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and in that debate, Mr. Tisdall was the only person who was personally attacked, though he alone, of the Irish Cabinet, had any merit on the question. But parliamentary hostility is often misplaced, and, from the nature of a popular assembly, such errors are often unavoidable.

On some miserable, ill-advised contest of government with the city of Dublin, the crown lawyers marshalled themselves in sad and painful array, to support the nonsense of administration. "I shall leave my ragamuffins where they will be well peppered," said Tisdall, to a gentleman of the bar, who stood near him, and walked out of court.

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celebrated and amiable Lord Dorset, was then Lord Lieutenant; government was led on by Primate Stone, a man of unbounded ambition. Lord Charlemont, who knew him perfectly, often assured me, that the temper and genius of the English people, and English constitution, averse to all ecclesiastical interference, or domination, (which the Primate was well aware of) alone prevented him from aspiring to a distinguished place in the councils of Great Britain. He was brother to Andrew Stone, who possessed considerable knowledge and ability, a principal figure in the court of Frederic, Prince of Wales. Mr. Pery at first acted with government, or, what was then called, the primate's party: and afterwards, in the session of 1755, rendered himself conspicuous, by opposing, though with a small minority, Colonel Conway, then secretary to the Marquis of Hartington. Party-writers said, that this opposition was merely in compliance with the wishes of his friend, the primate. But if his

He was a profound lawyer, and his opinion was frequently resorted to from England. In domestic life he was sociable and agreeable. His table was remarkably splendid and magnificent, and often, as the public prints said, subservient to political purposes; but with what truth the observation was made I know not. When abroad, particularly at Spa, he lived with al-tory in general is to be read with most equal splendour. Take him caution, the political history of the all in all, he was, in some respects, day should ever be regarded with one of the most singular, as un- particular distrust. Mr. Pery could questionably he was, by far, one little brook such subjugation. He of the most able, statesmen, whom was, some time after, the leader of Ireland ever beheld. what was called, the Flying Squadron; a party attached neither to the court nor the opposition, and occasionally joining both. When acting with administration, he was offered the place of Solicitor General, but he did not choose to be their servant, and disdained to clothe himself in the spoils of his friend, Mr. Gore, (Lord Annaly who then held that place.-He was master of his profession; and 2 B

MR. EDMUND PERY.

Mr. Edmund Pery, afterwards Lord Pery, came into the House of Commons in the year 1751. The subsequent session of 1753 was remarkable for the first great parliamentary contest in Ireland. The Duke of Dorset, son of the VOL. LIII.

of knowledge and ability; his country thought far otherwise, and his reputation as a man of genius, and an active, well-informed statesman, remained undiminished to the last.

He was a man of high spirit; when he left opposition in 1760, and took the prime serjeantcy, some of his enemies attempted to attack him in the House of Commons; but he asserted himself with such a lofty and firm tone, that it was thought prudent to attack him no more. In private life he was amiable, and in the several duties of father and husband most exemplary.

FRANCIS ANDREWS.

Francis Andrews, Provost of the University of Dublin, and one of the Privy Council in Ireland, is entitled, from the superiority of his talents, and the conspicuous part which for several years he acted in the politics of this country, to particular notice. He was elected Fellow of Trinity College in 1741, and succeeded Dr. Baldwin, as provost, in 1758. It is pretty generally known, that in the more early part of his life, he was the friend and admirer of Mrs. Woffington, that celebrated woman, who, when we reflect on her beauty, her acquirements, the fascinating powers of her conversation, and the influence which she possessed over the minds of some men of the most exalted under standings, may be justly considered as the Aspasia of these kingdoms. This connection is merely alluded to, as the popular prints of that day insisted that Andrews owed

his advancement to the successful exertion of her interest; an assertion than which nothing had ever less foundation. Baldwin was a Whig. As Toryism predominated in the university at the time of his appointment, the statesmen of that period, in order to eradicate Jacobite principles, supported him in all his academical proceedings; and it is certain that he ruled over that respectable seminary with almost unlimited sway. But though an absolute, he was a decorous sovereign; and, some few instances excepted, did not abuse his power. The same may be said, and at least with equal truth, of his successor, Doctor Duigenan, who knew him well, and was a fellow of Trinity College during part of his provostship, has told us, and justly, that he governed the university for many years with great reputation.

