and Bishop Stone, who succeeded Hoadley in the management of Irish affairs, came in for a full vial of his anathemas. About that time, Lucas, an able and zealous man, published some political tracts on the daring encroachments of the British legislature, which created considerable sensation from their boldness and truth;-by one party they were idolised-with the other they sank to the degrading rank of rebellion, treason, and blasphemy. In the eye of old Burroughs the virtuous apothecary was a god, and his pamphlets a manual whose doctrines he was continually reading and preaching. At night, when all were grouped round the family hearth with a neighbour or two to hear the news, young Peter was summoned to read some pages of the favourite tract, on which the old man zealously commented, taking every period for a text, and so went through the whole survey of affairs, always terminating with a vehement roulade on Primate Boulter. Under such parental auspices the son imbibed the first elements of his political education, which ripened so beneficially for his country, though it cannot be so said for himself. He soon felt the germs swelling within him, and, prophetic of the importance which he was destined to attain, his mind grew voracious for knowledge. A little debating society was established at Portarlington, where the mimic warfare of parliamentary parties was enacted every week; he was, of course, a decided follower of the Earl of Shannon, and though his inelegant and clumsy manner tended to provoke laughter, there was yet a sterling strength in his sentiments, and a felicity in his language, even at that age, which mastered the appetite for merriment, and made him the centre of a devoted circle of admiring adherents. In his twentieth year he entered Trinity College as pensioner, and very soon distinguished himself. The simplicity of his habits and the good-humoured heaviness of his manner, combined with his deep knowledge and surpassing good sense, made him beloved by all. Among his friends and associates were most of that unparalleled body of men whose names illuminate the desolate history of Ireland, like so many fountains of light. Many are the strange and humorous stories recorded of him during his college days, which then, as well as to a much later period, added much more to the cultivation of the social than the intellectual or moral habits, from which, however, we are precluded by the limits of this memoir. Having taken his degree, the narrowness of his circumstances compelled him to accept the situation of tutor, which, however unpropitious at the commencement, was one of the main causes of his final success. In the family of the Parsons, of whom the present Earl of Rosse is the representative, he was kindly received, and owed much of his future celebrity to their favour and patronage. After some years, he became a student of the Middle Temple, and while in London, in the beginning of the year 1784, was introduced to the celebrated Henry Flood. He had transplanted himself to the British parliament, where his success was sadly disproportioned to his great abilities. He and the Duke of Chandos quarrelled about the representation of Winchester, by which his grace lost credit, and Flood his seat. There was a vacancy in the borough of Seaford, and a number of the inhabitants addressed Mr. Flood. Fox and Pitt were already in the field with a representative of his

principles. Flood stood independent of both, and both were anxious to exclude him from parliament. He however determined to stand a contest, notwithstanding the opposition of the two great rivals for power, neither of whom could trust to his support. He voted against Fox on his celebrated India Bill, and when Pitt thought he had secured him, the agreeable illusion dissipated in the declaration of Flood,— "that he rose to speak independent of both the great leaders, and that he was equally unacquainted with administration or opposition." This manly declaration secured him little of the affection of either; both were equally resolved to drive him from parliament. Sir Lawrence Parsons wrote a strong recommendatory letter to Mr. Flood, setting forth the qualifications of Mr. Burroughs, who was accordingly despatched to the scene of action. The narrative of that affair is peculiarly interesting, which we extract from the memoirs of Mr. Flood.

"In the year 1784, being then a law-student in London, in the last year of my preparation for the Irish bar, the present Earl of Rosse introduced me to his friend Mr. Flood, who had been importuned by a large body of men who claimed to be entitled to vote for the borough of Seaford. They pressed him to become a candidate, and with his powerful talents to advocate and establish rights of which they had been illegally disfranchised. A similar trust had been confided to other persons, who, it was suspected, had been unduly influenced to betray the cause and abandon the pursuit. Mr. Flood examined the question, and formed the opinion that the borough ought to be opened, and he and my friend Sir Lawrence requested, a few weeks before the election, that I would personally go down to Seaford, live amongst the claimants, who were generally fishermen, until the day of election, and, as representative of Mr. Flood, superintend and manage the cause. I shortly found that many of the claimants were anxious to have a candidate for the second seat, and actually pressed me to become one, a request with which I could not think to comply. It occurred to me, however, that a talented and popular associate would be a highly useful acquisition to Mr. Flood; and knowing that the assizes in East Grimstead were to be held in a few days, where Mr. Erskine, then the most popular and talented advocate in England, always attended, I conceived the project of tendering him the same support upon which Mr. Flood was standing, and soliciting his co-operation. I therefore posted to East Grimstead, and at a very early hour on the first day of the assizes, before the court opened, procured access to Mr. Erskine, stated to him the legal grounds on which, as I conceived, the petitioners would succeed, under good and prudent management, and requested him to unite with Mr. Flood. He heard all I stated, and read all the papers I produced, with great interest, and after declaring himself satisfied, said he would at once accept my offer, but that he was so circumstanced that he ought not and would not take any important step in politics without the approbation of his friend and patron, Mr. Fox. In proof of his zeal and sincerity, he immediately sent back all his briefs, and repaired to London to confer with Mr. Fox on the subject, assuring me that he would communicate the result by letter to Seaford. A few days after, I received a letter from him, expressing his regret that he could not unite with Mr. Flood, not being able to obtain the permission he sought. Sir Lawrence Parsons was then prevaile on to become a candidate with Mr. Flood. I remained at Seaford until the day appointed for holding the election, and attended on the hustings, followed by a mob of claimants, not one of whose votes was admitted, and, after struggling ineffectually against the candidates supported by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, I returned to London. A petition was

