. 033 
 
 DOtt MOT C^EKIJULAtC 
 
 THE IRISH BAR. 
 
LONDON : 
 GILBEET AND KIVINGTON, PEIN 
 
 ST. John's square. 
 
THE IRISH BAR; 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 ANECDOTES, BON-MOTS, AND BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 SKETCHES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BENCH AND BAR OF IRELAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. RODERICK O'FLANAGAN, 
 
 BARRISTER-AT-LAW ; 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE LIVES OF THE LORD CHANCELLORS OF IRELAND," " HISTORY OF 
 THE MUNSTER CIRCUIT," ETC. 
 
 BOSTo 
 
 HonUon 
 
 ULTY 
 
 UT 
 
 HJLL. 
 
 Ry 
 
 Mass, 
 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGT" 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1879- 
 
 \_A/I rights resen'ed.\ 
 
 BOSTON COLLEQE LIBRARY 
 
 CiaESTiNUT HILL, MASS. 
 
TO 
 
 THE EIGHT HONORABLE EDWARD SULLIVAN, 
 
 MASTER OF THE ROLLS IN IRELAND, 
 IN TOKEN OF ADMIRATION 
 FOE HIS EMINENT ABILITIES AT THE BAR AND ON THE BENCH, 
 
 RELATINO TO THE PROFESSION HE ADORNS, 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 3097 
 
 G-Cc. ->vc. 
 
 3o \\ 
 
INTRODIJCTION. 
 
 The greater number of the most renowned Irislimen 
 in modern times have been barristers. In Oratory, 
 I may name G rattan, Curran, Plunket, Bushe, Shi el, 
 and O^Connell; as Statesmen, Hussey Burgh, Ponsonby, 
 and FitzGibbon; as Advocates, Telverton, the two 
 Pennefath ers, Holmes, Waggett, Deane Grady, J onathan 
 Henn, and Goold ; as Poets, John Anster, LL.D., John 
 F. Waller, LL.D., Sir Samuel Ferguson, LL.D., D. F. 
 MacCarthy, M. J. Barry, and Thomas Davis. There were 
 others, less known to fame — men who sought con- 
 vivial society in preference to professional toil, yet who 
 earned reputations worth preserving ; the Wits and 
 Humorists of the Irish Parliament and the Bar ; men 
 who possessed more wit than wisdom, more bon-mots 
 than books, more brilliancy than briefs. Towards the 
 close of the last century, Irish society, especially in 
 the Irish Metropolis, was peculiarly suited to the 
 genius of such men. The Capital was in a continual 
 whirl of dissipation and revelry. An admirably- wi'itt en 
 book in my possession — printed for private circulation 
 
Vlll 
 
 I?itroduction. 
 
 amongst the family of the distinguished authoress/ 
 who moved in the Viceregal circle in Dublin, and 
 from which I quote — gives several admirable pictures 
 of life in Dublin immediately before the Union, and 
 nothing could be more lively and animating. Then 
 the social, joyous spirit of such men as pleasant 
 Ned Lysaght, Jerry Keller, refined and polished Charles 
 Kendal Bushe, amusing and ready Toler Lord Nor- 
 bury, caustic, yet humorous Harry Deane Grady, keen 
 and comical Standish O^Grady, Lord Guillamore, had 
 full play. The sayings and doings of these entertain- 
 ing individuals linger yet as traditions of a past genera- 
 tion ; their day is gone. If wisdom prevails upon the 
 Irish Bench, and forensic excellence is the role at the 
 Irish Bar, the ready jest and prompt hon-mot is rarely 
 heard. A worthy son of Minerva ^ occupies the chief 
 seat on the Exchequer Bench, who would as soon imitate 
 the vulgar slang of Chief Baron 0^ Grady, as would 
 the late Chief Baron Pigot. Though a voice racy of 
 the soil now pronounces the decisions of the Chief 
 Justice of the Common Pleas, the voUies of puns, 
 as from Chief Justice Lord Norbury, do not rattle 
 from that Bench. So with the Bar as with the 
 Judges. 
 
 To preserve what is worth preserving of these old 
 days, to enable our contemporaries and posterity to 
 learn what manner of men those men of a past genera- 
 
 ^ Mrs. Howard, of Corby Castle, Cumberland. 
 " Chief Barou Palles. 
 
Introduction, 
 
 ix 
 
 tion were — how they lived and laughed — is the task I 
 have undertaken. My object being to mingle amuse- 
 ment with information, the reader will find if I 
 extenuate nothing/^ I have assuredly ^^set down 
 nought in malice/^ 
 
 J. R. OTlanagan. 
 
 Geange House, Feemoy, 
 
 Sejptemher 1, 1878. 
 
 a 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 OHA.P. 
 I.- 
 II.- 
 III.- 
 
 lY.- 
 Y.- 
 YI- 
 YII.- 
 YIII.- 
 IX.- 
 X.- 
 XI.- 
 
 XII.- 
 XIII.. 
 
 XIY.- 
 XY.. 
 
 XYI.- 
 XYII.- 
 
 XYIII.--: 
 
 ■THE EIVAL COACHES, AN INCIDENT IN 1695 
 ■TRIED BY HIS PEERS, 1739— -1798 
 •JOHN SCOTT, EARL OF CLONMELL, 1739—1798 
 CHIEF BARON HUSSEY BURGH, 1743 — 1783 
 RIGHT HON. GEORGE PONSONBY, 1755—1817 
 •GRATTAN AT THE BAR, 1746 
 BARRY YELVERTON, LORD AY0N3I0RE, 1736 — 1805 
 JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN, 1747 — 1817 . 
 FITZGIBBON, EARL OF CLARE, 1749 — 1802 . 
 •AN IRISH ELECTIVE MONARCHY . 
 ■IRISH PARLIAMENTARY HUMORISTS — SIR BOYLE 
 ROCHE, SIR JONAH BARRINGTON, JOHN TOLER, 
 
 AND JOHN EGAN, K.C 
 
 OPPOSITION OF THE IRISH BAR TO THE UNION . 
 -DUBLIN BEFORE THE UNION, FROM AN UNPUB- 
 LISHED DIARY IN THE YEAR 1799 
 
 •PLUNKET AND BUSHE 
 
 •PETER BURROWES, THE GOLDSMITH OF THE BAR. — 
 
 THOMAS GOOLD, MASTER IN CHANCERY 
 •LAST SITTING OF THE IRISH HOUSE OF COMMONS 
 -CHIEF BARON o'gRADY, FIRST LORD GUILLAMORE. — 
 CHIEF JUSTICE DOHERTY. — HARRY DEANE GRADY 
 NED LYSAGHT, LEONARD MACNALLY, JERRY KELLER, 
 WILLIAM WAGGETT, D. R. KANE, PROFESSIONAL 
 BON-MOTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 O 
 
 23 
 31 
 43 
 47 
 52 
 64 
 74 
 90 
 
 98 
 124 
 
 130 
 138 
 
 162 
 186 
 
 190 
 
 205 
 
xii 
 
 Co7iients, 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 xix.— the henn fa.mily 222 
 
 xx. — o'connell 232 
 
 xxi. — chief baron woulfe 252 
 
 xxii. — richard lalor shiel 264 
 
 xxiii. — robert holmes 273 
 
 xxi y. — richard and edward pennefather. — the 
 
 o'loghlens 288 
 
 xxv. — judge perrin and judge ball . . . 307 
 
 xxyi. — henry baldwin, q.c 321 
 
 x xxyii. — legal experiences of a limerick banker . 358 
 
 XXYIII. — CIRCUIT RECOLLECTIONS — GEORGE BENNETT, Q.C, 
 SERGEANT JACKSON, M.P., D. R. PIGOT, Q.C, 
 
 STEPHEN COLLINS, Q.C 376 
 
 XXIX. — CIRCUIT RECOLLECTIONS — HARRY COOPER, Q.C, 
 W. D. FREEMAN, Q.C, SERGEANT STOCK, RIGHT 
 
 HON. F. BLACKBURNE 389 
 
 XXX. — WHITESIDE. — CORK LOCAL BAR — FORSAYETH — 
 
 SCANNELL — FRANK WALSH .... 403 
 
 XXXI. — THOMAS OSBORNE DAVIS 413 
 
 XXXII. — BON-MOTS OF ATTORNEYS — PAT COSTELLO, PHIL. 
 
 O' CON NELL, TOM o'mEARA .... 429 
 
 Index 437 
 
THE IRISH BAR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE EIVAL COACHES. 
 
 Charges against Sir Charles Porter, Lord Chancellor of 
 Ireland. — Defends himself successfully in the House of 
 Commons. — The Chancellor's Coach overtakes the Speaker's 
 Coach, and tries to pass. — Eage of the Speaker. — He 
 brandishes his Mace before the Chancellor's Coachman. — 
 The Chancellor gives precedence to the Speaker, but com- 
 plains. — The Commons say no offence was intended. — Sir 
 Eobert Eochfort. 
 
 On a dark and wintry night, towards the close of 
 October^ 1695^ the Speaker of the Irish House of 
 Commons — Robert Eochfort — was returning home 
 rather crestfallen, from the House of Commons. He 
 was at variance with the Lord Chancellor^ Sir Charles 
 Porter, who had been charged by several members of 
 the Commons with various high crimes and mis- 
 demeanours, such as taking excessive fees, using 
 power above and against law, being a favourer of 
 Papists against Protestants, and acting partially in 
 various cases. ^ 
 
 The Lord Chancellor went to the House of Com- 
 mons on 25th October, 1695, and was admitted with 
 his purse, a chair being placed for him on the right 
 
 ^ Com. Jour., vol. ii. p. 76. 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 hand^ within the bar. He laid down the purse and 
 his hat, and, at the back of the chair, uncovered, was 
 heard what he could say on the Articles exhibited 
 against him.^ 
 
 His speech was, I make no doubt, a masterly one, 
 unfortunately there exists no report of it. But the 
 result was a triumph to the Lord Chancellor. On the 
 question being put That what Sir Charles Porter, 
 Lord Chancellor of L'eland, said to the House in re- 
 lation to the matters contained in the Articles ex- 
 hibited against him, is satisfactory to the House 
 without any proof .^^ The House divided. There were 
 for the affirmation 121 to 77. The result was — the 
 Articles were abandoned, and the witnesses summoned 
 in support of same were discharged from attendance. 
 
 The Chancellor's triumph no doubt galled Mr. 
 Speaker, who was at enmity with Sir Charles, and, as 
 I stated, was proceeding homeward after the unusually 
 protracted sitting of the House of Commons. His 
 route, from Chichester House^ where the Parliament 
 then met, towards Chancery Lane, Dublin, then a 
 fashionable locality adjoining the Four Courts, which 
 were held in Christ Church Lane, was through Essex 
 Street, a narrow thoroughfare, running nearly parallel 
 with the Eiver Liffey. It was called after the brother 
 of the then Lord Lieutenant — Arthur Capel — Earl of 
 Essex— and was the chief route towards the place in 
 which the Lord Chancellor, judges, eminent lawyers 
 and dignitaries connected with the law had their 
 mansions, from the Houses of Lords and Commons. As 
 the Speaker's heavy coach rolled over the paved 
 ^ Com. Jour. Jr., vol. ii. p. 108. 
 
TJte Rival Coaches, 3 
 
 streets few lights glimmered from the windows on 
 either side^ for the citizens were nearly all abed^ to be 
 ready for the morning^s work. No public lights^ 
 neither oil lamp or its successor — the brilliant gas — 
 shed a gleam upon the confined space over which the 
 cumbrous vehicle of the period slowly proceeded. Had 
 any of the inhabitants^ roused by the rumbling noise^ 
 looked forth^ he might have witnessed a strange scene^ 
 — another coach^ even more pretentious in gilding 
 and heraldic blazoning than the firsts with rich coat- 
 of-arms on the panels^ and a bewigged coachman be- 
 fore^ and a couple of footmen behind^ was vainly 
 endeavoaring to drive past the coach containing Mr. 
 Speaker. Both carriages were nearly abreast^ when a 
 stray gleam^ lighting up the street^ revealed to the 
 Speaker the Chancellor's coach^ close beside his own^ 
 and the coachman^ apparently trying to pass in front. 
 Eage and anger at this apparent rudeness^ roused the 
 ire of the Speaker. It was not enough that the 
 Chancellor should triumph over him in the Senate^ 
 but that his coachman should insult him in the street. 
 He let down the window^ and_, in a peremptory tone^ 
 desired the Chancellor's coachman to keep back. 
 This mandate being etiher unheard or disregarded^ 
 Mr. Speaker sprang from his coach^ and^ regardless 
 of damage from horses' hoofs^ coach-wheels^ or the 
 mud of Essex Street^ caught the reins of the Chan- 
 cellor's horses, and nearly brought them — if he failed 
 to bring their master — on their knees. With a want 
 of respect for his high station, which, in his cooler 
 moments, he never would have shown, he directed the 
 Speaker's mace to be displayed before the astonished 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 eyes of the Lord Chancellor's coachman^ declaring, 
 in excited tones, That he would be run down by no 
 man, and would justify what he did/^ The Chancellor, 
 if he did not preserve his gravity during this ridiculous 
 scene, preserved his temper and his seat. He kept his 
 mace quiet, and allowed the Speaker^s coach pre- 
 cedence while their roads lay the same. The Chan- 
 cellor, however, thought it right to bring the matter 
 before his House, as he considered the Speaker''s con- 
 duct designed as an insult to himself. Probably aware 
 of the animus felt by the Speaker of the Commons 
 towards their Speaker, the Lord Chancellor, their Lord- 
 ships sent the Chancellor's statement to the members 
 of the House of Commons, and required an answef. 
 The answer showed that, if the Speaker was for the 
 time deprived of common sense and regard to the 
 dignity of his high office, the other members of the 
 Irish House of Commons were more reasonable. 
 Accordingly they returned an answer to the message 
 from the Lords That the meeting of the coaches being 
 purely accidental, could in nowise be regarded as a de- 
 signed affront to their Lordships in the person of their 
 Speaker.''^ 
 
 Therefore the affair went no farther. 
 
 The career of the Speaker, Sir Eobert Rochfort, 
 shows he reached high rank in the legal profession. 
 He succeeded Sir John Temple as Attorney-General in 
 1694, and continued in office until 1707, when, on the 
 elevation of Chief Baron Freeman to the Chancellor- 
 ship, Rochfort became Chief Baron. He presided over 
 the Exchequer until 1714. 
 
 ' Lords' Jour. Jr., vol. i. p. 500. 
 
CHAPTER IT. 
 
 TRIED BY HIS PEERS. 
 
 Intemperance in Ireland. — Public-houses in Dublin in 1680. — 
 Convivial Habits of Irish Gentry. — Judges not exempt from 
 this vice. — Sir Toby Butler. — Lord Santry kills Laughlin 
 Murphy.— Tried by his Peers in 1739.— The Trial.— Conduct 
 of Bowes, Solicitor-General, described. — Lord Santry found 
 guilty and sentenced to death, but allowed to escape. — Trial 
 of Lord Netterville. — Acquittal. — Romantic case of Robert, 
 Earl of Kingston. — Henry Fitzgerald, illegitimate son of 
 Lady Kingsborough's brother. — Brought up with the family. 
 — Enters the Army and becomes Colonel. — His base ingra- 
 titude. — Induces Hon. Mary King to elope with him. — Grief 
 of her family at her disappearance. — Pretended sympathy of 
 Fitzgerald. — A servant discloses his treachery. — Miss King 
 recovered and carried to Ireland. — Duel between Colonel King 
 and Fitzgerald. — Stranger at Mitchelstown. — Lord Kings - 
 borough follows to Kilworth. — Refuses to admit Lord Kings- 
 borough. — Door of bed-room forced, and Lord Kingsborough 
 shoots Colonel Fitzgerald. — Becomes Earl of Kingston. — 
 Tried by his Peers in 1798. — Address of Earl of Clare, Lord 
 High Steward. — ISTo evidence. — Earl of Kingston acquitted. 
 
 It is not often the historian has to relate the trial of 
 an Irish Peer, but, as accidents happen in the best 
 regulated families^ so the annals of Erin are not wholly 
 free from such events. The fearful extent to which 
 intemperance has for centuries prevailed in Ireland 
 caused much of the crime which stained the legal 
 records of the knd. We learn from Sir William Petty^s 
 census in a.d. 1682 that, out of the 6025 houses then 
 
6 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 constituting the Irish metropolis^ no less than twelve 
 hundred were public-houses for the sale of intoxicating 
 drink. This deplorable evil seems to have increased 
 with time. In 1798 Thomas Street^ in Dublin, had 
 nearly one-half of its houses devoted to the sale of 
 whiskey. Dr. Rutty, the historian of Dublin, gives an 
 account of the quantity of claret imported for the 
 exclusive use of the Irish gentry in one year, 1 763. It 
 amounted to 8000 tuns. The quantity of wine which 
 could be drunk by seasoned topers was several bottles. 
 I think some members of the Cherokee Club boasted 
 of drinking six bottles each. Port wine was not much 
 used until the middle of the eighteenth century. The 
 convivial meetings throughout Ireland were usually 
 drunken orgies. If any guest left the table, intending 
 to return, pieces of paper were placed in his glass, to 
 indicate the number of times the decanter had circu- 
 lated during his absence, and he was expected to 
 swallow a bumper for each, or, in lieu thereof, an 
 equal number of glasses of salt and water. It was the 
 custom at some houses for the host to lock the dining- 
 room door, that none of his guests could depart, and 
 thus shirk his liquor. Others used bottles like soda- 
 water bottles, which could only be passed from hand 
 to hand, so there was no possibility of stopping the 
 bottle. The stories told of this degrading intem- 
 perance in men of every rank, from the peer to the 
 peasant, show how universal was this vice. A learned 
 judge was said to have had a tube inserted in a metal 
 pen, and with this he would take a quantity of brandy 
 placed on the bench in a vessel bearing the shape of 
 an inkstand. Another judge was asked if he saw a 
 
Tried by his Peers, 
 
 7 
 
 learned brother dance. Yes/^ lie replied^ I saw 
 him in a reel/^ Curran said of a third judge, who dis- 
 played maudling sensibility when condemning a pri- 
 soner to death, though he did not weep, he certainly 
 had a drop in his eye.'' There were lawyers who, it 
 was reported, could not address juries without the aid 
 of a libation, and we recollect how Sir Toby Butler, 
 Solicitor- General in 1689, was pledged ^^not to drink 
 a drop of liquor '' until he made his argument in a case 
 of vast importance, and acquitted himself so ably that 
 Bench and Bar complimented him for his able speech ; 
 yet, when the Attorney expressed his conviction the 
 success was owing to abstemiousness, ^*'Not so fast, 
 my friend,^^ replied the jolly old toper, perhaps it 
 was the other way/^ ^'^Why, Sir Toby,^^ exclaimed 
 the Attorney, surely you have not broken your 
 pledge?'' ^^What was that?'' demanded Sir Toby. 
 
 You pledged your word you would not drmk a drop 
 of liquor until you concluded your argument." Nor 
 have I," answered the barrister ; I did not drink a 
 drop, but I soaked two fresh penny loaves in two 
 bottles of claret, and I ate them!'' 
 
 In the year 1730 a wild young nobleman. Lord 
 Santry, with other young men of good family but 
 disreputable conduct, were drinking at a rural tavern 
 in the village of Palmerston, a few miles from Dublin. 
 It was fair day, and many persons were in and out of 
 this tavern. Lord Santry had reached that stage of 
 inebriety when good-humour ceases and a disposition 
 to grow quarrelsome prevails. He had taken the 
 
 cross drop," and his companions, being indisposed to 
 tolerate his ill-humour, dropped off one by one. Lord 
 
8 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Santry then expended his wrath upon a man named 
 Humphreys^ and^ as it was the custom for gentlemen 
 at this time to wear rapiers^ he proceeded to unsheath 
 his rapier ; but it stuck fast in the scabbard^ and, happily 
 for Humphreys J his lordship failed in his efforts to 
 draw. In a violent rage at this circumstance^ Lord 
 Santry left the room^ and proceeded along a passage 
 leading to the kitchen. While here he unfortunately 
 met a man named Laugh! in Murphy^ who was usually 
 employed as pot-boy and messenger. Finding Murphy 
 in his way, Lord Santry gave him a push^ and swore 
 that he would kill him if he spoke a word.^^ Murphy 
 made some reply^ on hearing which the excited peer 
 kept to his j'ash oath^ for_, tugging at his sword^ he 
 unsheathed it and plunged it into Murphy^s body. 
 The wounded man instantly exclaimed, " l^m killed ! 
 No attempt seems to have been made to take the 
 drunken peer into custody. He gave a four-pound 
 piece of gold to the landlord of the tavern as recom- 
 pense for the wound he inflicted on Murphy, and went 
 away. The victim of his intemperance lingered from 
 the 9th August to the 25th of September, 1 738, when he 
 died in Dublin, in a small lane called Hammond^s Lane. 
 
 The law officers at that time were Eobert Jocelyn, 
 Attorney- General, and John Bowes, Solicitor-General. 
 They took prompt steps to bring the off'ender to the 
 bar of justice. He was arrested and indicted for 
 murder. A true bill being found by the Grand Jury 
 of the County of Dublin, a writ of certiorari was applied 
 for and granted, removing the trial from the Court of 
 King^s Bench to the House of Lords, in order that the 
 prisoner should be -tried by his peers. 
 
Tried by his Peers, 
 
 9 
 
 There was great bustle and flocking of individuals • 
 to the Parliament House on College Green on the 
 morning of the 27th April, 1739, the day fixed for the 
 trial of Lord Santry. Soldiers in uniform, civilians in 
 their best attire, the battle-axe guards in their full 
 equipments, all thronged the avenues to the Parliament 
 House. There was a strong body of the city con- 
 stables present, and, as the trial was fixed to take place 
 at an early hour, the city was astir from daybreak. 
 Troops lined the streets as early as seven o^clock, and 
 at half- past seven the noble prisoner, only twenty-nine 
 years of age, was conveyed in a coach, in the custody 
 of the High Sherifi* of Dublin, to the court wherein he 
 was to be tried. The House of Commons affording 
 more space than the House of Lords, was fitted up for 
 this solemn investigation. The Peers were not so 
 prompt in going forth as the citizens. The Lord High 
 Steward was the Chancellor Lord Wyndham, and he 
 held a levee in his mansion in St. Stephen^s Green on 
 that morning, at which the judges in their ermine, 
 the Kin g-of- Arms in his robes, the Gentleman Usher 
 of the Black Rod, and the Serjeant-at-Arms attended. 
 These high dignitaries escorted the Lord High Steward 
 in his progress to preside at the trial. On this occa- 
 sion, the Black Rod was changed for a luTiite one, and 
 the Serjeant-at-Arms bore a mace. 
 
 The chronicles of the time give a full account of the 
 solemn procession. They tell us of the state observed 
 • — how twelve gentlemen led the way, marching bare- 
 headed, two and two ; then followed the Serjeant-at- 
 Arms with the mace, and the seal-bearer with the 
 purse, also uncovered ; then his Grace the Lord High 
 
10 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Steward^ in gorgeous robes^ and his train-bearers^ witb 
 Ulster King of Arms on his rights and the Usher of 
 the Black Rod bearing the white .wand of the Lord 
 High Steward on his left. Then followed the chief and 
 puisne judges^ in scarlet and ermine. The gorgeous 
 if cumbrous coaches^ chiefly drawn by six horses'^ con- 
 veyed their potent, grave^ and reverend signers to the 
 Parliament House. They were met by four Serjeants 
 with maces^ and, on entering the High Court of Par- 
 liament^ found the Peers already assembled. A chair 
 of state, raised higher than those of other Peers, and 
 surmounted by a rich canopy, was prepared for the 
 Lord High Steward. Lord Wyndham bowed right 
 and left as he proceeded to his place. The purse was 
 laid on a small table beside him, and the Serjeant-at- 
 Arms, with the mace, took his place near the table. 
 
 The proceedings were opened by the Clerk of the 
 Crown of the King^s Bench opening the Court, and 
 the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery bearing the Com- 
 mission from his Majesty, empowering the Lord High 
 Steward to preside. These officials made their 
 bows, and the Serjeant-at-Arms, having called aloud, 
 ^^Oyer!^^ three times, the Clerk of the Crown of 
 the King^s Bench read the Commission : the Lords 
 standing uncovered while it was reading. After an 
 amount of bowing and reverences which it is unnecessary 
 to relate, the Peers took their seats according to their 
 respective rank. The indictment being read, the Clerk 
 of the Crown asked the prisoner to plead, which he did 
 by Not guilty. He was then asked how he would 
 be tried, to which he answered, ^^By God and my 
 Peers. ''^ Then the Lord High Steward gave him in 
 
Tried by his Peers. 
 
 II 
 
 charge to the Peers^ and Eobert Jocelyn^ the Attorney- 
 General^ stated the case for the prosecution as I have 
 already mentioned. The defence was that the death 
 of Murphy was not caused by the stab, but by a disease 
 of long standing/^ But the masterly speech of the 
 Solicitor- General (Bowes) fully answered this by show- 
 ing that it was solely owing to the blow inflicted by the 
 prisoner the decease owed his death, and the disease 
 under which it was alleged Murphy laboured, would not 
 haye caused his death had not the sword of the prisoner 
 entered Murphy^s body. One of the spiritual Peers, 
 Dr. Kandle, Bishop of Derry, in a letter to a friend 
 thus refers to the trial, — 
 
 ^* Poor Lord Santry was tried on Friday by his 
 Peers. I never beheld a sight so awful and majestic 
 and dreadfully beautiful in my life ; and nothing was 
 ever performed with such solemnity, silence, and 
 dignity before in any country. The finest room in 
 Europe filled with the nobility and gentry of the whole 
 kingdom, and both sexes ; the High Steward, every 
 one of the judges, the Lords, the triers, and the noble 
 prisoner — young and handsome, most decent in his 
 behaviour, and with a becoming fortitude in his speak- 
 ing — could not but compose the most affecting scene. 
 All were so attentive that silence was not once pro- 
 claimed. The King^s Counsel did admirably, but 
 Bowes (the Solicitor- General) had an opportunity to 
 show himself to the highest advantage. I always 
 thought him an admirable speaker, but never imagined 
 him half so great a man as I do at present, though I 
 alwavs loved and esteemed him. He did not use one 
 severe word against the unhappy Lord, nor omitted 
 
12 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 one severe observation that truth could dictate. I 
 never heard, never read so perfect a piece of eloquence. 
 Its beauty rose from true simplicity and unaffected 
 ornament ; from the strength and light of his reason, 
 the fairness, and candour, and good nature of his heart; 
 from the order and disposition of what he said, the 
 elegance and fulness of his expressions, the shortness 
 and propriety of his reflections, the music of his voice, 
 and the gracefulness of his elocution. They were all 
 wonderful indeed, and even those who were concerned 
 and grieved were charmed with his most masterly per- 
 formance. But if they did well, I think the counsel 
 for the prisoner acted detestably. They only prompted 
 him to ask a few treacherous questions, and spake not 
 one word in his favour, though I have the vanity 
 almost to think I could have offered a point of law 
 that would have bid fair to save him. When the 
 twenty-three peers returned to give their opinion, 
 their countenances astonished the whole House ; and 
 all knew, from the horror of their eyes and the paleness 
 of their looks, how they were agitated within before 
 they answered the dread question, ^ Guilty, upon my 
 honour ; ^ and he was so, most certainly, according to 
 law; nor could they, perhaps, have brought in their 
 dreadful verdict otherwise. The Bishop blamed the 
 surgeon who attended the deceased. Instead of send- 
 iug him to an hospital, he kept the wounded man in a 
 miserable room, damp, and his bed a mere litter of 
 straw, without the commonest necessaries for comfort. 
 According to the Bishop^s notion, the surgeon caused 
 the man^s death, and this probably was the point he 
 thought could be urged, and a very fair one if it was. 
 
Tried by his Peers, 
 
 13 
 
 I remember tlie late George Bennett^ Crown pro- 
 secutor on the Munster circuity used sometimes to 
 raise a lauQ:li at a medical witness in a case of death 
 by his interrogation^ ^ Well^ doctor_, you attended 
 the deceased ? ^ ^ Yes/ ^ And lie died accord- 
 
 There was strong hope of a reprieve for Lord Santry. 
 The Bishop says^ ^^It is the King^s office and de- 
 lightful prerogative to show mercy. May he do so 
 now ! What a constitution do we live under^ when the 
 blood of the meanest of the King^s subjects shall 
 be required from one of the highest. The prisoner 
 behaved, since his condemnation, in a manner which 
 makes people speak of him with double pity. Even the 
 poor in the streets weep for him. His former character, 
 it is confessed, was bad ; this will make him a new man, 
 this will purge his heart from every folly — a successful 
 though dreadful medicine — if he survives it."^^ 
 
 The powerful interest put forth in his case was suc- 
 cessful. The Viceroy, Duke of Devonshire, and all the 
 peers who were connected with the Santry family, used 
 their entreaties, and obtained first a reprieve, and, 
 finally, a pardon. 
 
 But the pardon was not easily obtained. It is gene- 
 rally attributed to a threat of Lord Santry ^s uncle. Sir 
 Compton Domville, proprietor of Templeogue, near 
 Dublin. The river Dodder was then the chief supply 
 of water for the use of the citizens, as the Vartry is 
 now ; and, when there was a refusal to spare the pri- 
 soner's life, it is said, his uncle expressed his deter- 
 mination to divert the stream of the Dodder from the 
 city, unless Lord Santry's life was spared : that to 
 
14 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 avoid this calamity^ the prisoner was allowed to escape, 
 which he did, iato Italy, where he died. 
 
 The next trial of a peer took place only a few years 
 later. It was also on an indictment for murder. 
 Nicholas, fifth Viscount Netterville, was arraigned 
 before the Lords of Ireland for the murder of one 
 Michael Walsh, in the county of Meath. The trial took 
 place in 1743, when Lord Jocelyn (Lord Chancellor) 
 presided as Lord High Steward. The counsel for the 
 Crown were the Prime Serjeant Anthony Malone 
 Bowes, the Attorney- General, and St. George Caul^ 
 field, Solicitor- General. As spiritual peers were not 
 entitled to interfere in criminal trials, leave was given 
 them to remain away. The same ceremonies as those 
 observed in the case of Lord Santry were used, but the 
 case fell to the ground. Two principal witnesses had 
 died since making their depositions, and their deposi- 
 tions could not be read in evidence. So when the 
 Lord High Steward put the question, Whether 
 Nicholas, Lord Viscount Netterville, is guilty of the 
 the felony whereof he stands indicted, or not guilty 
 each peer being called seriatim^ beginning with the last 
 created Baron, declared, upon his honour — standing in 
 his place uncovered — and laying his right hand on his 
 breast, that Lord Netterville is not guilty.''^ 
 
 Thereupon the Lord High Steward broke his white 
 wand, and adjourned the House. 
 
 The next peer tried was Robert, third Earl of 
 Kingston, in 179S, for the murder of Colonel Fitzgerald. 
 This case is truly a Romance of the Peerage, and may 
 be thus told. 
 
 Robert, the second Earl of Kingston, had married, 
 
Tried by his Peers. 
 
 15 
 
 during his father^s lifetime^ in 1769^ when Lord Kings- 
 borough^ Caroline Fitzgerald, only daughter of Richard 
 Fitzgeraldj Esq., at Mount Ophaly, county Kildare. 
 
 Lady Kingsborough had a brother, who died un- 
 married, but he left an illegitimate son named Henry 
 Fitzgerald. From feelings of compassion Lord and 
 Lady Kingsborough adopted this boy, and brought 
 him up with their own children ; their family was 
 numerous, consisting of six sons and four daughters — 
 brave and fair. Young Fitzgerald, having had all the 
 advantages of education given to the sons of this 
 family, grew up very handsome and accomplished. 
 He evinced a preference for the military profession, 
 and, with the influence of the Earl of Kingston, he 
 speedily obtained a commission. Promotion must have 
 been rapid in those days, for, while yet a young man, 
 he reached the rank of colonel. He had married a 
 very beautiful wife, with whom he resided at Bishops- 
 gate, on the banks of the Thames. 
 
 It appears this unprincipled man took advantage of 
 the confidence and trust his benefactors, Lord and Lady 
 Kingsborough, reposed in him^ to repay them with 
 the blackest ingratitude. He gained the afi'ections 
 of one of their lovely, and singularly interesting 
 daughters, the Honourable Mary King; and he suc- 
 ceeded so well in his hellish designs upon the peace 
 and happiness of those who reared him, that he in- 
 duced this artless girl to elope with him. In order to 
 throw suspicion off the scent, he had the audacity to 
 come every day to Lord KingsborougVs house and 
 inquire of the afflicted parents, if there was any trace 
 of the missing young lady. A shawl and bonnet of 
 
The Irish Bar, 
 
 hers were found on tlie bank of the Thames, so the 
 river was dragged, but no trace of her could, of course, 
 be found. Hand-bills were printed, posters placarded, 
 the papers contained advertisements of rewards — all 
 were fruitless. One day a piece of news brought hope 
 to the aching hearts of the sorrowing parents. A 
 post-boy, from London, who had seen one of the 
 advertisements, informed Lord Kingsborough that he 
 had been engaged by a strange gentleman to drive 
 him to London from near Chiswick ; that when pass- 
 ing near Kensington Gardens, they saw a young lady 
 walking near the rails; the gentleman asked, If she 
 was going to town ? and if she had no objection he 
 would be happy to set her down.**^ On this, she 
 entered the coach, and he drove them to the end 
 of Tottenham-court Road, where both got out; the 
 gentleman paid him liberally, and they walked up 
 Tottenham-court Road together. This tallied, as to 
 time, with the date of Miss Mary King's disappear- 
 ance, and induced Lord Kingsborough to redouble his 
 efforts to trace her. Several days passed without any 
 fresh news. At length the mystery was cleared up. A 
 servant-girl demanded to see Lady Kingsborough, and 
 was admitted. She held in her hand one of the bills 
 describing the appearance of the missing lady, and, 
 amongst other particulars, her abundance of light 
 chestnut hair was mentioned. The girl said, She 
 thought it right to tell her ladyship that, some weeks 
 back, a tall and handsome gentleman brought a young 
 lady one evening, and they both lodged in the house 
 where she was servant. She thought nothing par- 
 ticular about them till she saw the hand-bill describing 
 
Tried by his Peers, 
 
 17 
 
 the missing daughter of Lord Kingsborougli, and^ 
 next day^ when she was putting the lady^s bed-room to 
 rights^ she noticed her opposite the looking-glass cut- 
 ting off her beautiful fair hair. This^ at once^ made 
 the girl suspect their lodger was no other than the 
 missing daughter of Lady Kingsborough, for whom 
 the reward was offered^, and so she came to say where 
 the lady was/^ 
 
 Lady Kingsborough^ greatly agitated^ told the girFs 
 singular tale to her husband^ and^ daring the narration, 
 who should come into the room, on his hypocritical 
 visit of sympathy, but Colonel Fitzgerald ? 
 
 The instant he appeared, the servant — utterly amazed 
 — cried out, My lady ! that^s the very gentleman who 
 brought the young lady to our house/^ 
 
 Confounded at being detected, the vile seducer 
 rushed from the house, and, afraid he would take his 
 victim away. Lord Kingsborough lost not a moment 
 in starting with the girl to trace his lost child. 
 
 He succeeded in discovering her, and brought her 
 away, placing her for security in the family seat at 
 Mitchelstown, in the county of Cork, Ireland; a resi- 
 dence, as he supposed, quite out of the reach of her 
 betrayer. Meanwhile the Honourable Colonel King, 
 second son of Lord Kingsborough, sent a friend — 
 Major Wood — to demand a hostile meeting with the 
 ungrateful Fitzgerald, and they met on Sunday, Octo- 
 ber 1, 1797, in Hyde Park. But so outrageous was 
 Colonel Fitzgerald^s conduct regarded by all honour- 
 able men, not one would act as his second. This did 
 not prevent the parties exchanging shots, but both 
 were unhurt. Though placed at ten paces they fired 
 
 c 
 
i8 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 repeatedly at each other without effect. When the 
 fourth shot was fired^ Colonel Fitzgerald said, ^^he 
 wished to have advice from Major Wood, as a friend/^ 
 Major Wood declared, ^^he had no ambition to be 
 regarded as the friend of Colonel Fitzgerald ; but as 
 a friend to humanity, he thought Colonel Fitzgerald 
 should acknowledge himself the basest of men, and then 
 the duel might terminate/^ Colonel Fitzgerald was 
 willing to allow ^' lie had acted ivrong but this did not 
 satisfy either Major Wood or his principal, so hostili- 
 ties were resumed. When two more ineffectual shots 
 were exchanged, Fitzgerald declared his powder was 
 expended, and he had the assurance to ask for a supply 
 from Major Wood. This was refused by the Major, 
 though Colonel King was desirous of granting the 
 request, in order to continue the duel. An adjourn- 
 ment was then arranged. The meeting was to be 
 resumed in the same place next day, but it was pre- 
 vented by the police. 
 
 Lord Kingsborough shortly after this time went to 
 Ireland, and was told that a very suspicious-looking 
 gentleman was staying at the Kingston Arms, the 
 Hotel of Mitch elstown, then kept by an old servant of 
 the Kingston family » named Barry. As Lord Kings- 
 borough^s daughter was deemed safe in the Castle, the 
 anxious father^s mind was easy about her, but on 
 going to the hotel, to learn who the mysterious 
 stranger was, he was told he — ^'the stranger — no 
 sooner heard Lord Kingsborough was expected at the 
 Castle than he ordered a postchaise, and drove away. 
 At that moment the postboy who drove him appeared, 
 and from him Lord Kingsborough learnt the stranger 
 
Tried by his Peers, 
 
 19 
 
 was staying for tlie night at Kilworth^ a small town 
 about six miles south-east from Mitchelstown. This 
 inflamed the peer^s curiosity^ and he resolved to pro- 
 ceed at once to Kilworth^ and have his doubts settled 
 by seeing the man. Evening closed in ere he reached 
 Kilworth, and the lights of the little inn burned bright 
 in the October night. The innkeeper^ Mr. Bartho- 
 lomew Simmons^ knew Lord Kingsborough well^ and 
 told him the gentleman who was driven over by the 
 Mitchelstown postboy was then in the house, but had 
 gone to his bedroom. Not knowing for certain who 
 the stranger was^ Lord Kingsborough desired the 
 waiter to ^^ask the gentleman, with his compliments, 
 to speak for a moment with Lord Kingsborough. ''^ 
 
 The waiter speedily brought back for answer, that 
 the bedroom door was locked, and the inmate bade the 
 waiter, go away, and bring him no messages at that 
 hour."^^ Lord Kingsborough, his son, and a servant, 
 then went upstairs, and found the door shut and 
 locked. Admittance was demanded, and refused by 
 that voice Lord Kingsborough most dreaded to hear — 
 the voice of Colonel Fitzgerald ! Excited, and en- 
 raged, the outraged parent pushed the door so violently 
 that it gave way, and he stood in the presence of the 
 man who had so foully wronged him. Colonel Fitz- 
 gerald stood with a pistol in either hand, but ere he 
 could use them a report was heard ; Lord Kings- 
 borough fired, and shot the betrayer of his daughter. 
 Dr. Pigot (father of the late Chief Baron Pigot), was 
 sent for, but the unhappy colonel was mortally wounded, 
 and soon after expired. 
 
 Lord Kingsborough went to Moor Park, the seat of 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 tlie Earl of Mountcashel^ whose daughter was the wife 
 of his eldest son, George. By the death of his aged 
 father, on November 13th, 1797, he becarae second 
 Earl of Kingston. He claimed the privilege of being 
 tried by his peers when an indictment for murder was 
 found against him. 
 
 The trial took place on the 18th May, 1798. The 
 attendance of Peers was unusually large. The Mar- 
 quises of Waterford and Drogheda, the Earl of Ormond, 
 Lords Kinsale, Mu skerry, Oxmantown — in short, two 
 marquises, twenty-seven earls, fourteen viscounts, 
 three archbishops — Armagh,^ Oashel, and Tuam, thir- 
 teen bishops, and fourteen barons were present. 
 Never was any procession conducted with more 
 splendour. The House of Commons was once more 
 fitted up for the momentous trial, and the Lord Chan- 
 cellor, Earl of Clare, presided as Lord High Steward. 
 After a number of reverences and bowings, the Com- 
 mission appointing Lord Clare Lord High Steward 
 was read. Then the indictment which had been 
 found by the Grand Jury of the County of Cork, in 
 which county the fatal occurrence took place, was read. 
 The formal ceremonies concluded, the Earl of Kingston 
 appeared at the entrance, escorted by the constable 
 and deputy-constable of Dublin Castle, the latter 
 having an axe, the edge turned from the prisoner. 
 His lordship bowed to the High Steward and then 
 to the Peers. This ceremony over, he knelt at the 
 bar. On being bade to rise he again bowed to the 
 Lord High Steward, who thus addressed him : — 
 
 1 It would seem the presence of Lords Spiritual on these 
 occasions may be allowed. 
 
Tried by his Peers, 
 
 21 
 
 Robert^ Earl of Kingston^ you are brought here 
 to answer one of the most solemn charges that can be 
 made against any man — the murder of a fellow- subject. 
 The solemnity and awful appearance of this judicature 
 must naturally discompose and embarrass your lordship. 
 It may^ therefore, not be improper for me to remind your 
 lordship that you are to be tried by the laws of a free 
 country^ formed for the protection of innocence and 
 the punishment of guilt alone ; and it must be a great 
 consolation to you to reflect that you are to receive a 
 trial before the superior judicature of the nation_, that 
 you are to be tried by your Peers, upon whose un- 
 biassed judgment and candour you can have the 
 firmest reliance, more particularly as they are to pass 
 judgment upon you under the solemn and inviolate 
 obligation of their honour. It will also be a consola- 
 tion to you to know that the benignity of our law has 
 distinguished the crime of homicide into different 
 classes. If it arises from accident, from inevitable 
 necessity, or without malice, it does not fall within the 
 crime of murder, and of these distinctions, warranted 
 by evidence, you will be at liberty to take advantage. 
 Before I conclude, I am commanded by the House to 
 inform your Lordship, and all others who may have 
 occasion to address the Court during the trial, that 
 the address must be to the Lords in general, and not 
 to any lord in particular. The lliord High Steward 
 having concluded, the indictment was again read, 
 whereon the Clerk of the Crown inquired, How say 
 you, Robert, Earl of Kingston, are you guilty or not 
 guilty of the murder and felony for which you stand 
 arraigned ? 
 
22 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Not guilty/^ said tlie Earl. He was then asked. 
 How he would be tried ? to which he answered, 
 ^^By God and my Peers Proclamation was then 
 made by the Serjeant-at-Arms. " Oyez — oyez — oyez. 
 All manner of persons who will give evidence upon 
 oath before our Sovereign Lord the King, against 
 Robert, Earl of Kingston, the prisoner at the bar, let 
 them come forth, and they shall be heard, for he now 
 stands at the bar upon his deliverance.^^ There was 
 no evidence forthcoming to sustain the indictment, so 
 the prisoner was pronounced Not guilty."'^ This was 
 the last trial of a Peer in Ireland. 
 
23 
 
 CHAPTER TIT. 
 
 JOHN SCOTT^ FIRST EARL OF CLONMEL^ LORD CHIEF 
 JUSTICE OF THE KlNG^S BENCH. 
 
 Born in 1739. — Copper-faced Jack. — Called to tlie Bar in 1765. — 
 An Irish patriot. — Extracts from his Autobiography. — Joins 
 the Grovernment. — Suspected by C. J. Fox. — Eeturned to the 
 Irish Parliament. — Unpopularity in 1779. — Speech on the 
 Declaration of Eights. — Alarming state of Ireland in 1782. — 
 Becomes Chief Justice in 1784 and raised to the Peerage. — 
 Mode of securing good shillings. — The Proprietor of the 
 Dublin Evening Post."— Dies in 1798. 
 
 Among the strangest characters at the Irish Bar during 
 the last century was John Scott. He was a native of 
 the county of Tipperary^ where he was born in 1739^ 
 and educated in the busy town of Clonmel^ the capital 
 of that fertile county. After graduating in the Uni- 
 versity of Dublin he became a law student^ and even 
 then was so noted for his unblushing impudence he 
 obtained the soubriquet of Copper-faced Jack. Having 
 acquired, a smattering of law^ he was called to the Irish 
 Bar in 1765. He had no pretension to be considered 
 a well-read lawyer^ but he was extremely quick in 
 mastering the details of each case^ and in detecting 
 the weak points of his adversary^ which he pounced 
 upon with the tenacity of a bull-dog and the skill of a 
 sharp practitioner. He had tact to conceal any defi- 
 ciency in his legal acquirements, and was esteemed a 
 good adviser. He displayed great readiness, and was 
 Boou in considerable practice^ especially at Nisi Prius 
 
24 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 and in tlie Criminal Courts, where the fertility of his 
 resources had full scope. He possessed a rich vein of 
 comic humour ; and if a witness could not be shaken 
 in his evidence he could be laughed out of court. 
 Scott aspired to senatorial honours^ and joined the 
 ranks of the Dublin Liberals^ who were led on by 
 Doctor Lucas^, a medical senator^ who sturdily opposed 
 the Government. Scott was made a King^s Counsel^ 
 but this did not prevent him being one of the fore- 
 most democrats of the day. A curious diary of his^ 
 lately published/ enables me to give his autobiography 
 to some extent. 
 
 Under the date Thursday^ June 2^ 1774, we read : — 
 ^^I am, I believe, thirty-five years old this month. 
 Just nine years at the bar, near five years in Parlia- 
 ment, about four years King^s Counsel. To-morrow 
 Friday, Trinity Term sits. I therefore resolve to enter 
 upon my profession as upon a five years^ campaign, at 
 war with every difficulty, and determined to conquer 
 them. I have given up wine. I will strive to con- 
 tract my sleep to four or at most six hours in twenty- 
 four; give up every pursuit but parliamentary and 
 legal ones. If I can realize 2000Z. per annum I will 
 give up business as a lawyer, or confine it merely to 
 the duty of any office that I may fill. I will exert my 
 industry to the utmost in law, and constitutional 
 learning for these five years, so far as temperance, 
 diligence, perseverance, and watchfulness can operate, 
 and then hey for a holiday. 
 
 It would appear as if he was examining how the 
 
 1 Yide " Ireland before the Union," by W. J. Fitzpatrick, 
 Esq., J.P. 
 
John Scott ^ first Earl of CloiimeL 2 5 
 
 great men of former days distributed their time. He 
 states : — The most diHgent distribution of time is 
 two-thirds for business^ one-third to sleep^ exercise^ 
 eatings and drinking^, and idleness. The next is one- 
 half to business^ the other to idleness and refreshment. 
 The third is one-third to business^ one-third to society, 
 and one-third to exercise and sleep/^ 
 
 The learned barrister also laid down the following 
 rules for his guidance in order not to be unprepared in 
 Court. We can form some notion of his earnestness 
 from the strong language he uses : — " The pains of the 
 
 d d are not equal to the horrors of going to Court 
 
 unprepared, and the fact of losing your reputation, and 
 going down in it. Whilst, therefore, you have an 
 atom of business undone, give up every object, pursuit, 
 pleasure, avocation, diversion, banish everything from 
 your mind but business, the business of your profession. 
 Quarter-of-an-hour to breakfast, one hour only to 
 dinner, when alone ; two to exercise, four to bed ; 
 quarter to rest in a chair after fatigue.^^ 
 
 He allowed less time to sleep than Lord Coke, whose 
 distribution of the twenty-four hours was thus : — 
 
 Sex horas somno, totidem des legibus sequis. 
 Quatuor orabus, des epulasque duas. 
 Quod superest ultra sacris largire camoenis. 
 
 I rather think John Scott never put in practice his 
 axioms, for he appears to have been at all times fore- 
 most in the convivial parties of Dublin ; and his 
 engagement to abstain from intoxicating drink was, 
 no doubt, influenced by the constant dissipation in 
 which he was involved, and in which no one more 
 freely indulged. 
 
26 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 I suspect few Attorney- Generals rigidly follow such 
 a course as Mr. Scott marked out for himself in case 
 he became one. He should rise at four in the morn- 
 ing. He should read without fire^ standing if possible, 
 until eight ; he should exercise, bathe and dress at 
 nine ; he should see all persons until eleven ; he should 
 apply every minute to three in Court business, to four 
 he should set down the report of the day. He should 
 not drink wine at dinner, and eat but of few things, 
 and not much. He should not drink wine after seven, 
 and from eight to twelve he should apply to business.^^ 
 
 Scott obtained the office of Solicitor-General for 
 Ireland in the room of Godfrey Lill, appointed Justice 
 of the Common Pleas on 13th December, 1774. 
 Philip Tisdall, a very eminent leader of the Irish Bar, 
 was then Attorney- General, and Scott and he were 
 the Irish law officers until Tisdall^s death in 1777, 
 when Scott became Attorney- General and Privy Coun- 
 cillor. He was a man of very versatile talents, and 
 could apply himself very closely to business when he 
 liked. Scott and Flood had constant bickerings. As 
 they were both entering the House of Commons 
 the first night of the Session, Scott said, Well, 
 Flood, I suppose you^ll abuse me again, as usual, this 
 Session.''^ 
 
 '^No, Scott/' replied Flood, ''1 will not. You 
 were unknown and unnoticed when I began to abuse 
 you. By abuse you became Solicitor and Attorney- 
 General. By abuse you became a Privy Councillor; 
 by abuse you may become a Chief Justice. No Scott, 
 for the future V\\ 'praise you,'' 
 
 Scott had a rough and ready style of eloquence. 
 
Joh7i Scott, first Earl of Clomnel, 
 
 27 
 
 which, joined to his great boldness and tact^ made 
 him a most useful ally and a formidable foe. 
 
 During the time Dr. Lucas led the Irish patriots^ 
 Scott^ as I mentioned^ was one of his noisiest adhe- 
 rents ; but shortly after the accession of King George 
 III. Scott showed an inclination to abandon the cause 
 of his country for that of the Castle party. He was re- 
 commended to the notice of the Viceroy — Lord Towns- 
 hend — by the Lord Chancellor^ Lord Lifferel^ who in- 
 duced him to support the Irish Government. " My Lord^ 
 you have spoiled a good patriot^^^ was his remark^ when^ 
 yielding to the seductions of the Lord Lieutenant^ he 
 joined the Castle party. The great English statesman, 
 Charles James Fox, when writing to Lord Northington, 
 the Irish Viceroy, in 1 783, says, I hear many of our 
 friends disapprove of the idea of advancing Scott and 
 FitzGibbon (the former was appointed Prime Sergeant, 
 the latter Attorney- General). You know I am no enemy 
 to coalitions ; but take care when you are giving great 
 things to oblige those to whom you give them, that 
 you do not strengthen an enemy instead of gaining a 
 friend.''^ Scott represented the borough of Mulliugar 
 since 1769, and was always, ready to crush an opponent 
 in the Commons with bullying words, or, if they failed, 
 an appeal to the pistol. His unpopularity often placed 
 him in danger. When great excitement raged in 
 Dublin, during the time of the Irish Volunteers, and 
 they marched round the statue of King William III. 
 in College Green, Dublin, on the 4th of November, 
 1779, when field-pieces bore the inscription, A free 
 trade or this/' some of the roughs attacked Scott^s 
 house in Harcourt Street, smashed the windows, and 
 
28 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 sought him in the Four Courts. Scott complained 
 loudly in the House of Commons of the violent con- 
 duct of the Volunteers ; Yelverton^ who defended them^ 
 he stigmatized as the seneschal of sedition, Yelverton 
 retaliated, and, in return, called Scott the uniform 
 drudge of every administration/^ An address was 
 agreed to, that the Lord Lieutenant should offer 500Z. 
 for the discovery of the rioters. 
 
 Scott occasionally showed popular leanings. On 
 the Declaration of Eight being moved to the effect : — r 
 
 That Ireland should only be bound by laws enacted 
 by the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland ; ^' 
 Scott, then Attorney-General, courageously said. 
 
 Events had taken place since the last meeting of 
 Parliament that made it indispensable on him to de- 
 clare his opinion noiv. The Bill proposed by Mr. 
 Yelverton, supported by so many members of distin- 
 guished abilities and virtue, which he entirely ap- 
 proved of, had not yet been returned from England. 
 The object of that Bill was to secure property, and to 
 confirm other material topics— the subject of the 
 British laws ; and if that Bill was returned there could 
 be no objection to declare that British laws were, in 
 future, utterly inoperative; and not being returned, 
 people have thought England insists upon that idle, 
 useless, and pernicious power ; he thought it therefore 
 better that the object of the British laws should be 
 doomed to destruction than that his country should be 
 held in even a supposed state of absolute slavery. 
 He therefore did as a lawyer, a faithful servant of the 
 Crown, a well-wisher to both countries, and an honest 
 Irishman, and in the most unqualified, unlimited, and 
 
John Scott, first Earl of ClonmeL 
 
 29 
 
 explicit manner, declare his opinion tliat Great 
 Britain had no right whatever to bind this country by 
 any law. If the tenure of his office (Attorney- General) 
 was to be the supporting opinion and doctrines in- 
 jurious to the undoubted rights of Ireland, he held it 
 to be an infamous temire* And if the Parliament of 
 Great Britain were determined to be the Lords of 
 Ireland, he was determined not to he their villain in con- 
 tributing to it. I owe, he said, the avowal of these sen- 
 timents to Great Britain, to my country, and to myself/^ 
 These outspoken sentiments from the first law 
 officer of the Crown in Ireland showed the temper of 
 the time. A far-seeing politician, the Duke of Port- 
 land, was then Viceroy. He concludes a long letter, 
 marked Private, directed to Mr. Fox, and dated 
 Dublin Castle, April 28th, 1782, with these startling 
 words, ^^I cannot conclude this letter without ex- 
 pressing my most anxious wishes for a speedy and 
 favourable determination. There is still an appearance 
 of Government ; but if you delay or refuse to be 
 liberal, Government cannot exist here in its present 
 form, and the sooner you recal your Lieutenant, and 
 moreover, all claim to this country, the better. But, 
 on the contrary, if you can bring your minds to con- 
 cede largely and handsomely, I am persuaded that you 
 may make any use of this people, and of everything 
 they are worth that you can wish, and in such a 
 moment it will be happy for them that the Govern- 
 ment of England shall be in hands that will not take 
 undue advantage of their intoxication. 
 
 Ever most sincerely yours, 
 
 Portland.'' 
 
30 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Scott^ however^ lost his place, and was succeeded 
 by Barry Yelverton as Attorney- General. Scott re- 
 mained in the House of Commons until 1784. When 
 Lord Annally, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, 
 resigned, Scott became Chief Justice, with the title of 
 Baron Earlsfort, of Lisson Earl. In 1789 he was 
 created Viscount Clonmel, and in 1793 advanced to 
 the rank of Earl. 
 
 At the time the Earl of Clonmel was Lord Chief 
 Justice a very undignified practice of paying his 
 lordship a shilling for administering an oath was 
 customary. As counterfeit coins, called Warwickshire 
 shillings, were in circulation, the astute judge used the 
 following formula to assure his not having a base coin 
 passed upon him : — 
 
 You shall true answer make to such questions as 
 shall be demanded of you touching this affidavit, so 
 help you God. Is this a good shilling ? Are the 
 contents of this affidavit true? Is this your name and 
 handwriting ? Lord Clonmel was very arbitrary as 
 a judge, and acted most oppressively against the liber- 
 ties of the Press. He caused Mr. Magee, proprietor 
 of the Dublin Evening Post, to be repeatedly cast into 
 prison, chiefly because Magee held up to merited op- 
 probrium the Sham Squire — a corrupt friend of the 
 Chief Justice. Lord ClonmeFs conduct was brought 
 before the Irish Parliament by ]\Ir. Curran and Mr. 
 George Ponsonby. Lord Clonmel continued to pre- 
 side over the Court of King's Bench until his death;, 
 which took place on 23rd May, 1 798. 
 
31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RIGHT HON. WALTER* HUSSEY BURGH^ CHIEF BARON 
 OF THE EXCHEQUER. 
 
 Born in 1743. — Called to the Bar in 1768. — Obtains a seat in 
 the Honse of Commons. — Important Letter denying the right 
 of Parliamentary Electors to exact pledges from Candidates. 
 — Fine specimen of his oratory. — Appointed Prime Sergeant. 
 — Loss of office. — Fragment of a noble speech. — Ex- 
 pression employed by him in 1769 nsed by Lord George 
 Bentinck in 1846. — His Poetry. — Bon Mot. — Appointed 
 Chief Baron. — His equipage. — Early death in 1783. — Tri- 
 bute of Lord Temple, Lord Lieutenant. — His family left 
 destitute. — Parliamentary grant for their relief. 
 
 No member of the Irisli Bar or the Irish Senate 
 deserves to be remembered by Irishmen more worthily 
 than this illustrious man — yet^ owing to the want of 
 Law Reports^ which preserve the decision of Courts 
 and the arguments of Counsel^ and the meagre state of 
 Parliamentary reporting at this date^ we have but faint 
 traces of his talents. I have endeavoured to glean 
 from various sources the means of compiling his 
 memoir. 
 
 Walter Hussey — for such was his family name — was 
 born in the South of Ireland, where his family occupied 
 a respectable position, Anthony Hussey being Mem- 
 ber for Tralee. Walter was born in ] 743. He was 
 educated in Dublin, at the school of Mr. Young, in 
 Abbey Street. He took his degree in the University 
 
32 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 of Dublin^ where he was distinguished for his classical 
 learning and ability as a poet. When he was called to 
 the bar in 1768, the Duke of Leinster, a patron of 
 Boroughs, gave him a seat in the House of Commons. 
 The young lawyer had taken the name of Burgh, in 
 addition to his family patronymic. His early speeches 
 in the House were regarded as too much overlaid by 
 poetical embellishments and classical quotations, but 
 they displayed the richness of his imagination and the 
 copiousness of his vocabulary. Dr. Johnson wisely 
 said, ^^It is easier to top oiff redundancies, than to 
 supply deficiencies,^^ and a little experience in debate 
 corrected any defects in Mr. Hussey Burgh^s style. 
 
 When the general election in 1777 was at hand, 
 many constituencies then, as in our own day, desired 
 to obtain from their candidate a distinct promise to 
 vote, and support some particular question of impor- 
 tance. Hussey Burgh^s sentiments on this point 
 deserve the greatest publicity. I found the following 
 letter from his pen in the Anthologia HiberniccB, 
 vol. i. It is addressed to a friend, but was evidently 
 intended for the electors of Trinity College, Dublin, 
 — a constituency Mr. Burgh desired to represent : — 
 
 ^^Dear Herbert, — As I understand the business re- 
 lating to a test, which was mentioned last night, is to 
 be considered this afternoon at a large meeting, and 
 as I am desirous that the sa^e sentiments, which I have 
 already expressed to some of the independent electors 
 may be known to all of them, I take the liberty of 
 troubling you with the repetition of them, which, if 
 you think proper, you will communicate. If the test 
 required should be nothing more than a solemn en- 
 
Right Han. Walter Hussey Burgh, 33 
 
 gagement to act with integrity in the trust which you 
 are about to repose in your candidates^ there can be no 
 other objection to it but the indehcacy of large pro- 
 fessions which^ in general^ are little else than the 
 eulogy of one^s own virtue. However^ if it be any 
 satisfaction to gentlemen who espouse this measure^ I 
 will^ and do^ give them the most solemn assurance^ that^ 
 while ever I have the honour to sit in Parliament^ I 
 will^ to the best of my judgment, pursue the real 
 interest of this kingdom, without sufferiug any motive 
 of profit or advancement to warp my sentiments, or 
 bias my vote. But, at the same time, that I make this 
 declaration, I freely acknowledge that if gentlemen 
 should have found no such promise in my conduct, they 
 should pay but little attention to that of my pen. If, 
 by the test in contemplation, it is proposed that your 
 members should vote for or against any particular 
 measure, I think it neither constitutional nor wise to 
 enter into any previous promise by which deliberation 
 shall be precluded ; there is no seeing what new light 
 may be thrown on a subject, or what new circum- 
 stances may alter the merits of a question. If the 
 Member of an American Assembly had pledged his 
 faith, some years ago, never to encourage a foreign 
 trade in preference to that of the mother country, how 
 different an aspect would such a question now wear 
 from what could have been foreseen while the interests 
 of Great Britain and her Colonies were one. Am I 
 then to say, that I will steel my breast against con- 
 viction, and that I will regulate my conduct some 
 years hence by the circumstances that now exists 
 without regard to what they may be at the time I am 
 
34 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 to act ? Am I to go to the House of Commons^ liable 
 to see changes and hear arguments that may convince 
 me that what I think advantageous may prove ruinous 
 to this kingdom^ and shall I expose myself to the 
 dilemma of voting for ruin^ or breaking a solemn, 
 perhaps, the most solemn of promises. Is he an honest 
 man who, with his eyes open, will run the hazard of 
 such an alternative ? If, again, the test is intended 
 to restrain your members from taking any place, pen- 
 sion, or emolument under Government ; as to a pension, 
 I freely assure you I never shall accept one, unless, 
 perhaps, in this instance — if it should happen in the 
 vicissitudes of affairs that I should grow old in an 
 honourable employment; I will suppose, for example 
 sake, on the bench — I should think it no disgrace to 
 accept a testimonial of having faithfully discharged a 
 dut} I should be no longer able to fulfil. This is so 
 remote and improbable a contingency, that I should 
 not mention it but for two reasons ; the one, as I 
 intend these declarations to bind my whole life, I 
 would suit them to every period of it ; the other, 
 that in disclaiming pensions in general, I would avoid 
 throwing out an imputation on that just use of them 
 whereby they are made the asylum of merit, instead 
 of being the sanctuary of vice. I am an enemy to 
 pensions, but the head that has long been wakeful 
 for the public welfare, let it, at last, find a pillow to 
 repose on; he who has long and laboriously culti- 
 vated the laurel, let him at last find a peaceful retreat 
 beneath its honourable shade. As to the test precluding 
 your members from accepting an active employment, 
 I confess it strikes me as highly exceptionable. What- 
 
Right Hon, Walter Hitssey Burgh, 
 
 35 
 
 ever is now determined by the College ought to set^ 
 and probably will set, an example to the whole king- 
 dom. In what situation is it that a man can render 
 best service to his country — where he can direct what 
 is right, or where he is to oppose what is wrong; 
 where he can preserve the fountain pure^ or where 
 he is to endeavour to purge the stream ; where he 
 can stifle mischief in its infancy, or where he must 
 combat it if grown into a giant ; where he can turn 
 aside the uplifted shafts of power, or where he is to 
 hold up his shield against them ? But it will be said 
 that experience tells us that men who come into office 
 surrender their opinions at direction. Would to God 
 there were more men who acted upon real principle ! 
 The designing patriot will always become the corrupt 
 courtier. If a man has no principle, he will make good 
 in jobs what he denies himself in office ; if he has prin- 
 ciple^ he will be honest at all times, and in all situations. 
 There are no slighter things than these paper kites 
 which ride against the wind. But^ though I will not 
 promise never to be in office, I will^ and do, most 
 solemnly promise never to be corrupted in office. 
 When I see things ill-conducted, I will not promise 
 not to conduct them better. But no emolument of 
 office shall ever induce me to increase my expense. 
 By not making emolument necessary to luxury I will 
 always be able to lay it down when it becomes incon- 
 sistent with my honour. In the armoury of virtue — 
 truth is the sword and frugality the shield.^ Would 
 any man wish that Lord Chatham had never been 
 
 * It was much easier for Hussey Burgh to preach than to 
 practice. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 The Itish Bar, 
 
 a Minister? had he taken such a test as is now 
 thought of, England was undone. Should Lord Hard- 
 wicke and Lord Camden never have been Chancellors ? 
 Every man^s own recollection will furnish a hundred 
 examples. You think the ship in danger^ you com- 
 plain of those at the helm ; you tell me you have some 
 dependence in my skill, or, at least, my care; and 
 what do you tell me ? ^ we will put you in the way 
 of buffeting the man at the steerage, but if you 
 venture to touch the rudder we will throw you over- 
 board.' One word more, and I have done. Your 
 endeavour is to cause some engagement to put it 
 out of my power to desert the cause of truth. I 
 will not conceal from you I have some ambition. I 
 would not anticipate the harvest of an honest reputa- 
 tion, and reduce my exertion of virtue to the bare 
 right of performance of an exacted promise. I aspire 
 to represent the College; ^tis not to be in Parliament, 
 but to be thus in Parliament. ^Tis the honour of your 
 confidence that 1 seek ; I shall never court the brand 
 of your distrust. 
 
 I remain, yours most faithfully, 
 
 ^^W. H. BURGH.^' 
 
 He was forthwith elected on his own honourable 
 terms. It is a matter of congratulation that, in the 
 absence of any lengthened record of Mr. BurgVs 
 oratory, this letter, which is highly characteristic of his 
 chaste and graceful style, should have been preserved. 
 Mr. Phillips, in his valuable work, Curran and his 
 Contemporaries,^^ in reference to Hussey Burgh, says, 
 
 I have heard but one sentence which hars escaped un- 
 
Right Hon, Walter Hussey Burgh, 37 
 
 mutilated. Refening to the state of Ireland^ coerced 
 by oppressive laws into unusual resistance,, and the em- 
 bodiment of the Irish Volunteers, Mr. Burgh warmed 
 into this classical allusion : ^ Talk not to me of peace — 
 Ireland is not in a state of peace; it is smothered 
 war. England has sown her laws like dragons' teeth, 
 and they have sprung up armed men.^ We can well 
 conceive how such a sentence, uttered with all the 
 charm of impassioned delivery — a silver-toned voice — 
 an action at once graceful and vehement, must have 
 been received. A universal cheer burst from every part 
 of the House, and was echoed back from the galleries. 
 He was an honest politician (a rare occurrence at the 
 time) ; and, while member for the Dublin University, 
 he fulfilled, to the letter, the promise made in the letter 
 above quoted : Though I do not promise never to be 
 in oflBce, I will, and do promise, never to be corrupted 
 in office.^^ In 1776 he became Prime Sergeant, on the 
 promotion of Prime Sergeant Dennis as Chief Baron of 
 the Exchequer, with the title of Lord Tracton, and 
 though no station could add dignity to Mr. Burgh, the 
 Government felt that Mr. Burgh^s services were most 
 important to the Ministry. We can easily imagine the 
 dismay of the Castle party, when, in 1779, he — the 
 highest officer of the Crown — moved the following 
 amendment to the address, which he prefaced by 
 this outspoken declaration : I never will support 
 any Government in fraudulently concealing from the 
 King the rights of his people. The high office which 
 I possess can hold no competition with my principles 
 and my conscience, and I shall consider the relinquish- 
 ment of my gown as only a just sacrifice upon the 
 
38 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 altar of my country. Strong statement^ rather than 
 patient supplication^ is adapted to the crisis, and the 
 amendment which I propose is — ^That it is not by 
 expedients that this country is to be saved from im- 
 pending ruin/ 
 
 The bent faces and frowning brows of the Castle 
 party warned the ardent patriot what would inevitably 
 follow this bold speech. He felt they would take him 
 at his word^ and the loss of his oflSce would be the con- 
 sequence of his conduct. Addressing a friend whp sat 
 upon the bench beside him, Mr. Burgh said/ I have 
 now sealed the door against my own preferment, and I 
 have made the fortune of that man,^^ indicating Mr. 
 Browne, his probable successor. His anticipations 
 were soon verified. Under the date of Law Offices, in 
 1779, I find, " 20 George III., June 14, James Browne, 
 Prince Sergeant, Burgh resigned."*^ 
 
 Another fragment of one of Mr. BurgVs orations 
 has reached me, and displays the strength of his 
 colossal mind, and his abandonment of self-interest. 
 It was proposed by the Irish Government to send four 
 thousand Irish soldiers to fight for the British rule 
 in America during the War of Independence. Mr. 
 Burgh would not consent to this while the unconstitu- 
 tional power of taxation without representation was 
 insisted on. Such I gather from all that I could find 
 of this speech — his closing words : "Having no 
 enemies to encounter, no partisans to serve, without 
 passion, without fear, I have delivered my sentiments 
 upon the present question— one of the greatest im- 
 portance. I will not vote a single man against America 
 without an accompanying address recommending con- 
 
Right Hon. Walter Htissey Biugh. 
 
 39 
 
 ciliatory measures. I foresee tlie conclusion of this 
 war. If ministers are victorious, it will only be estab- 
 lishing a right to the harvest after they have burned 
 the grain ; it will be establishing a right to the stream 
 after they have cut off the fountain. Such is my oppo- 
 sition — a method ill calculated to secure emolument 
 or to gain popularity. My conduct will not please 
 either party. But I despise profit^ I despise popu- 
 larity^ if the one is to be gained by base servility^ and 
 the other purchased by blind zeaL Farewell profit^ 
 farewell popularity ! if, in acquiring you^ fair fame is 
 to be the victim. 
 
 These fragments sufficiently justify another great 
 orator — Lord Plunket— who said of Hussey Burgh 
 
 that no modern speaker approached him in power of 
 stirring the passions. The Marquis Wellesley ranked 
 him as a speaker superior to Pitt^ Fox^ or Burke. 
 
 I have discovered a term used in our time with 
 great force by the late lamented Lord George Ben- 
 tinck^ to have been employed previously, by Hussey 
 Burgh^ though^ I am almost sure, Lord George Ben- 
 tinck was not aware he had been thus anticipated. 
 When describing the extreme corruption of the L'ish 
 Parliament, of 1 769^ Mr. Burgh says^ Our members 
 are returned by the fear or dependence, not the affec- 
 tion or choice, of the electoral body. Unaccountable 
 for their conduct in Parliament^ their venality is unre- 
 strained, and universal corruption reigns in the House. 
 They are the instruments of power — a set of 7nen Icept 
 in regular -pay — the janizaries of despotism."'^ 
 
 When Lord George Bentinck, in 1846, was taunting 
 the late Sir Eobert Peel with his shifting conduct on 
 
40 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 the Corn Laws his Lordship said^ ^^We used, sir^ to 
 be told by the right hon. Baronet he would not consent 
 to be a minister on sufferance ; but I think he must be 
 blinded indeed by the flattery of those around him if 
 he has not learnt that he is now a minister on suffer- 
 ance_, tossed from one side to the other_, sometimes 
 depending on honourable gentlemen opposite^ some- 
 times on friends around me^ supported by none hut his 
 forty paid janizaries J and some seventy other renegades, 
 one half of whom^ while they support him — express 
 their shame in doing so/^ 
 
 To his great wisdom Mr. Burgh united sportive wit. 
 When walking one day with a friend in Dublin they 
 passed the mansion of a nobleman whose family 
 acquired notoriety by a propensity for taking the goods 
 of others — in short_, confounding meum and tmim. The 
 knocker on the hall door was a large iron hand. 
 Burgh at once uttered this impromptu : — 
 
 " Could man Promethean fire command, 
 To warm with life that iron hand, 
 And touch it with a sense of feeling, 
 Lord ! What a hand 'twould be for stealing / " 
 
 On all the great questions which were brought for- 
 ward in 1780_, and the following year, Mr. Burgh took 
 a prominent part, but these belong more to the 
 political than legal history of Ireland, and my space 
 does not admit of introducing them here. In 1781 
 his friends were in office, and he was reinstated in the 
 office of Prime Sergeant. Still higher rank was soon 
 to follow. On the 25th of June Lord Tracton died, and 
 this left the Chief Barents place in the Exchequer at 
 
Right Hon. Walter Htissey Burgh. 
 
 41 
 
 the disposal of tlie Goyernment. It was at once offered 
 to, and accepted by Mr. Burgh. It was an appoint- 
 ment gratifying to his tastes and vanity^ for he was 
 very ostentatious. The times were those of profuse 
 extravagance^ and then were laid the seeds which 
 covered many an Irish estate with a plentiful crop of 
 incumbrances. These incumbrances so overspread the 
 country as to require exceptional legislation^ and a 
 separate tribunal is established — now one of the Courts 
 of the kingdom — the Landed Estate Court. Chief 
 Baron Burgh lived in grand style. He drove to Court 
 in a coach and six horses^ preceded by three outriders. 
 This soon ended. A cold^ caught in Armagh^ while on 
 circuit, was aggravated by the necessity of sitting all 
 day in a chill Court-house^ and fever supervened. 
 The best medical aid was obtained, and the faculty 
 summoned from Dublin, but all in vain. His illness 
 terminated fatally, and in 1783 — when only two years 
 on the bench, at the early age of forty — Walter Hussey 
 Burgh died. 
 
 All ranks mourned his untimely death. Lord 
 Temple, then Viceroy, declared, No one had that 
 steady, decided weight which he possessed in the 
 judgment and affections of his country, and no one 
 had more decidedly that inflexible and constitutional 
 integrity which the times peculiarly demanded.''^ Of 
 course, a man who lived at the rate Chief Baron Burgh 
 did could make no provision for his family. This is, 
 alas ! a common event in Ireland, and, in my opinion, 
 ought not to be so. A man having children is said to 
 give " hostages to fortune,^^ and should take care and 
 make provision to protect them from want. Chief 
 
42 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Baron Burgh left four daughters and a son totally 
 unprovided for. Mr. Grattan appealed to Parliament 
 for their relief, and, in feeling terms, besought the 
 House to intreat His Majesty to make provision for 
 the family of the late Chief Baron, as a reward for his 
 integrity and ability on the seat of justice, and the 
 services he had rendered to the country. 
 
 This appeal was eloquently seconded by Mr. Yelver- 
 ton, and generously responded to. Parliament settled 
 two thousand a year on his family. The bitterness of 
 party strife was forgotten in the general grief for his 
 loss, and friend and foe mourned him in common. 
 
 A daughter of Chief Baron Burgh married Mr. 
 Griffith, whose son Richard became the celebrated 
 Chief Commissioner of Public Works in Ireland and a 
 baronet. He died very recently, aged ninety-four. 
 Another son, called after the Chief Baron, Walter 
 Hussey Griffith, is a most estimable and respected 
 member of the Irish Bar. He married a daughter of 
 the Heun family. The eminent career of several mem- 
 bex's of this family will be found hereafter. 
 
43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RIGHT HON. GEORGE PONSONBY. 
 
 Born in 1755. — Called to tlie Irisli Bar in 1780. — Fondness for 
 field-sports. — Made King's Counsel and gets a place. — Married 
 Lady Mary Butler. — Change of Ministry occasions loss of 
 office. — Mr. Ponsonby works at tlie Bar. — Supports tlie party 
 willing to give full power to the Prince Regent. — Brings Lord 
 Clonmel's conduct before Parliament. — Opposed to the Union. 
 —Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1806.— Death in 1817. 
 
 This Irisli Parliamentary leader and distinguished 
 member of the Irish Bar was the third son of the Right 
 Hon. John Ponsonby^ Speaker of the Irish House of 
 Commons. George Ponsonby was born on March 5th^ 
 1755^ and very carefully educated. He became a 
 student at Cambridge^ where he took his degree^ and^ 
 having studied for the Bar^ was admitted to practice 
 in 1780. But he did not^ at firsts devote himself 
 zeafously to professional labour. He was extremely 
 fond of fiield-sports^ and took more delight in chasing 
 sly Reynard over hill and valley than in pursuing an 
 intricate case through the mazes of special pleading. 
 Next to field-sports^ politics occupied Mr. George 
 Ponsonby^s attention. 
 
 The young lawyer, or his family, did not neglect the 
 main chance. The Duke of Portland was Viceroy, and 
 the Ponsonby family had influence j thus this barrister 
 without a brief within two years after being called to 
 the Bar was made a King's Counsel, and appointed 
 
44 
 
 Tlie Irish Bar. 
 
 First Counsel to the Commissioners of the Revenue^ with 
 a salary of 1200/. a year. He was then in a position 
 to support a wife^ so he married Lady Mary Butler^ 
 eldest daughter of the Earl of Lanesborough. 
 
 What strange freaks of fortune occur from day to 
 day ! Truly — 
 
 " There is a destiny which shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them how we may." 
 
 Again^ in the words of the same renowned author^ — 
 
 " Lo ! even that which mischief meant most harm, 
 Shall in the hour of trial prove most godly ; 
 Evil shall back upon itself recoil." 
 
 The recall of the Duke of Portland on a change of 
 Ministry in England, and the substitution of the 
 Marquis of Buckingham as Viceroy in Ireland, cost the 
 newly-married counsel his place. Mr. Marcus Beres- 
 ford was appointed to succeed Mr. Ponsonby as First 
 Counsel to the Excise. This led to very great results 
 in the future career of George Ponsonby. He had an 
 aristocratic wife to support ; the small hands of children 
 were tugging at his gown. These required constant 
 toil to procure them bread and butter, and, fortunately 
 for them and for himself, he was equal to the call. 
 The great legal store he laid in when a law student was 
 now improved by use, and soon his professional gains 
 amply compensated for the loss of his office. He no 
 longer was seen, mounted on his spirited hunter, by 
 the covert side, cheering, with mellow voice and 
 echoing horn, the pack drawing within, but he was 
 heard in the Four Courts. There, laden with a well- 
 
Right Hon, George Ponsonby. 45 
 
 stored bag^ he might be seen hurrying from Court to 
 Courts now arguing ably before Lord Lifford in 
 Chancery^ then running into the King^s Bench^ or 
 called from the Exchequer to the Common Pleas^ and 
 stating a case at Nisi Prius. Soon he was as popular 
 and as successful in the House of Commons as he was 
 in the Law Courts^ and no member proved more for- 
 midable to crush the hydra of corruption which filled 
 many seats in the House than Mr. Ponsonby. He 
 greatly distinguished himself by the support he gave 
 the party in favour of making the Prince of Wales 
 Eegent^ with full and unlimited power^ during the 
 illness of King George III. in 1789. Despite political 
 differences^ it is pleasant to note kindly personal 
 feelings^ and of these^ instances^ on the part of John 
 FitzGibbon^ are not numerous. When elevated from 
 the Bar to the Woolsack, FitzGibbon presented his 
 bag to Mr. Ponsonby, thus intimating to the solicitors 
 who usually retained him, to whom they might safely 
 confide their future briefs. 
 
 Mr. Ponsonby, in conjunction with Mr. Curran, 
 brought the judicial conduct of Chief Justice Lord 
 Clonmel for issuing attachments against Mr. Magee 
 before the House of Commons. The motion was 
 resisted by the Government. Mr. Wolfe,, then 
 Attorney- General^ deprecated the motion. This very 
 able and amiable man was ultimately himself Lord 
 Chief Justice of the King^s Bench, with the title of 
 Lord Kilwarden, and was killed in the streets in 
 Dublin during Emmet^s rebellion in 1803. Mr. Wolfe 
 pressed Mr. Ponsonby to withdraw his motion, which 
 he declined to do. It was, however, negatived without 
 
46 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 a division_, but Lord Clonmel was taught a lesson he 
 never afterwards forgot.^ 
 
 Mr. Ponsonby was a strenuous supporter^ as were all 
 his family^ of Catholic Emancipation. He threw all 
 his talents into the scale for the support of the liberal 
 administration of Earl Fitzwilliam during that popular 
 Viceroy^s short tenure of the Castle. When Lord 
 Camden succeeded Earl Fitzwilliam Mr. Ponsonby 
 was in opposition^ and steadily resisted the enactment 
 of the Legislative Union. The L^ish Parliament^ how- 
 ever^ was doomed, and in 1806 Mr. Ponsonby became 
 Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He died in London in 1817. 
 
 ^ For many curious details respecting this strange nobleman, 
 see " Ireland before the Union," by W. J. Fitzpatrick, Esq., J.P. 
 
47 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GRATTAN AT THE BAR. 
 
 Not generally known to have been a Barrister. — Born in 1746. — 
 Education. — Adopts ttie policy of Dr. Lucas in opposition to 
 his father. — Is disinherited. — Becomes a law student. — A 
 speech interrupted. — Eeady retort. — Called to the Bar in 
 1772. — Dislikes his profession. — Joins the Home Circuit. — 
 Unprofessional conduct regarding fees. — Abandons the Bar 
 for Parliament. — Enters the House of Commons in 1776. — 
 Died in 1820. 
 
 The fame of Henry Grattan as an orator and politician 
 has so completely eclipsed his legal proficiency^ few 
 are aware he was by profession^ if not by practice, 
 a member of the Irish Bar. His Life has been 
 written by his son, and the career of the patriot and 
 the statesman so often carefully detailed/ I shall apply 
 myself to such anecdotes and events of his brief legal 
 life as I have been able to collect. 
 
 Henry Grattan was eldest son of the Recorder of 
 Dublin, in which city he was born in 1746. Besides 
 his paternal connexion with the Bar, he had also a 
 claim on his mother^s side ; she was daughter of Lord 
 Chief Justice Marley. Henry Grattan was educated at 
 the school of Mr. Ball, in Great Ship Street, Dublin, 
 and had as his schoolfellow another barrister^s son, 
 
 ^ One of the best works on the life and labours of this great 
 Irishmau is " Henry Grattan, a Historical Study," by J. G. 
 MacCarthy, M.P. 
 
48 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 destined to play a very important part in Irish legal 
 and political life^ and to prove the most formidable 
 adversary of Grattan. This was John FitzGibbon^ 
 afterwards Lord Chancellor and Earl of Clare. Grattan 
 subsequently went to the school of Mr. Youngs in 
 Abbey Street^ and in 1763 entered Trinity College. 
 Here he studied^the great masters of ancient eloquence, 
 until he could repeat the orations of Demosthenes and 
 Cicero with readiness and precision. The Recorder 
 (Henry Grattan^s father) represented the. City of 
 Dublin in the Irish Parliament^ and had for his col- 
 league Dr. Lucas, who was an advanced Liberal, while 
 the Recorder was a staunch Conservative. The 
 Recorder cordially disliked the doctor^s politics, but 
 young Henry Grattan most fully shared and supported 
 them. This so incensed the Recorder that, when 
 dying, he bequeathed the family mansion and pro- 
 perty, which had been in their possession above a 
 century, away from his eldest son. This strong proof 
 of parental displeasure naturally caused him sorrow, 
 for it is hard to be the victim of a father^s unkindness, 
 even though undeserved. 
 
 Although deprived of the family estate, Henry 
 Grattan was not left destitute. A small property was 
 secured to him by marriage settlement, and he had 
 great talents. The Bar was regarded as the proper 
 profession to exercise his abilities, and Henry prepared 
 to become a barrister. In Michaelmas Term 1767, he 
 entered his name as a law student of the Middle 
 Temple, London, where he had chambers in common 
 with Mr. Day, afterwards Judge Day. The situation 
 of the Temple proving distasteful to so ardent a lover 
 
G rattan at the Bar. 
 
 49 
 
 of Nature as Henry Grattan, lie resorted to the more 
 congenial glades of Windsor. In the Forest he roamed 
 not only by day but by moonlight^ reciting poetry and 
 fancying himself in the Groves of Academus or the 
 Forum of Rome. On one occasion he beheld the spot^ 
 near Windsor Forest, where some notorious criminal 
 had expiated his guilt, and as yet the gibbet remained. 
 Grattan apostrophized the hanging wood/^ as George 
 Robins once called it, and was in the frenzy of an 
 oratorical display when some wit who was passing 
 tapped Grattan on the shoulder, and, pointing to the 
 tenantless gibbet, made the inquiry, How the d — I 
 did you contrive to get down?'^ Grattan reaJily 
 turned the tables upon the wit. " I suppose,^^ he said 
 to his interrogator, ^^you have an interest in asking 
 iliai questionJ^ 
 
 Grattan^s nightly soliloquies and solitary rambles 
 caused the suspicion to be entertained he was deranged. 
 His landlady complained to his friends he was in the 
 habit of wandering about the place great part of the 
 night, and talking to some imaginary person whom he 
 called ^ Mr. Speaker.^ Although reading law, he 
 seems to have had no relish for the science. In a letter 
 to a friend he thus bewails his fate : — Instead of Pope 
 and Milton^s numbers, I repeat in solitude Cokeys 
 distinctions, the nature of fee-tail, and various construc- 
 tions of perplexing statutes. Your hfe, like mine, is 
 devoted to professions we both detest. The vulgar 
 subtleties of the law are as terrible to me as the uni- 
 formity of the drill is to you. Our different studies 
 \^11 never divide us, our antipathy to these studies will 
 be a bond of union. Grattan was called to the Irish 
 
 E 
 
The Irish Bar, 
 
 Bar in 1772. Though^ as we have just seen^ he dis- 
 liked his profession^ he determined to persevere^ and 
 fit himself for the honest discharge of its responsible 
 duties. As he says^ in one of his letters^ I begin 
 seriously to apply myself to the study of the law/^ 
 He had no taste for the pursuit^ yet he analyzed and 
 indexed^ read up cases^ and went through law reports, 
 which, to the scientific and sharp-witted lawyer, are as 
 interesting as sensation novels to the lovers of fiction. 
 Yet they were, to the mind of Grrattan, frivolous or 
 illiberal/^ With the firm spirit of resolution he attended 
 the Four Courts, duly habited in wig and gown, and 
 went the Home Circuit. He had friends among the 
 gentry, especially in Meath and Kildare, and the 
 attorneys were desirous of giving him a fair start. 
 The agents in the great case of Dutton v, Napper were 
 willing to secure the young barrister. This case 
 turned upon the legitimacy of Mr. Napper. It was, I 
 believe, in this case Mr. Grattan adopted the very un- 
 frequent course — in legal annals — of returning his fee 
 when the client, for whom he was concerned, failed to 
 succeed on the trial. He was certainly never very 
 ardent in his love for law. Writing to a friend, early 
 in his professional life, he says, ^^I am now called to 
 the Bar, without knowledge or ambition in my pro- 
 fession. The Four Courts are, of all places, the most 
 disagreeable; the lawyers in general are ardent 
 rather than an eloquent society ."'^ 
 
 In 1775, three years after being called to the Bar, 
 Lord Charlemont's influence caused Mr. Grattan to be 
 elected a member oT the Irish House of Commons. 
 I'he congenial atmosphere by which he was then sur- 
 
Graitan at the Bar, 
 
 rounded, the frequent opportunities afforded him for 
 outbursts of his fervid eloquence, and the desire to 
 advance liberty of conscience and civil rights, so as to 
 include the Catholic millions of his fellow-countrymen, 
 henceforth induced him to abandon the practice of the 
 law, and devote himself to politics. With this latter 
 portion of his remarkable career it is not my province 
 to deal. It has already been stamped, as it ought to 
 be, upon the Irish heart. He died, in 1820, Ireland\s 
 noblest son. 
 
52 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BARRY YELYERTON^ FIRST LORD AVONMORE^ CHIEF 
 BARON OF THE EXCHEQUER. 
 
 Born in 1736, a fellow-countryman with Curran. — His school 
 days. — Ushers' fare. — Success in Trinity College, Dublin. — 
 Marriage in 1761. — Called to the Bar in 1764. — A Member of 
 the Irish Parliament in 1774. — Lawyers in Parliament. — 
 Different modes of selecting judges in England and Ireland.— 
 Convivial habits of Irish legal practitioners. — The Monks of 
 the Screw. — Charter Song. — Attorney- General in 1781. — 
 Father O'Leary's hon wo^.— Appointed Chief Baron of the 
 Exchequer in 1783, and created Lord Avonmore. Irish Law 
 Reports. — Case of Judge Johnson. — Affecting passage in 
 Curran's speech on behalf of Judge Johnson. — Curran's 
 reconciliation with Lord Avonmore. — Curran's story of the 
 butcher and the calf. — The toast of " Our Absent Friends." — 
 Hesiod's Phantasmagoria. — Death in 1805. 
 
