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: ;-:: HISTORY :,
UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN,
(FOUNDED BY QUEEN ELIZABETH,)
ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT CONDITION,
WITH
13tograpf)tcal Notices of mang IBmtnent JBeti etiuratetr tijmfn.
ILLUSTRATED BY
VIEWS OF ITS BUILDINGS, AND THE ACADEMIC COSTUMES, ETC., WOEN IN THIS VENEBABLE SEAT OF LEAKNINGr.
BY W. B. S. TAYLOR, F.M.A., ETC.,
AND HON. SECRETARY TO THE SOCIETY FOR DIFFUSING INFORMATION UPON THE CRIMINAL CODE OF GREAT BRITAIN.
" Verily 1 say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." MATT. xxvi. 13.
LONDON :
PRINTED FOR T. CADELL : AND J. GUMMING, DUBLIN.
MDCCCXLV.
LONDON : GEORGE WOODFALL AND SON,
ANGEL COURT, SKINNER STREET.
TO
THE EDUCATED CLASSES
OF
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
MY LORDS, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN,
IN offering this tribute of respect to the greatest power in the British Empire — the power established upon, and supported by, highly cultivated human in- tellect, which embraces within its ample scope all that is valuable in thought, and practically useful and agreeable in action, connected with the interests of mankind, the author hopes that his meaning may not be mistaken.
The work now respectfully offered to the notice of those whose powers of judgment in these affairs is supreme, because legitimate, is " A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN;" or, as it might be termed, " A History of the Academic Mind of Ire- land for the last two hundred and fifty years," that being about the space of time which has elapsed since its foundation. And as this is the first regular history of the origin, progress, and present condition, pub- lished, of that seat of classical and scientific learning, — with notices of the illustrious and eminent men who have been educated within its precincts, — and who have set, in the path of youth, the light of an inspiring ex- ample,— inculcating the discipline of thought, and the
DEDICATION.
pleasures of a mental existence; — the author hopes that the subject will plead his excuse for adopting this mode of appeal to the most competent tribunal of literary merit in existence ; especially as he has felt it to be his bounden duty to state some facts inti- mately connected with this history, — and with which he has long been acquainted, — in language, not dif- ficult to be comprehended, but rather opposed to the commonly received and conventional notions, or po- litical mannerism, which have hitherto unhappily prevai'ed upon some important public subjects con- nected with Ireland, also deeply affecting the re- ligious, moral, and humane character of the British people, and into which they should carefully make an investigation ; after which he has no doubt that they will sympathize with the view he has sketched out, of the unworthy policy which has for so many centuries, with one or two short exceptions, been practised to- wards Ireland ; and which is neither consistent with the duties of humanity, nor the mild and peaceful spirit of THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. And the Author earnestly prays that the great class, which he has the honour of addressing, will then strenuously urge upon the notice of the present enlightened government, — which appears to contemplate a change of system, — the propriety and necessity of treating Ireland precisely in the same way, with respect to their feelings, interests, and political condition, as they do Yorkshire, or any other portion of England or Scotland. Such a power taking the field in the cause of Religion, Justice, and Humanity would be irresistible, and that desirable object would be obtained; for it is in such cases, and such only, that the noble truism holds good: Vox Populi, Vox Dei. Then would Ireland become, throughout its entire area, as peaceful and as easily governed, as Kent, Essex, or Surrey ; the Repeal folly would die a natural death, and Irish demagogues would shrink into their natural dimensions; even the art and mystery of Demagogy itself, would fall to a very low discount, instead of being, as it long appears to have been, at a premium. All this great work the edu-
DEDICATION. V
cated classes of this great empire can attain, and ought to obtain, if they hope to hear the joyous sounds, " Come ye blessed children of my Father." Then would educated humanity, not only dry up the orphan?/ and the widows' tears, and make their hearts to sing for joy, and cause that moral desert to blossom as the rose, but they would prevent those political crimes which awfully increase the stock of widows and of orphans in that unhappy land, that Aceldama of po- litical knavery. Then indeed might the humane and just authors of such glorious results be truly said to give "glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, and good-will towards men."
With the most profound respect, I have the honour to be, My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen, Your most devoted,
And very humble servant, WM. BENJ. SARSFIELD TAYLOR,
Hon. Sec. to the Society for Diffusing Information upon Capital Punishment ; Founder and President of the Living Model Academy, &c.
20, Featherstone Buildings, near Gray's-Inn, Dec. 24, 1844.
CONTENTS.
IN consequence of the new mode adopted in this work of placing head-lines to the pages which inform the reader of the subject of each page, this table will only give the general indication of the sub- jects, and direct to the parts where they may readily be found.
Founders of the University, and particulars of Endowment, original Statutes, &c., page 1. — Great changes made in the Constitution of the University, 21.— The New Charter, 23. — Provost Chappie's Character, 25. — His Conduct, 29. — Charges against him, 31. — Irish Rebellion of 1641. — Use of the Liturgy interdicted in College by the English Parliament, 38. — Cromwell's Visit to Ireland. — The late Archbishop Ussher's Library removed into College, 40. — Dr. Jeremy Taylor ap- pointed Vice-Chancellor, 41. — The Duke of Ormond, 43. — A New College proposed, 44. — Tobe named King's College, not proceeded with. —Civil War in Ireland between King William III. and King James II., 49. — University plundered by King James's army, 50. — Intended to destroy the Library, 54. — The Bill of Attainder, 55. — Its atrocious Nature, 57. — First Secular Day celebrated, 58.— The Irish Parlia- ment favours the University, 61. — The House of Commons votes £5,000 to college. — Archbishop King's Divinity Lecture, 65. — Eras- mus Smith's Professorships, 66. — A contested Election in College, 68. — Increase of Students. — Of Buildings, 69. — Bishop Berkeley's Gold Medal, 71.— Parliament votes £20,000 to College for buildings, 72. — Regius Professor of Divinity, 76. — Andrews Professor of As- tronomy.— Another contested Election, 178. — Professorship of Modern Languages, 80. — Litigation with Dr. Andre ws's Relatives, 81. —Provost and Fellows petition Parliament, 92. — Professorship of Astronomy settled, 97- — Gold Medals instituted, 103. — The Donne- Ian Lecture, 104. — Bishop Law's Mathematical Prizes, 105. — Dr. Downe's Divinity Premium, 106. — Dr. Madden's Fellowship Prizes, 109. — His Character, 111. — Parliament demands to see the Univer- sity Charter, 113. — College Lands in Dublin, 115.— Section III. — College deprived of one Representative by the Union, J 16. — Act for a complete-School of Physic, 117. — Section IV. Divinity Lecture, 119. — Recent Improvements in, 122. — Additional Professorships,
123. — Visit of King George IV. to the University, (1821,) 124
Grand Banquet in College, 131. — Chapter IV. Section I. Govern- ment of the University, 136. — Professors, &c., 139. — Section II. Examination at Entrance, 142. — Term Examinations, Exercises, £c., 143. — Exercises for Degrees, 144. — Section III. Regulations for the Undergraduate Examinations, 146. — Fees for each Degree, 149. — Honours and Prizes, 150. — Undergraduate Course, 151. — Modera- torshipsin Mathematics and Physics, 155. — Classical Moderatorships, 156. — Undergraduate Lectures, 157. — Divinity Lectures, 159. —
viii CONTENTS.
