very best of the O'Hara Tales" Now, Sir, let me inform the public through your columns, that a greater misrepresentation was never sent to print than the above passage from Notes and Queries. The fact is, that the late John Banim not only composed every line of "Crohoore of the Bill-hook" from his own brain, but also transcrib. ed every line of it with his own weary hand, and that, too, at a period when he was not even on speaking terms with his brother Michael, better known as "the shabby Mayor of Kilkenny;" and at that very period when Crohoore was written poor John Banim was in a state of beggary and without a coat, and after a weary day's labor at this exquisite work he would stroll out in the dark with an old black cloth round his shoulders to roam by the river side for a breath of air, while his ex-mayorship Michael, who wishes to obtain some new installation or other honour on borrowed plumes, by robbing the dead of his fame, was luxuriating on homefed mutton and "mountain dew" in the town of Kilkenny, while (not the individual, as Mr. Fitzpatrick is pleased to call him) the great John Banim was, hungry, thirsty, and weary, weaving from his own brain that truly beautiful work for the amusement of an admiring English public, Now, Sir, regarding the authorship of that splendid Novel, the Croppy, Mr. Michael Banim, the ex-mayor of Kilkenny, was giving and attending "Harvest Homes," and dancing Irish-jigs in the Province of Leinster, while the poor half-starved author, John Banim, was writing the Croppy at the hospitable home of the late Mr. W. Donnell, of Balinlig House, in the Vale of Glenariff, county Antrim, Province of Ulster, North of Ireland. And the curious English traveller in passing through the beautiful valley of Glenariff can without any trouble see the very room in Balinlig house where John Banim, alone and unaided, wrote and composed every line of that exquisite Novel The Croppy; and that, too, when his brother Michael would not give the "Literary Madman," as he was pleased to call poor John, one single sixpence to save him from starvation. At this period, the late Lieut.-General A. Cuppage, of Clare Grove, in the county of Dublin, was sojourning at his shooting lodge (Mount Edwards) near Glenariff, and by chance the General met the half-clothed Novelist one day at a classic spot called the 66 Red Caves," nearly opposite to the place where the Spanish Armada was wrecked on the Irish coast. The rich East India Company's Officer and the poor author entered into conversation, and the sequel was, that the General gave John Banim fifty pounds to go travel to the town of Wexford and elsewhere, to collect the true incidents of the Irish Rebellion of '98 for the pages of "The Croppy." The shabby ex-mayor of Kilkenny (for there have been shabby Mayors in more towns than Brighton), knew nothing of these matters, or, in fact, nothing of the personal history of his clever brother at the period these works were written. John Banim's children were too young at this time to know anything of his movements, and his wife was a hundred miles or more away from him; so the friends of the ex-mayor may with impunity think that time has cast oblivion over the life and sufferings of the departed Novelist, and that now, in this distant period they may assert what

they please, and pluck the laurel from the grave of him who earned it well. But if the readers of Notes and Queries take the trouble of inquiring who is the writer of the memoir of “ this individual," they will find it is written by Mr. Fitzpatrick himself, or else some other minion of the ex-shabby mayor of Kilkenny, who have some worldly project to carry out by blasting the fame of a truly great Novelist, who destroyed his health at the midnight lamp and shortened his life in the cause of literature. If the shade of the late John Banim could arise from his lowly grave and read Mr. Fitzpatrick's article in the last number of Notes and Queries, with what truth it might exclaim,

[From the "

Amid the stranger throng
Enemies, I have none;

But from my would-be friends and relatives,
May Heaven save my fame.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

A LOVER OF JUSTICE.

Brighton Herald" of Saturday November 17th.] TALES OF THE O'HARA FAMILY.

To the Editor of the Brighton Herald.

SIR. In the last number of the Brighton Guardian a writer who signs himself "A LOVER OF JUSTICE," makes a fierce attack upon William John Fitzpatrick for stating, in a recent number of Notes and Queries, that "Michael Banim, now ex-Mayor of Kilkenny, was the author of Crohovre of the Bill-hook, The Croppy,-in fact some of the best of the O'Hara Tales." "A LOVER OF JUSTICE," observes upon this "Let me inform the public through your columns, that a greater misrepresentation was never sent to print than the above passage from Notes and Queries. The fact is, that the late John Banim not only composed every line of Crohoore of the Bill-hook from his own brain, but also transcribed every line of it with his own weary hand, and that, too, at a period when he was not even on speaking terms with his brother Michael."