 Barry Yelverton — the first Lord Avonmore — was 
 born near Kanturk^ in the County of Cork^ in 1736. 
 It is a wild but picturesque region^ watered by the 
 Munster Blackwater. Only a few miles northward^ at 
 Newmarket^, in 1 747^ eleven years later^ the celebrated 
 Irish Advocate and Parliamentary Chief, John Philpot 
 Curran was born. So these two ornaments of the Irish 
 Bar^ the Irish Senate^ and the Irish Bench^ were com- 
 temporary, and from the same district. The school of 
 Kanturk gave Barry Yelverton suflScient learning to 
 qualify him for the post of Usher^ and self-relying 
 and self-asserting he trudged his way to Dublin^ and 
 
Barry Yelverton, first Lord Avo7imore, 53 
 
 sought employment. Yelverton accepted the situation 
 he deemed himself fit for^ at the school of Mr. Buck, 
 in North King Street. The future Chief Baron of the 
 Irish Exchequer found Mr. Buck by no means liberal 
 in his Commissariat department. The Master re- 
 solved the ushers and school-boys should have the same 
 food, and this was of Spartan simplicity — bread and 
 milk. Yelverton aspired, to something more varied, 
 and obtaining no concession, terminated his engage- 
 ment with Mr. Buck. He entered Trinity College, 
 obtained a sizarship, and bade farewell to bread and 
 milk. In old Trinity he made good way. From a sizar 
 he became a scholar, and his good looks and winning 
 ways gained him a wife with a fortune. He married 
 in 1761, Mary, daughter of William Nugent, Esq., of 
 Clonlost, County Westmeath. Yelverton did not 
 depend solely on his wife^s fortune for support. He 
 wrote for the press in London, while keeping his 
 terms, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1764. 
 
 Mr. Yelverton^ s abilities as a barrister were soon 
 apparent, and his powers as a speaker ranked very 
 high. He aspired to a seat in the House of Commons, 
 and, in 1774, his wish was gratified. He was elected 
 Member for Carrickfergus, and joined the few, but 
 earnest men, who struggled for the Independence of 
 Ireland. While working in Parliament with Graf tan, 
 Hussey Burgh, Flood, and the rest of the men of 
 ^82, Yelverton was not unmindful of the claims of his 
 profession. He did not allow the interests of his 
 clients to sufier, by devoting to his party what he owed 
 to them. This preference of politics to professional 
 duties was no uncommon occurrence at this time. The 
 
54 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 attendance of Members of tlie Irisli Bar in the Irish 
 House of Commons was often a subject of complaint 
 to their clients. An Attorney named Howard calls 
 attention to the conduct^ or rather he considers it 
 7nisco7idiicfy of the Irish Bar in the year 1750^ which he 
 contrasts with the English. He says^ There is not 
 any nation on earth where lawsuits are so tedious and 
 so expensive as in this poor kingdom, let the right be 
 as unquestionable as it may. In England suits are 
 generally determined in a quarter of the time they are. 
 here, and at one quarter of the expense ; but there 
 the counsel are confined to courts, and it is a rare 
 thing to see more than three counsel on a side, unless 
 it be some very extraordinary case. But in this king- 
 dom the practice is for members of the bar to take 
 business in any branch, and pass from court to court, 
 as if justice was to be taken by storm. So what can 
 the unfortunate suitors do ? If they were to employ 
 but two or three counsel, they may, when a case comes 
 on in one court, be engaged in another, and this is 
 looked on as sufficient excuse, so that the courts must 
 be kept in exercise by bringing some of the scattered 
 forces to the engagement, until the main body may 
 come in, or the cause may be undone. Then every one 
 jiiust speak in the cause, and so, as they are seldom in 
 tlio way to hear about what the others have said, 
 repetitions necessarily follow. 
 
 Besides, the ill effects of this multitude of counsel,^^ 
 which may be safety, but is safety purchased at a 
 dear price, the Attorney thus refers to the way in 
 which Irish Judges were selected in the last and 
 (may we not add ?) the present century. The people of 
 
Barry Yelverton, first Lord A vonmore. 5 5 
 
 England have one great advantage in regard to their 
 judges. They are there seldom taken from the bar 
 and placed on the bench on account of their interest 
 or abilities in the House of Commons. The gentlemen 
 of this profession in England are but of small con- 
 sideration in the House^ when compared with the 
 country gentlemen who excel them^ not only in the 
 knowledge of the constitution^ but in oratory also. 
 Here few others but lawyers speak in the House. 
 Mr. Howard rebuked^ with severity^ the intemperate 
 habits of the Irish lawyers^ which he contrasts with 
 the abstemiousness of their brethren in England. I 
 have had occasion to transact business in London 
 several times^ and I can affirm that there is no such 
 thing practised there^ as for men of business to sit 
 whole evenings over their bottle^ in the midst of term ; 
 and I have myself heard several of them say they could 
 not conceive how many of the profession of the bar in 
 this kingdom (Ireland) effected any business^ for that 
 they seemed there to do nothing but walk the courts 
 the whole mornings and devote whole evenings to the 
 bottle.^' ' 
 
 Barry Yelverton shared the convivial habits of the 
 time, and was an active member of the Society called 
 
 The Monks of the Screw. ''^ This social club met 
 every Saturday during term, in a house in Kevin 
 Street, Dublin. The leading men of the time — Lord 
 Charlemont, Flood, Grattan, Curran, Bowes Daly, 
 Yelverton, and other members of the bar, and of both 
 Houses of Parliament, belonged to it. Curran was 
 
 ^ Howard's Exchequer in Ireland, vol. I. xv. 
 
56 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Prior^ and composed the Charter Song which in these 
 pages must not be omitted : — 
 
 " When St. Patrick this Order establish'd, 
 He caird us the Monks of the Screw ! 
 Good rnles he reveal'd to our Abbot, 
 To guide us in what we should do. 
 But first he replenish'd our fountain, 
 With liquor the best in the sky ; 
 And he swore on the word of a saint 
 That the fountain should never run dry. 
 
 Each year when your octaves approach, 
 In full chapter convened let me find you. 
 And when to the convent you come 
 Leave your fav'rite temptation behind you ; 
 And be not a glass in your convent, 
 Unless on a festival found ; 
 And this rule to enforce I ordain it. 
 Our festival all the year round. 
 
 My brethren, be chaste till you're tempted ; 
 
 Whilst sober be grave and discreet ; 
 
 And humble your bodies with fasting. 
 
 As oft as you've nothing to eat. 
 
 Yet, in honour of fasting, one lean face 
 
 Among you I'll always require. 
 
 If the Abbot should please he may wear it — 
 
 If not let it come to the Prior." 
 
 This last hit was a capital one. Mr. Doyle, the 
 Abbot, was a large, burly man, with a face like a full 
 moon; while Curran, who was Prior, had a lean, 
 emaciated countenance. The Society grew small by 
 degrees, until it was dissolved in 1795. 
 
 Mr, Yelverton^s position at the bar had been steadily- 
 progressing, and when, in 1781, Mr. Scott offended 
 the Government, and he was displaced as Attorney- 
 
Barry Yelverton^ first L ord A vonmore, 5 f 
 
 General, the office was given to Mr. Yelverton. Shortly 
 after this he was at Killarney^ with his friend^ the 
 witty Father O^Leary. Both were present at a stag- 
 hunt, and the hunted deer approaching the Attorney- 
 General, fell quite exhausted at his feet. 
 
 Dear Mr. Yelverton/^ exclaimed Father O^Leary, 
 what wonderful instinct that stag possesses ! He 
 comes directly to you, expecting that, in your official 
 capacity, you^ll at once issue a nolle prosequi in his 
 favour.*^ 
 
 Yelverton^s tenure of office was quickly terminated 
 by the untimely death of Chief Baron Burgh, in 1783. 
 The vacant seat on the bench was taken by the 
 Attorney-General, who was created Baron, and, sub- 
 sequently. Viscount Avonmore. 
 
 The want of Law Reports in Ireland while Mr. 
 Yelverton was at the bar prevent our judging his 
 ability as an advocate, but the Irish Term Reports, of 
 Messrs. Ridgeway, Lapp, and Schoales, published in 
 1796, display the clearness, force, and fertility of 
 his reasoning powers on the bench. He grappled 
 fully with each question before the Court, viewed it 
 under different aspects, and came to a sound and just 
 decision. 
 
 Though Yelverton was eleven years older than 
 Curran they were school-fellows and friends. But in 
 Coleridge^s words, — 
 
 " Alas ! they had been friends in youth, 
 But whispering words can poison truth, 
 And constancy lives in realms above." 
 
 Their friendship was severed, and for years they 
 
58 
 
 Tlie Irish Bar, 
 
 met as strangers. They were once more united under 
 the following interesting circumstances : — In 1805 
 Curran was counsel for Judge Johnson^ who was in- 
 dicted for a libel^ which appeared in Cobbett^s 
 Political Register in 1804. This libel attacked the 
 then Lord-Lieutenant, the Earl of Hardwicke, and the 
 Irish Lord Chancellor, Lord Redesdale. It powerfully 
 contrasted the character of Lord Kenyon with that of 
 the Chancellor. ^*^The professional pride of Lord 
 Kenyon would never have suffered him to enter into a 
 combination to sap, by underhand means, the inde- 
 pendence of his brethren on the bench. He would 
 never have suffered the Great Seal in his hands to be 
 used for the purpose of garbling the bench, in order 
 to gratify those who might be contented publicly to 
 eulogize the Government, which privately they must 
 have despised, nor would he have employed any of his 
 leisure in searching into office for precedents, by 
 which he might harass the domestic arrangements of 
 others whose pride and integrity could not bend to his 
 views, and thus double the vigour of his attack by 
 practising upon the hopes of some, and endeavouring 
 to work upon the fears of others. 
 
 The authorship of the libel, which was in the hand- 
 writing of Judge Johnson^s daughter,^ was traced to 
 her father — one of the judges of the Court of Common 
 Pleas in Ireland. A Bill of Indictment was found 
 against the judge by the grand jury at Westminster, 
 on which Lord Ellenborough — Chief Justice of Eng- 
 land — issued a warrant for his apprehension. The 
 judge was arrested at his house at Miltown, near 
 2 Personal Recollections of Lord Cloncurry. 
 
Barry Yelverton^ first Lord Avonmore, 59 
 
 Dublin. A writ of Habeas Corpus — returnable into 
 the Court of Exchequer in Ireland^ brought Curran to 
 argue the case on behalf of the judge before the 
 Barons of the Irish Exchequer^ Lord Avonmore pre- 
 siding. 
 
 Eeferring to his anticipations of defeating the pro- 
 ceedings at Westminster by the learning of the Barons^ 
 Curran thus continued : These soothing hopes I draw 
 from the dearest and tenderest recollections of my life^ 
 from the remembrance of those Attic nights_, and those 
 refections of the gods^ which we have spent with those 
 admired and respected and beloved companions who 
 have gone before us^ over whose ashes the most 
 precious tears of Ireland have been shed.^^ (Here 
 Lord Avonmore burst into tears.) ^^Yes, my good 
 Lord, I see you do not forget them. I see their 
 sacred forms passing in sad review before your me- 
 mory. I see your pained and softened fancy recalling 
 those happy meetings, where the innocent enjoyment of 
 social mirth, expanded into the nobler warmth of 
 social virtue, and the horizon of the board became 
 enlarged into the horizon of man. When the swelling 
 heart conceived and communicated the pure and 
 generous purpose, when my slender and younger taper 
 imbibed its borrowed light from the more redundant 
 fountain of yours. Yes, my good Lord, we can re- 
 member those nights without any more regret than 
 that they can never more return, for — 
 
 * We spent them not in toys, or lust, or wine, 
 But search of deep philosophy, 
 Wit, eloquence, and poesy. 
 Arts which I loved, for they, my friend, were thine.' " 
 
6o 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 When the arguments were over^ the majority of the 
 Barons (Sir William Cusac Smith disse7itiente) hold- 
 ing Judge Johnson rightly committed, a tipstaff 
 informed Mr. Curran the Chief Baron desired to see 
 him in chamber. Curran hastened to his old friend, 
 who affectionately welcomed him, saying, Unworthy 
 means had led to the estrangement, but they should 
 no more prevail.''^ The reconciliation henceforth was 
 lasting. 
 
 Lord Avonmore had one great fault in a judge. He 
 jumped too suddenly at conclusions. An .anecdote is 
 told of the way Curran demonstrated this fault to his 
 lordship. Entering the Court of Exchequer one 
 morning, later than usual, Curran found a case he in- 
 tended to argue had been struck out of the list owing 
 to his absence. On applying to have it reinstated, 
 Curran, addressing the Chief Baron, said, My Lord, 
 the circumstance I am about to state will, I trust, 
 show your Lordship I really required a little time to 
 elapse, in order that my mind could recover from what 
 I so recently witnessed. 
 
 Good gracious ! What was it, Mr. Curran ? 
 eagerly inquired the kind-hearted old judge. 
 
 1 will tell your Lordship as calmly as I can. On 
 my way to court I passed through the market. 
 
 Yes, I know, the Castle Market,^^ struck in his 
 Lordship. 
 
 Exactly, the Castle Market ; and passing near one 
 of the stalls I beheld a brawny butcher brandishing a 
 sharp, gleaming knife. A calf, he was about to slay, 
 was standing awaiting the death-stroke, when, at 
 that moment — that critical moment — a lovely little 
 
Barry Yelvertojt, first Lord A vonmore. 6i 
 
 girl came bounding^ in all the sportive mirth of child- 
 hood — from her father^ s stall. Before a moment had 
 passed the butcher plunged his knife into the breast 
 of— 
 
 Good God ! his child ! sobbed the judge^ deeply 
 aflfected. 
 
 ^^No^ my Lord^ but the calf/^ rejoined Curran; 
 '^hut your Lordship often anticipates^^ 
 
 Lord Avonmore was frequently lost in reverie^ and 
 quite oblivious of what was passing around him. Both 
 he and Curran were at a dinner-party, and Curran, 
 who sat next to the Chief Baron, observing him quite 
 abstracted when the toast — Our Absent Friends 
 was drunk, nudged him. My Lord,^^ he said, our 
 host has just proposed your health, which has been 
 received in very cordial terms; surely you will re- 
 spond.^^ 
 
 *^ Thank you, Curran, really I was not aware of it,^^ 
 replied the Chief Baron, and up he got ; and, to the 
 surprise of many, and the amusement of more, made 
 an eloquent speech in reply to a toast which was not 
 given. 
 
 Counsel, especially Curran, seemed then to have in- 
 dulged in freedoms which would not be permitted in 
 our time. Vfhile addressing an ignorant jury on a 
 Nisi Prius case in the Exchequer, before Lord Avon- 
 more, Curran was resolved to raise a laugh. Continuing 
 his speech he said, ^^You heard my learned friend, 
 gentlemen, shoot the arrows of his wit at the poverty 
 of my client. You, gentlemen, doubtless are familiar 
 with the well-known passage, in the writings of the 
 Greek historian Hesiod, I mean that one in his 
 
62 
 
 Tlie Irish Bar, 
 
 ^ Phantasmagoria/ in which he so pathetically bewails 
 the ills of poverty — 
 
 ' Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se, 
 Quam quod ridiculos homines facet.' " 
 
 The Chief Baron, who, as Curran well knew, was 
 a profound classical scholar, addressed the wit, — 
 
 Mr. Curran, what are you thinking of? Hesiod 
 was a poet, not historian. I never heard of any book 
 of his called ^ Phantasmagoria/ 
 
 Curran. ^^My Lord, I am surprised you did not. 
 Surely he wrote it 
 
 Lord Avonmore. That may be ; but you will not 
 find in it the lines you quote. They are not Hesiod^s 
 at all. They are written by Juvenal.''^ 
 
 Curran. He quotes them, probably from the 
 ^ Phantasmagoria. The original are Greek. 
 
 Chief Baron. ^^Mr. Curran, really you must be 
 under some strange delusion. I tell you they are 
 Latin, I am as familiar with them as with my ^ Black- 
 stone.' 
 
 Curran. Well, I suppose your Lordship is right, 
 and, if it was a point of law, of course I would 
 respectfully bow to your Lordship's ruling. But this 
 is a matter not of law, but of fact; and what I ask 
 your Lordship to do is, to send the question, as a 
 collateral issue, to that jury, and I'll stake my repu- 
 tation that they'll find the poetry GreelcJ^ 
 
 The point of Curran's joke now fiashed on the Chief 
 Baron's mind, and he almost shook the bench trying 
 to contain his laughter, while the amazed jury were 
 puzzled to see the relation this argument had to the 
 
Barry Yelverton^ first L ord A vonmore. 6 3 
 
 case before them— an action of Assumpsit on a Bill 
 of Exchange. From being an ardent Nationalist in 
 the House of Commons^ Lord Avonmore^ in the Lords^ 
 supported the Bill for the Union^ and was thereupon 
 raised a step in the peerage — from a Baron to a Vis- 
 count. 
 
 Lord Avonmore resided at Fairfield^ near Dublin, 
 where he enjoyed the society of his friends at his 
 hospitable board. He died 19th August^ 1805, in his 
 sixty-ninth year. 
 
64 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RIGHT HON. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN, MASTER OP THE 
 
 ROLLS. 
 
 Born in 1747. — His father Seneschal of Newmarket. — Early 
 culture — Anecdotes of his student days. — Called to the Bar. 
 — First great case. — Duel wdth Major St. Leger. — Enters Par- 
 liament. — Curran and Fitz Gibbon. — Curran suspected of dis- 
 loyalty. — Emmet's Rebellion. — Emmet and Sarah Curran. — 
 Yisit of Major Sirr. — Bon Mots. — Appointed Master of the 
 Rolls. — Dislikes his appointment. — Anecdotes. — Death in 
 1817. 
 
 The most renowned member of the Irish Bar was^ 
 assuredly, John Philpot Curran. He does not require 
 any very lengthened place in these pages^ for the 
 filial afi'ection of his son, the late William Henry 
 Curran, has left us an admirable memoir of this 
 illustrious .man. As I have already given several 
 anecdotes and bon mots of Curran in my notices of 
 Lord Avonmore^ I place him next in succession to his 
 old and eminent friend. 
 
 Curran was born in Newmarket, county Cork, in 
 the year 1747. His father held judicial office, though 
 a humble one, being Seneschal of the Manor Court of 
 Newmarket. It is probable, from attending this local 
 court, Curran acquired his desire to go to the Bar. He 
 laid the foundations of his fervid eloquence, and know- 
 ledge of the Irish heart, by mingling freely with the 
 people in the picturesque region which surrounds 
 
Right Hon, John Philpot Ciirran, 65 
 
 Newmarket. He roamed^ as a boy^ along tlie banks 
 of the Oondalua_, as it tumbles over the ledges of 
 rock near his native town^ and the foaming Awbeg was 
 a favourite haunt of the poetic boy. 
 
 This was Spenser^s Allo^ and the Irish Ehine^ as 
 the historic Blackwater is justly called^ were 
 Currants favourite streams. Eambling along the 
 banks he learnt the history of the ruined castles and 
 prostrate abbeys^ and all the legendary tales and 
 traditions of this district ; they were told by the 
 peasantry at wakes and weddings. When his school- 
 days were over^ and his College career ended^ Curran 
 went to London to keep his terms for the Bar. His 
 finances were often very low^ but his spirits kept high^ 
 and though oppressed by poverty he did not give way 
 to despair. A story is told of his going dinnerless to 
 St. Jameses Park^ and^ when sitting hungry on a 
 bench^ began whistling an Irish tune. An elderly 
 gentleman paused to rest on the same seat^ and^ 
 struck by the melancholy look of the youth, in- 
 quired^ How he came to be sitting there, whist- 
 ling an Irish tune when other people were at their 
 dinner ? 
 
 Curran replied^ ^^He would be at his dinner^ too, 
 but a trifling matter — delay in remittances — obliged 
 him to dine on an Irish tune.^^ The stranger, struck 
 with the playful manner of the youth, invited him to 
 dine at a neighbouring tavern^ and, ere long, was de- 
 lighted with the humour of the young Irishman. 
 Curran was equally pleased with his new friend, and, 
 years afterwards^ when Curran was known and famous, 
 recalled this occurrence to the recollection of his 
 
66 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 generous entertainer — Macklin, the celebrated actor— 
 with the assurance, You never acted hetter,^' 
 
 Curran was in the habit of attending a debating 
 Society in London, and, from not speaking, aroused 
 the bile of an impudent spouter, who addressed him 
 as Orator Mum/^ This called forth a retort from 
 Curran, which so confounded the unhappy object of 
 his wrath, he never again entered the arena. Curran, 
 when called to the Bar in 1775, had considerable 
 junior practice. He made 85Z. the first year; 132L the 
 second ; and before he was five years at the Bar was 
 earning lOOOZ. a year. He went the Munster Circuit, 
 and the occasion on which his abilities as an advocate 
 were first disclosed was, when a poor priest, the Rev. 
 Mr. Neale, brought an action against the Viscount 
 Doneraile for a violent assault. The priest had pub- 
 licly remonstrated with one of his female parishioners 
 for living an immoral life. Lord Doneraile, accom- 
 panied by his cousin. Major St. Leger, called at the 
 little cottage where the priest resided. On ascertain- 
 ing from the priest that he had spoken of the woman^s 
 conduct from the altar, the angry nobleman insisted 
 on the priest withdrawing his censure. The priest 
 said, the Bishop alone could do so.^^ Thereon Lord 
 Doneraile horsewhipped him. The priest brought an 
 action for this assault. It was for trial in Cork in 
 1 784, and it is said several members of the Munster 
 Bar refused to be concerned against Lord Doneraile, 
 who had great influence at the time. Curran under- 
 took to state the plaintifl*^s case, and he did so with 
 great power. He severely lashed the defendant's 
 cousin, the Major, who, in leaving the army when his 
 
Right Hon, John Philpot Ctirran. 67 
 
 regiment was going into the field^ had shown the white 
 feather. So Ourran called him a feather-bed soldier, a 
 drummed-out dragoon. The Major was called as a 
 witness, and, when cross-examining, Curran said, You 
 are a soldier, sir/^ 
 
 No/^ was the reply ; I am an officer/^ 
 An officer and no soldier,^^ rejoined Curran. The 
 jury found a verdict for the priest, and though the 
 damages were small — twenty pounds — getting any 
 damages at the time from such a defendant was re- 
 garded as something wonderful. 
 
 The Major was resolved to avenge his tarnished re- 
 putation. As duelling was the order of the day he 
 sent a challenge to Curran, who went to the ground. 
 When they were both placed, the Major asked Curran 
 to fire first. 
 
 No,^"' replied Curran ; I am here by your invita- 
 tion, so you must o^pen the halL" Both fired, and 
 missed, on which the duel ended. Major St. Leger 
 died soon after, and Curran declared, He was killed 
 by the report of his own pistol.^^ Curran represented 
 the borough of Rathcormack in the Irish Parliament, 
 and was one of the most earnest and persistent enemies 
 of the Union. He had many contests in the House 
 of Commons with the Castle party, and, in particular, 
 with Fitzgibbon, afterwards Lord Chancellor and Earl 
 of Clare. Curran was constantly selected by the men 
 indicted for High Treason in 1798, to defend them. 
 He used, as every advocate ought to do, his utmost 
 efforts in behalf of his clients, but such was the state 
 of men^s minds at that period that the advocate was 
 often confounded with the client, and Curran was sus- 
 
 r 2 
 
68 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 pected, nay charged, with disloyalty. I feel no 
 shame/' he replied, " at such a charge, except that it 
 should be made at such a time as this,, that to defend 
 the people should be held out as an imputation upon 
 the King's Counsel when the people are prosecuted by 
 the State. I think every Counsel is the property of 
 his fellow-subjects." 
 
 In 1803 Robert Emmet's rebellion broke out, and 
 was the cause of the murder of the humane Chief 
 Justice of the King s Bench — ^Lord Kilwarden. The 
 discovery of Emmet^s romantic attachment to Sarah 
 Curran led to unpleasant consequences with the lady's 
 father. Curran thus relates what took place : I was 
 riding to court, as usual, the morning after the out- 
 break, when the appearance of Major Sirr, at the head 
 of some dragoons, much surprised me. He rode up to 
 me, lamenting, with much courtesy, the occasion of our 
 meeting, and intimating that,, in consequence of some 
 papers found on Mr. Emmet, he had orders to search 
 my residence. Almost thunderstruck, I at once prof- 
 fered him every facility in my power. To my utter 
 amazement, a correspondence^ of which I had not even 
 a suspicion, was discovered.^' Curran at once pre- 
 sented himself for examination before the Law Officers 
 at the Castle, and received from the Attorney- General ^ 
 the utmost courtesy and consideration. The prose of 
 Washington Irving, and the poetry of Moore, have for 
 ever embalmed the loves of Eobert Emmet and Sarah 
 Curran. 
 
 One of the causes of great interest in which Curran 
 
 ^ Eight Hon. Standish 0' Grady, afterwards Chief Baron, 
 and Lord Guillamore. 
 
Right Hon. John Philpot Curran. 69 
 
 acted as counsel^ was the prosecution of Sir Henry- 
 Hayes^ for carrying off Miss Pike, a Quaker young 
 lady; she was rescued, and for two years the per- 
 petrator of this outrage was not amenable. When 
 arrested and bills of indictment found, Curran appeared 
 for the prosecution, and made a masterly speech. The 
 case enlisted the feelings of the people against the 
 prisoner, and a woman, rushing up to Curran on his 
 way to court, exclaimed More power to you. Coun- 
 sellor, and that you may gain the day.^^ 
 
 If I gain the day,^^ replied Curran, ^^you will lose 
 the K(nigU)r 
 
 The case was tried by Judge Day, a very able man. 
 Once when he went as judge on the Munster Circuit 
 there were so many prisoners for trial in Limerick, he 
 feared he could not open the Commission for Kerry at 
 Tralee without sitting very late. When he continued 
 long after the usual time, and showed no intention of 
 leaving Court, the members of the Bar remonstrated, 
 but without effect. At length, near midnight, as he 
 still held on, a slip of paper was handed to him by the 
 Crier^s wand. 
 
 He read it, smiled, and announced he would try 
 no more cases that night.^^ The paper contained these 
 lines, written by a member of the Bar : — 
 
 " Try men by night ! my Lord forbear, 
 Think what the wicked world will say, 
 Methinks I hear the rogues declare, 
 That Justice is not done hy I>ayy 
 
 This Judge, a very tall man, was seen walking with 
 Sir Arthur Clarke, a mere dwarf in comparison. There 
 
70 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 goes/^ said a wit, ihe longest Day, and the shortest 
 {K)night,^^ Sir Arthur, who kept the bathing esta- 
 blishment in the rear of North Great George Street, 
 Dublin, was happily termed the Knight of the 
 Bathr 
 
 Some of Currants hon-mots deserve preservation. 
 Here are a few. When examining a witness to prove 
 the delivery of coals which had not been paid for, he 
 said, — 
 
 The defendant got the coals 
 ^^Hedid/^ 
 
 ^* I believe the payment was slackJ^ 
 
 Indeed it was/^ 
 He had occasion to cross-examine Mr. Lundy Foot, 
 the eminent snuff manufacturer of Dublin, and when 
 Mr. Foot hesitated to respond to his question, Curraii 
 was sure to cause a laugh with Surely that^s a poser, 
 
 a d 1 of a pinch.^^ 
 
 They were great friends, and Mr. Foot, little mindful 
 of Currants punning propensities, applied to him for a 
 motto for his coach. 
 
 Would you mind its being in Latin ? quoth 
 Curran. 
 
 Not if it suited,^' said Foot. 
 
 You shall find it suits exactly,'^ and he gave 
 Quid Rides 
 
 Having a horse-jockey to cross-examine, Curran 
 found him a tough witness to deal with. At last he 
 asked, — 
 
 How old is this horse-dealer ? the plaintiff in 
 the case. 
 
 The witness hesitated. 
 
Right Hon. John Philpot Curran. 
 
 Come^ sir/^ said Curran, is he so old that he has 
 lost his teeth ? 
 
 Do you think/^ replied the witness^ I would know 
 his age like that of a horse by feeling the mark in his 
 mouth ? 
 
 This created a laugh against Curran, but he soon 
 turned it by sayings You are wise not to try, for I 
 understand your master is a great hiteJ^ 
 
 Curran was ever ready to give his advice to the un- 
 fortunate. When told he might be deprived of tiis 
 rank of King^s Counsel for his intrepidity in 1798_, he 
 said They may take away the silhf but they leave 
 the stuff behind/' ^ 
 
 The speeches of Curran have been preserved, and 
 their perusal shows how great a master he was of 
 oratory. Their effect on bench, bar, jury, and audience 
 was magical. In 1806, the Fox and Grenville Coali- 
 tion restored the Whigs to office, and Currants friend, 
 Mr. George Ponsonby became Lord Chancellor of 
 Ireland. He resolved Curran should be provided for, 
 and accordingly induced Sir Michael Smith to resign 
 the Rolls, to which Curran was appointed. This, un- 
 happily did not please Curran, for, though the salary 
 was excellent, 4000Z. a year, the office was one for 
 which he was entirely unsuited. His son thus refers 
 to this latter objection. It imposed on his mind the 
 necessity of unaccustomed labour, and unaccustomed 
 restraint, to which opposite habits of so many years 
 did not allow him easily to submit. It had no poli- 
 
 ^ King's or Queen's Counsel wear silk, the outer bar Counsel 
 stufi gowns. 
 
72 The Irish Bar, 
 
 tical consequence ; and therefore to him^ who had acted 
 such a part in the history of his country^ it seemed 
 rather a compensation for former services than as a 
 means for taking that honourable share to which he 
 felt himself entitled in an Administration that promised 
 such benefits to Ireland/^ 
 
 There was in addition, an arrangement, by which it 
 was settled Mr. Ridgeway, Secretary to the late Master 
 of the Rolls, was to have 500Z. a year. It was ex- 
 pected Mr. Curran would have paid this, but he refused, 
 and Mr. Ponsonby paid it out of his' own pocket.^ 
 This probably caused the estrangement between Curran 
 and Ponsonby. Though the friendship between them 
 was broken for many years, when the latter was 
 dying in London, in 1817, Curran called at his house, 
 and the two became friends ere yet the grave closed 
 over them both, as it did that very year. Curran con- 
 tinued Master of the Rolls for only six years. While 
 in office in 1812, he was invited to contest the borough 
 of Newry, and did so, but General Needham was 
 returned. His health obliged him to leave the Bench 
 in 1813. He travelled on the Continent, and, while in 
 London, met Lord Erskine at dinner at Carlton House. 
 The Prince Regent, having spoken of the rank of the 
 Bar, Lord Erskine is reported to have said, " Though 
 of a noble family, it has not only added to my wealth, 
 but to my dignity.''^ The Regent then asked Mr. 
 Curran to favour him with his opinion. I am,^^ he 
 said, perhaps, a better illustration of its advantages 
 than his Lordship. He was ennobled by birth before 
 
 ' Ryan, Worthies of Ireland/' vol. ii. p. 490. 
 
Right Hon. John Philpot Ctirran. 
 
 71 
 
 he came to it, but in my person it raised tlie son of a 
 peasant to the table of his Prince/^ 
 
 Curran died at Brompton, London, 14th October, 
 1817. His remains were interred at Paddington, but in 
 1834 were removed to Glasnevin, Dublin, where they 
 rest under a classic tomb, inscribed, Curran/^ 
 
74 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RIGHT HON. JOHN PITZGIBBON, EAEL OF CLARE, LORD 
 CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND. 
 
 Born in 1749. — Arrogance as a boy. — Demeanour in College. — 
 Called to the Bar in 1772. — His success on the College Elec- 
 tion Petition. — Position in the Irish House of Commons. — - 
 State of Ireland. — The Irish Volunteers. — The Irish Govern- 
 ment. — Patriotic speech of Fitzgibbon in 1783. — Crattan 
 presses for Fitzgibbon's appointment. — His ingratitude. — 
 Conduct in office. — Breaks up the Volunteers. — Retains office 
 under change of Ministry. — Personal intrepidity signally 
 displayed. — Letter of thanks for his conduct. — Question of the 
 Regency. — Becomes Lord Chancellor of Ireland. — Insulting 
 letter from G. N. Reynolds. — Hostile message to the Chan- 
 cellor. — Curran and the Chancellor. — Anecdotes. — Curran's 
 attack on the Chancellor before the Privy Council. — Death. 
 
 John Fitzgibbon was the younger son of a very emi- 
 nent Irish ban'ister of the same name, and was born 
 near Donnybrook in the County of Dublin, in 1 749. As 
 the child is said to be the father of the man, he showed, 
 even in boyhood, the haughty temper of later years. 
 Having incurred his father^s displeasure for some 
 childish fault, the parent sent his elder son with an 
 authoritative message : — 
 
 Your father orders you to go to him. You must 
 come instantly.^ ^ 
 
 Orders ! must ! repeated the youth of thirteen. 
 Such language suits me not, nor will I stir an inck. 
 
Right Hon. John Fitzgtbbon. 
 
 75 
 
 Decretum est/' and proudly stamping his foot on the 
 ground, remained stationary. 
 
 The elder lad repeated the reply, and the father of 
 the presumptuous youth could not help being amused 
 at the boy^s spirit. He penned a jocose note, request- 
 ing *^ the honour of an interview with Mr. John Fitz • 
 gibbon^ junior, when, after a parental admonition in 
 Parhamentary phrase, the subject dropped.^ 
 
 During his College life young Fitzgibbon shared the 
 society of men who, even then, gave promise of the 
 talent which shed a halo round their names in after- 
 years — -Grattan, and Hussey-Burgh, Lovel-Edge worth, 
 and Foster. At this time the future Chancellor's 
 temper was capricious and uncertain. He was accom- 
 plished and insinuating, but insolent and overbearing. 
 In person he was rather below the middle height, but 
 had a handsome face and dignified manner. Eesolu- 
 tion was stamped upon his features, and his compressed 
 lips denoted a strong will. During his career in the 
 Dublin University he gained its highest honours, 
 including the optime, which, since its foundation in the 
 reign of Queen EHzabeth, has only been awarded to 
 few students, among them Robert Emmet and the late 
 Baron Pennefather. 
 
 In 1772, being then in his twenty-third year, John 
 Fitzgibbon was called to the Bar, and soon obtained a 
 lucrative and steadily increasing practice. When little 
 more than a year called he undertook the conduct of a 
 most important case, in which he was opposed to many 
 
 ^ O'Flanagaii's Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland," 
 vol. ii. p. 100. 
 
76 
 
 TJu Irish Bar, 
 
 of the leading members of the Irish Bar. Hely 
 Hutchinson was declared duly elected member for 
 Trinity College^, but his return was said to have been 
 illegal^ owing to the influence of his father^ the Provost. 
 The electors, by Fitzgibbon^s advice, lodged a petition 
 against the return, and entrusted it to the young 
 barrister. This was all he sought for. He prepared 
 himself carefully to argue against several leaders of the 
 Bar, and the audacious junior triumphed over all. This 
 proved his great legal ability. His mark was made, 
 and he soon had abundant practice. The University 
 elected him its representative in Parliament, and sub- 
 sequently he became its Vice- Chancellor. 
 
 He held a high position on taking his seat in the 
 Irish House of Commons. Possessed of large fortune, 
 a well-stored mind, great professional fame, bold in 
 thought and word and deed, the distinguished repre- 
 sentative of a time-honoured University — instead of 
 being, as most young men of his standing were, the 
 nominee of some borough patron — such was the status 
 of the new member. It was at this time the National 
 party in the Irish House of Commons began to form 
 hopes of rescuing their country from the state of de- 
 pendency in which she had so long lain. The might 
 of public opinion was beginning to assert itself. It 
 was heard in the country towns, from platforms and 
 pulpits — it was spreading over the country dis- 
 tricts, at fairs and markets — it was spoken by nobles 
 in their halls, and by gentry at their festive gatherings. 
 It was the subject of leading articles in the Irish news- 
 papers and periodicals, and ere long broke upon the 
 ear of Government, hitherto deaf to its sound. It 
 
Right Hofi. John Fitzgibbon. 
 
 77 
 
 was the voice of the peasant, the voice of the artisan, 
 the voice of every working man. 
 
 From words they came to deeds. The teachings of 
 Molyneux and of Berkely in the closet> of Swift in 
 the pulpit and the Press ; of Flood, Lucas^ and Grattan 
 in Parliament and at public meetings, yielded their 
 fruit in due season, and stirred men^s hearts like a 
 trumpet^s call. The effect was the enrolment, embodi- 
 ment and marshalling of the National Army, the cele- 
 brated Irish Volunteers. Nobles of the highest rank, 
 large-acred squires, country gentlemen of the proudest 
 station, men of every grade^ swelled the ranks of the 
 Volunteers. Not a city, country town,, or village in 
 each province failed to count its corps. There were 
 cavalry, infantry, and artillery : — 
 
 " Each valley and sequester'd glen 
 Muster'd its little corps of men." 
 
 All manifested the most firm resolution to sustain the 
 rights of their country with the arms of Irishmen : — 
 
 " Oh ! 'twas a proud and solemn sight, 
 To mark that broad array 
 Come forth to claim a nation's right, 
 
 'Gainst all who dared gainsay. 
 And despots shrank, appall'd to view 
 The men who bore 
 From shore to shore 
 The Arms of " Eighty Two." ^ 
 
 The mighty march of a united people was too powerful 
 to be resisted. The advice of the Viceroy, the Duke 
 
 2 Michael Joseph Barry. 
 
78 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 c f Portland^ to Pox was to yield/ and though some of 
 the Castle party made a show of resistance^ they were 
 compelled to swim with the tide they were impotent to 
 stem. Scott^ afterwards Chief Justice^ was one^ and 
 his young disciple^ Pitzgibbon, another. On the 16th 
 April, 1783, when the right of Ireland to be bound 
 only by laws made by the King, Lords, and Commons of 
 Ireland was declared by Plood, Hutchinson^ Yelverton, 
 Porisonby, and Grattan^ Pitzgibbon said, ^^As Ireland 
 is committed, no man, I trust, will shrink from her 
 support, or hesitate to lend his hand to the establish- 
 ment of our liberties. As I was cautious in committing, 
 so I am firm in asserting the rights of my country.''^ ^ 
 It was thus that Pitzgibbon, following the example of 
 his pliant model, John Scott, floated with the stream 
 of popular feeling. Both knew well what they were 
 about — Grrattan, amongst others, was deceived, and 
 when Pox, who, with keen knowledge of these men, 
 doubted their sincerity, and expressed his fears to the 
 Lord Lieutenant, the Viceroy, Lord Nottingham, 
 replied, Grattan was consulted, and was satisfied. 
 Grattan afterwards bitterly repented of having been a 
 party to Pitzgibbon^s advance. In his Life by his 
 Son "'^ we learn this : I pressed for the appointment 
 of Pitzgibbon, and I have that sin to answer for. The 
 force of the Constitution made him Chancellor, and 
 his country and myself have been the peculiar objects 
 of his calumny.^ Mr. Bowes Daly was a better 
 prophet, he said, Depend upon it, that little fellow 
 
 3 Vide his letter ante. 
 
 < Com. Par. Deb. April 16, 1783. 
 
 * Grattan's Life, vol. iii. p. 112.— Id. 134. 
 
Right Hon. John Fitzgibbon. 
 
 79 
 
 will deceive you all/' A great opportunity for making 
 his country great^ glorious, and free was afforded John 
 Fitzgibbon. He was appointed Attorney-General in 1 783 
 and continued so until 1785, and a far more powerful 
 minister of the Government than the jocose Scott, but 
 he preferred deliberately, and almost defiantly to 
 run her on the rocks, and sink her, in order to grasp 
 the position which by so doing he reserved for himself. 
 His first step was to break up the Volunteer movement, 
 which he well knew had been the direct means of 
 eflPecting the great legislative changes so beneficial to 
 Ireland. His mode of doing this was astute and well 
 planned. He gained two triumphs by the course he 
 took. He baflBed Plood^s Reform Bill by denouncing 
 it as a measure which had its inception from an armed 
 conclave, and contended it was inconsistent with the 
 dignity of Parliament to yield to armed dictation. He 
 succeeded in both objects, and the Great National Army 
 of Volunteers^ which had achieved so many bloodless 
 victories, faded away, leaving the means of securing 
 their conquests unattained and unattainable. 
 
 • The British Government, which, in my opinion, had 
 never really countenanced the Volunteer movement, 
 or felt at ease during the time the Irish Volunteers 
 were embodied, and discourages the formation of such 
 an armament at this day, grew jubilant at the success 
 of Fitzgibbon. A great banquet took place on the 
 occasion at the Castle, and the Viceroy, Lord North- 
 ampton, writing to Fox, says, Fitzgibbon acquitted 
 himself astonishingly.'' ® 
 
 ^ Life of Grattan, vol. iii. c. v. p. 157. 
 
8o 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 When Pitt and the Tory party replaced the Fox and 
 Rockingham Administration^ the change of the Ministry 
 in England had no effect upon the official position of 
 John Fitzgibbon. He was Attorney-General to Pitt, 
 as he had been to Fox, and was trusted, perhaps, with 
 more confidence by the former than he certainly was 
 by the great Whig. That the Irish Law Officer was as 
 undaunted in personal courage as he was in intellectual 
 boldness, the way he put down an infraction of the 
 Irish Convention Act clearly shows : — 
 
 A meeting of the Delegates of Dublin being con- 
 vened in September, 1784, Fitzgibbon, then Attorney- 
 General, wrote to the High Sheriffs : — 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have read with great surprise a 
 formal summons, signed by you, as High Sheriffs of 
 the City of Dublin, calling upon the freeholders and 
 freemen of your bailiwick to meet on Monday next, for 
 the purpose of electing five persons to represent the 
 City of Dublin in National Congress. I must inform 
 you, that in summoning the freeholders and freemen to 
 meet for such a purpose, you have been guilty of a most 
 outrageous breach of your duty ; that if you proceed 
 to hold any such election, you are responsible for it to 
 the laws of your Country ; and that I shall hold myself 
 bound, as the King^s Attorney-General, to prosecute 
 you at the Court of King^s Bench for your conduct, 
 which 1 consider to be so highly criminal that I cannot 
 overlook it. 
 
 I am, gentlemen. 
 
 Your very obedient Servant, 
 
 John Fitzgibbon. 
 ^^Ely Place, September 10, 1784.'^ 
 
Right Hon, John Fitzgibboii. 8i 
 
 tlie meeting assembled^ pursuant to requisi- 
 tion, tlie High Sheriff, Mr. Reilly, came forward and 
 read tlie above letter, and declined to take the chair. 
 While the vast assemblage groaned vehement denun- 
 ciations of the Attorney- General and his threats, into 
 their very midst strode the Right Hon. John Fitz- 
 gibbon, and he upheld his course in the teeth of the 
 angry mob ; with his hand on his sword he announced 
 his resolve to prosecute any one presiding at such an 
 illegal meeting, and as the Sheriff refused to preside, 
 the meeting dispersed. 
 
 Such conduct was not unmarked by the Castle func- 
 tionaries. The Viceroy, the Duke of Rutland, thus 
 wrote to Fitzgibbon : — 
 
 Phoenix Park, Oct. 1, 1784. 
 Deae Sir, — I wished to have seen you before you 
 quitted Dublin, to have rendered you my most parti- 
 cular thanks for the manly and spirited part you have 
 taken in the support of my Government, and in the 
 enactments of your country. I should not, however, on 
 that account alone, have troubled you with it further, 
 had I not received in addition the King^s commands 
 to express to you his entire approbation of every part 
 of your conduct. No words of mine can add weight 
 to so honourable an encomium, but I assure you that I 
 feel a singular satisfaction in being the instrument of 
 conveying it to you. I must desire you at the same 
 time to consider this letter not merely as a matter of 
 comphment and form, but as dictated by the feelings 
 of one who is most sensibly impressed with the import- 
 ance of your services, and the effects of your exertions 
 
 Q 
 
82 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 to enable him to persevere in the arduous task which 
 he has undertaken. 
 
 I am^ my dear sir^ with great truth^ 
 
 Tour most obliged and faithful 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 Rutland. 
 
 Right Honourable the Attorney-Greneral, 
 Mount Shannon, Limerick.''^ 
 
 But the Attorney- General was not content with pre- 
 venting the High Sheriff holding the meeting, he 
 caused him to be attached for calling it. Scott, then 
 Chief Justice of the King^s Bench, adjudged the un- 
 fortunate Sheriff Reilly guilty, and sentenced him to a 
 fine of five marks, or to be imprisoned for a week. 
 This proceeding was brought before the House of Com- 
 mons on the 24th February, 1 784, when Lord Charles 
 Fitzgerald moved — ^^That the proceedings of the 
 Court of King^s Bench in attaching the Sheriff and 
 punishing him in a summary way, as for contempt, was 
 contrary to the principles of the Constitution, as de- 
 priving him of his trial by jury, and is a precedent of 
 dangerous tendency.^^ The resolution was seconded by 
 Mr. Brownlow, and caused a very animated debate. It 
 was on this occasion one of the collisions took place 
 between the Attorney- General and Curran. On the 
 Regency question the Parliaments of England and Ire- 
 land differed, Pitt and the majority of the English 
 Parliament being in favour of a limited Regency being 
 granted to the Prince of Wales ; Grattan and the 
 Irish party for an unlimited Regency. As may be ex- 
 pected, Fitzgibbon led the Pitt party in the Irish House 
 
Right Hon, John Fitzgibbon. 
 
 83 
 
 of Commons^ and stoutly defied the Opposition^ but 
 they gained their pointy and when the Address of both 
 the Irish Lords and Commons was sent to the Viceroy, 
 he refused to transmit it. Then both Houses sent a 
 deputation to London to present the Address to the 
 Prince of Wales, which reached in time to hear that 
 ^twas all Much ado about nothing/^ for the King^s 
 recovery knocked the question of Regency on the 
 head. 
 
 The Address, however, was presented, and the finest 
 gentleman in Europe feted and flattered his Irish 
 friends. He talked of his heart, and gratitude, when he 
 should have the opportunity of proving it to his faithful 
 Irish. When the time did come, and his performance 
 was not in keeping with his promises, some Irish wit 
 composed a song which greeted his visit to the shore 
 of the Emerald Isle : — 
 
 " You told us this — you told us that^ 
 Oh 1 wirrastrue — oh ! wirrastrue, 
 How long you'd be a friend to Pat, 
 Oh ! wirrastrue — oh, wirrastrue. 
 And oh ! you told us not to fret, 
 And said you'd make us happy yet \ 
 Mememher that you donH forget^ 
 Oh wirra- wirrastrue." 
 
 Shortly after this period,, on the death af Lord Lifford 
 in 1789, the Great Seal of Ireland was committed to 
 John Fitzgibbon, with the title of Earl of Clare. 
 
 His gains at the Irish Bar were considerable. He 
 has left us the means of knowing accurately, for he 
 states ^^from the 19th June, 1772 (the date of his 
 call) to June 1789 (when created Lord High Chan- 
 
 Q 2 
 
84 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 cellor) I received at tlie Bar 45^912/. 85. ScZ. Of this 
 36^939?. Zs. llcZ. was received by me in the last five 
 years and a half/^ Though I make no doubt Lord 
 Chancellors sometimes receive very uncourteous letters 
 from those whom they deprive of the Commission of 
 the Peace^ I think the following is unique : — 
 
 To the Right Honourable John Earl of Clare^ Lord 
 High Chancellor of Ireland. 
 My LorD; — With surprise and sorrow I received 
 a letter signed ^ J. Dwyer,' informing me that your 
 Lordship was pleased to suspend me in the Commis- 
 sion of the Peace for the Counties of Leitram and 
 Roscommon. T say ^ with surprise/ as I am not con- 
 scious of any fault to warrant such a proceeding on the 
 part of your Lordship. I add ^ with sorrow/ for^ low 
 as the appointment is — and low indeed it must be, 
 depending upon the caprice of any individual — yet, as 
 it afforded me the power to protect innocence and 
 counteract tyranny, I part from it with regret. 
 
 ^^Your Lordship loves not the Constitution with 
 more zeal than I do; it has been the theme of my 
 continual panegyrics, nor shall the unkind treat- 
 ment I experience at your Lordship^s hands tend to 
 demoralize my opinions ; quite the reverse ! It ia to 
 me an additional proof of my aristocratic creed, ^ that 
 there is in men of mean descent an innate ignobility 
 which no titles or honours can eradicate.^ It is not, 
 
 " The letter was furnished to me when compiling my " Lives 
 of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland," by A. C. Palles, Esq., 
 father of the present Lord Chief Baron of the Irish Court of 
 Exchequer. 
 
Right Hon, John Fitzgihbon, 
 
 8s 
 
 my Lord^ in the radiance of the royal sunbeam to give 
 to the mushroom the fragrance of the rose j and when 
 we look to a new man for the bland and golden dignity of 
 manners which mark the genuine noblesse, we too often 
 find a pinchbeck petulance substituted in its stead. 
 When I waited on your Lordship with a letter from 
 the Governor of the County in which my family resides, 
 with an affected hauteur, which ill becomes the man 
 of yesterday, you turned on your heel, and refused me 
 an opportunity of justifying my conduct. Had your 
 Lordship, like your father, been destined for the Popish 
 priesthood, you would have had the benefit of a St. 
 Omer^s education^ and of consequence know more 
 decency and good manners j but probably a giddy 
 head is turned by looking down from a pinnacle to 
 which a fortunate combination of circumstances has 
 raised it. Yet, elevated as your Lordship is, it never 
 appeared to me that when I heard your Lordship^s 
 voice, an Angel spoke,^' Your tont ensemble has 
 rather recalled to my fancy the figure of a sweep, who, 
 climbing through dirt, pops out his sooty-coloured 
 face, and, with a shrill voice, proclaims his high situa- 
 tion to the world. It has been asserted by your 
 Lordship that I took bail for several persons under the 
 denomination of defenders,^^ nothing more being 
 specified in the committal, and your Lordship is the 
 most competent Judge, whether that is sufficient to 
 detain his Majesty^s subjects. It has been represented 
 that one of the parties houghed a cow, and hung a 
 
 8 This was a mistake. The Chancellor's f ather^went to France 
 as a medical student, not to study for the priesthood. Vide 
 " Essays lo-y an Octogenarian." 
 
86 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 threatening notice on one of her horns. Had he houghed 
 your Lordship^ and hung a threatening notice on one 
 of your horns, under the same committal I would have 
 acted in the same manner. I cannot dismiss this letter 
 without a comment on the impertinence of your Lord- 
 ship^s servant, but that is easily accounted for by 
 recollecting 'that man is an imitative animal/ and 
 perhaps I attribute to impoliteness a conduct which 
 might, with m ore propriety^ be attributed to fear ; but 
 so high is my respect for official situation, that, though 
 it rained horsewhips^ far be it from me to think of 
 laying one of them on the hem of your Lordship^s 
 garment. 
 
 I am^ my Lord, with sincerity to my 
 
 Enemies^ and respect to myself, 
 
 G. N. Eeynolds/' ' 
 
 Although the Lord Chancellor's official position may 
 have prevented the application of the horsewhip^ indi- 
 cated in the foregoing letter^ it did not hinder his being 
 requested to favour an aggrieved gentleman with the 
 satisfaction then usual in such cases. 
 
 A political paper, published under the sanction of 
 the Honourable Simon Butler, and Mr. Oliver Bond^ 
 being deemed a libel on the House of Lords^ these 
 gentlemen were ordered to attend at the Bar of the 
 House. Here they were sentenced to be committed to 
 
 ^ George Nugent Eeynolds, Esq., the writer of this caustic 
 letter, was a country gentleman of good family and fortune. 
 He was possessed of much literary ability and wrote several 
 songs. The " Exile of Erin " was claimed by him, but the 
 mass of evidence adduced to prove it was composed by Thomas 
 Campbell is, I think, overwhelming. 
 
Right Hon, John Fitzgibbon, 87 
 
 tlie gaol of Newgate for six monttis^ and fined 500Z. 
 each. The Lord Chancellor, as Speaker of the House 
 of Lords^ when pronouncing the above sentence, ad- 
 dressing Mr. Butler, who was a barrister, said, He 
 could not plead ignorance, as his noble birth, and his 
 professional rank at the Bar, to both of which he was 
 a disgrace, had aggravated his crime.'^ 
 
 These galling words were treasured up, and, no 
 sooner was Mr. Butler released from captivity, than he 
 resolved to demand personal satisfaction from the 
 speaker of them. He selected, as the bearer of his hostile 
 message, a well known Irish gentleman, Mr. Archibald 
 Hamilton Rowan, who, in his Autobiography, gives 
 the following account of his mission : — ^^I waited on 
 him (Lord Fitzgibbon) and called to his recollection 
 the words he made use of in passing the sentence of 
 the House of Lords on my friends, Messrs. Butler and 
 Bond, and those which he particularly directed to Mr. 
 Butler, which, I hoped to be permitted to say, it was 
 not his Lordship^s intention should be taken personally, 
 and had been made use of unreflectingly.-^^ 
 
 His Lordship said, ^^that he thought the circum- 
 stances of the case called for the expressions he had 
 used ; that he never spoke unreflectingly in the situa- 
 tion he filled, and under similar circumstances he should 
 use similar words.'*'' I then said, that in mine and 
 Mr. Butler^s opinion the sentence of the Lords did not 
 authorize the words he had used, and, if it had occurred 
 between two private gentlemen, my course would be 
 plain and easy, but his Lordship^ s situation of Chancellor 
 embarrassed me.^^ 
 
 Here I paused. His Lordship said, I knew his 
 
88 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 situation^ and he wished me to recollect it/^ I then 
 took my leave/ saying to his Lordship^ ^^that his situa- 
 tion prevented me acting as I would have done with a 
 private gentleman/^ ^ 
 
 I am inclined to think the Chancellor, who had 
 already some experience as a duellist^ as we have seen, 
 felt inclined to meet Mr. Butler, and not to shield 
 himself under the ^gis of office, for he invited a mili- 
 tary friend, Colonel Murray, to breakfast next morning, 
 and sought his advice as to how he should act. The 
 Colonel considered he ought not to be held person- 
 ally responsible for his words spoken officially,^^ and, 
 as the Colonel was acquainted with Hamilton Rowan, 
 he resolved to let him know what he (Colonel Murray) 
 thought of the matter. ^^A pretty piece of work 
 you have made of it Hamilton, taking a challenge to 
 the Lord Chancellor."'^ ^^How came you to know 
 what passed between us ? demanded Mr. Rowan. 
 " I breakfasted with Fitzgibbon this morning, and he 
 told me the whole affair. 
 
 This is the only instance, I believe, of a Lord Chan- 
 cellor being asked to fight a duel. 
 
 But the Chancellor's haughty manner and want of 
 temper often subjected him to reproach. It was 
 seldom Curran had an opportunity of retaliating upon 
 his adversary the hostility which he encountered from 
 the Court of Chancery, but when he had, he never failed 
 to use it. One day, while Curran was arguing before 
 the Chancellor, his Lordship stooped down to fondle a 
 favourite Newfoundland dog. Curran suddenly stopped. 
 
 ^ Autobiography of Hamilton Eowan. 
 
Right Hon, John Fitzgibbo7u 
 
 89 
 
 On the Chancellor inquiring why he did not proceed, 
 I thought/^ replied Curran, your Lordship might 
 be engaged in consultation.^' 
 
 But the severest castigation Curran inflicted upon 
 his foe, was when he was before the Privy Council at 
 the Castle in 1 790. The question was Whether the 
 Sheriffs of Dublin and the Common Council, or the 
 Board of Aldermen, had power to elect the Lord 
 Mayor/^ It is not easy to see how such a question 
 afforded grounds for a fierce personal onslaught on the 
 Chancellor, but the old adage, where there^s a will 
 there^s a way,^^ was then and there strikingly exem- 
 plified. Under pretence of describing the arbitrary 
 conduct of a former Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Sir 
 Constantino Phipps, Curran mercilessly tortured Lord 
 Chancellor Fitzgibbon. The Chancellor did not long 
 survive the Union he helped to promote. He died in 
 Ely Place, Dublin, in April, 1802, aged fifty-four years. 
 
90 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN IRISH ELECTIVE MONARCHY. 
 
 Dalkey Island. — Its Charter. — Harbour of Dalkey. — Inscrip- 
 tion on tlie Cullamore. — An elected king. — His royal titles. 
 King Stephen. — His court officials. — Proceedings on election. 
 — Confers titles. — Anecdote of Tom O'Meara and Lord Chan- 
 cellor, Earl of Clare. — Poem on King Stephen's election to 
 royalty. • 
 
 At the south-western extremity of the Bay of Dublin, 
 separated from the mainland by a narrow channel about 
 four hundred and forty yards wide, is a small island 
 called Dalkey Island. It does not contain more than 
 twenty-five or thirty acres of land, about half of which 
 is fit for grazing cattle. There are many rabbits bur- 
 rowing among the rocks and in the ruins of an old 
 church. This venerable structure was dedicated to St. 
 Benedict. A well, considered to have efl&cacy in 
 curing blindness, is close to the church. Rude stone 
 coffins are sometimes found close to the shore, showing 
 the island was, in remote times, used as a burial-place. 
 The inhabitants of Dalkey Island are now a few artil- 
 lery-men quartered in one of the Martello towers, who 
 serve a small battery of three twenty-four-pound guns. 
 
 That Dalkey was a place of importance in the early 
 days of Anglo-Norman rule in Ireland may be inferred 
 from its charter of incorporation, and by an enrolment 
 of Edward III., a.d. 1358. The little harbour in Dal- 
 key Sound appears to have been the port for arrival 
 
An Irish Elective Mojiarchy, 
 
 91 
 
 and departure of various dignitaries. An inscription 
 on the CuUamore^ or great rock, informs us that in 
 1414 Sir John Talbot, Lord Furnival, afterwards John, 
 Earl of Shrewsbury, landed here to take upon himself 
 the viceregal government of Ireland,^^ and in 1558 
 " the Earl of Sussex embarked his forces here to invade 
 the Scots, who had landed on the Isle of Eathlin, on 
 the coast of Antrim/^ 
 
 But it is not of Dalkey in those remote days I 
 desire to speak. The harbour of Dalkey no longer 
 witnesses the arrivals or departures of the Queen^s re- 
 presentatives in Ireland. The island is left to the cus- 
 tody of the three royal artillery-men, and the silence is 
 rarely broken, save when an occasional visitor crosses 
 the Sound to traverse the isle so often the scene of 
 mirthful revel and melodious feasts ; for here, towards 
 the close of the last century, was exercised the royal 
 rule of an Irish king. "His Facetious Majesty, 
 Stephen the First, King of Dalkey, Emperor of the 
 Muglins, Prince of Lamb Island, Duke of Lambay, 
 Elector of Ireland^s Eye, Protector of the Maiden 
 Eock, Statholder of the Hen and Chickens, Sovereign 
 of the Illustrious Order of the Lobster and Periwinkle. 
 Champion of Cullamore, Respecter of all Men^s Faith, 
 and Defender of his own.''^ 
 
 In these days, when the title of our most gracious 
 sovereign in India was hotly discussed, some hint 
 might be drawn from the circumstance that his majesty, 
 Stephen the First, placed his title of king before that 
 of emperor, thus, in some degree, reversing Shakes- 
 pearian reading of the respective merits of the titles 
 when he says in King Henry V., — 
 
92 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 King Henry—" What are you ? " 
 
 Pistol — " As good a gentlemai] as the emperor^ 
 
 King Henry — " Then you are a better than the kingy 
 
 But there was no disputing King Stephen^s autho- 
 rity. He only held his sovereignty for a year, resign- 
 ing it when the grand annual festival of electing the 
 king took place, usually in June. The dignity, how- 
 ever, might be re-conferred, and it was a source of na- 
 tural pride to King Stephen, that he was always re- 
 elected. This showed he was a beneficent sovereign, 
 and beloved by his subjects. He had his courtiers like 
 other kings, and their titles were suited to their place 
 in the royal household. 
 
 The ministry was as follows : — 
 
 The Keeper of the Royal Cellar — Lord Tokay. 
 
 Master of Bouquets and Groom of the Button-hole — Lord Posey, 
 
 Purveyor of Boyal Sausages — Lord Bacon. 
 
 Guardiari of the Mountain Dew — Count Sheebeen. 
 
 Custodian of the Loaves — Lord Barm and Batch. 
 
 Chief of the Meat Stall — Baron de Bceup. 
 
 Master of Potatoes — Count Pomme de Terre. 
 
 The king, having been duly elected, at once pro- 
 ceeded, accompanied by his court, to the ruins of the 
 old church, when the Archbishop of Dalkey preached 
 a short sermon limited to five minutes. Then the 
 Lord Chancellor of Dalkey was presented with a pair 
 of white gloves, for he had no causes on his list. The 
 Lord Keeper was entrusted with the care of the Eound 
 Tower, with power to confine therein any unruly sub- 
 ject. The Poet Laureate then recited his coronation 
 ode — and the last poet laureate was no other than 
 Thomas Moore — his early poetic efi'usions giving pro- 
 
An Irish Elective Monarchy. 
 
 93 
 
 mise of his subsequent harvest of renown. The Lord 
 High Admiral commanded the ferry boats in which 
 the king and his lieges crossed Dalkey Sound. The 
 court then proceeded to the Rocking Stone^ placed at 
 the south entrance to Dalkey Island^ and there the 
 king created his knights. Charles Incledon, the cele- 
 brated singer, was known in these Dalkey revels as 
 Sir Charles Melody Thomas Moore as the Knight 
 of Castalia a lady who wrote some clever verses was 
 the Countess of Laurel. The hospitable Dublin 
 solicitor, Tom O'Meara^ was one of the oflS.ce- holders, 
 as the following anecdote shows : — 
 
 When the Irish Government, towards the end of the 
 last century, grew alarmed at the spread of French 
 principles in Ireland conceiving the fetes at Dalkey, 
 were coverts for hatching treason, they resolved to in- 
 quire into the proceedings. The Lord Chancellor, Earl 
 of Clare, being aware that Mr. O'Meara, who was well 
 known in the convivial circles of Dublin, attended these 
 reunions, sent for him, and the following dialogue is 
 related to have taken place : — 
 
 Lord Chancellor — I believe you hold an oflBoe 
 in connexion with the kingdom of Dalkey, Mr. 
 O^Meara?^^ 
 
 Mr. O'Meara— Yes, my lord.'' 
 
 Lord Chancellor — What are you ? '' 
 
 Mr. O'Meara — I am Duke of Muglins and Com- 
 missioner of the Royal Revenue.'' 
 
 Lord Chancellor — Have you any perquisites from 
 your oflSce ? " 
 
 Mr. O^Meara — ^^I am allowed to import ten thousand 
 hogsheads, duty free," 
 
94 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Lord Chancellor — " Indeed ! Hogsheads of what ? 
 
 Mr. O^Meara — Salt water , my lord.^^ 
 This showed the privilege was not very revolutionary. 
 
 King Stephen^s name was Armytage. He was an 
 eminent bookseller of Dublin^ and his shop was the re- 
 sort of the literati of the Irish metropolis^ members of 
 the bar^ and of the Irish Parliament. As the author of 
 the following pleasant poem has allowed its republica- 
 tion^ I give it as an exact account of the festivities 
 which took place on the election of King Stephen of 
 Dalkey : — 
 
 There was a king in Dalkey once, 
 
 A king of great renown, 
 
 Well known to all good fellows 
 
 In country and in town. 
 
 His royal court was the resort 
 
 Of earls, lords, and high counts. 
 
 Dukes, primat.es, baronets, and knights, 
 
 And marquises and viscounts ; 
 
 But every great court lady wept, 
 
 For sure it must dishearten her. 
 
 And her hands would wring, because the king 
 
 Would have no royal partner ! 
 Chorus — But good King Stephen's dead and gone, 
 His like we'll never see : 
 And since we cannot drink his health 
 We'll toast his memory ! 
 
 II. 
 
 He had no standing army. 
 
 No general or field-marshal. 
 
 Or nice young officer to whom 
 
 The ladies all are partial ; 
 
 But he had a Lord High Admiral 
 
 ^ The Knight of Innishowen, in " Temple Bar," vol. xxii. p. 267. 
 
A71 Irish Elective Monarchy. 
 
 To row him safely o'er, 
 When once a year to the isle he*d steer, 
 From the Eock of Cullamore. 
 No harbonr dues had Dalkey then, 
 No smuggler ever sought her, 
 For Stephen gave free trade to all 
 In sea-weed and salt water ! 
 Choeus — But good King Stephen, &c. 
 
 ni. 
 
 He had a great Lord Chancellor, 
 Well wigg'd and robed about him, 
 But ever^^body said, a deal 
 Of law was done without him. 
 He had a great Lord Primate, 
 On the voluntary system. 
 Whose dues were small, or none at all. 
 Or — Dalkey never missed them ! 
 He had a great Lord Keeper, 
 To keep " the boys " in order, 
 But the merry old elf couldn't keep himself 
 Sometimes from sad disorder. 
 Chorus — But good King Stephen, &c. 
 
 ly. 
 
 He had a Court Physician, 
 Who never gave him bother 
 Like Sancho's, but would let him eat 
 And drink like any other. 
 Of jpommes de terre he took his share, 
 Of turkey, beef, and pudding. 
 His favourite picking was duck and chicken, 
 With peas and other wadding. 
 And when the glasses were put on 
 And the bottle circulated, 
 He'd drink the company all down. 
 At least, 'twas so related. 
 Choeus — But good King Stephen, &c. 
 
96 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Y. 
 
 Just over a year, the king, I liear, 
 Sent out his invitations 
 To all his lords and ladies gay, 
 And all their blood relations, 
 To Dalkey Isle, to come in style, 
 With spirits light and hearty, 
 And there debate affairs of state, 
 And have a grand sod party. 
 And, sure enough, they'd quantum stiff. 
 Of business and of pleasure ; 
 Then guest and crown, wash'd it all down. 
 And danced a merry measure ! 
 Chorus — But good King Stephen, &c. 
 
 YI. 
 
 The king's delight was to select 
 The loveliest and youngest. 
 And lead the ball, at the head of all. 
 And keep it np the longest. 
 'Twas then the jig and hornpipe 
 They danced with pace most killing. 
 And not the heavy German waltz, 
 Or mighty slow quadrilling. 
 And when they danced each other down 
 They took another jorum. 
 And crown'd the night, in the morning's light 
 With the reel of Tullygorum. 
 Chorus — But good King Stephen, &c. 
 
 May not we^ who live in such prosaic times, 
 with our pleasant bard in his concluding verse,-- - 
 
 YII. 
 
 Oh, gentle Stephen, best of kings 
 And j oiliest of mortals ! 
 We greatly mourn yon can't return 
 Through death's eternal portals. 
 
An Irish Elective Monarchy, 97 
 
 We want your fearless wit, to lash 
 An age of false pretensions ! 
 To trot onr pride, down folly's ride, 
 And show onr small dimensions. 
 We want your manly, jovial heart, 
 We want your fun so glorious, 
 With your merry train to come again 
 To Dalkey, and reign o'er us. 
 Chorus — But, Stephen dear, you're dead and gone, 
 
 Ohone ! ohone ! a-ree ! 
 
 And since we cannot drink your health 
 
 We'll toast your memory. 
 
 How changed is Ireland since those merry days when 
 royal rule reigned in Dalkey ! 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 lEISH PARLIAMENTARY HUMOURISTS. 
 
 SIR BOYLE ROCHE. 
 
 Irish Bulls. — Boyle Roclie's bird. — Preserving tlie Constitution. 
 — Frencli invasion. — Letter respecting his place. 
 
 SIR JONAH BARRINGTON. 
 
 Born in 1 760. — Adopted b}' his grandfather. — Singular accom- 
 plishments at eight years of age. — School-days. — Eesult of 
 a house-warming. — Called to the Bar in 1788. — Enters Par- 
 liament. — Gets a place in 1793. — Marriage. — Defends the Earl 
 of Ormond in Kilkenny. — Complimentary banquet at the 
 Castle. — Presents from the Earl of Ormond. — Appointed 
 Judge of the Admiralty Court in 1798. — Applies for the office 
 of Solicitor- General. — Polite refusal. — His extravagant enter- 
 tainments. — Noble guests, Arthur, Duke of Wellington, and 
 Lord Castlereagh. — Dublin election in 1803. — Grattan's in- 
 vective against Gifford. 
 
 RIGHT HON. JOHN TOLER, LORD NORBURY. 
 CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COMMON PLEAS. 
 
 Born in 1745. — Paternal bequests and admonition. — Called 
 to the Bar. — His aptitude for the Bar. — Solicitor- General 
 in 1789. — Conduct in Parliament. — Fails to provoke Mr. 
 Ponsonby. — Sends hostile message to Mr. Barrington. — The 
 Speaker orders the arrest of the two members. — Curran's hon 
 mot. — Anecdotes. — Lord Norbury's hon mots. — Judicial de- 
 meanour. 
 
 JOHN EGAN^ K.C. 
 Born about 1750. — Called to the Bar in 1778. — !N"icknamed 
 Bully Egan. — Egan's nisi prius vocabulary. — Enters the 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists. 99 
 
 House of Commons. — Conflict with Grattan. — Egan com- 
 pared to a black soul. — Anecdote.— ^Curran's hon mot, — Egan 
 votes against the Union. — Death in 1810. 
 
 While, as we have seen, the great leaders of the Irish 
 Bar were displaying their intellectual powers in the 
 Irish House of Commons, there were other members 
 of the legal profession, also members of Parliament, of 
 varied talents, whom I may call Irish Parliamentary- 
 Humourists. 
 
 If they did not add much to the wisdom of the Irish 
 Senate they certainly did to the wit. If they failed to 
 rouse the slumbering benches from the torpidity of a 
 dull debate by a display of argument, they often suc- 
 ceeded in doing so by a lively sally or happy repartee. 
 They were to the House what a clown is to the circus, 
 or a harlequin to the pantomime, and of these there 
 may be instanced notably Sir Boyle Roche, Jonah 
 Barrington, John Toler, and Bully Egan. 
 
 SIR BOYLE ROCHE. 
 
 Boyle Roche was, as his name implies, of a county 
 Cork family, where the Roches have been settled from 
 very remote times, giving their name to places and 
 peerages, as Castletown-Roche, Roche country, and 
 the titles of Roche and Fermoy. Boyle Roche appears 
 to have made himself useful to successive viceroys to- 
 wards the close of the last century, and was a species 
 of whipper-in for the Castle. He held a subordinate 
 office in the Irish Custom-house in the Revenue de- 
 partment. Sir Boyle Roche soon became popular in the 
 House of Commons, always ready to be amused, for 
 
 H 2 
 
lOO 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 his singular success in the production of Irish bulls. It 
 is generally supposed these figures of speech prevailing 
 among our countrymen do not spring from want of 
 ability^ but rather from excess of imagination. They 
 are attributable to the fertility of thought^ the rapidity 
 with which ideas rush on the mind, jostling one another, 
 and becoming confused in the utterance, display incon- 
 gruity. It is said the gifted Sir Richard Steele attri- 
 buted their bulls to climate, and declared if an 'Eng- 
 lishman ivas born in Ireland he'd make as many.''^ 
 There is no doubt bulls are occasionally perpetrated by 
 others than natives of Ireland, as in the case of the 
 English viceroy who advised that the greatest eco- 
 nomy was necessary in the consumption of all species of 
 grain, especially of potatoes. 
 
 Boyle Roche represented several places in the Irish 
 House of Commons, having successively been elected 
 for Tralee, Gowran, Portarlington, and Old Leighton. 
 He excused his absence from some engagement by 
 assuring the House, No man could be in two places 
 at once, barring he was a bird/' He concluded a long 
 speech with this peroration : Why should we put 
 ourselves out for posterity ? What, I ask, did poste- 
 rity ever do for us ? He said in concluding a speech. 
 
 It would be better, Mr, Speaker, to give up, not only 
 a part, but, if necessary, even the whole of the Consti- 
 tution to preserve the remainder/' 
 
 Speaking of the invasion then expected from France 
 he styled the Marseillaise the ^^Marshal-lawmen, who, 
 if they came, would cut us into mince-meat and throw 
 our bleeding heads on the table to stare us in the face; 
 but the best way to avoid danger was to meet it plump/' 
 
Irish Parliamentary Himiotirists, loi 
 
 We can readily conceive tlie shouts of laughter such 
 a speech is likely to have elicited. 
 
 Sir Boyle Roche must have done service to the 
 State when, in 1782, he was created a baronet. It 
 is stated he was the messenger employed by Lord 
 Kenmare, in 1783, to state that the Catholics were 
 satisfied with what had been done for them,^^ which 
 turned out to be untrue.^ 
 
 Besides these I have mentioned many other amusing 
 bulls are attributed to him. His moving in Com- 
 mittee, on the Bill then before the Commons, for the 
 better regulation of weights and measures, that '' every 
 quart bottle should hold a quart '' that every man 
 should be his own washerwoman/^ His invitation to 
 a nobleman who spoke of visiting that part of the 
 country over which Sir Boyle lived, '^If ever you come 
 within a mile of my house, my lord, I hope you^'ll stoip 
 there,'' 
 
 Sir Boyle Roche, as might be expected, was a sup- 
 porter of the Union, and had a keen eye to his own 
 interests. This is fully shown in the following letter 
 which he addressed, after the Act of Union, to Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel Littlehales, who held a very influential 
 office in the Irish Government : — 
 
 ''Tuesday, May ye 12th, 1801. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I was surprised exceedingly to be in- 
 formed that Mr. Gerald Aylmer was put into the 
 patent with me as Inspector of the river Kenmare, 
 which has been a great disappointment to me, as Mr. 
 W. A. Crosbie and I had come to an agreement about 
 the exchange of our places, and he was certain that he 
 ^ Vide Gibson's Hist, of Cork, vol. ii. p. 266. 
 
102 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 had interest enough with Lord Hardwicke to effect it, 
 which would have been very convenient for both, as 
 he who desires to live in England^ would have been 
 accommodated with a sinecure place^ and I, who intend 
 to be a resident in Dublin^ should be very happy in his 
 situation as a Commissioner of Stamps. I have now 
 been an officer in the Revenue upwards of twenty-five 
 years^ and am entitled, by the Revenue laws^ to retire 
 upon my emoluments. My salary was 300Z. a year, 
 paid quarterly. I had a deputy with me at 60Z. a 
 year^ which entirely excused me from any attendance. 
 My deputy was obliged to share all captures with me, 
 the value of which were at times considerable, all of 
 which I am willing to compromise for 400L a year, 
 upon the incidents of the Revenue ; and in doing this, 
 I shall be rather a loser than a gainer. If the Lord 
 Lieutenant can do this before his departure, he would 
 add to the obligations he has already conferred upon me. 
 
 I request you, with your usual goodness to me, 
 will lay this letter before his Excellency. 
 
 I am, dear sir, ever affectionately yours, 
 
 ^^B. Roche.'' 
 
 Though his affectionate friend could not interfere 
 in this matter,'' as he informed Sir Boyle — the Irish 
 jester did not fare badly. He obtained a separate 
 pension of 200Z. a year, and one jointly was settled on 
 him and his wife of 300Z. shortly after writing the 
 above letter, so as my Reverend friend informed us. 
 Sir Boyle Roche made no blunder here." ^ 
 
 3 Gibson's History of Cork, vol. ii. p. 268. . 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists, 103 
 
 SIR JONAH BARRINGTON. 
 
 It is, perhaps, not quite fair to designate Sir Jonah 
 Barrington as a mere humourist, or to include him 
 iu the same category as the Boyle Roches. He was a 
 man of considerable ability, of great industry, aud. 
 his extravagant habits were, perhaps, the result of the 
 times in which he lived, and the society in which he 
 moved. Sir Jonah Barrington was a native of the 
 Queen^s County, born at Knapton, near Abbeyleix, 
 about the year 1760. His family possessed consider- 
 able property and political influence, which enabled 
 them to return the two members for the borough of 
 Ballynakill to the Irish House of Commons. Jonah 
 was the fourth son, and called after his grand-, as well 
 as god-father. Colonel Jonah Barrington, who adopted 
 him. At a very early age the youthful Jonah exchanged 
 the paternal roof of Knapton for the house of the old 
 Colonel at Cullinamore. 
 
 While here his accomplishments were more varied 
 than valuable. Before he was eight years old he could 
 read prose and poetry, write text, draw the outlines of 
 a man, a horse, or a house and a gamecock, tin a copper 
 saucepan,, and turn his own tops. He could also per- 
 form the manual exercise, and had learnt how to mould 
 bullets, make pins, and blackball ; to dance a jig, sing 
 a cronane, and play the jewsharp. 
 
 Gifted with this range of polite literature and enter- 
 taining knowledge, young Jonah was removed from 
 Cullinamore on the death of his grandfather. He was 
 then placed at the Academy of Dr. Ball, of St. 
 Michael-a-Powell's, Ship Street, Dublin. There the 
 
104 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 course of instruction was changed — English and Latin 
 was the order of the day, and when young Barrington 
 acquired sufficient learning to enter College, he was 
 placed with the Rector of Kilgobbin, the Eev. P. 
 Crawley, of whom he always entertained a grateful 
 recollection, and, under whose care he studied while 
 graduating in Trinity College, Dublin. In his Per- 
 sonal Sketches he is not very complimentary to the 
 College course, which he describes as ill-arranged, 
 pedantic, and wholly out of sequence/^ Students 
 were examined in ^ Locke on the Human Understanding,' 
 before their own had arrived at the first stage of 
 maturity ; and Euclid was pressed upon their reason 
 before any one of them could comprehend a single 
 problem. We were set to work at the most abstruse 
 sciences before we had well digested the simpler ones, 
 and posed ourselves at optics, natural philosophy, 
 ethics, astronomy, mathematics, metaphysics, &c., 
 without the least relief from belles lettres, modern 
 history, geography, or poetry ; in short without regard 
 to any of those acquirements — the classics excepted — 
 which form essential parts of a gentleman's education.'' ^ 
 Having graduated at the University he was, for some 
 -time, undecided in the choice of a profession, and 
 passed the interval in the country, enjoying rural 
 sports and pastimes, of which he gives some amusing 
 descriptions. One of his brothers having built a 
 hunting-lodge, determined to give a house-warming, 
 before the plaster in the dining-room was dry, and Sir 
 Jonah Barrington thus describes what he witnessed on 
 the morning after the convivial repast. On driving 
 * Barrington's Personal Sketches, vol. i. p. 59. 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists, 105 
 
 to the cottage door I found it open^ whilst a dozen 
 dogs^ of different descriptions^ were ready to receive 
 us^ not in the most polite manner. My servant^s whip^ 
 however, soon sent them about their business^ and I 
 ventured into the parlour to see what cheer. 
 
 It was about ten o^clock in the morning, the room 
 was strewn with empty bottles — some broken — some 
 interspersed with glasses, plates, dishes, knives, spoonSj 
 &c., all in glorious confusion. Three or four of the 
 Bacchanalians lay fast asleep upon chairs — one or two 
 others on the floor, among whom a piper lay on his 
 back, apparently dead, with a table-cloth spread over 
 him, and surrounded by four or five candles, burnt to 
 the sockets, his chanter and bags were laid scientifi- 
 cally across his body, his mouth was quite open, and 
 his nose made ample amends for the silence of his 
 drone. Joe Kelly, and Mr. Peter Alley, were fast 
 asleep in their chairs, close to the wall. 
 
 When the debris was cleared away, and replaced 
 by an orderly breakfast- table, on trying to arouse the 
 two sleepers near the wall, it was found that their hair 
 had got imbedded in the fresh mortar, which had set 
 with the heat, and they could only be extricated by 
 cutting away with knives — a tedious process — assisted 
 by clipping with a scissors.''^ 
 
 Jonah Barrington at length decided on studying for 
 the legal profession, and was called to the Irish Bar 
 in 1788. He entered the Irish House of Commons as 
 member for Tuam, and speedily was ranged among the 
 supporters of the Government. He had the temerity 
 to enter the lists with Grattan and Curran, and always 
 entertained a grateful recollection of the forbearance 
 
io6 
 
 TJie Irish Bar. 
 
 which those giants of debate exercised towards the 
 aspiring young member. 
 
 The Irish Government had such high opinions of his 
 political influence^ that the Viceroy resolved to secure 
 Mr. Barrington^s support by giving him a place ; and, 
 in 1793, the Chief Secretary, Lord Buckinghamshire, 
 communicated the pleasing intelligence that the Lord 
 Lieutenant placed at his acceptance the almost sinecure 
 office of Clerk of the Out Entries at the Port of 
 Dublin.^^ He demurred at first to the' name and nature 
 of the office, as unprofessional, but finding the duties 
 were such as could be well performed by deputy, and 
 yielded an income of over llOOZ. per annum, he con- 
 sented to take it. At the same time it was intimated 
 to him that the Lord Chancellor (Lord Clare) consented 
 to his becoming a King^s Counsel, which contributed 
 greatly to increase his practice, both on Circuit and in 
 the Dublin Four Courts, Mr. Barrington purchased a 
 house in Merrion Square, and here he indulged in 
 prodigal hospitality. He married the daughter of Mr. 
 Grogan, a wealthy merchant, with whom he received a 
 considerable fortune. 
 
 Though not distinguished for profound legal ability 
 he had a ready tact and dauntless assurance, which 
 supplied the want of learning. He made some lucky 
 hits, as the following instance shows : — 
 
 John, Earl of Ormond, together with his sons and 
 some thoughtless companions, made a nocturnal attack 
 upon the windows of a Mr. Dufiy, a Kilkenny apothe- 
 cary, who brought an action against the Earl of Ormond. 
 The case naturally excited great interest in Kilkenny, 
 where it was to be tried, and Mr. Barrington, K.C., 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists, 107 
 
 and Mr. Fletclier^ K.C., as leader, were engaged for 
 the defence. Fees of fifteen guineas each were sent 
 with the brief, and when the case came on Mr. Fletcher, 
 K.C., refused to address the jury as the professional 
 routine required the senior to do. Barriugton remon- 
 strated in vain. Mr. Fletcher was sulky, as was often 
 the case, and would not speak. Barrington then ad- 
 dressed the jury, and was so successful as to induce the 
 jury to find the verdict for the defendant. His lordship, 
 though aware how very differently his counsel had be- 
 haved in the case, thanked them both without any dis- 
 tinction, to the surprise and mortification of Mr. Barring- 
 ton. Thus the matter rested until the ensuing Assizes, 
 when a grand dinner-party, to which the judges, the bar, 
 several of the grand jury, and the county magistrates 
 of Kilkenny were invited, was given by the Earl of 
 Ormond at Kilkenny Castle. As soon as the ladies had 
 retired his lordship addressed the company as follows : — 
 
 Gentlemen, I have waited with impatience for this 
 public opportunity of expressing to Mr. Barrington the 
 high sense I entertain of his important and disinterested 
 services to me at the last Assizes. I now beg his ac- 
 ceptance of a small testimonial of my gratitude and 
 friendship. And he immediately passed along the 
 table a superb gold snuff-box, with the heraldic bla- 
 zonings of the puissant house of Butler on the lid, and 
 the following inscription : — 
 
 A token of friendship and gratitude from the Earl 
 of Ormond and Ossory to Jonah Barrington, Esq., one 
 of his Majesty^s counsel-at-law, August, 1794.^^ 
 
 This handsome compliment was not all. Next 
 morning Mr. Barrington received the following note 
 
io8 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 ^^Dear Sir^ — My attorney did not do you justice; 
 you . will permit me to be my own attorney on this 
 occasion. 
 
 ^^Your friend and humble servant, 
 
 Okmond and Ossort/^ 
 
 The envelope contained a hundred pounds. 
 
 Barrington^s hostility to the Union must have been 
 very galling to the Irish Government, which had done 
 so much for him. In ] 798, when the oflBce of Judge 
 of the Admiralty Court became vacant, it was conferred 
 on him in addition to his other office. Whether he 
 was sincere in his resolution not to vote for the Union 
 under all circumstances may be doubted, for, unques- 
 tionably, he applied to the Chief Secretary, Lord 
 Castlereagh, in 1799, for the Solicitor- Generalship, and 
 it would be inconsistent with the position of the second 
 law officer of the Crown not to support his colleagues. 
 This application was, however, civilly, yet positively 
 declined in the following terms : — 
 
 Septemher 7th, 1799. 
 My dear Sir, — I am directed by his Excellency 
 the Lord-Lieutenant to assure you that he would be 
 glad to avail himself of any proper opportunity of 
 complying with your wishes, and that he regrets much 
 he is at present so particularly circumstanced with re- 
 gard to the office of Solicitor- General that he feels it 
 impossible to gratify your desire for that appointment. 
 I should myself have been very happy had I been able 
 to communicate to you a more favourable result. 
 
 ^^Dear sir, yours very sincerely, 
 
 Castlereagh.^^ 
 
Irish Parliame7itary Humourists, 109 
 
 The character of Sir Jonah Barrington is thus 
 sketched in a very carefully compiled work entitled^ 
 
 Sketches of Irish Political Characters/^ and published 
 in 1799. Though the author of these sketches very 
 prudently concealed his name^ or assuredly he would 
 have had more duels on his hands than would be agree- 
 able^ we now know he was a Mr. Henry MacDougal^ 
 who had good opportunity of observing closely and 
 writing correctly respecting the subjects of his books. 
 
 Of Barrington he says^ ^'This gentleman became 
 celebrated by the resignation of his commission in the 
 Dublin Lawyer^s Cavalry^ and his decided opposition 
 in the Irish House of Commons to the proposed Legis- 
 lative Union. At the time of his opposition he held 
 two lucrative appointments under Government — Clerk 
 of the out entries at the Custom House^ and Judge of 
 the Irish Court of Admiralty^ which yielded an in- 
 come, the former of llOOZ. per annum, the latter of 
 1300Z. per annum. 
 
 Till the Union was proposed no man was more for- 
 ward in the support of administration, no debate passed 
 in the Commons in which he did not bear a part, and 
 out of it, as an officer in the lawyer^s corps^ he re- 
 peatedly risked his life against the insurgents. He 
 does not rank high either as a lawyer or a speaker, but 
 he has great application, and, consequently, some 
 business. As a speaker his manner is bold and daring, 
 and to his intrepidity he owes his advancement. It 
 was he who put down Mr. Egan. His marriage with 
 the daughter of a Dublin silk-mercer, who had a large 
 fortune, was his first step to distinction. It enabled 
 him to keep a genteel establishment, and he soon 
 
no 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 dashed into public notice with an effrontery which had 
 seldom been surpassed. He is supposed to have the 
 
 same notion of blushing that a blind man has of 
 
 colours/^ 
 
 The ostentatious and extravagant style in which he 
 lived^ then very common in Ireland^ and leading to the 
 growth of those incumbrances which led to the Landed 
 Estates Courts may be judged from his own words. In 
 his Personal Sketches Sir Jonah thus describes one 
 of his fetes : — I occasionally gave large splendid din- 
 ners, according to the habit prevailing at that time, 
 among persons circumstanced like myself. At one of 
 these parties, Major Hobart (Lord Buckinghamshire), 
 Sir John Parnell, Isaac Corry — I think Lord Limerick 
 — Sir John, afterwards Lord De Blaquire, and Lords 
 Landaff, Dillon, and Yelverton, the Speaker, in all up- 
 wards of twenty noblemen and gentlemen did me the 
 honour of partaking my fare. Lord Clonmel sent me 
 his two grand cooks, and a most cheerful party was 
 predicted. The House sat late that day, and etiquette 
 never permitted us to go to dinner when the Speaker 
 was a guest until he arrived, unless he had specially 
 desired us to do so. The Speaker did not join us until 
 nine o^clock, when Sir John Parnell brought with him 
 and introduced to me Captain Wellesley and Mr. 
 Stewart, two young members, who, having remained 
 in the House, he had insisted on their coming with him 
 to my dinner, where he told them good cheer and a 
 hearty welcome would be found, and in this he was not 
 mistaken."'^ The two young members thus somewhat un- 
 ceremoniously brought to Sir Jonah^s grand dinner-party 
 afterwards occupied a high place in European history. 
 