Course for the Divinity Examination, 160. — Lectures of the Candi- date year, 162. — Public Lectures, 163. — Lectures of Graduates, 168.
Public Lectures.— Modern Languages, 165. — School of Medicine,
165.— Chemical and Botanical Lectures, 169.— Natural History, 170. — Premiums of Fellowship Examination, 172. — The Primate's He- brew Prizes, 173. — Bishop Law's Prizes. — Gold Medals, 175. — Mo- derators at Degree Examinations, 176. — Medals for Modern Lan- guages, 177. — Prizes in Political Economy; in Biblical Greek, 177.
Chapter V. Section I. Exhibitions, 178. — Divinity Professor's
Premiums, 179. — Archbishop King's Divinity Prizes, 180. — The Royal Scholarships, &c., 181.— Section II., The Elrington Theolo- gical Prize, 185.— The Lloyd Exhibitions, 187.— Professorship of the Irish Language, Regulations, &c., 189. — School of Engineering, 195. — Exhibitions by the Academic Association, 198. — The Histori- cal Society, 199.— Its Revival in 1843, 202.— Choral Society, 204. — College Charges, 210. — University Patronage a, 211.— List of Dona- tions to College, 213. — University Officers, ranks in the, 218. — Bur- gesses returned to Parliament, 220. — Chapter VI. Section I. Pro- vosts of the University, 227.— List of Vice-Provosts, 262. — Offices of Proctor, Censor, Registrars, 263.— Personal Rank in College, 265. — Complete List of Fellows b, 267. — Fellowship Examinations, &c., 287. — Architectural description of the University, 293. — Principal Front. — Museum. — Chapel. — Theatre. — Dining Hall. — Historical Society's Chambers. — Parliament Square. — Section II. The Library. — Fagel Room. — MS. Room, Coins, &c. — Benefactors and Dona- tions to the Library. — To the MS. Library. — Lending Library. — University Press. — Section V. Anatomical Theatre. — The Provost's House, 334. — Improving the Park, &c. — Improved Moral Dis- cipline and Government. — On Irish Students being sent to Eng- lish Universities. — Its absurdity, 340. — Duty of an Historian. — Ab- senteeism very injurious, 347.— The Observatory. — Dr. Brinkley, 349.— Meridian Room, and Circle, 353. — Parallaxes of Fixed Stars, 356. — The Botanic Garden, 357. — Ancient Irish Authors, and State of Learning, in Ireland, 359. — Eminent Persons Educated in Dublin University, their Works, &c., 365. — Conclusion, 501.
• Under this head some of the livings appear vacant, and another has since become so; these are now filled up. The Rev. Thos. M'Neece, A.M., Arch- bishop King's Lecturer in Divinity, has succeeded to Arboe ; and the Rev. Mr. Atkins to Tullyagnish, in the room of Boyton, deceased. The Rev. H. H. Harte holds Drumragh, with Cappagh.
b Since the list referred to was printed, we have received the names of the three Fellows elected in 1844, viz.: Mr. Galbraith, for Dr. Prior, deceased; Mr. M'lvor, for Dr. Phipps, deceased; Mr. Houghton, (under the celibacy repeal Act of 1 840. )
27176
PREFACE.
THE ensuing Work is intended to embrace all the topics of interest connected with the UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN. It will contain, besides an account of the Foundation, and a narrative of the circumstances of its earlier History, Biographical Sketches of the Pre- lates and other eminent men whom it has educated, with a detail of the regular Succession of Provosts and Fellows, and Notices of Benefactions from the earliest period to the present time. It will be also illustrated with coloured Engravings of the Academic Costumes and Vignette Views from Drawings made on the spot, in which the Architecture and Scenery of the College are accurately represented, and the scale, as well as the mechanical appearance of the work, ap- proaches that of " Dyer's Cambridge," except that this is comprised in one volume. The Author takes this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the kind attention of those Members of the University who have facilitated his inquiries, and enabled him to col- lect the requisite materials for so arduous and respons- ible an undertaking; and in committing the result of his labours to the public opinion, he trusts it will be found that the work has been impartially designed, and executed with fidelity.
INTRODUCTION.
THE foundation of most of the Universities of Europe took place at a time when the union of the characters of Scholar and Churchman made the patronage of learning an act of piety, and while there was yet a mystery about learning which gave it, in the opinion of mankind, a preternatural virtue. It was then that the affluent endeavoured to propitiate Heaven by erect- ing an asylum for learned men, even more than to immortalize themselves by inscribing their epitaph upon a monument consecrated to erudition. And thus a devotional sentiment, as much as a desire of fame or the generous love of letters, gave rise to the establish- ment of Colleges and Halls.
Of such institutions some have disappeared, but the greater number still remain, with augmented re- sources and elevated character. Even the very bar- barism that prevailed at the time of their formation has contributed to the solemn feeling which they can at present inspire. It throws round their origin an indistinctness which blends it into the distance of a fabulous and picturesque antiquity, so that the interest which their services to society excites is greatly in- creased by their participation in the little that is known, and the much that is imagined of the events of earlier time, before records were faithful, or history ceased to be romantic. But although the University of Dublin does not lose its origin in that very remote sera, which gives to institutions, as well as to men who have any moral worth, an aspect that commands veneration, yet it has a character not less exalted and estimable than similar establishments which possess tfee van-
xii INTRODUCTION.
tage-ground of earlier history, and claim respect not more on account of their existing merits than by im- memorial prescription. If, however, the materials of the historic narrative of the latter are more attractive than those which supply the account of this compara- tively modern society, it should be recollected that they must be also in some respect less authentic. With their distant sera, what may be called the poetic age of social life is romantically connected, and when facts have perished, the lapse is supplied by the more interesting detail of legendary narration.