lodged against the return, and it was vacated on the ground that no legal notice had been given of the time for holding the election. Mr. Flood again became candidate, and was defeated—he succeeded on a petition, and finally sat for Seaford. After my return to Ireland, I lived in great intimacy, I might almost say friendship, with him till the day of his death, and confess that I indulged the vanity of recording to posterity the history and personal qualities of perhaps the ablest man Ireland ever producedindisputably the ablest man of his own times; but the vice of procrastination has frustrated my ambition and most anxious wish-year after year diminished, while it should have increased, my stock of materials, until it has at length left me wholly destitute of necessary details, the means of collecting them, and the power of equally combining and laying them before the public."*

The following is strongly characteristic of the dignity and firmness of Mr. Flood, and of the bitter injustice which has been heaped on his great name by the indefatigable instruments of party. At that period of political intrigue, all the dishonourable means of running down a bold and independent man were resorted to―statements were invented for him which he never made-sentiments were attributed to him, which he never conceived-every penwas turned against him. He was assailed equally by Whig and Tory-by the venomous irony of Courtney and the polished depreciation of Pitt.

"It is proudly illustrative of the character of Mr. Flood, and of the opinion entertained of him at that period to which I allude, that he could not be bullied, intimidated, or deceived, and that, born with powers calculated to lead, he would not, he could not, dwindle into a mere instrument. Examine the public prints of that period-all will be found (those that opposed as well as those who supported ministers) agreeing and vying with each other in traducing, and as it is called, writing down Mr. Flood. In many of the prints speeches are ascribed to him which he never made, and which, from their folly and absurdity, no man well acquainted with him on any evidence could believe to be his "

Mr. Burroughs was called to the bar in Easter term 1785. Then the bar was in its zenith. It may be excusable, in a person who has long contemplated those bright days with a feeling bordering on enthusiasm, to revert a moment to the constitution of that distinguished

* It had been well for the fame of Mr. Flood that his illustrious name had descended to posterity protected from the malice of foes and the coldness of friends by the knowledge and experience of such a biographer as Mr. Burroughs. Ireland has to lament that the life of one of her greatest men has yet to be written. A laudable attempt has been made to rescue his genius and judgment from unmerited neglect, but justice has not yet been done to his character. Like Malone, Molyneaux, Yelverton, Burgh, his name has almost been forgotten, and with the exception of a few traditions which every succeeding year renders more evanescent, we know nothing of his history. What is now known of the man who wrote the "Case of Ireland," a work which gave Ireland a free parliament, and the commercial privileges she enjoyed during her short independence? What record is there of the fascinating, silver-like eloquence of Hussey Burgh? We have only a few fragmentary remains of the massive oratory of Yelverton. Time has spared only a few bricks to enable us to form an estimate of the grandeur of the temple. His loud tones and lofty flight remind us of the shepherd's pipe formed of the eagle's wing. Even a shadow still hangs on the history of Grattan. We regret Mr. Burroughs did not realise his hope in a biography of Mr. Flood: of all men now living he is perhaps the most competent, from an intimate acquaintance with his personal character, as well as a profound knowledge of the striking events in which he took so conspicuous a part.