Irish Parliamentary Htimotirists. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Captain Wellesley became Arthur^ Duke of Wellington, 
 and Mr. Stewart Lord Castlereagh. 
 
 I have not much to relate about Sir Jonah Barring- 
 ton subsequent to the Union. His opposition to that 
 measure made him very popular, and^ in 1803^ a dis- 
 solution of Parliament having occurred, he and Mr. 
 Latouche, the opulent banker^ were candidates for the 
 city of Dublin, supported by the Liberal party in oppo- 
 sition to Messrs. Beresford and Ogle. Barrington had 
 reason to feel proud of his position ; he was warmly 
 supported. The four who earliest recorded their votes 
 for him were George Ponsonby, shortly afterwards 
 Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Curran, Master of the 
 Rolls, the Eight Hon. Henry Grattan, and Mr., after- 
 wards Lord Plunkett, the four men most remarkable 
 for fidelity to the Irish nation. It was upon this 
 occasion Grattan pronounced perhaps his most vehe- 
 ment invective. A noted tool of the Orange clique, 
 who lost no opportunity of irritating and annoying 
 the Liberal party was John Gifford, usually termed the 
 " Dog in Office.^'' When Mr. Grattan appeared at the 
 hustings to support Barrington and Latouche, Mr. 
 GifiFord objected to his vote being received, on the 
 ground of his having been expelled from College by 
 the Report of Lord Clarets Committee. This was a 
 pure fiction, and Mr. Grattan was determined then and 
 there to denounce the base insinuation. Darting on the 
 Dog in Office a look of scorn he said, Mr. Sherifi*, when 
 I observe the quarter from whence the objection comes, 
 I am not surprised at its being made. It proceeds 
 from the hired traducer of his country ; the excommu- 
 nicated of his fellow-citizens ; the regal rebel; the un- 
 
112 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 punished ruflSan ; the bigoted agitator. In the City a 
 firebrand^ in the Court a liar ; in the Streets a bully, in 
 the Field a coward. And so obnoxious is he to the 
 very party he wishes to espouse that he is only support- 
 able by doing those dirty acts the less vile refuse to 
 execute/^ 
 
 No wonder the object of this fierce onslaught was 
 unable to reply. When he did find his voice^ he hissed 
 out^ I would spit on you in a desert.''^ 
 
 Barrington was not elected on this occasion^ and 
 lived chiefly in France^ most likely to be away from his 
 creditors. He held his judicial office until his death 
 in 1830. While residing abroad he published his 
 amusing Personal Sketches/^ and his Rise and Fall 
 of the Irish Nation/^ in which he details the wholesale 
 bribery and corruption used to efiect the Legislative 
 Union with Great Britain. In many respects it is a 
 valuable addition to our historical and biographical 
 literature. 
 
 JOHN TOLER, LORD NORBTTRT. 
 
 Among those members whose jokes and drolleries 
 enlivened the Irish House of Commons during the 
 evening of its days, must be mentioned John Toler. 
 He was a native of the county which produced John 
 Scott — Tipperary. John was born at Beechwood in 
 that county, on the 3rd December, 1745. He was the 
 second son, and it is related, that when his father was 
 near his end, he called his two sons to his bedside, and 
 addressing John, told him as the estate was to go to 
 his elder brother, all he could a0*ord to give him was 
 fifty pounds, and these,^^ said the dying Tipperary 
 
Irish Parliame7ttary Humourists, 113 
 
 squire, drawing from beneatli his pillow a pair of hand- 
 some silver-mounted pistols. Now, Jack/' he added, 
 
 be always ready to keep up the credit of the family, 
 and the honour of an Irish gentleman/' 
 
 These paternal words were not forgotten. John 
 Toler studied for the Bar, and with a bustling, pushing, 
 brow-beating manner shoved more learned men aside, 
 and got his foot on the ladder of preferment. He 
 managed to acquire power and influence, so that he 
 became Serjeant in 1783, Solicitor-General in 1789, 
 and Attorney- General in 1797. It is a fact that the 
 appeal to arms often concluded an Irish Parlia- 
 mentary debate, and on these occasions the Solicitor- 
 General's motto was Tou^ours pres. He tried to pro- 
 voke a casus belli with Mr. George Ponsonby, and used 
 most offensive expressions for that purpose, but Mr. 
 Ponsonby disdained to notice them. This reticence 
 was exceptional; there were plenty of fighting men 
 in the House, and Mr. Solicitor was not allowed to 
 trail his coat without its being trodden on." Sir 
 Jonah Barrington said of Mr. Toler, the honourable 
 gentleman was one of those who had a hand for every- 
 body, but a heart for nobody." Toler considered this 
 personal, and sent a friend to demand an apology or 
 satisfaction ; Barrington was quite ready to give any 
 amount of satisfaction, but no apology, and the pro- 
 ceedings were so publicly arranged in the House, the 
 Speaker felt called on to interfere. Accordingly he 
 directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest both honour- 
 able members, for being guilty of disturbing the de- 
 corum of the House. Both attempted to escape. 
 Barrington got outside, and made off, but was captured 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 in Nassau Street. Toler only got as far as the door. 
 In his haste to escape he shut it so quickly he 
 caught the tails of his coat^ which held him fast until 
 the Sergeant-at-Arms arrested him. When brought 
 before the Speaker he looked like a truant school- 
 boy in a round jacket, for the skirts were completely 
 torn away. 
 
 Curran caused general merriment by stating that, 
 in his opinion, for one honourable gentleman, to trim 
 another's jacket in that style, within the precincts of 
 the House, nay, within sight of the Speaker, was quite 
 unparliamentary.^^ 
 
 Both members having promised to keep the peace 
 were released from durance. Many of Toler^s jokes 
 are already in print, others are not so. When he was 
 Chief Justice he was pressed by a barrister named 
 Wallace, to nonsuit the plaintiflF. But the judge 
 decided on letting the case go to the jury. 
 
 ^^I do believe,^' cried the disappointed Wallace, ^^your 
 Lordship has not the courage to nonsuit.^' The Tip- 
 perary blood was stirred within the Chief. You say, 
 Mr. Wallace, you don^t think have courage to non- 
 suit. I tell you I have courage to shoot, and courage 
 to non-shoot, but Til not nonsuit for you.^^ 
 
 This was the same counsel who was horsewhipped 
 by Major Macnamara near Nelson^s Pillar in Sackville 
 Street, and applied for a Criminal Information against 
 the Major. 
 
 Certainly he shall have it,^^ said the punning Chief 
 Justice. " The Court is bound to protect any one who 
 has hied under the gallant Nelson,^' 
 
 When John Toler, Lord Norbury, sat at Nisi Prius 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists, 1 1 5 
 
 his constant fire of puns — tlie repartees of the Bar^ and 
 applause of the spectators — often raised a terrible din. 
 A witness being asked, What his business was ? re- 
 plied, I keep a racket-court,^^ Lord Norbury instantly 
 exclaimed So do I ! so do I/^ 
 
 One of the happiest hon mots of the Chief Justice 
 of the Common Pleas was uttered when Dr. Troy was 
 Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. The Arch- 
 bishop constantly entertained the leading members of 
 the famous Catholic Association, and among them Mr. 
 -^neas MacDonnell. This gentleman happened to be 
 leaving the dinner party at the Archbishop^s when 
 Lord Norbury was passing with a friend. There 
 goes the ancient warrior/^ whispered the punster to 
 his friend. Whom do you mean V was the inquiry. 
 
 The pious j^neas returning from the Sack of Troy J' 
 
 Lord Norbury had a testy neighbour in the country 
 near Phibsborough, whose cattle often roamed on his 
 Lordship^ s grounds, but when the cows of his Lordship 
 returned their visit, he was threatened with an action 
 for damage done. To this he replied somewhat 
 irreverently, " Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
 them that trespass against us.^^ 
 
 Lord Norbury, walking to Court one morning, saw 
 a crowd on the Quay, near the Four Courts. He 
 inquired the cause, and was informed a tailor had 
 just been rescued from attempting suicide by drowning. 
 
 What a fool,^^ responded the Chief Justice, to 
 leave his Jiot goose for a cold duch'^ 
 
 Riding with a friend named Spear, who was mounted 
 on a high trotting horse. Lord Norbury said, *^^he 
 should call the quadruped Shakespeare,'^ 
 
 I 2 
 
J 1 6 Tlie Irish Bar. 
 
 On another occasion a Mr. Pepper being thrown 
 from his horse, Lord Norbury inquired if the horse 
 had any name ? 
 
 Yes/^ said the owner, We call him Castor/^ 
 And a very good name for him/^ replied his Lord- 
 ship ; but henceforth you may call him Pepper Caster 
 
 A gentleman having boasted in his presence of 
 having shot seventy hares before breakfast/^ Lord 
 Norbury caused a laugh by observing, very drily, I 
 dare say jou fired at a wigJ^ 
 
 Curran often raised a laugh at Lord Norbury^s 
 expense. The laws, at that period, made capital 
 punishment so general that nearly all crimes were 
 punishable with death by the rope. It was remarked 
 Lord Norbury never hesitated to condemn the convicted 
 prisoner to the gallows. Dining in company with 
 Curran, who was carving some corned beef. Lord 
 Norbury inquired, Is that hung beef, Mr. Curran ? 
 ^^Not yet, my Lord,^^ was the reply, you have not 
 tried it,^^ 
 
 While charging a jury after his usual fashion, — now 
 a reference to the parties in- the suit, how he knew 
 the plaintiff^s father, and loved him, and of what a 
 respectable family the defendant was,'^ then a quota- 
 tion from a play, or a pun upon a witness, making an 
 alia podridaoi most incongruous material, — Lord Nor- 
 bury ^s address was drowned by the braying of an ass. 
 
 His Lordship, not guessing the cause of the inter- 
 ruption, impatiently inquired, what noise is that ? 
 
 Merely the echo of the Goitrtj my Lord,^^ was Currants 
 sarcastic reply. 
 
 The son of a Peer having been accused of arson, of 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists, 
 
 117 
 
 which offence he was generally believed guilty, bub 
 acquitted on a point of insufficiency of evidence to 
 sustain the indictment, was tried before Lord Norbury. 
 The young gentleman met the Judge next at the 
 Lord Lieutenant^s levee in the Castle. Instead of 
 avoiding the Chief Justice, the scion of aristocracy 
 boldly said, I have recently married, and have come 
 here to enable me to present my bride at the Drawing 
 Eoom/' 
 
 Quite right to mind the Scripture. Better marry 
 than hum/' retorted Lord Norbury. He held his 
 judicial position until Mr. Canning became Premier in 
 1827, when he resigned on terms of being made an 
 Earl. This was granted and Lord Plunket succeeded 
 him. 
 
 BULLY EGAN. 
 
 Among the strange characters who practised at the 
 Irish Bar, and occupied seats in the House of Commons 
 at its close, may be fairly ranked a member of the 
 Irish Bar who acquired considerable distinction — John 
 Bgan, K.C. Mr. Egan was a native of Charleville, 
 county Cork, which, in later years, also produced a 
 barrister better known to literature than law — John 
 Anster, LL.D., the poet. 
 
 Egan was born about the year 1 750, and educated 
 by his father, a clergyman, who kept a school. Having 
 taken his degree as Bachelor of Arts in the University 
 of Dublin, John Egan resolved to study law, and 
 became a student in London. Here he found employ- 
 ment as a private tutor and newspaper correspondent. 
 He got called to the Irish Bar Michaelmas Term, 1778, 
 and married a widow with a good fortune. 
 
ii8 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Egan^s practice at the early part of his profesional 
 career was chiefly acting as counsel in contested elec- 
 tions^ where he so distinguished himself by his 
 browbeating, rough manner, as to acquire the sobri- 
 quet of Bully Egan/^ His large muscular figure, 
 his stentorian voice^ face like a full moon, and well 
 known readiness to fight, made him a most useful ally 
 on many elections. 
 
 It may be presumed Bully Egan generally received 
 2^ fighting fee, for he fought a number of duels, both 
 with sword as well as pistols, and, I believe, never 
 received a wound. One of his duels was with Curran. 
 When on the gi'ound Egan complained of the dis- 
 advantage he presented over Curran, he being as big 
 as a haystack, and Curran like a blade of grass 
 
 Oh ! Mr. Egan^^^ replied Curran, I have no wish 
 to take any unfair advantage. Let my size be chalked 
 upon your body, and I^m satisfied that any shots of 
 mine which hit outside the chalk shall not count. 
 
 This request was immaterial^ for there was no one 
 hit. 
 
 Egan had also considerable practice at Nisi Prius, 
 and the specimens of his address to the jury show 
 more sound than sense. On one occasion alluding to 
 the eloquent address of his opponent — a dark visaged 
 barrister — he begged the jury not to be carried 
 away by the darTc oblivion of a hroiv/' 
 
 How can you use such balderdash remonstrated 
 his learned friend. 
 
 It may be balderdash,^^ replied Egan, ^^but depend 
 on it it will do very well for that juryJ^ 
 
 On another occasion, having exhausted the usual 
 
Irish Parliamentary Htcmotirists, 119 
 
 vocabulary of vituperation, he concluded by describing 
 the defendant as a most naitfmgeous ruffian.'^ 
 
 What in the world do you mean by that ? whis- 
 pered his astonished junior. 
 
 I have no idea/^ responded Egan^ but I think 
 it sounds welL^' 
 
 When Barry Yelverton became Chief Baron of the 
 Exchequer he greatly favoured Egan, whose practice 
 in that Court became very lucrative. In 1787 he re- 
 ceived the silk gown of King^s Counsel^ and was 
 elected a Bencher of the King^s Inns. About this 
 time he entered the House of Commons and made some 
 remarks with reference to the conduct of the late 
 viceroy, Earl Pitzwilliam, which drew down upon him 
 the unsparing tongue of Grattan, who said, Another 
 honourable member was pleased to say much to the 
 prejudice of Lord Fitzwilliam^s administration ; to that 
 I have only to answer it was a little unfortunate for 
 the honourable gentleman^s political consistency that 
 he did not much sooner discover the errors of that ad- 
 ministration, which, while in power, was the object of 
 his strenuous support and the subject of his warm 
 panegyric. At the same time that I am to thank him 
 for the support — I would say the unsolicited support — 
 which he gave to the administration, no doubt from 
 the purest motives, and without any aim to patronage 
 (for the honourable gentleman is his own patron), I 
 own I am not much surprised at his language. He 
 has said something of the bad intentions which actuate 
 myself and my friends in a style of moderation peculiar 
 to himself. He has talked much of French principles, 
 and of insurrection, and, I believe, amongst other 
 
I20 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 thing's, said something of cutting off my head, and this 
 in a manner so peculiarly his own, that, though I did 
 not actually behold the guilloiine of which he spoke, I 
 certainly thought I saw the executioner/' This was 
 truly an argumentum ad hominum which Egan was not 
 slow to resent. He certainly did resemble an exe- 
 cutioner or brawny butcher. He said, As I am 
 attacked in this way I will show the right honourable 
 gentleman and his friends that I do not want bottom 
 to retort such attacks. I will teach them that no lifMe 
 duodecimo volume of abuse shall discharge it rancorous 
 contents against my person or my character without 
 meeting the treatment it deserves. I will have the 
 member also to know that no part of the support which 
 I gave to Lord Fitzwilliam^s administration was directed 
 to him. I disdained to make him the idol of my ad- 
 miration. I shunned his intimacy, even when he was 
 in the zenith of his power and strutted in pigmy con- 
 sequence about the Castle. I believed Lord Fitzwilliam 
 to be a nobleman of the purest intentions, and, acting 
 on that opinion, did vote in support of his administra- 
 tion, but I soon saw he was the dupe of a family com- 
 pact and the tool of little men who thought to swell 
 themselves into importance, and. Colossus-like, be- 
 stride the country, while tbe gentlemanhood of Ireland 
 was to be haughtily excluded from the court of the 
 Viceroy. I have no party veiws, no ambition to gratify, 
 no selfish object in supporting the present administra- 
 tion, no promises or expectations from them, and, 
 though it is too true that I was occasionally duped into 
 voting with the seveji wise men opposite^ yet, with more 
 experience I perceived their conduct was the mere re- 
 
Irish Parliamentary Hicmotirists, 121 
 
 suit of disappointed party — the mere malevolence of 
 defeated ambition/^ Mr. Egan then went on to refer 
 to the grant of SO^OOOZ. to Mr. Grattan^ which he 
 thought deserved at the time, but considered Mr. 
 Grattan had since done irreparable mischief. 
 
 It is necessary to pursue this sad personal conflict a 
 stage further to show the extreme lengths to which 
 personality was carried in the Irish Parliament. 
 
 Mr. Grattan in reply said^ I have no wish to go 
 out of my road to attack the honourable member^ 
 but if he will throw himself across my way I have no 
 objection to tread on him. If, however, he imagines 
 that anything like vulgar ruffianism or paroxysms of 
 fury are to intimidate^ he will find himself mistaken ; 
 for the manner of that ruffianism, the folly of these 
 paroxysms, and the blockheadism of the fury are too 
 ridiculous to excite serious notice.^ I smile at them. 
 The honourable member in his contortions presented 
 to my mind the idea of a black soul writhing in tor- 
 ments, and his language very forcibly associated with 
 the idea of a certain description of the fair sex, with 
 whom, in manners and dialect, he seems zealously to 
 assimilate. As to the menaces of the honourable 
 member to disclose any confidence he ever enjoyed 
 from me, I feel them in the sort of disregard they 
 merit, and I answer in the words of the poet, — 
 
 ' There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats ; 
 For I am armed so strong in honesty 
 That they pass me by as the idle wind 
 Which I regard not.' " 
 
 * Surely the Speaker ought to have noticed such epithets. 
 
122 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 It is truly pitiable to find educated gentlemen, 
 elected to discuss afiairs of grave importance, the 
 interests of constituents and country, fling aside all 
 thoughts of duty and indulge in recriminations and 
 personalities such as I here set down. Among those 
 who should combine together for the common weal 
 were Grattan and Egan both decidedly hostile to the 
 projected Union, and here they were abusing each 
 other in most scurrilous terms. 
 
 The people sided with Grattan, and discovered an 
 ingenious mode of annoying Egan. The waiters at the 
 country hotels would inquire What the guests wished 
 in the way of fish for dinner ? 
 
 This brought out the question, What fish can you 
 give me ? 
 
 The regular response was An Egan, sir.''^ 
 The puzzled stranger would inquire, What do you 
 mean by an Egan ? 
 
 Oh, sir, that^s what Mr. Grattan calls Mr. Egan ; 
 it^s ^ a black soul (sole) fried,' Thereupon Mr. Egan 
 was known as the Black Sole. 
 
 Egan occasioned rather a coarse pun to Curran. He 
 was contesting the borough of Tallow, in the county of 
 Waterford, and the contest was going against him 
 when he met Curran, who observed him in violent per- 
 spiration. 
 
 Yes, my dear Egan,^^ exclaimed Curran, I see 
 plainly you are losing Tallow fast,'' 
 
 One of Egan^s best parliamentary speeches has been 
 described by Sir J onah Barrington as a most sincere, 
 clumsy, powerful oration. He had great vehemence 
 and fluency, but his language was just what came 
 
Irish Parliamentary Humourists. 123 
 
 uppermost^ for he never cared to make a selection^ and 
 the speech was full of power^ but the power of a run- 
 away horse^ plunging and kicking at all that ap- 
 proached. It was well said he was like the Trojan 
 horse_, sounding as if he had armed men inside of him. 
 
 The division of the debate on the Union gave great 
 hopes that the Union Bill would be defeated. It was a 
 mostpr otracted debate. Some sixty members had 
 spoken. One hundred and five voted for the Union and 
 one hundred and eleven against the Bill. Egan was the 
 last who entered the House to vote against the Bill, 
 and when his huge bulk and beaming face was seen he 
 was hailed with loud and continued cheers. When the 
 number of the members who preceded him was told as 
 110, he flourished a large sprig of shillelagh, more 
 like a club than a stick/'' and waving it over his head 
 shouted, I^m a hundred and eleven ! then throwing 
 himself on a bench with an immoderate fit of laughter. 
 
 It is said he was offered to be made one of the 
 Barons of the Exchequer with the income of 3500L a- 
 year if he would support the Union, but he peremp- 
 torily refused. When some one hinted he might lose 
 his oflBce of Chairman of Kilmainham, he replied, Fll 
 stick to old Ireland, and to the d with Kilmain- 
 ham." He continued its chairman till he died in 1810. 
 
124 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 OPPOSITION OF THE IRISH BAR TO THE UNION. 
 
 The Irisli Bar strongly opposed to the projected Union. — Sketch 
 of Mr. Saiirin. — Of Huguenot extraction. — Born in 1758. — 
 Called to the Bar in 1780. — Anecdote of his retentive 
 memory. — Aristocratic marriage in 1786. — Elected Colonel 
 of the Lawyer's Corps of Volunteers. — Takes the Requisition 
 for the Bar Meeting against the Union. — Spirited address to 
 the Lord Chancellor. — Letter from the Viceroy to the Duke 
 of Portland. — Bar Meeting. — Speeches of Mr. Grady and 
 Mr. Goold. 
 
 There was very determined opposition offered to the 
 proposed Legislative Union between Great Britain and 
 Ireland in several quarters ; but none was more vehe- 
 ment than from the members of the Irish Bar. Many 
 of them had seats in the House of Commons^ and made 
 their mark by their ability and patriotism. Prominent 
 amongst these gentlemen was Mr. Saurin, member for 
 Blessington. He was so remarkable a man that he de- 
 serves more than a passing notice. When the ill-advised 
 revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. ba- 
 nished the industrious members of the Huguenot creed 
 from their native land the ancestors of Mr. Saurin 
 settled in Ireland^ where William Saurin was born in 
 1758. In 1775 he became a student of the Dublin Uni- 
 versity as fellow- commoner, and during his collegiate 
 career obtained the highest honours. Having taken his 
 degree he went to London and entered as law student 
 
opposition of the Irish Bar to the Union. .125 
 
 at Lincoln^s Inn. While in London he was most 
 diligent in storing his mind with legal principles^ and 
 learning the practice of his profession in Westminster 
 Hall. Far better prepared than most juniors_, he was 
 called to the Irish Bar in 1780. To very great reason- 
 ing power he united a most retentive memory^ of which 
 a friend gave me the following instance: — When I 
 was an attorney's apprentice a foreclosure suit in 
 Chancery from our office came on for hearing. Mr. 
 Saurin was to state our client's case. The property 
 was greatly involved ; there were many titles to be 
 traced, and various denominations of land, with very 
 jaw-breaking names, as Garrycaghera, Bouladarrigha, 
 and Courawadlagh. When the cause of Hogarty v, 
 Hiffernan was called Mr. Saurin pulled brief after brief 
 from his huge bag, until he emptied it on the table in 
 the Court of Chancery. Then, leaning over to me, he 
 whispered, ^ Have you got the prayer of the bill ? ' 
 which luckily I had. I handed it to him ; and open- 
 ing one of the large briefs he commenced his state- 
 ment. On he went, clear and precise, with the 
 statement of titles and denominations of land, and 
 nature of incumbrances, until he completed the state- 
 ment. Then the proofs were read ; and when the 
 decree was pronounced and the case over, I said, ^ I'll 
 take home your brief, Mr. Saurin.' 
 
 " He smiled as he replied, ^ It is on my study-table. 
 I was noting it since day-break, and forgot it as I was 
 leaving home; but you see I did not forget its 
 contents.' " 
 
 In 1786 Mr. Saurin formed an aristocratic connexion. 
 He married the widow of Sir Richard Cox, Baronet, 
 
126. 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 and sister of the Marquis of Thomond. When the 
 lawyers enrolled themselves in the national army of 
 Volunteers^ they elected Mr. Saurin Colonel of the 
 Lawyers^ Corps. 
 
 Soon as it was known that a great Bar meeting was 
 called to protest against the proposed Union^ the 
 then Lord Chancellor, Earl of Clare, did all he could to 
 prevent the meeting. Mr. Saurin, undeterred by the 
 hostility of the Chancellor, took the requisition for 
 convening the meeting into the Court of Cliancery, in 
 order to obtain the signatures of members of the Bar. 
 The Chancellor no sooner observed him than, casting 
 a scowling glance on Mr. Saurin, he said, It is very 
 wrong, sir, to come here to interrupt the business of 
 the Court ! Saurin replied, Yes, my Lord, I fully 
 concur with your Lordship; but to this, as to every 
 other rule, there are exceptions. I should not trespass 
 on your Lordship^s time, and retard for a moment 
 the business of the Court, unless I felt convinced — 
 and I only speak the general sentiments of the Bar 
 — that the dignity and authority of your Lordship^s 
 Court will be less impaired, the rights and privileges 
 of the profession more securely established, and the 
 general welfare of the country based od a firmer 
 foundation, by resisting a measure fraught with ruin 
 to all. The paper I have just now submitted to my 
 brethren for their signatures and approval contains 
 a requisition for a Bar meeting on that momentous 
 subject ; and I pray your Lordship to ascribe my 
 conduct, if you look on it with displeasure, to any 
 other feeling than that of the most profound respect 
 for your Lordship and this high Court.^^ The Chan- 
 
opposition of the Irish Bar to the U7tion, 127 
 
 cellur merely bowed, but watched eagerly who signed 
 the requisition. To his mortification six out of seven 
 King^s Counsel present promptly affixed their names. 
 Several of the judges, also, were strongly opposed to 
 the Union. The Viceroy, Lord Cornwallis, writing to 
 the Duke of Portland, says, — 
 
 ''Biiblin Castle, Dec. Uh, 1798. 
 Lord Carleton^ was with me on Sunday, and gave 
 his sentiments very decidedly against the measure of 
 Union.^^ 
 
 The celebrated meeting of the Irish Bar was held in 
 the Exhibition Room in William Street, Dublin, on 
 December 9th, 1 798, under the presidency of Mr. 
 Smith, the Father of the Irish Bar, as the senior 
 is styled. Among the King^s Counsel who signed the 
 requisition for calling the meeting were — E. Mayne, 
 W. Saurin, W. C. Plunket, C. Bushe, W. Sankey, B. 
 Burston, J. Barrington, A. Macartney, G. O^Ferrall, 
 J. O^DriscoU, J. Lloyd, P. Burrowes, E. Jebb, and H. 
 Joy. 
 
 The account of the meeting given by Sir Jonah 
 Barrington was not very complimentary to Mr. Saurin. 
 He says, Mr. Saurin was the firs^ speaker. His 
 speech was vapid, and his resolution pointless ; but he 
 had great influence with the profession. He was an 
 excellent lawyer, and an amiable, pious Christian. 
 He was followed by Captain Spencer.''^ The supporters 
 of the Union were evidently no favourites with Sir 
 Jonah Barrington. Mr. St. George Daly, a briefless 
 barrister, was the first supporter of the Union. Of all 
 
 1 Chief Justice of the Court of Commoii Pleas, Ireland. 
 
128 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 men he was the first thought of for preferment ; but it 
 was wittily observed^ that the Union was the first 
 brief Mr. Daly ever had to speak from/^ He moved 
 the adjournment of the meeting. Mr. Grady — a 
 "protege of Lord Clare — according to Sir Jonah^ made 
 a most extraordinary speech. He said^ The Irish 
 are only the rump of our aristocracy. Shall I visit 
 posterity with war, pestilence, and famine ? No ! no. 
 Give me a Union ! Unite me to that country where all 
 is peace, and order, and prosperity. Without a Union 
 we shall have embryo Chief Judges, Attorney- Generals 
 in perspective, and anhnalculoe sergeants. All the 
 cities of the south and west are on the Atlantic Ocean, 
 between the rest of the world and Great Britain, they 
 are all for it. They must become warehouses, the 
 people are Catholics, and they are all for it."'^ * 
 
 One of the most powerful speakers at the Bar meet- 
 ing in the opposition was Mr. Thomas Goold, a very 
 talented member of the Bar. The following peroration 
 may be taken as a sample of his impressive oratory : — 
 There are forty thousand British troops in Ireland, 
 and with forty thousand bayonets at my breast, the 
 minister shall not plant another Sicily in the bosom of 
 the Atlantic. I want not the assurance of divine in- 
 spiration to foretell, for I am enabled by the visible 
 and unerring demonstration of nature to assert, that 
 Ireland was destined to be a free and independent 
 nation. Our patent to be a State, not a shire, comes 
 
 2 Mr. Thomas Grady wrote the ferocious satire referred to 
 hereafter, called the Nosegay, for which the Limerick banker, 
 Mr. Bruce, brought an action, laying damages at thirty thousand 
 pounds. 
 
opposition of the Irish Bar to the Unio7t, 129 
 
 direct from Heaven. The Almighty lias_, in majestic 
 characters^ signed the Great Charter of our indepen- 
 dence. The Great Creator of the world has given our 
 beloved country the gigantic outlines of a kingdom. 
 The God of nature never intended that Ireland should 
 
 be a province^ and by G she never shall. 
 
 Such language was calculated to stu* men^s 
 passions ; a perfect hurricane of applause rewarded 
 the eloquent speaker ; and, on the division of the 
 meetings the votes recorded were as follows : — 
 
 Irish barristers opposed to the Union . .166 
 In favour of the Union .... 32 
 
 Majority 134 
 
 This was one of the last decisive efforts against the 
 Union, but it was unavailing. 
 
 K 
 
I30 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DUBLIN BEFOEE THE UNION. 
 
 From an unpublislied Diary in 1799. — Dublin visited in 1799. — 
 Extracts from " Eeminiscences for my Children," by Mrs. 
 Howard, of Corby Castle. — The Irish House of Commons. — 
 Lord Cornwallis anxious for the Legislative Union. — A family 
 party at Lady Eoden's. — Who betrayed Lord Edward Fitz- 
 gerald? — Visit of Lady Louisa Connolly to the Insurgent 
 Leader. — Second Visit to the House of Commons. — Society in 
 Dublin.— Dinner-hour and table arrangements. — An English 
 lady's opinion on the Union. — Dinner party at an Anti- 
 Unionist's. — Character of the Viceroy, Lord Cornwallis. — 
 Anecdote respecting his eye. 
 
 Befoee continuing my anecdotes of the Bench and Bar 
 of Ireland^ it may be well to give my readers some notion 
 of the state of society in Dublin before the Union. This 
 I can do from a perfectly reliable source — that of an 
 English lady of high rank, who, with her husband, 
 Henry Howard, Esq., of Corby Castle, in Cumberland, 
 visited Ireland in the spring of 1799. They came 
 hither with the West York Militia, in which corps 
 Captain Howard commanded a company, and was a 
 personal friend of Lord Cornwallis, then Viceroy. I 
 quote from an unpublished journal kept by Mrs. 
 Howard : ^ — 
 
 ^ " Reminiscences for my Children." Printed for private cir- 
 culation among the family of the talented author, and presented 
 by her accomplished son, the present P. H. Howard; Esq., of 
 Corby Castle, to my mother-in-law. 
 
Dublin before the Union, 
 
 131 
 
 Duhlin^ April 16h, 1799. — I was not disappointed 
 with the appearance this fine city presented^ which is 
 beautifully placed by the sea^ with the hill of Howth 
 rising like Mount Vesuvius^ without its smoke. 
 
 Our first visit was to the House of Commons^ 
 which is a circular buildings embellished with a number 
 of pillars. In the centre hangs a large brass candelabra, 
 which ignites all at once by tow communicating with 
 the flame. Lord Castlereagh was presenting a petition 
 of supply for those who assisted in quelling the re- 
 bellion. The Dowager Lady Roden, and my attached 
 friend^ Lady Louisa Jocelyn^ whom I had known in 
 England^ found us out, as did also the Bishop of 
 Elphin and Mrs. Law^ who warmly received us as 
 friends from the same county. Captain Howard dined 
 with Lord Cornwallis, who received him cordially as an 
 old friend. He expressed himself most anxious for the 
 success of the Union, as the only means of saving this 
 country and amalgamating all classes of people. 
 
 " The next day we joined a family reunion at the 
 Dowager Lady Rodents, consisting of the Ladies 
 Charlotte, Caroline, Louisa, and Emily Stratton, her 
 daughters. Her sons, Mr. and Mrs. John Jocelyn, Mr. 
 Percy Jocelyn, Lord and Lady Roden, with Colonel 
 and Mrs. Howard, of Bushy Park, came in the 
 evening. We were received with the greatest kind- 
 ness by this united family, and spent a most pleasant 
 day. They were all going to a ball at Lady Castle- 
 reagVs, at the Castle, to which we found an invitation 
 on our return home. 
 
 The Dowager Lady Roden told us that Mr. George 
 Stewart, the principal army surgeon here, attended 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Lord Edward Fitzgerald whilst in prison and until bis 
 death. He came into Dublin disguised as a carter and 
 driving a car. On entering the house he was to 
 lodge at, his man called him ^my lord/ which was 
 overheard by a yeoman^s wife, who informed her hus- 
 band of the circumstance. His place of abode was 
 thus providentially discovered not two hours before the 
 time of attack intended to be made from without, and 
 which was to be answered by a corresponding rising at 
 Dublin.^ After the alarm had sounded, Lord Charles 
 Fitzroy heard a sound of pike-heads thrown out of a 
 garret window at the back of a house adjoining a 
 churchyard, where he found a person delivering them 
 to the multitude. Lord Eoden and his brothers were 
 dining with the dowager in St. Stephen^s Green, when 
 they heard the drums beat to arms, and soon after the 
 bugles sounded, upon which every gentleman joined 
 some standard and repaired to guard the passes, some 
 of which were attacked within two hours. Lord Eoden 
 received a shot through his hat in a sally he made 
 somewhere out of town. Lady Louisa Connolly re- 
 quested to see her nephew. Lord Edward Fitzgerald, 
 whom she tenderly loved ; Mr, Corry went with her.^ 
 
 * This statement may throw some light on the question, 
 " Who betrayed Lord Edward Fitzgerald ? which the researches 
 of my able and zealous friends, Dr. R. E. Madden, and W. J. 
 Fitzpatrick, J.P., have not been able to answer with certainty. 
 
 3 This is a mistake. It was the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of 
 Clare, who accompanied Lady Louisa on this sad occasion. So 
 few kind actions are related of this nobleman, I may be per- 
 mitted to give the account of his kindness : — " Lady Louisa 
 went in vain from the Viceroy, Lord Camden, to the Secretary, 
 Lord Castlereagh. Both were inexorable ; so, as a last resource, 
 
Dublin before the Union. 
 
 133 
 
 But he was nearly delirious ; he just knew her^ and 
 pressed her hand whilst she prayed by his bed-side. 
 
 April 20th. — I availed myself again of the privilege 
 allowed to ladies here^ and went to the House of Com- 
 mons. General Cradock conveyed us to the Speaker^s 
 seat, which occupied three parts of the gallery, and is 
 generally filled with ladies upon any important question, 
 when Lady Castlereagh always attends and sits out 
 the whole of the debate. We had no sooner left our 
 letters of introduction, given us by Lord Hobart, than 
 we were visited by all the very agreeable society at 
 Dublin; and those to whom we had not letters, after 
 meeting us at other houses, were kind enough to adopt 
 us as acquaintances, and it was a very pleasant surprise, 
 after the melancholy prospect held out to us of the 
 state of this country, to find that the only engagements 
 we had to encounter were most pleasant dinner 
 engagements, 
 
 ''April 21st, — We dined with General and Lady 
 Theodosia Cradock. In the General Captain H. found 
 
 she called, late in the evening, at the Chancellor's town mansion 
 in Ely Place, and asked to see his lordship. The servant 
 informed her ladyship the Chancellor had a large dinner party ; 
 but, moved by her tears, so pressed the urgency of her entreaty 
 for an interview that the Chancellor received her, and was much 
 moved by the intensity of her grief. She entreated him to grant 
 her an order to see Lord Edward. * Lady Louisa,' he replied, 
 * to grant the order you solicit is quite out of the question. We 
 have so decided in Council. But you are a female and a near 
 relative ; I know of no decision which prohibits mi/ accomjpanying 
 you J He drove with her to jS'ewgate, where he waited for three 
 hours while aunt and nephew were together for the last time on 
 earth" {O' Flanagans Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Lreland 
 vol. ii. p. 233). 
 
134 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 au early friend^ as they had met when young at 
 Dijon; he had lately married the handsome Lady 
 Theodosia Meade^ daughter to Lord Clanwilliam. We 
 there met the Lord Chancellor/ who took the head of 
 the table^ and was very cheerful ; Lady Clare^ Lady 
 Glentworth^ Lord Hardwicke^ Lord Scarborough^ and 
 Lord Powerscourt^ who told me that a plot had been 
 discovered last year by the soldiers^ of the rebels 
 having intended to take possession of his house at 
 Powerscourt, and to have murdered his Lieutenant- 
 Colonel^ since which time it had nearly been converted 
 into a barrack. He added^ that the Catholic priest of 
 his parish was a great Anti-Republican, being one of 
 those whom the French had pushed off in a boat, by 
 way of getting rid of him^ and that he had got safely 
 to Cannes. 
 
 April 22nd, — We dined with Sir George and Lady 
 Shoe at the Ordnance Office, and met Lady Carleton, 
 wife to Lord Carleton;^ the Attorney-General;® the 
 Bishop of Killala, who was taken prisoner by the 
 French/ and Mr. Daly/ the Prime Sergeant, who held 
 forth such illiberal sentiments towards the Catholics^ 
 
 Earl of Clare. 
 
 Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 
 John Toler, afterwards Lord Norbury. 
 7 Right Eev. Dr. Stock. He was Bishop of Killala when the 
 French Expedition, nnder General Humbert, landed at Kallala 
 in 1798. They treated the Bishop and his family with great 
 respect. 
 
 ^ St. George Daly supported the Union at the Bar Meeting, 
 and was rewarded by the Government for doing so. He pro- 
 bably was not aware that Captain Howard was of the ancient 
 Catholic family of the Duke of Norfolk. 
 
Dublin before the U7iion. 
 
 135 
 
 as I did not imagine could exist in any man^s breast. 
 Out of consideration to our good humoured entertainer 
 no reply was made^ except a few words from the 
 Bishop of Killala, which only proved that he thought 
 very differently. 
 
 The usual dinner hour here is six o^clock^ but it is 
 often nearer seven. The prevalent custom is for a 
 gentleman to sit at the head of a table, and carve for 
 the lady of the house, who takes her seat by him — a 
 much better custom than having all the dishes to pull 
 on one side. Supper is usually announced at twelve, 
 and few assemblies break up sooner than two or three 
 in the morning. 
 
 At present there are but two subjects of discussion 
 here — the past Rebellion and the projected union of 
 this country with England. As the English Militia 
 are sent to keep the country quiet, and repel invasion, 
 it would be wrong for us to take any part in politics ; 
 but we cannot be deaf to what passes, or indifferent to 
 those interesting subjects.'^ 
 
 The opinion of an intelligent English lady upon the 
 contemplated Union is well worth quoting : — 
 
 ^^I feel convinced that, were I born in Ireland, I 
 should decidedly be against the Union — it seems giving 
 up so much independence ; but those who know better 
 than I do, think that Ireland would be a far happier 
 country if it was impartially governed by a United 
 Parliament, than it is now with the reins in its own 
 hands, as they have laws which do not appear either to 
 be respected or obeyed. Many acts of unjust power 
 have been exercised, both before and during the 
 E.ebellion, by the Orange Party, and as many ungrateful 
 
136 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 and atrocious acts by the opposed party. Oppression 
 and poverty^ in the long-run^ have rendered them 
 savage, and it will require some years of kind treat- 
 ment, and some education, to bring them round ; but I 
 hope, that in becoming more civilized, they will not 
 lose their natural warmheartedness and instinctive wit, 
 which seem to burst forth spontaneously when least 
 expected/^ This is a pretty strong indication of the 
 opinion of one who, up to this time, had mixed exclu- 
 sively with the Castle set, all supporters of the con- 
 templated Union, as she herself relates. 
 
 A^ril 21th. — We dined with Mr. and Mrs. Digges 
 La Touche, as did Mrs. Robert and John La Touche, 
 Lord and Lady Mathew, Lord Roden, and Colonel and 
 Mrs. Howard. We have hitherto met only those who 
 are zealous for the Union, but this family are decidedly 
 against it; and we heard many arguments well sup- 
 ported, particularly by Mrs. La Touche, who defended 
 her cause famously. The ladies here enter quite as 
 warmly into politics as the gentlemen, and nothing 
 else is talked of, which is very pleasant, as one thus 
 hears so many interesting events ; yet there exists so 
 much animosity between parties, owing to the long 
 disturbed state of the country, that it is difficult to 
 meet with unprejudiced statements of facts."'^ 
 
 The opinion entertained in Dublin of the Viceroy, 
 Lord Cornwallis, is thus given : Lord Cornwallis is 
 considered too lenient by the violent party respecting 
 the measures he has taken to surpress the rebellion, 
 and those who before have been consulted by the 
 Government on every occasion are not less severe on 
 him. lie expresses great anxiety for the success of 
 
Dublin befo7'e the Union, 
 
 137 
 
 the Union as the only means of saving this country 
 and making it prosper. We have heard it said of him^ 
 that if Lord Cornwallis was less of an honest man and 
 more of a politician^ he might have carried it easily j 
 but by endeavouring to put a stop to jobbings and 
 such like practices, he has lost nineteen votes in three 
 different families^ and similarly in others. It is, I 
 believe, his wish to introduce a mild government; 
 which would be a happy change from the flogging and 
 torture hitherto so generally resorted to.^^ 
 
 With these humane words, I must take leave of this 
 excellent work, which I have referred to, as showing 
 the state of society in Dublin at the period of the 
 Union, and how an unbiased person regarded that 
 measure. 
 
 The following anecdote was told me respecting Lord 
 Cornwallis. Owing to some affection of one of his 
 eyes, it constantly rolled about in the socket, and 
 caused him much inconvenience. An unhappy ex- 
 pression in one of the addresses of congratulation on 
 his arrival in L^eland, was, therefore, mal ajpropos, 
 though, of course, quite unintentional, for he was a 
 perfect stranger : " We are sure your excellency, 
 during your administration, will always keep a steady 
 eye on our industrial advancement/^ 
 
•38 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PLUNKET AND BUSHE. 
 
 Both sons of clergymen. — Plnnket's father, the Eev. Thomas 
 Plunket, Presbyterian Minister of Enniskillen. — WiUiam 
 Conyngham Plunket, born in 1764— Anecdotes of his boy- 
 hood.— Enters Trinity College in 1779.— The College His- 
 torical Society : Chairman's taunting speech. — Distinguished 
 members. — Called to the Bar in 1787. — Contrast between the 
 barristers of England and Ireland. — Selects the north-west 
 circuit. — Anecdotes. — Doldrum defined. — Defends a horse- 
 stealer. — His powers of speaking. — Considered a safer oppo- 
 nent against Lord Castlereagh than Grattan. — Enters 
 Parliament in 1798. — State of Irish politics. — Contributes 
 to the Anti- Unionist. — Letter from Sheelagh. — Anti-Union 
 poetry. — Attacks Lord Castlereagh and the Irish Govern- 
 ment. — The Viceroy's efforts to carry the Union. 
 
 CHARLES KENDAL BUSHE. 
 
 His father a clergyman of the Established Church. — Charles 
 born in 1767. — Sent to school at Bally tore. — Enters Trinity 
 College in 1782. — Society in Dublin. — Character of Bushe. — 
 His powers of oratory described by Lord Brougham. — Com- 
 pliment to him by John Kemble. — Anecdote of private 
 theatricals. — Called to the Bar in 1790. — Mames. — Great 
 legal abilities. — Careful study. — Difficulty in mastering old 
 reports. — Enters House of Commons in 1797. — Government 
 offers him place ; declines. — Shiel's tribute to Bushe's 
 honesty. — Bushe wrote as well as spoke against the Union. — 
 ** Cease your funning." — Plunket and Bushe contrasted. — 
 Poetic description of Bushe's oratory. — Saurin, Attorney- 
 General, and Bushe, Solicitor- General, meet George IV. at 
 
Plimket and Buske. 
 
 139 
 
 Slane Castle. — Bushe's narrative of the visit. — JBon mots of 
 Bushe and Plunket. 
 
 Amongst those leaders of the Irish Bar^ who were 
 members of the Irish House of Commons^ and by their 
 talents and legal acquirements gained high rank at the 
 Bar^ and afterwards seats on the Bench^ were Plunket 
 as first Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas^ 
 and afterwards Lord Chancellor of L^eland ; and 
 Bushe, Lord Chief Justice of the Queen^s Bench. * 
 
 Both were sons of clergymen. The Rev. Thomas 
 Plunket^ father of the honourable member for Charle- 
 mont^ was Presbyterian minister of Enniskillen^ where 
 William Conyngham Plunket was born on the 1st of 
 July_, 1764. A friend of mine told me two anecdotes of 
 of young Plunket, which are indications of no common 
 character. 
 
 While yet very young Master Willie was taken for a 
 walk to Castlecool^ the beautiful demesne of the Earl 
 of Belmore, close to Enniskillen. The child grew 
 tired ; so his aunt, Miss Conyngham, took him in her 
 arms in order to bear him home. Long before they 
 reached Enniskillen, and when the lady was tired of 
 her load, they met a gentleman, with whom the lady 
 was acquainted, who politely begged to be allowed to 
 carry the tired child. 
 
 Miss Conyngham joyfully transferred her nephew to 
 the friendly arms extended to receive him, and when 
 they reached the dwelling of the Rev. Thomas 
 Plunket, and Master Willie was placed on the paternal 
 door-step, his aunt bade him thank the kind gen- 
 tleman/^ 
 
140 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Thank him for what inquired the juvenile. 
 For his trouble in carrying you home/^ 
 ^^Notl/^ argued the youth. ^Tis for you to do 
 that/^ Pointing to a coal-porter with a bag of coals. 
 Suppose the gentleman carried home the coals, who 
 should thank him but the porter he relieved of the 
 bag." 
 
 There was no denying the force of this reasoning. 
 The other anecdote, which speaks well for young 
 Plunket^s disposition, was thus communicated by my 
 friend, the late Master O^Dwyer. Plunket^s first 
 school was kept by a peace-loving master, who 
 determined to prevent boxing between the boys. 
 In order to encourage emulation, there were cer- 
 tain good marks which entitled the most de- 
 serving pupil to a certificate which exempted the 
 holder from punishment for any ofience whatever. 
 Plunket^s diligence and ability gained him this 
 much-prized certificate. While holding it, he had a 
 quarrel with a class-fellow, and, despite the pro- 
 hibition, they fought. Black eyes, and swollen lips, 
 and flattened noses told their sad tale, and the decree 
 went forth. Both delinquents were to be whipped. 
 Plunket took his punishment without flinching ; and 
 when his opponent's turn came, when the lash was to 
 be applied, Plunket handed his late foe the certificate 
 which exempted the holder from all punishment. 
 
 Take this,'' he said ; I kept it to save you, and 
 now the master can't touch you.'' 
 
 " You are a brave, generous boy, Willie," was the 
 expressed opinion of students and master ; and the 
 master added, in a spirit of prophecy, I plainly see 
 
Fhmket and Bushe. 
 
 141 
 
 you will do us credit^ if you only keep your temper 
 and mind your lessons/^ 
 
 Well and fully did the Lord High Chancellor redeem 
 this prediction. In 1779 he entered Trinity College, 
 Dublin, and obtained a scholarship. In 1782 he joined 
 the famous Dublin College Historical Society, which 
 had been founded in May, 1770. Barry Yelverto n, 
 Grattan, and Curran were among the early founders of 
 this Society, which has had a vigorous existence, having 
 reached over a century. Like most societies, its in- 
 fancy was weak. The following speech from the Chair- 
 man (Mr. Ball), in 1774, may be taken as a fair sample 
 of how its meetings were conducted. 
 
 One gentleman arises, and opens the debate by 
 modestly informing the Society ^ he has nothing to 
 say, for, indeed, he has not studied the question.'' 
 Another, on the opposite side, with equal modesty, 
 assures us, Hhat the arguments of his learned and 
 respectable friend who opened the debate carry with 
 them such weight and authority it would be pre- 
 sumption in him to attempt to answer.^ Well may 
 Cambridge, well may Oxford boast, and call us their 
 silent sister. Shamefully indolent as we are, the re- 
 proaches of these might rouse us. Shall they produce 
 wits, and poets, and orators, while the only seminary in 
 Europe for the education of gentlemen is barren of 
 these fruits ? Forbid it patriotism, that the soil which 
 reared a Burke, the soil which produced a Hussey 
 Burgh, should cease on a sudden that fertility from 
 which fame had fondly promised herself to gather for 
 futurity the richest present she ever made it.'^^ 
 
 The taunt thus bravely launched against the indo- 
 
142 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 lent members of the College Historical Society had dae 
 effect. Soon a corps of orators were trained whose 
 voices echo through the corridors of time. Thomas 
 Addis, Temple, and Eobert Emmet, Theobald Wolfe 
 Tone, Charles Kendal Bushe, Miller, Magee, Peter 
 Burrowes, Plunk et, attest the fame of the old days, 
 while the names of Napier, Whiteside, Keogh, Fitz- 
 gerald, Harrison, Chatterton, Butt, Heron, Morris, 
 Gibson, and scores of others eminent on the Bench, at 
 the Bar, and in the Pulpit, sustain the modern prestige 
 of the College Historical Society. Having taken his 
 degree in college, Mr. Plunket studied for the Bar, and 
 was called in Hilary Term, 1787. He remarked a very 
 singular contrast between the staid and formal society 
 of the English Inns of Courts and their practitioners, 
 and the less technical and more social habits of the 
 Irish Bar. Nearly all the leaders, when Plunket was 
 called, were Monks of the Screw — not mere honorary, 
 but active members of that spiritual fraternity. 
 
 Plunket selected the north-west circuit as the scene 
 of his professional excursions, and some anecdotes of his 
 mode of dealing with his cases yet linger. A witness 
 who, though very ready to reply to the questions on 
 the direct examination, was by no means so when 
 cross-examined, was taunted by Plunket with this. 
 The excuse made by the witness was, ^^The coun- 
 sellor's questions put him in a doldrum.'' The Judge, 
 Chief Baron Lord Avonmore, repeated the word, ^^A 
 doldrum ! What is that V I can tell your lord- 
 ship,' ' said Plunket ; a doldrum is a confusion of the 
 head arising from a corruption of the hearf Having 
 obtained the triumphant acquittal of a horse-stealer, 
 
Phiuket and Biishe. 
 
 143 
 
 another of tlie band said^ I tell ye what; boys ; if Fm 
 paraded before judge and jury for the next horse I 
 steal; by jabers 1^11 have Plunket/' But the horse- 
 stealer's tribute was echoed by more honourable men. 
 The Opposition^ aware of his eloquence and power of 
 argument; deemed him a safer man to grapple with 
 Lord Castlereagh than even Grattan. While the latter 
 was fiery; rapid; and impulsive; the former was cool; 
 wary; and argumentative. As the selected champion 
 of the Opposition against the Minister; Plunket entered 
 the House of Common S; member for Charlemont. He 
 took his seat on February 6th; 1798. There was 
 much in the state of the Irish House of Commons at 
 that time to daunt and frighten a timid man. He 
 beheld the Ministry strong in the venal support of a 
 majority dependent upon the Treasury for the means 
 of living; and paid to carry the bill for the Union. 
 Parliamentary Reform and the Emancipation of Roman 
 Catholics were measures either abandoned or placed 
 in abeyance. The hitherto chosen leaders of the Oppo- 
 sition; unable to stem the tide overflowing all their 
 landmarks; had abandoned the field. There remained 
 not above thirty to contend against thrice that 
 number ; but among those thirty Plunket found 
 able allieS; George Ponsonby; Charles Kendal Bushe, 
 KnoX; and Parsons. Not merely by his voice did 
 Plunket resist the Union. In conjunction with 
 BushC; GrattaU; Smily; Goold; and Wallace; he con- 
 tributed to a weekly periodical called Anti-Union, 
 Grave argument and droll illustrations; keen sarcasm 
 and stern prophesy; issued in prose and versC; every 
 week. The following extract; from the number pub- 
 
144 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 lisbed on January 1, 1799^ may serve as a specimen 
 of Plunket^s irony: — Sheelagh (Ireland), is sued in 
 marriage (union) by Jolin Bull (England), wlio liad 
 already been married to another (Scotland). Sheelagh 
 thus details the inducements held out to her, and her 
 dislike to the match. But conceive, I beg of you, 
 the ridiculousness of the overtures. I to marry Mr. 
 Bull ! Mr. Bull, whom, in the year 1 783, when he 
 was tolerably vigorous, and reasonably wealthy, and 
 well reported, I would have rejected with contempt ! 
 Mr. Bull, now that he has repeated fits of the falling 
 sickness, and that a commission of bankruptcy is ready 
 to issue against him. 
 
 I could not have believed the proposal serious if the 
 old gentleman himself had not gravely avowed it. 
 Hear, I beg of you, the inducements which he holds out 
 to me. There is to be no cohabitation, for we are still 
 to continue to live on different sides of the water ; no 
 reduction of expense, for our separate establishments 
 are still to be kept up, all my servants are to be paid 
 by me, but to take their orders from him, the entire 
 profits of my trade to be subject to his management, 
 and applied in the discharge of his debts ; my family 
 estate to be assigned to him, without any settlement 
 being made on me or my issue, or any provision for 
 the event of a separation. He tells me at the same 
 time that I am to reap great advantages, the particulars 
 of which he does not think proper to disclose, and that 
 in the mean time I must agree to the match, and that 
 a settlement will be hereafter drawn up agreeable to 
 iphis directions, and by^his lawyers. This, you will say, 
 ' is rather an extraordinary carte llanche from an in- 
 
 r 
 
 f 
 
Plunket and Buske. 
 
 145 
 
 solvent gentleman^ passed his grand climacteric^ to a 
 handsome young woman of good character and easy 
 circumstances. But this is not all, the pride of the 
 negotiation equals its dishonesty, for, though I am 
 beset and assailed in private, and threatened with 
 actual force if I do not consent to this unnatural 
 alliance ; yet, in order to save the feelings of the Bull 
 family, and to afford grounds for an inadequate settle- 
 ment, I am desired, in despite of all maiden precedent, 
 to make the first public advances, and to supplicate, as 
 a boon, that he will gratify my amorous desires, and 
 condescend to receive me and my appurtenances under 
 his protection. Still, one of the principal features of the 
 odious transaction remains to be detailed. Would you 
 believe it, that this old sinner, several years ago, 
 married a lady, who, though of harsh visage, and 
 slender fortune, was of honourable parentage and good 
 character, and who is, at this hour alone, and treated 
 by him with every mark of contumely,^ and it is worthy 
 of observation that many of the clauses in the articles, 
 which were very carefully drawn up previous to his 
 marriage with this lady, have been scandalously violated 
 by him. The truth is, I am determined to live and 
 die a maiden, and I now apply to you merely for advice 
 as to what is the most effectual method of protecting 
 myself in that resolution. If the Bulls will not suffer 
 me to live on friendly terms with them, and will still 
 persist in their dishonest practices in my family, I will 
 turn oat their adherents (whom I well know), and, in 
 all events, I will restore my shop-boy to his original 
 
 1 The Queen has changed all this. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 rags^ and send him to the place whence he came. I 
 will re-establish harmony amongst all those who should 
 naturally be my friends, and if the Bulls attempt to 
 offer me any insolence, I trust I shall be able to repel 
 force by force, 
 
 I am, sir, your affectionate. 
 
 But determined, humble Servant, 
 
 Sheelagh/^ 
 
 Not merely in prose was the war against the Union 
 carried on. The poet strung his rhymes, and the 
 satirist lashed the measure thus : — 
 
 "How justly alarm'd is each Dublin cit, 
 That'll soon be transform'd to a clown, sir, 
 By the magical touch of that conjurer, Pitt, 
 All the country is coming to town, sir. 
 Give Pitt, and Dundas, and Jenkins a glass, 
 They will ride on John Bull, and make Paddy an ass. 
 Through Capel Street you may rurally range, 
 Yc 1 will scarcely 'cognize it the same, sir ; 
 Fine turnips will grow at the Eoyal Exchange, 
 And choice cabbages all along Dame Street ; 
 Wild Oats, in your College, will want to be till'd ; 
 Fine hemp in the Four Courts shall thrive, sir ; 
 While mutton your markets will fill as of old; 
 By St. Patrick ! they'll graze there alive, sir. 
 Says an Alderman, * Corn will grow in your shops ; 
 This Union will work our enslavement.' 
 ' That's true,' says the Sheriff, * for plenty of crops,^ 
 Already I've seen on the pavement.' 
 Ye brave loyal yeomen, dressed gaily in red. 
 This minister's plan must elate us, 
 And well may John Bull, when he robbed us of bread. 
 Call poor Ireland the land of potatoes." 
 
 - Rebels were called croppies, having their hair cut short. 
 
Phcnket and Btishe, 
 
 147 
 
 Plunket was not very long in the House of Com- 
 mons before Le justified the opinion that he was 
 fully able to encounter Lord Castlereagh. That 
 minister having addressed the House on the ques- 
 tion of the Union, in January, 1799, Mr. Plunket 
 attacked him in these words : The example of the 
 Prime Minister of England, inimitable in its vices, 
 may deceive the noble lord. The minister of England 
 has his faults; he abandoned, in his later years, the 
 principles of reform, by professing which he obtained 
 the early confidence of the people of England ; and in 
 the whole of his political conduct he has shown himself 
 haughty and intractable, but it must be admitted, 
 that he has shown himself by nature endowed with a 
 towering and transcendent intellect, and that the vast- 
 ness of his moral resources keeps pace with the magni- 
 ficence and unboundedness of his projects. I thank 
 God it is much more easy for him to transfer his 
 apostasy and his insolence than his comprehension and 
 sagacity ; and I feel the safety of my country in the 
 wretched feebleness of her enemy. I cannot fear that 
 the Constitution, which has been formed in the wisdom 
 of ages, and cemented by the blood of patriots and of 
 heroes, is to be smitten to its centre by such a green 
 and sapless twig as this. Sir, I confess I did, at one 
 time, rejoice in the appointment of the noble lord 
 to the administration of this country. When I per- 
 ceived that wicked and dangerous measures were in 
 agitation, I rejoiced that an impotent and incapable 
 instrument was selected for their execution.^ Sir, 
 
 ^ These allusions are believed to have been hits at the fact 
 that Lord Castlereagh had no children. It was said, when 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 The h'ish Bar. 
 
 I thank the administration for this measure ; they, 
 without intending it^ are putting an end to our 
 dissensions. Through the black cloud which they 
 have collected over us^ I see the light breaking in upon 
 this unfortunate country. I tell them they will see 
 every honourable and independent man in Ireland rally 
 round the Constitution^ and merge every consideration 
 in opposition to this ungenerous and odious measure. 
 For my part^ I will resist it to the last gasp of my 
 existence, and with the last drop of my blood ; and 
 when I feel the hour of my dissolution approaching I 
 will, like the father of Hannibal, take my children to 
 the altar and swear them to eternal hostility against 
 the invader of their country's freedom. Sir, I shall 
 not detain you by pursuing this question through the 
 topics which it so abundantly offers. I should be 
 proud to think my name should be handed down to 
 posterity in the same roll with those disinterested 
 patriots who have so successfully resisted the enemies 
 of their country — successfully I trust it will be. At all 
 events, I have my exceeding great reward. I shall 
 bear in my heart the consciousness of having done my 
 duty, and in the hojir of death I shall not be haunted 
 by the reflection of having basely sold or meanly 
 abandoned the liberties of my native land. Can any 
 man who gives his vote this night on the other side 
 lay his hand upon his heart and make the same decla- 
 ration ? I hope so : it will be well for his own peace, 
 
 Teeling's mother was refused pardon for her son, accused of 
 treason in 1798, she cried to Lord Castlereagh, " You cannot 
 comprehend my feelings ; I remember, my Lord, you have no 
 child." 
 
Plunket and Bicshe, 
 
 149 
 
 The indignation and abhorrence of his countrymen will 
 not accompany him through life^ and the curse of his 
 children will not follow him to the grave. I in the 
 most express terms deny the competency of Parliament 
 to do this act. I warn you^ do not dare lay your hands 
 on the Constitution. I tell you that if, circumstanced 
 as you are, you pass this Act, it will be a nullity, and 
 that no man in Ireland will be bound to obey it.''^ 
 
 On the division, the Government had the narrow 
 majority of one. 
 
 But the pen of the patriot and the tongue of the 
 orator were equally powerless to save the Irish Parlia- 
 ment. On January 15th, 1800, the Viceroy, Marquis 
 Cornwallis, delivered the opening speech from the 
 throne, in which no allusion was made to the impending 
 Union. But the discussion was quickly raised by Sir 
 Laurence Parsons, and in mo?t withering tones Plunket 
 denouuced the means taken by the Government (the 
 progress of the Viceroy from town to town) in order to 
 get the semblance of popular support for the measure. 
 
 It is painful/^ he said, to dwell upon that dis- 
 graceful expedition. No place too obscure to be 
 visited ; no rank too low to be courted ; no threat too 
 vile to be refrained from ; the counties not sought to be 
 legally convened by the sheriffs ; no attempt to collect 
 the unbiassed suffrages of the independent and intelli- 
 gent part of the community ; public addresses sought 
 for from petty villages, and private signatures smuggled 
 from public counties, and how procured ? By the 
 influence of absentee landlords, not over the affections, 
 but over the terrors of their tenantry, by grasping 
 agents, and revenue officers.^^ It was during this debate 
 
The Irish Bar. 
 
 that the House witnessed a very affecting scene. The 
 debate had been kept up with unj3agging interest 
 during the lengthening nighty and the grey dawn was 
 breaking, when, pale and ghastly with recent illness 
 (from which, indeed, he had not quite recovered), 
 Henry Grattan entered the House. Loud cheers from 
 his friends welcomed him ; and when he sought to 
 speak, the Speaker (Right Hon. John Foster) gave per- 
 mission for Mr. Grattan to address the House sitting. 
 
 Side by side with Grattan and Plunket in resisting 
 the Union was the honourable member for Callan, 
 
 Charles Kendal Bushe. He was connected with 
 Grattan by marriage, Mr. Gervase Parker Bushe, M.P., 
 having married Grattan^s sister. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Bushe, father of Charles, was a 
 clergyman of the Established Church, who resided at 
 Kilmurry, county Kilkenny, and married Miss Doyle, 
 sister of Major-General Doyle, colonel of the gallant 
 87th Regiment. Charles was born in 1767, and re- 
 ceived an excellent education. His first school was the 
 celebrated one of Ballytore, conducted by Mr. 
 Sheckleton. Thence he went to Mr. Craig^s seminary 
 in Dublin. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 
 1782, when but fifteen years of age, and soon a scho- 
 larship, with eight best marks and several premiums, 
 attested his industry and ability. He was almost 
 equally distinguished in science and classics. 
 
 A very competent authority * has borne testimony 
 to the society in which Bushe moved. For the last 
 thirty years of the eighteenth century there was not a 
 
 * The late Yen. Archdeacon O'Shea, of Cork. 
 
Phinket and Btishe, 
 
 more brilliant^ gay^ or witty school in Europe than the 
 University of Dublin. It could not^ it is true, boast 
 many men of great scientific acquirements or extraor- 
 dinary philosophical proficiency, but it had the higher 
 honour of claiming for its children some of the wisest 
 statesmen, the greatest orators, and the truest patriots 
 in the world at that time. It constantly possessed a 
 crowd of gifted spirits vieing in its halls in the energy 
 of glorious youth, and leaving them only to make the 
 press and the Court, the Senate and the island illus- 
 trious by the rivalry of their mature years. ''^ 
 
 Among those who shared all the intellectual con- 
 flicts, and the social amusements of the period, none 
 entered with keener zest than Charles Kendal Bushe. 
 Like Lord Mansfield on reaching London, young Bushe 
 drank Champagne with the wits. Early introduced 
 into the best society, he thoroughly enjoyed it. Tall 
 in stature, graceful in person, accomplished and in- 
 sinuating, he was a general favourite, and a star of the 
 first magnitude in ball-rooms or at dinner- tables. Even 
 while yet young the sprightliness of his wit and the 
 charm of his conversation, made him sought at the 
 social reunions which then kept up the fame of the 
 Irish capital. Lord Brougham has described with 
 great accuracy the wonderful lucidity of statement 
 employed by Bushe. His power of narration has not, 
 perhaps, been equalled. Perfect simplicity but united 
 with eloquence, a lucid arrangement and unbroken 
 connexion of all the facts, a constant introduction of 
 the most picturesque expressions, but never as orna- 
 ments — these, the great qualities of narration^ accom- 
 plish its great end and purpose ; they place the story. 
 
152 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 or the scene^ before the hearer or the reader, as if he 
 witnessed the reality. It is unnecessary to add that 
 the temperate and chaste, and even subdued tone of 
 the whole is unvaried and unbroken ; but such praise 
 belongs to every part of this great speaker^s oratory. 
 The utmost that partial criticism could do to find a 
 fault, was to praise the suavity of the orator at the 
 expense of his force. John Kemble described him as 
 the greatest actor off the stage.''^ 
 This reference to the stage reminds me of the happy 
 way in which Bushe got out of a delicate inquiry. 
 His native county of Kilkenny was celebrated for its 
 private theatricals, and Bushe was a favourite actor 
 and critical spectator. While remaining on a visit at 
 a house in which a dramatic representation had taken 
 place, the performers solicited Bushe to declare who,^^ 
 in his judgment, ^^had acted best.^^ 
 
 My friends,^'' he replied, you know comparisons 
 are odious."^^ 
 
 Oh, no offence will be taken,^^ was the encouraging 
 response. 
 
 Well, that is assuring/^ said Bushe, and if I say 
 who acted his or her part best, do you all promise not 
 to be offended ? 
 
 We do indeed,^^ was the universal cry. 
 
 Then, ladies and gentlemen,^^ gravely declared 
 Bushe, I give as my unbiased opinion — the greatest 
 praise is due to the peompter, for during the perform- 
 ance I heard the most and saw the least of him,^^ 
 
 Much laughter rewarded this very impartial judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Bushe was called to the Irish Bar in 1790. He 
 
Phmket and Bushe. 
 
 153 
 
 quickly obtained practice, and soon commenced, with 
 commendable probity, to apply bis gains to paying tbe 
 debts left by his father.^ Despite his slender means^ 
 Bush married Miss Crampton^ a lady to whom he was 
 devotedly attached. 
 
 Bushe was soon placed in the front rank of Irish 
 advocates. He could state clearly^ reason calmly^ 
 argue logically ; and^ on the other hand^ when trans- 
 ported by the vehemence of his feelings, and roused by 
 his subject into splendid imagery, soar above all the 
 speakers of his time. But his flights of eloquence 
 never caused him to forget his duties as an advocate. 
 It was remarked of him that his fancy, like Grattan^s, 
 was sometimes on the stretch ; but never^ like Cur- 
 ran^s_, on the rack. His manner at the outset of his 
 speeches, was somewhat awkward, but as he proceeded 
 his thoughts and words assumed a lucid and orderly 
 disposition. This increased as he warmed with his 
 subject, and indulged in glowing description or vehe- 
 ment denunciation, but he never allowed bis feelings 
 to overpower his reason. Bushe was considered the 
 orator of manner — eye, hand, every gesture, aided the 
 voice and spoke. He was said to resemble the Roman 
 advocate Hortensius in his attention to dress and de- 
 portment; and though Bushe never brought a law- 
 suit for disarranging the plaits of his bar-gown, he 
 was not far behind Hortensius in studying the most 
 graceful action and the most striking attitudes. In 
 addition to his fine person and winning countenance, 
 there was the great charm of a full, clear, and well 
 
 ^ I believe this praiseworthy act has also been performed by 
 another distingnished member of the Irish Bench. 
 
154 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 modulated voice. This was carefully attuned to the 
 subject — now soft and low, when expressing some 
 pathetic passage^ now loud and resonant when de- 
 nouncing wrong or asserting right. He studied his 
 profession, but thus complains of the difliculty he ex- 
 perienced of mastering the sense of the old law 
 writers : — 
 
 I was working for two hours before I could dis- 
 cover the meaning of a judgment of Lord Coke, re- 
 ported in Bulstrode. I would rather have sat down 
 to so much Greek. The moment I discovered the 
 meaning, I could have condensed the whole into a 
 dozen lines. The great object of the early law writers 
 seems to have been to make their works as incompre- 
 hensible as possible. Sir William Blackstone was the 
 first great reformer in this respect ; he simplified the 
 study of law, as Bacon did that of natural philosophy.''^ 
 In 1797 Bushe entered the Irish House of Commons. 
 He represented the borough of Callan, in the county of 
 Kilkenny, and soon was one of the most formidable 
 members of the Opposition. The minister was not 
 long in laying the bait of patronage before the eyes 
 of the young barrister, and, when the Union was im- 
 pending, Bushe was visited, at his house in Baggot 
 Street, Dublin, by two officials from the Castle. They 
 expressed the high sense the Viceroy, Lord Cornwallis, 
 entertained of his ability, and stated that the oflice of 
 Master of the EoUs, or one of the law offices of the 
 Crown awaited his acceptance. 
 
 The mind of Mr. Bushe,^^ says Sheil, was of 
 too noble a caste to lend itself to purposes so uncon- 
 genial to a free and lofty spirit ; and he preferred the 
 
Phmket and Btishe, 
 
 freedom of his country and the retributive conscious- 
 ness of the approbation of his own heart to the igno- 
 minious distinctions with which the Administration 
 would have been glad to reward the dereliction of what 
 he owed to Ireland and to himself. Accordingly^ we 
 find that Mr. Bushe threw all the energy of his youth 
 into opposition to a measure w^hich he considered fatal 
 to that greatness which Nature appeared to have in- 
 tended that his country should attain ; and to the last 
 he stood among the band of patriots^ who offered a 
 generous but unavailing resistance to the legislative 
 union with Great Britain. 
 
 Bushe^ as well as Plunket^ wrote against the Union. 
 Bushe's pamphlet styled Cease your Funning re- 
 minded Lord Brougham of the satires of Swift. The 
 respective merits of Plunket and Bushe were often com- 
 pared^ but a judicious friend of mine well said the 
 points of difference were much more numerous than 
 those of resemblance."'^ The severe and rigid intel- 
 lectual structure of Plunket was far removed from the 
 Attic elegance of Bushe. As a speaker the former 
 was remarkable for the clearness and closeness of his 
 reasoning — the unadorned simplicity of his style and 
 manner — earnest^ calm^ and deliberate. Plunket never 
 soared into, regions too elevated for ordinary compre- 
 hension, or sank into dulness. He showed seldom^ 
 either richness of imagery, or flowers of fancy; but his 
 speeches were solid, massive, and effective — clear in 
 statement and perfect in argument. Bushe, on the other 
 hand was full of imagery, copious, and captivating. His 
 voice, carefully modulated to his graceful delivery, won 
 the heart, while it captivated the ear. He charmed the 
 
156 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 mind of the auditor. Bushe appealed most to the 
 passions^ Plunket to the reasoning faculties. 
 
 A poem^ published anonymously in Dublin^ about 
 the year 1800^ and called the Metropolis^ thus accu- 
 rately described Bushels appearance and oratorical 
 power : — 
 
 Sedate at first, at length his passion warms, 
 
 And every word and every gesture charms ; 
 
 Sunk to no meanness, by no flourish swell'd, 
 
 The copious stream its course majestic held. 
 
 The Graces to his polish'd wit gave birth, 
 
 Which makes the smile, but not the roar of mirth. 
 
 His legal tenets stand on stable ground. 
 
 His moral precepts novel and profound. 
 
 Well has he traced the laws' unbounded chart, 
 
 Well search' d each corner of the human heart, 
 
 In triumph his resistless march proceeds — 
 
 Reason and passion follow where he leads. 
 
 Is justice his inalienable trust ? 
 
 Or does he deem each cause he battles just ? 
 
 Suffice it — every energy or zeal 
 
 Make that conviction he makes others feel." 
 
 Bushe was speedily selected for promotion when the 
 passing of the Act of Union made him no longer 
 an opponent to the Government. When Mr. Saurin 
 became Attorney- General^ Bushe continued as Soli- 
 citor-General^ and both were guests of the Marquis 
 Conyngham^ at Slane Castle in 1821, when the then 
 monarch, George IV., was a guest at that noble seat. 
 Bushe thus relates what occurred at this visit : ^ — 
 *^ Saurin and I went down together, and arrived 
 barely in time to dress for dinner. I had never been 
 
 ^ Legal and Political Sketches. 
 
Plitnket and Btishe, 
 
 157 
 
 seen by the King but once^ at the levee. On going 
 downstairs I met him coming up ; the rencontre was 
 most embarrassing^ for I imagined that he would not 
 recognize me^ but I was at once relieved. He said, 
 ^ Bushe, I believe you don^t know the ways of the 
 house,^ and, taking me under the arm, conducted me 
 to the drawing-room. In one moment I was as much 
 at my ease as if I had been his daily companion. I sat 
 opposite to him at dinner. The first words he addressed 
 to me were these, (Lady Conyngham, who sat next him, 
 had been whispering something in his ear) : ^ Bushe, 
 you never would guess what Lady Conyngham has 
 been saying to me — she has been repeating passages 
 from one of your speeches against the Union."* 
 
 He saw that I started, and was rather at a loss for 
 what to say, and instantly changed the subject by re- 
 commending me to try a particular French dish from 
 which he had just been helped. ^This,"* said he, 
 can recommend as the perfection of cookery. My 
 cousin, the Duke of Gloucester often produces it for 
 his guests, but always fails in it — it is the same with 
 all his dishes. He has a remarkable talent for giving 
 bad dinners."* 
 
 The King soon after returned to the Union. ^ My 
 early opinion was,^ said he, addressing Saurin, ^ that 
 your and the Solicitor- General^s (Bushels) opposition 
 to the measure was well founded, and since I have seen 
 this glorious people, and the effects produced by it, 
 that opinion is confirmed j but,^ he added, as if cor- 
 z'ecting himself, ^ I am sure you will agree with me in 
 considering that now the measure is carried, you would 
 both feel it your duty to resist any attempt to repeal it 
 
158 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 with as much zeal as you originally opposed it. But 
 you all committed a great mistake ; instead of direct 
 opposition you should have made terms^ as the Scotch 
 did, and you could have got good terms/ He then 
 summed up some of the principal stipulations of the 
 Scotch Union (for he had history at his fingers^ ends). 
 
 Saurin said (a very odd remark, as it struck me, to 
 come from limi)^ ^ And the Scotch further stipulated for 
 the establishment of their National religion/ ^ You 
 are quite right/ said the King. ^ They secured that 
 point also — but, no, no,^ he added, hastily checking 
 himself, ^ you must pay no attention to what I have just 
 said. It would not be right to have it supposed that 
 I entertain an opinion from which inferences might be 
 drawn that would afterwards lead to disappointment.^ 
 
 This is a very important narrative in my opinion. 
 
 Plunket felt dissatisfied that Bushe retained the 
 ofl&ce of Solicitor-General after he himself resigned his 
 post of Attorney-General on the breaking up of the 
 Grenville Cabinet. Plunket being absent from Court 
 when a cause in which he was Counsel was called on, 
 the Judge inquired of Mr. Bushe if he knew what 
 detained Mr. Plunket.''^ Bushe jocosely replied, I 
 suppose, my Lord, he is Cabinet-making.^^ When 
 Mr. Plunket appeared, some goodnatured friend told 
 him of Bushels joke, on which Plunket proudly said, 
 I assure your Lordship I am not so well qualified for 
 cabinet-making as my learned friend. I never was 
 either a turner or s> joiner. 
 
 Some of the honmots of these illustrious members of 
 the Irish Bar may pleasantly be introduced here. 
 
 An acquaintance of Plunket^s, who was not remark* 
 
Phinket and Biishe. 
 
 159 
 
 able for his brilliancy^ was said to have foretold an 
 event. I always knew lie was a hore/^ replied 
 Plunket^ but I did not know he was an augurJ^ On 
 applying the common expression to accommodation 
 bills of exchange^ that they were mere Mtes, the 
 Judge (an English Chancellor) said, He never heard 
 that expression applied before to any but the kites of 
 boys/' Oh/' replied Plunket, that's the difference 
 between kites in England and in Ireland. In England 
 the wind raises the kite^ but in Ireland the kite raises 
 the luind.'^ 
 
 At a dinner-party given by the Archbishop of 
 Dublin, a young Fellow of Trinity College narrated 
 the difference of opinion between Dr. Brinckley, the 
 great astronomer, and another eminent star-gazer, Dr. 
 Pond. He said Brinckley maintains that the parallax 
 of a lyrae is three seconds, and Pond insists it is only 
 two. Each upholds his own opinion with the utmost 
 pertinacity ; and I don't know how it will ever 
 end." 
 
 ^^Upon my word^ sir," said Plunket, with great 
 seriousness, it must be a very bad quarrel when even 
 the seconds cannot agreeJ' 
 
 A Chancery officer named Moore, was noted for what 
 he called his calligraphij , while one of the greatest 
 dandies among the solicitors was named Morris. One 
 day, while the Chancellor was absent at luncheon, and 
 the Bar was waiting his return, Bushe asked Plunket 
 
 Why should this Court remind one of Chester ? " 
 I can't guess," replied Plunket. 
 Because," answered Bushe, we are near Penman 
 Moore" (Penmanmaur). 
 
i6o 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Plunket was not to be outdone. I ask you now/' 
 he said, why it reminds us of North Wales 
 
 Bushe gave it up. Pointing to the dandy solicitor, 
 Plunket said, Why there^s Beau-Morris/^ 
 
 When the late estimable Judge Ball, who was not 
 remarkable for early rising, was appointed a judge of 
 the Common Pleas, then having so little business as 
 merely to sit about an hour or two, Plunket said, It^s 
 the very Court for him. It will be nip every day before 
 himself^' 
 
 Bushels talent for repartee was very quick. I sub- 
 join some instances. One day while Plunket was 
 speaking, a friend said to Bushe, Well, if it was not 
 for the eloquence, IM as soon listen to Sir Henry 
 Meredyth,^^ a very prosy speaker. 
 
 ^^No doubt,^^ replied Bushe, ^^just as the Con- 
 naught man said, ^ ^Pon my conscience, if it was not 
 for the malt and the hops, I^d as soon drink ditch- 
 water as porter.^ 
 
 A large party intending to cross the Ferry at Ballin- 
 law, were prevented by a tremendous storm. One, 
 alone, Mr. Cgesar Colclough, started mth the ferryman. 
 Bushe instantly composed the following epigram : — 
 
 " While meaner souls the tempest keeps in awe, 
 Intrepid Colclougli crosses Ballinlaw, 
 And tells the boatman shivering in his rags, 
 * Yon carry Csesar and liis saddle-bags.' " 
 
 An acquaintance of Bushels, not very clean in his 
 person, once asked ^^If he could give any remedy 
 for a sore throat ? 
 
 ^'Yes,^^ replied Bushe, that I certainly can.'^ 
 
Phmket and Bushe, 
 
 i6i 
 
 The friend begged to hear it. 
 Take/^ said Bushe^ a pail of hot water, hot as 
 you can bear it^ put therein a pint of bran, and rub 
 your leg well for a quarter of an hour/^ 
 
 ^^Why, Bushe/^ replied the invalid, ^^that is 
 nothing more than washing my feet ! 
 
 ^^ladmit/^ returned Bushe, "it certainly is open io 
 that objection,^' 
 
 It is related that when the late Sir Robert Peel was 
 Chief Secretary for Ireland, he met an Irish country 
 squire, remarkable for his vulgarity. Bushe was a 
 neighbour, and the country squire was loud in his 
 praises of the Irish orator, so Peel inquired "what 
 was Mr. Bushels forte ? 
 
 This was quite a puzzle to the squire, so Mr. 
 Peel had to put the inquiry in more intelligible shape. 
 " What was Mr. Bushe most remarkable for ? ^' 
 
 "Ah, I understand, — ^the Jury.^^ 
 
 " And how does he manage the Jury ? 
 
 " Troth, this way. He blarneys them. He first. 
 hutthers them up, and then he slithers them down.^^ 
 
 M 
 
Tlie Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTEE XY. 
 
 PETEE BUEEOWES^ K.C.^ THE GOLDSMITH OF THE BAE. 
 
 A native of the Queen's County. — Born in 1752. — Educated in 
 Portarlington. — Career in College. — Auditor of the College 
 Historical Society in 1779. — Advocates the rights of Catholics 
 in 1784. — Called to the Bar in 1785. — Joined the Leinster 
 Circuit. — First successful speech. — Letter from the Hon. 
 S. Butler. — Mr. Burrowes' reply. — A duel and Providential 
 escape of Mr. Burrowes. — A subsequent friendly meeting. — 
 Suspected of disloyalty. — Application to the Lord Chancellor 
 to be made Eling's Counsel. — Obtains his position. — Hostility 
 to the Union. — Member for Enniscorthy. — Defence of 
 Grattan. — The Bar meeting. — Mr. Burrowes' project. — Sup- 
 ports Sir L. Parsons. — IS'otice of Mr. Burrowes in "Irish Poh- 
 tical Characters ;" also in Barrington's " Rise and Fall of the 
 Irish Nation." — His clumsy appearance. — B[is voice. — Effect 
 of his eloquence. — Defends the Catholic Delegates in 1811. — 
 Speech on the prosecution of Robinson for bigamy. — The 
 ungrateful client. — A brief tenure of office. — In 1821 ap- 
 pointed Commissioner of the Court for Relief of Insolvent 
 Debtors. — Compliment from the Leinster Bar. — Retired with a 
 pension in 1835. — Conduct on the Bench. — Anecdotes. — Last 
 public speech. — Death in 1841. 
 
 THOMAS GOOLD^ MASTEE IN CHANCEEY. 
 
 Born about 1770. — Personal graces. — Expensive career. — Studies 
 Law. — Defence of Mr. Burke. — His visit to Beaconsfield. — 
 Recall of Earl Fitzwilliam. — His success as a speaker. — 
 Great Circuit practice. — Mode of annoyance. — A Serjeant in 
 1823. — Anecdotes. — Appointed Master in Chancery in 1832. 
 
Peter Burrowes, K,C.y the Goldsmith of the Bar, 163 
 
 — Anecdotes of the Master and Major Spread. — The Master 
 and Burke Bethel. — Daughters and sons. — Death in 18^6. 
 
 No member of the Irish Bar is held in more affectionate 
 remembrance than Peter Barrowes. He did not achieve 
 high rank^ he did not acquire a fortune, but his ami- 
 able disposition^ unbending patriotism, and the excellent 
 and humane manner in which he discharged his pro- 
 fessional and official duties^ have embalmed his name in 
 the Irish heart. 
 
 This worthy ornament of the Irish Bar was descended 
 from a very respectable family of the Qaeen^s County, 
 and was born in Portarlington in 1752. He seems to 
 have been early imbued with strong national feelings^ 
 and these were carefully nourished, and grew with his 
 growth, and strengthened with his strength. Port- 
 arlington was the refuge of many of the French 
 Huguenots, and boasted excellent schools. In his 
 native town the mind of Peter Burro wes was well in- 
 formed, and proud must his preceptors have been, 
 when, on entering Trinity College, Dublin, in 1774, 
 the Queen^s County student eminently distinguished 
 himself. He gained a first Scholarship. He was the 
 personal friend of fellow- students whose names are 
 famous — Plunket and Bushe. He was the Auditor of 
 the College Historical Society for the Session of 1779, 
 and when the efforts of the Vice-Chancellor of the 
 TJniyersity and others to crush the National spirit of 
 the students compelled the members of the Historical 
 Society to hold their debates extra muros — the closing 
 speech was delivered by Mr. Burrowes. His large and 
 loving heart yearned to give his Roman Catholic fellow- 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 countrymen equal rights with those of the Protestants, 
 and he published a pamphlet in 1784 in which he advo- 
 cated the rights of Catholics to the Election franchise. 
 This production won for the author the friendship and 
 regard of some of the leading men of the Irish Parlia- 
 ment, and especially of the Right Hon. Henry Flood. 
 After careful preparation Mr. Burrowes was called to 
 the Bar in Easter Term, 1785, and joined the Leinster 
 Circuit. In those days acting as Counsel in cases of 
 Election petitions was a great source of revenue to the 
 Irish Bar, and Mr. Burrowes had a considerable share. 
 It was when addressing the Election Committee in 
 support of the petition against the return of the Hon. 
 Francis Hely Hutchinson, that he made a speech which 
 established his fame as one of the most able lawyers at 
 the Bar. These were the days when duels were the 
 mode of deciding personal quarrels, and they were very 
 frequent, especially among the gentlemen of the Bar. 
 Mr. Burrowes was counsel in 1 794, in a case in which 
 Lord Mountgarrett was a party, and Mr. Burrowes 
 had occasion to denounce his Lordship in terms much 
 stronger than suited the taste of his Lordship^s son, 
 the Hon. S. Butler. This gentleman addressed the 
 following note to Mr. Burrowes : — • 
 
 Green's HofeL 
 Sir, — I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that your 
 conduct in bringing my father^s name into a public 
 Court, when you must have known that I was present, 
 was treating me ill, and behaving unlike a gentleman. 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 S. Butler.'' 
 
Peter Bim-owes^ K. C, the Goldsmith of tJie Bar, 1 6 5 
 
 Mr. Burrowes replied to this very significant note^ 
 — that any allusion he made to Lord Mountgarrett was 
 in obedience to his instructions ; nor was he conscious 
 of having spoken disrespectfully of his Lordship. He^ 
 Mr, Burrowes^ therefore requested the Hon. S. Butler 
 to change his expression^ and to certify to Mr. Burrowes 
 that he did so. This Mr. Butler refused^ and Mr. 
 Burrowes sent him a challenge,, which was promptly 
 accepted. They met^ and^ owing to the circumstance 
 of Mr. Burrowes relieving a beggar on his way to the 
 ground^ his life was providentially spared. He was 
 asked for alms^ and^ on receiving change at a shop^ 
 gave relief to the beggar^ and put some penny pieces 
 in his waistcoat pocket. Mr. Butler's ball was inter- 
 cepted by these coins^ ajid the duel then ended harm- 
 lessly. 
 
 Years afterwards the duellists met again. They had 
 forgotten each other^ and while walking home after a 
 pleasant evening with a mutual friend^ to Leeson Street^ 
 the conversation was upon the then nearly obsolete 
 practice of what were called affairs of honour. Mr. 
 Butler spoke in very strong terms^ denouncing it as 
 a wicked custom. Mr. Burrowes^ to the amusement of 
 his companion, related the circumstance of his having 
 sent a hostile message in former years, and very 
 narrowly escaped being shot by his antagonist. They 
 now reached Mr. Burrowes^s house, 160, Leeson Street, 
 where, to the great surprise of the simple-minded 
 Peter, Mr. Butler told him he was the son of Lord 
 Mountgarrett, who was his antagonist upon that oc- 
 casion. They were thenceforward steadfast fi^iends. 
 