It must, however, be confessed that, as monuments of national pride and literary affection, the ancient Universities have the advantage over those of more recent endowment. As it cannot be forgotten that they were once the exclusive depositories of whatever relics of learning had been collected from the ruins of civilized states, and which were by them preserved afloat upon the inundation of barbarism until the waters had subsided ; they have also names asso- ciated with their history antecedent to the existence of the latter, which the civilized world at present recog- nises with gratitude : the fathers of European erudi- tion, whose masculine energies and patriarchal virtues give their memories the expression of simple and au- gust example. Besides, the early light of knowledge in passing through the moral gloom receives a rich- ness favourable for effect, and like the rays that illu- mine the vista of a gothic aisle, seem endued with a more sacred splendour. Thus have those institutions been put under the protection of piety and the imagin- ation ; and accordingly for centuries their dominion was, at the same time, venerable and despotic.
In later years, the merits of Universities have been disputed, and unmitigated censure on the one side, has called up unqualified commendation on the other. They, as at present conducted, are not fairly the sub- ject of either; for, although founded on a principle productive of great utility, they possess some defects of system which narrow the sphere of its operation. When first established, their importance was in-
INTRODUCTION. Xlll
calculable. They collected the learned, who were few, and gave them a compact and honourable confede- racy against the ignorant, who were powerful and many. They gave rise to the plan of collective exertion and emulative industry, which encouraged the energies of the mind and advanced the progress of discovery more than any solitary and detached application : and they supplied a continued growth of cultivated talent for the demands of successive generations.
They treasured the materials of knowledge, saved from the wreck of that moral world which had been passed over by a desolating ignorance, and arranged them as bases of new acquisitions.
Being protected by royal favour and individual opulence, and having a munificent patronage and a chartered authority, they possessed that station which gave to the Body a political importance, and conferred honour upon the individual.
The institution of Degrees was a kind of moral investiture, by which what may be called the manorial rights of learning, and its title to the tribute of public esteem, were solemnly granted and conferred. Thus self-respect, without which nothing great is ever per- formed, was sustained in the mind devoted to learn- ing, at a time when the feudal institutions of society made every man, who was not a soldier, a slave ; and when ancestral bearings had a tyrannic ascendant over the nobility of virtue.
The splendid exception which the piety of religious men, and the wise liberality of monarchs, made in the case of scholars, gave them the stimulus and capability of great performances. They became ardent and indefatigable, because the path of glory was opened to their exertions, and achieved what it is the astonishment of later days could have been com- prised within the limits of human life. They were then far in advance of the age, but their conscious- ness of superiority at length produced relaxation ; they rested to enjoy their triumphs while there were yet other worlds to conquer, and the emoluments which at first enabled them to proceed, gave them, subse-
INTRODUCTION.
quently, opportunities of ease. Society, always in motion, began to gain upon them, and even accident contributed to effect a revolution, by which their in- fallibility was deposed. The invention of Printing, which reduced the monopoly of learning, and the dis- covery of the Compass, that gave rise to an unex- ampled boldness in commercial adventure, threw open sources of information over which they had no con- trol, and animated mankind with a general impulse towards improvement, that gained continually upon the stately and formal advances of scholastic ambition.
Had scholars then observed the altered character of the times, and modelled their institutions to the gradual but certain revolution which the world was silently and grandly undergoing, their dominion would have been confirmed, and the union of lighter litera- ture with practical knowledge and solid erudition, must have made their usefulness complete, and have given, through their means, to the fabric of society, the best disposition of ornament and strength. But scholars, accustomed to recluse and abstracted exer- tions, isolated from the mass of busy and variable society, were little acquainted with the affairs of the world, and knew nothing of the actual influences which, as far as human agency extended, were alter- ing the course of its moral direction.
Within the sacred penetralia of their temple, the priests of the classic altar, engaged in the service of a speculative world, heard, but as a distant sound, the noisy existence of practical man. Antiquity fascinated them, while modern life was not elevated enough even for casual attention. The useful was sacrificed to the curious ; and they disdained as vulgar what was not expressed according to the ancient rules, and clothed in terms hallowed by the usages of erudition. At- tributing too high an influence to the powers which they had, they neglected to avail themselves of agencies still more effective. The intercourse of life, and the tuition of experience, gave to the general mind gradual advancement, while Colleges, remaining stationary, appeared by a mistake of the intellectual
INTRODUCTION. XV
vision, to be retrograding, because the age was pro- gressive in its approaches to various and consummate refinement.
In later times, however, a more liberal spirit has visited, and, to a great extent, reformed the Uni- versities. The imperious intellect of Bacon success- fully rebelled against the tyranny of forms. He erected the presiding power of Reason on the ruins of an erroneous Philosophy, while delusive theories disappeared before the light of his experimental wis- dom. The works of Locke accomplished the over- throw of the despotism erected on the Aristotelian doctrines, which, although they might have been originally useful, his clear reason justly regarded as antiquated.
In the earliest period of the revival of letters, in- deed, it is not surprising that such doctrines held over the learned an uncontrolled dominion. Dissociating, as they did, the mind from the common circumstances of life, they fostered the pride of superiority, and, while speaking the language of a mystical intelligence, upheld the first sentiments which the vulgar enter- tained towards the majesty of learning. Besides, they might have been productive of good, by leading to those acute and subtle distinctions which kept the sagacity exercised and invigorated, in abstract matters, at a time when the actions of the world were so near the simplicity of the barbarous state, as to afford no field for philosophic contemplation. Perhaps, also, the infancy of the human mind required the guidance of a harsher and more formal authority than became its character on approaching maturity, when the in- struction that unbends into an elevated companion- ship must be more consistent with the age of manly attainments. The first efforts of the intellect are on the side of the imagination, and there might have been a necessity for the discipline of a stern and austere tuition to counteract the prevailing fascination of romance. But when the human mind was suf- ficiently strengthened to make a discerning and sober application of its powers, and when the multiplied re-
XVI INTRODUCTION.
lations of human intercourse called into the real actions of society every mental attribute, then, at least, a more benignant and less recluse system of instruction was required, which might combine the theories of the schools with the business of Ynen, and give to reason the support of a chastened imagination, and a liberalized experience.
