.

No. 3.

I.

I slow and laborious,

Triumnphant and glorious,

- The same, ever-varying, trundle along,

Now through a multitude,

Now through a solitude,

Theme of a Phean, a Dirge, and a Song,

VOL. xxv. No. 284. 15

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202 The Irlash Monthly.

II. I fond aind capricious, Oft ugly and vicious,

Am loved by the worldling, the maiden, the sage:

Though praised by affection

As nearly perfection, I stamp in a passioin, or bark in a rage.

III.

Mock warriors furious,

And tales of the curious

By coming to me are endowed with renown.

Both small dissipation,

And less information

Are brought upon me for the use of the town.

1. A fish out of water, of slander a name.

2. My fate is a cloud on a hero's fair fame.

3. The Rifleman's iniss, but the Engineer's aimn. F.

The next that follows is Judge O' llagan's famous " Jack and

Jill" which we have before quoted and expounded. Our romaining sample this month may be one of the productions of the Infant

Hercules. To find it we have to go on as far as No. 93 of the

collection; for, like Dr. Russell of Maynooth, Baron Fitzgerald appears only in the additions made in the second edition. As No.

91 is also his and short, we give it.

No. 93.

Mly first precedes a fall, yet who denies

A pardon to it is nor good nor wise.

It often makes my second, when in fume

The cleanly housewife sees her sullied room.

Combined wy first and second form that style

Which Blanches love, and Warringtoius revile.

In ladies' hands the tenderest ties I sever.

2. A lady once, the victor's prize for ever.

3. A lady once, and high, then low.

4. A sly half glince which I can ne'er forego. I. R

No. 94.

Divided, we still muist be one,

And an alticle just in your sight,

Our union, division begun

Betweent man and his earliest delight.

1. Father of many a harmless jest.

2 Seek me when Plxebus sinks to rest. I. Ht.

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