Enter SIR ARCHY MACSARCASM. (Mordecai

runs up to embrace him.)

Ha, ha, ha! my chield o' circumcision, gie's a wag o' yer loof; hoo d'ye do, my bonny Eesraelite?

Mor. Always at your service, Sir Archy. He stinks worse than a Scotch snuff-shop.

(Aside.)

Sir A. Weel, Mordecai, I see you are as deeligent in the service o' yer mistress as in the service o' yer leuking-glass, for yer face and yer thoughts are a' turned upon the ane or the ither.

Mor. And I see your wit, Sir Archy, like a lawyer's tongue, will never retain its usual politeness and good-nature.

Char. (Coming forward.) Ha, ha, ha! Civil and witty on both sides, Sir Archy, your most obedient. (Curtseys.) Sir A. Ten thoosand pardons, madam, I didna observe ye; I hope I see yer ladyship weel. Ah! ye look like a diveenity.

(Bowing awkwardly and low.) Char. Sir Archy, this is immensely gallant. Sir A. Weel, madam, I see my friend Mordecai here is determined to tak' awa' the prize frae' us a'. Ha, ha, ha! He is tricked out in a' the colours o' the rainboo.

Char. Mr. Mordecai is always well dressed, Sir Archy.

have the honour of kissing your fair hand this morning. (Salutes Charlotte.)

Char. Sir Callaghan, your humble servant. I am sorry to hear we are likely to lose you. I was in hopes the campaign had been quite over in Germany for this winter.

Sir C. Yes, madam, it was quite over, but it began again: a true genius never loves to quit the field till he has left himself nothing to do; for then, you know, madam, he can keep it with more safety.

Sir A. Well, but, Sir Callaghan, just as ye entered the apartment the lady was urging she should like it mightily gin ye wad favour her wi' a slight narrative of the late transactions and battles in Germany.

Char. If Sir Callaghan would be so obliging. Sir C. Oh dear madam, don't ax me. Char. Sir, I beg pardon; I would not press anything that I thought might be disagreeable to you.

Sir C. Oh dear madam, it is not for that; but it rebuts a man of honour to be talking to ladies of battles, and sieges, and skirmages; it looks like gasconading and making the fanfaron. Besides, madam, I give you my honour, there is no such thing in nature as making a true description of a battle.

Char. How so, sir?

you can no more give an account of it than you can of the stars in the sky.

Sir A. As I shall answer it, I think it a very descriptive account that he gives of a battle.

Char. Admirable! and very entertaining. Mor. Oh, delightful!

Sir A. Mordecai, ask him some questions; to him, to him, mon! hae a little fun wi' him; smoke him, smoke him; rally him, mon, rally him. (Apart to Mordecai.)

Mor. I'll do it, I'll do it; yes, I will smoke

Enter SIR CALLAGHAN O'BRALLAGHAN.

Madam, I am your most devoted and most obedient humble servant, and am proud to

Callaghan, how many might you kill in a battle?

Sir C. Sir?

Mor. I say, sir, how many might you have killed in any one battle?

The date of his entering Dublin University is unknown, but he was distinguished during his college course for his classical proficiency as well as pure literary taste and poetic talent. On the death of a maternal uncle he inherited his estates in county Limerick, and added the name of Hussey to his own. In 1768 he was called to the bar, and shortly afterwards nominated by the Duke of Leinster to a borough in his gift, and as a member of the Irish parliament he took a leading part in the opposition to the government of Lord Townshend. His early oratory was too full of classical imagery and his style too ornate; but in a short time, as he began to throw his heart more earnestly into his work, these defects entirely disappeared.

Under the administration of Lord Buckingham he obtained the rank of prime sergeant or first law-officer of Ireland, an office which his popularity at the bar, in parliament, and among the people peculiarly fitted him to fill. In 1779 he was returned as member for the University of Dublin, shortly before the discussion on free-trade was brought before the Irish parliament. The Irish were contending for the right of trading directly from their own ports to the British colonies and to countries with which England was at peace. The English law at the time compelled Irish merchants to send their goods to England, to be there shipped from her ports and in her ships to their foreign destinations. "No human foresight could have predicted," says Sir Jonah Barrington in his Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation, "the blow which the British cabinet was about to receive by one single sentence, or have foreseen that that single sentence would be the composition of the first lawofficer of the Irish government." The speech of the lord-lieutenant was of a temporizing character and cautiously worded, so as neither entirely to crush the hope of free-trade nor compromise the British government. Grattan proposed in a lengthy address that a representation should be made to his majesty of the state of the country in consequence of the want of free-trade. Some of the members opposed this motion. Then Mr. Hussey Burgh rose and declared that "the high office he possessed could hold no competition with his principles and his conscience, and that he should consider the relinquishment of his gown only a just sacrifice upon the altar of his

he concluded a stirring debate by the memorable words, "It is not by temporary expedients, but by free-trade alone, that this nation is now to be saved from impending ruin." "The effect of this speech," says Sir Jonah Barrington, "was altogether indescribable; ... the character, the talents, the eloquence of this great man bore down every symptom of further resistance; many of the usual supporters of government, and some of the viceroy's immediate connections, instantly followed his example, and in a moment the victory was decisive; not a single negative could the minister procure, and Mr. Burgh's amendment passed unanimously amidst a tumult of joy and exultation."