Accordingly, scholastic studies have been lately ex- tended to embrace much of recent discovery, while their original sternness has been ameliorated by a mixture of instruction more congenial with the spirit of the age, and more agreeable to the progress of im- provement. But in the work of innovation. Colleges, as was to be presumed, have proceeded with rather too much of that jealous circumspection natural to those bodies, whose habits had been so long unaltered as to become almost constitutional. But though some- thing yet remains undone, much has been performed. Among other proofs of relaxation in the ancient dis- cipline, the introduction of the study of the common law at Oxford is the most remarkable. A branch of knowledge which sprang from the unsophisticated sense and every-day experience of mankind, was not, till lately, thought deserving of a place among the sciences which a meditative philosophy had created and arranged. For centuries the Imperial Code, which contained the methodized principles of Roman degeneracy, was cultivated with delight by the learned among a free people, and the baseness of those prin- ciples was overlooked in the admirable economy with which science had arrayed them. It was, therefore, long allowed to burden the memories and expatriate the sentiments of British youth ; but no sooner did the University admit the study of those British laws, the offspring of homely wisdom, operating upon actual occurrence, than genius arose to give their vigorous, but apparently ill-combined, energies unity and order; and although tyranny is of simpler elements than freedom, yet the Commentaries of Blackstone exhibit a system no less lucid and philosophical than that of the Pandects of Justinian. Such an instance may suffice
*
INTRODUCTION. ^ xvii
to show the advantages that must result fronh-^a more intimate connexion, than has yet existed, between the discipline of Colleges, and that information which is most useful in the intercourse of society. It proves that, from such an union, the one would acquire ad- ditional value, and the other receive symmetry and elevation ; and that the business of life, and the science of the schools, would thus have their interests mutually promoted.
That the spirit of improvement in the College of Dublin has, at least, kept pace with that observed in other institutions of the same nature, is evident from the fact, that many important branches of its system, more espically Theology, Mathematics, Ethics, and Astronomy, have received within the last few years a new and most effective arrangement ; the Divinity course, now so greatly admired, being the work of the late Dr. Lloyd, D.D., and the present Bishop (Dr. O'Brien) of Ossory. Mathematics also are placed on a superior foundation, and the present Professor (Dr. M'Cullogh) is justly considered one of the ablest mathematicians in Europe. The Professors of those sciences have introduced the most valuable works relating to them, either recently published, or not before admitted, with a view to make those great departments of knowledge as splendid and useful as the most comprehensive plan of education demands. Lectures also on Natural History, on Political Economy, on Moral Philosophy, on Biblical Greek, on the Irish Language, and on Civil Engineering, have been instituted \ and the Professors appointed to these offices have conducted them in a manner highly beneficial to the student. A Botanical museum has been established, and a Curator appointed; a Pro- fessor of Geology, and likewise a Numismatist. The institution of Moderatorships is also of very recent date ; they rank first and second, and are objects of a high and honest ambition. In each of the three de- partments of Mathematical and Physical science, Ethical science, and Classics, two descriptions of medals are given, wherein formerly only two single
b
Vlll INTRODUCTION.
medals were given, viz., one in science, and one in classics ; and improvements, equally great, have been most liberally added to every other part of the College course, and receive the benefit of innovations equally desirable and judicious ; and the entire system has been beautified, as well as essentially improved, by an effective alliance with that polite literature which diffuses round learning a grace and amenity, and which makes the hoarded treasures of the cloister increase the embellished acquisitions of the world. And to promote this very desirable object, the library has been placed on quite a new footing, and is now one of the best ordered and best furnished to be found in Europe; and to make it so, not less than £18,000 have been expended on it, within the last few years, from the funds of the University.
But, in whatever way its future operation may be directed, it is certain that what has been already done by the University of Dublin affords much matter for encomium. It preserved from extermination that learning which political events had almost driven out of Ireland. It incited to literary pursuits that genius which might have been otherwise lost in obscurity or been actively engaged in a less ingenuous ambition. It collected, from the most distant parts of the island, that class of youth who were to be entrusted with the highest offices in society, and associated them in pre- paration for those duties which it was for the interest and honour of their country that they should harmo- niously fulfil ; and it relieved those of the highest birth from the alternative of either remaining at home in ignorance, or emigrating for instruction. As a subject of literary curiosity, it is true, that extreme an- tiquity does not give it the charm of its perspective; but yet it is not so modern as to be identified with the novelties of the times. It has age enough to make inquiry interesting, and sufficient moral circumstance to render its history instructive. The fame of great men has given it splendour — the tuition of the young mind has created towards it affection. In every walk of liberal exertion, in the pulpit, in the senate, at the
INTRODUCTION. XIX
bar, and in the field, those whom it has educated for distinction are to be found ; and wherever phi- losophy has a name, the labours of those whom it has given to her cause must have a remembrance. But this asylum of letters did not always en- joy that serene and tranquil station which such a name would imply. Its fate sympathized with the vi- cissitudes of the country ; and the political misfor- tunes which disturbed the repose of Ireland, frequently menaced it wdth ruin. Yet it will be found, in pro- portion to its resources, to have given the world as many eminent scholars, divines, and philosophers, as any that have the advantage of the most ancient famo and munificent protection.
The great duties of an historian are selection of authentic materials and fidelity in narration. As to the first, the author wishes to observe that he has consulted all the authorities to which he had access, more especially such as were preserved in the College Library and in the British Museum, and he has not selected any, the character of which was not unques- tionable. As to the second he is not fearful, in the discharge of such a duty, of offending any well-regu- lated understanding. Whenever party prevails, mis- conception may be expected ; but to the malevolent who falsify, and to the prejudiced who will not under- stand, he makes no appeal. Whether within the walls of college or without, he is not conscious of af- fording to one candid mind a cause for ungracious ob- servation ; and he is equally certain that he has not, by any sacrifice of truth, endeavoured to avert the un- just sentence of the illiberal, or conciliate the favour of the interested.