 Although not of the United Irishmen, who fomented 
 
The h'ish Bar, 
 
 the Rebellion in 1798^ Mr. Burrowes was mucli among 
 them^ and his intimacy with Thebold Wolf Tone, caused 
 his loyalty to be suspected by John Toler, then Attorney- 
 General, and the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clare. 
 Mr. Burrowes was supposed to have settled the 
 Declaration of the United Irishmen in Belfast, but a 
 letter from Wolf Tone to the Editor of Failkner's 
 Journal, of 17th July, 1793, exonerates him from this 
 accusation. Convinced he never would receive that 
 station at the Bar to which his practice entitled him; — 
 that of King^s Counsel, while the Chancellor withheld 
 the silk gown, he wrote a letter containing the following 
 extract :— 
 
 I fear I shall swell this letter to a most unreason- 
 able length by stating to your Lordship why I am 
 desirous of obtaining a silk gown. I cannot, however, 
 close this subject without removing the possibility of 
 your Lordship^s imputing it to vanity, or some vain or 
 frivolous motive. I have gone Circuit ten years; my 
 principal professional emolument is derived from Circuit, 
 and its consequences in town. Since I went Circuit 
 but one barrister in business has left it ; almost every 
 man who is employed in a single record is my senior 
 in standing, or put over my head by a silk gown.^ 
 Barrington and Smyth, almost the only persons junior 
 to me who have business, have obtained silk gowns. 
 I thought my business rendered precarious, and con- 
 sulted my friends, and amongst others some of the 
 
 ^ It may be right to inform the non-professional reader that 
 barristers take precedence by standing, or priority of date of 
 call, and Queen's Counsel over the outer Bar, who wear stuff 
 gowns ; Q.C. silk. 
 
Peter Burr owes, K.C.y the Goldsmith of the Bar. 167 
 
 Judges; tliey all concurred in my opinion that a silk 
 gown would serve me — Judge Downes^ in particular, 
 urged me by aU possible means to endeavour to 
 obtain it. His perfect knowledge of my situation, and 
 of the Circuit whicli I go, rendered his opinion deci- 
 sive. He was so kind as to add, that, if he were 
 referred to by your Lordship on the subject, he would, 
 in the strongest manner, express his opinion of my 
 fitness for the situation. I entreat your Lordship^s 
 excuse for this tedious letter, with which nothing but 
 the extreme anxiety I felt to vindicate myself from a 
 very heavy imputation, would have induced me to 
 trouble your Lordship. 
 
 ^^I am, &c., 
 
 ^^Petee Bueeowes.^^ 
 
 To that letter the haughty Chancellor vouchsafed no 
 reply, but the importunity of friends succeeded, and 
 worthy Peter signed himself K.C. Perhaps his gravest 
 offence in the eyes of Lord Clare, was his inveterate 
 hostility to the Legislative Union. He represented the 
 borough of Enniscorthy in the Irish Parliament, and 
 as a specimen of his oratory, I give his spirited de- 
 fence of Grattan, who, in his absence, was attacked by 
 the Irish Secretary, Lord Castlereagh : — 
 
 I feel but little any portion of the noble Lord^s 
 obloquy which may attach to me, or my humble efforts; 
 but I own I cannot repress my indignation at the 
 audacious boldness of the calumny which would asperse 
 one of the most exalted characters which any nation 
 ever produced, and, that in a country which owes its 
 liberties, and its greatness, to the energy of his exer- 
 
The Irish Bar. 
 
 tions^ and in the very House which has so often been 
 the theatre of his glorious labours and splendid achieve- 
 ments. I remember the man, the theme of universal 
 panegyric, the wonder and the boast of Ireland for his 
 genius and his virtue. His name silenced the sceptic 
 upon the reality of genuine patriotism. To doubt the 
 purity of his motives was a heresy which no tongue 
 dared to utter. Envy was lost in admiration, and even 
 they whose crime he scourged, blended extorted praises 
 with the murmurs of resentment. He covered over 
 the unfledged Constitution with the ample wings of his 
 talents as the eagle covers her young; like her, he 
 soared, and like her he could behold the rays, whether 
 of royal favour, or of royal anger, with undazzled, 
 unintimidated eye. If, according to Demosthenes, to 
 grow with the growth, and to decay with the decline 
 of our country be the true criterion of a good citizen, 
 how infinitely did this man, even in the moment of his 
 lowest depression, surpass those upstart patriots who 
 only become visible as their country vanishes. 
 
 At the famous Bar meeting to resist the Union, Mr. 
 Burrowes took a very active part, and entertained a 
 project which would, certainly, either have prevented 
 the Union or caused civil war. His project was an 
 appeal to the various Yeomanry corps throughout Ire- 
 land, who, he urged, by their oath, were sworn to 
 uphold the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland ; 
 which necessarily and in terms pledged them to oppose 
 the Union. With great difficulty his friends, Mr. 
 Saurin and Mr. Foster, induced Mr. Burrowes to 
 abstain from pressing this, which he afterwards lamented 
 as a fatal concession. 
 
Peter Burr owes ^ K.C.y the Goldsmith of the Bar. 169 
 
 To the last he fought for the Constitution of Ireland. 
 During the final Session Sir Laurence Parsons moved 
 an amendment declaring That Parliament was bound 
 to maintain the Constitution established in 1782/^ Mr. 
 Burrowes made a powerful speech in support of Sir L. 
 Parsons. 
 
 I have seen several contemporary publications all 
 bearing unvarying testimony to his honesty and ability. 
 The anonymous author of Irish Political Characters 
 gives the following notice of him^ This gentleman 
 has been for some years a King^s Counsel^ the reward 
 of his distinguished merits at the Bar. When in Col- 
 lege he was alike remarkable for the possession of great 
 genius and application. At the time he was keeping 
 his Commons at the Temple^ he was very punctual in 
 his attendance at the Debating Societies^ and he was a 
 constant and very superior speaker. Grarrow was often 
 his opponent^ but Mr. Burrowes was infinitely his 
 superior^ both in eloquence and information.^^ 
 
 Sir Jonah Barrington^ who for years went the same 
 Circuit with Mr. Burrowes^ bears equal testimony to 
 his sincerity and ability. In his Rise and Fall of 
 the Irish Nation/^ Sir Jonah thus refers to him : Mr. 
 Peter Burrowes^ a veteran advocate of the rights of 
 Ireland, wherever and whenever he had the power of 
 declaring himself, made a most able effort to uphold 
 his principles against the Union. He was a gentleman 
 of the Bar who had many friends and justly. Nothing 
 could be more ungracious than his manner, nothing 
 much better than the matter of his orations. His 
 mind had ever been too independent to cringe, and his 
 opinions too intractable for an arbitrary minister. On 
 
I/O 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 this night he formed a noble and distinguished con- 
 trast to those of his own profession who had sold 
 themselves and their representations for a mess of 
 pottage/^ 
 
 Sir Jonah^s account of his friend^s ungracious manner, 
 was in reference, solely, to Mr. Burrowes^ personal 
 appearance, and very husky, unpleasant voice. 
 
 I remember him well. His figure was of very clumsy 
 shape, and he moved with ungraceful gesture. There 
 was no natural elegance in his exterior — it was all in- 
 side. His features were short, but pleasing. His voice 
 was the worst, and seemed to come ah imo pedore— 
 from the bottom of his throat. It was not unlike the 
 puflFs of an asthmatic bellows, but his heart was in his 
 words, and it was impossible to listen to his earnest 
 and impressive pleading without responding to the 
 conviction of the inspired speaker. He induced others 
 to believe what he believed in himself; whatever of pre- 
 judice his manner or his voice excited in the hearer, 
 was soon swept away in the stream of fervent eloquence 
 that produced flowers as it flowed. His zeal on behalf 
 of the Catholics was ardent and enduring, and when 
 the Catholic Delegates were prosecuted for a breach of 
 the Convention Act, Mr. Burrowes was the leading 
 counsel for the traversers. His speech on that occasion 
 may be read with interest, but instead of inserting it 
 here, I prefer giving his speech for the prosecution of 
 Robinson for bigamy. He was one of the most heart- 
 less scoundrels that ever betrayed youth and innocence. 
 The story of this man^s villainy is told in Mr. Burrowes 
 address to the jury, and presents all the features of 
 a romance. I therefore give it here under the title of 
 
Peter BurroweSy K.C.y the Goldsmith of the Bar, 171 
 
 THE UNGKATEFUL CLIENT. 
 
 On a luckless morning in tlie month of July, 1810^ 
 tlie prisoner at the Bar rapped at the door of Mr. 
 Charles Berry, an eminent attorney, residing on Arran 
 Quay, in the city of Dublin. He was admitted to a 
 conference — a long and full conference. Mr. Berry 
 never had known him, never had seen him, never heard 
 that such a man was in existence. His appearance was 
 wretched and squalid to a degree of extremity — carry- 
 ing the marks, the legible marks of misfortune and 
 aflBiction. His appearance excited Mr. Berry^s com- 
 passion, and he bestowed upon him his sympathy. 
 His tale of folly and misfortune was corroborated by 
 letters from persons in whom Mr. Berry could con- 
 fide. 
 
 " From these it appeared this man was the nephew of 
 General Robinson, who left him a legacy, amounting to 
 the great sum of one hundred thousand pounds. Think- 
 ing this sum inexhaustible, he became extravagant and 
 profligate ; purchased a commission in a cavalry regi- 
 ment, and when quartered at Clonmel, became ac- 
 quainted with the family of Mr. Stoney, of Arran-hill. 
 He paid his addresses to the eldest daughter of Mr. 
 Stoney, while yet a minor ; a Scotch marriage was 
 decided on. On their way to Scotland they stopped 
 in Dublin, at the house of a professional gentleman 
 who had married another daughter of Mr. Stoney. 
 Here he made a settlement vesting twenty thousand 
 pounds for the wife and issue of the marriage, and 
 four thousand for purposes not defined. At this time 
 the prisoner got acquainted with a Mr. Yigne, a 
 
1/2 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 jeweller in Nassau Street. They then set off for Scot- 
 land^ where they were married. They then went to 
 London^ where they indulged in the greatest expenses, 
 hired a furnished house in the most fashionable part 
 of the city ; he also hired a country villa, purchased 
 four carriages, and seven race-horses, with an enormous 
 establishment of grooms, postillions, and outriders. 
 He flourished at Newmarket and Epsom. He shot 
 like a meteor across public observation. He dazzled 
 for a week — he was recollected for a month. He 
 became a candidate for Parliamentary honours, and, 
 though he did not succeed, his contest cost him 
 eighteen thousand pounds. At the end of two years 
 he was without money and without credit. Bailiffs 
 were his principal visitors. He ultimately became a 
 prisoner in his own house. He told Mr. Berry he had 
 allowed a Receiver of the Court of Chancery, under a 
 decree in an amicable suit, to be put over lands bought 
 with his money, and that Mr. Stoney received the 
 rents, and would not allow him a penny. That he lent 
 Mr. Stoney at various times, from eight to ten thousand 
 pounds, and that his wife and four children had deserted 
 him, and went to live in his father-in-law^s house. He 
 attempted to follow them, but he was repulsed, the 
 doors of his father- in-law^ s house were shut against him; 
 he was left a stranger in a strange land, bereft of his 
 fortune, abandoned by his wife, shunned by his off- 
 spring, and left a prey to want and the impending 
 horrors of arrest and imprisonment. 
 
 Mr. Berry took him under his protection, procured 
 him a lodging, giving security for the rent, and sup- 
 plied him with means of support. He also . provided 
 
Peter Burr owes, K. C, the Goldsmith of the Bar, 1 73 
 
 him a physician^ medicine^ and wine. Pijially he be- 
 came an inmate of Mr. Berry^s hoase^ and the kind- 
 hearted Solicitor undertook the necessary proceedings 
 to recover such of the property as was recoverable. 
 Mr. Berry had a delicate wife, and two daughters^ one 
 a child, the other about sixteen years of age. She it 
 is, who has become the hapless heroine of this sad 
 story. 
 
 She was in her person lovely, in her manners 
 interesting, in female accomplishments eminently cul- 
 tivated, in domestic virtues and filial duty pre-eminent. 
 She had an ardent and elevated mind, a warm and 
 affectionate heart. She was the delight of her parents 
 at home, their pride abroad, the solace of their labours 
 and their cares, and the anticipated hope and joy of 
 their declining years. The love of offspring, the most 
 forcible of all our instincts, is ever stronger towards 
 the female than the male child. It is wise that it 
 should be so, it is more required ; it is just that it 
 should be so, it is more wanted. There is no pillow 
 on which the head of a parent, anguished by sickness 
 or by sorrow, can so sweetly repose as on the bosom 
 of an affectionate daughter. Her attentions are neces- 
 sary. The boy may afford occasional comfort and 
 pride to his family, they may catch glory from his 
 celebrity, and derive support from his acquisitions, 
 but he can never communicate the solid and unceas- 
 ing comforts of life which are derived from the care 
 and tender solicitude of the female child ; she seems 
 destined by Providence to be the perpetual solace 
 and happiness of her parents. Even after marriage 
 her filial attentions are unimpaired. She may give 
 
174 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 her hand and heart to her husband^ but still she may 
 share her care and attention with her parents without 
 a pang of jealousy or distrust from him. He only 
 looks on them as the assured pledges of fidelity and 
 the unerring evidences of a good disposition. 
 
 Mr. Berry never suspected that a married man with 
 four children, paralyzed and forlorn, received under 
 his hospitable roof, covered with benefits, could be 
 guilty of meditating the infliction of a fatal wound 
 upon his benefactor. But it turned out he had means 
 of acquiring an ascendancy over a young female mind 
 which were, unfortunately, too persuading, and on the 
 rSth of November, when he was so worn down by ill- 
 ness that his life was in danger, when he had to be 
 carried to a carriage in the arms of a servant, he 
 induced Miss Berry to accompany him to the house of 
 Mr. Vigne, in Nassau Street. Here he had provided 
 a clergyman named Harris, who married him and Miss 
 Berry. He then was carried back to his carriage, and 
 in Mr. Berry^s arms to his own bed, but did not com- 
 plete his crime. Miss Berry returned to her father^s 
 house. After some time the secret marriage trans- 
 pired, and Robinson claimed her as his wife. This 
 circumstance affected Mr. Berry with horror, and 
 caused his wife nearly the loss of her reason. Her 
 aunt, whose fortune she was to inherit, was seized with 
 apoplexy. 
 
 The first and second marriage being proved, the wicked 
 and ungrateful client was found guilty of bigamy, and 
 transported. 
 
 Mr. Burrowes held a lucrative appointment for a 
 brief period, while the Ministry of All the Talents,^^ 
 
Peter Burr owes, K.Cy the Goldsmith of the Bar. 175 
 
 held possession of tlie Treasury benches. Charles 
 James Fox appointed him first Counsel to the Revenue^ 
 but as it depended upon the duration of the Govern- 
 ment, he only held it from 1806 to 1807. He got a 
 hint that if he was of the opinion of the new Ministry 
 on the Catholic question, he might retain his oflS.ce, 
 but this was not the character of Peter Burrowes, so 
 he said his views on the question of Catholics being 
 entitled to equal rights with Protestants was unaltered,'^ 
 so he was removed from his ofllce. 
 
 Until 1821 he practised at the Bar, and in that year 
 the Court for Belief of Insolvent Debtors was estab- 
 lished in Ireland. Peter Burrowes and Mr. Parsons 
 were the joint Commissioners. On his retirement from 
 Circuit the members of the Leinster Bar presented 
 the veteran with a handsome testimonial and a 
 suitable address. That he well deserved this compli- 
 ment may be inferred from the words of his friend. 
 Lord Plunket, in proposing his health. 
 
 I know no man who has more to answer for. He 
 has spent his life in doing acts of kindness to any human 
 being but himself. He has been prodigal of his time — 
 his trouble — and his fortune, to a degree that is quite 
 inexcusable. In short, I know no way to account for 
 such an anomaly but by supposing him utterly deficient 
 of the instinct of selfishness.''^ 
 
 For a period of about fifteen years Mr. Burrowes 
 presided as Commissioner of the Insolvent Debtors^ 
 Court. He retired in 1835 upon a pension of 1600Z. a 
 year. Fifteen years later I became oflScially connected 
 with that court, and several of the old oflBcials and 
 practitioners remembered the late judge, and gave me 
 
1/6 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 several instances of his kind heart and simple nature, 
 which I introduce into this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Macnally^ one of the principal attorneys prac- 
 tising in the Courts informed me that the Commissioner 
 was one of the most kindly disposed men towards the 
 debtors who ever sat upon the bench. He was accustomed 
 to sit until a very late hour on the eve of such festivals as 
 Christmas and Easter^ in order^ if possible to allow the 
 insolvents to pass those solemn days in the society of 
 their families. He was often known to send a person, 
 in whom he could confide, to make terms with an ob- 
 durate detaining creditor^ and would pay out of his own 
 pocket sums of money to allow a struggling, honest, 
 but unfortunate insolvent to get the benefit of the Act. 
 This was frequently done on Circuit, of course unknown, 
 save to the friend entrusted with the errand of mercy. 
 
 Mr. Burrowes was very absent at times, and I was 
 told, was so accustomed to shave before a looking-glass, 
 placed in a particular spot in his dressing-room, that 
 when the glass was broken and removed, he still re- 
 paired to his accustomed corner, and performed his 
 shaving unaware he had no looking-glass. Donnelly, 
 his old valet, told me when dressing for a dinner-party 
 he missed one of his black silk stockings. Donnelly 
 assured him they had been placed together on a chair. 
 
 I have tried everywhere, Donnelly, and I can^t 
 find it high or low,^^ said the judge. 
 
 Did you try your foot, sir ? for I^m thinking you 
 put the pair on the one leg.^^ 
 
 The Commissioner did. ^^^Pon my word you are 
 right, Donnelly,^^ said he, as he descried what he 
 had done. 
 
Peter BurroweSj K.C.y the Goldsmith of the Bar. 177 
 
 His brother Commissioner^ Parsons, once wrote to 
 him an urgent note for a loan of 20/. Peter knew 
 Parsons was always in want of money, and wrote back, 
 
 ^.^ Dear Parsons, — I inclose you all the money in my 
 possession, a 10/. note. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Petee Bueeowes/^ 
 
 Instead of being a nate for only 10/. it was for 50Z., 
 and was thus acknowledged : — 
 
 My dear Peter, — I am greatly obliged to you, and, 
 when I am able, Pll repay you the SOL 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 J. Paesons.^^ 
 
 Near the close of his long life, his voice once more 
 was heard in public. When in his eighty-seventh year he 
 attended a meeting held to congratulate Earl Fortescue 
 on being appointed Lord-Lieutenant : the Earl of 
 Charlemont was in the chair. The patriarchal appear- 
 ance, and the unvaried patriotism of his life, gained 
 Mr. Burrowes, as he deserved, a most enthusiastic re- 
 ception. He was asked to address the meeting, and 
 thus complied : — 
 
 ^^My Lords and Gentlemen, — I came here by 
 accident, and did not expect I should be called upon 
 to take part in your proceedings. I did not think I 
 should raise my voice in public again ; but, having 
 been requested to second the address just read, I 
 cannot show my gratitude for the compliment con- 
 ferred upon me better than by responding to what I 
 consider an honour. It is not within my reach, either 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 physically, or intellectually, now to do justice to the 
 subject of that address. All I can say is, that through 
 the course of a long life the very term ^ ascendancy ^ 
 afflicted my feelings, and I never could hear it without 
 regret, in consequence of the abuses to which it led. 
 I feel now the term receives a correction by applying 
 it to the whole community ; and shall conclude with 
 this sentiment, and the expression of the hope, that I 
 might live still further to see the whole country 
 ascendant, and every individual belonging to that 
 country certain of justice.''^ For some years before 
 Mr. Burrowes^s death I was his next-door neighbour 
 in Leeson Street, and often met the patriarch and his 
 beloved daughter walking in St. Stephen^s Green. 
 He lived on intimate terms with Lord Plunket, and, 
 when dying, in 1841, in his eighty-ninth year, be- 
 queathed to Lord Plunket his gold snuff-box, with 
 the inscription, To my friend. Lord Plunket, whom 
 nature hath ennobled. Though the Peerage did not 
 enrol Peter Burrowes, Nature wrote legibly upon his 
 open brow the grand, true name of gentleman — 
 clantm'et venerabile nomen,^ 
 
 THOMAS GOOLD, MASTER IN CHANCERY. 
 
 The name of Goold is of considerable antiquity in the 
 legal history of Ireland. In the reign of Queen Eliza- 
 beth, James Goold was second Justice of the Court of 
 the Lord President of Munster, and long anterior, 
 the chief Magistrate of the City of Cork was usually 
 
 1 A Memoir, which has supplied materials for my sketch, 
 was published by W. Burrowes, Esq. 
 
Thomas Gooldj Master in Chancery, 1 79 
 
 selected from tliis family. In 1801, Francis Goold was 
 created a baronet^ and the family was still further 
 distinguished by the splendid talents and virtues of 
 the gentleman whose career I now sketch. 
 
 Thomas Goold, one of the most eminent members of 
 the Irish Bar, was born about the year 1770. In youth 
 he had all the advantages of wealth and position, and, 
 by nature, was qualified to do credit to his ancient 
 house. He was compact in person, with handsome, 
 intelligent features, a pleasing voice, and great oratorical 
 talents. Having cultivated his intellectual and phy- 
 sical powers, he resolved to display his accomplish- 
 ments, and, possessed of ample means, indulged in 
 lavish expenditure. He drove handsome carriages, 
 rode thoroughbred horses, took part in private theatri- 
 cals, and gave batchelor parties. These outgoings soon 
 made serious alterations in the state of his finances, 
 and he discovered that, in order to maintain his inde- 
 pendence, he must do something besides spend. As 
 he was ambitious, and liked to excel, he resolved to 
 study the law. With one so mentally constituted as 
 Thomas Goold, a good beginning was all that was 
 needed. Having made up his mind to work he did 
 work, and soon made considerable progress in mastering 
 the great leading principle of the laws and constitution 
 of England. 
 
 A very good proof of his intellectual powers was 
 given by him at an early age, when the Eight Honour- 
 able Edmund Burke published his Reflections on the 
 French Revolution.-" It was violently assailed. Mr. 
 Goold had but a very short time returned from Paris, 
 where he witnessed so many cases of atrocity, as 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 enabled him to bear out many of the positions laid 
 down by Mr. Burke. He boldly and vigorously 
 defended the Eeflections in a pamphlet^ and en- 
 countered Mr. Burke^s critics. I never^^^ he stated 
 in his work, saw Mr. Burke but once, I was then in 
 the gallery of the House of Commons. I know no 
 man that knows him. I probably shall know no man 
 that knows him. In a few weeks I leave this country, 
 . perhaps never to return. I expect but little from any 
 man. I shall never ask anything. In whatever country 
 I live — in whatever situation I may be placed, I shall 
 look down on grandeur — I shall look up to greatness. 
 Nor wealth, nor rank, nor power, nor influence, shall 
 bend my stubborn neck. I am prostrate before talent, 
 I am prostrate before worth ; my admiration for Mr. 
 Burke amounts almost to enthusiasm.^^ So much ear- 
 nestness—so much independence, was balm to the 
 spirit of the illustrious Irishman, who could hardly 
 have failed to observe the Celtic fervour in which Mr. 
 Goold^s work was written. Mr. Burke was then in 
 need of such consolation. He had been ill-treated by 
 the party for whom he had done so much, and, there- 
 fore, was most grateful for these words from one to 
 whom he was personally unknown. He resolved this 
 should not long remain the case ; he discovered the 
 name of his unknown ally, and sought to repay his 
 zeal. 
 
 An opportunity soon presented itself. Earl Fitz- 
 william — a personal friend of Mr. Burke^s — was ap- 
 pointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1796. While 
 en roide for his Viceroyalty, he promised to pay a visit 
 to Beaconsfield, Mr. Burke^s country seat. A letter 
 
Thomas Gooldj Master in Chancery. 1 8 1 
 
 was handed to Mr. Goold^ wlio read it with surprise 
 and delight. It contained a most friendly invitation 
 from Mr. Burke, asking Mr. Goold to hasten to 
 Beaconsfield for a few days, to meet His Excellency, 
 Earl FitzwilHam. You can picture the visions of 
 castle festivities, not to speak of ofl&cial distinction, 
 which passed before the imagination of Mr. Groold 
 when he perused this most friendly letter. We may 
 be sure he was not slow in accepting it, but still he 
 arrived too late. His Excellency was unable to remain 
 as long as he intended, and left for Dublin before Mr. 
 Goold arrived. Mr. Burke proved himself a warm and 
 grateful friend. He kept Mr. Goold for several days 
 his guest, and when departing, gave him a strong 
 recommendation to the Viceroy. This, I make no 
 doubt, would have secured a good appointment, had 
 not the liberal measures of Lord Fitzwilliam^s adminis- 
 tration created so much alarm in the minds of the 
 Protestant Ascendancy party in Ireland and in England 
 — they forced the Government to recall the popular 
 Viceroy. Thus terminated Mr. Goold^s official pro- 
 spects for the time. 
 
 How little can we foresee our lot in life, or by what 
 accidents our career is appointed. Denied the chance 
 of Castle patronage, Mr. Goold found he must look to 
 his practice at the Bar for his livelihood, and urged by 
 the sharp spur of necessity, he worked steadily and per- 
 severingly. Shortly after being called, some successful 
 speeches in Nisi Prius cases established his fame as a 
 powerful advocate, and he was soon in great practice. 
 His eloquence, as has been seen in his speech at the 
 celebrated Bar meeting, was of the boldest, and most 
 
I82 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 energetic cast. He spoke strongly^ because lie felt 
 deeply^ and no one surpassed him in tlie power to stir 
 hearts. He evinced great tact and discernment. He 
 knew every avenue to the reason^ and when he failed in 
 argument he had recourse to the passions. His bril- 
 liant flights of fancy dazzled^ if they did not convince, 
 and if they were sometimes overstrained, they usually 
 bore him to a triumphant victory. 
 
 He went the Munster Circuit, and in Cork, where 
 his family held high position ; and in Limerick, where 
 many of his kindred dwelt, he was always well received, 
 and briefs showered upon him. He waa not devoid of 
 vanity, and Harry Dean Grady, who was quite his 
 opposite in many respects, as we shall find later on, took 
 great delight in covering Goold^s polished and refined 
 manner, with irresistible ridicule. Grady was a vulgar 
 wag, a male virago, with ludicrous powers of mimicry ; 
 and his contortions of countenance, while Goold was in 
 his pathetic moods^ very often set the court in a roar, 
 to the utter discomfiture of the eloquent speaker. 
 In 1823, a vacancy having occurred among the three 
 Irish Sergeants-at-Law, the co?/ was conferred on Mr. 
 Goold, and while sergeant, he delivered many of his 
 most eloquent Bar speeches. 
 
 An amusing anecdote, related to me, is the follow- 
 ing : — While on Circuit in Limerick, the sergeant was 
 invited to dine with a friend outside the city, and when 
 returning late at night, after passing a very convivial 
 evening, met a patrol of military, under the command 
 of a Highland sergeant. 
 
 ^^Who goes there asked the Scotchman. 
 Sergeant Goold,^^ was the reply. 
 
Thomas Goo Id, Master in Cha7icery, 183 
 
 Well mon, if you be Sergeant Goold^ produce 
 your furlough/'' 
 
 This unexpected and^ perhaps^ unintelligible demand 
 was not promptly met, so the Highland Sergeant was 
 convinced the rank of the civilian was assumed, and 
 was about taking the honoured sergeant into custody, 
 when lackily, an ofl&cer of the garrison came up^ and 
 recognizing his Majesty^ s Sergeant-at-Law, rescued 
 him from the guard-house. It took some time to 
 reconcile the Scotch sergeant to the loss of his prisoner, 
 for he could not understand how any one could be a 
 sergeant who had not sarved. 
 
 The lucrative office of Master in Chancery was given 
 to Sergeant Goold in 1832, and he disposed of his duties 
 very efficiently. 
 
 He resided in Merrion Square, with his amiable and 
 accomplished family, but was much disturbed by a 
 neighbour who lived next door, and whose brain was 
 somewhat deranged. He was a Major Spread. One 
 of his freaks was keeping his house in such a state of 
 unrepair as to cause Master Goold to apprehend the 
 chimney would tumble and do mischief. He remon- 
 strated often with the Major, but without effect. At 
 length the Master^s worst anticipations were realized. 
 The chimney of the Major^s house crushed through the 
 Master's roof, and landed at the top of the bedroom 
 stairs. 
 
 Furious and indignant, the Master next morning 
 was thinking what damages he could recover, when his 
 footman said ^Hhe Major^s servant wished to see him."'^ 
 
 Show him in,^^ replied the Master, expecting a very 
 humble apology for the trouble and inconvenience, not 
 
The Irish Bar. 
 
 to speak of tlie expense^ occasioned to the Master and 
 his family by this occurrence. When the servant 
 appeared before the Master he said^ Master^ the 
 Major sent me^ with his compliments to say^ he^ll be 
 greatly obliged to you if you send him home his bricks.^' 
 Having delivered his message^ the man beat a hasty 
 retreat^ for^ from the Master^s quick temper^ he did not 
 care to await his reply. 
 
 A friend told me the following anecdotes of the Master 
 and Isaac Burke Bethel^ an old member of the Bar, 
 who was ever ready to accept any meals he could get, 
 or take any fee that was offered. On one occasion 
 when engaged in a prosecution, he said very pompously, 
 
 I appear for the Crown, my Lord.''^ 
 
 Oftener for the half-crown/^ whispered a wit, who 
 knew Burke BetheFs line of practice. When Master 
 Goold had taken the house in Merrion Square, Bethel 
 called and expressed his wish to see it. .The Master had 
 no desire to encourage his visits, but could not refuse to 
 show him the house. As he did not offer him luncheon, 
 which was what Bethel sought, when going down a 
 back stairs, the light being dim. Bethel said, A man 
 might easier break his neck, than break his fast in this 
 house.^^ 
 
 Even this broad hint was untaken, so when parting 
 Bethel said, I declare. Master, it is more than six 
 years since you gave me a dinner.''^ 
 
 Then you are barred by the statute of limitations, 
 sir,^^ said the Master, as he bowed his importunate 
 visitor out. 
 
 The Master had a numerous family of worthy and 
 gifted sons and lovely daughters. One of his daughters 
 
Thomas Gooldy Master in Chancery, 185 
 
 maiTied a very estimable and talented nobleman of bigh 
 descent^ the late Earl of Dunravan, and left several 
 children. Another was the wife of Sir Gore Booths 
 Bart. The eldest son of the Master was accidentally- 
 drowned ; his second son is a most respected clergy- 
 man^ Archdeacon of Raphoe^ and the youngest, who 
 was my circuit companion for several years — loved when 
 living and lamented when death snatched him from 
 all that could attach him to the fleeting world, was 
 Wyndham Goold, M.P. for the County of Limerick. 
 We had travelled together shortly before his death, 
 and we parted in order that he might go on the con- 
 tinent. I little thought he was so near his death, and 
 it was the last I should see on earth of one of the most 
 accomplished and agreeable companions I possessed. 
 
 The Master died at an advanced age in 1846. His 
 appointment was conferred upon one of the most com- 
 petent members of the Irish Bar, Henry Baldwin, Q.O., 
 but a voice potential in Irish affairs at that time, to wit, 
 Daniel O^Connell, finding the letter to Mr. Baldwin 
 was not posted, caused the appointment to be revoked, 
 and the vacant mastership given to another. It was 
 worthily bestowed upon an excellent lawyer, and pa- 
 triotic Irishman, Jeremiah J. Murphy, Q.C. This 
 excellent lawyer most satisfactorily discharged his 
 judicial duties, and died June 1878, deeply and 
 deservedly regretted. 
 
1 86 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LAST SITTING OF THE IRISH HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
 
 lOtli June, 1800. — Appearance of tlie House. — Conduct of the 
 Members. — Anecdote of the Member for Limerick City. — 
 Lord Castlereagh moves the Motion that the Bill for the 
 Union do pass.— How the Speaker put the Question. — The 
 Ayes have it. — Anecdote of Curran. 
 
 It was on the 10th June, 1800, the members of the 
 Irish House of Commons sat for the last time. The 
 Bill for the Union was to be passed. Many went 
 there, crushed in spirit, and desponding in mind, but 
 sustained by the consciousness that they had performed 
 their duty, and fought valiantly the battle of the Con- 
 stitution of their native land. The Speaker — Eight 
 Hon. John Foster — was of this number. He had 
 resisted the measure in every way consistently with 
 his duty, and the dignity of his high station, and the 
 forms of the House had been used to delay it as far as 
 practicable, in vain. Salaried officials, pensioners, 
 and place-hunters, had been elected to barter away the 
 Parliament of a country of which they knew nothing, 
 and cared nothing. Venal representatives were cor- 
 rupted, and sold their votes for place or money bribes. 
 One member for the City of Limerick, when accused 
 of selling his country, had the hardihood and unblush- 
 ing effi'ontery to reply, — 
 
 Thank God! 1 have a country to sell ! Fearing 
 
Last Sitting of the Irish House of Commons. 1 87 
 
 some outburst of popular anger might disturb the 
 last meetmg of the Commons^ soldiers were paraded 
 round the House, and the tramp of British infantry- 
 resounded beneath the portico of the Irish Senate 
 House. The members took their seats, and one could 
 tell, by the expression of each countenance, who was 
 for — or against — the Union. The former, joyous and 
 unconcerned, laughing and chatting gaily — the latter 
 depressed, and, for the most part, silent, as though in 
 the room with Death. 
 
 Most men looked compassionately on the Speaker. 
 He had, it was well-known, resisted the measure with 
 all the powers of his mind, and resources of his talents, 
 and it was through his reluctant lips the fatal words 
 should pass. True, he could have resigned office, but 
 this would have availed nothing to stay the progress 
 of the hateful bill. 
 
 He took his seat for the last time, and beheld the 
 house crowded, and the gallery full j but no longer 
 with auditors anxious to listen to the voice of the 
 orator — to hear the eloquence which disclosed the 
 genius of the land. A dull heavy weight seemed to 
 oppress the senses, and some winding-up, routine 
 business was got through listlessly. 
 
 At length Lord Castlereagh moved the order for the 
 third reading of the bill for a Legislative Union between 
 Great Britain and Ireland. He spoke like an automaton 
 in cold measured words, that dropped from him as if 
 by the effect of machinery. Having finished, he sat 
 down, as though quite indifferent while the house became 
 visibly affected. Some members hastily withdrew, as 
 if unable to control their emotion, and unwilling that 
 
The Irish Bar, 
 
 others shonld see bow they were moved. Some mem- 
 bers scowled and grew excited^ as if some blow bad 
 been struck wbicb tbey were ready to return. Others 
 sat pale and frightened^ as if a fearful doom was to 
 befall them. 
 
 The Speaker rose calm and dignified^ but presently 
 he sat down^ for a rush of thoughts came crowding his 
 brain, and he felt dizzy — but it was only for a moment. 
 The innate force of his intellect sustained him. The 
 consciousness of what was his imperative duty roused 
 him, and he held up the bill. With a steady glance 
 he looked upon the National Senate House, and in a 
 firm voice uttered the formal words, As many as are 
 of opinion this Bill do pass will say ^ Aye,^ on the con- 
 trary say ^No.''^^ 
 
 The response that came forth from the ^ Ayes ' was 
 low in tone, but unmistakable in number. Again the 
 Speaker ti*iedto speak, but now his voice was indistinct 
 — and, with an eye averted from the Bill which he held 
 as though it was some loathsome obj.ect, he said, in a 
 voice almost inarticulate^ ^^^The ^ Ayes^ have it.^^ He 
 then stood erect, posed with the rigidity of a marble 
 statue ; then like one possessed of sudden impulse, he 
 flung the Bill upon the table and fell back in the chair 
 as if exhausted by the effort. 
 
 It is not exactly known whether any armed resistance 
 to the passing of the Union Bill was actually meditated, 
 but that such was in contemplation, may be inferred 
 from the following incident, — 
 
 On the night of the last sitting of the Commons, a 
 small-sized, plain-visaged man was seen lurking beside 
 one of the great pillars supporting the portico of the 
 
Last Sitting of the Irish House of Commons. 189 
 
 House. At this time a swaying crowd of excited 
 citizens thronged the area of College Green, Westmor- 
 land Street^ and Grafton Street^ as far as St. Stephen^s 
 Green. The flash of bayonets, and the tramp of drilled 
 soldiery might be seen and heard by the crowd. The 
 last scene of the National Tragedy had been played 
 within the House, and the actors — the members — were 
 departing from the theatre of their performance, never 
 more to repeat the play.. 
 
 As the lights — one by one — were extinguished, in 
 the Commons House of Parliament, and in the passages 
 leading to that stately chamber, in which the abdica- 
 tion of the representatives of the sovereign people had 
 just taken place, that dwarfish man looked out from 
 eyes that almost lightened the gloom. He was recog- 
 nized, and accosted. One of the United Irishmen 
 coming close to him, said Curran, what are you doing 
 here ? The far-famed Irish orator and advocate sprang 
 forward. As he did so, the cloak in which he was 
 muffled fell from his figure, and with a countenance 
 in which the expression of hopeless woe seemed 
 traceable, he asked the inquirer, in bitter words. 
 Where are now your three hundred thousand armed 
 men ? To this no answer came. If there was any 
 armed confederacy organized to oppose the measure, it 
 certainly was not prepared to act, and thus the Act of 
 Union was peacefully carried. The measure passed 
 the Commons on the 10th June, 1800, and received the 
 Eoyal Assent on the 1st August in that year. 
 
Tlie Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CHIEF BAEON O^GRADY^ FIRST LORD GUILLAMORE. 
 
 A quaint joker. — Born 20tli January, 1767. — Called to the Bar. 
 — In 1802 appointed Attorney- General. — Prosecutes the 
 traitors after Emmet's rebellion in 1803. — Succeeds Lord 
 Avonmore as Chief Baron in 1805. — Continued Chief Baron 
 until 1831. — Created Viscount Guillamore. — Bon mots. — 
 The Timber Acts. — Indifferent lawyers. — The noisy court. — 
 Kerry Cousens, — An honest thief. — A speech after verdict. — 
 The acquitted highwayman. — Solomon and Samson. — Ke- 
 tired in 1831, and had a fit of paralysis. — Death on 20th 
 April, 1840. — Chief Justice Doherty. — Harry Deane Grady. 
 
 Standish O^Grady^ for many ye&.rs Lord Chief Baron 
 of the Irish Court of Exchequer^ earned a reputation 
 as a humourist. Madden says/ He was a quaint 
 joker j a shrewd and old-fashioned wit^ with a vein of 
 dry humour. As a judge he enjoyed a plebeian popu- 
 larity^ for, with equivocal good nature, he took great 
 sport in baffling the Crown lawyer. He was, perhaps, 
 the least dignified person that ever sat upon the 
 Bench ; but he was proud of being so queer a character. 
 He had a vile county Limerick brogue, which appa- 
 rently he took much pains to exaggerate, he was a 
 frolicsome farceur, whose antics and broad jokea 
 would have been endurable in a tavern, but was very 
 disgusting on a Bench of Justice. 
 
 I was long anxious to collect as much information as 
 
 ^ " Ireland and its Eulers since 1829," vol. i. p. 126. 
 
Chief Baron Grady ^ first L ord Guillamorei 1 9 1 
 
 I could of the career and hon mots of this quaint old 
 Irish judge. Owing^ chiefly, to the kind attention of 
 his nephew, the late Standish Thomas 0^ Grady, 
 barrister, I am enabled to give the following parti- 
 culars : — 
 
 Standish 0^ Grady, first Lord Guillamore, was born 
 at Mount Prospect, in the county of Limerick, on the 
 20th January, 1767. He graduated in Trinity College, 
 Dublin, and, adopting the law as his profession, was 
 called to the Irish Bar. 
 
 At the Bar, his great knowledge of his profession 
 and ready talent for business, aided by his numerous 
 connexions on the Munster Circuit, obtained him large 
 and lucrative practice, and in 1802 he was appointed 
 Attorney- General for Ireland, as successor of the Right 
 Hon. John Stewart. He was the leading officer of 
 the Crown during the prosecutions for High Treason, 
 arising out of Emmet^s rebellion in 1803, when the 
 humane and eminent Chief Justice of the King's 
 Bench, Lord Kilwarden, was killed. When Lord 
 Avonmore ceased to sit as Chief Baron of the Ex- 
 chequer,^ in 1805, the Attorney- General succeeded 
 him, and Standish O^Grady presided as Lord Chief 
 Baron thence until January, 1831, when he resigned, 
 and was created Viscount Guillamore. 
 
 Among the bon mots attributed to him are the 
 following : — 
 
 Mr. Darby 0^ Grady, the Chief Barents brother, 
 caught a boy stealing his turnips. The Chief Baron, 
 being in the neighbourhood, the despoiled owner of 
 the turnips asked his learned brother if the boy 
 could be prosecuted under the Timber Acts J' 
 
192 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 ^^No/^ replied the Chief Baron; then he added, 
 
 unless^ indeed^ the turnips are sticky ! 
 
 A case being left to arbitration, the connsel named 
 on each side were in no great repute as lawyers, so the 
 Chief Baron said, You leave this to two indifferent 
 lawyers, with liberty, if they disagree, to call in an 
 odd oneP 
 
 At the Assizes in Tralee, great noise prerailing in 
 the Court-house, annoyed the Chief Baron. The 
 Crier called, Silence,^^ in vain. Observing the High 
 Sheriff intently reading a book, instead of preserving 
 due decorum, the Chief Baron called aloud, — 
 
 Mr. Sheriff, I tell you that if you allow this noise 
 to continue, you^ll never be able to finish your novel 
 in quiet ."^^ 
 
 Some of the Chief Barents charges to juries were 
 veiy quaint. In Kerry a number of men were in- 
 dicted for a riot and assault. Several were O'Dono- 
 ghues, Moriartys, Duggans, .&c., and many of the 
 jury bore similar patronymics. 
 
 Aware of the consanguinity prevalent throughout 
 Kerry, when the case closed, his lordship prefaced his 
 address to the jury with the significant remark, — 
 
 Of coorse, gentlemen, ye^ll acquit your own re- 
 latives/^ 
 
 A boy was charged before the Chief Baron with a 
 larceny of pantaloons : the case being clearly proved, 
 the prisoner received an excellent character for honesty. 
 The Chief Barents charge to the jury was pithy. 
 
 Gentlemen, the prisoner was an honest boy, hut lie 
 stole the hreeches,^^ 
 
 Aware how easily missing links in a chain of evidence 
 
Chief Baron Grady, first Lord Guillamore. 3 93 
 
 may be inferred^ if not proved, the Chief Baron was 
 very slow to allow counsel to speak unnecessarily int 
 criminal cases. 
 
 A very inexperienced young barrister was employed 
 to defend a prisoner, indicted for burglary. The case 
 was weak as to the hour the forcible entrance was 
 effected, and this was the prisoner's only chance. The 
 young counsellor was anxious to display his familiarity 
 with criminal pleading, and sought to gain the judge^s 
 attention. 
 
 I merely wish to address your Lordship on the 
 form of the indictment, if your Lordship pleases,^' 
 persisted the young barrister. 
 
 I^'ll hear ;g#u with mighty great pleasure, sir ; but 
 1^11 be afther taking the verdict of the jury first,'^ 
 replied the caustic old judge. 
 
 The jury acquitted the prisoner, so the young advo- 
 cate had to keep his learning for another occasion. 
 
 A prisoner, an old offender, was tried before him at 
 Ennis^ on the last day of the Assizes for County Clare. 
 He was charged with robbing on the highway, effected 
 with considerable violence. To the surprise of his 
 Lordship, who considered the case clearly proved, the 
 verdict was, *^ Not guilty."^^ The judge, determined to 
 let the jury know what he thought of their decision, 
 turning to the Crown Solicitor, inquired, — 
 
 ^^Is there any other indictment against this innocent 
 man.'^ 
 
 ^^ No, my Lord.*' 
 Then tell the gaoler not to let him loose till I get 
 half an hour's start of him, for Fd rather not meet him 
 on the roadJ^ 
 
 a 
 
194 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 A tenant^ having sustained loss by the conduct of 
 liis lessor^ sued him in an action for breach of cove- 
 nant. When pronouncing judgment^ the Chief Baron 
 said^ The plaintiff had entered into possession with a 
 qualified covenant, and should bear the loss non-pay- 
 ment of rent had often occasioned. Solomon was a 
 wise man_, and Samson a strong man; but neither 
 could pay rent if they had not the money."*^ 
 
 The Chief Baron, as we have mentioned, continued 
 to preside on the Exchequer Bench until 1831, when 
 he retired, and was created Viscount Guillamore. 
 
 On the 10th of June of that year, 1831, while re- 
 siding in St. Stephen Green, Dublin, he had an attack 
 of paralysis, which affected his speech and hand. He 
 was, however, not deprived wholly of reason, and at- 
 tended to his private affairs until August, when he 
 left Dublin for his seat, Eockbarton, near Limerick, 
 where he died on the 20th April, 1840, in his seventy- 
 third year. 
 
 CHIEF JUSTICE DOHERTY. 
 
 John Doherty, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of 
 Common Pleas, was a singularly handsome man. He 
 had more the air and deportment of a heavy dragoon^ 
 than a member of a learned profession. My friend, 
 the late Daniel Owen Madden, thus accurately describes 
 his appearance : — Mr. Doherty was a gallant, dashing, 
 handsome Irish gentleman ; remarkably tall in stature, 
 and in his carriage resembling a lively colonel of cavalry 
 much more than a practising barrister. He had an 
 animated countenance, in which, with all its smiling 
 
Chief Justice Doherty. 
 
 warmth^ there was a subdued fierceness^ expressive 
 intrepidity and energy/^ ^ 
 
 He was a relative of the celebrated George Can- 
 ning, and was considered very like that statesman, 
 With such personal and political recommendations, 
 when elected member of Parliament for Kilkenny, 
 he soon became a popular member of the British 
 Senate. 
 
 He possessed much ready wit, and a few of his hon mots 
 are worth recording. At one of the viceregal balls a 
 brother judge, having imbibed somewhat too much of 
 the juice of the grape, was not very steady on his legs. 
 Next morning the Chief Justice was asked, — 
 
 " Is it true, Judge danced at the Castle ball last 
 
 night ? 
 
 Well,^^ replied Doherty, " I certainly can say I 
 saw him m a reelJ' 
 
 One of the oflS.cers of the Court of Common Pleas 
 had a remarkable face. It was as nearly shaped like a 
 hatchet as was consistent with the usual features, but 
 the nose had a sharpness of outline that was strikingly 
 appp.rent. 
 
 One rough March day the Chief Justice was alight- 
 ing from his carriage at the entrance to the Pour 
 Courts, as this oflBcial came puffing and blowing, from 
 the effects of the gale. ^^You seem quite out of 
 breath,^^ said the Chief Justice, as he shook hands 
 with his official. 
 
 ^^Yes,^^ replied the other, ^^as I came along the 
 Quays the wind was cutting my face.''^ 
 
 2 " Ireland and its Eulers since 1829." 
 O 2 
 
196 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Upon my word/^ gravely replied the Chief Justice, 
 
 I think the ivind had the worst of it,^^ 
 
 Observing a lady with a dress so low in the bosom 
 as to excite remark, the Chief Justice, on being asked. 
 
 Did you ever see the like of that before,^^ promptly 
 replied, Never since I was weaned, 
 
 Chief Justice John Doherty was a native of Tippe- 
 rary, and called to the Bar in 1808. He had considerable 
 practice on the Leinster Circuity and was one of the 
 Commissioners of National Education. When Lord 
 Anglesey sought to govern Ireland by selecting his 
 officials from rival camps, he thought he was appointing 
 a Whig Solicitor-General in putting Mr. Doherty in 
 that station, as a balance against the Tory Attorney- 
 General, Mr. Joy, but he never made a greater mistake. 
 Doherty was opposed to Liberal men and measures, 
 and never forgave O^Connell for the victory 0^ Conn ell 
 gained over him at the Cork Special Commission in 
 1829. This was when trying the men charged with 
 the famous Doneraile Conspiracy. A number of the 
 peasantry of the County of Cork were sent to gaol for 
 trial. They were informed against by spies who 
 swore those men had conspired to assassinate three 
 Doneraile magistrates, Admiral Evans, J.P., Mr. 
 Creagh, J.P., and George Bond Low, J .P. The Special 
 Commission was directed to Baron Pennefather and 
 Judge Torrans, and Doherty, then Solicitor- General, 
 was sent to conduct the prosecution. He made a most 
 powerful speech in opening the case, and the four men 
 first tried, and defended by Messrs. McCarthy and 
 Pigot, were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. 
 A man named William Bourke rode off from Cork to 
 
Chief Justice Doherty. 
 
 197 
 
 Darrynane Abbey, to fetch O^Oonnell^ a distance of 
 ninety miles, on bis horse, and having obtained O^Con- 
 nelFs consent to attend and defend the remainder of 
 the prisoners, started and reached Cork on Monday 
 morning, while Doherty was stating the case against 
 the men next on trial. He had not concluded before 
 O'Connell arrived, having travelled all night, and, 
 during the remainder of the sitting of the Court 
 O^Connell succeeded in every instance, and the jury 
 either acquitted or disagreed. O^Connell brought 
 Doherty^s conduct before the House of Commons, but 
 here the tables were turned, and Doherty obtained as 
 signal a triumph over 0^ Connelly as, in Cork, 0^ Council 
 obtained over him. 
 
 Mr. Doherty continued Solicitor- General until De- 
 cember, 1830, when Lord Plunket was raised from 
 being Chief Justice. of the Common Pleas to the rank 
 of Lord Chancellor. Then the vacant seat on the bench 
 was filled by Mr. Doherty. He had no very high fame 
 as a judge, but his courtesy and patience made him 
 greatly esteemed. He married Miss Wall, of Cool- 
 namuck, and it is said was desirous of a peerage, and 
 would have preferred a seat in the House of Lords to 
 the chief seat in the L^ish Common Pleas. He had a 
 chance of realizing a large fortune. It was the days 
 of Eailway speculations, when Hudson rose, and reigned 
 the Railway King, and like Hudson, Doherty rose, and 
 like Hudson fell. I have been told the Chief Justice 
 made by railways 80,000L, and by continuing to invest 
 lost, not only all he gained, but, alas ! all he possessed. 
 He died in Wales, whither he had gone for change of 
 air, about the year 1846, when he was succeeded in the 
 
198 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Chief Justiceship by the then Attorney-General, J. H. 
 Monahan^ an able and distinguished judge. 
 
 HAERY DEANE GRADY. 
 
 Among the most eminent Irish Nisi Prius lawyers 
 of the earlier portion of the present century^ was Harry 
 Deane Grady. He was a native of the county of 
 Limerick, and was fitted by nature as well as by pro- 
 fession for the Bar. In stature he was short and stout, 
 with a face indicative of shrewd wit and caustic 
 humour. His voice was loud, and he possessed a 
 robust sort of phraseology which smacked more of the 
 fortitur in modisy than the siiaviter in re. He had been 
 elected one of the members for Limerick in the Irish 
 House of Commons, and soon became one of the Govern- 
 ment's staunch supporters. When remonstrated with 
 on going against the wishes of his constituents who 
 were opposed to the Union, he very resolutely declared 
 his ideas to be strongly in favour of that project, and 
 hinted the Government had made it worth his while to 
 vote for that measure. 
 
 ^^What!'' cried his indignant remonstrator, do 
 you mean to sell your country ? 
 
 Thank God,'' cried this pure patriot, " that I have 
 a country to sell." 
 
 He was very coarse in his expressions, and when 
 reminded that he owed his position to his constituents, 
 he said, ^^I care nothing for my constituents, I get 
 nothing good from them. Begad if I only shake hands 
 with them they give me the itch." 
 
 His bullying, bustling, browbeating manner was of 
 great use in Nisi Prius cases, when rough work was to 
 
Harry Deane Grady, 199 
 
 be done^ and no one at the Bar could perform any sort 
 of bullying better tlian Harry Deane Grady. His great 
 delight was to encounter a really intelligent^ but 
 assumedly^ obtuse Irish witness^ when a trial of skill 
 would take place^ the astute counsel endeavouring to 
 extract much in favour of his client^ and the witness 
 resolved to reveal but little. Grady would give the 
 witness his own way at firsts pretend to credit his 
 statement^ nay^ encourage him with such words as 
 exactly/^ '^just so/^ and thus leading the witness to 
 suppose he had gained the victory, and triumphed over 
 ^^the counsellor/^ but all this time Grady was in- 
 geniously weaving a net in which to ensnare his 
 victim, and having obtained the requisite admissions, 
 suddenly changed his tactics, and obliged the baffled 
 witness to admit his story was a pure invention. 
 
 Grady exercised much influence in Court, by what 
 he termed *^his jury eye.^^ His right eye was con- 
 stantly used in winking at the jury when he wished 
 them to note some particular answer from an adverse 
 witness. Appearing in Court one morning in rather 
 depressed spirits, which, for one of his usual joyous 
 temperament was very unusual, a sympathizing friend 
 said, — 
 
 Harry, are you unwell ? You are not as lively as 
 usual.^^ 
 
 How can I, my dear fellow,^^ he answered. 
 
 What's the matter with you 
 
 My ^ury eye is out of order, was the reply. 
 But Harry Deane Grady's rough manner was not 
 always successful. O'Connell could be rough when 
 occasion required, but no one could be smoother, or 
 
200 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 use the blarney with more tact, when it was the fitter 
 instrument to ensure success. The following anecdote 
 illustrates the difference between these two eminent 
 barristers, in a very complete manner. 
 
 Shortly after joining the Munster Circuit, O^Con- 
 nell was travelling with Harry Deane Grady. They 
 shared in the expense of a chaise, and were posting 
 from Cork to Dublin. Their route lay over the Kilworth 
 mountains, then much frequented by highway robbers. 
 While changing horses in Fermoy, a few miles at the 
 south side of the Kilworth mountains, both gentlemen 
 made the disagreeable discovery that though they had 
 pistols, they had no powder, and their balls, therefore, 
 were useless. While discussi^ the chance of getting 
 any supply in the town — then a mere collection of huts 
 — very unlike the bustling, prosperous, great military 
 station it is at this moment, when the garrison is com- 
 manded by his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught, 
 where his Excellency the Duke of Marlborough, Lord 
 Lieutenant of Ireland, is renting Carysville, close to 
 the town, at 800i. for a few months, to enjoy the 
 amusement of salmon fishing. Where lords and ladies 
 are thick as blackberries; and at present the Eoman 
 Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Cloyne, and all the 
 dignitaries of the diocese are assembled for the 
 celebration of the High Mass for the repose of the soul 
 of Pope Pius IX. 
 
 While Grady and O^Connell were regretting not 
 having looked to their weapons before leaving Cork, 
 the clatter of horses^ hoofs and the martial sound of 
 dragoons, with their long swords, saddles, and bridles 
 attracted their attention. 
 
Harry Deaiie Grady. 
 
 20 1 
 
 ^^Hallo/^ cried O^Connell^ we^^e in luck. Here is 
 the escort of the judges^ and we may be able to get a 
 supply from them.'^ 
 
 That^s very likely/^ said Grady^ as the corporal 
 and four of the privates came from the stable, where 
 they had left their chargers, and tramped as troopers 
 do tramp into the hotel. 
 
 *^ 1^11 go at once, and see what I can get,^^ said Harry 
 as he passed into the hall. He walked up to the cor- 
 poral, and in his blunt way, said, Soldier, will you 
 sell me some powder ? 
 
 The corporal stood on his dignity. He eyed his in- 
 terrogator very superciliously, as he replied, " I do 
 not sell powder, sir/' 
 
 Then perhaps youM tell me where I could get 
 some. Or you might buy it for me ! 
 
 I am here on duty, and, besides, I do not know 
 this place, sir,^' replied the dragoon. 
 
 Grady, somewhat crestfallen, returned to his com- 
 panion, who overheard what passed through the open 
 door. 
 
 The dragoon is a sulky fellow/' he said, " he would 
 neither sell or buy for me ! '' 
 
 Harry,'' replied Dan O'Connell, '^you offended 
 him by calling him a soldier, when he is a corporal. 
 I'll try my hand." O'Connell then went to the hall, 
 and observed to the dragoon, who was looking rather 
 ruefully at the downpour of rain then falling, — 
 
 ^^This is heavy rain, sergeant. 'Tis too bad, the 
 judges do not get the yeomen or militia to escort 
 them, without requiring the service of the regular 
 troops." 
 
202 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 True enough, sir. It is harrassing duty such 
 weather as this, but duty must be done/^ 
 
 I hear a bad account of the road before me — these 
 Kilworth mountains are said to harbour robbers. My 
 pistols are useless, for, unfortunately I left Cork with- 
 out procuring a supply of powder; could you procure 
 me some and you^d oblige me ? 
 
 I shall be most happy to let you have what I hope 
 may suffice for you, sir,^^ replied the corporal, opening 
 his cartouch-box. O^Connell produced his pistols, and 
 the bore exactly corresponded with the cartridges of 
 the dragoon. 
 
 " Take half-a-dozen cartridges, sir,^^ said the man, 
 
 and Fm glad to be able to oblige you.^^ 
 
 A glass of spirits and water will do you no harm 
 this wet day,^^ said O^Connell, and the dragoon drank 
 his health, ere he resumed the saddle. 
 
 ^^Dan,^^ cried Grady when O^Connell displayed his 
 plentiful store of ammunition, you^ll do — blarney for 
 ever.^^ 
 
 The course Harry Deane Grady had taken in support- 
 ing the Union, caused him to be much censured by 
 several influential persons in Limerick, who were 
 opposed to that measure. They were resolved to ex- 
 press their disapproval, and having convened a meeting 
 of the Limerick electors, deputed three to wait upon 
 the place-hunting member. They consisted of a Pro- 
 testant Bishop, suspected of democratic leanings. Dr. 
 Cheyne, an eminent physician, and General Burgoyne, 
 who had served in China. Harry listened very 
 patiently, while they denounced his conduct in very 
 severe terms, accusing him of injuring his country, 
 
Harry Deane Grady, 203 
 
 deserting his duty^ and betraying his constituents. 
 These very serious charges were met by Harry with 
 a bold denial. 
 
 I did none of these crimes^ my lord and gentlemen,^^ 
 he said. I was opposed to the Union at firsts but as 
 soon as it was rightly explained to me/ I saw it was 
 the greatest boon this country could receive^ and I am 
 satisfied my constituents will approve of my vote when 
 I bring the case to their full knowledge.''^ 
 
 Noj indeed ! was the response ; " they all declare 
 you have betrayed them.^^ 
 
 Nonsense^ gentlemen — rank nonsense/^ cried the 
 indomitable place-man; ^^you come between me and 
 my constituents^ and induce them to condemn me^ on 
 the ipse dixit of a republican parson^ a quack doctor^ 
 and a battered old mandarin/^ 
 
 As the deputation felt Harry was getting personal^ 
 they bowed and withdrew. 
 
 When it suited his purpose to abuse^ he spared no 
 one. During a trial at the Limerick Assizes^ his first 
 cousin was a witness for the party opposed to his 
 clients^ and Harry cross-examined him in a most 
 unsparing and savage way. He did not rest there. 
 When addressing the jury^ in alluding to the evidence 
 of this witness^ he said^ This case is supported by 
 evidence as disgraceful as ever came before a judge 
 or jury ; the plaintiff^ not content with the most out- 
 rageous statement^ supports it by placing this wretched 
 creature on the table^ for whom I can find no fitter 
 appellation than his miserable jackall.''^ 
 
 - He was appointed a Commissioner of Eevenue, with 1200Z. 
 a year. 
 
204 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 The gentleman thus publicly vituperated was of very 
 haughty demeanour, and we can well imagine his feel- 
 ings on being thus held up to public view by his own 
 first cousin. 
 
 During the day, after leaving court, he saw Harry 
 in one of the principal streets of Limerick, approach- 
 ing with outstretched hand. When within a short 
 distance, — 
 
 My dear John,^^ cried Harry, I^m heartily glad 
 to see you/^ 
 
 I wonder, sir,^^ replied his cousin coldly, you 
 dare address me, after the gross insult you inflicted 
 upon me this morning/^ He was about passing, when 
 the cool counsel said, — 
 
 ^^Oh, never mind that, John; that^s my trade, you 
 know. Fll dine with you to-day.^^ 
 
 If you go to my house, Fll take care not to dine at 
 home,^^ was the reply. 
 
 ^^AU the better,^^ responded Harry; ^^in that case, 
 I shall have Mary (his cousin^s wife) all to myself.^^ 
 
 Harry Dean Grady ^s daughters were very lovely, 
 and most accomplished girls, and made brilliant mar- 
 riages. Indeed, so many Peers were attracted by their 
 fascinations to his residence at Dublin, it was called 
 
 The House of Lords.^^ One daughter became Lady 
 Mu skerry, another Lady Masserene, another Lady 
 Roche. He had a beautiful place near Stillorgan, and 
 lived to an old age. 
 
205 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 NED LYSAGHT. 
 
 Called to English and Irish Bars. — Reasons for not practising 
 in England. — Advice to Fox. — Bon mots, — Offer to Mr. 
 Latouche. — Meeting bill. — His encouragement to a bache- 
 lor. — Lines on the Kerry Riot. — Song, " The Man who led 
 the Yan of Irish Volunteers. " — " Kate of Grane villa." 
 
 LEONARD MACNALLY. 
 His lameness. — Curran's hon mot. — Macnallj's Plays. — His 
 narrow escape when engaged in a duel. — The Alphabet of the 
 Bar. — Lines on Mr. Ball. — Lysaght's impromptu on Caul- 
 field. 
 
 JERRY KELLER. 
 
 Singular countenance. — The washed bottles. — Lord Avonmore's 
 patent. — Gravity and levity. — Pope and Pretender. 
 
 WILLIAM WAGGETT. 
 
 Recorder of Cork. — His character. — Great ability as an orator. 
 — A litigious attorney. — Waggett refuses an increase in his 
 salary. — Lines pinned to his wig. 
 
 DANIEL RYAN KAM^ Q.C. 
 Recorder of Cork. — Counsel by prescription. — Rent in arrcar. 
 
 PROFESSIONAL BON MOTS. 
 Title hart mot. — Lying book. — Precedence. — A teatotal tourist. 
 
 Pleasant Ned Lysaght, as he was popularly termed^ 
 was called to the English and Irish bars in 1798. He 
 appears to have intended seeking the more lucrative 
 range of English practice^ instead of that of his native 
 
206 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 land, but his social habits and mercurial temperament 
 were quite antagonistic to his success in that country. 
 
 He was soon made sensible of this. In conversa- 
 tion with a friend upon the subject^ he said, He had 
 not law enough for the King^s Bench ; he was not dull 
 enough for the Court of Chancery^ and before he 
 could make way at the Old Bailey he should shoot 
 Garrow (who was then the leading counsel for prisoners) 
 which would be very unpleasant.'^^ 
 
 But^ though he was not distinguished at the English 
 Bar for legal lore^ he gained fame in the English press 
 for political squibs. 
 
 When the coalition between Charles James Fox and 
 Windham was spoken of, Lysaght wrote the following 
 advice to the great Whig statesman : — 
 
 " Charley Fox, take advice, and break off in a trice, 
 Subserve not to Windham ambition. 
 He's not yonr true friend, though to gain his own end, 
 He courts a corrupt coalition. 
 
 We honour your name, will you tarnish your fame ? 
 
 With dignity act, and decision. 
 Tell Windham and those you were wont to oppose, 
 
 That you scorn the corrupt coalition." 
 
 It is a pity one whose jests and hon mots used^ like 
 Yorick^s^ to '^ set the table in a roar^^^ had not left 
 some one to fully record his sallies. I gleaned a few, 
 which serve to show how rich was the ore in the 
 mine. 
 
 He met Mr. La Touche^ the Dublin banker^ afid 
 knowing the extreme particularity of this descendant 
 of the Huguenots respecting the character of his bank 
 
Ned Lysaght, 
 
 207 
 
 officials^ startled the staid banker by sayings When 
 a situation among the officers of the house on Cork- 
 hill was vacant, he, Mr. Lysaght, would be ready to 
 fill ay 
 
 You, my dear Lysaght/^ said the banker, what 
 situation in my establishment could possibly suit 
 you ? 
 
 Not only one, but two,^^ replied the wit. 
 Pray, what are they ? asked the banker. 
 If you make me cashier for one day, 1^11 become 
 runner the next,^^ was the wit^s reply. 
 
 He was usually in monetary difficulties j but, like 
 Sheridan, few were capable of resisting his appeals for 
 loans. Once, when a friend was accommodating him 
 with his name upon a bill-stamp, his friend said, 
 
 Now, Lysaght, I hope I may depend upon your 
 meeting this bill.''^ 
 
 Indeed, you may,^^ he replied; ^^and the protest 
 along ivith it,^' 
 
 When the Munster Circuit met in Limerick, the Bar 
 were usually entertained by a hospitable gentleman, 
 named Flatly, who occupied a handsome suburban 
 residence near Castle Connell. 
 
 Lysaght being at one of these parties, where every- 
 thing was arranged with exquisite taste, said to their 
 host, ^^I really feel surprised that you are allowed to 
 remain a bachelor, and so near a city celebrated for 
 the beauty of the fair daughters. Why is this ? 
 
 The host coloured, and said, he often wished to 
 change his solitary condition, but could not muster 
 sufficient courage to pop the question.''^ 
 
 I tell you this,'^ said Lysaght, depend upon it. 
 
208 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 if you ask any girl boldly ^ she never will refuse you 
 Flatly!'' 
 
 When the Bar mess were enjoying their post-pran- 
 dial festivities in Tralee^ their jovial banquet was 
 disturbed by a sudden row breaking out in the room 
 beneath. Glasses crashed, furniture was knocked 
 about, loud cries resounded on all sides, when a 
 terrified waiter entered the Bar mess-room. Very 
 soon he was interrogated as to the cause of the tumult 
 in the room beneath, and replied, — 
 
 ^Tis the Kerry Grand Jury is having a fight afther 
 dinner.^^ 
 
 When silence once more prevailed, Lysaght, who 
 had been writing with a pencil during the hubbub, 
 I'oad the following impromptu : — 
 
 " Here we sit, like merry lads, 
 Laughing at all silly asses,. 
 While below the Kerry cads 
 
 Are breaking their heads and glasses. 
 
 Who cares for their bluster and riot, 
 No matter who's right, or who's wrong,. 
 
 While we sip our claret in quiet, 
 
 Mr. Lyne, come and finish your song." 
 
 Besides these fleeting verses, Lysaght wrote several 
 ftongs, which have had more enduring form. One was 
 in praise of Henry Grattan, the Man who led the 
 Van of Irish Volunteers/' Some verses may serve as 
 a specimen : — 
 
 " Just thirty years are ending since first his glorious aid, 
 Our sacred rights defending, struck shackles from our trade. 
 
Leonard Macnally. 
 
 209 
 
 To serve ns still with might and skill, the vet'ran now ap- 
 pears — 
 
 That gallant man, who led the Yan of Irish Yolnnteers. 
 
 He sows n-o vile dissensions, — good will to all he bears, 
 He knows no vain pretensions, — no paltry fears or cares ; 
 To Erin and to Britain's sons his worth his name endears, 
 They love the man who led the Yan of Irish Yolnnteers." 
 
 His ballads of the Rakes of Mallow, and his Donny- 
 brook Fair, were good specimens of his rollicking 
 style, and it is not easy to imagine how the author of 
 these humorous compositions could possess the re- 
 fined taste which is displayed in his song — Kate of 
 Garnevilla, — 
 
 " Oh, she's pure as virgin snows, 
 Ere they light on woodland hillow. 
 Sweet as dew-drop on wild rose, 
 Is lovely Kate of Garnevilla. 
 
 Philomel, I've listen'd oft 
 
 To thy lay on weeping willow, 
 
 But the strain's more sweet, more soft, 
 
 That flows from Kate of Garnevilla. 
 
 If poet's prayers can banish cares, 
 No cares shall come to Garnevilla. 
 Joy's bright rays shall gild her days, 
 And dove-like peace perch on her pillow. 
 
 Charming maid of Garnevilla, 
 Lovely maid of Garnevilla, 
 Beauty — grace — and virtne wait 
 On lovely Kate of Garnevilla." 
 
 LEONARD MACNALLY. 
 
 Among the contemporaries and friends of Ned Ly- 
 saght^ was Leonard Macnally, a member of the Irish 
 
 p 
 
2IO 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Bar. He had considerable literary as well as legal 
 ability and published some dramatic and legal works. 
 Macnally^s Justice of the Peace had great success 
 at a time when few legal works were published in Ire- 
 land. He was employed very much in defending 
 prisoners, and was what is popularly called a good 
 dock lawyer/^ He lived on terms of great intimacy 
 with John Philpot Curran^ and both were usually 
 Counsel for the prisoners during the State trials arising 
 out of the Eebellion of 1798. 1'he testimony of our 
 eminent Irish authors^ Dr. R. R. Madden^ and W. J. 
 FitzPatrick^ have clearly shown that^ while thus acting 
 for the prisoners^ Macnally was actually receiving a 
 pension from the Irish Government^ for secret service^ 
 which pension was kept secret until after his death^ and 
 no one exactly knows now for what special service it 
 was granted. 
 
 Macnally walked with a Kmp^ one leg being shorter 
 than the other. When the barristers were enrolling 
 their names in the Volunteer corps^ Macnally asked 
 Curran if he should give in his name to join."'^ 
 
 If you enlist/^ said Curran^ you will shortly be 
 tried^and perhaps shot for disobedience of orders.^^ 
 
 Why ? asked Macnally rather indignantly. 
 
 Because when ordered to march you will certainly 
 halt/^ was the reply. 
 
 Parsons^ also a barrister^ who was lame^ limping up 
 to Curran^ asked the wit^ Did you see Macnally going 
 this way ? 
 
 I never saw him going any other ^'^^y/^ was the 
 ready rejoinder. 
 
 Macnally was a man of varied talent. He wrote 
 
Leo7iard Macnally, 
 
 211 
 
 several comedies, farces, and operas, all of which, witli the 
 exception of Robin Hood,^^were remorselessly damned. 
 Being admonished by Lord Loughborough, to abandon 
 the Muses and stick to the Law,^^ he gave up the idea 
 of succeeding as a playwright, and henceforth devoted 
 himself to his professional duties. He also fought 
 duels, and was nearly shot by Sir Jonah Barrington, 
 whose ball was fortunately arrested by the buckle of 
 Macnally^s* suspenders. He fell to the ground exclaim- 
 ing, Vm hit ! The surgeon in attendance, on 
 examination, found he was more frightened than hurt. 
 Then, discovering the cause of his patient^s providen- 
 tial escape, exclaimed, ^^By Jove^ Mac, you are the only 
 rogue I ever knew saved by the gallows/^ ^ 
 
 Macnally wrote a poem called the Alphabet of the 
 Bar.^^ I failed to obtain more than a couplet : — 
 
 " L stands for Lysaght who loves a good joke-, 
 M for Macnally, who lives by the rope.** 
 
 Alluding to his criminal practice. 
 
 Another specimen of Macnally^ s poetic talent was 
 composed under the following circumstances : — 
 
 One of his brethren on the Home Circuit was Mr. 
 Charles Ball, a strong-limbed, loud-voiced, hirsute bar- 
 rister. Holding a brief on the side opposed to Macnally, 
 Mr. Ball was frequently interrupted by that zealous 
 advocate; and, wearied out, he said, ^^Mr. Macnally, if 
 you have any serious, well-founded objection to make, 
 pray let me hear it, otherwise do not interrupt me. 
 Fm like St. Paul, fighting with the air.'^ 
 
 ^ A common term in Ireland for suspenders. 
 P 2 
 
212 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Macnally contemplated his long-liaired opponent for 
 a moment^ and tlius replied : — 
 
 " Says Charley Ball, 
 
 I'm like St. Paul, 
 A fighting with the air. 
 
 Says Mac to Ball, 
 
 You're not like Paul, 
 But, Ball, you're like a bear." 
 
 Lysaght, as we have already seen, was a noted wit. 
 He, too, could extemporise, and was often in the 
 habit of composing a rhyme to include all the guests at 
 a party, as, in later days, Theodore Hook would do so 
 well. Macnally asked Lysaght to compose some lines 
 upon him, promising absolution for all sins of person- 
 ality therein contained. On this assurance Lysaght 
 recited the following : — 
 
 " There is a lawyer in our hall 
 Who dearly loves his brief. 
 He likes his fee, though large or small. 
 He'll take it from a thief. 
 
 One leg is short which makes him lame, 
 
 Therefore his legs don't tally ; 
 And now, my friends, to tell his name, 
 
 'Tis Leonard Macnally." 
 
 Lysaght very early in life displayed this talent for 
 impromptu verse. When he was a student of Trinity 
 College, Dublin, the fellow-commoners considered 
 themselves superior in position to the pensioners, and 
 declined to play foot-ball with them. A pensioner 
 named Caulfield, who wished to keep aloof from the 
 pensioners, and hang on to the more aristocratic set. 
 
Leonard Macnally. 
 
 213 
 
 rarely condescended to play foot-ball. One luckless 
 evening he did so^ and several of his fellow-students 
 resolved to pay him off for his conduct. He was soon 
 tripped and hustled about^ greatly to the annoyance 
 of this exclusive. Lysaght thereupon wrote the 
 following lines, a copy of which was sent to each 
 student : — 
 
 " Dear Caulfield, play football no more, I entreat, 
 The amusement's too vulgar, fatiguing, and rough. 
 Pursue the same conduct you've follow'd of late, 
 And I warrant, ere long, you'll get JcicJcing enough'^ 
 
 This very pungent epigram roused the ire of Caulfield 
 and his friends. They did their best to discover the 
 author, and offered a considerable reward with that 
 object. Lysaght then came forward and boldly 
 stated, ^^that if the amount promised for the discovery 
 of the anonymous author was given in charity, he would 
 disclose who wrote the epigram.''^ This was agreed to. 
 He then affirmed the lines were written by himself. 
 Some blustering took place, but as he declared himself 
 ready to afford the satisfaction usual in such cases, and 
 as he came of a fighting family, the affair, in parlia- 
 mentary parlance, was speedily allowed to drop. 
 
 Another hon mot of Ned Lysaght, was with refer- 
 ence to a fair lady, who, not finding the object of 
 her affections where she sought him, took advan- 
 tage of a carriage going back to town to cheapen her 
 journey. 
 
 Oh,^^ observed the wit, how blest the love that 
 meets return.^^ 
 
 He died greatly regretted in 1811. 
 
214 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 JERRY KELLER. 
 
 A GOOD many hon mots are related of Jeremiali^ or, 
 as he was commonly called Jerry Keller/^ a barrister 
 who held a foremost place in the social circle of Dublin. 
 He had a singular twist of countenance^ which, of itself 
 provoked mirth^ and his powers of drollery were ad- 
 mirable. I give some of his hon mots : — 
 
 '^A cousin of his, a wine merchant, supplied the 
 cellars of the Bar mess, and a supercilious junior thought 
 to raise a laugh at the expense of Jerry Keller. At 
 the Bar mess-table the young barrister, addressing 
 Keller, said, ^^It is very odd, Mr. Keller, that I have 
 noticed the claret bottles growing smaller and smaller 
 each Assizes, since your cousin became our wine-mer- 
 chant, though, I dare say, there is no reduction in the 
 price."'' 
 
 "Whist,'' said Jerry, " don't you be talking of what 
 you know nothing about. Of course 'tis natural the 
 bottles should be growing smaller, because we all know 
 they shrink in the washing, 
 
 The shout of laughter extinguished the luckless 
 junior. 
 
 When Barry Yelverton, who had been a popular poli- 
 tician, was advanced in the peerage for voting for the 
 Union, he invited some friends, among them was Keller, 
 to read his patent. It recited in the usual formula, 
 " George, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland," &c. 
 
 " Stay," said Keller, " is not that erroneous ? " 
 In what way ? " asked the newly made Viscount. 
 
Willia7n Wao-o-ett, 
 
 215 
 
 Does not your lordsliip observe/^ exclaimed the 
 witj ^^the consideration comes too early in tlie 
 
 Although Keller was a very excellent lawyer^ he did 
 not succeed in gaining any of the emoluments of office^ 
 or even very high standing at the Bar. It is related of 
 him, that he was perfectly conscious his reputation 
 for drollery militated against his preferment. When a 
 dull member of the legal profession was promoted to a 
 seat in the King^s Bench, in 1817, Keller went to see 
 the newly appointed Judge, and exclaimed, with a 
 sigh,— 
 
 ^^Ah! Mayne, there you sit. G~ravity raised you 
 up there, while levity keeps me doivii here.^^ 
 
 A young barrister, named Norcott, seeing Keller 
 eating fish on Friday, said, Keller, I did not expect 
 to see the Pope in your stomach. 
 
 "If I have the Poj)e in my stomach/^ replied Keller, 
 ''you have the Pretender in your lieadJ^ 
 
 WILLmr WAGGETT. 
 
 William Waggett, Eecorder of Cork, was a man of 
 great talent. He was an admirable lawyer, and very 
 eloquent. The following instance of his powers of 
 oratory occurred during an Assize in Limerick. The 
 plaintiff^ s attorney was a litigious practitioner, whose 
 great delight was to promote litigation, per fas aut 
 nefasy and, perhaps, Waggett^s instructions were those 
 said to have been briefed to a counsel in a case which 
 had no legitimate defence, " abuse the plaintiff^s 
 attorney.^^ Be this as it may, Waggett did so un- 
 
2l6 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 sparingly. No sooner had the counsel for the plaintiff 
 informed the Judge he had closed^ than Waggett rose, 
 and labouring under strong emotion^ stood silent for a 
 brief space. Then, instead of the usual opening of 
 My lord and gentlemen of the jury/^ he said in a 
 loud resonant voice, Long live the Sultan Haroun,' 
 said the owl, in the Arabian tale.^' The audience in 
 the County Limerick Court-House were lost in wonder 
 at this strange opening. All awaited with curiosity 
 what would follow. Waggett resumed, ^^^Long live 
 the Sultan Ilaroun,^ said the owl. ^ While he lives 
 we^U have ruined palaces, and roofless cottages to roost 
 in. Widows shall bewail their husbands, and orphans 
 weep for their murdered parents. While he lives there 
 shall be gloom upon the land, and the light of day shall 
 shine upon desolation. Long live the Sultan Haroun/ 
 continued the owl, in order that birds of ill- omen 
 may brood over congenial gloom, and long live Charley 
 CarroU,^^ cried Waggett, pointing with uplifted hand 
 towards the plaintifi'^s attorney. ^^^Long live Charley 
 Carroll,^ says the Professor of the Law. While he 
 lives clients shall be ruined, and litigation shall fill the 
 courts with half ruined suitors; while he lives there 
 shall be endless contention amongst neighbours, and 
 friends shall be made to hate each other. The father 
 shall quarrel with the son, and brother shall turn 
 against sister.^^ He then continued in the same strain 
 to denounce the attorney with invective till he left the 
 court. Waggett was a man of singular modesty, and 
 when the Corporation of Cork nearly doubled his 
 salary as Recorder, in consequence of his devoting all 
 his time to the duties, he refused to accept a penny in 
 
William Waggett. 
 
 217 
 
 addition to the salary at which he undertook to dis- 
 charge the duties of the Record ership. 
 
 He became^ latterly, very eccentric in appearance 
 and conduct^ dressing most shabbily, and caring 
 nothing for society. During his life, he was a most 
 devoted fisherman, and might be seen, when not pre- 
 siding in the Recorder's Court, whipping the river Lee 
 with rod and line. He had very considerable practice 
 as a pleader, and, like Jonathan Henn, would have 
 reached high rank at the Bar, but his want of ambition, 
 and contentment with his lot as Recorder of Cork, 
 kept him away from the arena, where others^ less skill- 
 ful gained the prizes. 
 
 That his great and varied talents were recognized 
 and appreciated by the professional gentlemen of Cork 
 was apparent from the respect paid him while living, 
 and in which his memory is still held. To this day he 
 is mentioned as a model lawyer, of whom the city may 
 be justly proud. 
 
 The following poem, supposed to be composed by 
 a brother barrister, who succeeded him in the office of 
 Recorder, the late Henry Bennett, Esq., was found 
 pinned to the Bar- wig of Mr. Waggett : — 
 
 " Sometimes beneath this legal sign 
 Is placed a head of curious mould ; 
 "With noble thought and genius fine, 
 Oft swayed by passions uncontroll'd. 
 
 A brain with law and justice fiU'd, 
 
 Estranged from every selfish view ; 
 And in that temper'd mercy skilled, 
 
 Which gives the guilty wretch his due. 
 
2l8 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 For, with a tru« Shandean start, 
 
 He flings all gravity aside, 
 And bids tlie feeling of the heart 
 
 O'er law's harsh quibbling to preside. 
 
 Still, ne'er beneath a Judge's wig 
 
 Did fate intend that such a brain 
 Should through law's rubbish daily dig, 
 
 Its mouldy precepts to explain. 
 
 For better purposes design'd — 
 
 With lofty soul and prouder aim ; 
 The bent of such a noble mind 
 
 Should be the highest point of fame. 
 
 But here 'tis useless to repine — 
 
 Of such the instance is not rare : 
 With flowers which should with splendour shine, 
 
 To waste their sweets on desert air." 
 
 He died at an advanced age. 
 
 Daniel Ryan Kane^ Q.0._, the present Recorder of 
 Cork, has uttered some good hon mots. Once, when 
 an insurance case was being tried, a brief was sent to 
 a young barrister whose father, a medical practitioner, 
 was an important witness in the case. 
 
 " Who is he ? ^' inquired a member of the bar, of Mr. 
 Kane, is he a special counsel ? 
 
 ^^No!^^ replied Kane, ^^he^s counsel hj prescri'ptionJ^ 
 In appearance Mr. Kane is large and stoutly built, 
 more like a cudgel than a cane,'^ as a witty barrister, 
 remarked, but he is a right social pleasant companion. 
 Many of the hon mots recorded in these pages are the 
 
Professional Bon Mots, 
 
 219 
 
 result of his well-stored memory^ and at liis own hospit- 
 able board I enjoyed many pleasant reunions with the 
 Irish Bar. 
 
 Walking with him one day, we met a mutual friend 
 whose coat was much torn near the breast. Kane at 
 once cried out_, Rents are enormous.^^ 
 
 Well/^ replied the wearer of the coat^ you can- 
 not say it is ^eni in arrear,'^ 
 
 There is no more estimable member of the Irish Bar 
 than Mr. Kane. His judicial qualities are of the highest 
 order. He is a sound lawyer^ and his great experience 
 of the Quarter Sessions Courts enables him to dispose 
 of the cases,, whether civil bill or at the Crown side^ 
 with ability and despatch. He has the assistance of 
 very able and honourable practitioners^ both of the Bar 
 and Attorney branches^ and his new duties of Recorder 
 of Cork are discharged in a manner to show him a 
 worthy successor of William Waggett and the late 
 Thomas Forsayth^ and higher praise I could not give. 
 I wish I could impart to the many anecdotes he 
 enabled me to give in these pages, his pleasant voice 
 and mirth-compelling smile. 
 
 PEOFESSIONAL BON MOTS. 
 
 Some hon mots may not be very intelligible save to 
 members of the legal profession. Such are the follow- 
 ing : — When the coach on which^ and in which, as many 
 of the Munster Bar as could find room was proceeding 
 on Circuit from Killarney to Cork it threatened to 
 topple over. The coachman pulled up in order to 
 arrange the luggage in better form. Here, Bill^^^ 
 
220 
 
 Tlie Irish Bar, 
 
 he said, addressing tlie guard, "take a good pur- 
 chase ^ on this strap 
 
 " If you don^t secure it by 'pxirclmse^ exclaimed Mr. 
 Lane, Q.C., "you^ll have it by descent.^' ^ 
 
 A legal bon mot of one of the Judges should not be 
 omitted. A Mr. Grant, who, in early life, had been a 
 servant, published some works containing alleged mis- 
 statements in reference to individuals. One of these 
 complained to the J udge, saying, " there was no truth 
 in these statements.^^ 
 
 "Well, take comfort,^^ replied the Judge, "you see 
 this man used formerly to lie in livery ^ and now he lies 
 in Grants A very able barrister, named Collins, had 
 the reputation of occasionally involving his adversary in 
 a legal net, and, by his superior subtlety, gaining his 
 cause. On appearing in court in a case with the 
 eminent barrister, Mr. Pigot, Q.O., there arose a ques- 
 tion as to who should be leader, Mr. Collins being the 
 senior in standing at the bar, Mr. Pigot being one of 
 the Queen^s Counsel. 
 
 " I yield,^^ said Mr. Collins, " my friend holds the 
 honours J ^ 
 
 * An epithet importing a secure hold. 
 
 3 Those of our readers familiar with legal terms need not be 
 informed of the significance of these words. To the uninitiated 
 we may say that lands or tenements which come to a man from 
 his ancestors, are said to be his by Descent, otherwise by 
 Purchase, 
 
 < The distinction between what lies in livery and what lies in 
 grant y is this : livery, a contraction of deHvery, is the giving 
 corporial possession to one entitled to it ; grant means a gift 
 in writing of what cannot be conveyed by word only. 
 
Professional Bon Mots, 
 
 221 
 
 Faith if lie does^ Stephen/' observed Mr. Herrick, 
 " 'tis you have all the tricks,'^ 
 
 When Judge Crampton, a very steadfast total ab- 
 stainer, was on a vacation ramble in Germany, some 
 one inquired of Chief Justice Bushe, "what Judge 
 Crampton was doing in Germany/' 
 
 " Merely/' replied the witty Chief Justice making 
 a traverse absque hoc,^ 
 
 * A process in special pleading. The pun, of course, being 
 on the word hoc(k). 
 
222 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE HENN FAMILY. 
 
 Henry Hene, Chief Baron in 1679. — William Henn, a Judge 
 of the King's Bench in 1767. — Resigned in 1790. — His son 
 "William a Master in Chancery. — The eldest son of Master 
 Henn, also named William, a Master in Chancery, called to 
 the Bar in 1808. — His character. — His death in 1857 very 
 sndden. — Jonathan Henn, Q.C. — His great ability. — His 
 eloquence. — His marked superiority over the other leaders of 
 the Circuit. — His short speeches. — Fondness for fishing. — 
 Ab school near Lucan. — College career. — Eton grammar. — 
 Called to the Bar in 1811. — Slow progress at the Bar. — 
 Joined the Connaught Circuit. — Refuses to get out of bed, 
 and loses a brief. — Exchanged to the Munster Circuit in 
 1822. — Obtained great practice. — My estimate of his pro- 
 fessional skill. — Solved a riddle. — A crying client. — Allusiou 
 to the Right Hon. F. Blackburn. — Retained by O'Connell 
 during the state trials of 1843. — Was counsel for the Crown 
 on the trial of John Mitchel. — Eloquent speech of Robert 
 Holmes for the defence. — Henn's reply. — Bon mots. — His 
 judicial style. — Death in 1874. — Thomasr Rice Henn, Q.G., 
 County Court Judge. 
 
 Some families adopt special callings as a sort of here- 
 ditary preference. Thus we find^ for generations^ some 
 devoting their sons chiefly to the Churchy or the 
 medical profession^ the army, or navy, or the law. To 
 this latter avocation the family of Henn, of Paradise, 
 in the County of Clare, have given many most distin- 
 guished members. 
 
The Henn Family, 
 
 223 
 
 The earliest legal scion of this house I can trace 
 was Henry Hene (as the name was then written). 
 His patent as Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Ex- 
 chequer in Ireland bears date the 10th March^ 1679. 
 Since the year 1673 he had been one of the puisne 
 barons^ with^ in 1676^ a grant of a Justiceship of the 
 Court of Common Pleas.^ 
 
 On the accession of James II. a number of changes 
 took place on the Irish Bench^ and^ in 1687^ Chief 
 Baron Hene was removed_, and replaced by a very 
 eminent Irish lawyer^ Sir Stephen Eice^ who was ap- 
 pointed Lord Chief Baron. This station^ however, 
 he was only allowed to retain for three years, for, 
 on the accession of William and Mary, he, in turn, 
 was displaced in favour of Sir John Hely. 
 
