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splendour and equipage, as I issued from the mansions of the dead, forced them from me with impulse irresistible nor are such reflections without their use— they teach us to think and to enter into ourselves. They are no flatterers, but feelingly persuade us what we are." They teach us how to live when they

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tell us we must die.

CHAPTER VII.

Anecdotes of the Marquis of Ormond and of Lord StraffordThe Duke of Richmond-Lord Chesterfield-Lord CarteretRegret of the Irish for their parliament-Caricatures on Mr. Foster-Public distress-Loyalty of the Common CouncilHorrors of popular commotions-Various victims of the rebellion-Bond-Jackson-Lord Edward Fitzgerald.

Dublin.

THE Lord Lieutenant of Ireland is one of the

greatest officers under the crown. He is the only viceroy in the king's dominions, and has the power of conferring knighthood, and other lesser vice-regal privileges. He is always now an English nobleman of high rank there are no instances of a Scotchman being appointed, and I believe but one or two of an Irishman. Yet the exalted virtues and incorruptible integrity of one of these might have warranted a repetition of the experiment. Every person acquainted with Irish history will know I allude to the great Marquis of Ormond, as he was generally called: with inflexible fidelity he supported, for several years, the falling fortunes of his unhappy master: after his execution he shared in like manner the misfortunes of his son, and lived abroad in poverty and exile along

with him. He was so much at times straitened in his circumstances, that it is reported, on having occasion to send his peruke to the peruke-maker, he was obliged to borrow, and appear in public with, a large and unseemly one, until his own was repaired. On the restoration of King Charles, he was created a duke, and sent over Lord Lieutenant of this kingdom; where he was as much distinguished for the uprightness of his conduct as the splendour of his government. He was doomed, however, to share the fate of all the faithful and virtuous servants of the royal libertine. By turns, in favour and disgrace, flattered and neglected, he never lost the equanimity of his temper. Discoursing once of the ingratitude of King Charles, he jocularly added, "Well, nothing of this shall yet break my heart; for, however it may fare with me at court, I am resolved to be well in the chronicle." Notwithstanding the tempered mildness of his latter years, he was in early life remarkable for the impetuosity of his disposition. In 1634, Earl Strafford, then deputy of Ireland, gave an order that no person should enter either House of Parliament with a sword: this order was universally complied with both by Peers and Commoners.-The Usher of the Black Rod attending at the door of the House of Lords, insisted on Lord Ormond's compliance likewise this he positively refused, adding, with a threatening air, if he must deliver his sword, the Usher must receive it in his body. He was summoned before the council to answer for this breach of order: he boldly defended himself, saying he had received the investiture of his earldom per cincturam gladii, and was bound by the royal patent to attend

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his duty in parliament gladio cinctus: Lord Strafford, awed by the dignity and spirit he evinced, did not think it prudent to carry the matter further. This unfortunate nobleman was characterized by great inflexibility himself, which, carried often to headlong obstinacy, was in a great measure the cause of his melancholy end. Though in many respects a valuable chief governor, he was guilty of some acts of harshness and injustice. Much allowance, however, must be made for the age in which he lived, and the existing state of things in Ireland, where strong measures only could probably have been efficacious. The Irish parliament, which was his most servile flatterer in his prosperity, was the first, as flatterers generally are, to desert him in his adversity :-it entered strenuously into the prosecution against him, and sent several of its members to assist the committee of the English House of Commons in conducting it. Lord Strafford's defence was a very able one: the concluding part of it was highly pathetic, and would be pronounced eloquent even at the present day." But, my lords, I have troubled you too long-longer than I should have done, but for the sake of these dear pledges, which a saint in heaven has left me.”—Upon this he paused-dropped a tear-looked upon his children and proceeded: "What I forfeit for myself is a trifle-that my indiscretions should reach my posterity wounds me to the heart.-Pardon my infirmity-something I should have added, but I am not able-and therefore I let it pass. And now, my lords, for myself. I have long been taught that the afflictions of this life are overpaid by that eternal weight of glory which awaits the innocent. And so, my

lords, even so, with the utmost tranquillity, I submit myself to your judgment, whether that judgment be life or death:-not my will, but thine, O God, be done!"

The king, whose cause he had supported, and whose orders he had obeyed, exhausted and overcome by clamour, signed reluctantly the warrant for his execution. The earl, when the fatal and unexpected intelligence was communicated to him, started from his seat, exclaiming, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in any of the sons of men, for they will certainly deceive you."

The king could never forgive himself for his pusillanimity in thus giving up so faithful a servant ;—in the hour of his own sorrow he remembered it in bitterness and anguish of heart:-" I suffer," said he, "by an unjust sentence, for having allowed an unjust sentence to take effect on an innocent man."

The present Lord Lieutenant is rather a tall and dark-complexioned man, about fifty years of age, or upwards. In early life he was well known by the name of Colonel Lennox and the duel he fought with the Duke of York: the duke had a very narrow escape, as the ball carried away part of his side curl. Whatever doubts were entertained of the reasonableness of his conduct, there were none of his courage: he displayed in this instance, as in every other, all the courage which is hereditary in the Royal Family. The Duke of Richmond is highly popular : his affability and condescension are the theme of universal praise he throws aside, whenever he can, the cumbersome caparison of office, and rides, walks about, and converses with all the plainness of a private in

dividual. Though appointed by an obnoxious ministry, the Catholics, in their dislike to it, mingle nothing offensive against him ;-in this they show their good sense-a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland has now little more to do with the measures of government than the postman with the incendiary letter he is the bearer of; he is a mere chair of state, and has little more real power than a village magistrate or parish constable: all he has to do is to fall in with the temper of the people, and keep them in good-humour, if he can. The duke possesses the indispensable qualification in a very eminent degree; and is, by a bottle, at the least, the best Lord Lieutenant that has been in this country for half a century :-he has taken several excursions to the country parts of the kingdom, where he is as famous for his conviviality as his high rank. He is what is called here a fivebottle man, and after supper drinks grog and smokes tobacco like a West India planter.-Many stories are told of him, the truth or falsehood of which I have no means of ascertaining. I select one, without vouching for its authenticity. He was spending a few days at a gentleman's house in the south of Ireland;- there was a good deal of other company, all great topers, and invited for that reason: they were milksops, however, compared to his excellency; who, having soon laid them under the table, was reduced to the unpleasant alternative of either drinking by himself, or not drinking at all. In this melancholy predicament, his host despatched a messenger for a young curate of good family, in high estimation for the strength of his head, who lived a few miles distant; he begged of him, for the love of the Lord, the credit of the

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