THE
HISTORY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN
CHAPTER I.
SECTION I.
THE state of learning in Ireland, for some time prior to the foundation of the existing University, appears to have been upon the decline. At a very early period, however, the cultivation of the current literature of the age gave to that island some celebrity a. It is not therefore to be inferred, from the lateness of the sera at which their great scholastic institution arose, that the Irish were slow to apprehend the advantages of a liberal education ; on the contrary, their love of learn- ing has been always so general and ardent as to form a part of the national character b ; but the unhappy cir- cumstances of their political history sufficiently ac- count for the depression which literature suffered, and the unprotected state in which it continued to remain until the accession of Elizabeth. That Sovereign, whose policy was of a grand and comprehensive kind, attracted round the throne men whose natural powers and liberal attainments conferred upon her govera-
a Bede, Eccles. Hist. lib. 2, 3, and 4, &c. Alcuin, lib. 2, c. -i. Eric d'Auxerre, lib. 1, &c.
b Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. 8th century, &c.
B
2 HISTORY OF THE
men! the character of security and honour, and ex- tended the benefits of her parental sway to its remotest dependencies. Her statesmen were equally well versed in books and the world ; and to the sentiments of phi- losophers they united the practical qualifications of civil wisdom : hence they were at the same time the patrons of learning and the preservers of an empire. In a reign so distinguished for the labours of a wise and humanizing policy, it is not surprising that the plan of connecting Ireland with the sister kingdom, by an identity of sentiment and an assimilation of moral character, should be adopted ; and that, as a preliminary step, some authentic protection should be given to learning, and a place fixed for the seat of let- ters and the sciences. The lateness of the period was greatly compensated by the splendour of the sera ; and it is no small honour to the University of Dublin, that it was founded by a monarch who saved Europe from the aggression of a Gothic dominion, and confirmed to her people the inestimable benefit of a free press. However, it was not the first collegiate establishment which that country had seen. Long before its exist- ence some attempts had been made to erect one, the last of which was attended with partial success.
We find that, at so early a period as the year 1312, Pope Clement V., then in the seventh year of his ponti- ficate, issued a bull, upon the application of Archbishop Lech, as it was expressed, " for the foundation of a University for Scholars in Dublin ;" but the prema- ture death of the archbishop prevented the plan from being carried into execution. In the year 1320, how- ever, Alexander De Bicknor did actually found an university in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and ob- tained for it, as was at that time necessary, the con- firmation of the reigning pontiff, John XXII. ; but the state of the country having at first precluded the ap- propriation of funds adequate to its maintenance, it soon declined, and was eventually overthrown. Thus at a time when the revival of letters was agitating the elements of genius in Europe, Ireland could only boast the memory of plans devised for instruction, but never
UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN. 3
executed ; or the ruin of such projects as had been realized only to an extent which served to repress the growing spirit of improvement*.
Such was the state of things when .the politicians of the school of Elizabeth assumed the direction of af- fairs. The sagacious views of statesmen often pro- duce the effects of liberality, especially when the so- vereign, however naturally imperious, possesses that genius which understands the dignity and strength of a government traced upon great design and founded in affection, Of the number of celebrated men whose merits had given them a conspicuous place in the dis- cerning approbation of Elizabeth, was Sir John Per rot, who, after many marks of royal favour, was at length appointed to the high and responsible station of lord deputy of Ireland. In that office he had much oppor- tunity of observing the mischievous effects of a policy, which had for centuries overlooked or studiously counteracted the great moral resources of the country, and allowed that spirit of enterprise to waste itself in internal feuds, which, if well directed, would have performed the achievements of civilization, and ex- tended the fame and power of the empire. Being a man of a vigorous benevolence, he made great exer- tions to ameliorate the condition of the people, and hoped, by the removal of unwise distinctions, to give Ireland a common feeling with a nation to which she had not been yet more than politically allied. As England was rapidly rising from comparative rude- ness into commercial wealth, and that state of informa- tion which foreruns a graceful prosperity, he justly concluded that mere acts of parliament could never produce a sincere coalition between two countries in different stages of mental progression, or rather while one was invigorated and the other repressed. It was necessary, for the real union of both, that there should be a sympathy of habits, and a perception of mutual interest ; to produce which, it was essential that Ireland should be wrought upon by the gradual
a In 1568, Sir Henry Sydney attempted, but in vain, to restore De Bicknor's University. — Vide Campion, p. 5. Hollinshed, p. 69.
4 SIR JOHN PERROT'S PLAN.
but effective power of education, and therefore it be- came requisite tbat some institution might be erected to afford encouragement to learned men, and to be- come a privileged place whence they might diffuse through society the benignant influence of liberal in- struction.
The plan which he conceived for carrying his en- lightened purpose into effect, was, to dissolve the Cathe- dral of St. Patrick, and appropriate the revenues to the foundation and maintenance of two Universities ; a plan which, in the impoverished circumstances of the country, he thought more eligible and less subject to delay than any which should contemplate, in the first instance, the aid of public benefaction. There is extant a letter of his to the then lord treasurer of England, which, with a very forcible quaintness of expression, advances the reasons on which he supports the expe- diency of his design, as appears from the following extract : " That whereas there is no place for the Courts of Law, save only an old hall in the castle of Dublin, dangerously placed over the munition of powder, that the cathedral of St. Patrick, being spa- cious and large, would sufficiently serve for all the several Courts, and there being a want of a storehouse for grain and other provisions, and no fit place for it, whereby the waste in victualling is the greater, that the canons' house environing the church might aptly serve for an Inn of Court, to bestow the judges and lawyers in, in exchange for which their Inns of Court, lying commodiously over the river and hard by the bridge for loading and unloading, might as aptly serve for a storehouse and granary. That there being two cathedrals in Dublin, this being dedicated to St. Patrick, and the other to the name of Christ, that St. Patrick's was had in more superstitious reputation than the other, and therefore ought to be dissolved. That the revenues of St. Patrick are now about four thou- sand marks per annum, which would serve to begin the foundation of two Universities, and endow a couple of colleges in them with one hundred pounds per annum a-piece, and the residue may be employed in
SIR JOHN PERROTS PLAN. 5
the reparation of said church and houses, and be an- nexed unto Christ Church by way of augmentation of the choir." His purpose, in the words of Sir James Ware, was, " To have settled six masters in each of the colleges, and one hundred scholars to be instructed by them in learning, civility, and loyalty. The six masters to be chosen out of the most learned residen- tiaries of the said cathedral who were in vicissitudes, three and three of each college to have resided and kept hospitality in the several prebendaries whereunto the cure of souls was annexed ; and those intentions," he adds, " would have been very laudable had they been better formed than on the ruin of so ancient a cathedral."