Now, as this question of authorship is one that is interesting to the general public, perhaps you will allow me a portion of your space to endeavour to throw some light upon it. That the Tales by the O'Hara Family were the joint production of John and Michael Banim has never, I believe, been questioned until the present moment; and it is proved by the published correspondence of John Banim. It is new to me, too, that John and Michael Banim were ever upon bad terms, But if they ever were, certainly it could not of been at the time of the writing of these Tales; for upon this point, too, we have the evidence of John's own letters. These letters to Michael, extend over the period of John's residence in London from 1822, when he first arrived in town, up to 1825, when the O'Hara Tales made their appearance, and in these letters frequent reference is made by John to the tale that Michael had undertaken to contribute to the collection; and, moreover, there is inter

nal evidence in these letters to prove that the tale in question was Crohoore of the Bill-hook.

"A LOVER OF JUSTICE" will find this correspondence in the IRISH QUARTERLY REVIEW for December, 1854; and I will give a few passages from it to settle the point that the two brothers were, if not upon speaking terms,—for one was in Ireland, and the other in London, at least upon the most affectionate writing terms. Under date of " London, May 2nd, 1824," John thus writes to his brother :

So

"My Dear Michael,-I have read attentively, and with the greatest pleasure, the portion of the tale you sent me by J. H.far as it goes, I pronounce that you have been successful. Here and there I have marked such particular criticism as struck me, and them you may note by referring to the margin. I send you the MSS. of my tale, and I request your severest critcism; scratch, cut and condemn at your pleasure. This is the first copy. Looking over it, I perceive many parts that are bad; send it back when you can, with every suggestion you are capable of making. Read it for the whole family in solemn conclave. Let father, mother, Joanna and yourself sit in judgment on it, and send me all your opinions sincerely given."

Here we see that John had a much higher respect for the literary ability of Michael than "A LOVER OF JUSTICE" seems to have.

In another passage of the same letter, John thus directs Michael's talent to the delineation of "the peculiarities we daily witness in

those we meet :

"Paint for me to the life, our old parish priest, Father O'Donnell, hat, wig, jock coat, worsted stockings, shoe buckles, as he appeared and spoke, when he patted our heads, and approved of our proficiency in catechism.

Give me Tom Guinn, hat, gaiters, watch, pipe, and his horn tinder-box; his peculiar jokes, his frequent big words, and his gurgling laugh at his own conceits. For a reckless bully, boy and man, remember Michael B. I might, but I will not here, increase the list.

Get fourteen or fifteen of any of the persons you ever knew; put them into scenes favourable to their peculiarities, their individualities can be exemplified, without straining after the point; in proper situations, set them talking for themselves; by their own word of mouth they will denote their own character, better than any description from your pen; thus will you dramatise your tale, and faithful drama is the life and soul of novel writing. Plot is an inferior consideration to drama, though still it is a main consideration.

Do not say that I am dictatorial, or that I consider you to be a subject for a drilling; but let us unaffectedly compare notes as often as we can, and both will be benefited."

In a subsequent letter dated "London, July 10th, 1825," and addressed to "My dear Mike," he thus refers to his brother's novel itself:

"I think I recognise your tithe-proctor, Peery Clancy, the por

trait is so accurate I could not mistake the gentleman. Your next door neighbour, Mickle Ryan, is your original, and you have not outstepped nature, or misrepresented facts, in the slightest degree.

You have given some of my people a good castigation; you have frightened me in fact, and almost made me hopeless of them. Don't spare one of them, however-better you should deal with them, than critics of less bowels or humanity.

You must adopt my amendment. The woman, singing the keen. thecawn, must be the mother of Terence, not his wife; kill his wife, I decree her death; by slaying her, you give a very rational increased incentive to the wretched widower's thirst for vengeance.

You tell me you intend to cut off the proctor's ears; slice them close to his head by all means: do not leave a shred: no honest man will say that he does not deserve the cropping."