 A descendant of Chief Baron Hene, William Henn, 
 was appointed one of the Judges of the King^s Bench 
 of Ireland on August 1st, 1767. Some amusing anec- 
 dotes are related of him by Sir Jonah Barrington, but 
 not being very authentic are not worth transcribing. 
 He resigned his seat on the bench in 1790, and his 
 son, also named William Henn, became a Master in 
 Chancery. This office was afterwards conferred upon 
 the son of Master Henn, William the third, upon the 
 death of his father in 1822. This last-named William 
 was maternally descended from the Lovetts of Lips- 
 combe Park, Buckinghamshire, his mother beiug 
 sister of Sir Jackson Lovett, Bart. 
 
 Two sons of this marriage became very eminent at 
 the Irish Bar, William and Jonathan. William, the 
 
 1 Smyth's "Law Officers of Ireland." 
 
224 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 elder^ was called to the Bar in 1808. He went tlie 
 Munster Circuity and continued to practise until ap- 
 pointed, as I have stated. Master in Chancery, and 
 elected a Bencher of the King^s Inn in 1822. He was 
 well qualified for his judical station. He discharged 
 its very important duties with marked ability and un- 
 remitting attention. Always courteous in manner, 
 patient and kind in conduct, he earned and retained to 
 the last, the esteem of both branches of the profession 
 and the confidence of the public. He continued in 
 office until his death, which was very sudden. On 
 Saturday, 7th of March, 1857, he sat and transacted 
 business as usual. He entertained a party of friends 
 at dinner on that day, and retired to rest about twelve 
 o'' clock. Early on Sunday morning he complained of 
 difficulty in breathing, and his medical adviser. Dr. 
 Smyley, was sent for. Remedies were tried ineflFec- 
 tually, for the malady increased, and during the day 
 the patient grew worse. Towards evening he was 
 speechless, and sank so rapidly that by midnight 
 Master Henn was no more. He had reached his 
 seventy-third year of active, useful life. 
 
 JONATHAN HENN, Q.C. 
 
 His brother Jonathan's career was even yet more dis- 
 tinguished, and, though he never attained very exalted 
 rank in his profession, every one admitted this was 
 entirely owing to himself. The highest prize in the 
 legal lottery was his, but he would not draw it forth. 
 As a lawyer he stood in the foremost place. He had 
 mastered all the great principles of British law almost 
 intuitively, for, as long as I knew him, he certainly 
 
The Henn Family, 
 
 225 
 
 was constitutionally averse to drudgery. He did not 
 care for practice if it involved much labour. His voice 
 was harmonious and well modulated. No harsh, or 
 discordant tones marred the effect of his speeches, and 
 what noble speeches they were ! On occasions of more 
 than usual importance^ such as in actions for libel, 
 breach of promise of marriage, assault, &c., his pas- 
 sions were stirred and his energies aroused. Where cha- 
 racter was to be shielded or vice rebuked or feelings to 
 be enlisted in the cause of his client, he showed the vast 
 superiority of his genius and excellence over all his 
 brethren at the Bar. We had many able men on our 
 Munster Circuit at the time to which I refer — Sergeant 
 Jackson, David E. Pigot, Q.C., Stephen Collins, Q.C., 
 George Bennett, Q.C., Harry Cooper, Q.C. — but 
 Jonathan Henn soared above them all, as an eagle 
 over crows. He was a very giant, while they were so 
 many pigmies when compared with him. Jonathan 
 Henn, when addressing the Court or jury, was brief 
 and terse. What he had to say to the Court was put 
 in the shortest and most lucid form. When he ad- 
 dressed the jury, he did so in the clearest and most 
 forcible light. He never talked for talking sake ; 
 when he stated his case, he sat down. 
 
 Jonathan was a most zealous disciple of Isaak 
 Walton, and enjoyed the sport of fishing with the 
 greatest zest. I have been informed by his nephew, 
 Mr. Eichard Griffith, of Millicent, County Cork, that 
 his uncle was for some time at the school of the Eev. 
 Gilbert Austin at Lucan, near the river Liffey, and 
 there he imbibed his taste for fishing, which never 
 deserted him throughout his life. The late Duke of 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Leinster^ Lord William Fitzgerald, and the late Judge 
 Crampton, were pupils of the Rev. Mr. Austin, but 
 not cotemporaries of Jonathan Henn. Crampton was 
 subsequently Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and 
 some schoolboy rhymes inform us where he received 
 his education : — 
 
 " Come, let ns sing of Crampton Phil, 
 He went to school to Austin Gil." 
 
 Though Jonathan Henn went through Trinity College, 
 Dublin, I have not been able to discover that he dis- 
 tinguished himself there in any remarkable way. His 
 nephew, Mr. Griffith, informed me : — When in college, 
 instead of reading for honours, Henn spent his time 
 chiefly in reading Shakespeare, but, notwithstanding 
 this, carried off several premiums, though he had not 
 obtained a high place at entrance.'*^ 
 
 His nephew also mentions that — Having asked 
 Jonathan some question of Latin Grammar, which my 
 uncle was not sure about, he said, ^ He had studied 
 the 'Eton grammar, and eaten grammar was soon for- 
 gotten.' 
 
 His progress at the Bar was slow. He was called 
 in Trinity Term, 1811, and during the first ten years 
 he did not, he said, make as much as would powder 
 his wig, and he paid his circuit expenses by whist 
 playing,^' of which he was very fond. As his brother 
 William had joined the Munster, Jonathan selected the 
 Connaught Circuit. Perhaps no greater proof can be 
 given of the strange freaks of fortune at the Bar, 
 than the fact that circuit after circuit dragged its 
 weary round without J onathan Hennas masterly skill as 
 
The Henn Faviily. 
 
 227 
 
 an orator and advocate having been discovered. There 
 is^ indeed^ an anecdote related that possibly maybe true. 
 A Galway attorney went to his lodgings early one morn- 
 ing with a brief. The servant showed the attorney to 
 Mr. Hennas sitting-room^ adjoining his bedroom^ but 
 Mr. Henn had not left his bed. In fact he had to be 
 roused from a deep sleep to be told an attorney wished 
 to see him. Thinking it a practical joke^ played by 
 one of the wags of the Connaught Circuity Mr. Henn 
 declined to get up, and when the servant said^ The 
 attorney wanted particularly to see the counsellors^' 
 Mr. Henn petulantly told her^ Tell the Attorney to 
 
 go and be d d^ and take his brief to the d 1/^ 
 
 The attorney left in a huff^ and^ if he did not follow 
 the drowsy counsels directions^ he took the brief to 
 some more amenable barrister^ and so Jonathan lost a 
 chance on the Connaught Circuit. When his elder 
 brother William became Master in Chancery^ in 1824^ 
 Jonathan exchanged the Connaught for the Munster 
 Circuit. It was a fortunate change for him. Whether 
 the ability and courteous manners of Mr. William Henn 
 induced the attorneys of Munster to place confidence 
 in brother Jonathan^ I cannot say; but he soon ob- 
 tained considerable practice, and never was a more 
 gifted advocate employed. I had abundant oppor- 
 tunities, during a period of twelve years, of estimating 
 his great legal attainments, and can safely affirm that 
 a more able and eloquent advocate I never heard. 
 
 Some one in the presence of Jonathan Henn proposed 
 the riddle, ^^TVliy should the captain of a ship never be 
 at a loss for an egg The riddle was a newone to all 
 present, and Henn was the only person who solved it. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Because lie can always lay-to (lay two). He was 
 was asked^ How cameyou^ Jonathan^ to guess tliat 
 To which he promptly replied, Who had a better 
 right to guess it than a Bien ? 
 
 Jonathan Henn was counsel for a Mr. Leader, of 
 the County Cork, and portrayed the injury his client 
 suffered in such pathetic words as caused the plaintiff to 
 shed tears. On being asked what had occurred to 
 make him cry ? ^^Oh/^ he said, though I knew I was 
 wronged, I did not know to what extent I was injured 
 until Mr. Henn stated my case.^^^ 
 
 In the case of Mr. Butt v, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Henn, 
 Q.C., was counsel for the defendant, who had sent Mr. 
 Butt a hostile message, and Mr. Hennas address to the 
 Court of Queen^s Bench was so admirable that, when 
 he concluded, a burst of applause rang through the 
 court. Mr. Brereton, Q.C., brother-in-law of the de- 
 fendant, turning to Mr. Griffith, said, '^I had rather 
 Jackson had gone to gaol for a year, than that Jonathan 
 Henn had not delivered that noble speech.^'* I re- 
 member when Mr. Blackburne (late Attorney- General, 
 afterwards Lord Justice, and twice Lord Chancellor) 
 attended as special counsel during the Cork Assizes. 
 Mr. Henn, who was counsel on the other side, thus 
 commenced his speech to the jury, Little, gentlemen, 
 can my poor client compete with the galaxy of talent 
 arrayed against him on the other side, including, if a 
 theatrical phrase might be indulged in, a star of the 
 first magnitude, or rather, I might say (the Ministry 
 had just resigned), a comet ivhich had lost its tailJ^ 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 When Blackburne returned to Dublin he said, He 
 
Tht Heiin Fmnily. 
 
 229 
 
 was sent down to Cork to be laughed at by Jonathan 
 Henn/^ When the Government prosecutions of 1843 
 were in preparation^ O^Connell was so impressed with 
 the importance of securing Jonathan Hennas advocacy 
 before any other counsel^ that he at once requested he 
 should be retained for the defence. The traversers 
 were very near being deprived of his services, for the 
 Government, ft^Hy aware of his value, were at first 
 inclined to refuse granting him the licence which, as 
 one of her Majesty's Counsel, was necessary should be 
 granted, but ultimately yielded. His address to the 
 jury on this occasion, which I heard, was fully equal 
 to his greatest efforts. 
 
 The Government were not again late with their re- 
 tainer. When John Mitchel was tried, Mr. Henn was 
 arrayed for the Crown, and replied to the masterly and 
 singularly eloquent address made on behalf of the tra- 
 verser by the veteran leader of the Bar, Robert Holmes. 
 The powerful speech of Mr. Holmes on that occasion 
 afforded me the best and only means of judging how 
 very excellent must have been the speeches of the old 
 Irish Bar. Butt described Mr. Hennas speech on that 
 occasion as a model speech for a Crown prosecutor — 
 powerful, calm, and dignified — and when he ceased 
 Sir Colman O^Loghlen, who was also one of the 
 counsel for Mitchel, could not repress his admiration 
 for his co-circuiter, but clapping Jonathan on the back, 
 exclaimed, Munster for ever ! 
 
 It was Hennas speech which effectually brought 
 back the minds of the jury upon that trial. They were 
 completely carried away by the impetuous lava stream 
 of burning eloquence from Mr. Holmes. Had not Mr. 
 
230 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Henn reasoned with them^ they had brought in Mitchel 
 
 Not guilty/^ In fact they thought it mere waste of 
 time to address them^ as their minds were so made up. 
 They were impatient of delay^ but when they heard the 
 calm and judicial accents of Jonathan Henn^ gradually, 
 and almost imperceptibly, the attention of each grew 
 more and more fixed, and finally was entirely changed 
 by his profound statement of the law and the breach 
 of it on the part of the accused. Greatly to the disgust 
 of the disaffected party in Ireland, the jury found the 
 prisoner guilty ; and, in reference to the charge of the 
 learned judge, and the speech for the prosecution, the 
 wags said, Judge Moore s^poke to evidence, but 
 Jonathan Henn charged the jury, 
 
 He made many puns on his name. When late in 
 life he was asked if he took much walking exercise 
 
 I did formerly,^^ he replied, but now I am chiefly 
 a sitting henJ^ 
 
 Having missed him from our Circuit, when next we 
 met in the Pour Courts, in Dublin, I said, Why were 
 you not with us at the last Assizes ? 
 
 Because,^^ he replied, I had to attend my Sessions 
 in Donegal, and you see I could not be in two places 
 at once, although I am a hird/^ 
 
 I could not fail to mark his great superiority to those 
 of his cotemporaries with whom I was acquainted. His 
 reasoning powers were of the highest order, and brought 
 forward with wonderful tact and skill. No weak or 
 untenable points appeared, all was compact and me- 
 thodically arranged. He grappled boldly with the case 
 of his adversary. There was no skirmishing, no cutting 
 off in detail. It was a treat to me to watch him conduct 
 
The Heitn Family. 
 
 231 
 
 a case ; tlie cool and gentlemanly bearing impressed 
 juries in his favour before he uttered a word, and when 
 he spoke it seemed impossible to imagine he could be 
 counsel on the wrong side. There was a dignified 
 calmness about him when stating his client'^s case, he 
 put forth his claim with such force and clearness, and 
 with such apparent conscientiousness as if it was im- 
 possible for a jury to find otherwise than for him. And 
 when he came to describe the injustice of his adver- 
 sary, then his fine figure seemed to dilate, and the 
 majestic tones of the orator glowed with indignation. 
 His full, rich voice, was always well attuned to the 
 subject, and always commanded respect and attention. 
 Having retired from practice at the imperative demand 
 of age, he continued to reside at his house in Merrion 
 Place, Dublin, until his death in 1874. 
 
 A son of Master Henn, and nephew of Jonathan, 
 Thomas Eice Henn, Q.O., is now County Court Judge 
 of Galway, and worthily represents the personal and 
 professional fame of the Henn family. 
 
232 
 
 Tlie Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 O^CONNELL. 
 
 Native of Kerry. — Born in 1775. — Educated in France. — Called 
 to the Bar in 1798. — His success on the Munster Circuit. — 
 Compliment paid him by the late T. B. C. Smith. — Yersa- 
 tihty of his powers. — Compared with other famous lawyers. 
 — Articles for a race. — Eace won by Rev. Mr. Dennis. — Bon 
 mot of Professor Barry. — Acquittal of Lucy the Whiteboy. 
 — Hogan's hat. — A pugnacious attorney. — How O'Connell 
 scalped a client. — Retort on Mr. Scriven. — The Cap of Good 
 Humour. — A bad indictment. — A grateful cattle-stealer. — A 
 philological triumph. — The mill-stream. — The ancient coins. 
 — Colloquial encounter with Biddy Moriarty. — The Clare 
 Election. — Comparison with West. — The sweet little cherub 
 —The Derby dilly.— The three colonels.— Death in 1847. 
 
 A GREAT many hon mots — good^ bad^ and indifferent, 
 are ascribed to Dan O^Connell. He was^ as all the 
 world knows^ a native of the County of Kerry^ born 
 near the coast on the 6th August, 1775. Denied 
 Catholic University training by the Penal Laws, he 
 was sent abroad for his education, which he received 
 chiefly at St. Oiner^s, in France. 
 
 O^Connell was called to the Irish Bar in 1798, and 
 rapidly obtained practice. D. 0. Madden describes 
 his professional character with great acuteness and 
 correctness.^ 
 
 1 "Ireland and its Eulers since 1829," p. 19. 
 
O'ConnelL 
 
 233 
 
 ^^He went tlie Munster Circuity which, in those 
 days, was thronged by men of great professional 
 ability. But O^Oonnell ranked first amongst the first. 
 His qualities as a professional man have, perhaps, 
 never been sufficiently noticed.^ Cautious in conduct- 
 ing a case was his most prominent characteristic. He 
 affected to be careless, but a more wary advocate 
 never stood in a Court of Justice. Perhaps no great 
 advocate ever had the same relish for the legal pro- 
 fession. O^Connell hunted down a case with the gusto 
 of a Kerry fox-hunter in pursuit of Reynard. He 
 keenly enjoyed baffling the Crown counsel, and bully- 
 ing the witnesses against some trembling culprit in 
 the dock. In those times counsel for prisoners were 
 not allowed to address the jury but O'Connell had a 
 great art in putting illegal questions to a witness, and 
 in arguing for their legality, made aside short inter- 
 jectional speeches to a jury. 
 
 You see, my Lord, the reason why I put the 
 question was, because, if the witness answered in the 
 affirmative, it would then be a manifest impossibility 
 that my client could have been present at the murder, 
 whereas, on the other hand, if the answer be in the 
 negative, then the credibility of the whole statement 
 of the Crown counsel would be impugned by that very 
 answer; so then, my Lord, the jury would be obliged 
 to acquit my client. He would of ten worry a judge 
 by pertinacity in shaping questions objected to, and 
 
 2 See " The Bar Life of O'Connell," MuUany, Dublin. 
 5 Tlie Prisoner's Counsel Act, 6 and 7 WilHam lY. 67, had 
 not passed until O'Connell ceased to practise. 
 
234 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 banter tlie counsel for the Crown for their ignorance. 
 He would start up and protest lie could not have 
 imagined any counsel to propound such law. It was 
 monstrous and unconstitutional. He often assumed 
 a most indignant air. Caught up his bag, and dashed 
 it upon the table, frowned, and, if the case was press- 
 ing very hard, and the judge inflexible, appear in a 
 rage, and, protesting he would not attempt to defend 
 his innocent client in the face of such injustice,^^ fling 
 his brief to his attorney, swagger out of court — then, 
 as if growing cooler, return, mutter a sort of qualified 
 apology to the bench, resume his seat, open his brief 
 again, and, browbeating all adverse witnesses, induce 
 the jury, if they did not actually acquit, to disagree in 
 their verdict. 
 
 While accounted the best criminal advocate of his 
 time, he was also in great repute in civil cases. He 
 went almost every circuit in Ireland as special counsel, 
 and, perhaps, the greatest tribute paid to his skill was 
 in a very important cause on the Connaught Circuit, 
 Eutledge v. Rutledge, in which property to a large 
 amount was in litigation. The late Master of the Rolls, 
 the Right Hon. T. B. C. Smith, was engaged, as special 
 counsel, on the same side as O'Connell, and several 
 leading barristers of the Connaught Circuit also held 
 briefs. After a consultation, in which the marvellous 
 tact and skill of O^Connell in conducting a case were 
 displayed, Mr. Smith told a friend ^Sve were all like 
 babies in comparison with O^Connell.'^^ 
 
 Mr. Madden shrewdly remarks, — He had great 
 knowledge of character, and dissected the motives of a 
 plaintiff or defendant with inimitable skill. His com- 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 235 
 
 bination of worldly knowledge and professional infor- 
 mation — his aptness and ingenuity — his exhaustless 
 supply of humour^, his torrents of caustic ridicule^ his 
 zeal for his client^ and untiring physical energies^ 
 rendered him altogether matchless at the Irish Bar/^ 
 
 Perhaps his greatest quality in a Court of Justice 
 was his oblivion of himself. When addressing a jury, he 
 forgot everything around him_, and thought only of 
 bringing off his client victorious. No lust for oratorical 
 display ever tempted him to make a speech dangerous 
 to the party by whom he was retained. In this he 
 showed his earnestness, and Mr. Madden contrasts 
 O^Connell favourably with many of the leading. mem- 
 bers of the English Bar. Sooner than have made such 
 a speech as Brougham delivered in the case of Ambrose 
 Williams, O^Connell would have thrown up his brief. 
 He was par excellence the safest advocate ever intrusted 
 with a case. For the union of great mental powers he 
 stood unrivalled in the history of the legal profession. 
 Curran and Erskine were finer orators, but they were 
 shallower lawyers ; Plunket had a more powerful under- 
 standing, and was superior to all contemporaries in 
 sustained reasoning power, but he had little of O^Con- 
 nelPs versatility. If Sir Thomas Wilde had pathos 
 and humour, he would be a sort of English O^Connell. 
 Redoubtable as Garrow was at cross-examination, he was 
 inferior to the great Irish advocate in the art of putting 
 a prepared witness off his guard. Besides, Garrow had 
 a set plan for approaching a witness, and seldom made 
 those wonderful guesses at character by which O^Connell 
 gained many a verdict.'* As an instance of the versatility 
 ^ " Ireland and her Eulers since 1829/' pt. i. p. 22. 
 
236 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 of O^ConnelPs talents^ I may mention that lie once 
 drew up articles for a race. This took place at Tralee, 
 in the year 1805^ when he was seven years at the Bar. 
 The conditions of the race were these : — Sixty pounds 
 given by the gentlemen of the law of the County of 
 Kerry^ for all horses^ mares, and geldings^ carrying nine 
 stone^ four-mile heats. Horses starting for this race 
 must be hond fide the property of gentlemen who shall 
 have^ prior to the first day of the meetings actually 
 expended in fair adverse litigation the sum of 200Z. 
 
 Horses^, &c._, of all persons who have expended the 
 sum of lOOOL allowed 3 lbs. All horses to be qualified 
 upon the honour of an attorney, if required by the 
 Stewards of this meeting. 
 
 " As this plate is intended solely for amateurs, no 
 practising professional gentleman will be allowed to 
 start a horse. "'^ 
 
 The race took place on the Tralee race-course on 
 Thursday; August 29th, 1805. 
 
 From the peculiar nature of the conditions few were 
 enabled to compete, and only three contested the race. 
 It was closely struggled for, owing to the equal merits 
 of the horses and the skill of the riders. A Protestant 
 clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Dennis, of Wicklow, carried 
 off the stakes. He claimed, and was allowed, the 3 lbs., 
 which, of course, gave his horse so much advantage, 
 for he had expended over 1000/. in litigation. The 
 articles exhibit some of O^Connell^s caustic humour. 
 
 Apropos of horses, I may mention a hon mot of the 
 late Professor of Law in Queen^s College, Cork, Profes- 
 sor Barry. He applied, on behalf of a man who dealt 
 in horses and sugar-sticks, for an interpleader order. 
 
O'ConnelL 
 
 237 
 
 The learned Judge (Ball) said^ ^^Your client has a 
 strange medley of trades^ Mr. Barry/^ 
 
 There is great affinity between horses and sugar- 
 sticks^ my lord/^ said Mr. Barry. 
 
 How so ? inquired Judge Ball. 
 
 The more you lick them the faster they go^^^ 
 replied the witty counsel. 
 
 This gentleman related to me many hon mots of 
 O^Connell. 
 
 A very notorious Whiteboy^ named Lucy^ whose 
 depredations ranged over the province of Munster^ 
 was caught at last^ and his offences occupied no small 
 share of the criminal calendar at the Cork Spring 
 Assizes. O^Oonnell was retained to defend Lucy^ and^ 
 while doing so in the Criminal Court, a heavy civil 
 cause^ in which he was also retained^ was proceeding 
 in the Record Court. Several pressing messages were 
 sent to 0' Connelly whose absence was greatly deplored 
 by his colleagues in the Record^ but^ until he heard the 
 satisfactory verdict of Not Guilty/^ which freed Lucy 
 from the gallows^ O^Connell refused to abandon the 
 prisoner. He then left the Criminal^ and entered the 
 Civil Court. 
 
 0^ Connelly why were you absent so long ? 
 inquired Sergeant Jackson^ in rather an irritated 
 tone. 
 
 ^^I could not leave Lucy while his case was on/^ 
 replied O^Connell. 
 
 What was the verdict ? 
 Acquitted.''^ 
 
 Then you have got off a wretch who is unfit to 
 live/^ said Jackson. 
 
238 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 The sergeant was remarkable for his piety^ so 
 O^Connell replied, — 
 
 I am sure, my dear friend, you will agree with me 
 that a man whom you regard as unfit to live would 
 be still more unjii to die.^^ 
 
 O^Connell defended a man named Hogan, charged 
 with murder. A hat, believed to be the prisoner's, 
 was found close to the body of the murdered man, and 
 this was the principal ground for supposing Hogan 
 was the perpetrator of the foul deed. That the 
 deceased came by his death by violence the state of the 
 body clearly showed, and O'Connell felt the case for 
 the prisoner required the exercise of his utmost powers. 
 The Crown counsel made a strong point on the hat, 
 which was produced in Court. O'Connell cross- 
 examined the neighbour of the prisoner, who identi- 
 fied it. 
 
 It is not difi'erent from other hats,'^ said O'Connell. 
 Well, seemingly, but I know the hat.'' 
 Are you perfectly sure that this was the hat found 
 near the body ? " 
 Sartin sure.^' 
 
 O'Connell proceeded to inspect the caiiheen^ and 
 turned up the lining as he peered into the interior. 
 
 Was the prisoner's name, PAT H G A N," 
 (he spelled each letter slowly) in it at the time you 
 found it ? " 
 
 " 'Twas, of coorse." 
 ^^Tou could not be mistaken ? " 
 No, sir." 
 
 " And all you swore is as true as that ? " 
 Quite." 
 
O'ConnelL 
 
 239 
 
 Then go ofiF the table this minute ! cried 
 O^Connell^ triumphantly. Addressing the Judge^ he 
 said^ " My lord^ there can be no conyiction here. 
 Tliere is no name in the hat ! 
 
 The prisoner was at once acquitted. 
 
 O^Connell succeeded in silencing a most obstreperous 
 attorney^ whose face was indicative of his disposition. 
 He bore on his inflamed countenance the defiant and 
 pugnacious air of a bull-dog. On either side of his 
 head stood out a lock of hair^ which seemed to defy 
 brush or comb to smooth down. These locks rose like 
 carved horns^ and increased the combative cast of his 
 countenance. Petulant and irascible by nature^ he 
 spluttered out his words with a hissings guttural 
 sound, and^ being in politics a fierce Orangeman, bore 
 particular hostility to O^Connell. 
 
 As O^Connell was employed for the defence, while 
 this angry attorney conducted the case for the plaintiflP, 
 the attorney constantly irritated the leader of the 
 opposition by interrupting him while examining his 
 witnesses, constantly addressing them as they came to 
 be sworn, and altogether was most unruly and 
 irregular. The barristers who acted with O^Oonnell 
 did all they could to keep this attorney quiet, but in 
 vain. He was ever jumping up, and seemed bent on 
 provoking O^Connell. The latter was quite as resolved 
 to keep cool, until roused by this obstreperous in- 
 dividual interfering when he (OTonnell) was pressing 
 a hostile witness to answer a most important question. 
 O^Connell bent on the attorney a stern look, and 
 shouted, in tones that reverberated through the Court- 
 house, ^^Sit down, you audacious^ snarling^ pugnacious 
 
240 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Eam-cat ! The effect was electrical. Down sat tlie 
 crestfallen attorney^ while a shout of laughter^ in 
 which Bench^ Bar^ and audience participated, marked 
 O'Conneirs triumph. For once the Judge forgot his 
 gravity^ and, struck by the apposite terms of 
 O^ConnelFs reproof, literally rolled on his seat with 
 laughter. The soubriquet of Ram-cat stuck to the 
 attorney for the remainder of his life. 
 
 O^Connell took a rather amusing mode of being 
 revenged on a farmer who cheated him of a fee. The 
 man called on him at his lodgings in Patrick Street, 
 Cork, and, saying he had no attorney/^ stated very 
 clearly a point of law on which he requested ^^the 
 counsellor's adwice/^ O^Connell at. once attended to 
 the client, put several questions pertinent to his case, 
 and then directed the farmer as to his course. He had 
 just finished when a friend, Mr. Kellet, was announced, 
 and while O^Connell was shaking him by the hand, the 
 farmer slipped past to make his exit. He had reached 
 the stair-head when O'Connell guessed his purpose. 
 The farmer had commenced his descent when O^Connell, 
 leaning over, with outstretched hand, caught, not the 
 retreating client^s hair, but his wig. The farmer con- 
 tinued his descent, satisfied to lose the wig and save 
 the guinea, but he was no match for O^Connell. Ee- 
 turning with the scalp, O^Connell greeted his friend 
 Kellet with the whoop of an Indian chief as he held up 
 his trophy. Here, Kellet,^^ he said, is the wig of 
 a rascal who has just bilked me of a fee/^ 
 
 What will you do with it ? asked Kellet. 
 Come and see,^^ replied Dan. 
 
 He threw up the window of his lodging, and there 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 241 
 
 was congregated in the street below a crowd of the 
 finest pisantry of Munster/^ who always escorted the 
 counsellor on his way to the Cork Court House^ for 
 Dan at this time was emphatically the Man of the 
 people/^ A cheer burst from the throng as they saw 
 the smiling face of O^Connell. See^ boys/^ he cried, 
 I have something to amuse you. This fine wig, this 
 superfine wig, I just now took from the head of a man 
 who has sneaked off with my fee/^ With shouts of 
 laughter they received it, as O^Connell flung it from 
 him, and they tossed it from one to another like a 
 shuttlecock. 
 
 Soon after, the late owner of the wig issued from 
 the door. He was assailed with loud groans and such 
 contemptuous epithets, that, besides the loss of his wig, 
 caused him very bitterly to lament having cheated 
 O^Connell of his fee. 
 
 O^Connell was retained in a Kerry case in which the 
 venue or place of trial {it being in law a transitory action) 
 was laid in Dublin. O^Connell was instructed to try 
 and change the venue, so that the case might be tried 
 in Tralee. This motion was resisted, and Mr. Scriven, 
 the counsel opposed to O^Connell, happened ^to be a 
 gentleman of a very plain, even forbidding countenance, 
 and of high Tory politics. He stated he had no know- 
 ledge of Kerry, and had never been in that part of 
 Ireland." 
 
 ^^Oh!" replied O^Connel], we'll be very glad to 
 welcome my learned friend, and show him the lovely 
 lakes of Killarney/' 
 
 Yes,'' growled Mr. Scriven, I suppose the bottom 
 of them." 
 
 B 
 
242 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 ^^No^ no ! retorted Dan^ I luould not frighten the 
 fish.'' 
 
 O^Conneirs ready wit often caused him to give his 
 brethren on the Circuit a wholesome lesson in a good- 
 humoured way. He was opposed to a leading member 
 of the Circuity named Bennett^ who carried the case of 
 legal opposition somewhat farther than O^Connell 
 thought the occasion demanded. As Mr. Bennett 
 wished to pass into the next Court^ and having to en- 
 counter a cold draught of wind which was roughly 
 blowings he asked O'Connell to lend him his fur cap 
 then lying on the seat beside him^ You may take it, 
 with pleasure, George/^ replied O'Connell, only as 
 this is the cap of good humour^ I fear it will not fit you.' 
 
 The criminal law, in former days, was much more 
 favourable to prisoners than now, when indictments 
 may be amended. Many of O^Oonneirs legal triumphs 
 in defending prisoners were owing to his skill in de- 
 tecting flaws in the indictments. Thus a man was 
 charged with stealing a cow ; the prosecutor swore that 
 the prisoner was caught in the field where he left the 
 cows to graze, but that the carcase was found in the 
 next field. O^Connell submitted the indictment was 
 bad, for when the cow was killed it was no longer a 
 cow ; and if the prisoner was to be tried for stealing 
 a dead animal, it should be so stated. He relied on 
 the dictum of Judge Holroyd, that an indictment for 
 stealing a dead animal should state it was dead ; for, 
 upon a general statement that a party stole the animal, 
 it is to be intended that he stole it alive.^ And 
 
 ^ Edwards's Case — Kussell and Eyan, 497. Vide Eoscoe's 
 " Digest of Criminal Ev.," p. 77. 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 243 
 
 here the only evidence was that the animal was 
 dead. 
 
 The Court held the indictment bad^ and directed the 
 jury to acquit the prisoner. It was said the cow in 
 question was the fattest of a number of cows, and the 
 night on which it was killed was dark as pitch. The 
 grateful cattle-stealer came in the evening toO^Connell^s 
 lodgings to thank him for having saved his life, for in 
 those days cattle-stealing was punished by hanging. 
 
 ^^How did you contrive to select the fattest cow 
 when the night was quite dark?^^ inquired O^Oonnell, 
 wishing to increase his stock of useful knowledge. 
 
 Well, your honour, you saved my life,^^ replied the 
 culprit, ^^so 1^11 put you up to the dodge. When 
 you go to steal a cow, and wish, av coorse, to take 
 the best — for ^ in for a penny in for a pound ^ — be sure 
 to take her that^s on the outside. The wakes t craturs 
 always make for the ditch fer shelter, but the fat 
 bastes are outside.^^ Disputes respecting fisheries have 
 proved a great source of litigation both in Limerick 
 and Cork. The great salmon rivers — the Shannon and 
 Blackwater in Munster — have, from very remote times, 
 had rights of fishery conferred on varying owners 
 along the course of these rivers, and contests between 
 them have caused repeated law-suits. On one occasion 
 the plaintiff, for whom O^Connell was counsel, derived 
 his title as assignee of a company long in occupation 
 of a salmon weir on the Blackwater near Youghal. 
 In ancient times a Danish company worked the fishery. 
 It was then called the Lax Weir. The defendant's 
 counsel contended the weir should be open, to permit 
 the fish to pass at certain distances, and the name Lax 
 
 E 2 
 
244 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 implied an o-pen^ and not a dose weir. This argument 
 seemed to carry much weighty until some philologist 
 in court wrote on a slip of paper^ " In the north of 
 Europe lacks or lax means a salmon/^ This enabled 
 O^Connell to argue that the very word established his 
 case, for the Salmon weir was the liax weir; and thus, 
 by the well-timed production of this bit of philological 
 knowledge O^Connell gained a verdict for his client, 
 and a great increase to his reputation as a skilful 
 advocate.^ 
 
 An action was brought for the diversion of a stream 
 whereby the mill of the plaintiff was deprived of its 
 requisite supply of water for milling purposes. 
 
 The plaintiff^s attorney, a rosy-faced, red-nosed hon 
 vivanty had a very great reputation for taking what 
 was called a big drink,^^ and, when addressing the 
 jury on the wrongs of his much-injured client, Mr. 
 O^Connell could not avoid a joke on his attorney. 
 
 Gentlemen of the jury,^^ he continued, I can hardly 
 describe how completely the defendant has iutercepted 
 this stream, which, for a long series of years, as we will 
 demonstrate, has flowed, and still ought to flow, to turn 
 my client^s mill. I can most positively assert he has 
 so entirely diverted this stream, there does not now 
 flow in the old channel as much water as would make 
 grog for FogartyJ' 
 
 O^Connell did not confine his sly wit to Bar and 
 attorneys. The judges occasionally were the subjects 
 of his jest. When the late Chief Justice Lefroy was 
 sergeant, he was noted for his religious fervour, and 
 
 * Temple Bar Magazine, vol. vi. p. 112. 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 245 
 
 took a very active part in the Society for the Conversion 
 of the Jews. He had been attending one of these 
 meetings^ while O^Connell was^ at the same time^ busy 
 in promoting his mission in aid of Roman Catholic 
 Emancipation. The pious sergeant was appointed 
 Judge of Assize on the Munster Circuity and amongst 
 the criminal cases for trial in Cork was the larceny of 
 several ancient coins^ some of the Hebrew kings and 
 others of the Caosars. O^Connell was engaged to defend 
 the accused, and when the coins were produced in 
 court, for luckily they were all traced by the police, 
 Sergeant Lefroy expressed a desire to inspect them. 
 
 O^Connell, laying stress on the words, said, Hand 
 his lordship the Jewish ones, but give me the Roman.'' 
 
 Throughout life O^Connell was addicted to the 
 use of strong language, as in the expression of 
 calling the Members of the House of Commons, Six 
 hundred scoundrels,^^ describing Mr. Disraeli as the 
 descendant of the impenitent thief ; '' alluding to Lord 
 Alvanley as a bloated buffoon.'' These vulgarisms 
 pained his friends quite as much as they galled his 
 enemies. 
 
 One of his most memorable encounters in the wordy 
 war was with a notorious virago, who kept a small 
 huckster's shop on the Quay of Dublin, opposite the 
 Four Courts. She was named Biddy Moriarty, and 
 acquired such reputation for the use of foul words, that 
 no respectable person would venture to accost her save 
 in most peaceable terms. O'ConnelFs power as a 
 master of rhetoric, when but a junior at the Bar, in- 
 duced some members of the Bar to back him against 
 Biddy^ and entering into the joke, he accepted the 
 
246 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 oflFer^ and promised to have a tongue-tilt with this 
 redoubtable scold. 
 
 My friend the late D. 0. Madden has thus related 
 the dialogue : — 
 
 ^^O^Connell was very confident of success; he laid 
 an ingenious plan for overcoming her^ and, with all the 
 anxiety of an ardent experimentalist, waited to put it 
 in practice. He resolved to open the attack. At this 
 time O^ConnelFs own party and the loungers about 
 the place formed an audience quite sufficient to rouse 
 Mrs. Moriarty, on public provocation, to a due ex- 
 hibition of her powers. O^Connell commenced the 
 attack. 
 
 What^s the price of this walking-stick, Mrs. What^s- 
 your-name ? 
 
 Moriarty, sir, is my name, and a good one it is ; 
 and what have you to say agin it ? and one and six- 
 pence is the price of this stick — troth 'tis chape as dirt 
 — so it is."'^ 
 
 One and sixpence for a walking-stick ! Whew ! 
 Why you are no better than an impostor to ask 
 eighteenpence for what cost you twopence."'^ 
 
 Twopence, your grandmother,^^ replied Biddy. 
 
 Do you mane to say it is cheating the people I am ? 
 Impostor indeed ! 
 
 "Ay, impostor; and it's that I call you to your 
 teeth,"'-' rejoined O'Connell. 
 
 " Come, cut your stick, you cantankerous jacka- 
 napes."'^ 
 
 "Keep a civil tongue in your head, you old dia- 
 gonal I " cried O'Connell calmly. 
 
 " Stop your jaw, you pug-nosed badger, or by this 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 247 
 
 and tliat/^ cried Mrs. Moriarty^ ^^Fll make you go 
 quicker than you came/^ 
 
 Don^t be in a passion^ my old radius ; anger will 
 only wrinkle your beauty/^ 
 
 " By the holy, if you say another word of impudence, 
 T^ll tan your dirty hide, you bastely scrub ; and sorry 
 Fd be to soil my fists upon your carcase/^ 
 
 Whew, boys, what a passion Old Biddy is in ! I 
 protest, as Fm a gentleman/^ 
 
 ^* Gintleman ! gintleman ! the likes of you a gintle- 
 man ! Wisha that bangs Banagher. Why, you potato- 
 faced pippin- squeezer, where did a Madagascar monkey 
 like you pick up enough of common Christian dacency 
 to hide your Kerry brogue ? 
 
 Easy now, easy now,^^ cried O'Connell, with imper- 
 turbable good-humour, don^t choke yourself with fine 
 language, you old whiskey-drinking parallelogram.' ' 
 
 What^s that you call me, you murderin villian?^^ 
 roared Mrs. Moriarty, stung with fury. 
 
 ^^I call you,^' answered O^Connell, a parallelogram, 
 and a Dublin judge and jury will say it^s no libel to 
 call you so.'^^ 
 
 Oh tare and ounds ! oh, you ruffin ! that an honest 
 woman lik^ me should be called parrybellygrum to her 
 face. Fm none of your parrybellygrums, you rascally 
 gallows-bird; you cowardly, sneaking, plate-licken 
 blaggard.^^ 
 
 Oh, not you, indeed,^' retorted O'Connell. Why, 
 I suppose you deny that you keep a hypothenuse in 
 your house.^^ 
 
 It^s a lie for you, you robber; I never had such a 
 thing in my house, you swindling thief .^^ 
 
248 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Ah^ you can^t deny the charge^ you miserable suh- 
 multiple of a duplicate ratio/' 
 
 You saucy tinker^s apprentice, if you don^t cease 
 your jaw, FU — But here she gasped for breath, 
 while O^Connell proceeded, — 
 
 While I have a tongue Fll abuse you, you most 
 inimitable periphery. Look at her, boys ; there she 
 stands a convicted perpendicular in petticoats ! There 
 she trembles with guilt down to the extremities of her 
 corollaries. Ah ! you're found out, you rectilineal antece- 
 dent, and equiangular old hag; you porter-swiping 
 similitude of the bisection of a vortex,'^ 
 
 Overwhelmed with this torrent of language, Mrs. 
 Moriarty was silenced. Catching up a saucepan, she 
 was aiming at O^ConnelPs head, when he prudently 
 made a timely retreat. 
 
 You have won your wager, O^Connell; there^s your 
 share of the bet,^^ said the gentleman who proposed 
 the contest. O^Connell knew well the use of sound in 
 vituperation, and having to deal with an ignorant 
 scold, he determined to overcome her in volubility by 
 using all the sesquipedalia verba which occur in Euclid. 
 With these, and a few signilBcant epithets, and a scof- 
 fing, impudent demeanour, he had for once impressed 
 silence on Biddy Moriarty. 
 
 On the hustings, as in the Court or the street, 
 O^ConnelPs wit was ever ready, his merriment never 
 flagged. When his success at the great Clare election 
 of 1828 caused the defeat of the Right Hon. Vesey 
 Fitzgerald, the head of the Board of Trade, who ex- 
 pected a walk over, never supposing O^ Conn ell would 
 venture to oppose his return, the speech of the 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 249 
 
 successful candidate tickled tlie mob^ and was quite 
 suited to their taste. Boys^ whereas Vasy Vigarald ? 
 cried O^Connell. " O^hone Vasey, I^m dull without you^ 
 Rimthighy Mavourneen, Rimthigh, ^ and find him out — 
 send the bellman after him. Here^s the cry for you : — 
 
 " Stolen or stray'd, 
 Lost or mislaid, 
 The President of the Board of Trade." 
 
 An amusing scene took place at the hustings in Dublin^ 
 when O^Connell stood for that city^ and was opposed 
 by John Beatty West^ whose heavy features and 
 
 clumsy figure were forbiddingly plain^ and most un- 
 graceful^ when compared with O^ConnelFs finely propor- 
 tioned frame and smiling countenance, his features set 
 ofi* by a well-oiled wig. 
 
 O^Connell never hesitated to use any epithets to gall 
 his foe^ so he nick-named his opponent Sou-West/^ 
 which was soon shouted as Sow-West/^ varied by 
 
 Ugly West.^^ 
 
 Mr. West tried to retort by saying ^^My learned 
 friend has an advantage over me in the matter of hair^ 
 he wears a wig.^^ 
 
 I scorn any such advantage ! cried 0^ Connelly as 
 he removed the work of the perruquier, Now^ boys, 
 here we stands compare us both^ and where is Sou- 
 West, the beauty ? 
 
 Three cheers for O^Connell/^ declared the state of the 
 poll. 
 
 He often relieved the monotony of the debates of the 
 Move about, dear, move about. 
 
250 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 House of Commons^ and the drowsy influence of 
 soporific speeches by appropriate hon mots. 
 
 When the Government of Lord John Russell^ 
 escaped shipwreck on some vital question, by the 
 narrow majority of a few votes^ O^Connell caused 
 general merriment by exclaiming, — 
 
 " There's a sweet little Cherub that sits up aloft, 
 And takes care of the soul of jpoor JachT 
 
 A general election having failed to return as many 
 Members to the House of Commons as Lord Derby^s 
 party calculated upon, when Parliament met, O^Con- 
 nell referred to the failure in a very triumphant speech, 
 and the applause was increased when he said, — 
 
 " See, down thy hill, romantic Ashburn, glides 
 5^ The Derby dilly, carrying six insides.^* 
 
 But by far his most successful hit was in reference to 
 Colonel Verner, M.P., Colonel Gore, M.P., and Colonel 
 Sibthorp, M.P., the two former being devoid of any 
 facial hirsute appendage, while the latter was remark- 
 able for a beard that covered — not only his chin — but 
 his breast. When making a speech in the House of 
 Commons on a debate upon which these three Mem- 
 bers had spoken violently on the opposite side, 
 O^Connell said, — 
 
 " Three Colonels in three distant counties bom, 
 Armagh, Sligo, and Lincoln, did adorn ; 
 The first in direct bigotry surpassed, 
 The next in impudence, in both the last. 
 The force of nature could no farther go. 
 To heard the third, she shaved the other two. 
 
 8 This able and eminent statesman died on the 28th May, 
 1878, in his eighty-sixth year. 
 
O^ConnelL 
 
 0^ Connellys health, was so impaired in 1847 — his once 
 manly voice sunk to treble pipes^ and whistled in its 
 sound^^ — that when he went to Parliament in 1847 he was 
 inaudible in the gallery. He was ordered to try change 
 of air^ and set out for Rome_, but death met him on the 
 way^ and in the city of Genoa^ by the blue waters of 
 the Mediterranean^ on the loth May, 1847, Daniel 
 O^Connell died. His remains rest in Irish soil, beneath 
 the stately round tower which proclaims where he is 
 laid in the cemetery of Glasnevin. 
 
252 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MEMOIR OF CHIEF BAEON WOULFE. 
 
 Born in 1786. — Education. — Studies law. — His friendship with 
 WilHam Henry Curran. — High personal character. — Called 
 to the Irish Bar in 1814. — Tour on the Continent. — At the 
 Bar. — Personal appearance. — Supports the veto. — Opposed 
 by O'Connell. — Meeting at Limerick.-— O'Connell's story. — 
 Woulfe publishes, in 1819, a letter to a Protestant on " The 
 Balance of Evils." — Condemns Plunket for prosecuting the 
 Catholic Association. — A Treatise on "The Law of Real 
 Property." — Appointed a Crown Prosecutor on the Munster 
 Circuit. — Assistant Barrister for the County Galway. — 
 Hesigns the chairmanship. — Obtains the rank of King's 
 Counsel. — Serjeant in 1834, and Solicitor- General in 1836. — 
 Elected M.P. for Cashel. — His Parliamentary career. — 
 Attorney- General in 1837. — His mode of speaking. — Com- 
 pared with Sheil. — The Drummond letter. — Succeeds Joy as 
 Chief Baron in 1838. — His demeanour on the Bench.— At 
 Baden-Baden. — Death in 1840. 
 
 Few men ever occupied a higher place in public esti- 
 mation during his life than Stephen Woulfe^ yet^ such 
 is the brief period of worldly popularity^ his name is 
 seldom mentioned now. 
 
 His family emigrated from the County of Clare_, and 
 settled at Chaud Fontaine, near Liege, in Belgium, 
 where Stephen Woulfe was born in 1786. He was 
 carefully educated by the Jesuit fathers at Stonyhurst, 
 in Lancashire, and as this was the school at which, at 
 
Memoir of Chief Baron Woiclfe. 253 
 
 ttat time, tlie English patrician houses of Howard, 
 Clifford, Petre, Weld, Witham, Stoner, and the Irish 
 Talbots, Plunkets, Fitzgeralds, O^Briens, MacNamaras, 
 Woulfes, and others, had their sons educated, a sort of 
 national rivalry prevailed, and, in the intellectual, as 
 well as physical conflicts, the Irish boys held their own. 
 Among these Stephen Woulfe occupied no ignoble 
 place. Having been well grounded in classical and 
 scientific learning, he was sent for some time to the 
 Lay College of Maynooth, and then, selecting the pro- 
 fession of the law as his avocation in life, became a 
 student of the King^s Inns, and a graduate of Trinity 
 College, Dublin. 
 
 The following account of his student days was 
 written by W. H. Curran : — 
 
 ^^It was in 1813, that being one of his fellow- 
 students at the Middle Temple, I first saw him, and I 
 cannot now refrain from stating, with, I hope, ex- 
 cusable pride, that our acquaintanceship was no sooner 
 formed than he not only so much selected, as seized 
 upon me as his friend, and that the cordial grasp, once 
 given, was never relaxed until his hold upon all things 
 in this life was gone for ever.''^ ^ Woulfe appears to 
 have been very happy in securing, not merely the 
 casual acquaintance, but the lasting esteem of his 
 fellow-students. Besides Curran, the late Judge Ball, 
 Richard Lalor Shiel, Sir Thomas Wyse, and Mr. 
 Wallace were life-long friends. 
 
 Woulfe had qualities which men always love in 
 their companions. A frank, trusting, kindly nature, a 
 
 I " Sketches of the Irish Bar, vol. i. p. 6." 
 
254 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 disposition pleasant and conciliatory, and unvaried 
 rectitude of principle. His sentiments were neither 
 narrowed by bigotry, nor warped by prejudice. His 
 heart and his friendship were wide — neither were cur- 
 tailed by seas, nor national preferences. 
 
 Having duly kept his terms, Mr. Woulfe was called to 
 the Irish Bar in Trinity Term, 1814. Shortly after this 
 the restoration of Peace, which followed the battle of 
 Waterloo, opened Europe to travellers, when Mr. 
 Woulfe accompanied Messrs. Ball and Wyse on a 
 continental tour. He seems to have been much dis- 
 tressed by the bad sewage of Paris, and was glad to 
 leave that now splendid capital for the sunny south. 
 With his accomplished companions he visited Milan, 
 Mantua, Verona, and Venice — the Bride of the Sea. 
 Here the poetic and imaginative mind of Woulfe had 
 much to revel in. The Palace of the Doges, the 
 gloomy prisons approached by the Bridge of Sighs, 
 the songs of the Gondoliers, the poetry of Tasso, the 
 Rialto, the ancient fame and modern degeneracy of 
 Venice called forth his reverence and regret. Woulfe 
 left his associates to proceed to the Tyrol, where he 
 enjoyed the glorious scenery of the land of Hofer, and, 
 skirting the north of Switzerland, came home by the 
 banks of the Rhine. 
 
 With a mind deeply imbued with literature, and 
 great reasoning power, he settled to the practice of his 
 profession. He never was greatly distinguished as a 
 lawyer. 
 
 Mr. Curran says, He had come to his profession, 
 according to the custom of the time, without much 
 previous insight into its minute practical details, but 
 
Memoir of Chief Baron Woidfe, 255 
 
 as to some most essential particulars he was far from 
 being unprepared. He had been no careless or negli- 
 gent student. He studied the best text-books — both 
 of Common Law and Equity, and not merely in a de- 
 sultory, superficial way, but thoroughly. He was not 
 so well acquainted with the minute details as with 
 broad principles.^^ What he did know he knew well. 
 He had thoroughly mastered leading principles, and on 
 these he mainly depended. In their application he was 
 always remarkably ingenious, but where there was a 
 necessity for much legal learning he was deficient. His 
 practice in the Four Courts was not large ; but after 
 the withdrawal of O^Connell, Sergeant Goold, and 
 William Waggett, he became one of the leaders of the 
 Munster Circuit.^ 
 
 Woulfe^s personal appearance was very striking. 
 His figure was long and lean, more indicative of grace 
 than strength. His face was thin, with the cheeks 
 hollow, the nose prominent, sharp in outline, and of 
 unusual length. He looked often like 
 
 " An inspired and desperate alchemist 
 Staking his very life on some dark cast.'* 
 
 In later years, when I used to meet him, illness had 
 wasted away the little flesh he ever possessed, and he 
 was gaunt and grim, and though at best of times his 
 voice was guttural and inharmonious, it then croaked. 
 He could not pronounce the letter r,^^ and, though a 
 very rapid and fluent speaker, his tones were often too 
 shrill to be heard with pleasure. 
 
 2 " Ireland and its Rulers," vol. ii. p. 308. 
 
256 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 ^^I spoke to them trumpet-tongaed/^ lie said to a 
 friend^ after a fine speech, to a Cork jury. 
 
 You did^ I heard you ; but it was a penny trumpet^ 
 Stephen/^ replied Harry Cooper. 
 
 On one occasion a party of his friends (he being 
 absent) were amusing themselves by going through 
 some varieties of the canine race^ and endeavouring to 
 find a resemblance between them and members of the 
 Bar. Bulldogs, spaniels, terriers, and curs, were 
 readily matched. When the greyhound was named, 
 Shiel instantly called out, Woulfe,^^ and the likeness, 
 even to the very minutest details, was pronounced per- 
 fect. Both possessed the tall and slender frame, the 
 keen eye^ the elongated face — both so calm and gentle 
 when in repose — so swift and bounding in motion. It 
 was a capital simile. 
 
 It has been well said by a competent judge of men 
 and character that ^^Woulfe was the first mind 
 amongst the modern Irish Catholics.^^ This is pro- 
 bably true as regards the laymen, but of the 
 clergy, the Eev. Arthur O^Leary was before him. 
 Woulfe certainly was a profound thinker, and 
 endowed with great mental powers. Having already 
 mentioned his having been sent to the College of 
 Maynooth before entering Trinity College, Mr. 
 Madden supposes he was intended for the priest- 
 hood, and infers that his theological training did 
 much to sharpen the intellect and invigorate the 
 reasoning power of one whose faculties, without 
 some constraint, would have been erratic in their 
 tendency from the discursive character of his mind. 
 
 Had he taken orders,^^ adds Madden, ^' and 
 
Memoir of CJiief Baron Woulfe. 257 
 
 engaged in controversy^ lie might have been the 
 Bossuet of Ireland/^ ^ 
 
 Curiously enough he did engage in controversy. 
 When the British Government claimed the right of 
 having a veto upon the appointment of Irish Roman 
 Catholic bishops^ Mr. Woulfe^ with several other con- 
 scientious Catholics^ saw no objection to this arrange- 
 ment. But the great mass of the Irish nation^ priests 
 and people, were against this veto, and it became the 
 great question of the day. O^Connell was opposed to 
 Woulfe, who was regarded as the chief champion of 
 those in favour of the veto. At a great public meeting 
 held in Limerick, to pronounce against giving this 
 power to the Government, Woulfe attempted to address 
 the meeting, but, as he was known to differ in opinion 
 from O^Connell, Woulfe was unable to obtain a hear- 
 ing. O^Connell came forward and asked, as a favour to 
 himself, that the learned gentleman might be allowed 
 to speak."'^ This silenced the tumult, and Woulfe 
 delivered a carefully prepared and most powerful 
 speech on the subject, in favour of yielding to the 
 Government. When he ceased O^Connell advanced, 
 and was loudly cheered. I am not going to make a 
 speech to- day he said, in his sweet, but impressive 
 voice : you have had a fine speech from the gentle- 
 man who has just sat down, but I will tell you a story. 
 Once upon a time a flock of sheep were living peace- 
 ably together under the care of their watch-dogs, when 
 an attempt was made to get rid of the dogs. And 
 who made the attempt ? It was the wolves. A meet- 
 
 3 " Ireland and its Eulers/' vol. ii. p. 321. 
 
 S 
 
258 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 ing of tlie sheep took place. Tlien the leading wolf 
 came forward^ and tried to persuade the innocent 
 sheep to give up their dogs. They followed the 
 advice, and mark the consequences. They were 
 quickly devoured, and so would the Catholics of 
 Ireland if they acted in the same manner as the sheep, 
 and followed the advice of a Woidfe,^^ 
 
 The meeting at once saw the drift of the story, and 
 cheered O^Connell to the echo. It is needless to say 
 the vetoists were thoroughly beaten, and Woulfe, 
 turning to Dean Coll, said, ^^How useless it is to 
 compete with O^Connell. Here have I been elaborating 
 a speech for a month, and O^Connell demolishes me 
 by a flash of humour and a pun on my name ! 
 
 In 1819, Woulfe published a very able treatise on 
 the situation of the Irish Catholics. It was entitled, 
 
 A Letter to a Protestant on the Balance of Evils,^^ 
 and addressed to Henry Brougham. It was thus com- 
 mented on by a friend of Mr. Madden^s : — 
 
 I had never before seen Woulfe^s argument on the 
 Catholic question, and I have been perfectly amazed at 
 the ability of some portions of it. The permanent 
 value and universal applicability of the arguments 
 chiefly rested on, and the intimate familiarity with 
 ancient and modern history displayed throughout, 
 struck me very much. It is plain he has been a deep 
 student of history. But it is absurd to look upon th^'s 
 v/ork as a pamphlet. It is a grand oration, undelivered 
 for want of a fit arena to speak it in, like Cicero^s 
 famous second Philippic. You may, if you like, class 
 it as a piece of political reasoning with Mackintoshes 
 disquisition on the Reform Bill, or any other essay of 
 
Memoir of Cliief Baro7i Woiclfe, 259 
 
 that description. I would rather compare it to Burke^s 
 great speech on conciliation with America. It evinces 
 the same power of surveying the question from a 
 height, and, looking down upon the contending prin- 
 ciples on both sides. Woulf e^s subject is not less grand 
 than Burke^s, and his treatment of it hardly less com- 
 prehensive and dignified j it is a plea for national 
 integrity, universal tolerance, and the supremacy of 
 law, unstained by even the pretence of partisanship."'^ 
 
 From what I have mentioned it may be supposed 
 that, on some points, Woulfe and O^Connell did not 
 agree. However, Woulfe cast the weight of his high 
 character and great abilities into the scale with his 
 co-religionists in their efforts for emancipation. 
 Though bound by ties of personal friendship and esteem 
 for Plunket, when that great Irishman, as Attorney - 
 General, prosecuted the Catholic Association, no one 
 was more vehement in denouncing the prosecutions 
 than Stephen Woulfe. 
 
 He owed much professional advancement to Plunket. 
 Woulfe had composed a treatise on The Amendment 
 of the Laws of Real Property in England, during the 
 year 1822, but was anticipated in its publication by 
 Mr. Humphrey's Observations on the Actual State of 
 the English Laws of Real Property, with the Outlines 
 ofaCode.^^ 
 
 Mr. Woulfe was one of the first L^ish Catholics who 
 obtained legal preferment from the British Government 
 in modern times. A Crown prosecutorship on the 
 Munster Circuit was conferred on him, and at that 
 time it was worth at least lOOOZ. a year. In 1829 the 
 Assistant-Barristership of Galway was also given to 
 
 s 2 
 
26o 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 him by the then Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord 
 Francis Leveson-Gower^ but the union of these two 
 oflBces was too much for his delicate healthy and he 
 resigned his chairmanship in 1 832^ having held it only 
 about three years. 
 
 The oflBce of Crown prosecutor on his circuit was not 
 a very laborious one^ and very remunerative. During 
 the anti -tithe agitation of 1833, he conducted a pro- 
 secution against parties defended by O^Connell to the 
 great satisfaction of the Viceroy, Lord Anglesea, by 
 obtaining a conviction. Lord Plunket, the Chan- 
 cellor, was asked by the Viceroy what compliment 
 could be conferred on Mr. Woulfe in reward for his 
 successful efforts ? and the silk gown of King^s 
 Counsel was tendered and accepted. In 1834, 
 Woulfe was promoted to the rank of Sergeant-at-Law. 
 On the elevation of the Right Hon. Michael O^Loghlen 
 to the Bench of the Exchequer, Mr. Richards suc- 
 ceeded him as Attorney- General, and Mr. Woulfe 
 became Solicitor-General for Ireland. As the Govern- 
 ment required the presence of one of the Law officers 
 in the House of Commons, the Solicitor-General was 
 returned for the borough of Cashel in 1836. He was 
 not slow in gaining a Parliamentary reputation. On the 
 7th March, 1836, he delivered a great speech on the 
 question of the Reform in the Irish Corporation. When 
 Sir Robert Peel asked, Gid bono Corporations ? 
 What good will they be in Ireland, a poor country with 
 little trade?'' Woulfe answered, ''I will tell the 
 Right Honourable Baronet what they will do. They 
 will go far to create and to foster public opinion in 
 Ireland, and make it racy of the soil.'' Words of 
 
Memoir of Chief Baron Woidfe, 261 
 
 great importance, and adopted as tlie motto of the 
 Nation newspaper. In 1837 Mr. Woulfe became 
 Attorney- G ener al . 
 
 He did not continue a member of the House of 
 Commons^ or tlie first law officer of the Crown, for a 
 very lengthened period. He was in much bodily 
 suffering during that period of his life ; but short as was 
 the time he sat within the walls of Parliament, he dis- 
 played mental superiority to almost all those who, while 
 holding official rank at the Irish Bar, had the entree to 
 the Senate. He was infinitely superior to the Jacksons, 
 Littons, Lefroys, and others of that class, and was 
 readily appreciated by friends and political foes, for 
 he had no others. Sir Robert Peel and Sir James 
 Graham both expressed their admiration at the ability 
 of his Parliamentary speeches, especially those on 
 Corporate Reform, and his speech from the hustings at 
 Cashel was the theme of praise from the press of 
 Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 The following account of the delivery of one of his 
 speeches in the House conveys a good idea of him, when 
 labouring under great physical debility. The second 
 reading of the Irish Municipal Reform Bill coming on, 
 Mr. Woulfe said, He could not, as the Attorney- 
 General for Ireland, omit making a speech on the 
 occasion.^^ For some time — say ten minutes after he 
 commenced — he acquitted himself in a more than 
 creditable manner, and the presumption, for that length 
 of time, was that he would improve in the eloquence, 
 and in the animation of his manner, as he got further 
 into his subject. Instead of that, however, he became 
 much heavier in his matter, and more languid in his 
 
262 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 manner. He consequently lost^ to a corresponding 
 degree^ ttie attention of the House^ and many members 
 rose and went out. In about a quarter of an hour after 
 this he rallied_, and made what is called a number of 
 good points. He also became much more lively in his 
 manner^ and repeatedly elicited loud cheers. He con- 
 tinued to speak for a full hour more, making at least 
 an hour and a half altogether, during which he ad- 
 dressed the House.* 
 
 Woulfe was considered to have resembled Shiel 
 in some respects. This, perhaps, was owing to his 
 peculiar voice, and using much gesticulation when 
 excited. In his calmer moods he stooped, leaning 
 upon the table, and keepiug his gaze fixed upon the 
 Speaker or some other member who sat opposite. 
 
 It was while Mr. Woulfe was Attorney-General the 
 memorable letter, called The Drummond Letter,^^ 
 was written to the Earl of Donoughmore and the 
 magistrates of Tipperary. It was dated Dublin Castle, 
 May 22nd, 1838. This letter contained the oft-quoted 
 passage, Property has its duties as well as its rights.''^ 
 Mr. Madden justly observes, Of the effects of that 
 letter it is needless to speak. It never can be for- 
 gotten in Ireland. Seldom was a public document 
 conceived in a happier spirit. Equal to the occassion 
 which called it forth, its moral power can be best esti- 
 mated by the stricken spirits of those whose arrogance 
 and injustice were rebuked therein with stern dignity.''^ ^ 
 
 This able State Paper, though attributed to the 
 
 Under-Secretary for Ireland, the lamented Thomas 
 
 ^ ^^Metropolitan Mag., vol. xviii. 
 
 ^ " Ireland and its Eulers," vol. ii. p. 300.- 
 
Memoir of Chief Baron Woiilfe, 263 
 
 Drummond^ was really written by Woulfe^ the Attorney- 
 General. 
 
 The death of Chief Baron Joy left the chief seat on the 
 Exchequer Bench vacant^ and to this^ on the 20th July, 
 1838, the Attorney- General became entitled according 
 to custom. In some respects the seat on the Bench 
 was a change for the better. It relieved Mr. Woulfe 
 from the duties of Attorney-General, and the nightly 
 attendance in the House of Commons, which to one in 
 such infirm health must have been very disagreeable. 
 But the Bench was no sinecure. At that time the 
 Exchequer had an equitable as well as legal juris- 
 diction, and, as very little business was done in the 
 Common Pleas, a very great share was in the Exche- 
 quer. Then the Chief Baron sat at Nisi Prius, so Chief 
 Baron Woulfe had not wholly otium cum dignitate. 
 He gave great satisfaction while on the Bench. His 
 manner was courteous and patient, while his rulings 
 were marked by great ability. But his failing health 
 demanded rest, and he resolved to try a yearns respite 
 from his duties. Towards the close of 1839 he went 
 to Baden Baden, where he died early in the year 1840, 
 and left the noble reputation of being one of the most 
 gifted men Ireland has ever produced. His name and 
 fame is destined to be preserved in the distinguished 
 career of his nephew, the Right Hon. Stephen Woulfe 
 Flanagan, one of the Judges of the Landed Estates 
 Court. 
 
264 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 RICHARD LALOR SHIEL. 
 
 Born in 1791. — Scenery on the Banks of tlie Suir. — His educa- 
 tion. — Resolves to study Law. — Love of Literature. — His 
 debut in the College Historical Society. His appearance 
 and manner. — His Plays. — First Marriage. — Death of Mrs. 
 Shiel. — Contributes to the New Monthly Magazine. — Success 
 on Circuit. — Appointed King's Counsel. — Second Marriage. 
 — Becomes M.P. — His political changes. — Death in 1852. — 
 k. hon mot. — His power as an orator., — His Alien Speech first 
 delivered in the Catholic Association in 1826. — Effect of Shields 
 oratory upon me in 1844. 
 
 This very eminent Irishman was born near Waterford, 
 in 1 791. His father had amassed a considerable fortune 
 as a merchant in Spain^ and purchased a property in 
 Ireland on the banks of the Suir. Of the scenery 
 around his paternal home^ along the river Suir^ Shiel 
 thus writes : How often have I stood upon its banks 
 when the bells of Waterford city^ the smoke of which 
 was turned into a cloud of gold by a Claude Lorraine 
 sunset, tolled the death of the departing day ! How 
 often have I fixed my gaze upon the glittering expanse 
 of the full and overflowing waters, crowded with ships, 
 whose white sails were filled with just wind enough to 
 carry them on to the sea, by the slowness of their 
 equable and majestic movements giving leave to the 
 eye to contemplate at its leisure their tall and stately 
 beauty, and to watch them long in their progress 
 
Richard Lalor S/iiel. 
 
 265 
 
 amidst the calm through which they made theh^ gentle 
 and forbearing way. The murmurs of the city were 
 heard upon the rights and the lofty spire of the church 
 rose up straight and arrowy into the sky. The sullen 
 and dull roar of the ocean used to come over the oppo- 
 site hills from the bay of Tramore. Immediately before 
 me were the fine woods of Faithlegg^ on the left Snow- 
 hill^ and^ in the distance, where the Suir, the Nore, and 
 the Barrow meet in a deep and splendid confluencCj the 
 ruins of the old Abbey of Dunbrody threw the 
 solemnity of religion and antiquity over the whole 
 prospect.''^ ^ 
 
 Richard Shields first preceptor was a Frenchman, the 
 Abbe de Gremeau, and from the Abbe he acquired the 
 rudiments of Latin and French. He then went to the 
 Peres de la foi, who taught a school at Kensington, and 
 thence to the Jesuits^ College, at Stonyhurst. It is 
 probably from these places of education, that, in Ire- 
 land and its Eulers since 1829,^^ its usually accurate 
 author states Shiel was intended for the Church.''^ 
 Mr. Madden supposes ^^his British education had 
 considerable influence on his life, and though an Irish- 
 man, in his oratorical style he is full of the social pre- 
 judices habitual to Englishmen. 
 
 Having left Stonyhurst, Shiel entered Trinity College, 
 
 Dublin, and resolved to study Law. He was much 
 
 addicted to literature, and at an early age displayed 
 
 marked preference for the Drama. His knowledge of 
 
 classics enabled him when in Trinity College to gain 
 
 several prizes, and he was a distinguished member of 
 
 1 " Schoolboy Ee collections," New Monthly Magazine, 
 August, 1829. 
 
266 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 the College Historical Society. His manner of speak- 
 ing was little changed throughout his life^ for the 
 account given by an eye-witness to his Aehnt in the 
 Historical Society would have suited any of his parlia- 
 mentary addresses ; John Wilson Croker said^ " He 
 jumped into the middle of the floor^ knit his brows 
 fiercely^ clenched his hand, and stamping violently, 
 squealed forth the most inflated rhetoric that had ever 
 been heard, in the most discordant voice that could 
 possibly be imagined/^ Several contemporaries have 
 described Shields personal appearance, and it was so 
 singular it was easy to do so. M. Duvergier d^Hau- 
 ranne, in his Lettres sur les Elections Anglaises, et 
 sur la Situation de Plrlande,^^ p. 157, thus portrays 
 him : '^^Were I commissioned to take down the signahnent 
 of Mr. Shiel, this would be very nearly the result : 
 height five feet four inches, eyes quick and piercing, 
 complexion pale, chin pointed, hair dark, and in adding 
 mouth middle sized, I flatter myself I should have given 
 a description not to be excelled in exactness at the 
 bureau des Fassports, But this is the portrait of the 
 gentleman; that of the orator is widely diverse. When 
 you behold that little Gascon figure in repose, it is im- 
 possible to suspect to what changes passion is capable 
 of converting it. There is in Shiel something of 
 Juvenal, of Pindar, and of Mirabeau. His satire is 
 shrewd and bitter, his poetry dazzling ; his enthusiasm 
 carries you away. When he flings forth his sarcasm, a 
 bitter smile contracts his lips ; when he threatens, his 
 eyes dart forth lightning; when he is under the influence 
 of powerful inspiration, they take an expression alto- 
 gether sublime. His voice is meagre, harsh, and shrill. 
 
Richard Lalor ShieL 
 
 267 
 
 but a powerful emotion seems to regulate its vibrations. 
 His gesture is quick^ abrupt^ and rather disorderly; 
 but it is always in perfect accord with such sentiments 
 as he has to express. Shiel possesses in an eminent 
 degree the surprising faculty of exciting himself to the 
 verge of delirium^ without once losing his complete 
 self-possession.''^ It is amusing to compare this account 
 of ShiePs su'iyrisincj faculhj thus given by the French- 
 man with Madden^ s account of him in the House of 
 Commons : — 
 
 Hah ! up he springs^ like an Irish volunteer 
 rushing to the breach. What a voice ! what vehemence 
 of gesticulation ! what furious passion. 
 
 Passion ? He never was in a better temper during 
 all his life, for he is excellently made up, and he is sure 
 of producing an efiFect, most brilliant, though very 
 transient in its nature. The artistic asperity of a rhe- 
 torical gladiator must not be confounded with the 
 rancour of antipathy. He has now to act the part of a 
 raging patriot — how inimitably he storms, harshly 
 bawling out his facts with furious vehemence, and 
 shrieking his philippic against the Government with 
 as impassioned spirit as if the fate of the world depended 
 on his oration.^^- 
 
 This prearrangement may be true of his parliamentary 
 and platform speeches, but it is impossible he could be 
 thus prepared on Circuit, and when addressing juries 
 in Dublin. He wrote a number of plays, which had 
 considerable success, chiefly owing to the excellent 
 acting of the celebrated Irish Actress, Miss O'Neill. 
 
 2 Ireland and its Eulers," vol. ii. p. 239. 
 
268 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 This lady was almost as famous as Mrs. Siddons^ and 
 when in the zenith of her histrionic fame^ retired from 
 the stage^ to adorn a private station. This she did 
 with as much grace and dignity as she displayed on the 
 stage. She married Sir Henry Wrixon Beecher^ Bart. 
 By his Plays^ Adelaide^ or the Emigrants ; The 
 Apostate;'' Florinda ; '' ''Bellamira, or the Fall of 
 Tunis ; Evadne ; Montoni, or the Phantom ; 
 and The Huguenot/' Shiel made considerable sums of 
 money. In 1816 he married Miss O'Halloran^ niece of 
 Sir William McMahon, then Master of the Eolls in 
 Ireland. This lady had 2000/^. fortune. Shiel soon 
 became a distinguished Member of the Catholic Associa- 
 tion^ and was reckoned the most influential speaker at 
 its meetings — next to O'Connell. Sir William soon 
 gave the young barrister intimation that no smiles of 
 liolls Court favour would be extended to any agitator. 
 The Master of the Rolls declared^ A sense of public 
 duty rendered it impossible for him to identify himself 
 with a person holding such violent opinions." 
 
 Shields buoyant nature was not depressed by this 
 declaration of his wife's uncle. He even made a joke 
 about it. *^ The only thing which provokes me/' he 
 said, is, that people imagine I never got anything 
 from him. Now this is quite untrue. I once got an 
 invitation to hrealifastJ^ 
 
 In 1822 Mrs. Shiel gave birth to a son, but at the 
 cost of her life. In order to occupy his mind, and 
 assuage his grief for his departed wife, Shiel, in con- 
 junction with a friend, the late Mr. Commissioner 
 Curran, contributed Sketches of the Irish Bar " to 
 the Nevj Monthly Magazine, He also had very 
 
Richard Lalor ShieL 
 
 269 
 
 gooJ practice in his profession^ especially on the 
 Leinster Circuit. Writing from Clonmel^ to Mr. 
 Curran, during the Assizes^ he says^ You will be glad 
 to learn that I have been employed in almost every 
 case^ either to state or to speak to evidence ; and by two 
 speeches, in very remarkable actions, I have, I think 
 (though I may be deceived), greatly added to my 
 reputation. King''s Counsel were left out in som.e 
 instances, in order that I might have precedence. The 
 people and his Majesty have, of late, began to differ in 
 the selection of their advocates. 
 
 But his Majesty soon selected him as one of his 
 counsel. By the passing of the Emancipation Act of 
 1829, Catholics were eligible to put on the silk gown, 
 and Shiel was called to the inner Bar. We are told 
 he was blamed for consenting to be a King^s Counsel, 
 while 0^ Council was excluded, and the great Irishman's 
 sarcastic, " Make way there for the King's Counsel,'' 
 sounded very disagreeably in the ears of the rhetorical 
 phenomenon.' 
 
 In 1830 he married again. His second wife was 
 Mrs. Anastatia Power, widow of Edward Power, Esq., 
 of Gurteen, County Waterf ord. He was elected Mem- 
 ber of Parliament, and, according to the work already 
 quoted, not a very reliable politician. He was a Whig 
 in 1831, and a Radical in 1833. He was a Unionist in 
 the summer of 1832, and a Repealer in the autumn of 
 the same year. In 1834 he spoke and voted for the 
 dissolution of the Union, and in 1843 he kept aloof 
 from the party whose principles he formerly espoused.'* 
 
 3 " Ireland and its Eulers," vol. ii. p. 226. 
 
 4 lb., vol. ii. p. 236. 
 
270 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 The fact is^ Shiel was ambitious^ and London is the 
 field for ambition. Having abandoned his profession 
 for a political career^ he sought the best market for 
 his splendid oratorical powers^ and in return for the 
 support he gave the Whigs^ received from that party a 
 number of places. He was at one time a Commissioner 
 of Greenwich^ at another Master of the Mint, and^ 
 finally^ British Minister at Florence^ where he died on 
 the 25th May, 1852. His remains were brought to 
 Ireland, and interred at Long Orchard, in the County 
 of Tipperary. Shiel, though a very epigrammatic 
 speaker, was not remarkable for witty sayings. One of 
 the best I have heard, was in reference to a gentleman 
 connected with trade. During O^Connell^s agitation 
 several of the distilleries and breweries in Ireland vied 
 with each other for popular favour, and either the pro- 
 prietors themselves, or persons in their employment, 
 attended public meetings, and made eloquent speeches 
 in support of the people^s rights. It was often, as the 
 late General Barry observed, froth at top, and heer 
 at the bottom."'^ While a gentleman in the great dis- 
 tillery estabHshment of Sir John Power, of Dublin, 
 was haranguing a Catholic meeting some one asked 
 Shiel^Who is this ? ^'Oh,'' replied Shiel, he is a 
 patiiot to a distillery.^' 
 
 A specimen of his epigrammatic style is this — 
 Such attention as I may receive, I will reward with 
 brevity .^^ Assuredly, one of his most successful par- 
 liamentary speeches was that upon Irish Municipal 
 Reform, when he referred to Lord Lyndhurst^s un- 
 happy description of the Irish, as aliens in country, 
 in language, in race, and religion. ShieFs personal 
 
Richard Lalor SJiiel. 
 
 271 
 
 appeal to Sir Henry Harding^ ^^tliat gallant soMier 
 who carries a brave heart in an intrepid breast/^ was 
 admirable. 
 
 Now^ it is worthy to note that the scope and tenour 
 of this very effective speech of 1842_, was delivered by 
 Shiel above sixteen years before, when working with 
 O^Connell for Emancipation. 
 
 On the 16th of January, 1826, a meeting of the 
 Catholic Association was held at Burgh Quay, Dublin. 
 The speeches delivered at these meetings were filled 
 alternately with the most astonishing facts and the most 
 heart-stirring eloquence. On the second day Shiel 
 alluded to the Orangemen — The men who with ex- 
 asperating exclusions, with vilifying disqualifications, 
 with offensive songs, and with new insults, repay the 
 victories that have been achieved by the feats of Irish 
 valour and the waste of Irish blood. Oh ! shame, 
 shame, shame! (loud cheers). Again I say, shame 
 upon the abominable system that will take the hearths 
 blood of Ireland and requite it thus. What will a 
 French soldier say ? What will be said by the men 
 who survived the field of Waterloo when they shall 
 peruse (and they will peruse) what I am now speaking 
 to you, and learn that those who forced their battalions 
 to flight and broke the spell of Napoleon^ s invincibility, 
 are deemed unworthy of the rights of nations, are 
 deemed unworthy of the rights of citizens (cheers). 
 What will they say when they shall have been told that 
 the arms which drove the bayonets through their ranks 
 are laden with shackles; and that while laurels are 
 heaped upon the brows of the captain of that great 
 host, the soldiers who achieved the unparalleled victory 
 
2/2 
 
 The Irisli Bar, 
 
 are bound in cliains ? They will say^ that it is better 
 to be unfortunate than ungrateful^ and that the field of 
 Waterloo was as disgraceful to England as it was 
 disastrous to France/^ 
 
 Any one comparing this passage from the life of 
 0^ Connelly written by Mr. O^Keeffe^ will perceive at 
 once that the famous peroration of Shields speech in the 
 House of Commons^ is only an amplification of this 
 speech on Burgh Quay^ in 1 826. Of course^ it was fairly 
 allowable for Shiel to use the same topics^ and the 
 presence of Lord Lyndhurst^ who^ fortunately for Shiel, 
 entered the House of Commons, and took his seat in 
 the Peer^s Gallery while Shiel was speaking, gave 
 additional force to his wonderful eloquence. Lord 
 Lyndhurst was himself sensible of this, but it was too 
 late to retreat, so he had to remain to the end. 
 
 The brilliant peroration was received with such loud 
 and continuous cheering, that fully a quarter-of-an- 
 hour elapsed before the applause ceased. I never can 
 forget the eSect Shields marvellous powers of oratory 
 had upon myself. I was engaged in reporting the 
 State Trials of 1844, and when Shiel spoke in defence 
 of John O^Connell, it was with extreme difiiculty I 
 could do anything with my pen ; I longed so to listen. 
 That I could observe anything discordant in the voice 
 that spoke, anything outrageous in the gestures that 
 added point to the words was impossible. Voice, 
 action, look, and gesture, were all in harmony, and as 
 the stream of eloquence poured forth, I felt — here, 
 indeed, was the most brilliant speaker it ever was my 
 good fortune to hear. Such was my estimate of 
 liichard Lalor Shiel. 
 
273 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ROBERT HOLMES. 
 
 Position of Mr. Holmes in 1838.— Born in 1762.— Entered 
 Trinity College in 1782. — Studies for the medical profession. 
 —■An Irish Abernethy. — From medicine to law. — How he 
 studied law. — Called to the Bar in 1795. — The leaders of the 
 Bar. — Mr. Holmes married Miss Emmet. — General order re- 
 garding the lawyer corps of Volunteers. — Mr. Holmes leaves 
 the ranks. — Circuit Bar resolution. — Challenge to Mr. Joy. — 
 Mr. Holmes arrested. — Pleads guilty, and sentenced. — Sus- 
 pected of being engaged in the insurrection of Bobert Emmet. 
 — Plunket's speech on Emmet. — Government offers office. — 
 Mr. Holmes quotes from a Law Beport. — Great practice. — 
 Why Mr. Holmes was tried. — Celebrated speeches. — Defence 
 of John Mitchel. — Extracts. — Effects of the speech on the 
 auditory. — Remarks of Chief Justice Blackburne — Mr. 
 Holmes's pamphlets. — Beply to the address from the North- 
 East Bar. — Besided in London to his death in 1852.— His 
 descendants. 
 
 The most distinguished member of the Irish Bar^ 
 when I was called in 1838_, was Eobert Holmes. 
 Though long past the three score years and ten^ he 
 had all the vivacity of youth^ and the matured wisdom 
 of age^ quite unimpaired. He had immense practice^ 
 and his legal ability was of the highest order. It was 
 strange to hear this Nestor of the Bar addressing the 
 judges from the outer benches^ and wearing the stuff 
 gown of the outer Bar^ while so many younger in 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 years, and inferior both in capacity and in practice, 
 were King^s Counsel ; but a glance at the story of his 
 life will account for this. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was a native of the province of Ulster, 
 born in Belfast in 1762. He was a hard-working 
 student, and entered Trinity College, Dublin, when 
 the Irish nation was bursting the shackles that cramped 
 her energies and dwarfed her growth. Then, by the 
 might and patriotism of the men of ^82, she reached, 
 at a bound, a vigorous maturity, and rose at once in 
 the scale of European kingdoms. 
 
 It was doubtless the recollection of the stirring 
 events of these bright and glorious, but short-lived 
 and evanescent gleams of freedom, which rooted in the 
 heart of Robert Holmes that sturdy spirit of patriotism 
 and independence which was his characteristic through- 
 out life. He had able competitors during his student 
 days. The classic taste of the time brought forth the 
 elegance of Bushe, and the masterly genius of Plunket. 
 Holmes was more in the style of the latter than the 
 former. He preferred mathematics to poetry, and 
 Aristotle to Plato. It appears he first devoted his 
 studies to medicine, and, like the late Chief Baron 
 Pigot, passed some years in attending surgical lectures 
 and hospitals. It was well said, had he persevered, he 
 would have been an Irish Abernethy, for the same 
 caustic humour, joined to unquestioned ability, which 
 marked the clear head and rude manner of the cele- 
 brated Scotch doctor, were to be found in Robert 
 Holmes. 
 
 He changed, however, from medicine to law, and 
 prepared for the Bar. He was no idle apprentice. 
 
Robert Holmes, 
 
 275 
 
 What tie wanted to do he did-^not in an indolent, 
 listless, careless manner, but with all his heart, and 
 mind, and strength. He was not satisfied with skim- 
 ming the surface of his subject, reading a few text- 
 books, so as to acquire a hasty and a hazy notion of 
 the great field of English jurisprudence ; but he went 
 below the surface, and, like Aladdin in the subterranean 
 garden, discovered the lamp of knowledge. This he 
 rubbed until the genii came, and, as he was master of 
 the spell, all he required was yielded. Well trained 
 by study, provided by nature wich that rare and best 
 gift — common sense (it ought rather to be called un- 
 commoii) — he soon displayed untiring energy and un- 
 flagging industry. His thorough knowledge of his 
 profession made him fully equal to encounter any of 
 his contemporaries. He was not called to the Bar 
 until the year 1795, and a galaxy of talent was then 
 upholding the high fame of the Bar of Ireland, Some 
 of these are already sketched, others follow. Plunkefc, 
 Bushe, Saurin, Goold, Richard and Edward Penne- 
 father, were about the same standing as Holmes, while 
 of those who won fame, and were among the seniors, 
 stood Curran, George Ponsonby, Ball, O^Grady, Joy, 
 and Peter Burrowes. 
 
 Mr. Holmes married Miss Emmet, daughter of Dr. 
 Emmet, an eminent physician of Dublin, and the 
 young barrister was a member of the Lawyer Corps of 
 Volunteers, of which Mr. Saurin was colonel. It 
 appears that a general order had issued that this 
 corps was to be subject to military disciphne, and 
 divested of its civil character. Mr. Holmes had been 
 a spectator, accidentally, of a soldier being flogged, 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 and was disgusted at the brutality of this punish nient. 
 Aware that his corps might be ordered to be present 
 at a similar scene^ he resigned his arms and left the 
 i?anks. This roused the indignation of some members 
 of his circuit (the North-East Circuit)^ and Mr. (after- 
 wards Chief Baron) Joy caused a resolution to be 
 passed that only those who were members of the 
 Lawyer Corps were worthy of being members of the 
 North-East Bar/^ Mr. Holmes attended the next 
 meeting of the Bar^ and the above resolution was read, 
 Mr. Joy adding, " If any gentleman considered the 
 resolution applied to him, he ought to retire. "^^ 
 
 Mr. Holmes at once admitted it applied to him, but 
 he denied that the members of a circuit could take 
 upon themselves such jurisdiction as to take cognizance 
 of political feelings. He then retired, and sent a 
 hostile message to Mr. Joy. 
 
 An interval of a day elapsed, and Mr. Joy, or his 
 friends, considered it safer to have Mr. Holmes 
 arrested for provoking Mr. Joy to fight a duel than to 
 accept the challenge. Accordingly he was arrested. 
 
 A criminal information was applied for, and con- 
 ditional order granted, against which J. P. Curran and 
 Plunket showed cause ; but the rule was made absolute, 
 and, to save further trouble and trial, Mr. Holmes 
 pleaded guilty. He was brought up for sentence in 
 the King^s Bench, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Kil- 
 vvarden, presiding, who sentenced Mr. Holmes to six 
 months^ imprisonment in the gaol of Kilmainham. 
 This period was subsequently reduced to three months. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was quite unaware of the treasonable 
 designs of his brother-in-law, Robert Emmet. It ap- 
 
Robert Holmes, 
 
 ^77 
 
 pears Mr. Holmes was in London^ and only returned 
 to Dublin on the very day this attempt at rebellion 
 burst forth. He was^ however^ suspected^ and com- 
 mitted to prison, and his house and papers searched, 
 but nothing treasonable having being discovered, he 
 was released. 
 
 We know what followed— how Robert Emmet was 
 tried before Lord Norbury, and, though the prisoner 
 called no witnesses, Plunket made a powerful speech 
 for the prosecution. The Crown could do so as of 
 right, but a right more honoured in the breach than 
 the observance. 
 
 The Attorney- General, O^Grady, stated he requested 
 Plunket to make this speech, which, in my mind, 
 wholly exonerates Plunket from any imputation of un- 
 duly pressing against the unhappy prisoner on trial. 
 It would seem as if Mr. Holmes considered his 
 brother-in-law was ill-treated by Plunket, for one of 
 the reasons given to me why Mr. Holmes had not 
 exchanged the stuff for the silk gown was that he 
 would never receive a compliment through Plunket, 
 and as Chancellor he should call Mr. Holmes within 
 the Bar. 
 
 The Government of Ireland repeatedly tried to gain 
 the support of Mr. Holmes, and offered him place and 
 position in vain. While the Right Hon. Mr. Saurin 
 was Attorney- General, a Crown Prosecutorship was 
 offered and declined ; again, when the Marquis of 
 Anglesey was Viceroy, Mr. Holmes was pressed to 
 become a King^s Counsel, with a promise of the 
 office of Solicitor-General on the next vacancy, but 
 this also was respectfully refused. When Earl Grey 
 
2/8 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 was Prime Minister^ overtures were once more made, 
 and Mr. Holmes said, Though no statesman had 
 stronger claims upon his respect than Lord Grey, he 
 had made up his mind not to take favours from any 
 administration. He preferred his stuff gown to all the 
 silk in Macclesfield.^^ 
 
 Did he lose business by this course of conduct ? 
 Assuredly not ! He had the largest practice of any 
 member of the Common Law Bar for years, and no 
 member of the Irish Bar was listened to with more 
 respect by the judges. He was not always very civil 
 to them. He rarely failed to say what he thought, 
 and sometimes went beyond the limits of that respect 
 due to the Bench. 
 
 I was told that, having in vain pressed a point in 
 favour of his client upon the Barons of the Exchequer, 
 who one and all were quite against him, he said he 
 would be content if they allowed him to refer to a very 
 recent judgment of the Court of Appeal in England, 
 which he thought in point. 
 
 No use at all, Mr. Holmes,^^ said the Chief 
 Baron 0^ Grady, who probably suspected what was 
 coming. 
 
 " Only two lines, my lord,^^ persisted Holmes. 
 Well, Mr. Holmes, as you say it is in point, let us 
 hear it,^^ remarked Baron Pennefather. 
 