He represented his native city of Derry in parliament, and soon became a leading member; for he spoke often, and always with unquestioned ability. He was devoted to the court system. Principibus placuisse viris was the avowed maxim on which he acted, and with peculiar success certainly, for few men ever rendered themselves more acceptable to the great; not merely to statesmen, or those who had it in their power to serve him, but to the gay and fashionable part of the higher orders; and such was the versatility of his talents, that, when in Italy, he no less charmed, and almost astonished, the learned professors of Padua, by his classical attainments, and the uncommon quickness, purity, and ease, with which he addressed and replied to them in the Latin language, than he captivated our

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young men of rank, then resident at Rome, by his lively and accommodating wit, his agreeable, useful, and miscellaneous knowledge. Yet his manners were not refined; Sir Robert Walpole would have relished them more than Lord Chesterfield; but they were frank and open, accompanied with so much good humour, good nature, and real benevolence, that he had few, if any, personal enemies. He was fond of, and indulged in the pleasures of the table, but he added to the number of his friends, and, when the chair of the House of Commons was vacant, by the resignation of the late Mr. Ponsonby, in 1771, he displayed the extent of his influence in that assembly, by the election of his friend, Mr. Pery, to the office of Speaker, who, though eminently qualified for such a station, was much indebted to Andrews for his just promotion. Two men of more dissimilar habits perhaps never existed; yet the most cordial union subsisted between them from their earliest days to the year 1774, when Lord Pery witnessed the last mournful scene of Andrew's life at Shrewsbury. He was deeply regretted; and Rigby, who loved him, who was delighted with his colloquial powers, as his own were pre-eminent, wept like a child at the intelligence of his death.

For some time before he died, he grew weary of politics. To an intimate friend he expressed his concern that he had relinquished his profession, (the law,) for the Provostship. It is equally certain that he considered his necessary academical engagements as totally incompatible with those of a political nature, and lamented the ar

dour with which he had engaged in the latter. In the disposition of his property he shewed an unfeigned respect for the University, bequeathing a considerable sum for the foundation of an observatory, and the cultivation of astronomical science.

PHILIP TISDall.

Philip Tisdall, Attorney-General, cannot be omitted in a work of this kind. The singularity of his talents and temperament demand a more peculiar delineation of his character. He came into parliament in the year 1739, as representative of the university of Dublin. This respectable situation he occupied, though not without some trouble, and much personal obloquy, at every election, to the time of his death, in 1777.

He had an admirable, and most superior understanding; an understanding matured by years, by long experience, by habits with the best company from his youth; with the bar, with parliament, with the state. To this strength of intellect was added a constitutional philosophy, or apathy, which never suffered him to be carried away by attachment to any party, even his

own.

He saw men and things so clearly; he understood so well the whole farce and fallacy of life, that it passed before him like a scenic representation: and, till almost the close of his days, he went through the world with a constant sunshine of soul and an inexorable gravity of feature. His countenance was never gay, and his mind was never gloomy.

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He was an excellent politician, equally able to draw government into difficulties, and bring it out of them again, though it must be allowed, that he never abused the confidence of government. Far from it. But when ministers here found themselves embarrassed by neglecting to consult him, which was sometimes the case, he enjoyed their distress with peculiar complacency: and with a face of Ere bus, no lover was at that moment more pleased, nor stoic more immoveable. He seemed to have acquired an entire power over his senses, and when his mind was most impregnated, and his passions most engaged, he looked, if in his opinion the measure required it, as if he had almost ceased to see, to hear, or to speak.

He was an able speaker, as well at the bar as in the House of Commons, though his diction was very indifferent. He did not speak so much at length as many of his parliamentary coadjutors, though he knew the whole of the subject much better than they did. He was not only a good speaker in parliament, but an excellent manager of the House of Commons. He never said too much. He had great merit in what he did say, for government was never committed by him. He plunged into no difficulty, nor did he ever suffer his antagonist to escape from one.