The same year (1779), while the subject of free-trade was still held a matter of debate, a member proposed that the annual grant towards the general expenses of the empire, in return for free-trade, should be limited to six months, and spoke of Ireland as being at peace. Hussey Burgh answered, "Talk not to me of peace. Ireland is not at peace, it is smothered in war. England has sown her laws as dragons' teeth, and they have sprung up as armed men." "Never yet," says Mr. Froude, "had Grattan so moved the Irish House of Commons as it was moved at these words. rose to the gallery. From the gallery it was thundered to the crowd at the door. From the door it rung through the city. As the tumult calmed down Hussey Burgh rose again, and, amidst a renewed burst of cheers, declared that he resigned the office he held under the crown."

From the floor the applause

In the social reunions which were so common during the last century in Ireland Hussey Burgh took a prominent place. His wit would enliven the dullest subject, and his eloquence create interest in the coldest listener. He was also a member of that jovial community "The Monks of the Screw" at the time Curran was prior, and the meetings held in Kevin Street, Dublin. Notwithstanding his opposition to government his professional character stood so high that in 1782 he was appointed chief-baron of the exchequer; but he did not long enjoy this position, for he died on the 29th September in the following year, aged forty-one. His poetical pieces have never been collected, and except a few stray specimens are now lost.

See the notice of J. P. Curran further on in this volume.

Burgh's one notable fault seems to have been a love of display. He used to ride out in an equipage drawn by six horses with three outriders, and in consequence of this and other forms of extravagance his family were left in embarrassment. Grattan, however, obtained a grant from parliament for their relief. Of his great rectitude in times of bribery and corruption Lord Temple says: "No one had more decidedly that inflexible and constitutional integrity which the times and circumstances peculiarly called for." "He did not live to be ennobled by patent, he was ennobled by nature," said Flood. Mr. Grattan thus portrays him: "He was a man singularly gifted-with great talent, great variety, wit, oratory, and logic; he, too, had his weaknessbut he had the pride of genius also; he strove to raise his country along with himself, and never sought to build his elevation on the degradation of Ireland. I moved an amendment for a free export; he moved a better amendment, and he lost his place. I moved a declaration of right. With my last breath will I support the right of the Irish parliament,' was his note to me when I applied to him for his support. He lost the chance of recovering his place, and his way to the seals, for which he might have bartered. The gates of promotion were shut on him as those of glory opened."]

EXTRACT FROM SPEECH

DELIVERED IN IRISH HOUSE OF COMMONS, NOV. 1779.

You have but two nights ago declared against new taxes by a majority of 123, and have left the ministers supported only by 47 votes; if you now go back and accede to the proposed grant for two years, your compliance will add insult to the injuries already done to your ill-fated country; you strike a dagger into your own bosom, and destroy the fair prospect of commercial hope, because if the minister can, in the course of two days, render void the animated spirit and patriotic stability of this house, and procure a majority, the British minister will treat our applications for free-trade with contempt. When the interests of the government and the people are contrary they secretly operate against each other; such a state is but smothered war. I shall be a friend alike to the minister and the people, according as I find their desires guided by justice; but at such a crisis as this the people must be kept in good temper, even to the

VOL. II

indulgence of their caprices. The usurped authority of a foreign parliament has kept up the most wicked laws that a jealous, monopolizing, ungrateful spirit could devise, to restrain the bounty of Providence and enslave a nation whose inhabitants are recorded to be a brave, loyal, and generous people; by the code of English laws, to answer the most sordid views, they have been treated with a savage cruelty; the words penalty, punishment, and Ireland are synonymous, they are marked in blood on the margin of their statutes; and though time may have softened the calamities of the nation, the baneful and destructive influence of those laws have borne her down to a state of Egyptian bondage. Talk not to me of peace. Ireland is not at peace, it is smothered in war. England has sown her laws as dragons' teeth, and they have sprung up as armed men.

THE WOUNDED BIRD.

The wounded bird! the wounded bird!
With broken wing and blood-stained feather,
Where'er its plaintive cry is heard,
With levelled guns the fowlers gather;
Along the reedy shore it creeps,
With startled eye and head low bending,
Or dives amid the silver deeps,

To 'scape the dreadful death impending.
Alas! alas! its wiles are vain,

Its life-stream flows in ruddy rain.

My love-struck heart! my love-struck heart!
Thou, too, like the poor bird art wounded.
Within thee rankles love's keen dart,
And with love's snares thou art surrounded.
Bird-like I plunge amid life's sea,
But, like the fowler, love pursuing
Mocks all my schemes for liberty,
And hurls new darts my soul subduing;
Like thee, poor bird, my heart is ta'en,
Like thine, its hopes of flight are vain.

SEE! WICKLOW'S HILLS.

See! Wicklow's hoary hills are white with snow; Scarce can the labouring woods the weight sustain;

The rivers cease to flow,
Curbed with an icy chain.

Revive that dying blaze, and never spare
Your choicest flask of vintage "'fifty-seven;"
To drink shall be our care-
The rest we leave to Heaven.

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