 Holmes opened a recent number of House of Lords 
 cases, and read from the judgment of an appeal case, 
 reversing the decision of the Barons : — 
 
 The Court of Common Pleas in Ireland is seldom 
 right — the Court of Exchequer never.^^ 
 
 While Bench and Bar were quite taken aback by 
 
Robert Holmes. 
 
 279 
 
 this instance of Holmes^s sarcasm^ Chief Baron 
 O^Grady drawled out^ — 
 
 ^^Now, brother Pennefather^ see what you got for 
 your politeness ! 
 
 Mr. Holmes^s great ability was conspicuous in his 
 law arguments, which form a mine of sterling ore for 
 perusal in the Irish Law Reports. He also was in 
 great repute on cases submitted for his opinion^ and I 
 have been assured his reputation was so high that 
 many were sent from England to obtain his advice. 
 He was a powerful and impressive advocate, and 
 several of his speeches to jurors are noble specimens of 
 forensic eloquence. 
 
 I wish I had a collection of his hon mots. There was 
 a dry, caustic humour about him very provocative of 
 mirth, and some of his cross-examinations, especially 
 of northern witnesses, were extremely comic. He 
 made us laugh very much one day in the Queen^s 
 Bench. I was waiting for some case in which I was 
 counsel, when the crier called Pluck and Diggers,^^ 
 and in came James Scott, Q.C., very red and heated, 
 and, throwing his bag on the table within the Bar, he 
 said, — 
 
 My lords, I beg to assure your lordships I feel 
 so exhausted I am quite unable to argue this case. I 
 have been speaking for three hours in the Court of 
 Exchequer, and I am quite tired, and pray excuse me, 
 my lords. I must get some refreshment.''^ 
 
 The Chief Justice bowed and said, Certainly, Mr. 
 Scott,^^ so that gentleman left the Court. 
 
 Mr. Holmes, you are in this case,^'" said the Chief 
 Justice. *^ We^ll be happy to hear you.-'^ 
 
28o 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Really^ my lord^ I am very tired too/^ said Mr. 
 Holmes. 
 
 Surely/^ said the Chief Justice^ you have not 
 been speaking for three hours in the Court of Ex- 
 chequer ? What has tired you ? 
 
 Listening to Mr. Scott/^ was Holmes^s sarcastic 
 reply. 
 
 His speeches in Watson v. Dill^ in the defence of the 
 Nation J and his masterly oration on behalf of John 
 Mitchel, were worthy of his renown. This last^ as it 
 affords a fine specimen of his fervid eloquence^ deserves 
 to be extracted. 
 
 John Mitchell a solicitor from the North of Ireland, 
 was a man of great political fame. He had early been 
 distinguished as an ardent Nationalist, and when my 
 dear and respected friend, Thomas Davis, died in 1845, 
 John Mitchel took his place as a contributor to the 
 Nation, This newspaper had been founded a few years 
 previously. Mr. Mitchel subsequently published an- 
 other journal, and the violence of its articles drew upon 
 him a Government prosecution. He was tried in 1848, 
 before Chief Justice Black burne and Judge Moore, in 
 the Court-house of Green Street, and the prosecution 
 was conducted by a very numerous array of Crown 
 counsel. For the defence appeared the veteran Robert 
 Holmes. The prosecuting counsel having closed their 
 case, Mr. Holmes made a speech, the effect of which 
 may be judged from the following extracts : — 
 
 A free state and its members are one ; the rulers 
 and the ruled have no contrasted interests ; the public 
 and the private energies are intimately connected. A 
 sense of national glory, of high national character, a 
 
Robert Holmes, 
 
 281 
 
 love of tlie common weal^ the fruitful source of generous 
 sentiments and noble deeds inspire and animate^ and 
 dignify the individual^ exalt the social above the selfish 
 affections^ develop e the powers of the understanding, 
 give birth and vigour to lofty thoughts, and if they 
 sometimes arouse the ambitious and destructive, they 
 more uniformly called forth and exercise the bene- 
 volent and useful passions of the human heart. Bub 
 when this common invigorating principle is wanting — 
 when a people is subservient to the will, worked by the 
 guile, ruled by the caprice, the prejudice, the passion, 
 and the interests of another state, the character and 
 the conduct of that people will inevitably betray the 
 vileness of its condition. National independence does 
 not necessarily lead to national virtue and happiness ; 
 but reason and experience demonstrate that pubhc 
 spirit and general happiness are looked for in vain 
 under the withering influence of a provincial subjection. 
 In Ireland we have labour — hard labour — ^incessant 
 labour ; but we have not in Ireland industry ; we have 
 industrial resources, but we have not industry itself. 
 Can you wonder ? The industry of man arises not from 
 the mere impulse of instinct ; the industry of man arises 
 from the impulse of his instinct and his reason, from 
 his wants and his aspirations, from a sense of duty and 
 a love of fame; the industry of man embraces the 
 material and the intellectual world — is impelled by the 
 sordid, and animated by the generous affections — is 
 connected with everything mean and everything noble 
 in the human breast ; with the miser and the slave it 
 grovels on the earth — with philosophy and liberty it 
 mounts to heaven. The gross portion of its nature 
 
282 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 may exist in any clime where the animal can breathe, 
 but every celestial particle will perish where the mind 
 is not conscious of freedom, where the heart is not con- 
 fident in the protection and enjoyment of independent 
 legislation, and equal rights and equal laws. The soil 
 of Athens is still visited by the same sun which warmed 
 the genius of Pericles, and shone upon the works of 
 Phidias ; but then his beams no longer illumine a land 
 of liberty, whose alchemic power purifies and trans- 
 mutes whatever it touches into gold. The Republic of 
 Athens is no more ; but the genius, and the spirit, and 
 the virtue, which once covered that scanty and rugged 
 soil with glory, now only live in the records of her 
 fame. 
 
 In the history of provincial servitude no instance can 
 be found so striking, so afflicting, and so humiliating 
 as Ireland of the influence of moral causes in counter- 
 acting the physical aptitudes of nature, and producing 
 weakness and want, and ignorance and wretchedness, 
 where all the outlines of creation seemed formed for 
 power and happiness. For many a long century a deep 
 and blighting gloom had covered this fair and fertile 
 land on which the benignant gifts of heaven seemed to 
 have been poured forth in vain. A light once shone 
 across that gloom. Bright and glorious was that light, 
 but short and transient, serving but to show the dark- 
 ness which had gone before, and the deeper darkness 
 that followed after. Yes, a light overshone across that 
 gloom; that light was extinguished by the foulest 
 means that ever fraud or injustice practised; and now 
 it seems that every attempt to rekindle that light is 
 to be crushed as sedition, and the sentence of de- 
 
Robert Holmes, 
 
 283 
 
 pendence and degradation pronounced against Ireland 
 is to be confirmed and made perpetual. Against this 
 sentence my client has raised Lis voice, and not on 
 his behalf alone^ but on behalf of the injured and in- 
 sulted people^ raise my voice ; and I call upon you, 
 gentlemen of the jury^ by your verdict of acquittal to- 
 day, to aid in averting that sentence. If the spirit of 
 freedom dwells within you — if it warms your breasts 
 and illumines your intellects, I call upon you, by your 
 verdict of acquittal this day, to avert that sentence. 
 I ask for your verdict of acquittal, not as a boon of 
 mercy, not as the safety-valve of doubt, but as the 
 clear, unequivocal, decisive expression of your regard 
 for the rights of nature and the welfare and honour 
 of your native land. By every generous sentiment 
 which can actuate the noble, by every principle of right 
 which can animate the just, I call upon you, by your 
 verdict, to avert that sentence. I ask for your ver- 
 dict of acquittal in the cause of country — that 
 cause in which ^ Wallace fought and Hampden bled,' 
 and our own Boroihme conquered ; that cause ever dear 
 to the bravest, the wisest, and the best — unfelt and 
 abandoned only by the recreant and the vile. Did I 
 now address the recreant and the vile, I should indeed 
 despair ; but addressing, as I do, the high-minded and 
 the just, I feel the buoyancy of hope and the confidence 
 of right. I have done. I have appealed to your un- 
 prejudiced understandings ; I have appealed to the 
 honest, to the manly feelings of your hearts, and unless 
 the strength of the cause was lost in the weakness of 
 the advocate, I have not appealed in vain/' 
 
 I can hardly give a correct idea of the eSect pro- 
 
284 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 duced by this speech^ whicTi Mr. Holmes delivered 
 with an earnestness and energy startling in their in- 
 tensity. It was impossible to look upon this Nestor 
 of Ireland without recalling many of the important 
 events in Irish history which that old man eloquent 
 had seen or shared. The light to which he so feelingly 
 alluded was the noonday of Ireland^s greatness in 
 1782; the darkness which followed after was the re- 
 bellion to which his brothers-in-law^ the Emmits^ 
 fell victims^ either by exile or death. The fraud and 
 injustice to which he referred meant the means by 
 which the Legislative Union was accomplished. Mr. 
 Holmes, having taken his seat, felt quite exhausted by 
 his efforts. But he was soon revived, for there arose 
 a shout of applause such as bursts forth only on very 
 rare occasions, and it was renewed again and again. 
 Fully a quarter of an hour elapsed before anything like 
 order was restored, and then the sonorous voice of 
 Lord Chief Justice Blackburne spoke. Turning to the 
 jury, he said, Gentlemen of the jury, we have a 
 most important duty to discharge ; and certainly the 
 most important part of the solemn obligation you are 
 under to assist in the administration of justice is to 
 dismiss from your minds, as far as possible, the im- 
 pression that must have been made on them by the 
 signal and eloquent address from the traverser's 
 counsel — an address that has never been surpassed 
 in a court of justice.''^ 
 
 This magnificent oration had not the desired effect. 
 Jonathan Henn replied on the part of the Crown, and 
 though, as we have seen, in my sketch of this able 
 lawyer, the jury were at first averse to hearing him — 
 
Robert Holmes, 
 
 285 
 
 for the eloquence of Mr. Holmes made them almost 
 agree to a verdict of acquittal — Mr. Hennas reasoning 
 caused them to find Mitchel guilty^ and he was exiled. 
 He subsequently returned to Ireland^ and was elected 
 member for Tipperary. His death prevented the ques- 
 tion being decided whether he could have taken his 
 seat in the House of Commons^ not having undergone 
 his full sentence. Mr. Holmes had used his pen^ as 
 well as his voice^ on behalf of his country. 
 
 In 1799 he wrote a satirical pamphlet on the subject 
 of the projected Union^ entitled A. Demonstration of 
 the Necessity of a Legislative Union of Great Britain 
 and Ireland."'^ Another pamphlet^ written by Mr. 
 Holmes, was An Address to the Yeomanry of Ireland, 
 Demonstrating the Necessity of their Declaring their 
 Opinions upon Political Subjects."'^ And his third 
 work, The Case of Ireland Stated/^ has gone through 
 six editions. The last issued from the press in 1847. 
 When his great age prevented his continuing on cir- 
 cuit, the members of the North-East Bar presented him 
 with a most complimentary address, and signified 
 their intention of having his bust placed in the Bar 
 mess-room. To this address Mr. Holmes thus re- 
 plied : — 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have received your address, occa- 
 sioned by my retiring from the circuit. Be assured 
 that I appreciate most highly the value of this very 
 kind expression of your esteem. I leave circuit at the 
 warning of a faithful monitor — Time ; but I leave it with 
 the regret of parting with scenes of social intercourse 
 — which frequent repetition could not deprive me of — of 
 still renewed interest and pleasure. Yes^ my friends. 
 
286 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 on circuit we have passed together many happy hours 
 of social intercourse, unalloyed by any bitterness of 
 personal jealousy, or petty or sectarian divisions — an 
 intercourse quite compatible with generous emulation, 
 ardent competition, unshackled freedom of thought, 
 and decided diflference of opinion. To these hours of 
 cheerfulness and concord, while memory can add to 
 the present good by the recollection of past enjoyment, 
 I must ever look back with satisfaction and pride. 
 And to you, my friends, I warmly wish all the hap- 
 piness which actual possession, the revivals of memory, 
 and the anticipations of hope can supply. With respect 
 to the distinction which you propose to confer upon me, 
 by setting my bust in the place you mention, I am 
 conscious that I merit such a distinction only by the 
 anxious desire with which I have been influenced to 
 uphold the true interest and honour of our common 
 profession. But under this consciousness, I may per- 
 haps, without presumption, say that I feel much 
 gratified by this further testimony of your approbation 
 and regard. 
 
 Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 Robert Holmes.'^ 
 
 Having thus gracefully retired from his circuit, Mr. 
 Holmes shortly after left the Bar, and went to reside 
 in London, where his only child— a daughter — lived. 
 She married George Lenox Conyngham, Esq., and her 
 daughter became Viscountess Doneraile, and she has 
 since resided in her husband^s beautiful seat, Doneraile 
 Court, Co. Cork. 
 
 Full of years — nearly ninety — and with his faculties 
 
Robert Holmes. 
 
 287 
 
 wonderfully vigorous^ Mr. Holmes died about the year 
 1852. He is said to have amassed by his practice over 
 lOO^OOOZ. He was remarkably handsome^ his face full 
 of expression^ a clear grey eye ; long, well-shaped nose, 
 small mouth, with rounded chin ; an expression of 
 cheerful good humour lighting up his features. When 
 I knew him his locks were like the snow, but I was 
 told in youth they were black as a raven^s. I have 
 great pleasure in giviug this sketch of the finest speci- 
 men of the old Irish Bar with whom it was my pride 
 and pleasure to have been associated while I was a 
 practising barrister. 
 
288 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 RICHARD AND EDWARD PENNEFATHER. 
 
 The brothers born in the County of Tipperary, Richard in 1773, 
 Edward in 1775. — Portarlington. — University career. — 
 Richard obtains an optime. — Law students. — Called in 1795. 
 — Character of the brothers. — Richard a leader on the 
 Munster Circuit. — Appointed a Baron of the Exchequer. — A 
 judge for thirty-eight years. — Judicial fitness. — Resigned in 
 1859.— The Bar Address.— Death in 1859.— Edward Penne- 
 father a most eminent Equity lawyer. — A Sergeant in 18o0, 
 Solicitor-General in 1834, again in 1841.— Attorney- General 
 in 1842.— Lord Chief Justice.— The State Trials of 1844.— 
 Death in 1846. 
 
 THE O^LOGHLENS. 
 
 The County of Clare eminent for its lawyers. — Michael 
 O'Loghlen. — Anecdote of his childhood. — School of Ennis. — 
 Character as a student. — Habit of early rising. — Called in 
 1811. — His slow practice. — First great argument. — His signal 
 success. — Succeeds to O'Connell's practice. — Sergeant in 1830. 
 — Solicitor-GcDeral in 1834, again in 1835. — The liberty of 
 the Press. — Challenges in Government prosecution. — Repre- 
 sents Dungarvon.' — Law Reforms.' — Spirited defence of his 
 character. — Succeeds Sir W. C. Smith as Baron of the Ex- 
 chequer. — First Roman Catholic Judge since the Revolution. 
 —Master of the Rolls in 1837. — Judicial qualities. — Death in 
 1842. 
 
 SIR COLMAN M. O^LOGHLEN,, BART.^ Q.C., M.P.^ 8ERGEANT-AT- 
 
 LAW. 
 
 Bom in 1819. — Called to the Bar in 1840 — His literary tastes. 
 — Sir Colman's cards. — His quickness in detecting flaws in 
 
Richard and Edward Pemiefather, 289 
 
 jDleadings. — Intimate withtheYonng Ireland leaders. — Counsel 
 for O'Connell in 1844. — Wlio killed the indictment ? — Eesult 
 of the rising in 1848. — Is made Queen's Counsel. — Chairman 
 of Majo. — Member for Clare. — His popularity in the House 
 of Commons. — Opens the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland 
 to Eoman Catholics. — Inauguration address at O'Connell's 
 statue in 1865. — Judge-Advocate-Greneral. — Resigned this 
 office. — Letter to the author in 1870. — Crown prosecutor on 
 the Munster Circuit — Sudden death on 22nd July, 1877. — 
 Sir Bryan O'Loghlen at the Melbourne Bar. — Returned 
 M.P. for Clare. — Mr. Michael O'Loghlen a talented member 
 of the Irish Bar. 
 
 Earely has any family produced more estimable men, 
 more distinguished lawyers or famous judges, than 
 the two brothers of the house of Pennefather. As 
 these eminent members of the Bench and Bar of 
 Ireland were contemporaries, I propose to narrate the 
 story of their lives in the same chapter. 
 
 They were born at Knockeven (Darling Hill), on 
 the banks of the Suir, about midway between Clonmel 
 and Cashel. Major Pennefather, their father, repre- 
 sented this ancient and historic borough in the Irish 
 Parliament. Richard, the elder of the brothers, was 
 born in 1773, and Edward in 1775. At the time they 
 had grown to an age to be sent to school, Portarlington 
 was selected as the place where they were to be 
 instructed. Here many of the French Huguenots 
 found refuge when driven from France by the revoca- 
 tion of the Edict of Nantes, and their descendants 
 founded schools, to which the youth of Ireland flocked 
 for instruction. When well-grounded in the ordinary 
 branches of the great tree of knowledge, the brothers 
 Pennefather were prepared for the University in the 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Endowed School of Clonmel, the capital of their native 
 county — and proud should it be of such pupils. Nothing 
 could be more brilliant than their collegiate career. 
 Honour after honour — prize after prize — medals — 
 money — distinctions from the heads of Trinity Col- 
 lege^ Dublin^ rewarded their intellectual triumphs, and 
 to Richard was assigned the rare distinction of an 
 Ojptime, conferred only seven times since the foundation 
 of the University in the reign of Elizabeth. The Bar 
 was deemed the profession best suited to their rare 
 talents, and both became students of King's Inns, 
 Dublin. They had able and gifted companions : 
 Robert Holmes, the Emmets, Thomas Lefroy, Louis 
 Perrin — names well known in after-years — were con- 
 temporaries. Having completed their terms, both 
 brothers were called to the Bar in 1795. 
 
 They were not alike in intellect. Richard^s possessed 
 more clearness and profundity than that of his younger 
 brother. He displayed little taste for any pursuit save 
 that to which he devoted his life, and, to the last, he 
 took the greatest pleasure in discussing law. Edward^s 
 mind was more diffuse and cultivated. He was a most 
 eloquent and graceful speaker, loved literature, and 
 preferred the broad principles of equity to the minute 
 technicalities of special pleading, in which Richard 
 revelled. 
 
 Both rapidly obtained practice. Richard^s logical 
 mind and quick perception enabled him at once to 
 see the weak points in his adversary's armour, and 
 he soon showed how to conquer. He became one 
 of the leaders of the Munster Circuit, and, having 
 been made King's Counsel, was looked on as sure of 
 
Richard and Edward Pennefather, 29 1 
 
 a seat on the Bench. It was not long deferred. 
 He tells us himself^ — 
 
 On the 12th of February, 1821^ I received a letter 
 from Mr. Gregory, the Under-Secretary to the Lord- 
 Lieutenant, Earl Talbot (the Chief Secretary, Mr. 
 Grant, being in England), stating his Majesty's letter 
 for appointing me to fill the place of one of the Barons 
 of the Exchequer had arrived at the Castle. The 
 patent for my appointment was very speedily made out, 
 and I was sworn on the 14th February, being the 
 second of the eight days after Hilary Term, at the 
 Chancellor's ^ house, and on the same day I took my seat 
 on the Bench. On the 15th, the Lord-Lieutenant held 
 a levee at the Castle, which I attended as a Baron, and 
 was very graciously received — thus concluding, through 
 God^s mercy, a very prosperous Bar life in my forty- 
 eighth year, and through the same Divine mercy, in 
 which I put my trust, do I humbly hope to acquit 
 myself in the arduous and trying situation in which I 
 am now placed, as may become a lawyer, a judge, and 
 a Christian/' 
 
 And well and faithfully, for the long space of thirty- 
 eight years, did this Christian lawyer discharge the 
 arduous duties imposed upon him. His clearness of 
 comprehension, his well-stored mind, his great legal 
 experience, his untiring patience, and quiet, courteous 
 manners, made him greatly beloved. For a long por- 
 tion of this time the Court of Exchequer was an 
 equitable as well as legal tribunal ; and, whether the 
 suit was • commenced by bill or declaration. Baron 
 
 ^ Lord Manners was then Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 
 
 u 2 
 
2g2 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 Pennefatlier was able to deal with it. He was^ in the 
 quaint language of Sir Edward Coke^ ^^a sage and 
 reverend expositor of our law^ who prideth himself less 
 in fine conceits than in sound discernment and gravity 
 of manners/^ Failing health and loss of sight caused 
 the Baron to tender his resignation in 1859^ and the 
 Bar presented him with a cordial address. It was signed 
 by four hundred and seventy-two members of the Bar^ 
 and on the 10th February^ 1859^ I witnessed its pre- 
 sentation. On the afternoon of that day the spacious 
 library of the Four Courts^ Dublin^ was thronged with 
 members in Bar costume. The venerable Judge looked 
 remarkably fresh and vigorous^ as he took his seat 
 before the table^ on which lay a capacious box con- 
 taining the address of the Bar. 
 
 Then the Father of the Bar, himself a venerable man^ 
 who had sat over sixty years since in the Irish 
 House of Commons, Sir Thomas Staples^ Bart.^ read 
 the address in a clear and distinct voice. It was 
 couched in most eulogistic terms. When read^ the 
 Baron expressed his fear "that his voice could not 
 reach throughout that large space^ and hoped his 
 brethren of the Bar would allow his son^ who de- 
 layed his departure from Ireland in order that he 
 should be present upon that occasion^ to read his 
 reply.^^ Thereupon the Rev. Mr. Pennefather deli- 
 vered his father^ s reply in that peculiar intonation 
 which Churchmen use. It was well written and well 
 received. 
 
 We did not expect the Baron was so near death. 
 He soon succumbed, and_, as the early autumn denoted 
 the winter at hand^ the just Judge and Christian 
 
Richard and Edzuard Pennefalker. 293 
 
 lawyer went to that tribunal where we all hope to find 
 mercy. 
 
 The career of Edward Pennefather was more 
 marked by oflSicial changes than that of Richard. 
 Though neither became politicians in a party sense^ or 
 entered Parliament^ which in Ireland is the usual road 
 to oflSce^ their professional fame and social position 
 served instead^ and^ as we have seen^ Richard became 
 a Judge in 1821. 
 
 Edward Pennefather became one of the leading 
 equity lawyers at the Irish Bar. His profound know- 
 ledge of the principles and pleading of suits, and his 
 inimitable Court manner, soon made him one of the 
 barristers in best practice in Chancery, the Equity, 
 Exchequer, and the Rolls. He was appointed a 
 sergeant on the resignation of Sergeant Lefroy in 1830, 
 and continued in this rank until Sir Robert Peel 
 became premier in 1834, when he filled the oflSce of 
 Solicitor- General, while that of Attorney- General was 
 held by the Right Hon. Francis Blackburne. The 
 changes in the political kaleidoscope quickly displaced 
 both these oflicials, and Mr. Pennefather practised at 
 the Bar thence until the Tory administration of 1841 
 restored both Blackburne and him to their former 
 stations in the Government. 
 
 The lamented death of Sir Michael O^Loghlen, in 
 1842, having caused the Attorney- General to becomQ 
 Master of the Rolls, Mr. Pennefather succeeded as first 
 law officer of Ireland. 
 
 The retirement of Lord Chief Justice Bushe relieved 
 Mr. Pennefather fi^om further anxiety respecting the 
 ins or outs of Government. He was appointed 
 
294 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 successor to Chief Justice Bushe^ and this high office 
 lost nothing of its dignity by the change. He pre- 
 sided at the state trials of O^Connell and others in 
 1844^ and resigned in 1846^ in which year his death 
 took place. He left a son, also named Edward, a very 
 respected member of the Irish Bar. 
 
 THE O^LOGHLENS. 
 
 The County of Clare claims many distinguished 
 members of the Bench, the Bar, and Attorney profes- 
 sion. We have already noticed several in our sketches 
 of Lysaght and the Henns. We now desire to record 
 the career of both father and son, who won fame and 
 station by the union of high talents with every virtue 
 that can elevate a man — Sir Michael and Sir Colman 
 O^Loghlen. 
 
 The family had a far-back ancestry in the County of 
 Clare, where Sir Michael was born. An anecdote of his 
 childhood attests his character, which was always to 
 do what was the object of his especial work. In the 
 season when nuts hung temptingly in clusters in 
 the woods of Clare, he set forth with his elder brother 
 to gather nuts. When the two boys came home in the 
 evening, Michael was seen to have nearly double the 
 quantity collected by his elder and stronger brother. 
 
 Why, Michael,^^ asked their father, how does it 
 happen you have more nuts than your brother, who, 
 being taller, might have got them more easily ? 
 
 I suppose it was because he went out to play, 
 while I went out to gather nuts,^^ was the child^s very 
 intelligible answer. 
 
 Ennis possessed one of the best classical schools in 
 
The O'Loghlens. 
 
 295 
 
 Ireland^ and liere Michael received the benefits of a 
 liberal education. He entered Trinity College^ and had 
 as his fellow-students many afterwards brother practi- 
 tioners at the Bar^ Richards^ Baron of the Exchequer^ 
 Woulfe^ and Shiel. He was distinguished by his gen - 
 tleness^ almost amounting to timidity of manner^ and 
 his unwearied diligence as a student. 
 
 Haying resolved upon the law for his profession, 
 he applied himself very ardently to store his mind 
 with legal lore. He was endowed by nature with a 
 clear and strong intellect, great reasoning powers, 
 a pleasing voice, and a love for labour. Aware of the 
 advantage of early rising to master work, he accus- 
 tomed himself to leave his pillow at five in the morn- 
 ing, and no doubt this habit proved extremely advan- 
 tageous to him when briefs came in shoals. 
 
 Michael O^Loghlen was called to the Bar in 1811, 
 and went the Munster Circuit. He was soon com- 
 pelled to work by more than ambition. He married 
 early, and, having no patrimony but his profession and 
 rare talents, sought to advance himself for the sake 
 of his family, as a good husband is bound to do. 
 Practice did not come very soon, and for four years he 
 might be seen with note-book in hand, diligently 
 reporting in the courts, listening to the arguments of 
 counsel, or the decisions of judge, patiently biding his 
 time. 
 
 One of those accidents which Providence uses to 
 further its Almighty plan brought the rare legal talents 
 of the unknown Clare junior to light. Towards the 
 close of February, 1815, Daniel O^Connell fought the 
 duel with D^Estere, in which the latter was killed. 
 
296 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Next morning a very important case was fixed for 
 argument in the Court of King^s Bench^ Dublin, in 
 which O^Connell was senior, and O^Loghlen junior. A 
 strong array of silk gowns was opposed to the stuff, 
 and, when the case was called, only Mr. O^Loghlen 
 appeared for the plaintiff. He modestly stated that, 
 owing to the melancholy result of the duel, Mr. O'Con- 
 nell was away, and it was impossible for him (Mr. 
 O^Loghlen) to argue a case of such importance without 
 better preparation. He therefore asked to have the 
 case postponed. The opposite counsel objected, and 
 pressed it on. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Downes, 
 and the other members of the Court encouraged the 
 young barrister to proceed, and with that courteous 
 attention to the difficulties of a young man thus sud- 
 denly called upon, kindly directed him to apply his 
 argument to such portion of the case as they felt 
 requisite to inform the Court. Thus encouraged, Mr. 
 O^Loghlen soon obtained confidence, and while his 
 youthful appearance, his modesty of demeanour and 
 unassuming manner, prepossessed the Judges in his 
 favour, his clearness of statement, legal precision, 
 and masterly application of cases and principles, 
 surprised, while it delighted, the Court. He went on 
 and on, citing authorities and establishing propositions 
 in favour of his client, and when he sat down, after 
 speaking for two hours, he received the marked eulo- 
 gium of the Bench, and even the opposing counsel 
 could not refuse to praise. 
 
 The case remained at argument for several days, and 
 when the opposite Bar completed their arguments, as 
 O^Connell was still absent, Mr. O^Loghlen replied. If 
 
The Loghlens, 
 
 297 
 
 his opening address surprised his auditors^ his reply 
 satisfied them he was a most able lawyer. He took 
 up the arguments of the opposite counsel seriatim, and 
 demolished them^ and^ by his lucid exposition of his 
 client^s case, gained the unanimous judgment of the 
 Court. 
 
 O^Oonnell warmly congratulated his worthy col- 
 league, and his hearty recommendation soon obtained 
 O^Loghlen^s name to be endorsed on the back of the 
 briefs sent to O^Connell as senior counsel. When the 
 vortex of politics absorbed O^ConnelFs attention, pre- 
 vious to and after the Emancipation in 1829, Mr. 
 O^Loghlen succeeded to much of his large practice. He 
 was accustomed to place the shillings he received with 
 the pounds (guinea fees) in a box for his wife, and, I 
 was told, in one term they numbered fifteen hundred. 
 
 Emancipation having removed the shackles which 
 prevented Roman Catholics from rising at the Bar as 
 elsewhere, O^Loghlen was speedily marked out for 
 promotion. In 1830 he became Sergeant. While Ser- 
 geant he was making a speech at some public meeting, 
 and, referring to Lord Ingestrie, said the people 
 usually called him Lord Industry/^ whereon one of 
 the crowd, resolved to have a laugh, shouted Bravo, 
 Surgeon MacLachlen ! 
 
 In 1834 Sergeant O^Loghlen became Solicitor- General, 
 but was soon displaced by a change in the adminis- 
 tration. The Whigs were soon again in office, and the 
 ensuing year found Perrin Attorney, and O^Loghlen 
 Solicitor-General. Both worked harmoniously together, 
 and administered the criminal law in a manner to in- 
 spire confidence throughout the land. Press prose- 
 
298 
 
 TJie Irish Bar. 
 
 cutions for libel^ or what were deemed such by their 
 Tory predecessors in office, were not favoured by these 
 law officers. When O^Loghlen was asked why he 
 did not prosecute/^ he replied, While I remain in 
 office, the Press shall be free. Its language indeed 
 must be extravagantly licentious, and utterly subver- 
 sive of that sound liberty which, in its healthy state, 
 the Press tends so much to uphold, before I shall be 
 its prosecutor. The Government which I serve has no 
 desire to make every ebullition of passionate feeling in 
 public writers amenable to law.''^ Such words as these 
 deserve to be remembered. The abolition of challenge 
 of jurors, in cases where the Crown prosecuted, gave 
 much greater confidence in the administration of the 
 criminal law to the public than formerly prevailed, 
 when juries were carefully selected, and while no one 
 was more careful to uphold the majesty of the law, Mr. 
 O^Loghlen was resolved its purity should be above sus- 
 picion. He was member for Dungarvon in the House 
 of Commons, where he effected many very beneficial 
 reforms in the administration of law in Ireland. He 
 caused the jurisdiction of the Quarter Sessions Courts 
 to be greatly extended, and thus brought justice home 
 to every door. This has now been carried to such 
 an extent as to divert a large portion of the work 
 formerly transacted in the Superior Courts to the 
 County Courts throughout Ireland. Mr. O^Loghlen 
 was much liked in the House of Commons, where busi- 
 ness habits, accuracy, and fairness in statement are 
 highly prized. Yet he could be very emphatic on due 
 occasion. Take an instance : — When the Irish Church 
 Bill came back to the Commons, with the Lords^ 
 
The O'Logklens. 299 
 
 amendments^ he said^ This Bill I have supported, this 
 Bill I shall continue to support. For doing so let me 
 be called again_, as I have already been called, ^ a 
 stupendous perjurer/ If that character and humane 
 language be again applied to me, I cannot help it. I 
 deny that I have deserved it. I trust in God I never 
 shall deserve so infamous a character. I solemnly deny 
 I ever was the enemy of the Protestant Church or of 
 the Protestant clergy. Many of my dearest friends 
 are members of that Church. I feel, in supporting this 
 Bill, I do no injury to the cause of the Protestant re- 
 ligion. I feel that man does more injury to the cause 
 of that religion, who, raised himself to eminence in the 
 Church, be it by learning, by piety, by zeal, or by in- 
 trigue, is not awed or deterred by a sense of the re- 
 sponsibiJty attached to his high station, from assailing 
 with calumny the conduct and character of the man 
 who differs from him in religion ; who, instead of pro- 
 moting peace and good-will among men, as the duty 
 of a Christian pastor dictates, busies himself in fanning 
 into flames the expiring embers of strife and conten- 
 tion, who desecrates the sacred functions of the sacer- 
 dotal ofBce by mixing up religious discords with party 
 prejudices, who evinces himself the slave of all the 
 bad and bigoted passions that debase the human 
 character, and who, a stranger to every feeling of 
 Christian love and charity, wears the unenviable noto- 
 riety of being the diffuser of every calumny which 
 either political malice or religious animosity can in- 
 vent/' 
 
 This indignant rebuke to the Eight Eev. Prelate, 
 who, in the House of Lords, so grossly called him a 
 
300 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 stupendous perjurer/^ shows the Right Hon. Michael 
 O^Loghlen was not the man to submit tamely to insult. 
 But his Parliamentary career was about to close. The 
 long tenure of the Bench by Baron Sir William Cusac 
 Smith closed in 1836, and in the Michaelmas Term 
 of that year the Kight Hon. the Attorney-General 
 became Baron O^Logblen. He was the first Roman 
 Catholic, since the time of James II., thus elevated, 
 and never did any judge discharge his important 
 duties more ably and impartially. While he sat in the 
 Exchequer, the Anti-Tithe agitation was in progress, 
 and many suits for tithes were pending. These the 
 Catholic O^Loghlen disposed of with as much freedom 
 as the Protestants, Joy, Pennefather, or Leslie Foster, 
 who sat beside him. The business of the Exchequer 
 was then exceedingly heavy, but an able hand was 
 there, and, with O^Loghlen^s help, the Court rapidly 
 disposed of the work. Motions — cases of law or equity 
 — arguments — suits — all were promptly disposed of, and 
 the Barons felt they gained a great acquisition in their 
 new brother. He did not remain long with them. 
 The death of Sir William McMahon, who had filled 
 the oflSce of Master of the Rolls since 1814, left that 
 important judgeship at the disposal of the Crown, and 
 the unanimous voice of the legal profession proclaimed 
 Baron O^Loghlen was the best man to fill it. Accord- 
 ingly, on the 28th January, 1837, he was transferred 
 from the Bench of the Exchequer to the Rolls, and 
 created a baronet. 
 
 And here, to the time of his death, did this eminent 
 judge discharge the arduous and laborious duties. 
 His great resources, his knowledge of law and practice. 
 
Sir Colman M. O'Loghlen, Bart,, Q,Cy M,P. 301 
 
 his untiring attention and courtesy^ soon won him uni- 
 versal approbation, and^ while he was courteous to all^ 
 he was most kind and encouraging to the juniors. He 
 cheered them with a smile,, he encouraged them by 
 his words^ he overlooked any little deficiency^ and 
 helped them as far as he could. 
 
 I occasionally met him in Dublin society, and the 
 same unobtrusive gentleness which he displayed when 
 a boy remained with him when he held rank and 
 station. His useful and valuable life terminated in 
 1842, amid very profound regret. 
 
 Sir Colman M. O^Loghlen, Baet., Q.C, M.P., 
 
 S E RGE ANT- AT-La W . 
 
 Sir Michael O^Loqhlen, Master of the Rolls, had no 
 less than three sons called to the Bar — Colman, Bryan, 
 and Michael. On his lamented death, in 1842, he was 
 succeeded by his eldest son in the Baronetcy, who 
 thereon became Sir Colman O^Loghlen. 
 
 This worthy son of a worthy sire was born in 1819, 
 and evinced great love of learning. Having been 
 carefully educated at Stoneyhurst College, in Lan- 
 cashire, he graduated in the Queen^s University of 
 London, and studied for the Bar. He was called in 
 1840, having then barely attained his twenty-first 
 year, and he and I soon became personal friends — a 
 friendship unruffled by a single cloud. He possessed 
 great literary taste, and took a lively interest in my 
 productions; but I could not discover any literary work 
 proceeding from his pen. In Dafiy's Library for Ireland, 
 those valuable shilling volumes contributed chiefly by 
 
302 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 the Young Ireland party^ Sir Colman O^Loghlen was 
 advertised as ttie author of Irish Lawyers of the 
 Eighteenth Century but the book never appeared, 
 nor could I find from him if he had made any progress 
 in its composition. When with us on the Munster Cir- 
 cuit he compiled Circuit Notes/^ published in thin 
 volumes, which Judge Torrens once sneeringly termed 
 
 Sir Colman^s Pack of Cards/^ He showed, when 
 called, rather more ingenuity and quickness in detect- 
 ing flaws in his opponent's pleading than depth or pro- 
 fundity in grasping with legal principles, and this, I 
 think, rather injured than served his reputation as a 
 lawyer. He early became very intimate with the lead- 
 ing men of the Young Ireland party, especially Dufiy, 
 Davis, Mitchel, and Smith O'Brien. 
 
 Although sensible of the danger of their teaching, 
 and preferring the more sagacious, if tamer, policy of 
 O'Oonnell, to whom he was greatly attached, Sir Col- 
 man did not fail to discern how much of love of 
 country was in the hearts and desires of the Young Ire- 
 land party. He was junior counsel for O'Connell during 
 the state trials in 1844, and his legal acumen helped 
 to embarrass the Crown very considerably. On the 
 occasion of his causing one indictment to be quashed, 
 I wrote some verses in the style of the great poem, 
 which asks the defiant question, " Who killed Cock 
 Robin ? '' Of these lines, I only remember the first 
 verse : — 
 
 " Who killed the Indictment ? 
 'Twas I, said Sir Colman — 
 Through the Indictment a hole ran ; 
 I killed the Indictment." 
 
Sir Cohnan M, O^Loghlen^ Bart., Q.C, M.P. 303 
 
 During these protracted trials tie showed great skill 
 and professional talent. 
 
 When the wild attempt at insurrection by a half- 
 starved, wholly undisciplined and unarmed parcel of 
 enthusiasts was made in 1848, of course it could have 
 only one result — the failure and arrest of those who 
 were the instigators. A few escaped, others were 
 taken. They were tried at Clonmel before Chief Jus- 
 tice Blackburne, Chief Justice Doherty, and Judge 
 Moore; and defended by Whiteside, Q.C., whose 
 address to the jury on behalf of Mr. Smith O^Brien 
 and Mr. T. F. Meagher was singularly able and 
 eloquent.^ Sir Colman O^Loghlen was made one of 
 her Majesty^s Counsel in 1852, and shortly afterwards 
 obtained the Chairmanship of the Court of Quarter 
 Sessions for the County of Mayo, which he subse- 
 quently resigned. The death of Mr. Calcutt having 
 caused a vacancy in the representation of the County 
 of Clare in 1863, Sir Colman O^Loghlen was selected 
 to represent his native county ; and his cheerful good 
 temper, kindness of heart, and attention to his Par- 
 liamentary duties, won him extreme popularity in the 
 House of Commons. He was no idle legislator, and the 
 volumes of Hansard, during his Parliamentary career, 
 bear the fullest evidence of his untiring industry. 
 Among those measures, which he either originated or 
 promoted, was the opening the oflSce of Lord Chancellor 
 of Ireland to Roman Catholics, which was acted on in 
 the case of Lord O^Hagan. This deserves to be re- 
 membered as his work. 
 
 2 Vide my Memoir of Chief Justice Whiteside in the Law 
 Magazine for May, 1877. 
 
304 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 On the 3rd October, 1865^ Sir Colman delivered the 
 inaugural address on the unveiling of the statue of 
 O^Connell at Ennis^ and his speech on that occa- 
 sion displayed great beauty of thought and propriety of 
 language. He adverted to the penal laws, not, I 
 assure you/^ he said, to revive animosities or rekindle 
 passions which have so long slept in oblivion, and 
 which, I hope, will sleep on for ever; but in order to 
 point out the great services O^Connell rendered 
 us by showing the difficulties he had to contend 
 against/^ 
 
 He had no sectarian feelings or party antipathies, 
 but was equally dear to his Protestant as to his 
 Catholic friends. The ministry of Mr. Gladstone, 
 mindful of his high character, were desirous of having 
 him in oflSce, and the post of Judge- Advocate- General 
 was conferred upon him. The emoluments were con- 
 siderable, and he discharged the duties with ability 
 and precision. Unfortunately proceedings in the Court 
 of Bankruptcy were taken at the suit of a hostile 
 creditor, and, by an erroneous decision, he was adjudi- 
 cated a bankrupt. From this decision he appealed, 
 and, without waiting the result of the appeal, he was 
 so sensitive that he could not bear the idea that any 
 member of Mr. Gladstone's Government could be con- 
 sidered a bankrupt. Under this feeling he tendered 
 his resignation of the oflBce of Judge- Advocate-General, 
 greatly to the regret of his many friends, for hardly 
 were arrangements for his successor completed before 
 the Court of Appeal reversed the decision below, and 
 declared he was not a bankrupt. 
 
 In 1870 I published my Bar Life of O'Connell, which 
 
Sir Col man M, O'Loghlen, Bart,, Q,C.y M\P. 305 
 
 I dedicated to him. I had a copy handsomely bound 
 for him^ and record the following acknowledgment : — 
 
 ''Monday, February 7th, 1870. 
 " My dear OTlanagan^ — 
 
 '' Many thanks for the splendidly bound copy of 
 your ' Bar Life of O^Connell/ which you have sent 
 me, and for the honour you have done me by dedicating 
 the work to me. I shall read it carefully, and I have 
 no doubt I shall find it worthy of the author and 
 worthy of the man whose career it describes. 
 
 " I remain, my dear O^Flanagan, 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 '' COLMAN M. O'LOGHLEN.'' 
 
 Whenever we met, the same cordial, kindly feeling 
 was displayed, and I never can forget how pleased he 
 expressed himself at the reception my '' Lives of the 
 Lord Chancellors of Ireland met with from the Eng- 
 lish and Scotch reviewers. 
 
 When I was preparing my '' History of the Munster 
 Circuit " for the Dublin University Magazine, in which 
 it appeared in 1876, I had a kind communication from 
 him. 
 
 As one of the Sergeants-at-Law he was entitled to 
 hold a brief in the cases prosecuted by the Crown on 
 his circuit, and he was proceeding to discharge his 
 accustomed duties on the 22nd July, 1877. Up to 
 this period he had been, as usual, attending the House 
 of Commons, and on the 20th July he voted in the 
 division for the release of the men detained in 
 prison as Fenians. He also took part in the discussion 
 of the Irish Judicature Bill, then passing through the 
 
 X 
 
3o6 
 
 TJie Irish Bar. 
 
 House. He complaiued of an affection of liis heart, 
 and was ordered some medicine. On Saturday, 21st 
 July, he left London for Ireland, in order to join the 
 Munster Circuit. While crossing in the mail-packet 
 from Holyhead to Kingstown, Sir Colman felt unwell, 
 and asked the steward for a glass of water. Into this 
 he poured some of the medicine he had been prescribed, 
 but had no sooner swallowed it than he expired. I 
 need scarcely say his sudden death was a deep and 
 poignant grief to his family and friends, and they were 
 all who had the happiness of knowing him. He never 
 married, and his title and the family property devolved 
 upon his next brother, now Sir Bryan O^Loghlen, 
 Bart, This gentleman had been for some years in 
 considerable practice in Melbourne, Victoria. He was 
 instantly selected by the freeholders of the County of 
 Clare as the fitting successor of his respected brother, 
 and returned without opposition ; but his appointment 
 as Attorney-General for Victoria, and prospects in 
 Victoria, where he was also elected a member of the 
 Colonial Parliament, caused him to remain still in that 
 colony. 
 
 Michael O'Loghlen, third son of Sir Michael O'Logh- 
 len. Master of the Rolls, is also a barrister, and for 
 some time practised on the Munster Circuit. He 
 possesses great natural talents, and is a sound and 
 well-read lawyer. If his infirm health permitted his 
 attention to his profession, I make no doubt he would 
 still more raise the high reputation of his name and 
 family in the legal annals of Ireland. 
 
307 
 
 CHAPTER XXy. 
 
 RIGHT HON. JUDGE PEEEIN. 
 
 Louis Perrin of Frencli extraction. — His mother Irish. — Mr. 
 Perrin left a legacy of 30,000Z. — Louis educated at Armagh. 
 — Obtains a Scholarship in Trinity College in 1799. — Parting 
 with Robert Emmet in 1803. — A diligent law student. — Called 
 to the Bar in 1806. — Employed in Mercantile Cases. — Ad- 
 vanced by RobertHolmes. — Defends Watty Cox. — The i^orth- 
 East Circuit. — "Honest Louis Perrin." — Elected for Dublin 
 in 1831. — Sits for Monaghan. — Appointed a Sergeant. — 
 Attorney- General and Member for Cashel. — Anecdote of him. 
 —A Judge of the King's Bench in 1835. — Judicial qualities. 
 — Hospitalities. — Anecdotes. — My last visit. — Eesignation in 
 1860, and death in 1864 
 
 EIGHT HON. JUDGE BALL. 
 
 Nicholas, son of John Ball, born in 1791. — Educated at Stoney- 
 hurst. — Graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. — Fellow- 
 students and fellow -tourists. — Called to the Bar in 1811.— 
 Great Equity practice. — Sergeant in 1836. — Attorney -General 
 in 1838. — Member for Clonmel. — Ball and supper. — Judge 
 of the Common Pleas in 1839. — Ability at Nisi Prius. — 
 Anecdote. — Death in 1865. — His nephew. Sergeant Sherlock, 
 Q.C., M.P. 
 
 The career of this distinguished Irish lawyer being 
 associated with that of Sir Michael O^Loghlen^ I pro- 
 pose to sketch him in the next chapter. The materials 
 are not very abundant^ but what I have collected will^ 
 I trusty be found accurate. 
 
3o8 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Louis Perrin, as the name imports^ was of Frencli ex- 
 traction, the descendant of one of the refugees who found 
 shelter in Ireland when exiled for conscience sake from 
 their native land. The mother of Louis Perrin was an 
 Irish lady, of the very respectable family of Daly, and 
 T have heard her spoken of as a lady of great amiability 
 and cultivated mind. There were many children be- 
 sides Louis, and the means of providing for these 
 children was a difficult problem, until the death of 
 Mr. Perrin^s brother, who amassed a fortune of about 
 30,000Z. in the East Indies, and left it to his brother. 
 
 To this period the family resided in the province of 
 Ulster, and Louis Perrin was a pupil of the Diocesan 
 School of Armagh. He seems to have been more a 
 plodding than a brilliant student, but was successful in 
 gaining a scholarship in Trinity College, Dublin, in 
 1799, — a sure proof of great knowledge of classics and 
 general learning. 
 
 I have been told that on the trial of the celebrated 
 Eobert Emmet, who was convicted of high treason 
 in 1803, two of his fellow-students who were in court 
 when Lord Norbury, Chief Justice of the Common 
 Pleas, pronounced the dread sentence of the law, rushed 
 to the dock, and in presence of, and undeterred by, the 
 presence of the grave officials of Justice, gave Emmet 
 a parting embrace. One of them was Robert Griffin, 
 afterwards D.D., Bishop of Limerick, the other Louis 
 Perrin, one of the Justices of the King^s Bench. 
 When he resolved to study for the Bar, Mr. Perrin 
 devoted himself with the determination, so strong in 
 his character, to achieve a thorough knowledge of his 
 future profession. Cold in disposition, and caring 
 
Right Hon, Judge Perrin. 309 
 
 little for amusement^ he shunned rather than courted 
 society. He loved to meet with diligent students like 
 himself, and discuss points of pleading, or cases of 
 doubtful law with them. Having kept the prescribed 
 terms in Dublin and London^ he was called to the Irish 
 Bar in Hilary Term^ 1806. Few ever came to the Bar 
 more accomplished lawyers. He had great knowledge 
 of the laws of pleading and evidence^ and was especi- 
 ally versed in mercantile law^ — a branch not very much 
 studied by the general class of Irish law students. 
 When Mr. Perrin began to be heard in the courts, his 
 reputation as a mercantile lawyer was of great benefit 
 to him. He was also much employed in cases where 
 penalties for breaches of the Revenue laws were sought 
 to be enforced, and on all questions of Nisi Prius law 
 he was perfectly familiar. One of the lawyers of that 
 time, who was getting a great practice, was Robert 
 Holmes, and he lost no opportunity of advancing the 
 prospects of Mr. Perrin. I make no doubt the fear- 
 lessness with which Mr. Perrin bade adieu to Robert 
 Emmet, who was Mr. Holmes^s brother-in-law, con- 
 duced much to this. O^Connell also displayed his 
 usual sagacity in judging mankind, and soon recognized 
 the high character, personal and professional, of the 
 young barrister. When Watty Cox, the proprietor 
 and publisher of Gox^s Magazine, was prosecuted by 
 Government for a libel in 1811, O^Connell, Burke 
 Bethel, and Mr. Perrin were employed for the defence. 
 O^Connell, of course, was an admirable lawyer, but 
 Bethel knew a great deal more about a case of claret 
 than a case of law, and Perrin and O^Connell had the 
 work, but O^Connell was often engaged elsewhere, and 
 
310 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 had to leave the case very much to his junior. He 
 showed such marked abiUty as to gain the friendship 
 of the SoHcitor-Generalj who prosecuted on that occa- 
 sion — the accompHshed Charles Kendal Bushe. 
 
 Mr. Perrin went the North-East Circuit and had 
 very large practice for many years. He was a Whig in 
 politics^ supported Catholic Emancipation^ and was so 
 respected for his character and conduct as to acquire the 
 title of Honest Louis Perrin.''^ In 1831^ in conjunc- 
 tion with Sir Robert Harty^ he was elected representa- 
 tive in Parliament for the Irish Metropolis. Being 
 unseated^ he was returned for Monaghan. He also in 
 that year was nominated by the Crown as Sergeant-at- 
 Law, and in 1834^ when the Whigs succeeded in hold- 
 ing the patronage of the Crown^ Sergeant Perrin 
 succeeded the Right Hon. Francis Blackburne as 
 Attorney-General. Having vacated the seat for 
 Monaghan by accepting ofiice^ he was returned for 
 the borough of Cashel. One of his Cashel con- 
 stituents^ a man of great natural talent^ who 
 belonged to the Young Ireland party^ and died an 
 exile from his native land was Michael Doheny. He 
 told me the following anecdote : — 
 
 I was sitting one night in the Speaker^s gallery of 
 the House of Commons^ while the Irish Corporate 
 Reform Bill was in progress^ and Perrin was makings 
 if not an eloquent^ a very powerful and argumentative 
 speech. A gentleman^ very plainly dressed^ inquired 
 of me who was addressing the House. 
 
 ^ Oh/ said I thoughtlessly^ ' he^s our Member.^ 
 ^ I have to trespass on you^ sir/ he replied^ ^ and 
 ask you to be a little more explicit.'' 
 
Right Hon. Judge P err in. 
 
 311 
 
 ^^^I beg your pardon/ I said^ ^he is Member for 
 Cashel/ 
 
 ^ But wlio is Member for Cashel ? ^ 
 ^ Why, that gentleman, the Attorney-General for 
 Ireland/ 
 
 '^^Fm afraid you will think me extremely igno- 
 rant/ replied the stranger, 'but I really do not 
 know who is Attorney - General for Ireland at 
 present/ 
 
 ^ I then said, ^ Mr. Perrin/ 
 ^ What, honest Louis Perrin ? ^ 
 ^^^Yes/ 
 ' The Catholic Emancipator ' ? 
 ' The same/ 
 
 ^ Then I am very glad I have heard him,^ he said, 
 and he listened with unflagging attention while Perrin 
 made a telling speech. He then said * he would be glad 
 if I went up with him to the refreshment-room, and take 
 a glass of wine.'' Not wishing to leave the gallery 
 during the debate, I thanked him and declined. He 
 shook hands, and bade me good-night. When he had 
 left, I asked some friend ^ if he knew who my companion 
 was ? ^ ^ Well,'' he said, ^ he inherits the best blood 
 of all the Howards — the Duke of Norfolk/ 
 
 Mr. Perrin efi'ected great good for Ireland when in 
 the House of Commons. He did much to prevent 
 Grand Jury jobbery. His speech introducing the Irish 
 Municipal Reform Bill was a masterly speech. He 
 was untiring in his efforts to check intemperance by 
 closing public-houses at 11 p.m. 
 
 On the death of Judge Vandeleur, in the summer of 
 1835, the vacant seat in the King's Bench was accepted 
 
The Irish Bar, 
 
 by the Attorney-General^ who thenceforward was one 
 of the most Constitutional Judges who ever sat on the 
 Irish Bench. 
 
 As a judge^ the great qualities of his mind shone 
 # forth. His strong sense of right, his stern denuncia- 
 tion of wrong, his great sagacity, were fully developed. 
 He seemed to me to be thoroughly imbued with the 
 spirit of our great legal commentator, who said, Law 
 is the science which inculcates the difference between 
 right and wrong, which enables us to assert the one 
 and to prevent, punish, or redress the other — a science 
 which employs in its theory the noblest faculties of the 
 soul, and exerts in its practice the cardinal virtues of 
 the heart, which is universal in its use and extent, 
 accommodated to each individual, but adapted to the 
 whole community."^^ Thus from term to term and cir- 
 cuit after circuit, for nearly a quarter of a century, 
 were the laws administered equably by this able and 
 just judge. He was most diligent and painstaking in 
 the discharge of his important functions. To any 
 argument that bore upon the case before him, he 
 displayed great attention, but if irrelevant topics were 
 introduced, a very significant grunt showed the advo- 
 cate the Court was not with him. He held the scales 
 of justice with a fi.rm and steady hand, and, as between 
 the Crown and the subject, there was no inclination of 
 the scales to either side. He was very social and 
 hospitable, and entertained his friends either at his 
 town house in Granby Row, Rutland Square, or at his 
 country villa. While writing to an eminent member 
 of the English Bench,^ I mentioned that I was pre- 
 * The Honourable Mr. Justice Denman. 
 
Right Hon. Judge Per r in. 313 
 
 paring a sketch of the late Judge Perrin, with whose 
 name I was sure he was familiar/^ The return post 
 brought me a letter containing a passage which I 
 venture to print : — 
 
 "Judge Perrin happens to be the member of the 
 Irish Bench with whom I had the most acquaintance. 
 I think it was in the year 1846 that he entertained me 
 most hospitably^ for about ten days of the long vaca- 
 tion^ at his house at Clontarf ; and I never enjoyed a 
 visit more thoroughly. Though it was long vacation, 
 he introduced me to several most kind and hospitable 
 members of the Irish Bench and Bar, in whose society 
 I enjoyed many pleasant days. Brady, Lord Chan- 
 cellor; Monahan, then Attorney- General ; Jackson, 
 Judge j Hatchel, the Solicitor-General or Law Adviser, 
 and others ; and I had the gratiiScation of hearing Mr. 
 Holmes cross-examining a clever witness in a manner 
 which beat any comedy I ever witnessed.''^ 
 
 Judge Perrin possessed a fine physical constitution, 
 and liked his court well ventilated. I remember when 
 we went circuit without wearing our Bar costume, and 
 often suffered from having no protection for our heads, 
 for the wind rushed through the windows opened by 
 order of Judge Perrin. Mr. J. S. Townsend, sitting 
 directly beneath the open skylight of the Cork Court- 
 house, was so inconvenienced by the cold air that he 
 tied his pocket-handkerchief round his head to shield it 
 from the March blast. Thus arrayed, he rose to address 
 Judge Perrin. 
 
 "I don^t think it^s respectful to the Court, sir, 
 that you should wear that head-dress,^"* said his lord- 
 ship. 
 
314 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 If your lordship will order the window over my 
 head to be shut^ I''ll take it off/^ was my friend^s sturdy 
 reply. 
 
 The Judge looked rather puzzled what to do before 
 he said^ ^Tis better for me to consult my health than 
 your appearance. Go on^ Mr. Townsend."'^ 
 
 He was very intolerant of noise^ and we sometimes 
 played tricks to excite him. Once, when a haughty 
 country squire, ignorant of the geography of the intricate 
 Cork Court-house, was bewildered in the passages, and 
 vainly essaying to enter Judge Perrin^s Court, we sent 
 him to the door close to the Bench, and bade him 
 'knock or kick very loudly, that he might be heard. 
 This he readily performed, to the great indignation of 
 Mr. Justice Perrin, who sent a policeman to take the 
 offender into custody for contempt of Court. But as 
 he was personally acquainted with the offender, who 
 made an ample apology, he was not sentenced. 
 
 In society the Judge was hospitable and genial. 
 He was always most friendly to me. 
 
 I had a message from him in 1859, brought by the 
 then Attorney- General, now Lord O^Hagan, that the 
 Judge wished me to call at his house in Granby Row. 
 I found him lethargic and infirm. He told me he 
 wanted a crier, and had been applied to by a very 
 respectable young man, who had filled that capacity 
 with a late intimate acquaintance of mine, and asked 
 ^^if I could recommend him/^ I replied that ^^he was a 
 very excellent person, but, while in my friend^s service, 
 had the misfortune to become insane, so I could not 
 say if he was quite recovered.^^ I said, ^^Dr. Nugent, 
 Commissioner of Lunacy,^^ who I knew was well ac- 
 
Right Hon. Judge BalL ' 315 
 
 quaint ed with tlie Judge^ and also knew the subject of 
 inquiry, would satisfy him upon this point/^ 
 
 My information, however, I think was ample, and I 
 do not believe the Judge spoke to Dr. Nugent on the 
 matter. 
 
 This was my last personal interview with the Judge. 
 He resigned his seat on the Queen^s Bench in 1860, 
 and was succeeded by an able and excellent lawyer, 
 then Attorney- General, Right Hon. J. D. Fitzgerald. 
 The ex- Judge went to reside at a villa near Rush, on 
 the coast, and I understand his habits of dispensing 
 justice were so strong that he used to attend at Petty 
 Sessions, to the great pleasure of the County of Dublin 
 Magistrates, who felt quite proud of his attendance on 
 their Bench. He sustained a severe trial in the death 
 of his eldest son J ohn, who had obtained some distinc- 
 tion at the Bar. He filled the lucrative office of Coun- 
 sel to the Castle, when the present Lord Justice 
 Christian ceased to hold it. 
 
 The office was in the gift of the Irish Government, 
 who granted it at the request of the Judge, and the 
 wits said J ohnny Perrin got his place by Paternal 
 solicitude and Christian Resignation.''^ 
 
 The venerable ex-Judge died at his seat at Rush on 
 the 7th December, 1864. 
 
 EIGHT HON. JUDGE BALL. 
 
 One of the most agreeable, accomplished, and pleasant 
 members of the Irish Bench with whom I had the 
 pleasure of being acquainted was the late J udge Ball. 
 He had travelled much, was well read, and able to 
 appreciate the writings of those who knew what they 
 
3i6 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 wrote about. Our acquaintance arose on the Munster 
 Circuit, where he presided on the Bench, and I was a 
 frequent guest at the Judge^s table. 
 
 Nicholas Ball was a native of Dublin, the only son 
 of John Ball, Esq., a citizen of credit and renown, who 
 amassed a considerable fortune by mercantile pursuits. 
 The eTudge was born in 1791, and when of an age to be 
 placed at school, his pious Catholic parents put him to 
 the renowned seminary of Stoneyhurst, in Lancashire. 
 Here, under the careful culture of the oft-maligned 
 sons of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuits, young Ball 
 was well grounded in the education of a gentleman, and 
 left Stoneyhurst well prepared for his University career. 
 While graduating in Trinity College, Dublin, he had 
 for his associates several who were afterwards his con- 
 temporaries at the Bar and the Senate — Stephen 
 Woulfe, Eichard Shiel, and Michael O^Loghlen. 
 Having taken his degree in the University, he became 
 a law student, and, before settling down to the practice 
 of his engrossing profession, made a tour of Europe in 
 the society of very accomplished friends. When I 
 name William Henry Curran, Thomas — afterwards Sir 
 Thomas — Wyse, our minister at Athens, I have said 
 enough to show in what delightful companionship the 
 glorious productions of nature and art on the Continent 
 were visited. 
 
 Though Mr. Ball was called to the Bar in 1811, and 
 went the Connaught Circuit, he did not at once get 
 into practice. He had to wait and hope, but it was 
 not that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick. 
 The only son of a wealthy merchant, he never ex- 
 perienced the hard lot of those who try to look plea- 
 
Right Hon, Judge Ball, 
 
 317 
 
 sant when the hungry fox is gnawing beneath the 
 robe. He could afford to wait until business sought 
 him^ and then his great capacity^ his admirable tact 
 and graceful court address^ captivated the Bench and 
 pleased the solicitors. Mr. Ball was in great request, 
 and his practice in the Courts of Equity, the Master^s 
 offices, and notably the Rolls Court, caused him to 
 give up circuits, and confine himself almost exclusively 
 to the Four Courts and to the Equity side. He became 
 a great favourite with Sir William McMahon, the 
 Master of the Rolls, a Judge not very prone to show 
 favour. His practice was, I believe, superior to that 
 of his brethren at the Bar, and as Richards, Warren, 
 Pennefather, and O^Loghlen were then at the Bar, this 
 is saying much. 
 
 Though Mr. Ball did not appear on the platform 
 when O^Connell was fighting the greafc battle of 
 Catholic Emancipation, he did not fail to give the 
 cause his hearty support by money and advice. When 
 the Relief Act of 1829 opened the door to promotion 
 to Catholics, the abilities and position of Mr. Ball were 
 not overlooked. He succeeded his friend Woulfe as 
 Sergeant, when that eminent barrister became the 
 Solicitor-General in 1836, and in 1838 Mr. Ball 
 became Attorney- General for Ireland, and represented 
 the borough of Clonmel in the House of Commons, 
 where he soon grew to be a great favourite. His 
 agreeable manners and convivial disposition gained him 
 the soubriquet of Ball and Supper.^^ He had not 
 long to encounter the perils of office. Early in 1839 
 Judge Moore, who had long enjoyed the otium of the 
 Common Pleas Bench, retired, and the vacant judge- 
 
3i8 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 ship was accepted by tlie Attorney- Greneral. The 
 Common Pleas then had so Httle business^ it rarely sat 
 above one hour or two^ and, as the new Judge was said 
 to be a late riser in the morning, a witty Chief Judge 
 said, — 
 
 It is the very court for Ball. It will be ujg before 
 himself!'^ 
 
 He had for associate Judges the very companion- 
 able Chief Justice Doherty and Judges Johnson and 
 Torrens. A change in the distribution of business soon 
 came and equalized, to a great extent, the working of 
 the three Law Courts, and then the active mind and 
 legal acumen of Mr. Justice Ball were apparent. 
 It was admitted no Judge on the Bench ever presented 
 a Nisi Prius case to the jury with more clearness, and 
 this was the more remarkable, for, while the case was 
 at hearing, no one could suspect the learned Judge 
 was so fully mastering the facts, sifting the evidence, 
 and separating the chaff from the grains of wheat ; so 
 that when his especial duty was to be discharged, he 
 could do so in a manner to present the really im- 
 portant points for the jury, devoid of all legal techni- 
 cality or entanglement. 
 
 I have often observed this circumstance with equal 
 pleasure and surprise, for sometimes on circuit the 
 learned Judge would display — or assume — an igno- 
 rance of common affairs that amused us. As, for 
 instance, — 
 
 Some men were indicted at the Cork Assizes 
 for a riot and assault. They were charged with 
 beating men employed in drawing away turf from a 
 bog. 
 
Right Hon, Judge Ball. 319 
 
 The witness said^ As they drove along they saw 
 the prisoners fencing along the road/^ 
 
 Eh, what do you say the prisoners were doing ? 
 asked Judge Ball. 
 
 Fencing, my lord/^ 
 
 With what ? 
 
 Spades and shovels, my lord/^ 
 Judge Ball looked amazed. 
 
 ^^Mr. Bennett/^ he said, addressing the senior 
 Crown prosecutor, can this be true ? Am I to 
 understand that the peasants in this part of the 
 country fence along the roads, using spades and 
 shovels for foils ? 
 
 ^^I can explain it,^^ said George Bennett; ^^they 
 were making a ditch, which we call a fence here, my 
 lord.^' 
 
 This explanation cleared up the enigma, and the 
 case went on. 
 
 The respected Judge had to mourn for his eldest son, 
 whose death caused great grief. He had, however, 
 much to solace him. One of his sons became a priest 
 of the Oratory at Brompton, near London, and he had 
 a daughter a nun. His sister was the Superioress of 
 the Convent of Loretto at Rathfarnham, the parent 
 house of every great educational convent of Loretto 
 throughout Ireland. This much-respected member of 
 the Irish Bench died at his house in St. Stephen^s 
 Green, Dublin, on the 15th of January, 1865, in his 
 seventy-third year. 
 
 A nephew of this estimable gentleman bids fair to 
 succeed him in the achievement of forensic fame, Mr. 
 Sergeant Sherlock, Q.C, M.P. In my sketch of our 
 
320 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 mutual friend^ Mr. Commissioner Baldwin^ the name 
 of Mr. Sherlock often occurs. He has succ3eded Sir 
 Colman O^Loghlen as Crown Prosecutor on the Munster 
 Circuit in right of his rank as Sergeant-at-Law. For 
 several sessions the learned sergeant has represented 
 the King County in the Imperial Parliament^ where 
 his great capacity for business, high character, and 
 pleasing, agreeable manners, make him deservedly 
 respected. 
 
321 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 MEMOIR Of HENRY BALDWIN^ Q.C.^ COMMISSIONER OP THE 
 COURT FOR RELIEF OP INSOLVENT DEBTORS IN IRELAND. 
 
 Birth and Parentage. — Early Education. — Studies for the Bar. 
 — Fellow-students. — Joins the Connaught Circuit. — A trip 
 to Paris. — Marriage. — Ill-health. — Torquay. — Assistant Bar- 
 rister for Co. Antrim. — His high character. — Address 
 and Testimonial. — Wexford. — Ajffection of his Practitioners. 
 — Address and Testimonial. — Becomes Chairman for the East 
 Eiding of the County of Cork. — My intimacy. — Letters. — ^A 
 Warning. — Dangerous Illness. — Letter on his Eecovery. — 
 James Plunkett. — A tedious Yoyage. — Appointment and Dis- 
 appointment. — Correspondence. — Trial of John Mitchel. — 
 Effect of Holmes's Speech for the Defence. — The Queen's 
 Visit. — Advice regarding office. — Correspondence. — The 
 voice of the Bar. — I become one of his officers. — His Chief 
 Clerk. — His Eegistrar. — Death of the Chief Clerk. — Plunkett 
 appointed. — Purchase of Kilmarnock. — A happy day. — Fatal 
 Hlness. — Death and Burial. 
 
 During the summer of 1840 I met^ for the first time, 
 at the hospitable board of a mutual friend (the late 
 James Plunkett, Q.C.,) Mr. Baldwin, Q.C., and thence, 
 until the day of his death, 24th May, 1854, a friend- 
 ship of the closest possible nature bound us to each 
 other. It was impossible to live with him on the terms 
 I did, and not to entertain the most afiectionate feelings 
 towards him ; and if any shortcomings marked his 
 character, I would not perhaps be deemed an impartial 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 biograplier. But as I possessed tlie best opportunity 
 of doing justice to his many estimable qualities as an 
 advocate aud a judge^ I cannot allow these biographical 
 sketches to appear without some record of his high 
 endowments. 
 
 Henry Baldwin was born early in the present cen- 
 tury. His father was an officer^ and his mother of 
 the ancient and opulent family of Segrave of Cabra, 
 county of Dublin. Captain Baldwin^ having died while 
 his only child was very young, his training in the 
 paths of religion and virtue was left in the hands of 
 his pious and excellent mother. She idolized her boy, 
 and when her maternal regard for him was evinced in 
 sending him early to school, she implored the master 
 
 not to let the child be subjected to harsh treatment, 
 for he had been such a pet.^^ His reply was re- 
 assuring : — Do not be afraid of that, madam. I 
 assure you, from my experience, I prefer pets to other 
 boys. I find them more docile, and they invariably 
 pay more attention to what is said to them."*^ 
 
 This remark was soon borne out as far as regards 
 Henry Baldwin. He evinced great quickness in appre- 
 hending, and ability in retaining, instruction. When he 
 grew older he was sent to the great English seminary 
 of Oscot, and here he had to make his way with boys 
 who paid no regard to mothers^ pets. But young 
 Baldwin had high courage and great mental endow- 
 ments. He distinguished himself in the Oscot Debating 
 Society, and, I believe, contributed to the Oscotian 
 — a literary periodical, supplied by the students of the 
 College. 
 
 Probably the profession of his father caused Mr. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin ^ Q,C. 323 
 
 Baldwin to evince a taste for the military life ; but the 
 Principal of his College told his mother to discourage 
 this notion^ as it would be a pity he should waste his 
 talents on a garrison life, and strongly recommended 
 his adopting '^a legal career/^ He therefore became 
 a student of the Inns of Court, and resolved to become 
 a barrister. 
 
 While in London, Henry Baldwin attended the 
 chambers of Andrew H. Lynch, M.P., then a very 
 leading Equity lawyer, and subsequently a Master 
 in Chancery in England. Mr. Lynch was member for 
 Galway, and his chambers had usually several students 
 from Connaught. Baldwin also was connected with 
 the county, if not the city, of the Tribes, his aunt, 
 Clorinda Segrave, having married Mr. Lynch of 
 Barna. 
 
 In the chambers of Mr. A. H. Lynch, contempo- 
 raneously with Mr. Baldwin, were James Henry 
 Blake, afterwards Q.C., and one of*the most promising 
 leaders of the Irish Bar, until his early death barred 
 his progress ; Mr. Malachi Fallon, afterwards Assistant 
 Barrister for the county of Limerick, and others. 
 Baldwin was one of the Decemvirs who met to argue 
 law points, and one of his steadiest friendships was 
 formed with a Decemvir, whose warm heart lay hidden 
 beneath the most repelling exterior I ever encountered. 
 The late James Plunkett; Henry Witham, then a 
 student for the English Bar ; D. R. Pigot, afterwards 
 Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, were 
 also Decemvirs. Having completed his terms, Henry 
 Baldwin was called to the Bar, and joined the Con- 
 naught Circuit. His knowledge of his profession and 
 
324 
 
 The LHsh Bar, 
 
 lovable disposition soon attracted business^, and lie 
 was quickly launched into practice. 
 
 He began to make money, not always by attending 
 the Four Courts, or on circuit, as the following anec- 
 dote he told me will show : — Shortly after being 
 called to the Bar/^ he said, during a long vacation, 
 1 received an offer of 150/., provided I would proceed 
 immediately to Paris, and make out a gentleman re- 
 siding somewhere in that capital, with whom I was to 
 have a personal interview relative to weighty money 
 matters. 
 
 On this offer being made, I lost no time in con- 
 sulting Sir Michael O^Loghlen and Judge Ball as to 
 whether I ought to accept it. Both concurred in 
 thinking it was not infra dig. to do so ; and, as there 
 was nothing to prevent my accepting the money, I 
 did so, and started for Paris. 
 
 Arrived there, by the aid of the Prefecture of 
 Police, I discovered the whereabouts of the object of 
 my visit, and lost no time in calling on him. As a 
 personal interview was part of my contract, I found 
 him at home, sent up my card, and was admitted. He 
 lay stretched on a sofa, smoking a cigar, and received 
 me very kindly. We had met before. suspect 
 what brought you here,^ he said, ^and have only to say 
 that, if you mention one word about business, I shall 
 leave you here. You can join me at Tortoni^s at six 
 o^clock, and dine with me. I shall be very happy 
 to show you everything worth seeing in Paris, but not 
 one word of business.^ 
 
 " I replied, ^ I had a serious and responsible duty to 
 discharge, and he should not blame me for fulfilling 
 
Memoir of Heiiry Baldzcin, Q,C, 325 
 
 it/ I then opened to him the purport of my errand. 
 He first whistled, then hummed an air from a popular 
 opera ; but, as I continued, he ceased his performance, 
 and, placing his hat on his head, wished me good-day, 
 and left me alone in my glory. 
 
 Being in no hurry to leave Paris, I wrote to Dublin 
 an account of the failure of mv neo^otiations, and 
 passed some days very agreeably/' 
 
 In February, 1837, when about ten years called to the 
 Bar, a Chairman for a county, and in very fair practice, 
 Mr. Baldwin made a very advantageous marriage. 
 The object of his choice was the second daughter of 
 Stephen Grehan, Esq., of Eutland Square, Dublin. 
 This lady was in every way qualified to make him 
 happy. She is well described by the lines of 
 Crabbe, — 
 
 ** She had a mild and pleasant look, 
 A cheerful eye. and aspect bland ; 
 Her very voice and manner six)ke 
 The generons heart and open hand." 
 
 Mr. Baldwin^s health, never very robust, was im- 
 paired by his kind disposition. TVhen proceeding by 
 the night mail to the Spring Assizes of Galway, he 
 took compassion on one outside passenger who had 
 no overcoat. Baldwin divested himself of his, and in- 
 sisted on the other wearing his great coat, as the cold 
 was intense. Unfortunately this caused Mr. Baldwin 
 to get chilled, and a violent fever was the result. 
 Great debility followed, and the mild air of Devonshire 
 was recommended and tried. 
 
 ^^I could not imagine,^^ he said to me, anything 
 
326 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 like the change I experienced when the sheltered nook 
 of Torquay was reached. It was like Elysium. The 
 cold^ chill feeling left me. I grew instantly better, 
 and^ during my stay^ improved hourly/^ In after-years, 
 I myself experienced great benefit by a visit to Tor- 
 quay. Shortly before his marriage, Mr. Baldwin was 
 appointed an Assistant Barrister. A Roman Catholic 
 in creed, and of Whig politics, he never was either a 
 bigot in religion or a partisan in politics. He had 
 very influential friends, and when O^Loghlen became 
 Attorney- General in 1835, he had the great gratifica- 
 tion of appointing Henry Baldwin Assistant Barrister 
 for the county of Antrim. His mother told me this 
 appointment was hailed with approval by Tories as 
 well as Whigs — all liked her son. His appearance 
 was strikingly indicative of the amiability which was 
 the great feature of Mr. Baldwin's character, and I 
 think he must have borne a great resemblance to Lord 
 Erskine. His small, elegant features were often hectic 
 with illness, while his bright hazel eyes lighted up, 
 and denoted the quick, sensitive nature of the inner 
 man. Like Erskine, he had the warm heart of a 
 woman, her generous afi*ection for those he loved, and, 
 perhaps, some of her weaknesses. 
 
 While presiding in the Quarter Sessions Courts of 
 Antrim, the practitioners and suitors were not slow to 
 appreciate how largely personal amiability of heart 
 was united with ability of head. They found their 
 chairman well acquainted with his judicial functions, 
 possessed of a robust intellect, if in a delicate frame, 
 with honesty of purpose and industry of habit. No 
 matter of what creed or politics practitioners were. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin^ Q.C. 327 
 
 all were regarded in the same ligM^ and each felt 
 attracted by the personal warmth of Mr. Baldwin. 
 As has been well remarked, Men of ability are met 
 with at the corner of every street. Any man of reason- 
 ably clear head, of determined will, and settled disre- 
 gard for the feelings and fate of those around him, 
 may achieve a considerable measure of success, as 
 modern society is constituted. The success, however, 
 will not be one which will attract the good-will of his 
 fellows, nor obtain for him one word of commendation, 
 or regret when he is called away to another scene, 
 where those who have lived only for themselves attain, 
 no doubt, exactly what they have earned.'''^ Far 
 different was the estimate in which the kind and warm- 
 hearted Mr. Baldwin was held. When the intelligence 
 was confirmed that he was to preside over the Quarter 
 Sessions Courts of Antrim no longer, and that his 
 health warned him the smaller and more proximate 
 county of Wexford was to be the scene of his judicial 
 labours, a loud wail, as of sorrow for a departed friend, 
 echoed from the Giant^s Causeway to the extreme 
 limits of the county. 
 
 A valuable testimonial and most laudatory address — 
 signed by men of all shades of political colours, from 
 the deepest Orange to the most verdant Green — was pre- 
 sented to Mr. Baldwin. 
 
 His career in Wexford was just the same, and bore 
 the same fruit ; he obtained an address and gold 
 box. I remember a Wexford solicitor, who practised 
 at Sessions, using these words to me : — It was no cold 
 respect, sir, we bore to Mr. Baldwin ; we felt a longing 
 to take Mm in our arms and hug him to our hearts,^' 
 
328 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Strong as these words are^ they convey very clearly 
 the more than customary regard ^elt by professional 
 gentlemen for one placed in authority over them, who 
 has often to keep a vigilant eye over the conduct of 
 his practitioners. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin^s health grew much better, and on the 
 death of John Martley, Q.C., the lucrative chairman- 
 ship of the East Eiding of the county of Cork being 
 vacant, it was offered to, and accepted by, Mr. Baldwin. 
 
 Shortly after this time, in 1840, 1 made his acquaint- 
 ance, and was a practitioner in his Court. 
 
 Our daily intercourse during term, and while at Ses- 
 sions, or when I was an inmate of his house, prevented 
 my receiving many letters from him, but there are 
 some which show the warmth of his disposition, and 
 the playful temperament of his mind, when not de- 
 pressed by illness, or those trials which beset the 
 traveller in lifers often weary road, and from these I 
 propose to give extracts. 
 
 The first in point of date, and the only one formally 
 addressed, was when he was returning my first pub- 
 lished book, Impressions at Home and Abroad.''^ It 
 is as follows : — 
 
 19, GardAner^s Place, 
 
 ''February 2Srd, 1841. 
 '' My dear Sir, — I return you your book with many 
 thanks for the instruction and amusement it has 
 afforded me. A confinement from cold since Friday 
 last enabled me to read it attentively through, and I 
 assure you I have been greatly pleased. 
 
 When do you proceed on circuit ? I am to sit in 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldivin, Q.C. 329 
 
 Cork on tlie 29tli March. I liope I shall see you there 
 or at Mallow. 
 
 Believe me^ very truly yours^ 
 
 ' H. Baldwin/' 
 
 Durino: the Galwav Assizes he had been counsel for 
 a lady who sued a namesake of mine for breach of 
 promise of marriage^ and she got substantial pecu- 
 niary compensation. During the engagement the de- 
 fendant had become a Eepealer^ which Baldwin said 
 he supposed accounted for his anti-union conduct/^ 
 Shortly after the trial I received the following : — 
 
 ''My dear O'Flanagan, — Enclosed I send you a 
 report of a curious trial we had at Galway the other 
 day. I do so for two reasons : firsts that the damages 
 may make you cautious^ and^ next^ that you are gene- 
 rally supposed to be the defendant yourself. James 
 Plunkett assured me that he was more than once asked 
 if you were not the delinquent. 
 
 I saw that you read a paper to the Association at 
 Cork. I shall be in Cork on this day month ; we shall 
 meet^ I suppose^ at all events, at Fermoy. 
 Believe me, dear 0^F._, 
 
 '' Very sincerely yours^ 
 
 ^^*H. Baldwix.^' 
 
 The British Association for the Advancement of 
 Science met at Cork in 1843, when I read a paper on 
 the Navigation of the Munster Blackwater, which 
 afterwards was extended and published as The His- 
 torical and Picturesque Guide to the Blackwater.^^ The 
 following year, 1844, was very nearly severing our 
 
330 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 frieudsliip^ by the death of my beloved friend. In fact, 
 during our Assizes in Cork, news reached us that, while 
 on circuit in Galway, Mr. Baldwin became ill and died. 
 This, however, was not entirely the case. He was 
 dangerously ill, but recovered. On learning he was 
 staying with his cousin, Nicholas Lynch, of Barna, 
 who had married Mrs. Baldwin^s elder sister, I wrote 
 to him, inquiring for Mr. Baldwin, and after some days 
 received the following reply. The feeble tracing of 
 the lines indicate the prostrate condition of the 
 writer : — 
 
 Barna, August 16th, 1844. 
 ^^My dear O^Flanagan, — Lynch showed me your 
 kind letter, but until to-day I was not able to write. I 
 am greatly better — in fact well, though weak. I am 
 remaining here to recruit my strength for the road. 
 
 I can best explain the extent of my danger by 
 quoting the words of one of my doctors yesterday : — 
 I never saw so bad a case terminate otherwise than 
 fatally before. At one time I thought you had not half 
 an hour to live. I had no hope at all : I thought there 
 was no room for hope.^ 
 
 Although ill, I tried to do business on Tuesday and 
 Wednesday, 30th and 31st July, and on the latter day 
 to speak to evidence in a heavy and important case. 
 However, after struggling against disease for half an 
 hour, I was obliged to give in, leave the court, and 
 take to bed, when I grew hourly worse until Friday, 
 when I was despaired of. 
 
 Poor Mrs. Baldwin left town on Sunday night in 
 the mail, and arrived on Monday morning. She found 
 me a little better, but not out of danger. She bore up 
 
Memoir of Hejiry Baldzuin, Q.C. 
 
 331 
 
 wonderfully against the fatigue. We shall be leaving 
 this for home in a few days. With kind regards to your 
 father and sisters^ believe me^ 
 
 Yery faithfully yours, 
 
 ^^H. Baldwin/' 
 His next letter shows progress : — 
 
 *^ Bayview Cottage, DaUey, 
 
 ''2ith September, 1844. 
 My dear O^Y,, — Although my complaint is for 
 the present gone, and I have collected some strength, 
 the doctors do not wish me to encounter the fatigues 
 of a heavy Session, and strongly advised me to get a 
 deputy. Plunkett, with his usual good nature, at once 
 undertook to sit for me, and, with such a representative, 
 my mind is quite at ease. 
 
 " They will hardly put up with the Principal after 
 such a Deputy. 
 
 I am happy to learn the sale of your book^ has been 
 so good. You should see that it is for sale in the book- 
 shops in Cork, Fermoy, Mallow, and Youghal. 
 
 "Nothing new here. The dinner to Dan^ was much 
 crowded, but not respectably attended. Dan wanted 
 to let non-Eepealers in, but Smith O^Brien would not 
 suffer it to be anything but a Eepeal dinner. Hence 
 the absence of all respectable persons, and the collec- 
 tion of a mere mob. I hear Dan is much annoyed at 
 the circumstance. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 "H. B.^' 
 
 1 " The Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Blackwater 
 in Munster." London, 1844. 
 
 2 A Eepeal banquet to O'Connell. 
 
332 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 He grew stronger as the spring of 1845 advanced, 
 and I left him in good health and spirits when I was 
 starting for the Munster Circuit in the spring of 1845. 
 I went to Cork by the steamer then plying between 
 Dublin and Cork, and we had a most tempestuous 
 voyage. Scarcely had we left the Liffey before the 
 wind blew so violently we had to seek shelter in Kings- 
 town Harbour, and I wrote an account of my perils, 
 which produced the following : — 
 
 7, Rutland Square, 
 
 Uth March, ^45. 
 My dear living but half-drowned Author, — 1 
 commiserate you on your unfortunate voyage. How 
 you must have sighed for the gentle ripple of your own 
 Blackwater, when tossed by the merciless billows of 
 our angry sea ! I hope the elements will be more pro- 
 pitious for us. If Saturday next promises fine, I think 
 we shall trust ourselves to them, as the Eagle is to sail 
 at seven o^clock Saturday evening/^ 
 
 The weather moderated, and he enjoyed his voyage, 
 and got through his Sessions well. Later in the year 
 I find he wrote to me about our mutual friend 
 Plunkett, who had been dangerously ill. 
 
 As I was constantly engaged during the terms in 
 working with and for him professionally, I plainly saw 
 how admirably suited he was for Equity practice. The 
 quiet Court of Chancery was better adapted to his 
 gentle nature than the bustle of the Common Law 
 Courts, or the rough-and-ready business of Nisi Prius. 
 He evidently had more taste for Equity practice than 
 for the arguments of Common Law or law pleading, 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin^ Q.C, 
 
 333 
 
 and it occurred to rae^ the place of all others best fitted 
 for him was a Master^s oflSce. There the duties could 
 be done con amove, and his experience of Session practice 
 would enable him to dispose of the business with pre- 
 cision and despatch. 
 
 There was a prospect of my hopes for his obtaining 
 this desirable post^the income of which was about 3000/. 
 a year^ being realized. His friend^ the late Sir Maziere 
 Brady^ was raised from the office of Chief Baron of the 
 Exchequer to that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and 
 a close intimacy had long subsisted between him and 
 Baldwin. His co-circuiteer, Monahan^ was Attorney, 
 and Hatchel Solictor- General. These personal friends 
 were not likely to forget the services and worth of Mr. 
 Baldwin. Besides those in law offices, Sir Thomas 
 Eedington, then Under-Secretary of State for Ireland, 
 was warmly attached to him, and when, in the autumn 
 of 1846, Master Goold died, Baldwin was at once named 
 as his successor. I was then on circuit, but the report 
 was that Baldwin was actually appointed, so I wrote an 
 article for the press, detailing how eminently qualified 
 he was for this office. I refrained from having it 
 published until I saw the report ratified officially. 
 Soon, alas ! I found the vacant Mastership was not 
 given to Mr. Baldwin, but to the late Mr. Jeremiah 
 J. Murphy, a Queen^s Counsel, a Catholic gentleman 
 of very high character, and an accomplished Equity 
 lawyer. 
 
 Aware how anxious Mr. Baldwin was for this par- 
 ticular office, and how near he was to obtaining it, I 
 feared the disappointment would, as indeed it did, 
 crush his feeble frame. I wrote to him at considerable 
 
334 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 lengthy urging wliat consolation my feelings dictated, 
 and yet expressing my fear I had done so at too great 
 length. His reply was this : — 
 
 The Rock, Dalkey, 
 
 ''9th August, 1846. 
 
 ''My dear O^Flanagan, — Whatever you may think, 
 I do assure you that I do not find your letter too 
 long. I was so pleased with that of the eight pages 
 that I showed it to Plunkett, who was equally grati- 
 fied. 
 
 " The more I learn of the affair, the more I lament 
 the accident that led to the result. 
 
 " The Lord-Lieutenant wrote to Redington to say 
 that my appointment was actually made, when such a 
 pressure came that Lord John Russell thought they 
 should yield to it. O^Conneirs statement is, that he 
 called on the Lord-Lieutenant, as father of the Catholic 
 Bar, and demanded the situation for a Roman Catholic. 
 The Lord-Lieutenant told him it was arranged that a 
 person of that persuasion should have it. O^Connell 
 tlien asked it for Murphy. The Lord-Lieutenant said 
 he was too late, as I was appointed, and the letter to 
 notify it to the Chancellor was written, and on the 
 table. 0^ Council, finding it was not posted, and con- 
 sequently no official communication had been made, 
 insisted that it was still within the control of the 
 Government, and asked it as a personal compliment 
 to himself. To this they yielded. My appointment 
 superseded — Murphy substituted for me.''^ 
 
 That he did not soon recover the shock of this 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin^ Q,C. 
 
 335 
 
 sudden and most unexpected disappointment is shown 
 by his next letter from Dalkey : — 
 
 2nd Sept, 1846. 
 
 My dear OTlanagan^ — I am happy to find you are 
 spending a pleasant autumn. We are very dull here. 
 None of us have at all got over our recent affliction. 
 As for myself, the subject is always recurring to my 
 mind, and I am as low as the earth when I con- 
 sider how desirable was the situation, how nearly it 
 was mine, and how uncomfortable is my present 
 position. We had the Chancellor and his family for 
 a few days at Kingstown, at the Anglesea Arms. They 
 spent Saturday here, and came out to fish, and took 
 an early dinner on their return. Yesterday we all 
 assembled at Monahan^s, so you see we are on excellent 
 terms. All the officials are arrived. Labouchere ^ 
 came yesterday, and Pigot was expected in the even- 
 ing. 
 