However, the administration of Sir John Perrot had not the honour of bequeathing this splendid boon to Ireland. He was soon after unfortunate enough to give cause of displeasure to the Queen, and was re- moved before any part of his plan had time to be matured.
The biographer of Sir John Perrot attributes his disgrace to the intrigues of Archbishop Loftus, sup- ported by the powerful interest of his friend the lord treasurer of England ; and states that the archbishop was excited against him, on account of his cupidity having taken alarm, at the proposal for dissolving a cathedral, in which he had great beneficiary interest, by means of long leases and other estates thereof granted to himself and connexions. Other writers, however, contend for the purity of the motive on which his opposition to that statesman was founded ; and refer it to a strong sense of duty in defending his church from an encroachment, which he considered nothing better than an act of profanation. What may have been the real cause of this churchman's ani- mosity towards a man who was certainly of a high character in principle and understanding, is not a sub- ject for discussion here ; it may suffice to know that the fall of the deputy did not cast oblivion over that part of his design which had previously met with the concurrence of every well disposed mind. Elizabeth
ARCHBISHOP LOFTUS'S PLAN,
herself did not lose sight of the project, when, for some reason now only supplied hy conjecture, she de- prived its author of her royal favour.
The archbishop was given to understand that it would be an acceptable service to her Majesty, if he could devise any means of realizing at least some part of the idea of Sir John Perrot, so as to confer the es- sential advantage of it upon the country, at the least possible expense to the public revenues. The affair was accordingly taken up by the archbishop, with the animated zeal that characterized his operations ; and he soon found the means of accomplishing it without trespassing upon the revenues of the church, in de- fending which he had lately evinced so much resolute alacrity. There was at that time in the hands of the corporation of Dublin a piece of ground of no great value, which had formed the " scite, ambit, and pre- cinct" of the Augustinian Monastery of All-Saints, a Priory of Aroasian Canons, founded in the year 1166, by Dermot M'Murrough, king of Leinster. It had been one of those ecclesiastical endowments which in its day possessed important privileges, as the prior en- joyed a seat and suffrage in the House of Lords. Its patronage had been conferred by Pope Honorius III. upon Henry de Londres, Archbishop of Dublin, and his successors ; but at the suppression of monasteries by Henry VIII. the mayor and corporation of that city had become possessed of it by royal grant. The buildings were in ruin, but the ground on which they stood appeared to Loftus as calculated to form a most eligible site for the meditated University.
His Grace no sooner conceived the idea than he hastened to execute it, and immediately prepared to interest his civic brethren in the national work. For that purpose he applied to the mayor and common council, and, on two several occasions, addressed them in elaborate speeches, in which he laid before them the Queen's intention of founding a University in Ire- land j suggested the advantages which a society of the kind would bring to their city, and urged them to seize upon an opportunity so favourable for having it
GENEROSITY OF THE DUBLIN CORPORATION. 7
established near them, by granting a place upon which the building might be immediately erected. His elo- quence is described by an old writer as being very pathetic ; and certainly in the present instance his powers of persuasion did not desert him. The mayor and common council complied with his request, and the monastery of All-Saints and the lands adjoining were in consequence granted for the purpose explained. The greatest obstacle in the way of the undertaking having been thus surmounted, his Grace deputed Henry Ussher, afterwards Archbishop of Armagh, to execute the formal matter of petitioning the Queen for her royal charter, and also for a licence of mortmain, to enable the new corporation to hold the lands granted by the city. The prayer of the petition was, of course, graciously complied with : and a licence of mortmain passed the seals by warrant, dated the 29th December 1590, for the grant of the abbey, which is recited to be of the yearly value of twenty pounds, and for the foundation of a college, by way of corporation, with a power to accept such lands and contributions for the maintenance thereof, as any of her Majesty's subjects would be charitably moved to bestow to the value of four hundred pounds per annum.
On the 3d of March following, letters patent passed in due form, pursuant to the said warrant, by which, first, a college is appointed to be erected to be the mo- ther of a University in a certain place called Allhal- lows near Dublin, for the education, institution and instruction of youth in the arts and faculties, to en- dure for ever. Secondly, that it be called COLLEGIUM SANCT^: ET INDIVIDU^: TRINITATIS JUXTA DUBLIN A SERENISSIMA REGINA ELIZABETHA FUNDATUM. Thirdly, that it consist of ONE PROVOST and THREE FELLOWS, in the name of more, and of THREE SCHO- LARS, in the name of more. Fourthly, that Adam Loftus, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland, be first Provost of the said College, and Henry Ussher, A.M., Luke Challoner, A.M., and Launcelot Moyne, A.B., be the three first Fellows, and Henry Lee, William Daniel, and Stephen White, be