Here, I think, is a sufficient confutation of A LoVER OF JUSTICE'S" allegations, both with respect to the authorship of Crohoore of the Bill-hook, and to the alleged ill terms on which the brothers were. His statement, that Crohoore was written by John Banim "in a state of beggary, and without a coat," is equally wide of thetruth. The fact was, that at this time John Banim had a very good house over his head (viz., No. 7, Amelia-place, Brompton-the house, as he exulting tells his friends in Kilkenny, in which John Philpot Curran lived the last months of his life, and died), and doubtless had a very good coat to his back. He was earning an adequate, though arduous, income by writing for the English Opera house and for the magazines, until, in 1825, Colburn purchased the copyright of the O'Hara Tales. The share which Michael Banim had in these is thus told by the author of the biography in the IRISH QUARTERLY REVIEW, whom no one will accuse of being negligent of the fame of John Banim :—

"He (John) had commenced, in 1823, the composition of his intended novel, (The Nowlans), and had written to Michael, urging him to hasten in the completion of his story, which was, as had been agreed upon, to form a portion of the volumes. Michael had little time to devote to literary pursuits. From morning till night he was engaged behind his father's counter, and in literary composition he had had, since leaving school, no practice beyond drawing up a business account, or writing a letter to John. But John had praised his talent as a story-teller; had asked him to write a tale for the forthcoming work; and as John, a judge of these things-a literary man himself had approved his efforts thus, he determined to make the required attempt.

"But how was the attempt to be made? He could not start from a customer to write down the thought of the moment; but when did genius ever fail in expedient? Michael Banit had naturally a good memory; his story was one founded on facts: and accordingly, whilst he was behind the counter, with busy hands discharging all the multifarious duties of a shopman in a country town, his fancy was busily at work, weaving the scenes of his narrative, and when he retired to his room at night, he committed the already formed scenes

to paper, and the early morning generally found him clothing his thoughts in words, and thus the powerful story entitled Crohoore of The Bill Hook was composed and written.

"The first portion of the manuscript was transmitted to John for perusal, late in the year 1823. By return of post, a letter of praise and thanks was written to Michael; entreaties for more were pressingly urged. The progress of the composition was necessarily slow, but scrap by scrap it was forwarded; and, as had been agreed upon, John's portion of the work, The Fetches and John Doe, were sent to Michael, each brother acting as critic to the other, and thus the nom de plume, Tales By The O'Hara Family, was in every point a reality-John taking the name Abel O'Hara, Michael assuming

that of Barnes O'Hara."

I have to apologize for occupying so much of your space with these details. But it is a point of literary history that is not without interest. It may appear somewhat singular that in a collection of tales by two brothers,-one a professed author and the other a tradesman,— one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, should have been written, not by the author, but the man in trade; and that this should have been nearly, if not, I believe, his only production. But a parallel can be found to this in the somewhat similar collection of tales called The Canterbury Tales. These were the joint-production of two sisters, one of whom,-I believe, Harriet Lee,-wrote one tale, “The Hungarian's Tale,”—and this is the most powerful of the whole collection. It excited the admiration of Byron, and led him to write the tragedy of Werner, the incidents and characters, and, indeed, some of the language, of which are taken from "The Hungarian's Tale.'

Why so fierce an onslaught should have been made upon Mr. Michael Banim by " A LOVER OF JUSTICE," I cannot conceive. The fact of his being ex-Mayor of Kilkenny, upon which the writer dwells, proves nothing against his ability as a writer. I have only taken up the pen as a matter of literary justice, and have no interest in the question of the authorship except as

ONE OF THE READERS AND ADMIRERS OF THE O'HARA TALES.

Brighton, Nov. 14, 1855.

[From the Brighton Guardian of Wednesday Nov. 22nd.]

THE O'HARA TALES.

SIR, It was only by chance that I saw on this morning, for the first time, your journal of Wednesday, November 14th; and had it not been for the considerateness of some unknown English friend, who sent it even at the eleventh hour, I might never have had an opportunity of replying to a letter which contains most offensive references to me, and that worthy, unobtrusive, and respectable man, Michael Banim, Ex Mayor of Kilkenny.

Your correspondent begins by saying, "Permit me to correct a misrepresentation made in Notes and Queries by a person signing himself William John Fitzpatrick.' 'This gentleman" [he corrects his phraseology on reflection,]"writes from South Hill Avenue,