 " There is to be a gathering of the bigwigs at the 
 Viceregal Lodge on Thursday to meet Labouchere. 
 The Chancellor had promised to spend the day here 
 when he got the command. 
 
 " I had a lamentable letter from poor ^ from 
 
 New York. I am trying to do something for him — 
 good for evil. 
 
 Moore is also returned. Burton^ is determined to 
 
 3 Chief Secretary for Ireland. 
 
 ** An attorney who, in return for several acts of kindness, 
 treated Mr. Baldwin with ingratitude, and, finding he could get 
 no practice in Co. Cork, emigrated to America. 
 
 * An octogenarian Justice of the Queen's Bench. 
 
336 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 sit until he drops off the perch. I should not wonder 
 if Pigot made one of the earliest vacancies/ 
 
 ^^Plankett has just left this. Only think of him re- 
 fusing to meet the Chancellor here quietly the other 
 day! 
 
 Sincerely yours^ 
 
 His next letter shows considerable improvement in 
 his spirits. Owing to my father having met with an 
 accident — a shaft of a car having struck him on the 
 leg and confined him to the sofa — I had to act as 
 Barrack Master of Fermoy for some time. 
 
 Baldwin was not well enough for the October 
 Sessions^ so he sent^ as his deputy^ Mr. Sherlock^ a 
 very excellent lawyer^ and one in whom Mr. Baldwin 
 placed confidence. 
 
 Sherlock^ got through his work most efficiently. 
 Baldwin thus inquired how he discharged his duties : — 
 
 7, Rutland Square , 
 
 6th Dec, '46. 
 
 My dear OTianagan^ — I expected to have heard 
 from you ere this, but I have heard of you — of your 
 being at Midleton. I hope you profited by your trip 
 in a pecuniary view — probably not much, but in repu- 
 tation I hope a great deal. The latter is not a bubble 
 in our profession. How did Tim^ get on ? Did you go 
 to Kantuak ? The Courts here are proceeding very 
 
 6 He survived Baldwin exactly twenty years. 
 
 7 He is now second Sergeant, and M.P. for King's County. 
 
 I never could understand why Mr. Baldwin always called 
 his friend by this name. His name is David. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin ^ Q.C. 337 
 
 slowly. Pigot is^ I hear^ doing the Nisi Prius business 
 very well — of course not quickly. He has a great many 
 cases. The Chancellor making slow progress ; the Ex- 
 chequer still slower^ and Smith (Rolls) is the super- 
 lative degree in this comparison. I scarcely think he 
 will be finished on Christmas Eve. I have had an 
 excellent share of what is goiug. Although the term 
 is generally complained of^ I have found it one of the 
 best I ever had. 
 
 The Chancellor and some others have promised to 
 dine with us on the 15th. Mrs. B. says you promised 
 to send her some wild fowl. I wish you would try and 
 send us some in time.^^ 
 
 I lost no time in complying with this request. My 
 friend, Robert Earl of Kingston, I knew would be only 
 too glad to send a quantity of game to Mr. Baldwin, so 
 I requested he would do so. It was rare to find 
 Baldwin giving expression to political opinions, but in 
 a letter I had from him, dated Cliff Castle, Dalkey, 
 23rd July, 1847, he says,— 
 
 We are all preparing for the coming elections. It 
 is reported that the Whigs will gain ninety seats in 
 England, and hold their own here, unless, indeed, they 
 be damaged by the utter folly of the Repealers ac- 
 cepting Tories who will take the pledge, well knowing 
 the impracticability of that question. They will take 
 the pledge, and vote against the country on every prac- 
 tical measure. I fear Monahan will lose Galway. I 
 doubt that he will show fight at all. What do you 
 learn about Youghal ? 
 
 The Master of the Rolls is still sitting. I was fool 
 
 z 
 
338 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 enougli not to go down. I am very lazy^ and enjoy 
 this time in the country more than any other time, 
 and, therefore, have not sought business. Indeed, I 
 am writing more than I desire. I am told that Chief 
 Justice Doherty is broken, horse, foot, and dragoon." 
 There was a meeting of his creditors yesterday. Daniel 
 Ryan Kane ^ is in fever, but going on well. He is in 
 Dublin. 
 
 I suppose you will go to the Cork Assizes. Make 
 a note of the Appeals for me. I had a very tedious 
 passage up by the Viceroy, We lost our way, or 
 rather thought we had done so, in a fog, and, after 
 lying at anchor for ten or twelve hours, we found we 
 were on our proper course. I think the Repealers 
 have cut the painter between them and Government, if 
 the latter have a particle of spirit. Ponsonby has re- 
 returned to Youghal. I fear he has damaged his 
 chance by going away Can you do anything respecting 
 votes for him ? Tell Nagle that P. has gone back to 
 Youghal to try his chance. Send me all the Cork news.^^ 
 Mr. Baldwin^s fears respecting Mr. Ponsonby^s 
 chance in Youghal proved well founded. At the elec- 
 tion in 1847, Mr. Chisholm Anstey was returned 
 member for that borough. The increasing illness of 
 my dear father caused me to remain much at Fermoy 
 during the early part of the year 1848. The state of 
 the country caused the Government much apprehen- 
 sion ; and as there was a large garrison in the ban^acks 
 of Fermoy, which were in my father^s charge, I had to 
 act for him. The precautions taken by the Govern- 
 
 9 See Sketch of C. J. Doherty. 
 ^ Now Eecorder of Cork. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin, Q.C. 339 
 
 ment in case of an insurrection were sucli as to cause a 
 great influx of military stores. The barrack stores 
 had also considerable quantities of provisions which 
 were never sent previously. These consisted of bar- 
 rels of pork^ casks of biscuit^ and large supplies of 
 ammunition. Moreover^ a letter was entrusted to my 
 father^ directed to The OflBcer commanding at 
 Fermoy/^ which was only to be delivered if the bar- 
 racks were besieged. This event never occurred. Of 
 course it was returned unopened. We had occasional 
 reports of intended insurrectionary outbreaks^ but they 
 did not extend to the county of Cork. My father died 
 Barrack Master of Fermoy^ in April, 1848, after the 
 long service of forty-two years, and I had to take 
 charge of the district for some months, until his suc- 
 cessor. Colonel McQueen, arrived. Mr. Baldwin^s 
 letter, after that sad event, is dated — 
 
 7, Rutland Square , 
 
 " 28th May, 1848. 
 
 My dear OTlanagan, — I have so long postponed 
 writing to you that I scarcely know how to do so now. 
 You know how I am harassed just at present. Im- 
 pute my silence to hurry — to procrastination — to what 
 you will but forgetfulness : not certainly to that, 
 
 I hope your sisters are well reconciled to the will 
 of Him who knows what is best for us. 
 
 When do you expect to be in town ? You will find 
 us in the midst of troubles here. We expect to have 
 Mitchel on trial upon to-morrow or Thursday. Holmes 
 will speak for him, and Henn to evidence. If we ob- 
 tain a verdict, there will be no disturbance, and then 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 we hope for some quiet. Monahan will have to revert 
 to the right of challenge, and this will create a great 
 uproar. However^ it seems to be inevitable^ and will 
 be done/^ 
 
 MitcheFs trial took place not so soon as Mr. Baldwin 
 anticipated^ so I was present at it^ but the counsel he 
 named were employed as he mentions. The traverser, 
 as we have seen, was defended by Mr. Holmes. I 
 never remember anything like the effect of that 
 speech, and it afforded me the only opportunity I ever 
 had of estimating the style and language of the Irish 
 Bar in the days of the Irish Parliament. The whole 
 of the persons who thronged the Court-house burst 
 into a perfect tumult of applause when Mr. Holmes, 
 exhausted by his magnificent oration, sank into his seat. 
 Very shortly before this Baldwin ceased to be Chairman 
 of Quarter Sessions for the East Eiding of the county 
 of Cork, having been appointed Law Adviser to the 
 Castle. Taking this situation caused a considerable 
 diminution of income, but it was regarded as the step 
 to the office of Solicitor-General, and therefore an ob- 
 ject of ambition. The duties were by no means heavy. 
 They consisted chiefly of setting the Irish magistrates 
 right upon questions arising from often confused and 
 sometimes obscure Acts of Parliament ; the power of 
 police in the execution of their duty ; legality of con- 
 victions j how far the Justices of the Peace could act 
 under peculiar circumstances, and such like matters, 
 which unprofessional gentlemen, however intelligent, 
 could scarcely decide correctly. These were points which 
 Mr. Baldwin's large experience as an Assistant Bar- 
 
Me77ioir of He7iry Baldwin, Q^C. 
 
 341 
 
 rister and practitioner on his circuit enabled him to 
 dispose of very readily. Soon after he resigned the 
 Assistant Barristership^ I received a communication 
 from the late Mr. James Nagle^ then Sessional Crown 
 Solicitor for the Bast Riding of the county of Cork, 
 which gratified me. It was on behalf of the attorneys, 
 who were about presenting their late Chairman with 
 a valuable testimonial and address, that who was so 
 intimately acquainted with the judicial conduct of Mr. 
 Baldwin, should write the address. Of course I did 
 my best, and sent my draft of it to Mr. Nagle. It met 
 his warmest approval, and, when submitted to the 
 Committee, was adopted with very slight alterations. 
 
 This address, when handsomely engrossed, with two 
 splendid silver claret-jugs, bearing a suitable inscrip- 
 tion, forms the enduring testimony of IMr. Baldwin^s 
 merits during the years he held the office of Assistant 
 Barrister for the East Riding of the county of Cork. 
 
 It has, I believe, seldom happened that the same 
 individual who prepares an address is requested to 
 reply to it, yet it did in my instlince. Mr. Baldwin, 
 never suspecting I had any hand in preparing the most 
 complimentary address which he received with great 
 pleasure, said, O^Flanagan, like a good fellow, will 
 you put together what is proper for me to send in 
 reply to this most beautiful address ? 
 
 I laughed and told him I wrote it. 
 
 During the Queen^s first visit to Ireland he wrote : — 
 
 7, Bidland Square, 
 
 ''9th August, 1849. 
 '' My dear O^F., — I very much regret to find that 
 
342 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 your name is not amongst the professors of the 
 Queen^s College. I mentioned it as favourably as you 
 could wish, but it was not in the position that would 
 give it a chance in the Keport of the Presidents. 
 
 We must only look to something else^ and I hope 
 you are not disheartened. You see that F. Walsh^ has 
 got an appointment. I rejoice at it. 
 
 ^^We are as loyal here as could be desired. The 
 Queen is everywhere well received. Her levee yester- 
 day was the most crowded I ever saw. We (Mrs. 
 Baldwin and myself) had the honour of meeting her 
 last evening at the Viceregal Lodge. There was a 
 very nice party and concert there. Her Majesty was 
 most agreeable. There is a review now going on^ and 
 there will be a drawing-room this evening.^ 
 
 " To-morrow she goes to Carton/ and sails in the 
 evening for Belfast.^^ 
 
 The next communication I had from Mr. Baldwin, 
 written about a year later, contains an intimation which 
 very materially influenced both his and my future 
 career. I extract as follows : — 
 
 Khyber Pass, 
 ''22nd August, 1850. 
 '' My dear O^F., — E. Farrell, the Commissioner of 
 the Insolvent Court, is dying. This will put me in a 
 
 ^ Francis Walsh, of the Mnnster Circuit, was appointed Pro- 
 fessor of Law in Queen's College, Cork. Vide his memoir in 
 this work. 
 
 2 The drawing-rooms in Dublin Castle are held in the evening. 
 '* Seat of the Duke of Leinster. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin, Q.C. 
 
 343 
 
 fix. I presume HatcheP will not take it^ and that it 
 may be offered to me. I am at a loss what to do. 
 The situation is a very easy one — the salary 2000/. 
 Irish^ and travelling expenses^ but if I take it^ it must 
 be for life. Plunkett and the Attorney- General advise 
 me to take it. It is a certainty, what say you ? I 
 heard this moment that Farrell died last night. I am 
 in a doldrum. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 ^^H. Baldwin.^' 
 
 I lost not a moment in advising him, in the strongest 
 terms I could, not to take this judgeship. I felt it was 
 entirely unsuited to him. It daily necessitated his 
 having to adjudicate upon a class of cases in which 
 honest traders were the victims of unprincipled 
 debtors, or struggling debtors were the victims of 
 heartless money-lenders or oppressive creditors. I 
 knew the sensitive organization of his mind tho- 
 roughly. While attending the Sessions Courts of the 
 East Riding of the county of Cork, it was my habit 
 either to be engaged before him as counsel, or, when 
 not engaged, sitting by his side, and, as we conversed 
 more like brothers than in any other relation, I was 
 convinced the Commissionership of the Court for Relief 
 of Insolvent Debtors would wear his heart out — change 
 his geyitle, patient temper into impatient irritahility — and 
 this constant galling of the chain he could not break 
 would eat into his strength and shorten his existence. 
 
 * John Hatchel was then Solicitor- General. Though he did 
 not take the office at this period he became Commissioner of 
 the Court subsequently. 
 
344 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Conscious of all this^ I not only tried to dissuade him 
 from taking the place, valuable though it was ; but it 
 seems^ though I do not recollect it^ I also wrote to 
 Plunkett my views on the matter. To Mr. Baldwin I 
 wrote : — Were I you, in your place, at your age/ 
 and with your prospects^ I would not accept this 
 ♦ place.^^ 
 
 He did, however, accept ifc, and the promotion of his 
 friend Monahan as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 
 and successor to Chief Justice Doherty,left the Solicitor- 
 Generalship vacant. 
 
 He (Baldwin) then wrote to me, — 
 
 Khijher Pass, 
 
 " lUh Sept, '50. 
 
 My dear OT., — I have seen your letter to Plunkett. 
 You judge rightly of me. I am perplexed in the 
 extreme. My patience was worn out by a three years' 
 wait for a step, and I had no sooner taken — without 
 much good-will — the Commissionership, when, lo ! the 
 Solicitor- Generalship becomes vacant. If I were to ask, 
 I thinh, but am not certain, that I might get the Sol.- 
 ship. Still, w^hat ought I to do ? 
 
 At present I have 2000Z. a year certain, and imme- 
 diate respite from labour ; if I abandon it, I shall have 
 much labour, much risk, but it might be higher position 
 and larger income. There are two very old and infirm 
 judges, but so is Government infirm, and they may 
 not supply the places of all the judges. It is probable 
 that one judge may be reduced. What would you ad- 
 vise me to do ? Certainty, competency, and tolerable 
 
 ^ He was not fifty at this time. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin, Q.C, 345 
 
 station^ or higlier station^ chance of liiglier^ and larger 
 income^ but a chance of losing all ? Would you ad- 
 vise me to give up the 2000L a year^ which I liavOy for 
 these chances ? 
 
 Let me hear as soon as you can. 
 
 Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 ^^H. Baldwin/' 
 
 It was a very difficult matter to direct him what to 
 do. It was much easier for me to tell him not to accept 
 2000Z. a year, than to give it back after accepting, so 
 I thought it as well, especially as the Government was 
 not very strong, to tell him to keep what he had got. I 
 daresay I gave him this advice. His next letter, a little 
 later, confirms his appointment. 
 
 KJiijher Pass, 
 
 26th 8ept., '50. 
 
 My deae OT., — The arrangements, except as to 
 the Law Advisership, are complete. Hughes, instead 
 of O'Brien, was yesterday appointed Solicitor-General. 
 I am sure I could have had that office if I had expressed 
 a wish for it, but my friends would not let me. Eeding- 
 ton and Monahan were vehement against it, and the 
 Chancellor thought I should remain as I am. Plunkett 
 and David Lynch ^ were of the same opinion, and it 
 would have been, not only extremely bold, but rash to 
 have taken upon myself to decide against the opinions 
 of all my friends here. I think it most likely that 
 
 " An eminent Q.C., afterwards a Judge in the Court of 
 Bankruptcy and Insolvency, and died one of the Judges of the 
 Landed Estates Court. 
 
346 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 both the number and salaries of the judges will be 
 diminished, and if the former, it is most likely there 
 will be but one — i/one — vacancy to be filled up during 
 their administration. I should, therefore, have to run 
 a chance of not advancing beyond the Sol.-ship, 
 and a much greater one of not possessing the Attorney- 
 Generalship. Monahan is Chief Justice, Hatchel At- 
 torney-General, Hughes Solicitor, myself Commissioner. 
 Christian will probably be the Law Adviser. This last 
 is the only part of the arrangement which is still to 
 be made, and the delay occurs from Christian being 
 abroad. 
 
 I commence my circuit on the 22nd October at 
 Wicklow, and shall be out only eight days. I then sit 
 in town until the 21st November, and then resume 
 the circuit, having finally to close at Cork, where I am 
 to sit on the 12th December. 
 
 *^ Thus I become a vagabond again. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 '^H. Baldwin." 
 
 Thus Mr. Baldwin^s hopes o£ ever rising higher than 
 the Commissionership of the Court for Relief of In- 
 solvent Debtors was at an end ; and as my professional 
 prospects were very much bound up in his, I could not 
 fail to regret his having barred the door on his chances 
 of further promotion. Had the place suited him, this 
 would not have cost me a pang, but I felt it did not. 
 
 It was a source of anxiety to him that Plunkett's 
 practice at the Bar did not keep pace with his merits, 
 and he often spoke to me about him. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin^s regard for his friend^s position was no 
 
Memoir of He7iry Baldwitiy Q.C. 347 
 
 mere profession of words. He sought to serve him by 
 deeds^ and his anxiety to bring Plunkett and the 
 Lord Chancellor together was in hopes of serving 
 Plunkett. But Plankett was very often cold and re- 
 served in manners. He was exceedingly averse to the 
 notion of being indebted to any one for advancement, 
 and kept aloof from those in whose hands lay official 
 patronage. In walking to Court with Baldwin^ he said 
 to me^ I do not think Plunkett will ever get any- 
 thing until I give it himJ^ I treasured up these 
 words^ and we shall see the result. It was hard for 
 such a gentle^ sensitive being as Henry Baldwin, who 
 loved peace and quiet^ and hated publicity of any sort^ 
 especially in print, to be tortured by the demoniacal 
 pen of a merciless satirist; yet he was. Now writing, 
 after a lapse of thirty years, I can recall his inflamed 
 and heated countenance as he read his legal position, 
 person, and capacity, described in a scurrilous pamphlet, 
 published anonymously, and called The Voice of the 
 Bar.''^ Having censured, in most offensive language, 
 all the recent Whig legal appointments — Brady as 
 Chancellor, Monahan as Chief Justice of the Common 
 Pleas, Pigot as Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Hatchel 
 as Attorney- General, Hughes as Solicitor- General, 
 O^Brien, Howley, and Stock as Serjeants, my dear and 
 respected friend is thus described : — 
 
 According to the same system, Mr. Henry 
 Baldwin was selected as Counsel to the Castle, and got 
 his chance of an Attorney -General and Judgeship. He 
 was a small Catholic barrister — a very small one. But 
 Sir Thomas Redington made him Counsel to the 
 Castle, and his appointment was actually made out for 
 
348 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 a Mastership in Chancery^ when 0' Conn ell requested 
 — that is^ commanded — that the place should be given 
 to Mr. Murphy. We are not addicted to praising the 
 great agitator^ but this was one of the best acts of his 
 life. But what a system of promotion it must be when 
 the spectral Mr. Baldwin^ whom we have seen, term 
 after term, flitting around the hall, got permission to 
 glide into three thousand a year at the public ex- 
 pense — a result which the fond caprice of the great 
 demagogue only, prevented. 
 
 This was bad enough, but it was mild in comparison 
 to the next passage, which dwelt upon his slight and 
 delicate personal appearance. The effect upon him 
 was very great, and it took some time before he 
 recovered his natural spirits. The pamphlet was 
 speedily suppressed, and is now very scarce. 
 
 The secret of Junius^s has not been better kept, for 
 he could not make out the author. The late Daniel 
 Owen Madden was suspected, and I endeavoured to 
 learn from himself if he had any share in its compila- 
 tion ; but he called my attention to the terrible scalp- 
 ing of Chief Baron Pigot, who was a personal friend of 
 his own, and he said, This ought to show me he could 
 have had nothing to do with it.^^ 
 
 I left Baldwin just recovering from the annoyance 
 caused by this cruel satire, and went to my country 
 house. Grange, Fermoy, for Christmas, 1850. 
 
 He wrote early in the New Year : — 
 
 7, Rutland Square, 
 
 Mil January, 1851. 
 ^^My dear OTlanagan, — I write to wish you all 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldivin, Q.C. 349 
 
 the compliments of tlie season^ whicli I do with more 
 sincerity than they are generally oflFered. 
 
 " We are in expectation of a stormy session in Par- 
 liament. It is thought^ if the Government are not 
 disturbed before Easter^ they will hold on. Their 
 strength lies in the want of a party to take their 
 places. I wish you had something before they go. 
 
 " I got through my circuit exceedingly well — so well 
 that I have no apprehension of the future ones. I will 
 not go out again until after the 1st of March. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 H. Baldwin.^' 
 
 I went back to Dublin during Hilary Term, and 
 found him in very good health and spirits — better, 
 indeed, than my own. I had been twelve years at 
 the Bar, and had very little practice. Indeed, my 
 most lucrative office was reporting for the Irish Jurist 
 and English Law Times, and this involved heavy 
 labour and close application. I had a supernumerary 
 Crown Prosecutorship on the Munster Circuit, but this 
 was not very remunerative, and uncertain. While 
 thus circumstanced, the death of Mr. James Scott 
 Molloy, Official Assignee of the Insolvent Debtors^ 
 Court, caused a change in the officers, and left a 
 vacancy. Baldwin had the power of appointing one 
 of the officials at a small salary. It was little, but 
 there was a prospect of advancement, and it was a 
 certainty. Knowing how firmly I could reckon upon 
 him to improve my position, I accepted it. I will 
 not leave you there always, O^Flanagan,^^ were his 
 cheery words, as he came to me in the library of the 
 
The Irish Bar, 
 
 Four Courts^ and told me to accompany him to my 
 future office. 
 
 I closed my note-book at once, and went to No. 3^ 
 Lower Ormond Quay, then the Court for Relief of In- 
 solvent Debtors. 
 
 Baldwin gave me in charge to Mr. Kelly, who was 
 my associate in the duties I had to discharge. Mr. 
 John Thomas Lloyd was our Chief Clerk^ an admirable 
 official, and kind, social, hospitable man, exactly after 
 Mr. Baldwin^s own heart. I soon became on most 
 friendly terms with him. There were two Registrars — 
 Mr. Parsons, Registrar to the elder of the two Com- 
 missioners, William Henry Curran, son of the cele- 
 brated John Philpot Curran, Master of the Rolls : the 
 other, Mr. Farrell, Registrar to Mr. Baldwin — both 
 very excellent officials ; but Mr. Farrell had a thorough 
 knowledge of the duties, not only of his immediate 
 office, but of the Court, derived from his having been 
 trained under his father, the late Commissioner. It 
 must have been of considerable advantage to Mr. 
 Baldwin to have had Mr. Farrell for his Registrar, as, 
 of course, there was much in the statutory procedure 
 which Mr. Baldwin^s former experience of Quarter 
 Sessions could not supply. With Mr. Lloyd as Chief 
 Clerk, and Mr. Farrell as Registrar, Mr. Baldwin dis- 
 posed of the business most efficien Jy. His strict prin- 
 ciples of morality, and his high notions of commercial 
 honesty, made him one of the best Commissioners the 
 Court ever possessed. I was, if possible, on more 
 intimate terms with him now than before, and also 
 shared the hospitality of my excellent Chief Clerk, 
 Mr. Lloyd, and my colleague, Mr. Kelly. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin^ Q.C. 351 
 
 But a cliange was near at hand. About the close of 
 the month of Aprils 1853^ after a very few days' illness^ 
 our estimable Chief Clerk died, and the grief of his 
 family was little more intense than that of the officials 
 and practitioners of the Court. Who was to be his 
 successor ? Though the salary attached to the office 
 did not exceed a few hundreds a year, the fees and 
 emoluments were so large that it sometimes almost 
 equaled that of the Commissioner, and was fully worth 
 lOOOZ. per annum. As I knew that Mr. Plunkett^s in- 
 come at the Bar fell considerably short of this, and 
 how very high an opinion Mr. Baldwin entertained of 
 his ability and worth, I resolved that, as far as lay in 
 my power, I would have him for Chief Clerk. 
 
 It was after three o^clock in the afternoon when in- 
 telligence reached the office that Mr. Lloyd had died. 
 I went at once to the Four Courts, hoping to find Mr. 
 Plunkett, but was informed he had left a few minutes 
 before. I hastened along the Quay, and overtook 
 him. 
 
 Plunkett,'^ I said, John Lloyd is dead.'' 
 " Well,'' he replied, m his cold, curt manner, what 
 is that to me ? " 
 
 Everything. I hope you will be his successor. 1 
 am sure Baldwin will offer you the place." 
 
 I would not take it," was his answer. 
 Undeterred by this assurance, I pressed him with 
 an argument which I knew would have great weight — 
 his affection for Mr. Baldwin, and represented how 
 materially he could assist him in the discharge of his 
 judicial duties ; but Plunkett was very proud, and the 
 notion of one of her Majesty's counsel sinking into a 
 
352 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 clerkship — even thougli a Chief Clerkship — galled him. 
 Not over well pleased with my ill-success so far, I 
 called at Mr. Baldwin^s house, No. 7, Rutland Square. 
 
 I found him, as I expected, in great distress. He 
 cordially esteemed his excellent official, he had re- 
 ceived the greatest assistance from him, and was sure 
 to be perplexed as to the appointment of his successor. 
 I never considered I had any chance of the place 
 myself, but others did ; then he had relations at the 
 Bar who would expect the appointment ; the Registrar, 
 Mr. Farrell, though young in years, was old in ex- 
 perience, and fully master of the duties.* These, no 
 doubt, served to disturb his mind. 
 
 What in the world can 1 do now ? he said 
 hopelessly. Who can I get to fill his place ? 
 ril tell you,'' I replied, Plunkett.'' 
 
 He looked at me as if inquiring was I serious. 
 Yes," I said, Plunkett is your man.'' 
 
 " He would not take it," replied Mr. Baldwin. 
 
 I then told him how, conscious that he, the Com- 
 missioner, would prefer him to any other, I had already 
 spoken to Plunkett on the subject, and pressed him to 
 consider the matter. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin thanked me most warmly for my fore- 
 thought, as he would have hesitated, knowing 
 Plunkett's haughty airs, to make him the offer ; but, as 
 I had broken the ice, there was no difficulty. Suffice it 
 to say, ere many days elapsed, James Plunkett, Q.C., 
 was gazetted as Chief Clerk of our Court. 
 
 But despite the satisfaction experienced by having 
 
 ■ This gentleman has since ablj filled the office. 
 
Memoir of Henry BaldwiUy Q. C. 
 
 353 
 
 a Chief Clerk on wlioni lie safely relied^ and the entire 
 considerable patronage of the Court — for^ on the death 
 of Mr. Commissioner Curran^ Mr. Baldwin was the 
 sole Commissioner — I saw, with sorrow, he was not 
 what he formerly was. The nature of his duties, 
 either unmasking fraud, punishing extravagance, or in- 
 vestigating the petty shifts with which poverty seeks 
 to hide its head, chafed his temper, and he grew very 
 irritable. .Some of his own personal friends came 
 before him to get the benefit of the Act (to be white- 
 washed, as it was termed), and his very sensitive 
 nature felt for them. Occasional gleams of his old 
 humour would break out from his troubled mind; 
 for instance, at a Lord Mayor^s banquet an oflficial, 
 who had on several occasions passed through the In- 
 solvent Debtors^ Court, was honoured with a seat at 
 the Viceregal table. This roused the ire of Mr. Macan, 
 Q.C., one of the Commissioners of the Bankrupt Court, 
 who, addressing Mr. Baldwin, said, — 
 
 Is it not too bad that man should be called up 
 before us ? 
 
 I suppose you feel surprised,^^ replied Baldwin 
 '^his now being called up before you, but he has often 
 been called up before me,'' 
 
 In the spring of 1854 Mr. Baldwin became the pro- 
 prietor of a handsome country seat he long desired to 
 possess — Kilmarnock, at Ballybrack. He was very 
 fond of the country and of fishing, and the proximity 
 of Ballybrack to the sea enabled him to enjoy his 
 favourite pastime. The house required a great deal of 
 repair, and the grounds had been much neglected ; 
 but, with taste and ample means, these were soon 
 
 A a 
 
354 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 rectified. His family went from their town house, 
 1 , Rutland Square, to occupy Kilmarnock, on the 
 29th April, 1854, and were not slow in inviting 
 their friends to visit their newly-acquired country 
 house. My diary for this period supplies the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 nil May, 1854. — The Closes ^ called to accompany 
 me to Kingstown en route for Kilmarnock. The rain 
 fell nearly all the way, but cleared when we reached 
 Kingstown. Here we got on an outside car, and drove 
 over the hills to Ballybrack. Had a most hearty 
 greeting from our kind friends at Kilmarnock. The 
 house is extremely comfortable,^ and nearly finished ; 
 the grounds getting into good order. The day was 
 showery, but it was delicious to go down to the beach 
 and see the waves rolling upon the shingly shore, 
 breaking into foam, and rushing back into the great 
 ocean, to gather strength for a fresh onset. Miss B., 
 Miss H., the juveniles, and I took a long ramble by 
 the sea, and reached the bathing-house just as the 
 clouds were melting into heavy rain. We got shelter, 
 and were very snug during the rain, while B., Mrs. B., 
 and their youngest daughter were under it. On join- 
 ing our party at the house, we found our numbers 
 increased by Henry Kussell, James Plunkett, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Harold, P.P. of Ballybrack — the last a very 
 gentlemanly, fine-looking clergyman. He said he 
 ^ would have his chapel at Ballybrack quite in the 
 mediaDval style. 
 
 ^ Sons of James S. Close, Q.C. 
 
 1 At Mr. Baldwin's death it became the property of Judge 
 FitzGerald, who added to the house and grounds. 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin, Q,C. 
 
 355 
 
 " ^ Oh, that^s quite to my taste/ I said. ^ I like 
 antiquities/ 
 
 This amused Plunkett^ who called out^ ^ O^Flanagan 
 as you like antiquities^ allow me to ask if you like old 
 women ? ^ 
 
 ^ Yes^ certainly/ 1 replied^ ^ if they are picturesque/ 
 
 My rejoinder caused a laugh. 
 " ^ Describe what you mean by a picturesque old 
 woman/ asked Henry Russell. 
 
 While I was considering how to reply^ Baldwin 
 came to my help. ^ He very cleverly answered one 
 question/ he said, ^ so you need not answer the other.^ 
 I thought Baldwin appeared pretty well. We had 
 a great deal of delicious music. I slept at the house. 
 The rest of our guests returned to town. 
 
 8tli, — Up at seven o^clock, and out. How I love the 
 glorious country — the God-made country ! Birds were 
 singing, bees humming, fruit-trees blossoming, corn 
 growing. I had my old comrade Drake ' with me, and 
 we rambled to the resounding shore, where I gave him 
 a dip, and then by leafy hedge-rows and fields, and in 
 the garden until breakfast. Drove to Kingstown on 
 my return.''^ 
 
 I have been thus particular in my account of this 
 happy day at Kilmarnock, for it was my first, and, 
 alas ! my last. The end was at hand. On the Wed- 
 nesday following, Baldwin was presiding in court, and 
 not in a very placid temper. Indeed, his temper had 
 been very uncertain for some months, and often, very 
 often, I was deeply pained by hearing him abused as 
 
 - A most sagacious spaniel. 
 A a 2 
 
356 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 morose and tyrannical. On that day^ as lie was passing 
 the office door^ I hurried into the passage to shake 
 hands J and he looked painfully ill and excited. On 
 Saturday^ 20th^ he was reported alarmingly ill. He had 
 a paralytic attack^ and fainted twice. Unfortunately Sir 
 Dominick Corrigan^ in whose skill he had (as all 
 
 his patients have) entire confidence^ was from home ; 
 and though the eminent Dr. O^Reilly was promptly in 
 attendance^ the symptoms were very deplorable. Next 
 day I went to Kilmarnock. Several of his friends 
 were in the drawing-room. His brother-in-law told 
 me he had just seen him^ and his voice was restored ; 
 but, after conversing rationally for a little time, he 
 would forget the subject of conversation. While he 
 was conscious, on that Sunday, his friend Archdeacon 
 Hamilton administered the Sacrament of Extreme 
 Unction, so that, in the comforting words of our Church, 
 ^^he was prepared for death.^^ Next day (Monday) 
 Plunkett sat with him until late, and he felt so much 
 better that, when Plunkett was about to depart, the 
 invalid said, Well, Plunkett, I will say to you now 
 what I could not have proposed to say to you before, I 
 will see you to-morrow,'' 
 
 Plunkett declared these words caused much misgiving 
 to arise in his mind, and he feared the promise would 
 not be fulfilled. It appears also that Mr. Baldwin 
 alluded to me, and expressed his deep regret I was not 
 holding a better office. Plunkett returned to his house 
 in Mountjoy Square, but was not there above an hour 
 when recalled by a message that his friend was dying. 
 The poor suff'erer had repeated fits of epilepsy, but 
 retained life until Wednesday, 24th May, when he 
 
Memoir of Henry Baldwin y Q,C. 357 
 
 died. Archdeacon Hamilton^ wlio was by his bedside^ 
 said^ He died as he lived — a gentle gentleman/^ On the 
 28th I accompanied his two most beloved friends, the 
 late James Plunkett, and the present respected 
 
 M.P. for King^s County, Mr. Serjeant Sherlock, to his 
 funeral. It was one of the largest and most respectably 
 attended I ever witnessed. The legal profession was 
 represented, not merely by the carriages, but the Lord 
 Chancellor and judges were present. The Queen^s 
 Counsel and outer Bar, the solicitors, the Lord Mayor, 
 Sir Edward McDonnell, the mercantile community, 
 and priests and people — all testified how much they 
 lamented this just judge and virtuous gentleman. He 
 is buried in the vaults of Marlborough Street Cathe- 
 dral ; and I may truly say, as his friendship formed the 
 happiness, so his death caused the deepest sorrow I 
 have yet felt in my life. 
 
358 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 LEGAL EXPERIENCES OF A LIMERICK BANKER. 
 
 Irisli Assize Courts. — The Dock. — The Lawyers' Literature. — An 
 Action for Slander. — An unhappy quotation. — A grave witness. 
 — Harry Deane Grady. — Speech for the Defendant. — The 
 Jury's estimate of the Plaintiff's character. — An unpopular 
 High Sheriff. — Crooked Paddy. — Agrarian Murder. — Con- 
 viction of three murderers. — The extorted fee. — The biter 
 bit. — The Nosegay. — The Limerick Banker. — Extracts from 
 the Satire. — An Action for Libel. — Damages 500Z. 
 
 Few places afford a richer field for observation to the 
 student of our humau nature than our Irish Assize 
 Courts. From the presiding judges to the meanest 
 prisoner in the dock^ the inquisitive spectator can 
 analyze and remark the various tempers^ dispositions, 
 characters, modes of action, manner, and qualities of 
 his fellow-men. It has been my habit, during the years 
 I went circuit, to note such peculiarities of individuals 
 — any circumstances, either connected with the cases 
 which came before the Court, or the parties thereto, 
 as appeared to possess more than ordinary interest. 
 My revelations I now offer. That a good^idea may be 
 formed of the interior of an Irish Assize Court, while 
 the Judge is trying prisoners, I shall borrow a 
 description from the note-book of a late Queen^s 
 Counsel : ^ — 
 
 1 Richard Lalor Shiel, Q.C. 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker, 359 
 
 From the character of the crimes to be tried^ as 
 appearing on the calendar^ I expected to find in the 
 dock a collection of the most villanous faces in the 
 community. It was the very reverse. I would even 
 say that^ as a general rule, the weightier the charge, 
 the better the physiognomy and more prepossessing 
 the appearance of the accused. An ignoble misde- 
 meanant, or sneaking petty larcenist, may look his 
 offence pretty accurately ; but let the charge amount 
 to a good transportable or capital felony, and ten to 
 one but the prisoner will exhibit a set of features from 
 which a committee of craniologists would never infer a 
 propensity to crime. In fact, an Irish dock, especially 
 after a brisk insurrectionary winter, aflTords some of the 
 choicest samples of the peasantry of the country; fine, 
 hardy, muscular, healthy-looking beings, with rather a 
 dash of riot about the eyes, perhaps, but with honest, 
 open, manly countenances, and sustaining themselves 
 with native courage amid the dangers which beset 
 them, and many of them are, in fact, either as guiltless 
 as they appear to be, or their crimes have been com- 
 mitted under circumstances of excitation, which, in 
 their own eyes at least, excuse the enormity.''^ 
 
 Besides the accused in the dock, the witnesses on the 
 part of the prosecution, often eager in their hot pursuit 
 after justice, policemen thirsting for convictions, or 
 parties smarting under the pain of bodily injury, or the 
 deprivation of property, or those appearing for the 
 defence, are subjects for study. These latter may be 
 relatives of the accused, anxious for his restoration to 
 liberty and fair fame by the verdict of Not Guilty ; " 
 they may be conspiring to obtain his release from the 
 
36o 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 dock by a pretended alibi^ and in their turn demand 
 the attention of the keen investigator. Then the ac- 
 quirements of the professional advocates on both sides^ 
 their mode of conducting their cases^ of shaping their 
 questions when examining or cross-examining, their 
 tact and legal knowledge when addressing the Court 
 on points of law, or the jury on matters of fact, often 
 prove a source of interest to the spectator. The con- 
 duct of the learned Judge, sometimes patient and 
 reticent, sometimes hasty and garrulous, dull and dig- 
 nified, quick and ungraceful, learned and pedantic, 
 ignorant yet arrogant^ forms not the least prominent 
 figure in the picture. The interest created in the 
 civil trials often equals, sometimes exceeds, that of the 
 criminal. Many of them disclose extraordinary events, 
 and display more romance than is found in many works 
 of fiction. A writer in the Law Magazine says,^ If 
 our grave reporters of law cases would adopt a course 
 intermediate between the loose, hurried, and inaccurate 
 reports of the newspaper, and the very grave and very 
 dry professional reports, and with as much practical, 
 living interest as the case admits of, our people would 
 welcome their work and read them.^^ 
 
 The writer of the article suggests that such a work 
 should be executed by a man of taste and discretion, 
 dealing with delicate matters with a careful hand, and 
 drawing out to view the inferences that may be of 
 service in the conduct of life, impressing on everybody 
 the impossibility of shirking responsibility by any 
 
 ^ Yide article on " Lawyers' Literature," Law Magazine^ 
 August, 1858. 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker, 361 
 
 other means than the due exertion of prudence at the 
 right time^ which is usually a long while before we 
 suffer the consequences^ often as severe as they are 
 certain/^ 
 
 Whether I fulfil the ideas of the writer respecting 
 taste and discretion, these pages will tell. In my 
 sketches of judges and counsel, I have, I trust, to deal 
 delicately and carefully, yet truthfully; and in my 
 accounts of the trials, whether civil or criminal, I 
 have selected such as might serve as guides in future 
 times of peril, or assist in the due regulation of our 
 conduct. 
 
 BEUCE V, FREWEN. 
 
 An action for slander was tried in the city of 
 Limerick, in the year 1790, which excited no small 
 degree of public interest. The plaintiff, Mr. George 
 Evans Bruce, was a man whom public rumour branded 
 with crimes of deep enormity. He was said to have 
 amassed a large fortune by cheating at cards ; that he 
 had been expelled from society in London, and, having 
 purchased property in the neighbourhood of the city 
 of Limerick^ when enclosing his ground, included along 
 with it an angle which his next neighbour, Mr. Frewen, 
 claimed as belonging to him. This was denied by Mr. 
 Bruce, and, in the heat of assertion on the one part, 
 and denial on the other, Mr. Frewen called Mr. Bruce 
 a rebel, a whiteboy, a blackleg, a swindler, and a 
 knave.^^ These words being considered defamatory, 
 Mr. Bruce took legal proceedings, and the result was 
 a trial in Limerick, when the damages were laid at five 
 thousand pounds. The plaintiff, Mr. Bruce, retained 
 as his counsel Mr. Preston and Mr. Keller, one of the 
 
362 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 famous wits of tlie Manster Bar. For tlie defendant 
 appeared Mr. Hacket, Mr. William Lloyd, Mr. Harry 
 Deane Grady, and Mr. Thomas Grady. Mr. Preston, 
 the leading counsel for the plaintiff, stated the case 
 for his client with considerable ability. He dwelt, 
 with much stress, upon the injury inflicted upon his 
 client by the defamatory words used by the defendant, 
 and quoted the familiar lines from Shakespeare, — 
 
 " Whoso steals my purse steals trash, 
 But he that filches from me good name " — 
 
 whereon every eye was riveted upon the ill-reputed 
 plaintiff, and shouts of laughter rose on every side. The 
 mirth was so continuous, so violent, and renewed again 
 and again, that the learned counsel was compelled to 
 sit down in silence, unable to finish the quotation 
 until the order of " Keep silence ! which the Judge 
 and crier pronounced, was observed. 
 
 When Mr. Preston was allowed to resume his ad- 
 dress, he continued to urge the injury which would 
 necessarily accrue to the country by conduct like that 
 of the defendant, which would cause the departure of 
 a gentleman who had introduced into it wealth almost 
 immeasurable. Now, as Mr. Bruce was believed to be 
 amassing large gains by lending, at usurious interest, 
 to needy borrowers, this was almost as unlucky a hit 
 • as the previous quotation. Sighs and groans now took 
 the place of laughter from the occupants of every spot 
 in Court, and it was not until Jerry Keller, by some 
 quaint drollery, restored the cause of the plaintiff, that 
 he seemed to have any chance of a verdict. Two 
 witnesses were called for the plaintiff. They proved 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker, 363 
 
 having heard the altercation between the plaintiff and 
 Mr. Frewen, when Mr. Frewen called the plaintiff 
 ^*'a rebels a whiteboy^ a blackleg, a knave, and a 
 swindler.''^ When the examination on the direct of 
 these witnesses ceased, Harry Deane Grady, though 
 only two years called to the Bar, was directed by the 
 senior counsel for the defendant, Mr. Hacket, to cross- 
 examine the plaintiff^s witnesses. 
 
 This young advocate had already displayed such 
 pre-eminence in this necessary department of profes- 
 sional skill as to give promise of that future success 
 which built up his forensic reputation. 
 
 The first witness for the plaintiff was a sharp -looking 
 lad. He was a labourer in the plaintiff^s employment. 
 He was dressed in a green jacket, which gave Harry 
 his cue, so he commenced, — 
 
 " Pray, my bit of evergTeen, in what capacity do 
 you serve Mr. Bruce ? 
 
 I have care of his sheep,^^ was the reply. 
 
 " Why, you look more like his sportsman than his 
 shepherd. Don't you look after his pigeons ? 
 
 This so confounded the witness, he told, without 
 delay, everything Harry Deane Grady sought to learn, 
 as also did the second witness ; and Harry, by his 
 rapid fire of cross-examination, his droll remarks 
 upon the dress and appearance of the witnesses, and 
 comments on their answers, turned the tide of feeling 
 strongly in favour of the defendant. Mr. Hacket then 
 addressed the jury for Mr. Frewen. He did it admi- 
 rably. The formal words of the declaration, in which 
 the pleader describes the plaintiff as being of good 
 name, fame, and reputation, the defendant's counsel. 
 
364 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 witli imperturbable gravity^ affected to consider as 
 a material and substantial part of tlie plaintiff^s case. 
 Addressing the jury^ he said^ ^^When this brief was 
 put into my hands, gentlemen, I thought it was all a 
 mistake — that the plaintiff was preparing for the other 
 world rather than for a Court of Justice, and that this 
 laboured panegyric upon himself was his epitaph, and 
 not his declaration. As an epitaph it is an able pro- 
 duction, but how far, in a Court of J ustice, it will bear 
 the test of investigation, I am a stranger and cannot 
 tell; but you are a special jury of the County of 
 Limerick, and must decide.'"^ 
 
 When Mr. Hacket finished his speech, the de- 
 fendant's counsel called a few witnesses, after which 
 Mr. Lloyd made a most powerful address on behalf of 
 the defendant. Counsel for the plaintiff having replied, 
 the Judge charged briefly. He left the case to the 
 jury, who, without leaving their box, found their ver- 
 dict : For the plaintiff, sixpence damages."'' 
 
 The defendant, who was sitting at the table directly 
 opposite to the plaintiff, gravely handed him a shilling, 
 and said, Take the worth of your character out of 
 thaty and give me the change,^' Tremendous cheering 
 followed the announcement of the verdict both in and 
 out of court. The jury were loudly complimented, and 
 the populace tried to get hold of Messrs. Hacket and 
 Lloyd to chair them, but these gentlemen avoided the 
 compliment, and got quietly to their lodgings. 
 
 THE BITER BIT. 
 
 In the first year of the present century the office of 
 High Sheriff of Limerick County was filled by the 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker, 365 
 
 plaintiff in the case, just related, Mr. George Evans 
 Bruce. He had been of some service to the potent 
 Lord Chancellor of Ireland at that period, Fitzgibbon, 
 Earl of Clare, and, despite the reluctance of the County 
 Limerick magnates to associate with or acknowledge 
 Mr. Bruce as of their order, such was the influence 
 of the Lord Chancellor that he appointed Mr. Bruce 
 a county magistrate. In order to testify their dislike 
 to this Justice of the peace, when he appeared on the 
 Petty Sessions Bench, the other magistrates in a body 
 retired, and left him. But Mr. Bruce was not one of 
 your thin-skinned gentry. He had vast riches. How 
 he came by his wealth was darkly surmised, but, gotten 
 fair or foul, he had the money. He became a banker 
 in Limerick, and paid five thousand pounds for two hun- 
 dred acres of land, situated on the banks of the Shannon, 
 near the picturesque falls of Donass. Here he built a 
 stately mansion, subsequently bought by Lord Massy 
 for twenty thousand pounds. 
 
 Mr. Bruce, as already mentioned, was not a popular 
 man. He had, it was reported, connived at, if not 
 encouraged, the progress of disaffection towards the 
 British Government during the Rebellion in 1798, then 
 betrayed the unfortunate insurgents, and thus got 
 credit with Lord Clare and the Irish Government to 
 further his ambitious prospects. This led, as I have 
 stated, first to his being appointed a magistrate, and 
 next High Sheriff of Limerick County But, unpopular 
 as the High Sheriff was, another individual was still 
 more so ; this was Paudeen Bocaugh (crooked Paddy), 
 alias Canty the Hangman. He was the executioner 
 of the extreme penalty of the law upon the prisoners 
 
366 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 capitally convicted at the Limerick Assizes. Paudeen 
 Canty was as ill-looking a sample of humanity as eyes 
 could see. His face was almost hideous in its expres- 
 sion j his eyes glared like those of a wild beast beneath 
 their shaggy brows ; his nose was small^ and a tinge 
 of red denoted Paudeen^s love for stronger liquor than 
 Adam^s ale^ while his huge mouth, over which a broad 
 grin usually lurked, gave a ferocious finish to his 
 countenance. His figure was misshapen, whence he 
 obtained the Irish soubriquet of Bocaugh or crooked — 
 one shoulder being more elevated than the other, while 
 the lower extremities were also out of gear, one leg 
 being shorter than the other. This necessarily caused 
 him to limp when he walked. 
 
 It happened, during Mr. Bruce^s year of office as 
 sheriff, that one of those fearful crimes which show the 
 unfortunate relationship too often existing between 
 landlord and tenant in Ireland, reddened the soil. A 
 landlord, Mr. Going, desired to get rid of some turbulent 
 tenants who were ready to fight or attend races, hurhng 
 matches, wakes, weddings, fairs, or funerals, but were 
 by no means so ready to cultivate their farms or pay 
 rent, and, therefore, were considerably in arrears. He 
 served notice to quit as a preliminary to bringing an 
 ejectment. While' walking in his demesne at two 
 o^clock on a fine frosty day in January, he was assailed 
 by four ruffians, armed with heavy sticks, and beaten 
 while life remained. When he was killed, the 
 murderers departed. His poor young wife was the 
 first to come to the fatal spot. The sight she wit- 
 nessed thus suddenly deprived her of reason, and she 
 was removed to a lunatic asylum. The hue and cry 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Bmiker, 367 
 
 was quickly raised^ and four men^ upon whom tlie 
 murdered landlord had served notice to quit^ were 
 arrested under circumstances of grave suspicion. 
 They had been heard exulting that their land would 
 not be taken from them by their hard-hearted tyrant 
 landlord that he was done for and heavy sticks^ 
 with the appearance of blood upon them^ were found 
 concealed in the thatch of their houses. The magis- 
 trates met^ a large reward was offered by the county 
 gentlemen for the discovery of the murderers^ which 
 was supplemented by the Government^ and amounted 
 altogether to five hundred pounds. This caused one 
 of the gang to turn informer, and upon his evidence, 
 strongly corroborated, three men were tried at the 
 Limerick Spring Assizes in 1800 for the wilful murder 
 of their landlord. They were found guilty, and sen- 
 tenced to be hung on a gibbet not far from the very 
 spot whereon they committed the terrible deed. 
 
 As Mr. Going, the landlord, had been murdered 
 within the precincts of his demesne, almost within view 
 of his dwelling, it was not deemed proper to execute 
 the convicts so close to the family seat, but a cross 
 where four roads met within half a mile of the demesne 
 was the place where the gibbets were erected. Sen- 
 tence was pronounced at the Spring Assizes held in 
 Limerick in February, 1800, and the 1st of March was 
 the day fixed for carrying out the dread sentence of the 
 law. The morning dawned with torrents of rain, but, 
 as the day wore on, the rain diminished to a thick drizzle, 
 which veiled Nature in a dense mist. A low, moaning 
 wind stole over the expanse of Shannon^s sheeted 
 fiood,^^ and swept in gusts through the streets and 
 
368 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 lanes of tlie city. Unpleasant as the day was^ it did 
 not prevent a vast concourse of the citizens collecting 
 in the neighbourhood of the county gaol to witness 
 the departure of the doomed men. The conversation 
 of the expectant crowds as we may suppose^ was not 
 very lively, and their remarks upon the character of 
 the hangman was the reverse of complimentary to that 
 functionary. 
 
 Pity the brave gossoons ^ have to die a dog^s death 
 said one of the crowd. Bad luck to the vagibone 
 that ties their cravats V' said another. Here they 
 come, boys ! A groan for the Sheriff V' — and a low 
 growl of antipathy was increased in sound, and, swelling 
 into a hoarse roar like the breaking of multitudinous 
 waves upon a rocky shore, marked the hostility of the 
 crowd to the High Sheriff of the county, Mr. Bruce. 
 
 The procession advanced,, and soon a fresh object of 
 popular dislike engaged the attention of the fickle mob. 
 
 A groan for Paudeen Bocaugh directed attention to 
 the hangman, who was perched, somewhat ostenta- 
 tiously, on the front of a long cart, in which the three men 
 about to be executed were seated. He scowled angrily 
 as groans and yells from the excited mob reached his 
 ears, and raising his hand as if to ward off the curses and 
 occasional missiles hurled against him, he muttered 
 
 how glad he^d be to have these boys under his hand« 
 on the gallows.^^ The cortege crossed the city, and soon 
 reached the open country. The day seemed inclined 
 to brighten, and an occasional rent in the cloudy sky 
 allowed a gleam of sunshine to pierce the gloom. As the 
 
 3 Boys. 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker, 369 
 
 procession drew near the cross-roads^ a vast crowd was 
 observed to have assembled there^ while high over the 
 dark mass of human beings three gibbets rose omi- 
 nously into the air. 
 
 It required the presence of a captain^s strong guard 
 of infantry to clear the space necessary for the sad 
 preparations which were needed by the hangman to 
 launch three human beings into eternity. Ere that 
 sharp-witted functionary set to work^ he held the fol- 
 lowing dialogue with the High Sheriff : — 
 
 Yer honer^^^ said Paudeen, what is you to give 
 me for dis job ? 
 
 Your usual allowance — five pounds for each con- 
 vict/^ replied the Sheriff. 
 
 I won"'t take less than tin/^ said the hangman 
 sturdily. 
 
 Then you won^t get it/^ was the prompt answer. 
 ''^Then you^ll have to hang the boys yourself^ 
 Sheriff darlint/' urged the insolent hangman with 
 a sneer. 
 
 Mr. Bruce winced. He was quite unpopular enough 
 already, and had no desire to be an amateur hangman. 
 
 1^11 commit you if you do not do your duty,^^ he 
 said sternly. 
 
 Well, do, and see what good that will do you/^ 
 observed the determined Paudeen. *^ But what^s tin 
 pounds to you ? By all accounts, you^re as rich as 
 Crasis.''^ 
 
 While this discussion was going on, the clouds 
 increased in bigness and blackness, and rain recom- 
 menced falling with that steady persistence that 
 denoted it had made up its mind to persevere. Mr. 
 
 B b 
 
370 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Bruce looked at his watcli^ and noted the hour for the 
 execution of the convicts was at hand. 
 
 Come^ Paddy/^ he said^ in a tone meant to be 
 coaxings say twenty pounds for the three and go to 
 work at once/^ 
 
 Not a rap — not a penny under thirty pounds^ 
 ariguith cMse/'"^ was the dogged answer. 
 
 ^^I suppose I must agree/^ cried the Sheriff in a 
 tone of mortification ; ^^biit you must trust me until I 
 get back^ as I have not the money with me.^^ 
 
 rd trust ye no farder than I could throw ye^ and 
 that^s not far/^ said the hangman. Trust you indeed 
 — not I! Maybe the ofl&cer there would lend ye the 
 three tins.^^ 
 
 The angry Sheriff went to the officer^ and he, 
 luckily, was able to hand out three ten-pound notes, 
 which Paudeen clutched eagerly. He then leaped 
 from the car, and, taking the unhappy culprits in turn, 
 adjusted the fatal noose. Having, by means of the 
 cart, placed each on their respective gibbet, when 
 the cart was withdrawn, the unhappy men expiated 
 their crime upon the gallows. The effect on the 
 immense crowd was solemn. The peasants knelt and 
 prayed silently. Having done so, dark looks from 
 many boded ill to the official whose hands had deprived 
 these men of life. Paudeen hoped to escape further 
 notice by crouching low down in the now empty cart, 
 around which the guard had formed, anxious for the 
 order to march back, and thus to get out of the rain. 
 Before they left the spot, the High Sheriff called aloud 
 to Paudeen, — 
 
 ^ " Money down." 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker, 37 1 
 
 " Leave that cai% you rascal ! 
 
 Paudeen^ as though uncertain who was addressed^ 
 remained where he was. 
 
 Turn that scoundrel out of your cart ! said 
 Mr. Bruce to the driver. 
 
 The driver approached to obey the Sheriff, when 
 Paudeen called out^ — 
 
 Oh^ Mr. Bruce ! shure betther go back as I 
 cum, or maybe de boys would hurt me."*^ 
 
 ^''You must take your chance of that '/^ cried the 
 Sheriff. Come out with you this instant, or you^ll 
 be thrown out ! 
 
 Oh, your honour, you would not have the heart to 
 do it ! cried the terrified hangman, observing the 
 angry looks of the enraged crowd. 
 
 What ! are you afraid ? said Mr. Bruce. Unless 
 you pay for your seat in my cart, out you go this 
 moment ! 
 
 I^m willin^ to pay your driver anything in raysin,^^ 
 cried the half- maddened hangman. 
 
 Not so,^'' replied the Sheriff. I pay my driver ; 
 you WALst pay me ! 
 
 So I will, your honour. How much ? 
 ^' Thirty pounds ! — not a rap, not a penny less,^'' 
 said the Sheriff, now in his turn master of the 
 situation. 
 
 Oh, you^'e joking ! Shure that^s all I have to 
 depend on. Say five pounds an^ Pll pay it.^^ 
 
 Not a rap, not a penny,^^ persisted the Sheriff, who 
 paid off the hangman in his own coin. While Paudeen 
 was hesitating, a blow of a cudgel fell heavily upon 
 Paudeen^s head and settled the matter. The unhappy 
 
 B b 2 
 
372 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 hangman felt lie would never return alive if deprived 
 of the protection of the escort. He therefore returned 
 Mr. Bruce the three ten-pound notes^ and Mr. Bruce, 
 having gained his pointy directed the escort to close up, 
 and, thus protected, the hangman reached Limerick — 
 the biter bit. 
 
 "the nosegay'^ trial. 
 Before leaving Mr. Bruce, I will relate another case in 
 which he was concerned as plaintiff, and in which Mr. 
 Grady, the junior counsel for Mr. Frewen in the 
 action first stated, figured as the defendant. I also 
 gave an account of his speech at the Bar meeting in 
 1798. This gentleman, Thomas Grady, was near- 
 sighted, and called " Spectacle Grady to distinguish 
 him from other barristers bearing the same name. He 
 was possessed of considerable abilities, but with an 
 unfortunate propensity for satirical verse. His anti- 
 pathy, once roused, never slept until it was satiated ; 
 and it was supposed some refusal on the part of Mr. 
 Bruce to accommodate Mr. Grady by the use of money 
 from his bank led to the composition of " The Nosegay 
 — one of the most ferocious satires ever penned. From 
 the previous account of Mr. Bruce in my pages, some 
 idea of his character may be formed. It was related 
 that, while playing a game called Quinze at a London 
 club, with the celebrated statesman and desperate 
 gambler, Charles James Fox, in which the latter lost 
 heavily, he suspected cheating, and, believing the out- 
 spread hand of Mr. Bruce covered a substituted five, 
 exclaimed, ^* For a thousand guineas the five of clubs 
 is under that hand — at the same time, snatching a fork 
 from the supper-table, he drove the prongs through the 
 
Legal Experie7ices of a Limerick Banker, 373 
 
 hand^ effectuaHy preventing its withdrawal. The sur- 
 mise was correct. The five of clubs was under the 
 hand^ and the cheater ignominiously expelled the 
 club. Such was the popular story, but, as neither of 
 Mr. Bruce^s hands bore any trace of the perforation, 
 it was at least apocryphal. 
 
 The satire, which afforded grounds for the action for 
 libel, opens with the supposed trial of the banker for 
 various crimes, and the strength of the satire can be 
 imagined from the following extracts ; — 
 
 " Come, , for tardy Justice takes her seat, 
 
 Convicted usurer — convicted cheat ; 
 In every mischief, aider or abettor — 
 Self-vaunted infidel and tampering traitor ! 
 In daring prime, in principles unbuckled, 
 Beluctant subject — voluntary cuckold." 
 
 * # # # * 
 
 See round the Court, of youths debauched, a group, 
 Who sucked thy poisons while they supp'd thy soup ; 
 Who haunt thy dinners, emulous to share 
 Thy half-digested extracts from Yoltaire ; 
 Whose finer taste thy sense could never hit, 
 Which caught th' impiety, but not the wit. 
 Dinners, where mischief's never at a stand, 
 Atheist and sharper joining hand in hand, 
 Blest from combining to engulf the whole. 
 To sink the property and damn the soul." 
 
 Having continued in this strain, the poem thus refers 
 to Mr. Bruce^s charges for the loan of money : — 
 
 ** See on one side some minors, ruin'd boys. 
 Whose lands you mortgaged to sustain their joys ; 
 Who pay for nights in these sad vigils spenb, 
 A mild retributive of cent, per cent." 
 
374 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 The reference to tlie before-mentioned incident 
 while playing at quinze with 0. J. Fox is thus forcibly 
 stated : — 
 
 " But see aloft, and near the Sheriff's box, 
 
 The black-brow'd spectre of poor Charles Fox ; 
 
 See, with one hand his angry eyes he rubs. 
 
 And in the other holds the Five of Clubs ! 
 
 Some fools assert plurality of wives. 
 
 Thy doctrine was ^plurality of fives ; 
 
 And by this doctrine, heterodox and rank, 
 
 You built a palace, and you stock'd a bank ; 
 
 But sold the palace, where no neighbour came, 
 
 Mark'd while you lived there — Mansion of ill-fame." 
 
 This statement about selling his house on the banks 
 of the Shannon was true. He paid about five thousand 
 pounds to Mr. W aller for the ground, expended at 
 least ten thousand in building a fine mansion, with 
 suitable offices and pleasure-grounds^ which he sold to 
 Lord Massy for 20,000Z. 
 
 The terrible satire goes through many episodes of 
 the banker^s career — some not fit for our pages. We 
 must be content with the following lines near the end 
 of The Nosegay.'' 
 
 Yet in the dark and dreadful midnight hour, 
 
 God ! this caitiff owns Thy sovereign power. 
 It happen'd once, by some unlucky doom, 
 
 1 lay, not slept, in his adjoining room ; 
 'Twas then I witness'd of his soul the pangs, 
 The stripes of conscience, and of guilt the fangs ; 
 Scared by fierce visions from bis feverish rest. 
 He saw ten thousand daggers at his breast. 
 
 * Murder, ye villain ! murder ! ' he exclaimed, 
 And of his many victims some he named; 
 
Legal Experiences of a Limerick Banker. 375 
 
 Now seem'd the pistol's menace to evade, 
 And parried now the visionary blade : 
 Now the most hellish imprecations utter' d — 
 Now, half-suppress'd, the litany he nmtter'd ; 
 And now, confounding blessed spirits with evil. 
 Invoked by tnrns the Saviour and the devil. 
 Thus pass his nights, which fear and fury spare— 
 A sad melange of blasphemy and prayer." 
 
 This scatliing satire was at once attributed to 
 Thomas Grady^ and an action for libel commenced. 
 The damages claimed by Mr. Bruce were twenty 
 thousand pounds^ and an able Bar was retained on 
 both sides. 
 
 The case was tried by a special jury of the County 
 of Limerick in 1816^ and O^Connell — who was one of 
 the counsel for the defendant — made a most powerful 
 speech^ reiterating the chief accusations which were 
 contained in the satire. After the case had closed^ and 
 the jury retired^ there was considerable speculation as 
 to the verdict^ and some disappointment expressed 
 when they awarded the plaintiff damages 500L 
 
 This sum the defendant resolutely refused to pay. 
 He possessed some property in the neighbourhood of 
 Limerick, sufficient to support him in exile, and he 
 went to Brussels, where he remained during the re- 
 mainder of his life. He was the author of many 
 poems^ but none made so much noise as ^^The Nose- 
 gay.'' 
 
376 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 CHAPTER XXYIII. 
 
 CIRCUIT EECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 Called to the Bar in 1838. — The Munster Circuit. — Leaders and 
 Juniors. — Literary Cork men. — Circuit Companions. — George 
 Bennett, Q.C. — Death in 1856. — Serjeant Jackson, M.P. — 
 Strong political and religious feelings. — Much esteemed on 
 circuit. — Member for Bandon. — Called to the Bar in 1808. — A 
 Judge of the Common Pleas. — Death in 1857. — Right Hon. 
 D. R. Pigot. — Success at the Bar. — Member for Clonmel. — 
 Chief Baron in 1846. — A dilatory Judge. — Death in 1873. — 
 Stephen Collins, Q.C. — Early promise. — The Chitty of the 
 Irish Bar. — His great ability. — Collins and Henn, Q.C. — 
 Collins and Judge Torrens. — An unreported speech. — Early 
 death. 
 
 I WAS called to the Irish Bar in Easter Term^ 1838, 
 and went the Summer Assizes on the Munster Circuit 
 of that year. The traditions of the circuit were re- 
 nowned and historical. It had long been famous. 
 Here^ in former days^ went Hussey Burgh^ Barry 
 Yelverton^ John FitzGibbon^ and Curran. Hither^ in 
 later years^ practised Charles Barton^ Richard Penne- 
 father, Quin, Woulfe^ Waggett^ Goolde^ O^Loghlen, 
 and O^Connell, and now the places of these eminent 
 lawyers were filled by George Bennett, Q.C, Serjeant 
 Jackson, Q.C, Jonathan Henn, Q.C, Stephen Collins, 
 Q.C, and David R. Pigot, Q.C, among the seniors, 
 while, of the juniors, James O^Brien, Boyle Keller, 
 
Circuit Recollections, 
 
 377 
 
 Jeremiah J. Murphy^ and Ricliard Lane^ had great prac- 
 tice, and William Deane Freeman the dock to himself. 
 
 I joined the circuit in Cork, the city which has 
 given birth to so many famed in literatm^e and art — 
 the witty and learned Dr. Maginn and Father Prout 
 (Mahony), Daniel 0. Madden, *Justice McCarthy, Michael 
 Joseph Barry, John George McCarthy, M.P., Ealph 
 Varian, J. F. Maguire, M.P., and other writers of 
 poetry or prose, or both ; while in art it can claim as 
 its own such renowned celebrities as Barry, Maclise, 
 Hogan, Forde, and many others inscribed upon the rolls 
 of fame. I was kindly welcomed by the senior member 
 of the circuit, the late estimable George Bennett, Q.C., 
 and, being the youngest member, was duly installed 
 as the junior. My duties were not very onerous j to 
 collect the mess subscriptions, to uncork the wine- 
 bottles, keep an account of those who dined at mess, 
 and calculate the whips to pay each day^s ex- 
 penses, were my chief employments. 
 
 We were a very pleasant, social party at the Bar 
 mess. Our senior — styled the Father — was Mr. 
 Bennett, in the absence of Mr. Lyne, the oldest bar- 
 rister, popularly called Con Lyne, who was not able to 
 go circuit on this occasion. Mr. Bennett was a tall, 
 thin man, with a long. Quixotic visage, rendered re- 
 markable by a prominent Williamite nose. He was 
 son of one of the judges of the Court of King^s Bench, 
 and held the office of Crown Prosecutor on the entire 
 circuit. He was not a very deeply-read lawyer, but 
 had abundant common sense, great knowledge of the 
 Irish character, and a homely style of addressing 
 juries — more powerful in getting verdicts than the 
 
378 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 most eloquent address that ever came from human lips. 
 It was almost impossible to doubt the truth of the 
 case he stated in such simple language^ with an unso- 
 phisticated air that made calling witnesses to prove his 
 statements almost a work of supererogation. He was 
 often pathetic^ and shed tears at will. Sometimes he 
 was jocose^ but rarely. Stating a case for two 
 brothers^ named Hawkes^ who were plaintiffs against 
 the defendant, Mr. Nagle (both common names in the 
 county of Cork), he began by saying, Gentlemen of 
 the jury, this is a fight between two Hawkes and 
 a (N) Eagle. He got his silk gown when Lord Man- 
 ners was Lord Chancellor in 1822, and said, ^^IM rather 
 he gave a silk gown to my wife.^^ 
 
 Mr. Bennett was an admirable raconteur , and it was 
 a great treat to hear him relate some of the oc- 
 currences which marked his great experience in 
 criminal cases. Two cases, in which an alibi was the 
 defence, I remember he told as follows : — A strong, 
 well-featured countryman was tried at Cork for 
 highway robbery near Fermoy. He met a farmer re- 
 turning from the fair of Fermoy, and robbed him of a 
 pound note and some shillings. We proved the case 
 for the Crown, but it appeared the prosecutor had 
 imbibed several pints of porter and some glasses of 
 whisky, but he swore point blank to the identity of 
 the prisoner. The police arrested him in Cork, and he 
 denied all knowledge of the prosecutor. 
 
 When we closed for the Crown, a respectable-looking 
 farmer, in the loose frieze coat, corduroy breeches, and 
 leather gaiters of his class, got on the table, and, being 
 sworn, said that, on the very night in question, he 
 
Circtdt Recollections, 
 
 379 
 
 saw the prisoner in one of his fields^ near Midleton^ 
 stealing turnips ; that he tried to get at him^ but the 
 hedge was too strong for one of his bulk to get through^ 
 so he had to get round to the gate ; that the prisoner 
 must have heard hiin^ for he made oflF, leaving the sack 
 half-filled with turnips, but he stole a bran-new spade, 
 which his (witnesses) landlord, the Earl of Shannon, 
 had just made him a present of, and he had left it just 
 where the prisoner was drawing the turnips. The 
 Judge asked the witness was he sure the prisoner 
 was the man he saw in the field. The witness said 
 he could not possibly be mistaken. He often saw 
 the prisoner lounging about the streets in Midleton, 
 and was sure he was the man who stole his spade. 
 
 The Judge asked how he recollected the time so 
 exactly. 
 
 The witness said he had been at the funeral of his 
 sister^s son on that day at Rathcornac, and had just 
 got home when he saw the prisoner in the turnip- 
 field. 
 
 ^^The Judge felt it his duty to direct the jury, if 
 they believed the last witness, to acquit the prisoner, 
 which they instantly did. Then, turning to the witness, 
 who was still on the table, he said, ^ Go round to the 
 Grand Jury, who are now sitting, and an indictment 
 will be prepared against the prisoner for stealing your 
 spade ."^ 
 
 ^ Long life to your lordship ! ^ said the witness, ^^twill 
 be a good deed to punish the blaggard for stealing 
 my illigant spade.'' 
 
 The farmer left the court, laughing, no doubt, at the 
 way he humbugged us all, for he was an accomplice of 
 
38o 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 tlie prisoner. Of course lie never went near the Grand 
 Jury^ and as there was no other charge against the 
 prisoner^ he walked forth a free man.''^ 
 
 Another of Mr. Bennett^s Circuit Recollections also 
 turned upon an alibi. A roan was indicted for stealing 
 a purse with 20^. in notes from the pocket of a horse- 
 dealer near Kildorrerry^ Co. Cork. The horse-dealer had 
 sold a horse at the fair of Kildorrerry, and was return- 
 ing to his house near Rockmills^ when the prisoner and 
 another man jumped from behind a ditch^ knocked him 
 down^ and the prisoner put his hand into the breast 
 pocket of his coat_, took his purse^ in which he had put 
 the twenty pounds he got for the horse^ and made off. 
 The night was fine and bright. He (witness) had a 
 distinct view of the prisoner's face, as the prisoner bent 
 over him on the road and took his purse. He was sure 
 the prisoner was the robber. The police were soon on 
 the look-out for the prisoner, but it was long before 
 they arrested him. They took him in Limerick. The 
 prisoner was the man. This was our case for the pro- 
 secution, and we were sure of a conviction. The 
 defence was an alibi. 
 
 A most venerable-looking clergyman, the rector of 
 one of the parishes along the coast of the County of 
 Clare, came on the table, and said he could give evi- 
 dence of the innocence of the prisoner. 
 
 ^^His appearance was very prepossessing; his face 
 beamed with benevolence, and his white hair, and rosy, 
 gentlemanly deportment won respect. On being sworn, 
 he said he had known the prisoner nearly all his life. 
 The prisoner was in his employment. He remembered 
 the night stated, and the indictment which charged the 
 
Circuit Recollectio7is, 
 
 381 
 
 prisoner with, robbery in the County of Cork. He 
 solemnly swore that on that night the prisoner was 
 with him in his house in the County of Clare^ and 
 remained with him till very late. 
 
 ( What was he doing ? ' 
 
 The witness declined to say. 
 
 I pressed the question. 
 
 The witness appealed to the Judge^ who considered 
 it perfectly immaterial — the fact of the prisoner being 
 elsewhere than in the place laid in the indictment was 
 all the jury had to consider. The case was sent to the 
 jury^ who^ on the strength of the alibi^ acquitted the 
 prisoner. 
 
 Some time elapsed before I again met the Reefer, It 
 was in Wales. I was travelling in a stage-coach from 
 Holyhead to Chester^ and he was my sole companion. 
 I reminded him of the case^ and he coloured a little as 
 I said I was very anxious to learn why he refused 
 to tell me what the prisoner was doing for him at the 
 time. 
 
 ^ Well, Mr. Bennett/ he said, ^ as we are not now 
 in Court, and you can take no advantage of my admis- 
 sion, though you are Counsel to the Revenue, I do not 
 fear to say he ivas distilling jpotteen''' 
 
 Mr. Bennett held his office as Crown Prosecutor until 
 he ceased going circuit. He died in the year 1856. 
 
 Joseph Devensher Jackson was a very distinguished 
 member of the circuit. He was a native of Cork, and 
 his family had been engaged in mercantile pursuits 
 which turned out a failure. He was involved to some 
 extent, but his practice at the bar enabled him not 
 only to satisfy the creditors, but to assist his family, 
 
382 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 and he always bore an unblemislied cliaracter. In con- 
 junction with Serjeant Lefroy he took an active share 
 in the working of the Kildare Education Society — 
 chiefly engaged in proselytizing^ or^ as some Irish wit 
 remarked^ converting the Papists from the errors 
 of the Church of Rome^ to embrace those of the 
 Church of England/^ Mr. Jackson was a strong poli- 
 tician of the Tory party^ and represented the then con- 
 genial borough of Bandon before the spread of Liberal 
 principles swept away the old traditions of the town, 
 which is said to have had the inscription on its 
 entrance, — 
 
 " Turk, Jew, or Atheist, 
 May enter here, but not a Papist," — 
 
 wLich was pungently noticed by the celebrated priest. 
 Rev. Arthur O^Leary, who added, — 
 
 " Who wrote these lines, he wrote them well. 
 For the same are written on the gates of SelV^ 
 
 But, whatever the political or religious feelings 
 entertained by Mr. Serjeant Jackson, they certainly 
 never were displayed, either in his social habits or his 
 professional conduct. To his brethren on the circuit 
 he was a gentlemanly, agreeable companion. George 
 Bennett, introduce me to that junior,^^ were the first 
 words I ever heard him utter when I entered the Bar 
 mess-room, and as we shook hands I found added 
 another to my list of legal friends. He had been 
 called to the Bar in 1808, and earned a high reputation 
 for ability. His speeches to the jury were excellent, 
 though his powers of long-windedness caused O^Connell 
 to give him the soubriquet of Leather-lungs.^^ He 
 
Circitit Recollections. 
 
 383 
 
 was of great use to tlie Tory party in tlie debates^ and 
 his speeches are preserved in the volumes of Hansard 
 from 1836 to 1842. He was appointed one of the 
 three Irish Serjeants in 1834^ and in 1841 became 
 Sohcitor-General. He did not long continue a law 
 officer^ for in the following year he was raised to the 
 Bench of the Court of Common Pleas. His career on 
 the Bench was exactly what might have been predicted. 
 All his cherished political and religious feelings gave 
 way before the responsibility imposed by his judicial 
 rank^ and he distributed justice with an impartiality 
 never surpassed. He was a merciful and humane 
 judge. On every occasion he seemed to feel that the 
 judge ought to be the advocate of the prisoner. He 
 liked to be with his old circuit companions^ and there- 
 fore constantly went the Munster Circuit. He was 
 very courteous^ and greatly respected. He died on 
 Sunday, 20th December, 1857. 
 
 Another leader of the Munster Circuit whom I 
 joined was the Eight Hon. David Eichard Pigot. He 
 was a native of Kilworth, a small town close to my 
 native town of Fermoy, and his father. Doctor Pigot, 
 had been physician to my mother^ s family. I understand 
 Mr. Pigot was originally intended for the profession 
 of his father ; but after some years^ study of medicine 
 he changed his views, and became a most diligent 
 law student. 
 
 He was called to the Bar in 1826, and, the Whigs 
 desiring to promote Eoman Catholics, Mr. Pigot was 
 appointed Attorney-General. He became Member for 
 the borough of Clonmel. Though it was unusual for 
 an ex-Attorney-General and Privy Councillor to go 
 
384 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 circuity Mr. Pigot did so when displaced from office by 
 the change of Government^ and had very large circuit 
 practice. He continued to be my circuit companion 
 until 1846^ and^ when in the neighbourhood of Fermoy, 
 we met occasionally in society. But he was a very 
 selfish man^ and even the members of his wife^s 
 family had reason to regret his indifi'erence to their 
 prospects. This^ I dare say^ was not owing to any 
 want of affection, but to a ridiculous over-sensitiveness, 
 lest he should be accused of promoting his own rela- 
 lations and friends. When Chief Baron Brady was 
 appointed Lord Chancellor in 1846, the chief seat in 
 the Court of Exchequer was bestowed upon Mr. Pigot, 
 and he sat upon the Bench until his death in 1873. 
 
 After the lapse of a quarter of a century, the estimate 
 of his judicial character was the following: — ^^The 
 appointment of Mr. Pigot as Chief Baron of the Ex- 
 chequer was a just tribute to his extensive legal know- 
 ledge, to his forensic abilities, and his engaging 
 personal qualities. But if the promotion was one that 
 reflected credit on the Government of the day, and 
 seemed unexceptionable, so far as materials then 
 existed for forming an opinion on it, time has shown 
 that it was a costly one to the Irish public. The 
 many merits, and the one original demerit of the Chief 
 Baron, have long been known throughout the length 
 and breadth of the land, and it is not too much to say 
 that the latter has so neutralized the former, and has 
 even so converted them into positive mischiefs, that the 
 interests of justice would be better served if the court 
 were permanently closed.^^* 
 
 1 The Irish Times, March 3, 1871. . 
 
Circuit Recollections, 
 
 385 
 
 Througli conscientioas feelings, and an anxiety to 
 render full justice, lie investigated every case so minutely 
 that days rolled into weeks before trials were over, 
 and while the legal practitioners reaped harvests, clients 
 were undone, and the patience of witnesses and jurors 
 exhausted. Though the columns of the press and the 
 voice of the public repeatedly urged him to retire, he 
 held on to the Bench until 1873, when death closed 
 his earthly career. He is buried near Mitchelstown, 
 in the county of Cork. 
 
 Among the leaders of the Circuit whose fame I would 
 perpetuate in these Recollections, was Stephen Collins, 
 Q.C. In stature he was small and slight, with pleasing 
 features, a ready smile, and good, resonant voice. He 
 wore spectacles, and suffered much from rheumatic 
 pains. 
 
 From his boyhood he displayed great love of learn- 
 ing, and his unwearied industry speedily developed 
 his great mental powers. He devoted himself to the 
 study of law, and few were called who had enriched 
 their minds more fully, with all that the most accom- 
 plished lawyer should know. The broad and deep 
 principles of Common Law and Equity, the techni- 
 calities of special pleading, the practice of Nisi Prius, 
 the rules of evidence, he had at his finger ends. He 
 married the daughter of a legal house, the daughter 
 and sister of Masters in Chancery, Miss Henn, and it 
 was related on the day of his marriage, when returning 
 with his bride from church, Mr. Collins stopped at a 
 law-bookseller^s to purchase a law-book, and afterwards 
 attended a consultation. Also, when on his way to the 
 levees at the Castle, he might be seen reading his briefs. 
 
 c c 
 
386 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 His great legal knowledge^ especially of special plead- 
 ing, caused him to be styled The Chitty of the Irish 
 Bar/^ 
 
 I never knew any memher of the profession more 
 ready in arguing points of evidence, or with a mind more 
 fully stored with cases in point, and able to quote 
 them at a mementos notice. This, of course, might be 
 expected from his immense practice, for nothing tends 
 more to root cases in the mind than the constantly 
 applying them, and quoting them to establish prin- 
 ciples. Mr. Collins^ readiness in discomfiting an 
 adversary, and his great skill in conducting intricate 
 cases, made him eagerly sought, so that from end to 
 end of the Circuit he was sure to have a brief in every 
 record. 
 
 It was amusing, as well as interesting, to listen to 
 the legal encounters daily occurring on Circuit between 
 him and Jonathan Henn, his distinguished brother-in- 
 law. Mr. Henn was equally a profound lawyer, but 
 not so fond of skirmishing or propounding small 
 points as Mr. Collins, and their encounters often re- 
 minded me of the combat described by Sir Walter 
 Scott between Saladin and the Knight of the Leopard. 
 The moment Mr. Collins would try to get an answer 
 from a witness which was important, but not legally 
 attainable, Henn, who knew perfectly what his wily 
 adversary was driving at, would object. He would 
 sometimes urge his appeals in this fashion, especially 
 during the hot days of the Summer Assizes, — 
 
 Now, Collins, you know such a question ought 
 not to be put. Don^t lead. Do not oblige me to 
 argue every question now and the weather so hot." 
 
Circuit RecollectioJts. 
 
 387 
 
 Judge Torrens was greatly annoyed by finding Mr. 
 Collins constantly objecting to his charges^ and calling 
 on him to direct the juries on certain points. The 
 Judge was a shallow lawyer, and had no desire to have 
 bills of exceptions taken. This having gone on for some 
 time, when next Mr. Collins began, — 
 
 Now, my lord, that the jury have retired, it is my 
 duty to submit to yom* lordship a few objections.^' 
 
 ^^Mr. Collins, are they in writing asked the 
 Judge. 
 
 Yes, my lord."^^ 
 
 Then, as it is too late to discuss them to-night, 
 please hand them to my Registrar. He can add them 
 to the rest of your notable points, and if you go on at 
 this rate they will make a goodly volume by the close 
 of the circuit."^' 
 
 Mr. Collins bowed and said, — 
 If this volume is completed, I hope to be allowed 
 to dedicate it to your lordship ! 
 
 Though frequently employed in addressing juries, 
 Mr. Collins was not an eloquent speaker. He was too 
 matter-of-fact. He never soared into the realm of 
 fancy, or gave the reins to his imagination. Only once, 
 during our twelve years' circuit companionship, have I 
 heard him make what might be called an eloquent as 
 well a;s able speech. It was when replying to the 
 defendant's case in an action for breach of promise of 
 marriage. Campion v. Drew. I had opened my note- 
 book to report him, but, observing several short-hand 
 writers for the press present, thought ^^I may save 
 myself this trouble — he is sure to be fully taken." I 
 then heard a speech replete with eloquence, pathos 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 and such a line of argument as made a deep impression 
 on all who heard it^ and evidently the jury thought 
 so^ for they awarded the fair plaintiff 1500L Next 
 morning I went early to the oflfice of one of the Cork 
 papers. I found Mr. Collins before me. I con- 
 gi^atulated him on his eloquent speech and the verdict. 
 We both got copies of the paper^ but what was our 
 regret to find his beautiful reply condensed to twelve 
 lines. He died young; I believe he overtaxed his 
 strength. He rose at the dawn^ and was in his study 
 each morning at six o^clock. He was at his briefs 
 until breakfast^ again until past ten^ when he went to 
 the Four Courts. Here he was incessantly employed 
 until four o^clock. He then usually rode or walked 
 until his dinner-hour, and worked again in his study 
 often until a late hour. He died at an early age, 
 deeply and deservedly mourned. One of his sons is a 
 member of the English, and I believe another of the 
 Irish, Bar. 
 
389 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 CIECUIT EECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 Harry Cooper, Q.C., called in 1806. — His social qualities.— High 
 opinion of his legal abilities. — Eapidity of ntterance. — Cooper 
 and Judge Perrin. — Cooper and Judge Crampton — Kindness 
 to a stai-ved dog.— -Death in 1841. — William Deane Freeman, 
 Q.C.— The Freemans of Castlecor.— Called in 1817.— Case 
 before Lord ISTorbury, C.J. — Employed to defend prisoners. — 
 Legal pun. — Mr. Allen. — Assault on Mr. Freeman. — Trial of 
 Mr. Allen, junior. — Henn's speech for the defence. — Yerdict 
 and sentence. — Sudden death of Mr. Freeman. — Serjeant 
 Stock.— Eight Hon. Francis Blackburne. — Called in 1803. — 
 Admirable court manner. — Lines on Blackburne. 
 
 Another very estimable and able leader on the Mun- 
 ster Circuit in 1838 was Harry Cooper, Q.C. He 
 was called to the Bar in Hilary Term^ 1806^ andKing^s 
 Counsel in 1835. He was advanced in life at this time^ 
 and disappointment had somewhat soured his temper, 
 but he was in good practice on circuity and extremely 
 popular. At the Bar mess he was a most agreeable 
 companion, full of anecdote and pleasantry ; not only 
 witty himself, but called forth wit from others. Some- 
 times, indeed, his gaiety was not very discreet. He 
 would ask a very pious member of the Bar to " sing a 
 hymn,^^ or rally a discomfited pleader about his mis- 
 take. He prided himself much upon his legal know- 
 ledge. Speaking of a very successful member of the 
 circuit, he said, I have forgotten more law than he 
 
390 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 ever knew/^ and of aDother, recently promoted to the 
 Bencli^ I possess a pound^s wortli of law for every 
 sixpence wortli lie has/^ which caused a mutual friend 
 to reply^ Then^ does he not deserve the more praise 
 for making his sixpenny worth go farther than your 
 pounds 
 
 On one occasion some pleas of Harry Cooper^s were 
 sought to be struck out for prolixity^ and a motion for 
 that purpose was made before Baron Penuefather. 
 Cooper resolutely denied the pleas could be condensed. 
 The Baron was inclined to be of a different opinion. 
 He read over one of Harry^s^ and^ by leaving out 
 several averments^ which he considered immaterial, 
 reduced it fully one-half. 
 
 I demur to that plea/^ insisted the resolute 
 Counsel, and if it is set down for argument in any 
 other Court in this hall, FU beat your lordship/^ 
 
 Harry^s powers of utterance were marvellous. I 
 have heard many rapid speakers in my time, but all 
 fade before him. He had a mode of pouring out 
 words so as to be at times almost unintelligible, and 
 some one happily designated him as talking short- 
 hand.''^ It certainly required stenography to attempt 
 reporting him ; he jerked out whole sentences in a 
 breath, and was very impatient at the least interrup- 
 tion. I once heard him address Judge Perrin, who 
 also was very intolerant of noise, in the following terms, 
 which Cooper^s rapid style rendered very ludicrous : — 
 
 *^ I wish to God, my lord, youM commit these old 
 women who are coughing in the gallery. I^m told you 
 committed two old women yesterday, for sneezing. 
 
 Another time, when arguing in the Court of Queen^s 
 
Circuit Recollections, 
 
 391 
 
 Bench before Chief Justice Bushe and Judges Burton 
 and Crampton^ Cooper suddenly paused. 
 
 Pray go on^ Mr. Cooper/^ said the Chief Justice. 
 
 I can^t^ my lord/^ replied Harry, while J udge 
 Crampton is shaking his head at me.^^ 
 
 I really was not aware of it/^ said Judge Crampton. 
 
 Perhaps, Mr. Cooper/^ observed the Chief Justice, 
 you do not know that my brother Crampton is a 
 lineal descendant of Lord Burleigh.''^ ^ 
 
 Oh, my lord, that accounts for it,^^ answered Harry, 
 and turning round to me, he whispered, He,^^ mean- 
 ing Judge Crampton, '4s as great an actor as ever Lord 
 Burleigh was.^^ 
 
 Joshua Clarke, Q.C., told me the following instance 
 of Cooper^s humane disposition for the brute creation. 
 
 One evening after mess in Limerick, I took a walk 
 with him, we strolled along the quays, and passed the 
 historical castle, and reached the Irish town. The 
 evening was dark, and as 1 had no desire to be be- 
 nighted in those squalid streets and dirty lanes, I 
 suggested we ought to return. 
 
 ' Just come a little farther, Clarke,^ he said, ' there 
 is a poor dog here that^s almost famished/ 
 
 We reached a miserable doorway, and out bounded 
 the starved dog, that leaped about Cooper, yelping with 
 joy. He had good reason for his rejoicing. Cooper 
 took from his pocket a paper containing bread and 
 meat, and enjoyed the pleasure of seeing the dog 
 devour his meal/^ 
 
 Mr. Cooper died in 1841, and it is said his death was 
 
 ^ Crampton's name was Philip Cecil, and in Queen Elizabeth's 
 time much significance was attached to Lord Burleigh's nod. 
 
392 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 chiefly owing to his resolution not to seek the aid of 
 a physician. 
 