8 TERMS OF THE CHARTER.
the three first Scholars, respectively in the name of more. Fifthly, that the said Provost, Fellows, and Scholars, and their successors for ever, he a hody po- litic and corporate, by the name of THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, AND SCHOLARS OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY, FOUNDED BY QUEEN ELIZABETH, NEAR DUBLIN ; and that they and their successors be, by that name, capable to purchase, take and possess any manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, to them or their successors for ever ; either from the Queen, her heirs and successors, or from any other person, for their support and maintenance, to the value of four hundred pounds ; notwithstanding any statutes of mortmain, (so as such lands be not held of the crown immediately, or in capite, in demesne or service,) and that they may sue or be sued, implead or be impleaded, by such name, in all causes and actions, real, personal, and mixed, and in all courts, spiritual and temporal, in Ireland or elsewhere ; and further, that they have a common seal for transacting their business. Sixthly, that when the vacancy of the provostship shall happen, either by death, resignation, departure, deprivation, or otherwise, that the surviving fellows and their successors, or the major part of them, may elect another fit provost, within three months after such vacancy ; and upon the vacancy of any fellow- ship or scholarship, the provost and surviving* fellows, or the major part of them, may elect one to succeed, in two months after such vacancy. Seventhly, that the provost, fellows, and scholars may make and con- stitute laws and statutes from time to time, for the better government of their body, and may select such out of the statutes of Oxford and Cambridge as they shall judge proper for their purpose ; and especially that nobody else should profess or teach the liberal arts in Ireland, without the Queen's special licence. Eighthly, that the students of the college may have the power of obtaining the degree of bachelor, master, and doctor, and all the arts and faculties at a proper time from their admission; provided that when the fellows thereof should have completed seven years in
LORD BURLEIGH ITS FIRST CHANCELLOR. (J
their office, from the time of their taking their degree of master of arts, that they may be displaced from their fellowship and others elected in their room ; for the benefit of the church and kingdom at large. Ninthly, William Cecil, Baron of Burleigh, Lord Treasurer of England, being appointed by the patent the first CHANCELLOR, it was provided, that from time to time the provost and major part of the fellows should have the election of a chancellor, which chan- cellor or his vice-chancellor, together with the arch- bishop of Dublin, the bishop of Meath, the vice-trea- surer, the treasurer at war, the chief justice of the chief place in Ireland, and the mayor of the city of Dublin, all for the time being, or the major part of them, who shall be called VISITORS, shall determine all strifes, actions and controversies arising in the college, which the provost and major part of the fel- lows cannot compose; and shall have the power to correct and punish all the more grievous offences which shall be left unpunished by the Provost and Fellows. Tenthly, that for obtaining all degrees among themselves, they have the liberty of performing all acts of scholastic exercise in such manner as the Provost and major part of the Fellows should think proper, and for that purpose may elect all necessary officers, whether vice-chancellor, proctor, or proctors. Eleventhly, that the Queen's subjects and officers have full liberty for the granting such aids for the better constituting, maintaining and supporting the said college as they shall think proper. Twelfthly, that all the goods, chattels, lands, tenements, and here- ditaments belonging to the PROVOST, FELLOWS, AND SCHOLARS of the said college, shall be for ever after. ex- empted from all burdens, taxes, talliages, cesses, sub- sidies, exactions, compositions and demands whatso- ever, whether in time of war or peace.
The next consideration was the providing a sum to forward the erection of the buildings, and to meet other charges incidental to the commencement of the newly organized society. But the state of the country was not at that time very favourable to the further-
10 FIRST STUDENTS ADMITTED IN 1593.
ance of benevolent designs ; it had been so long a prey to internal dissensions, that its habits were rendered warlike, as its resources were impoverished; there was neither industry among the humble, nor riches with the great, and former governments, though aware that the causes of animosity between the English settlers and the natives gave rise to frightful disorders, rather fomented than suppressed them, either from an error in policy or an avarice of confiscation. Just at this time, indeed, there was an apparent tranquillity, but it was only the stillness of that intense alarm which foreruns the crisis of some commotion.
However, the promoters of this national work were not deterred from making an appeal to the public bounty, and accordingly, on the llth of March, 1591, the lord deputy Fitzwilliam and the privy council is- sued circular letters to the principal gentlemen of the counties, requesting their benevolent assistance in the execution of so laudable an undertaking. There were likewise special persons deputed into every barony in the kingdom, furnished with the names of those to whom it would be proper to apply, so earnestly did government interest itself in the promotion of this great object. The amount of the subscription procured by those means does not appear, but it may be in- ferred that it was not very considerable, from the re- turns of Robert Taaffe, one of the persons delegated on that embassy of solicitation, who complains of the prevalent inability which he found, even among those who were well disposed towards the British govern- ment, to afford a liberal compliance with his request.
Notwithstanding the sums contributed were far be- low what, under happier circumstances of society, might have been expected, yet that did not prevent the commencement and rapid execution of the work. On the 13th of March, 1591, the first stone of Tri- nity College, Dublin, was laid with great solemnity, by Thomas Smyth, mayor of the city, and on the 9th of January, 1593, the first students were admitted. But trouble soon overcast a beginning so auspicious. The plan of the University, which had been so long
NECESSITIES OF THE UNIVERSITY. 11
projected, before the conflict of rival interests or the state of public affairs allowed it to take a real form, seemed to have advanced thus far only to make its failure more severely remembered. Civil war, as de- structive as that barbarous violence which had often before caused history to mourn over lands once emi- nent for science and politeness, threatened to over- throw this temple of learning in the moment of its dedication : so that erected, as it was, to promote the moral interests of the country, it appeared to be des- tined only to partake of her calamities, and augment the ruin which it was intended to avert.
The endowments, of which it had become possessed by the munificence of its illustrious founder, lay chiefly in the province of Munster, where the rebellion of Tyrone now raged with implacable fury, and where were seen all the circumstances of armed contention, except discipline and the laws of war. In such a state of things, when the fierceness of party breathed nothing but ravage and desolation, the revenues of the college were rendered nugatory ; and the foundation must have been as effectually dissolved, as if its charter had been rescinded, were it not for the anxious in- terest which Archbishop Loftus evinced towards its welfare. That spirited prelate happened at the time to be one of the lords justices, on whom the civil go- vernment of Ireland devolved ; and the authority of his high station enabled him, without much delay, to realize his beneficent intentions. He made the ne- cessities of the University a consideration of state, and the urgency of the crisis was met by a prompt appli- cation of relief, which secured it from the immediate shock of perilous events. The relief allowed by the lords justices, and expressed to be in regard of the decay of the revenues of the college, in those times of rebellion, and because the same was of her Majesty's princely foundation, consisted in the grant of a " con- cordatum of forty pounds per annum, and an allow- ance of six dead payes, (morte payes,) out of such cheques as should be imposed on her Majesty's army." Afterwards, in 1597> the said grant was recited by
12 ELIZABETH'S INTEREST IN ITS BEHALF.
the celebrated and unfortunate Earl of Essex, then the lord lieutenant of Ireland, who confirmed the same, and ordered it to be continued during pleasure ; the concordatum of forty pounds to be paid quarterly, and the dead payes, amounting to upwards of seventy pounds a year, to be paid every month.