To liberty, or the people, he was no enemy. He was too well acquainted with the laws not to respect the constitution. He knew his own abilities too well not to be convinced that, in a free country, government could not go on without him; and that, whilst he was consulted by administration,

it never would overset the liberties of the people. To form a just estimate of his principles, it is necessary to know what government did not do. This was the case with Mr. Malone, and one or two eminent men. They differed from the patriot not in principle, but as to the place where such principle might, at that time be most efficaciously displayed. They struggled for the country in the Cabinet, as the orator often did, or said he did, in the House of Commons. This mode of conduct may appear strange, but it arose from the situation of Ireland, which those most able men did not wish to see engaged in quarrels with England. Their desire, therefore, was to do things calmly and quietly. They moderated parties, checked the too forward zeal of courtiers, and tempered the ardour of patriots. They postponed, but never thought of attempting to extinguish, any question relating to public liberty. said Mr.

You may observe,' Tisdall to one of his friends, who was with him at his villa of Stillorgan, within a few miles of Dublin, which commanded a view of the sea, "that the taking the embargo off corn has improved my prospect. You now see some ships. I signed the proclamation for taking off that embargo; but the proclamation for laying it on, I took care not to sign that." He was the first person who omitted, in the revenue bill, the clause providing that the act should continue till the end of the next session. It was on his part, a patriotic and provident measure. The English council restored theclause, which was afterwards a subject of debate in the House of Commons,

and

and in that debate, Mr. Tisdall was the only person who was personally attacked, though he aloné, of the Irish Cabinet, had any merit on the question. But parliamentary hostility is often misplaced, and, from the nature of a popular assembly, such errors are often unavoidable.

On some miserable, ill-advised contest of government with the city of Dublin, the crown lawyers marshalled themselves in sad and painful array, to support the nonsense of administration. "I shall leave my ragamuffins where they will be well peppered," said Tisdall, to a gentleman of the bar, who stood near him, and walked out of court.

He was a profound lawyer, and his opinion was frequently resorted to from England. In domestic life he was sociable and agreeable. His table was remarkably splendid and magnificent, and often, as the public prints said, subservient to political purposes; but with what truth the observation was made I know not. When abroad, particularly at Spa, he lived with almost equal splendour. Take him all in all, he was, in some respects, one of the most singular, as unquestionably he was, by far, one of the most able, statesmen, whom Ireland ever beheld.

MR. EDMUND PERY.

Mr. Edmund Pery, afterwards Lord Pery, came into the House of Commons in the year 1751. The subsequent session of 1753 was remarkable for the first great parliamentary contest in Ireland. The Duke of Dorset, son of the VOL. LIII.

celebrated and amiable Lord Dorset, was then Lord Lieutenant; government was led on by Primate Stone, a man of unbounded ambition. Lord Charlemont, who knew him perfectly, often assured me, that the temper and genius of the English people, and English constitution, averse to all ecclesiastical interference, or domination, (which the Primate was well aware of) alone prevented him from aspiring to a distinguished place in the councils of Great Britain. He was brother to Andrew Stone, who possessed considerable knowledge and ability, a principal figure in the court of Frederic, Prince of Wales. Mr. Pery at first acted with government, or, what was then called, the primate's party: and afterwards, in the session of 1755, rendered himself conspicuous, by opposing, though with a small minority, Colonel Conway, then secretary to the Marquis of Hartington. Party-writers said, that this opposition was merely in compliance with the wishes of his friend, the primate. But if history in general is to be read with caution, the political history of the day should ever be regarded with particular distrust. Mr. Pery could little brook such subjugation. He was, some time after, the leader of what was called, the Flying Squadron; a party attached neither to the court nor the opposition, and occasionally joining both. When acting with administration, he was offered the place of Solicitor General, but he did not choose to be their servant, and disdained to clothe himself in the spoils of his friend, Mr. Gore, (Lord Annaly; who then held that place.-He was master of his profession; and 2 B

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