 Another of our leaders, William Deane Freeman, 
 Q.C., was a native of the County of Cork, born at 
 Castlecor, near Mallow. His family were long settled 
 in that picturesque region, and greatly respected. 
 During the penal days when Eoman Catholics were dis- 
 pelled of their patrimonies by persons called Discoverers, 
 more than one family transferred their properties to 
 the Freemans, who, thus became qiiasi proprietors, and 
 held the land in trust for their Catholic neighbours. 
 
 William Deane Freeman was very handsome, and 
 had a dignified, aristocratic bearing, that proclaimed 
 his good descent. He was called to the Bar in 1817, 
 and shortly afterwards was junior in an action of As- 
 sumpsit, on a Bill of Exchange, tried in the Common 
 Pleas before the facetious Chief Justice Lord Norbury. 
 The handsome face and well poised figure of the young 
 barrister attracted Lord Norbury^s attention. Jack- 
 son,^^ he said in a low tone to his registrar, what is 
 the name of this junior ? 
 
 Mr. Freeman, my lord,^^ replied the registrar. 
 Mr. Freeman,'^ he repeated, of the county of Cork. 
 A most respectable family.''^ 
 
 Then addressing the junior, his lordship said, Sir, 
 I congratulate you, you are a most promising young 
 man, sir. I protest I never heard the money counts 
 more ably stated in all my life, and I hope, like the 
 newspaper now on the bench before me, you, will be a 
 Daily Freeman ^ in my court.^^ 
 
 2 The Freeman Journal, then, as now, one of the leading 
 Dublin daily newspapers. 
 
Circtdt Recollections. 
 
 393 
 
 Mr. Freeman had considerable practice on tlieMunster 
 Circuity but his principal source of emolument was 
 derived from defending prisoners. In this branch he 
 was very able^ and for years had the dock to himself. 
 He possessed signal qualities for this work; great 
 knowledge of the class of men by whom prosecutions 
 during the days of Whiteboys and followers of Captain 
 Rook were chiefly sustained. Men lost to every feeling 
 but greed of gold^ ever ready to betray their accom- 
 plices in crime. These were the men Mr. Freeman 
 had to attack^ and he was ever ready^ nay, eager for the 
 encounter. Quite aware of their foe, these ruffians 
 would fence, and parry, and evade answering him until 
 the truth was wrung from them, and their own share 
 in the crime laid bare before the jury. 
 
 Mr. Hatchel, Q.C., who rose to be Attorney-General, 
 and Commissioner of the Court for Relief of Insolvent 
 Debtors, was also famous for his skill in unmasking 
 witnesses of this class. He adopted a diff*erent method 
 from that pursued by Mr. Freeman. While the latter 
 used the fortiter in re, Hatchel used the sum iter in 
 modis. He played with the witness as a patient angler 
 with a heavy fish. He gave him his own time, and led 
 him on, gently, while the witness told his own version, 
 the wary counsel seemed to assent to the answer, for 
 he would say ^^exactly,^^ ^^just so,^^ until having given 
 the adverse witness rope enough to entangle him, he 
 suddenly brought him up, and obliged him to confess 
 his story was untrue. Mr. Freeman used no such 
 gentleness. He put his questions in a peremptory and 
 dictatorial manner, and often roared at a witness, as if, 
 by sheer strength of lungs, to force him to reply. Then 
 
394 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 his speeches to the juries were shouted rather than 
 spoken. 
 
 A witty barrister^ on being asked, Is Freeman 
 a sound lawyer ? replied, Well, that involves the 
 vexata qucestio^ whether roaring be unsoundness or notJ'^ 
 Mr. Freeman was too arrogant to be popular, and had 
 some disagreement with a Mr. Allen^ who resided in 
 the neighbourhood of Kanturk. Mr. Allen brought an 
 action against a client of Mr. Freeman^ s, named Clancy, 
 which came on for trial before Mr. Sergeant Greene. 
 In addressing the jury for the defendant, Mr. Freeman 
 spoke in very contemptuous terms of the Plaintiff, 
 styling him Billy Allen,^^ and denouncing his conduct 
 in strong language. This provoked Mr. Allen to forget 
 himself, and he put out his tongue very offensively 
 towards Mr. Freeman. The haughty Queen^s Counsel 
 no sooner observed this gross breach of decorum than 
 he paused in his address to the jury, and, turning 
 towards the Judge, he said, My lord, this person has 
 the presumption to put out his tongue at me, while I 
 am addressing the jury on the part of my client.^^ 
 
 Mr. Allen at once rose, and addressing the Judge 
 said, I am very sorry for having done so, my lord, 
 but Mr. Freeman, I think was — 
 
 The Judge interrupting him said, I do think 
 Counsel was indulging in observations stronger than 
 the case required, but this ought not to have caused 
 such offensive conduct.^^ 
 
 Mr. Freeman rudely said, My only reason for com- 
 
 3 Horses with diseased lungs are termed roarers, but vete- 
 rinary surgeons are not agreed if such infirmity amounts to 
 positive unsoundness. 
 
Circuit Recollectio7is, 
 
 395 
 
 plaining of the act is my dislike to see a tongue upon 
 which there is so much filth/^ 
 
 Mr. Allen thereupon got very indignant^ and used 
 some expression drowned in the tumult in Court, 
 after which Mr. Freeman resumed his speech to the 
 
 jury- 
 But the matter did not end here. The son of Mr. 
 
 Allen was naturally indignant at the language used by 
 
 Mr. Freeman, and assaulted him next morning, when 
 
 proceeding to the court-house. We were in our usual 
 
 seats, and Sergeant Green had just mounted the bench 
 
 when Mr; Bennett, Q.C., rushed in breathlessly, and 
 
 said, — 
 
 My lord, a transaction has this moment occurred 
 to which I beg to call your lordship^s attention. 
 While Mr. Freeman was on his way to this court-house 
 he was met by a young gentleman named Allen, son of 
 the plaintiff in the case before your Lordship yesterday. 
 This young gentleman struck Mr. Freeman, telling him, 
 while doing so, that it was in consequence of Mr. 
 Freeman^s observation on Mr. Allen, his father."'^ 
 Mr. Bennett then asked his Lordship for immediate 
 redress. If his Lordship considered it not a case to be 
 summarily disposed of, as the city grand jury were still 
 undischarged, a bill of indictment for the assault 
 might be sent to them; but both he, Mr. Bennett, 
 and Serjeant Jackson considered that as the blow was 
 inflicted in the street in front of the court-house, it 
 might be regarded as a direct contempt of court; 
 more especially when connected with the words used 
 by the assailant, Take this for what you said in court 
 yesterday/^ Mr. Serjeant Jackson also declared, if 
 
396 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 this outrage was not speedily punished, and an example 
 made of tlie perpetrator, there would be no security for 
 the Bar or for the public. 
 
 Judge Ball was sitting in the next court, and Mr. 
 Serjeant Greene went to advise with him upon this 
 subject. After a short absence he returned to us, and 
 said, " Judge Ball concurred with him in opinion that, 
 as the transaction did not occur within the precincts 
 of the court, he had no summary jurisdiction to deal 
 with it.'' 
 
 A bill of indictment was then prepared, which con- 
 t^tined three counts. One charging the assault with 
 being committed with the intention of provoking Mr. 
 Freeman to send a challenge to fight a duel ; another 
 with the intention of provoking a breach of the peace ; 
 and the third for a common assault. 
 
 The grand jury, on the evidence of Mr. Freeman, 
 found the bill, and the case came on for trial before 
 Serjeant Greene. 
 
 Serjeant Jackson, M.P., stated the case for the pro- 
 secution. He referred at some length to the privileges 
 of the Bar, to which he and his learned friend Mr. 
 Freeman belonged. He insisted these privileges were 
 beneficial to the public, and that neither life, character, 
 or property would be safe if these privileges, which 
 were essential to support them all, were not upheld. 
 He then detailed the assault on Mr. Freeman, which he 
 characterized as a most flagrant outrage on these pri- 
 vileges, and, under the circumstances, demanded most 
 exemplary punishment. 
 
 William Deane Freeman, Q.C., was then examined, 
 and proved the attack upon him, the blow, and the 
 
Circuit Recollections. 
 
 397 
 
 words used. He identified the prisoner as the indi- 
 vidual who committed the assault. 
 
 He was cross-examined by Jonathan Henn, Q.O. 
 He admitted that Mr. Allen^ senior^ the father of the 
 prisoner, was an aged man. He was over seventy. 
 In the address to the jury the witness had called him 
 ^ Billy Allen.-* He had never been on terms of in- 
 timacy with him. In his speech he described the 
 conduct of the plain tiflF as ^ unrighteous ^ and 
 ^ atrocious.^ He told the jury tLat Mr. Allen 
 entered into an agreement and took money re- 
 specting it^ although he had resolved to break it. 
 These expressions he used in the hearing of the young 
 gentleman on his trial. He admitted that he (wit- 
 ness) was excited, and his language might be deemed 
 offensive. 
 
 Another witness saw the assault, but did not identify 
 the prisoner. 
 
 Mr. Henn, Q.C., then addressed the jury on behalf 
 of the prisoner. It was, as all his speeches were, a 
 model of bar eloquence and ability. He lamented the 
 case had been brought forward by Serjeant Jackson 
 as an infringement upon the privileges of the Bar. As 
 a member of that profession, no man was more ready 
 to assert, or desirous to maintain, these privileges 
 than he was. They however existed, not for the 
 benefit of its members, but for the benefit and protec- 
 tion of their clients. When the counsel forgot the 
 legitimate purpose for which these privileges were 
 instituted and designed ; when he gratified private 
 resentment, or indulged in vituperation, in order to 
 satisfy vindictive feelings, he (Mr. Henn),as a member 
 
398 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 of the Bar, disclaimed the notion of any one so acting 
 sheltering beneath the shield of those privileges. Mr. 
 Freeman admitted that, in the presence of the court, 
 and before this great county assembled, he had re- 
 peatedly called an old ^gentleman, a magistrate of 
 this county, a gentleman old enough to be his father, 
 with whom he was on no terms of intimacy, by the de- 
 risive epithet of ^ Billy Allen/ That, moreover, he cha- 
 racterized Mr. Allen^s conduct as ^ unrighteous ^ and 
 ^ atrocious.^ Mr. Allen yielded to the infirmity of our 
 frail human nature, and, goaded by such provocation 
 as he received, did what he (Mr. Henn) did not stand 
 there to justify. But was there no allowance to be 
 made for his wounded pride, for the excitement of his 
 feelings, for natural irritation ? No ! All the allow- 
 ance was to be made for Mr. Freeman. Mr. Freeman 
 candidly admitted he was excited, and could not 
 restrain himself, and indulged in language of an 
 offensive description. When Mr. Freeman forgot 
 what was due to old age — to the tribunal he was 
 addressing, to the profession of which he is a member, 
 when he forgot what was due to himself as a gentleman 
 — it is idle to call this the use — it was the ahuse of the 
 privileges of the Bar.^^ 
 
 Mr. Henn contended the conduct of the prosecutor 
 palliated, if it did not justify, the action of the pri- 
 soner. He asked the jury, as fathers, what they would 
 have felt if their sons did not resent such insults as 
 had been cast upon old Mr. Allen? As sons, how 
 would they hold up their heads if they permitted with 
 impunity their fathers to be treated with derision aud 
 contempt ? He concluded by beseeching the jury to 
 
Circuit Recollections. 
 
 399 
 
 estimate the feelings which induced the son to resent 
 the insult inflicted on his father. 
 
 The learned Judge having charged the jury^ they 
 found the prisoner guilty of a common assault/^ with a 
 strong ^^recommendation to mercy, as the provocation 
 was so aggravated/^ Not guilty on the other counts. 
 
 The recommendation had due weight. The traverser 
 was sentenced to a fine of 101, and a month^s imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Freeman was Assistant Barrister for the County 
 of Galway, and died suddenly while presiding in the 
 Quarter Sessions Court. 
 
 We occasionally had the Serjeants doing duty as 
 Judges, when illness or any other cause deprived us of 
 one of the twelve. One of the learned Serjeants who 
 presided on the Bench of the Munster Circuit in my 
 time was Serjeant Stock. I had met him some years 
 previously, when, in company with a number of 
 German students, I was rambling along the banks of 
 the Rhine, and found the Serjeant a very agreeable 
 companion. He was far more at home amongst the 
 vine-clad hills of Prussia or the art treasures of Bavaria 
 than listening to law arguments from the Munster Bar 
 or charging juries from a Munster Bench. Patient and 
 laborious on the Bench, he certainly was kind and 
 courteous, as was his nature, but he was not very 
 capable as a circuit Judge. 
 
 On one occasion the companion of Serjeant Stock was 
 the Eight Hon. Francis Blackburne, Lord Chief Jus- 
 tice of Ireland. He had previously been known as 
 special Counsel on the Munster Circuit. He was a 
 singularly able man, called to the Bar in Trinity 
 
400 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Term^ 1803, and filled the highest oflBces in the legal 
 profession. When the elevation of Chief Baron Joy 
 left the office of Attorney- General vacant, Mr. Black- 
 burne was appointed in 1831. He held this office until 
 1835, and we had the advantage of his presence as 
 special Counsel in Cork some years later. He was 
 clear and plausible in his statements^ his argu- 
 ments displaying great ingenuity. He had a most 
 agreeable voice, and his language — always refined — 
 showed considerable oratorical power. He had great 
 practice in the Equity Courts, and it was only on very 
 rare occasions he accepted a brief in a Nisi Prius case. 
 Of course he always received a large fee in special 
 cases. It is the fate of greatness to be the mark 
 for detraction^ and, in the Gomet, a satirical news- 
 paper published in Dublin in 1832, when Mr. Black- 
 burne was Attorney -General, the following lines 
 appeared : — 
 
 " Whom next of the wigg'd gentry sLall I sing ? 
 Whom but the Attorney- Greneral of the King, 
 The smug-faced Blackburne, so sedate and sleek. 
 So calm and smooth — so sanctified and meek, 
 One of luck's children — the happy few 
 Whose legal fame transcends tlie law he knew. 
 Whose moderate talent with a solemn mien, 
 Deportment grave, and countenace serene, 
 Gave him a name at the capricious Bar 
 Denied to others his superiors far. 
 In the high attributes of mind and span, 
 Which tells the sage, the lawyer, and the man. 
 His legal tenets less profound than neat, 
 Display more plausibility than weight. 
 His arguments, though artful and refined, 
 Rarely impress conviction on the mind. 
 
Circuit Recollections, 
 
 401 
 
 Thougli fortunes frolic, and preposterous Whigs 
 Bestow 'd precedency o'er all rival wigs, 
 On them fatuity's broad brand to stamp, 
 A Tory general in a Whiggish camp. 
 Who, when his patrons fled, still held his place, 
 To greet their victors with a friend's embrace, 
 And celebrate with them the fall of those 
 Who persecuted friends, and cherish'd foes." 
 
 Mr. Blackburne was possessed with such a thorough 
 knowledge of Irish affairs — legal^ political^ and civil, 
 that when an English nobleman, who had been ap- 
 pointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, inquired of some 
 friend better versed in the manners and habits of the 
 Emeralders than his lordship, "how he should rule 
 the country with least danger of becoming unpopular,^^ 
 the answer was, "Keep a good cook and rely on 
 Blackburne.^^ 
 
 He was a most agreeable companion, affable and 
 courteous, a skilful musician, sang sweetly, and pos- 
 sessed a fund of anecdotes which he readily and 
 pleasantly narrated. He always shunned Parliamen- 
 tary life. 
 
 While I attended Circuit, many other leaders of the 
 Bar of other Circuits occasionally came to us as special 
 Counsel. Amongthemwere Thomas, now LordO^Hagan, 
 Dr. Ball,'* and one whose recent death has caused 
 
 * The Eight Hon. John Thomas Ball, now Lord Chancellor 
 of Ireland. This very eminent lawyer was born in 1815, 
 called to the Bar in 1840, and received the silk gown in 1854. He 
 became Yicar- General of the Province of Armagh in 1862 ; 
 Queen's Advocate in 1865 ; and Solicitor- General in 1868, in 
 the same year he was elected a representative for the University 
 
 D d 
 
402 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 very general regret, the late Lord Chief Justice 
 Whiteside. Some mention of the great forensic 
 qualities of this great Irish orator may be interesting 
 to my readers. 
 
 of Dublin. He filled the office of Attorney- General in 1868, 
 and again in 1874, and in the following year received the Great 
 Seal as Lord High Chancellor. 
 
403 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 CIRCUIT RECOLLECTIONS. RIGHT HON. JAMES WHITESIDE. 
 
 First acquaintance with Mr. Whiteside. — His effervescing man- 
 ner. — His dramatic talents. — The Eupert of the Bar. — 
 Contrast to his brother-in-law, Mr. Napier. — Humonr and 
 pathos. — Compared with other orators. — His career. — Notice 
 of his speech on the O'Connell State Trials.— The Cork 
 local Bar in 1838. — Mr. Forsayeth, the Eecorder. — Joseph 
 Scannel. — Francis A. Walsh. — Called to the Bar in 1836. 
 — Settled in Cork. — Exclusive practice in the local Courts. — 
 His professional ability described by Baron Eichards. — His 
 hospitahty. — Death. 
 
 My first acquaintance with Mr. "Whiteside was in my 
 law student days^ when he was a member of the outer 
 Bar. He was then engaged in the business usually 
 entrusted to junior counsel. It was certainly entertain- 
 ing to behold, as well as to listen to him^ addressing 
 the Court. His tall^ sinewy frame^ draped in the 
 forensic rob e^ his large^ massive head, covered by the 
 orthodox Bar wig. His eager^ earnest features work- 
 ing with energy^ a satirical smile playing round his 
 mouthy and the merry twinkle of the eyes denoting 
 a spirit ready for fun^ while his lips gave utterance to 
 a flow of words that evinced an inexhaustible vocabu- 
 lary. Then his long arms^ how they worked ! one 
 moment revolving like the sails of a windmill^ 
 the next brandishing his brief like a kniglit^s mace^ 
 now slapping the nearest bench as though to give 
 
 D d 2 
 
404 
 
 The L'ish Bar, 
 
 force to his very emphatic words^ and all this gesticu- 
 lation^ and energy and argument^ and vehemence and 
 effervescence about some trivial motion. 
 
 It could never be said of Mr. Whiteside^ as Grattan 
 said of Floods On a small subject he was miserable ; 
 give him a distaff, and^ like Hercules, he made sad 
 work of it; but give him a thunderbolt, and he had 
 the arm of a Jupiter.^^ Mr. Whiteside made sad work 
 with neither distaff nor the thunderbolt, for it was the 
 same arm wielded both, and he made as much noise, 
 and used as much force, and, perhaps, produced as 
 much effect with the distaff as any less vehement 
 junior would with the bolt of Jove. This indomitable 
 energy, when backed and sustained by very excellent 
 legal knowledge, both of the principles and practice 
 of his profession, soon placed Mr. Whiteside in lucra- 
 tive business in the Nisi Prius Court. He was con- 
 stantly opposed in professional duties to his brother-in- 
 Iw,^ Mr. Napier, then, also, a rising junior, and 
 going the same (the North-East) Circuit. It was 
 worth while to mark the contrast between these two 
 able men. While Mr. Whiteside was all effervescence, 
 reminding one of a mountain torrent after rain, foaming, 
 seething, boiling, fuming, overrunning with power 
 and impetuosity, Mr. Napier was cool as an icicle, 
 quiet, smooth, calm, unruffled ; the arguments of the 
 one came roaring and tumbling, like a mountain 
 stream, the language of the other fell calm and wave- 
 less as a sheltered rill ; but, as the old adage, still 
 waters run deep,"*^ the legal lore of Mr. Napier, and his 
 
 ''^ Mr. Whiteside married Miss Napier, sister of the eminent 
 Ex-Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Sir Joseph Napier, Bart. 
 
Circuit Recollections. 
 
 405 
 
 clear and beautiful stvie of arsfuraent, wliict tad all 
 the lustre of a polished gem^ was fully a match — and 
 often more than a match — for the fiery vehemence of 
 Mr. Whiteside^ the Eupert of the Bar. For solemn 
 argument in Court I much preferred Mr. Napier^s 
 manner ; but for a rollicking trial at Nisi Prius no 
 member of the Bar^ in my time, could approach Mr. 
 Whiteside. Mr. Holmes was very good, keen, ready, and 
 satirical ; Mr. McDonagh admirable in his adroitness, 
 his great knowledge of his profession, his cautious 
 sagacity, and uniform yet studied politeness ; Mr. 
 Hatchell, a master of tact, displayed great experience 
 as a common-law lawyer, with first-rate talents for 
 cross-examination; Mr. Fitzgibbon, always perfectly 
 prepared, but slow and totally devoid of humour. As 
 a learned friend once said, It would take a cvder- 
 press to squeeze a joke out of him.^^ Mr. Whiteside 
 excelled them all. His manner was perfectly dramatic, 
 and every art and eSbrt that his abilities enabled him 
 to use were enlisted in the cause of his client. Watch 
 him ! He pounces, like a falcon upon a pigeon, on some 
 weak point in the case of his adversary. How terrible 
 is his denunciation of the conduct pursued towards his 
 deeply-injured client ! Listen to the impassioned tones 
 in which he pleads for justice against the wrong- 
 doer, and you hear eloquence— true, genuine, fervid 
 eloquence. It is not confined to mere words, though 
 these are of the best, and plenty of them. No; his 
 looks, his actions, his attitudes are all in harmony. He 
 is convulsing the Court with laughter by his comic 
 description of some part of the case of his opponent, 
 and the expression of his face, the animation of his 
 
4o6 
 
 The J risk Bar, 
 
 look^ the shake of his head^ are perfectly irresistible. 
 You cannot choose but laugh. Lo ! at a wave of the 
 harlequin^s wand he becomes pathetic ; his voice is 
 suddenly changed — the mirth vanishes^ the laughter 
 dies away^ the orator^s deep voice comes forth in 
 mournful accents. His plaintive tones awake an echo 
 in your soul, and a tear moistens the eye and a sob 
 falls on the ear. This is true eloquence — the spell 
 that moves men^s souls — and no one, I am persuaded, 
 who ever heard Mr. Whiteside and was not prejudiced 
 could withhold from him the orator^s crown. Truly 
 indeed has it been remarked, He has not the poetical 
 imagery of Curran, his gorgeous drapery of thought, 
 his blue and purple trappings glittering round the 
 limbs of his fierce and fiery Pegasus, the deep Irish 
 feeling, the Ossian-like wildness of his Celtic imagina- 
 tion ; he has not the classical and philosophical lan- 
 guage of Burke ; he has not the vivid phraseology and 
 sparkling wit of Sheridan, the glowing eloquence of 
 Canning, the electrical flashes of Shiel, or the depth, 
 breadth, and intellectual height of O^Connell; but he 
 has splendid talents of his own, and a style of speaking 
 that at once commands attention, because it is forcible, 
 impressive, and well sustained throughout.''^ 
 
 It can cause no surprise that talents such as these 
 were soon recognized, and brought their possessor fame 
 and fortune. Mr. Whiteside was in great request as 
 Special Counsel, and his social qualities made him a 
 favourite at the Bar mess when he was with us on the 
 Munster Circuit. 
 
 Mr. Whiteside was a native of the county of Wick- 
 low, born in Delgany, where his father was rector, on 
 
Circuit Recollections. 
 
 407 
 
 the 13th August^ 1806. Having been a most diligent 
 law student^ he was called to the Bar in 1830^ and 
 received the silk gown of Queen^s Counsel in 1842. 
 Perhaps his greatest legal oration was for the traversers 
 during the O^Connell State trials in 1843, though his 
 speeches in defence of Smith O^Brien and in the Yel- 
 verton case were also very remarkable. In 1851 ho 
 was elected member of Parliament for Bnniskillen, and 
 soon was a distinguished supporter of Conservative 
 politics in the House of Commons. When Lord Derby 
 became Prime Minister in 1852, the two brothers- 
 in-law —Napier and Whiteside — were Attorney and 
 Solicitor Generals. When Lord Derby again became 
 Premier in 1858, Whiteside was Attorney- General, 
 and in 1859 was returned for the Dublin University as 
 colleague to Mr. Lefroy. He continued a very leading 
 member of the House of Commons until 1866, when 
 he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Queen'^s 
 Bench, Ireland, on the resignation of Chief Justice 
 Lefroy. 
 
 He continued to preside on the Bench for ten years. 
 He died in Brighton, whither he went for change of 
 air, on the 25th November, 1876.^ 
 
 THE CORK LOCAL BAR. 
 
 Beside, and in addition to, the barristers who usually 
 went round the Munster Circuit in my time, there were 
 some others who formed a Cork local Bar. These con- 
 sisted chiefly of Mr. Forsayeth, the Recorder, Mr. 
 
 ^ I contributed a memoir of the Lord Chief Justice to the 
 Law Magazine and Review for May, 1877. 
 
4o8 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Josepli Scannell, and Mr. Frank Walsh, Professor of 
 Law in tlie Queen^s College. Mr. Forsayeth was the 
 chief in position and practice. Called in 1 824, he looked 
 the wise and erudite lawyer. He discharged with great 
 ability the duties of the Recorder's Court of Cork, and 
 not only hailed with pleasure the preparation of my 
 
 History of the Munster Circuit," but kindly went to 
 much trouble in seeking for materials for its construc- 
 tion. He always was well prepared in Court. His 
 questions to witnesses seldom gave rise to objections 
 or discussions. He was master of the law when any 
 question of law came to be argued, and as justly 
 popular with Bench and Bar as with his fellow-citizens. 
 Mr. Forsayeth continued to discharge the duties of 
 Kecorder until the close of the year 1877, when he 
 died ; but, mindful of the want of a taw library for the 
 use of practitioners, he made the following bequest : — 
 
 ^' I give my law-books, at No. 8, Morrison Quay, to 
 Philip William Bass, James Lane, Sylvester Gillman, 
 Thomas Babington, Atwell Hayes Allen, to hold as 
 trustees for the benefit of the members of either 
 branch of the profession who reside in or near Cork, or 
 shall practise there as barristers or solicitors, subject 
 to such rules as to admission as the trustees think 
 proper.^' 
 
 This valuable donation comprised over 1500 volumes 
 of modern text-books and reports. The Mayor of 
 Cork for 1878, an eminent solicitor, William Virling 
 Gregg, convened a meeting of the solicitors of the 
 County and City of Cork, which was held in the 
 Solicitor's Room, in the Court-house of Cork, when a 
 scheme was brought forward, which, with the ap- 
 
Circuit Recollections. 
 
 409 
 
 proval of the Munster Bar^ was to carry out the late 
 Eecorder's legacy. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Scannell^ another of the Cork local Bar, 
 was a gentleman of considerable ability^ but not a very 
 profound lawyer. He had no pretensions to eloquence 
 or legal arguments^ but was always prepared for his 
 work. He was careful^ accurate^ and modesty and 
 fought his cases in a very business way. 
 
 Frank Walsh^ the most popular member of the Cork 
 local Bar^ was an exceedingly able man. Our acquain- 
 tance began in our student days^ when we dined 
 together at the King^s Inns^ in Henrietta Street, and 
 the flow of jest^ anecdote, song, and speech which 
 delighted his fellow- students, drew around his hos- 
 pitable board in Cork a large circle of friends. He 
 was son of a medical practitioner in Cork, and, in 
 remote times, one of his ancestors filled judicial offices 
 in the Province of Munster. 
 
 Possibly a desire to reach the position of this learned 
 judge induced young Frank Walsh to become a 
 member of the Irish Bar. In his school-days Cork 
 possessed a treasure in the shape of a schoolmaster — 
 the learned and accomplished Martin John Farrell. 
 At his seminary most of the Catholic youth of the city 
 and county obtained the priceless blessing of a good 
 education, and one of the most gifted of the many 
 gifted natives of the beautiful city attending this 
 school was Francis Andrew Walsh. Those who shared 
 the lessons with him remember with pride his poetic 
 eflfusions, which soon gained him the title of Poet- 
 Laureate of the school, and the composition of some 
 poem of more than ordinary excellence was sure to 
 
410 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 be preferred as a claim (usually allowed) for a holi- 
 day. 
 
 In the literary societies of Cork the young law- 
 student sharpened his intellect, and found the use of 
 his tongue. I cannot over-rate his talents as a 
 speaker. No one excelled him in versatility or in 
 ability. Whatever the subject demanded, be it grave 
 or gaj^, lively or severe, he was ready — his vocal 
 armoury had a supply of weapons suited for the 
 purpose of attack or defence, and his language was 
 quite adapted to the case. If an adversary was to be 
 laughed out of court, Frank Walsh poured forth play- 
 ful criticism, light raillery, sparkling wit ; was the case 
 one demanding serious argument, he was calm, self- 
 possessed and dignified ; was the occasion one needing 
 the heart to be stirred, he was energetic, nay, was 
 passionate in his tones. 
 
 It was my happiness for many circuits to have lived 
 on intimate terms with him, when his genial nature 
 and manly virtues made every one his friend. He was 
 called to the Bar in 1836. He settled in Cork, and 
 his professional talents soon gained him full employ- 
 ment. In the local courts throughout the various 
 sessions towns in both ridings, the Eecorder^s Court 
 and the Spring and Summer Assizes found him in 
 large and lucrative practice. That such an ornament 
 to the Bar should confine himself to a province when 
 he could have had the kingdom for his client, was 
 often a source of regret to his friends, and judges 
 going the Munster Circuit for the first time, having no 
 previous acquaintance with Mr. Walshes ability, were 
 always taken by surprise. 
 
Circuit Recollections » 
 
 411 
 
 Baron Richards told me his experience in these 
 words : — I well remember the impression Mr. Walsh 
 made on my mind when I heard him first. I was 
 trying a mercantile case of great importance in Cork ; 
 there was a very able Bar at both sides. Mr. Walsh 
 was junior for the plaintifl*, but did not do much, 
 except examine some witnesses. The case for the 
 defendant closed earlier than was anticipated, for both 
 the plaintiflf^s senior counsel were absent, and one of 
 them was to have replied for the plaintiff. Mr. Walsh 
 modestly asked me to postpone the case until one of 
 the seniors could be procured, and I was disposed to 
 yield, knowing the difficulty of a junior under such 
 circumstances, especially with a very serious case ; 
 but the Assizes had already been much protracted ; 
 jurors were impatient at being kept from their busi- 
 ness, and the defendant's counsel insisted on Mr. 
 Walsh going on. They knew him better than I did, 
 and rather laughed at the notion of his modesty. He 
 had not uttered two sentences before I felt relieved, 
 Mr. Walsh was perfect master of the case. He had 
 law and facts at his fingers^ ends, both were placed 
 before the jury in the most lucid order, and his speech 
 was replete with a beauty of expression and power 
 of language I never heard surpassed. He got a 
 verdict, and many a time have I had the pleasure of 
 hearing him afterwards. 
 
 His house in Marlborough Street, Cork, was the 
 resort of the members of the Munster Circuit who 
 enjoyed his agreeable society. Here I have met Mr. 
 (now Lord Justice) Deasy, James O'Hea, and his 
 talented brother, John, one of the best magistrates and 
 
412 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 jurors in Ireland, Michal Barry, Quintin Kennedy, 
 Denny Leonard, John Bennett, and Father Mat 
 Horgan, who enlivened our excellent fare with wit and 
 humour. Music also we had. Mr. David A. Nagle, 
 Mrs. Walshes son by her first husband, then a youth, 
 was a most accomplished pianist, and John Q^Donavan 
 a splendid performer. 
 
 When the Queen^s College of Cork was forming its 
 staff, Frank Walsh became the Professor of Law, and 
 his ability was soon recognized. He continued to give 
 the students the benefit of his talents and his clients 
 his professional aid until the Spring Assizes of 1852, 
 when he became seriously unwell. His excellent wife 
 attended him, and the ablest physicians were unremit- 
 ting in their efforts to restore him to those who loved 
 him, but in vain. He died in August, 1852, widely 
 and deservedly lamented. 
 
413 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THOMAS OSBOENE DAVIS, BAERISTEE-AT-LAW. 
 
 Reasons for giving his Memoir. — Born in Mallow in 1814. — 
 His descent. — The historic associations of Mallow. — The 
 haunts of Thomas Davis. — His temperament. — Davis's salu- 
 tary jest. — Collegiate career. — Auditor of the College His- 
 torical Society. — Called to the Bar. — Unfitted for success at 
 the Bar. — Friendship between Davis and the author. — Ap- 
 pearance and manner. — The Dublin Morning Megister. — A 
 member of the Repeal Association. — The Nation newspaper. 
 — John Blake Dillon. — Reasons for starting the Nation. — The 
 editor. — Success of the Nation. — Davis's poetry. — Lord 
 Jeffrey's opinion. — Miss Mitford's estimate. — The British 
 Association in 1843. — Thomas Davis my guest. — Our tour 
 on the Blackwater. — Letter from Thomas Davis. — Death in 
 1845. — Hogan's monument. — Poem on the dead patriot. 
 
 I HAVE hitherto given memoirs of Irishmen who won 
 fame and distinction by their professional achieve- 
 ments. I now proceed to record the fame of oije who, 
 though called to the Irish Bar, never, I believe, ad- 
 dressed the Irish Bench. It is not because Thomas 
 Davis was my personal friend, of whose friendship any 
 man would feel proud to boast; not because he was gifted 
 beyond all his cotemporaries with knowledge ; not be- 
 cause he loved the scenery, traditions, and history of 
 Ireland, as I did, and made them known by his works, 
 I introduce him here, but because, though brought 
 up and educated in the prejudices of Irish Pro- 
 
414 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 testantism, lie opened his heart to his Roman Catholic 
 fellow-countrymen, rose superior to the narrow sec- 
 tarianism of race and creed, and devoted his life to 
 make the Irish people truthful, manly, and self-reliant. 
 He considered that much of the agitation in which 
 they were engaged was a hollow pretence; he 
 sought to make it a reality. He believed that if the 
 Repeal of the Union was to be effected, it would 
 only be effected by the combined efforts of Irish 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics. He knew the Pro- 
 testant support would not be given to an uneducated 
 and disorderly mob ; and he laboured to elevate the 
 thoughts, feelings, and aspirations of his countrymen. 
 What means he used to do this will appear in my 
 sketch of his brief but useful life. 
 
 Thomas Davis, born in 1814, was a native of 
 Mallow, a historic and picturesque borough town, 
 pleasantly situated on the north bank of the Munster 
 Blackwater, in the county of Cork. Though of a Celtic 
 nature, truly ij)sis hibernis Mherniores, Thomas Davis 
 had little Milesian blood in his veins. His father was 
 English, or of English descent, from a Dorsetshire 
 family, his mother was of the respectable race of Atkins, 
 of the County of Cork. Through her, indeed, he 
 could trace some kinship with the O^SuUivans, chief 
 of Berehaven, and it is worthy of note that the Nation 
 newspaper, which was projected, and, in fact, esta- 
 blished chiefly by Thomas Davis, has been now for 
 many years the property of a branch of this Celtic 
 family, edited, until recently, by Alexander M. Sullivan, 
 M.P., author of New Ireland,^^ and now ably con- 
 ducted by his brother. 
 
Thomas Osborne Davis, Barrisier-at-Law, 415 
 
 The parents of Thomas Davis moved in the most 
 respectable society of the Bath of Ireland_, as Mallow, 
 in the days when its Spa attracted the votaries of 
 fashion, was called. There was much in the scenery 
 of his native place to awaken the poetic and patriotic 
 feelings of the boy. The stern old walls of Mallow 
 Castle had witnessed several sieges in the days when 
 the Lords President of Munster held their Court 
 within its ramparts. Not far stands Kilcolman, where 
 Edmund Spenser penned the Faerie Queene/^ and 
 near it is Newmarket, where John Philpot Curran was 
 born and reared. 
 
 Like Curran, Davis drank inspiration on the banks 
 and braes of the great river, as the Avonmore rolls 
 through the barony of Duhallow, and in his poem 
 
 The Rivers,^^ when contrasting the Munster with the 
 Ulster Blackwater, Davis thus describes the banks of 
 his native stream : — 
 
 " Far kinder the woodlands of rich Convamore, 
 And more gorgeous the turrets of saintly Lismore ; 
 There the stream, like a maiden, 
 With love overladen. 
 
 Pants wild on each shore. 
 
 The rocks rise like statues, tall, stately, and fair. 
 
 And the trees, and the flowers, and the mountains and air, 
 
 With Wonder's soul near you, 
 
 To share with and cheer you, 
 Make Paradise there." 
 
 Davis visited the ruined castles and minutely inves- 
 tigated the grand old abbeys along the banks of the 
 Blackwater, mixing freely with the people at fairs and 
 
4i6 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 wakes^ and imbibing every day of Ms young life deep 
 draughts of love for his native land. Repossessed^ like 
 Curran^ a passionate^ warm, generous heart, but, unlike 
 Curran, at least in his manhood, Davis never gave way 
 to mirth or merriment. The only joke I could ever 
 discover in which he took part was the following. 
 The master of the school where he was a boarder 
 was of convivial habits, and usually required the aid of 
 the bannister to help him upstairs when he rolled off to 
 bed. One night some mischievous boys rubbed the 
 bannister with mud and dirt, so that the master did 
 not reach his couch with clean hands. Incensed and 
 indignant, when the next morning disclosed the trick 
 perpetrated upon him, the schoolmaster declared his 
 intention of making a public example of any boys who 
 had dared to insult him in so gross a way. This, of 
 course, prevented his getting any information respect- 
 ing the offenders. Days passed, and no one could be 
 prevailed upon to inform against his companions. 
 Then the master changed his tactics, and offered a 
 handsome sum as a reward for any boy who would tell 
 him wlho had a hand in it J' Thereupon, to the surprise 
 of the school, uprose Thomas Davis, and he said he 
 would tell for the sake of the reward.'^ This statement 
 was so different from the generous, manly nature, and 
 disposition of Thomas Davis, the boys were all per- 
 fectly astounded. The master, with a grim smile, anti- 
 cipating the delight of satisfying vengeance long delayed, 
 promised Davis " not only the rewajrd, but protection, 
 in case of need.^^ 
 
 Davis, however, said, he only required the reward, 
 to give in charity."^^ 
 
Thomas Osborne Davis ^ Barrister-at-Lazu, 417 
 
 ^^Now^ Tommy, good boy/^ said the master^ who 
 had a hand in it ? 
 
 YoUy sir f cried Davis exultingly^ to the infinite 
 relief of all juvenile parties concerned. You must 
 admit you had a hand in it,'' 
 
 The shout of laughter that arose from every side was 
 shared in by the master. Davis got the reward^ and 
 he gave it to the poor^ and we may be sure he lost 
 nothing in the estimation of his schoolfellows. 
 
 Davis received an excellent classical education^ and, 
 when suflSciently prepared, entered Trinity College, 
 DubUn, about the year 1830. His University career 
 was highly successful. He graduated with distinction 
 in 1835. He gained a junior moderatorship in 
 ethics. Science was his chief study. He was an 
 excellent mathematician, delighted in ethics, and was 
 a profound historian. He dived deep into the old 
 sources of Irish history, and few who acquired lore at 
 that not very inviting fountain turned their knowledge 
 of the early period of our national annals to better 
 accoimt. Having taken his degree in the Dublin 
 University, he left the College of the Trinity with the^ 
 respect of all his contemporaries. During his re- 
 sidence in Trinity College he was a diligent member 
 of the renowned College Historical Society, and was 
 elected auditor, but he was more distinguished for the 
 solidity and copiousness of his arguments than for the 
 grace of delivery. He never was a fluent speaker. 
 When selecting a profession he studied for the Bar, to 
 which he was called in 1838, the same year with me. 
 The genius and bent of Thomas Davis^s mind was not 
 adapted to the legal profession. That readiness and 
 
 E e 
 
4i8 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 sharpness of intellect^, that smarts energetic^ bustling, 
 pushing manner, which enables men to work their way 
 in a profession like the Bar, was not possessed by him. 
 He was shy and reserved, and, though he donned the 
 Bar wig and gown daily, and attended the Hall of the 
 Four Courts, he got no business, and, perhaps, did not 
 care to get any. 
 
 Contemporaries in legal standing, and natives of the 
 same valley of the Blackwater, he and I soon became 
 acquainted, and I never was more drawn to any one, 
 save Mr. Baldwin, as to Thomas Davis. We were of 
 about the same age, and we had many tastes in com- 
 mon, great love of country, and admiration for art. But 
 he was far my superior in general information — in his 
 intimate knowledge, not only of Irish, but European 
 history, and ability in imparting information. He was 
 of slight figure, inclined forward, his eager Celtic face 
 lighted up by kindly -beaming eyes, a mouth that would 
 indicate sarcasm, if the gentle heart did not prevent 
 any such display. His manners were easy and gentle- 
 manly, but he was quick in movement. There was no 
 rudeness, no self-assertion; even when giving sound 
 advice, or imparting information as valuable as it was 
 important, it was done with diflBdence, and often an 
 apology. No wonder such a man had troops of friends, 
 and among the pleasing memories of my somewhat 
 chequered life is that I enjoyed the friendship of 
 Thomas Davis, and that he was my guest at my dear 
 father^s hospitable board, where he passed some time 
 with me in the barracks of Fermoy. 
 
 Not long after being called to the Bar, Davis turned 
 his attention to the state of Irish politics. In 1840 he 
 
Thomas Osborne Davis, Barrisier-aULaw, 419 
 
 became connected with the Dvthlin Morning Register, a 
 newspaper the property of Mr. Staunton^ of which 
 another patriotic young Irishman was, I believe, the 
 editor — the late John B. Dillon^ M.P. Davis contri- 
 buted a series of spirited articles to the Register on the 
 state of Europe^ showing f rom the clouds in the poli- 
 tical horizon that a European crisis was at hand^ and 
 arguing that Ireland in the crush of empires would be 
 able to effect the Eepeal of the Legislative Union with 
 Great Britain. At this period O^Oonnell had esta- 
 blished the Repeal Association, of which Thomas Davis 
 was an active member. He was fearless when advo- 
 cating opinions he deemed rights and on the question 
 of education had the courage to differ from 0^ Con- 
 nelly for whom he felt personally a very sincere 
 regard. The necessity of possessing a journal to 
 advocate the views of the party^ known afterwards 
 as Young Ireland/^ induced Davis^ John B. Dillon^ 
 and some others, to establish a newspaper called the 
 Nation, 
 
 John Blake Dillon was a fitting associate with 
 Thomas Davis in any literary and patriotic enterprise. 
 He also was a personal friend of mine, and one of the 
 most attractive men, mentally and personally, I ever 
 knew. He was strikingly handsome, with marked, 
 regular features, great flashing dark eyes, a complexion 
 of southern bronze, and black hair — the port of a 
 prince and the tread of a soldier. He was tall — over 
 six feet — and finely proportioned. His manner com- 
 ported with his appearance. It was frank and winning 
 — ^no one could meet him without feeling confidence 
 and esteem. While conversing with Dillon, Davis 
 
 E e 2 
 
420 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 suggested tlie advantage of having a journal tliat would 
 be more thorougUy national and independent than 
 the organs of the Liberal party in Dublin. They con- 
 curred in the opinion that a newspaper with bolder 
 aims and higher style of articles than those usually 
 contained in the Irish papers was desirable^ and they 
 resolved to start one. 
 
 Another and deeper thought inspired Davis. He 
 doubted the reality of the agitation for the Eepeal 
 which had been carried on. He had no confidence in 
 many of those men who, from hustings and platform, 
 shouted for Repeal, and who in Parliament bartered 
 for place. He hated shams^ and suspected the people 
 were made the tools of designing place-hunters. He 
 also believed that the teaching of the people was not 
 calculated to advance them in the way to achieve the 
 restoration of an Irish Parliament^ or to enable them 
 to use it beneficially, if restored. He found that the 
 persons likely to be selected to succeed the unworthy 
 men who exchanged their native Legislature for cash 
 or place, would, if elected to an Irish Parliament, sell 
 their country as in days gone by, and he resolved to 
 labour and make the people wiser and better, than to 
 make so great a mistake. This he felt could not be 
 done save by a journal bold in language, free and 
 unshackled in its dealing with political questions, and 
 independent of the patronage of those who hold the 
 reins of Government, be they Whig or Tory. So 
 Thomas Davis and John Blake Dillon^ looked out for 
 
 ^ John B. Dillon was also called to the Bar. He was an 
 enthusiastic member of the pai-ty known as Young Ireland." 
 After the rising in 1848 he went to America. Having remained 
 
Thomas Osborne Davis^ Barrister-at'Lazv . 421 
 
 an editor for the projected journal. They had not 
 long to wait. Charles Gavan Duffy/ for some time 
 editing a popular Ulster newspaper, the Belfast Vin- 
 dicator, was prosecuted by the Government for a libel. 
 He had attended the trial, and, while walking with Davis 
 and Dillon in the Phoenix Park, was made acquainted 
 with the newspaper project entertained by his com- 
 panions. Mr. Duffy cordially approved of the idea. He 
 possessed the requisite business knowledge, and con- 
 sented to become editor. Thus was started the 3l^afion, 
 thenceforward an able exponent of Irish aspirations, 
 then and since. 
 
 A brilliant band of Celtic enthusiasts soon sought 
 literary fame by contributing to the columns of the 
 Nation^ Many of these young and ardent spirits, who 
 expected to make Ireland in the nineteenth century 
 rival Ireland of the eleventh, recall the glories of 
 Brian the Brave, and restore the fallen fortunes of the 
 Celts. Thomas Davis was chief and leader of the 
 native band. There were others as full of zeal and 
 patriotism, others equal in spirit and energy, but none 
 approached him in power of thought, clearness of 
 intellect, in soundness of judgment. He knew what 
 work was required to construct a people fit for freedom, 
 and manfully he set about the herculean task. The 
 
 there some years he retnrned, was elected M.P. for Tipperary, 
 and died near Bray. 
 
 2 Mr. Duffy edited the Nation for some years. He was 
 among those prosecuted by the Government in 1844, and shared 
 O'Connell's captivity. He was M.P. for New Eoss, and sub- 
 sequently went to Melbourne, Victoria ; became Prime Minister 
 and Sir Charles G. Duffy. 
 
422 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Irish had long been told their good qualities^ their 
 great virtues^ their ancient fame. He had to show 
 them their shortcomings, their besetting vices, and 
 urge their abandonment, if they wished to rival the 
 fame of their sires. He bade them shake off the 
 lethargy of despair, and be up and doing — to cease 
 looking to others for help, and, instead, to help them- 
 selves. He advocated education as the safest and 
 surest road to freedom — inculcated the axiom that 
 knowledge is power. He sought to infuse his genial 
 love for Ireland into the hearts of the people, and 
 laboured incessantly to this end. 
 
 The success of the journal exceeded the hopes of the 
 promoters. It seized fast hold upon the popular mind, 
 for its articles were far above the usual standard of 
 newspaper writing, and in proof of this I may refer to 
 Davis^s Essays,^^ published since his death by the 
 enterprising Irish publisher, Mr. Duffy, of Wellington 
 Quay, Dublin, while poetry flowed forth, the result of 
 his soul yearnings. The truth of the classic adage, 
 
 Poefca nascitur, non fit,^^ was fully exemplified in his 
 case. He wrote poetry, as has been well said of 
 him, ^'from external necessity to teach rather from 
 internal necessity to sing. He sang at the call of his 
 country rather than at the voice of his own soul. It 
 was Pegasus in historical harness, helping to draw the 
 people along a heavy road, full of ruts and furrows, rather 
 than proudly bearing a poet up the steeps of Parnassus. 
 But it matters little whence the incentive comes, so 
 that it quickens a fruitful nature. Possibly, if Davis 
 had lived longer, the politician might have killed out 
 the poet/' 
 
Thomas Osborne Davis^ Barrister-at-Law, 423 
 
 The young patriots condescended to write in the lan- 
 guage^ to use their own phrase^ of the Saxons, so it is 
 to the English tongue we owe the beautiful lyrics of 
 Thomas Davis. The editor of the Nation had faith in 
 the well-known saying of Fletcher of Saltoun, Give 
 me the writing of the ballads, and let who will make 
 the laws/^ and, in default of other aid, the regular con- 
 tributors to the new journal resolved to attempt that 
 task themselves. It is difficult to believe, but the 
 editor of his poems dwells upon it as a well-known 
 fact that, up to this time, 1842, the author of The 
 Sack of Baltimore had never written a line of verse 
 in his life, and was, indeed, far less sanguine than his 
 coadjutors in the success of the experiment. How 
 completely he succeeded there is no need to tell^ although 
 nearly all that he has written was the work of little 
 more than one hurried year, thrown off in the midst of 
 a thousand occupations and a thousand claims. 
 
 The critical editor of the Edinhurgh Review, Lord 
 Jeffrey, thus praised Davis^s poems. Eecommending 
 them to a friend, he says, There are some most 
 pathetic, and many spirited pieces, and all, with scarcely 
 an exception, so entirely national. Do get the book 
 and read it.^^^ 
 
 Miss Mitford, also, in her EecoUections of a Literary 
 Life,^^^ thus records her high estimation of the poetry 
 of Thomas Davis : — 
 
 Considering his immense reputation in tlie sister 
 * island, the name of Thomas Davis has hardly found its 
 due place in our literature. He was an Irish barrister, 
 
 3 Life of Lord Cockburn. 
 * Yol. i., p. 22. 
 
424 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 the most earnest^ the most vehement, the most gifted, 
 and the most beloved of the Young Ireland party. 
 Until the spring of 1840, when lie was in his twenty- 
 sixth year, he had only been remarkable for extra good 
 nature, untiring industry, and very varied learning. 
 At that period he blazed forth at once as a powerful 
 and brilliant political writer, produced an elegant and 
 admirable ^ Life of Curran,^ became one of the founders 
 of the Nation newspaper, and carried his zeal in 
 the cause of nationality to such excess that he actually 
 proposed to publish a weekly journal in the Irish 
 tongue.'^ ^ 
 
 In the autumn of 1 843 the British Association for 
 the Advancement of Science met in Cork, under the 
 presidency of the great astronomer, the Earl of Rosse, 
 and Thomas Davis was my guest. I used to joke with 
 him about his being within the protection of the 
 Fermoy barracks, then in charge of my father, and 
 while steaming about the shores of the Lee and 
 Queenstown, or Cove, as it was then called, we landed 
 at Haulbowlino. I brought him to the hospitable re- 
 sidence of the storekeeper, and, as we surveyed the 
 piles of munitions of war, and pyramids of cannon- 
 balls, I said to Davis, These were the pills the Young 
 Ireland party would have to swallow if they ventured 
 on an outbreak.^^ We had none, thank God ! in his 
 ti]ne. We made the tour of the Blackwater together, 
 which the estimable and popular Sir Richard Musgrave 
 was endeavouring to have made navigable to Fermoy. 
 I read a paper on this subject before the Statistical 
 
 * This project is now likely to be an accomplished fact. 
 
Thomas Osborne Davis ^ Barrister-aULaw, 425 
 
 Section of the Britisli Association at Cork, wliich 
 afterwards was added to, and published as The 
 Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Blackwater iu 
 Munster/^ While considering where I could find 
 materials for this work, the post brought me the follow- 
 ing letter : — 
 
 Deae OTianagan, — I see by the newspapers that 
 you are going to publish an illustrated guide to the 
 Blackwater. Pray put me down as a subscriber. I 
 strongly advise you to take time and much labour to 
 it. If it be not done with profound research, and 
 graphic description, and brought out with engravings 
 or woodcuts, in a high style, it will be a disservice 
 to you, and to what you take such an interest in. 
 Windele, of Cork, had some idea of re-editing Smithes 
 ^History of our County,^ and could certainly give 
 you valuable information and references. You ought 
 to leave no authority in the Eoyal Irish Academy or 
 College unsearched. A panoramic map of the Black- 
 water might be issued with, or after, your book. 
 
 Pardon the liberty I take in suggesting these 
 matters^ and believe me, 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 Thomas Davis.'' 
 
 This letter is quite characteristic of my dear, ex- 
 cellent friend. He cheered me by his advice, directed 
 me where to find references, how I should bring out 
 the work, and apologized for taking such a liberty. 
 
 Acting on his suggestion, I wrote at once to Mr. 
 Windele, the well-known local historian and antiquary 
 
426 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 of Cork^ and I need not say how kindly he responded, 
 
 and gave me much valuable aid. 
 
 I had the satisfaction of knowing my published 
 Guide perfectly satisfied Thomas Davis, who, in 
 
 his essay on Irish Scenery/^ alludes to it in very 
 
 complimentary terms. 
 
 But, alas ! the end was near. Before the general 
 
 public were aware of his illness, the cold hand of death 
 
 had snatched Davis from all he loved on earth — his 
 
 country, his family, and the object of his heart's 
 
 aflTection. 
 
 On the 16th September, 1845, at the early age of 
 thirty- one years, Thomas Davis died. The wail of 
 sorrow which arose from every quarter of the king- 
 dom attested the universal grief for his great loss. A 
 national monument was soon in preparation, and the 
 work of Hogan stands near his grave in the cemetery 
 of Mount Jerome. 
 
 The following poem, from one who knew and loved 
 him, if deemed inharmonious English, has melody for 
 the Celtic heart, and it was appended to a carefully- 
 written notice of Davis in the Dublin University 
 Magazine — 
 
 " I walk'd throngli BallindeiTy in the springtime, 
 When the bud was on the tree ; 
 And I said, in every fresh-plough'd field beholding 
 
 The sowers striding free. 
 Scattering broad cast forth the corn in golden plenty, 
 
 On the quick seed-clasping soil. 
 Even such, this day, among the fresh-stirr'd hearts of 
 Erin, 
 
 Thomas Davis, is thy toil. 
 
TJiomas Osborne Davisy Barrister-at-Law. 427 
 
 " I sat by Balljsliaiiiioii in the summer, 
 And saw the salmon leap ; 
 And I said, as I beheld the gallant creatures 
 
 Spring, glittering from the deep, 
 Through the spray, and through the prone heaps striving 
 onward 
 
 To the calm deep streams above. 
 So seekest thou thy native founts of freedom, Thomas Davis, 
 In thy brightness of strength and love. 
 
 " I stood by Derrybawn in the autumn, 
 
 And I heard the eagle call. 
 With a clangorous cry of wrath and lamentation, 
 
 That filled the wide mountain-hall, 
 O'er the bare deserted place of his plunder'd eyrie. 
 
 And I said, as he scream'd and soar'd. 
 So callest thou, thou wrathful, soaring Thomas Davis, 
 
 For a nation's rights restored. 
 
 " And, alas ! to think but now, and thou art lying, 
 
 Dear Davis, dead at thy mother's knee ; 
 And I, no mother near, on my own sick-bed, 
 
 That face on earth shall never see ; 
 I may lie and try to feel that I am not dreaming, 
 
 I may lie and try to say, * Thy will be done,' 
 But a hundred such as I will never comfort Erin 
 
 For the loss of her noble son ! 
 " Young husbandman of Erin's fruitful seed-time. 
 
 In the fresh track of Danger's plough ! 
 Who will walk the heavy, toilsome, perilous furrow. 
 
 Girt with Freedom's seed-sheet now ? 
 Who will banish with the wholesome crop of knowledge 
 
 The flaunting weed and the bitter thorn, 
 Now that thou thyself art but a seed for hopeful planting 
 
 Against the resurrection morn ? 
 
 " Young Salmon of the floodtide of Freedom, 
 That swells round Erin's shore ! 
 Thou wilt leap against their loud oppressive torrent 
 Of bigotry and hate no more : 
 
428 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 Drawn downward by their prone material instinct, 
 
 Let them thunder on the rocks and foam ; 
 Thou hast leapt, aspiring soul, to founts beyond their raging, 
 
 Where troubled waters never come ! 
 
 But I grieve not, eagle of the empty eyrie. 
 
 That thy wrathful cry is still ; 
 That the songs alone of peaceful mourners 
 
 Are heard to-day on Erin's hill : 
 Better far, if, brothers, war be destined for us 
 
 (God avert that horrid day, I pray). 
 That, ere our hands be stain'd with slaughter fratricidal. 
 
 Thy warm hand shall be cold in clay. 
 
 "But my trust is strong in God, who made us brothers, 
 
 That He will not suffer those right hands 
 Which thou hast join'd in holier rites than wedlock, 
 
 To draw opposing brands. 
 Oh, many a tuneful tongue that thou mad'st vocal 
 
 Would lie cold and silent then ; 
 And songless long once more, should often widow'd Erin 
 
 Mourn the loss of her brave young men. 
 
 " Oh, brave young men, my love, my pride, and promise, 
 
 'Tis on you my hopes- are set. 
 In manliness, in kindliness, in justice 
 
 To make Erin a nation yet : 
 Self-respecting, self -relying, self-advancing, 
 
 In union or in severance, free and strong — 
 And if God grant this, then, under God, to Thomas Davis 
 
 Let the greater praise belong !"6 
 
 ^ Wiitten by Sir Samuel Ferguson. 
 
429 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 BON-MOTS OP ATTOENEYS. 
 
 Pat Costello. — Advice to a joimg official — A cliurch on a rock. 
 — A confidential question. — Paddy in tlie House of Commons. 
 — Phil. O'Connell. — Paddy O'Rafferty's trial for assault. — 
 Joining tlie army. — Tom O'Meara. — A second edition. — 
 Election practice. — A fighting fee. 
 
 My recollections of hon-mots are not confined to the 
 Bar. There were several uttered by the attorneys 
 which deserve to be placed to their credit. 
 
 The late Patrick^ or, as he was popularly called, 
 Paddy Costello, was full of drollery. His broad, 
 strongly-marked Irish face, with short, snub nose — his 
 twinkling grey eyes, and capacious mouth, denoted the 
 mirth that lurked in his clever brain. He amassed a 
 considerable fortune by Quarter Sessions practice, and, 
 having been of great service to the Liberal party in 
 Kilkenny, obtained a lucrative office in the Court of 
 Queen^s Bench, which he held for many years. On his 
 retirement from oflfice I met him at dinner at Mr. 
 (now Sergeant) Sherlock^s. This was a few days after 
 I had received my appointment, when Paddy thus 
 accosted me : — 
 
 Now, I^m an ould oflficial, and you are a young 
 one, so just mind what I tell ye. Do as little in your 
 oflSce as ever ye can, hut do that little ivelL^' 
 
 Paddy had a pretty villa at Dalkey, in which he 
 resided. Walking one day with a friend — a staunch 
 
430 
 
 The Irish Bar, 
 
 Protestant^ while Paddy was a Roman Catholic — they 
 crossed the granite range on which the site for Dalkey 
 Church had^ with considerable toil and labour^ been 
 cleared. 
 
 ''Look there, Mr. Costello/^ said his friend. ''Ton 
 must admit our church is built upon a rock.'^^ 
 
 '' Be my sowl/^ replied Paddy, '' you see it is on a 
 
 blasted rock ! 
 
 Meeting the late respected Patrick Vincent Fitz- 
 patrick, who for years was the secretary and treasurer 
 to the O^Connell tribute, Costello inquired, in a pre- 
 tended confidential manner, — 
 
 '' I say, Pat, how much do yon allow Dan out of the 
 Tint?'' 
 
 Costello contested the representation of Waterford 
 city with Mr. Chisholm Anstey, who, on being elected, 
 was petitioned against. Costello went to London to 
 watch the progress of the petition through the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 On presenting himself at the door of the House of 
 Commons, when sitting, his further progress was 
 barred by the door-keeper, who politely informed him 
 only members were privileged to pass. 
 
 '' But 1^11 be a member in a week or two,^^ replied 
 Paddy. 
 
 '' Then you must wait until then, sir,^^ observed the 
 janitor sturdily. 
 
 Paddy surveyed the officer, who, in his official dress, 
 looked very important. 
 
 '' So you won^t let me in ? persisted Paddy. 
 
 '' I cannot, sir,^^ was the answer. 
 
 ''Then 1^11 tell you what, my tight fellow,^^ said 
 Paddy, while a group of members waited until his 
 
Bo7t Mots of Attorneys, 
 
 431 
 
 portly figure^s removal permitted their advance ; 
 ^^when I^m declared the sitting member^ the first 
 motion 1^11 make will be to get the Spaker to clap a 
 pair of plush breeches on yom^ shapely legs ! 
 
 A shout of laughter rewarded Paddy^s joke, and^ I 
 have been told^ it was more to the point than the witty 
 attorney was aware^ for the door-keeper had been 
 formerly a servant to the late Earl of Derby. 
 
 The late A. J. Maley, though a very estimable gen- 
 tleman and learned member of the Bar^ was not as 
 agreeable a social companion as Paddy Costello, Maley 
 meditated a Continental excursion, and borrowed an 
 excellent guide-work from me — Les Bords du Rhin/^ 
 This book he not only returned, but sent it back 
 handsomely bound. As Oostello was speaking of a 
 like vacation ramble, a mutual friend suggested they 
 should travel together. 
 
 ''What! go up the Ehine with Maley shouted 
 Oostello, in a tone of indignation; ''bedad, I wouldn^t 
 go down the Dodder with him ! 
 
 Philip O^Connell, for many years an eminent prac- 
 titioner in Cork, had great comic humour. He was in 
 great practice during the Quarter Sessions, defending 
 prisoners, and latterly filled the responsible ofiice of 
 Sessional Crown Solicitor for the East Riding of the 
 county of Cork. As a sample of his skill when 
 employed to defend, let us take, for example, the case 
 of Paddy O^RaSerty, a stout lump of an Irish '' boy 
 of two or three and twenty, the pride of his townland 
 — a good hand at gaffing a salmon, sohoing a hare, 
 leading a hurly match, or kicking the foot-ball to the 
 goal. He was equally ready to hear mass, attend a 
 wake, or hold the floor at the dance of his village. He 
 
432 
 
 Tlie Irish Bar, 
 
 was a stauncli friend, but bitter enemy, and, being 
 suspected of having committed an aggravated assault 
 upon a boy of an opposite faction, was indicted at 
 the Quarter Sessions for the East Eiding of the county 
 of Cork for, in and upon one Terence O^Shaughnessy, 
 in the peace of God and our lady the Queen then 
 and there being, did make an assault, and him_, the 
 said Terence O^Shaughnessy^ then and there did 
 beat, wound^ and ill-treat; and the said Terence 
 O^Shaughnessy with both his hands then and there did 
 violently cast^ flings and throw, and violently and 
 grievously did kick, strike^ and beat^ so that his life 
 was greatly despaired of, and other wrongs to the said 
 Terence O^Shaughnessy,^' &c. PhiLO^Connell gallantly 
 defended the prisoner^ and pleaded Not Guilty in 
 the confident air of a man surprised at such an impu- 
 tation being made against his peaceable client. Several 
 of the prisoner's kith and km were, with eager faces, 
 and no doubt aching hearts, awaiting the issue of the 
 trial. His wife and aged mother were there, and with 
 intense anxiety scanned each witness as they were 
 sworn. The ^^boy'^ in the dock seemed^ outwardly, 
 as unconcerned as any spectator in court. He Was 
 lively and cheerful, evidently wore his Sunday suit of 
 clothes, and a smart cravat was conspicuous. Instead 
 of evincing any trepidation as the indictment was read 
 to him, he seemed as indifferent as if he was not 
 affected by the document, and, when Mr. O'Connell 
 made some technical objection to the counts, directed 
 his glance with the air of a man curious to learn how 
 the Chairman would decide the point. 
 
 The objection being overruled, the case went on. 
 The witnesses were themselves members of the hostile 
 
Bon-Mots of A ttorneys, 43 3 
 
 faction^ and when Phil. O^Connell cross-examined 
 them he forced them to admit that they gave as much 
 as they got^ and the father and brother of Paddy 
 O^Rafferty were kilt in the scrimmage. Terence 
 O^Shaughnessy was the principal witness. He swore 
 that he was knocked down early in the fight, and then 
 the prisoner came to where he lay, and gave him a 
 wipe of a claigh olpeen,^ and he was senseless after 
 that. Phil. O^Oonnell, on cross-examination, obtained 
 the admission that it was not until after the pro- 
 secutor had been knocked down he saw the prisoner in 
 the fight.^^ Then came the question, — 
 
 On your oath, how much drink had you taken 
 before the row began ? 
 
 Troth, not much.'' 
 
 You are on your oath. How many of you were 
 there?'' 
 
 ^^Four of us.'' 
 
 Did you not have half a pint of whisky a man ?" 
 " I had my share of one." 
 On your solemn oath, was it not all hut the 
 2')ewter ?" 
 
 Troth, it was." 
 
 Go down, sir," cried Phil, triumphantly. 
 The Chairman, a Journey man, sent by the Lord 
 Chancellor in place of the regular Judge, who was ill, 
 had not much experience of this class of cases, and, to 
 the amusement of the audience, when charging the 
 jury, paid a high compliment to the humanity of the 
 prisoner, who clearly only acted in self-defence. He 
 was so humane to the prosecutor that, when he lay on 
 1 A huge stick used in fighting. 
 
 F f 
 
434 
 
 The Irish Bar. 
 
 the ground^ the prisoner gave him a wipe with a dean 
 nci'phin. This was the last act the prosecutor remem- 
 bered of what occurred. 
 
 The jury acquitted the prisoner. 
 
 The case had excited considerable interest in and out 
 of courts and grave doubts existed as to the prisoner's 
 chances of escaping a heavy sentence^ for this was the 
 fourth time Paddy O^Kafferty had faced a jury of his 
 fellow-countrymen. Luckily the presiding barrister 
 was a stranger. Paddy's eloquent tribute to the skill 
 of his advocate must not be omitted. God bless 
 you^ Mr. O^Connell^ and preserve you to me.'^ As he 
 emerged from the door of the Court-house^ cheers and 
 congratulations hailed him on all sides. He was sup- 
 ported on either side by his wife and mother^ who 
 occasionally stopped to clasp him round the neck, as 
 if to make sure of his bodily presence. I could 
 multiply several cases of like import, but this must 
 suffice. 
 
 Some hon-mots of Phil. O'Connell are preserved. A 
 friend of his was engaged to be married to the third 
 daughter of Dr. Foot. At this time the friend was 
 expecting a commission in the Line. The late Judge 
 Berwick asked Phil. O'Connell, Is it true our friend 
 is joining the army 
 
 Quite true, Judge/' replied Phil. *^ He is attached 
 to the 3rd Foot.'' 
 
 Thomas O'Meara, better known by the initials T. O. 
 than the Christian and patronymic, was a fine specimen 
 of an Irish attorney. He was highly connected, and 
 had the ease and manner of what he was — a well-bred 
 gentleman. His quaint humour may be inferred 
 
Bon- Mots of Attorneys, 
 
 435 
 
 from his dialogue with the Lord Chancellor^ the 
 haughty Earl of Clare, already quoted. He had the 
 reputation of being a practised duellist, and was second 
 in a duel in which Sir Richard Musgrave, author of a 
 " History of Ireland/^ was one of the principals. The 
 book was so inaccurate that the author was advised to 
 issue a new and improved edition. A friend said to 
 T. O., " I hope nothing will happen to him before the 
 new edition is published.^^ 
 
 By all that^s fair in war/^ replied T. 0., " his next 
 edition will he in boards/^ 
 
 T. O.^s reputation for ball practice obtained him 
 lucrative engagements as conducting agent during the 
 contested elections in Ireland. He perfectly under- 
 stood what the unusually large retaining fee meant, 
 and took his measures accordingly. Observing a 
 brother practitioner leaving his post in a hurry, T. O. 
 inquired, Where are you going in such haste V 
 
 " To my lodgings for my pistols,"'^ was the re- 
 sponse. 
 
 Oh ! exclaimed the more experienced practitioner, 
 " I always keep mine under the poll lists."^^ 
 
 He was conducting agent for a parsimonious candi- 
 date, who was severely spoken of by an opposing 
 elector. The candidate was called ^^a renegade in 
 religion, a dishonest politician, and disloyal to his 
 country as to his creed.^^ 
 
 My God, Mr. O'Meara ! do you hear tha,t?'' asked 
 the would-be member, quivering with rage. 
 
 Every word of it/' replied T. O. Sure I'm not 
 stone deaf.'' 
 
 And don't you mean to take notice of it ? ^' 
 
 F f 2 
 
436 
 
 TJie Irish Bar, 
 
 " Most certainly not. Your fee, sir^ was not a fight- 
 ing fee/^ replied the renowned T. O. 
 
 He was a fine old Irish gentleman of the olden time 
 when I met him^ and enjoyed his reminiscences of 
 other days, and his sporting songs, The Kilcadding 
 Hunt/^ and Jackson^s Morning Brush/^ which he 
 sang with great humour. He lived in a large mansion 
 near Blackrock, Co. Dublin^ and to the last preserved 
 his excellent spirits and kindly disposition. 
 
 Here, for the present, I conclude my book of the 
 Irish Bar. I have written^ to the best of my ability, 
 the lives of men who for the greater number were an 
 honour to Ireland, and whose memory ought to be 
 dear to Irishmen. I have preserved many anecdotes 
 and bon-mots which might otherwise be forgotten or 
 incorrectly quoted. I trust I have done something to 
 preserve ^^the genius that inspired, the talent that 
 warmed, the wit that relieved the wisdom, and the 
 wisdom that enlivened the wit, the generous emulation 
 that cherished while it contended, the spotless honour 
 which shone no less in the hereditary honour of the 
 high-born than in the natural integrity of the more 
 humble aspirants ; but, above all, of that lofty and 
 unbending patriotism that at once won the confidence 
 of the country, and gave an inspiring dignity to the 
 national character of the Irish Bar.^^ Such was the 
 reputation of the Irish Bar in the past, such is its 
 reputation now, and it rests with its members to study 
 the lives contained in this work, and inculcate the 
 lessons they teach, so as to maintain its reputation in 
 the future. 
 
IND 
 
 EX. 
 
 Allen, J.P., case of Mr., 394. 
 
 Allen, junior, trial of, 396. 
 
 Alio Eiver, 65. 
 
 Annaly, Lord, 30. 
 
 Anstey, Chisliolni, 338, 430. 
 
 Anti-Union, 143. 
 
 Anster, j olin, vii. 
 
 Armytage, Stephen, 94. 
 
 Austin, Eev. G., 225. 
 
 Avonmore, Lord, memoir of, 52 ; 
 early career of, 53 ; Attorney- 
 General, 57 ; Chief Baron, 57; 
 anecdotes of, 60 ; death, 63. 
 
 Baldwin, Q.C., Henry, 185, 320; 
 memoir of, 321 ; early career 
 of, 322; trip to Paris, 324: 
 Torquay, 326; Chairman of 
 Antrim, 326; of Wexford, 
 327; of East Eiding, co. 
 Cork, 328; letters, 328, 329; 
 dangerous illness, 330 ; his 
 disappointment of office, 333 ; 
 letters, 339 ; Commissioner, 
 344; court officers, 350; death 
 of Chief Clerk, 350 ; Plunkett 
 appointed, 352 ; death, 356. 
 
 Ball, Judge, sketch of, 315 ; great 
 equity practice, 317; on the 
 Bench, 318 ; anecdote of, 318 ; 
 death, 319. 
 
 Ball, Mr., 211. 
 
 Ball, Eight Hon. Lord Chan- 
 cellor, 401. 
 
 Banker, the Limerick, 358 ; his 
 action for slander, 361 ; " The 
 Biter Bit," 369 ; " The Nose- 
 gay " Trial, 372. 
 
 Barrington, Sir Jonah, sketch 
 
 of, 103. 
 Barry, M. J., 77. 
 Barry, Professor, 236. 
 Belmore, Earl of, 139. 
 Bennett, Q.C., George, 13, 375 ; 
 
 sketch of, 376. 
 Bentinck, Lord G., 39, 228. 
 Beresford, Marcus, 44. 
 Bethel, I. B., 184. 
 Blackburne, Eight Hon. F., 110; 
 
 sketch of, 399. 
 Blake, James H., Q.C., 323. 
 Bond, Oliver, 86. 
 Bowes, Solicitor- General, 8, 11. 
 Brady, Sir Maziere, 333. 
 Brougham, Lord, 151, 155. 
 Bruce, G. Evans, sketch of, 
 
 361. 
 
 Buckingham, Marquis, 44. 
 
 Burgh, Walter Hussey, memoir 
 of, 141. 
 
 Burke, Edmund, 141. 
 
 Burr owes, Peter, K.C., sketch of, 
 ] 62 ; letter to Lord Clare, 166; 
 defence of Grattan,167; oppo- 
 sition to the Union, 168; speech 
 on the prosecution of Eobin- 
 son, 171; Commissioner of 
 Insolvent Court, 175; anec- 
 dotes of, 176 ; last speech, 177. 
 
 Burton, Judge, 335. 
 
 Bushe, Charles K., memoir of, 
 150; poetic description of, 156; 
 meeting with George IV., 156; 
 anecdotes of, 159. 
 
 Butler, Hon. S., 86, 87. 
 
 Butlei', Lady Mary, 44. 
 
438 
 
 Index, 
 
 Butler, Sir Toby, 7. 
 
 Camden, Lord, 36, 132. 
 
 Carleton, Lord, 127-134. 
 
 Castlereagh, Lord, 53, 108, 111, 
 132, 143, 166, 167. 
 
 Caulfield, Mr., 212. 
 
 Charlemont, Earl of, 50. 
 
 Christian, Lord Justice, 346. 
 
 Clare, Earl of, memoir of, 74; 
 college petition, 76; Attorney - 
 General, 79 ; Lord Chancellor, 
 83 ; severe letter to, 84 ; hos- 
 tile message, 87 ; death, 89. 
 
 Clarke, Q.C., Joshua, 391. 
 
 Client, the ungrateful, 171. 
 
 Clonmel, Earl of, memoir of, 23; 
 legal talents, 24 ; Chief Justice, 
 30. 
 
 Close, J. S., 354. 
 Cockburn, Lord, 423. 
 Coke, Lord, 154. 
 Collins, Q.C., Stephen, sketch of, 
 385. 
 
 Connaught Circuit, 226; 227. 
 Cooper, Q.C., Harry, sketch of, 
 389. 
 
 Cornwallis, Lord, 45, 56, 59. 
 Corrigan, Sir D., M.D., 356. 
 CoiTy, Mr., 132, 157. 
 Costello, Pat, anecdotes of, 429, 
 430. 
 
 Cradock, General, 133. 
 Crampton, Judge, 226, 391. 
 Curran, John Philpot, memoir 
 
 of, 64 ; called to the Bar, 65 ; 
 
 in Parliament, 67 ; contests 
 
 I^ewry, 72 ; conflict with Lord 
 
 Clare, 88. 
 Curran, William Henry, 64, 316, 
 
 350. 
 
 Dalkey Island, 90 ; King of, 91 ; 
 Ministry, 92. 
 
 Daly, Bowes, 78. 
 
 Daly, St. George, 127, 128, 134. 
 
 Davis, Thomas, memoir of, 413; 
 his only joke, 416; college 
 career, 417; at the Bar, 418; 
 the Nation^ 421 ; letter to 
 the Author, 425 ; death, 426 ; 
 lament, 42 u. 
 
 Day, Judge, 48 ; lines to, 69. 
 
 Denman, Hon. Mr. Justice, 302. 
 
 Dillon, John B., 419, 420. 
 
 Doheny, Michael, 310. 
 
 Doherty, Chief Justice, sketch 
 of, 94, 338. 
 
 Domville, Sir C, 13. 
 
 Doneraile conspiracy, 196. 
 
 Doyle, Mr., 56. 
 
 Doyle, Major- General, 150. 
 
 Duffy, Sir C. G., 421. 
 
 Edge worth, Lovel, 75. 
 Egan, John, K.C., sketch of, 117. 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 75. 
 Ellenborough, Lord, 58. 
 Emmet, Kobert, 68, 142. 
 Erskine, Lord, 72, 326. 
 
 Fallon, Malachi, 323. 
 
 Farrell, Q.C., Richard, Com- 
 missioner of the Insolvent 
 Debtors' Court, 342. 
 
 Farrell, Thomas, 350, 352. 
 
 Ferguson, Sir Samuel, 428. 
 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Charles, 82. 
 
 Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 132. 
 
 Fitzgerald, Lord William, 226. 
 
 Fitzgibbon, see Earl of Clare. 
 
 Fitzgibbon, Gerald, Q.C., 405. 
 
 Fitzpatrick, W. J., 24, 132. 
 
 Fitzwilham, Earl, 46, 180, 181. 
 
 Flanagan, Eight Hon. Judge, 
 263. 
 
 Flood, Right Hon. H., 70. 
 Foot, Dr., 434. 
 
Index. 
 
 439 
 
 Forsaytli, Thomas, 407; Ee- 
 corder of Cork, 407 ; bequest 
 of his library, 408. 
 
 Foster, Eight Hon. J., 150, 168, 
 186. 
 
 Freeman, William Deane, sketch 
 
 of, 392. 
 Freeman's Journal, 392. 
 Frewen, Mr., action against, 361. 
 
 George I EL, 27, 38, 45. 
 
 George lY., 156. 
 
 Gibson's History of Cork, 102. 
 
 GifPord, Mr., 111. 
 
 Going, Mr., 366. 
 
 Goold, Thomas, 128 ; memoir, 
 
 178, 333. 
 Goold, Archdeacon, 185. 
 Goold, Wyndham, 185. 
 Grady, Harry D., 182; sketch 
 
 of, 198; his jury eye, 199; 
 
 anecdotes of, 202, 363. 
 Grady, Thomas, 128, 362 ; " The 
 
 Nosegay " Trial, 372. 
 G rattan, Henry, sketch of, 47, 
 
 143, 150, 153. 
 Greene, E. W., 395. 
 Grehan, Stephen, 325. 
 Griffith, Mr., 42. 
 Griffith, Sir Eichard, 42. 
 Griffith, Mr. Eichard, 225. 
 Guillamore, Standish O' Grady, 
 
 Lord, 68 ; sketch of, 190. 
 
 Hamilton, Archdeacon, 357. 
 Harold, Eev. J., 354. 
 Hardwicke, Lord, 36, 58. 
 Hatchel, John, Q.C., 343, 393. 
 Hayes, Sir Henry, 69. 
 Henn, the family of, 223. 
 Henn, William, 226. 
 Henn, Jonathan, 224, 397. 
 Henn, Thomas Eice, 231. 
 Herbert, letter to Mr., 32. 
 
 Holmes, Eobert, memoir of, 273; 
 anecdote of, 280; defence of 
 J. Mitchel, 280; reply to 
 address, 283; death, 284. 
 
 Holroyd, Judge, 242. 
 
 Horgan, Father Mat, 412. 
 
 Howard, of Corby, Mrs., extracts 
 from her diary, 130. 
 
 Hughes, Baron, 346. 
 
 Humbert, General, 134. 
 
 Hutchinson, Hely, 76. 
 
 Incledon, Charles, 93. 
 Ireland, 28, 51, 97. 
 
 Jackson, J. D., M.P., sketch of, 
 381. 
 
 Jeffrey, Lord, 423. 
 
 Jocelyn, Eobert, 8, 14. 
 
 Johnson, Dr., 32. 
 
 Johnson, case of Judge, 58, 60. 
 
 Joy, Mr. 196. 
 
 Kane, Q.C., Daniel E., 218 ; 
 
 ability as a Judge, 219. 
 Keller, Jerry, sketch of, 214, 364. 
 Kelly, T. H., 350. 
 Killala, Bishop of, 135. 
 Kilwarden, Lord, 191. 
 Kingston, Earl of, romantic case 
 
 of, 17. 
 
 Lane, Eichard, Q.C., 220. 
 Lanesborough, Earl of, 44. 
 Leinster, Duke of, 32, 226, 342. 
 Lifford, Lord, 27, 45. 
 Lloyd, John Thomas, 350, 351. 
 Lucas, Dr., M.P., 17, 27, 48. 
 Lynch, Judge, 345. 
 Lynch, Andrew H., 323. 
 Lynch, Nicholas, 323, 330. 
 
440 
 
 Index, 
 
 Lysaght, Edward, sketcli of, 205, 
 207, 208. 
 
 Macan, Commissioner, 353. 
 MacCarthy, M.P., John G., 47. 
 MacDonagh, Q.C., Francis, 405. 
 MacDonnell, Jfeneas, 115. 
 MacDonnell, Sir Edward, 357. 
 MaclSTally, Leonard, sketch of, 
 
 209. 
 Macklin, 66. 
 McQueen, Colonel, 339. 
 Madden, Dr., 132. 
 Maley, A. J., 431. 
 Mansfield, Lord, 151. 
 Martley, John, 328. 
 Mayne, Judge, 215. 
 Mitchell, John, 229, 339, 340. 
 Mitford, Miss, 423. 
 Molloy, J. S., 349. 
 Monahan, Chief Justice, 198, 333, 
 
 337, 344, 346. 
 Moore, Mr., 159. 
 Moore, Judge, 230, 317. 
 Mountcashel, Earl of, 20. 
 Mountgarrett, Lord, 164, 165. 
 Munster Bar, leaders of, 376. 
 Murphy Laughlin, 8. 
 Murphy, Jeremiah J., Master in 
 
 Chancery, 185, 333, 348. 
 Musgrave, Sir Eichard, 434. 
 
 Nagle, James, 341. 
 JSIagle, David A., 412. 
 Napier, Sir Joseph, Bart., 404. 
 Netterville, Lord, 14. 
 Norbury, John Toler, Lord, 
 
 sketch of, 112. 
 Norfolk, Duke of, 134, 310. 
 Northampton, Lord, 79. 
 "Nosegay, The," satire of, 128; 
 
 trial for, 372. 
 Nottingham, Lord, 78. 
 
 O'Brien, W. S., 331. 
 
 O'Brien, Judge, 345, 347, 375. 
 
 O'Connell, Daniel, 185, 197, 201; 
 sketch of, 232 ; anecdotes of, 
 233 ; dialogue with Biddy 
 Moriarty, 242. 
 
 O'Connell, Phil, anecdotes of, 
 428, 431. 
 
 O'Dwyer, Master, 140. 
 
 O'Flanagan, J. E., 75, 133; 
 letter to, 305. 
 
 0' Grady, see Guillamore. 
 
 O'Grady, Standish Thomas, 191. 
 
 O'Hagan, Lord, 314, 401. 
 
 O'Hea, James, 411. 
 
 O'Loghleus, the, 294. 
 
 O'Loghlen, Sir Michael, 294; 
 his first success, 296; the 
 liberty of the Press, 298; 
 defends his character, 299 ; 
 a Baron of the Exchequer, 
 300; Master of the Eolls, 
 and death, 301. 
 
 O'Loghlen, Sir Colman, Bart., 
 sketch of, 301 ; legal pro- 
 motion, 303; career in Par- 
 liament, 303 ; inaugural ad- 
 dress, 304 ; Judge- Advocate- 
 General, 304; letter from, 
 305 ; sudden death, 306. 
 
 O'Loghlen, Sir Bryan, Bart., 306. 
 
 O'Loghlen, Michael, 306. 
 
 O'Meara, Tom, and Lord Clare, 
 93 ; anecdotes of, 434. 
 
 O'Eafferty, Paddy, 431. 
 
 O'Eeilly, Dr., 356. 
 
 Ormond and Ossory, Earl of, 
 106 ; present to his counsel, 
 1Q7. 
 
 O'Shea, Archdeacon, 150. 
 
 Palles, A. C, 84. 
 Parsons, Commissioner, 177. 
 Parsons, Henry,. 350. 
 Pennefather, the brothers, 288. 
 
Index, 
 
 441 
 
 Pennefatlier, Eichard, sketch of, 
 288 ; success at tlie Bar, 290 ; 
 a Baron of the Excliequer, 
 291; address on resigning, and 
 death, 292. 
 
 Pennefather, Edward, sketch of, 
 293. 
 
 Perrin, Judge, memoir of, 307 ; 
 called to the Bar, 309; in 
 the House of Commons, 310 ; 
 anecdote of, 310 ; on the 
 Bench, 311 ; judicial cha- 
 racter of, 312; anecdotes of, 
 313; death, 315. 
 
 Pigot, Chief Baron, 323, 336, 
 347 ; sketch of, 383 ; his legal 
 career, 383 ; a dilatory Judge, 
 384 ; death, 385. 
 
 Pike, case of Miss, 69. 
 
 Pitt, Eight Hon. W., 80, 82. 
 
 Plunket, Lord, sketch of, 139; 
 anecdotes of, 139, 150. 
 
 Plunket, Q.C., James, 321, 331, 
 344, 347 ; Chief Clerk in the 
 Insolvent Debtors' Court, 351, 
 352, 354, 356. 
 
 Pond, Dr., 159. 
 
 Ponsonby, Eight Hon. George, 
 sketch of, 42. 
 
 Portland, Duke of, Lord Lieu- 
 tenant, 338; remarkable letter 
 to Fox, 29, 43, 44, 78. 
 
 Power scourt, Lord, 134. 
 
 Preston, Mr., 361, 362. 
 
 Queen's visit to Ireland, 342. 
 
 Eedington, Sir Thomas, 333, 
 
 345, 347. 
 Eeilly, Mr. Sheriff, 81, 82. 
 Beynolds, George N., letter to 
 
 Lord Clare, 84. 
 Eichards, Baron, 411. 
 Eights, declaration of, 28. 
 
 Eoche, Sir Boyle, sketch of, 99. 
 Eochfort, Eobert, Speaker, 1. 
 Eoden, Lady, 131. 
 Eowan, A. H., 87, 88. 
 Eussell, Earl, 250. 
 Eussell, Henry, 354. 
 Eutland, Duke of, 81, 82. 
 
 Santry, Lord, trial of, 7. 
 Saurin, Eight Hon. W., sketch 
 
 of, 124. 
 Scannell, Mr., 409. 
 Screw, Monks of the, 55. 
 Segrave, 322. 
 
 Sherlock, M.P., Serjeant, 319, 
 
 320, 357. 
 Shiel, E. L., memoir of, 264 ; 
 
 personal appearance, 266 ; 
 
 first marriage, 268; second, 
 
 270; his oratory, 272. 
 Smith, Sir Michael, 71. 
 Smith, Sir W. C, 300. 
 Smith, T. B. C, 337. 
 Spenser, Edmund, 415. 
 Spread, Major, 183. 
 St. Leger, Major, 66. 
 Stewart, Mr. G., 131. 
 Stock, Bishop, 134. 
 Stock, Serjeant, 347. 
 Sullivan, M.P., Alexander M., 
 
 414. 
 
 Temple, Lord, 41. 
 Tone, T. W., 142, 166. 
 Tracton, Lord, 37. 
 Trinity CoUege, Dublin, 32, 53, 
 163. 
 
 Union opposed, 108, 109, 124, 
 
 129, 130, 135. 
 Union, George lY.'s observation 
 
 on, 157. 
 United Irishmen, 165. 
 
442 
 
 Index, 
 
 Yigne, M., 171. 
 Volunteers, Irish, 77, 79. 
 
 Waggett, William, sketch of, 215. 
 Wales, George, Prince of, 83. 
 Walsh, Professor, 342; sketch 
 
 of, 409. 
 Wallace, Mr., 114. 
 Wellesley, Marquis, 39. 
 West, J. B., 249. 
 Whiteside, Chief Justice, 303 ; 
 
 sketch of, 403. 
 William III., statue of, 27. 
 Windsor, 49. 
 
 Witham Henry, 323. 
 
 Wolfe, Mr., 45. 
 
 Wood, Major, 18. 
 
 Woulfe, Right Hon. Chief Baron, 
 memoir of, 252 ; supports the 
 veto, 257; legal promotion, 
 259; Parliamentary character, 
 260; the Drummond letter, 
 262 ; death, 263. 
 
 Wyse, Sir Thomas, 253, 316. 
 
 Yelverton, see Avonmore. 
 Young, Mr., 31, 48. 
 
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12 
 
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24 
 
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