body. There, all that Ireland could boast of rank, wealth, patriotism, and genius, was centred. From the bar emanated all the learning, virtue, and wit that exalted the character of Ireland, and diffused her fame. There may be found the swelling aristocrat, stripped of his haughty pretensions to superiority, and dimmed by the intellectual brightness of a more humble name, aspiring to no rank but that which genius and education conferred. What fortune withheld was amply compensated by genius and application, and men sought the lawyer and advocate, not in the aspirant to high birth, but in the aspirant to high merit. To use the language of one who might have adorned it had he learned to compress his declamation, and confine himself to good sense and professional acquirements, "No idea can be formed of that illustrious body-of the learning that informed the genius that inspired-the wit that warmed it; of the wit that relieved its wisdom, and the wisdom that relieved its wit-of the generous emulation that cherished, while it contended-of the spotless honour that shone no less in the hereditary honour of the high-born than in the native integrity of the more humble aspirant-but, above all, of that lofty and unbending patriotism, that at once won the confidence of the country, and gave an imposing dignity to the national character. It was then the nursery of the parliament and the peerage. There was scarcely a noble family in the land that did not enrol its elect in that body, by the study of law and the exercise of experience to prepare them for the field of legislation; and there not unfrequently arose a genius from the lowest of the people who won his way to the distinctions of the senate, and wrested from pedigree the highest honours of the constitution. It was a sublime spectacle to behold the hope of the peerage entering such an intellectual arena with the offspring of the peasantall difference merged in that of mind, and merit alone decided the superiority." Such was the character of the bar when Mr. Burroughs commenced his career. He had few friends to work him through that dispiriting probation which almost invariably precedes future distinction. Those who have tasted the bitterness of that period in the life of a young barrister, and afterwards raised themselves to honour, indebted solely to the firmness of their own minds and the profundity of their intellect, must retain a lively remembrance of the obstacles that strive to obstruct his course. Sneers and frowns, coldness and neglect, discouragement abroad, combined perhaps with poverty at home, -all these are but too often the concomitants of his early progress. The course of Mr. Burroughs was not an exception, but his mind was solid and buoyant: he was conscious of great powers, and he knew the time was highly favourable to the developement of intellect. An opportunity now offered for the display of his knowledge and eloA petition was lodged against a liberal representative for an Irish borough, and Sir Lawrence Parsons, ever his steady and enthusiastic friend, exerted his influence, and had him retained as counsel. He appeared, and delivered a powerful and impressive argument, interlaced with frequent bursts of masterly oratory, that convinced and fascinated the house. This first effort raised him high in public estimation, and he moved on in rapid progression, until he reached the rank of a first-rate election-lawyer. It is also not unworthy of record

that Lords Yelverton and Clonmel exhibited the first signs of their great powers in the same field-the three were also juniors, and by a strange combination of circumstances, which often develope themselves to extricate genius from obscurity, the whole argument devolved on the three. There are no records of his speeches on these occasions the most trying perhaps to the judgment and learning of an advocate. The reporters of the proceedings in the Irish parliament were not the efficient and intellectual class which now does honour to the press of both countries-they were, on the contrary, the very lowest in the literary scale, and their memories appear to have run parallel with their learning. As a specimen of their knowledge and capability-when Hussey Burgh, the silver-tongued orator as he was characteristically called, urged some position founded on the authority of "Serjeant Maynard," it appeared the following morning that Mr. Burgh established his proposition on the authority of a Sergeant Major! Mr. Burroughs was not of those who take care to convey their sentiments to the public in a suitable apparel, so that a few extracts from the journals of the day can give but a very inadequate idea of the vigorous and argumentative cast of his eloquence. In the case of Robinson descriptive oratory rarely attained such perfection; and without apparent effort to outstrip the simple dignity of narration, it bears all the qualities which are capable of producing the strongest and most powerful emotions. The facts were of that extraordinary character which, though true, carry about them the interest of a romance. Mr. Berry, the plaintiff, was an eminent Irish solicitor. One day Robinson, whom he had never before seen or known, rapped at his door, and sought a conversation with him. Robinson was then pale and squalid-one, seemingly, who had drunk deep of affliction, and who exhibited in his countenance the faint marks of more happy days. In the commencement of his narrative he burst into tears. Mr. B. consoled him, and felt for him at once all the generous sympathy of friendship-a sympathy afterwards fearfully fatal to his repose. He related a tale overflowing with misfortunes and follies, which enlisted Mr. B. more deeply in his favour. He was once high in the world's estimation, so far at least as a sum of one hundred thousand pounds-a patent mode of securing respectability-could insure it. He was also the heir and nephew of General Robinson. Like other young men, released from parental restrictions, he gave way to the most libertine and riotous excesses. He imagined his wealth knew no limits, and his profusion was proportionate. He purchased a cavalry commission, and was quartered in Clonmel, where he became attached to a Miss Storey. He was yet a minor-Miss S. suggested marriage, and they set off for Scotland. They arrived in Dublin, and stopped at the residence of a professional gentleman, a brother-in-law of the lady, and he influenced him to execute a marriage settlement to the amount of twenty thousand pounds, and to lodge four thousand pounds in his hands. There he became acquainted with a Mr. Vigne, a jeweller, who subsequently filled a no unimportant character in his distressing tale. They were married in Scotland, and thence proceeded to London, where he spent a life to which his past profusion was temperance itself. He was the glory of New