In November of the same year, Archbishop Loftus and Sir G. Carey being then lords justices, the fel- lows and corporation of the college petitioned them for present relief; setting forth the general decay of the college rents in the then general revolt, whereby they were reduced to great necessity, and the means of holding their society together almost exhausted. This petition succeeded in procuring them a warrant on the 30th of that month, for the payment of a weekly stipend of forty shillings, which, in the words of a curious document that shews the extreme ingenuity of the financiers of that day, was to arise out of the en- tertainment appointed for a Cannoneer ; to continue until the vice- treasurer should receive a warrant to the contrary. On the 29th of January, the lords justices and council issued another concordatum in behalf of the college, reciting, that forasmuch as by several lord deputies, lord justices, and late lord lieutenant, there has been granted to the provost and some of the fel- lows of Trinity College, Dublin, a concordatum of forty pounds yearly, for keeping a public and standing lecture unto the State ; and that by the death of Mathias Holmes, late fellow of the College, the same place is fallen void ; they therefore order, that the said college should have, as of her Majesty's bounty, for the better maintenance of the provost and to the use aforementioned, the said sum of forty pounds yearly, to be paid for them out of such fines, imposts of wines, and other casualties, as should come to the vice-treasurer's hands, to be paid, until contrary di- rections be issued. The following year her Majesty took the interest of the learned body into her own special consideration ; and by privy seal, dated the 3d of April, she not only confirmed the foregoing grants, but made an additional one, which increased the
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S BOUNTY. 13
amount of her former benefactions by two hundred pounds per annum ; " being informed," says her Ma- jesty, " by letters from Ireland to our council here, that the college is in danger to be dissolved, the main- tenance being entirely taken away, and no benefit re- ceived of our late grant of concealments, in regard of the troubles ; and that, as you have signified, you have supplied them with some means of their continu- ance together, until our pleasure be signified on that behalf: We are pleased, out of our princely care for the maintenance of that college, being of our founda- tion^ and for the establishing so great a means of in- struction for our people, to grant unto the provost, fellows and scholars, both a confirmation and continu- ance of those means which you have formerly granted unto them, and likewise a further supply of two hundred pounds per annum, out of the wards, liveries, reliefs, intrusions, alienations, fines, and other casual- ties, which shall come to our hands, (our impost reve- nue of our lands there, and treasures sent from hence only excepted,) to be paid quarterly, and to be con- tinued until they shall enjoy the benefit of our former grant of concealments ; and further, that our said grant be paid to the college before any concordatum or grant heretofore passed, or hereafter to be passed, out of any part of the aforesaid casualties ; and if the said casualties do not amount to two hundred pounds in any one year, by reason of the troubles, then that the said college be answered the arrearages out of the casualties which shall come to our hands the next year, and so, from time to time, until they shall receive the full benefit of the grant." And as an immediate consequence of these aids, the first commencement was held in this college, on the 24th of February, 1601, (just eight years from its opening,) when a number of the Fellows and Students commenced Doctors, Masters, or Bachelors in the various facul- ties of divinity, law, and medicine.
Thus were the dangers which menaced the Uni- versity in its earliest existence most happily averted, and its security, in the hour of imminent peril, in-
14 ORIGIN OF THE LIBRARY.
sured by a monarch, whose great genius enhanced the honour of the protection. The benignant example of the Queen was not lost upon succeeding monarchs. James I., a prince ambitious of the title of scholar, settled on the college a pension of four hundred pounds, payable out of the Exchequer ; and also endowed it with large estates in the province of Ulster, a portion of Ireland on which he exerted his talents for experi- mental legislation with a confidence not discredited by the event.
SECTION II.
The library, which forms so splendid a part of the collegiate establishment, was commenced in the year 1603, and originated in a circumstance, to which in the history of no other nation is there any thing simi- lar. In that year, the affairs of Ireland having been somewhat composed, by the suppression of Tyrone's rebellion, and the expulsion of the Spaniards from Kin- sale, the army determined upon doing some noble act, which might be a continual memorial of the gallantry of military men, and at the same time expressive of their own respect for the interests of learning and reli- gion. With such a view they raised among themselves the sum of one thousand eight hundred pounds, in those days a very great subscription, and then resolved that Dr. Challoner and Mr. James Ussher should have the said sum paid into their hands for the purchase of such books as they might think most suitable to the forma- tion of a library, to be annexed for ever to the newly created University of Dublin, as a testimony of their esteem for literature, and regard for the improvement of the youth of Ireland. The learned persons who were delegated upon so honourable a mission under- took it with pleasure, and performed it with that talent and assiduity which justified the selection. They came over to England for the purpose of better discharging their trust, where they obtained the best works that were to be met with, in the most important depart- ments of knowledge, and procuring others of a valu-
COLLEGE SENDS MEMBERS TO PARLIAMENT. 15
able character from foreign countries, laid the found- ation of that long accumulated and magnificent pile of various literature, which has given to the University the most useful and admirable of its attractions. It is worthy of observation, that at the same juncture, Sir Thomas Bodley was in London, making similar purchases for his newly instituted library at Oxford ; between him and the Irish gentlemen a friendly inter- course took place, by which the objects of both were reciprocally promoted ; so that the famous Bodleian library, and that of the University of Dublin, the two most superb monuments of learning in the empire, commenced at the same time, and under the auspi- cious circumstance of enlightened co-operation. When we recollect how much literature suffered from the barbarous spirit with which ancient war was waged, and from the casualties which have attended it at all times ; when we call to mind the many instances of all that is sacred and venerable being involved in the promiscuous ruin of its course, whether impelled by ferocity, or a more disciplined ambition, and when we consider how often the agents of its evils partake of its character, and become regardless of the arts of peace from habits of inhuman excitation, we shall view with a peculiar sentiment this act of the Irish army who consecrated the offerings of victory to the humanizing spirit of improvement. The long col- lected and stupendous mass of Alexandrian know- ledge, representing the various intellect and genius of civilized man, was as fatally visited by the fortunes of the accomplished Julius, as by the exterminating ignorance of a barbarian caliph, while the military origin of the library of Dublin College forms a sin- gular and beautiful contrast with those events of war which history has viewed through unaffected tears, and with indignant remembrance.
In the year 1614, the University was raised to an important political rank, by obtaining the privilege of sending two members to parliament ; the elective franchise being vested in the provost, fellows, and scholars as the members of the corporation for the
16 FIRST PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT, (1616.)
time being. It continued to exert that privilege with little interruption for nearly two centuries, and most usually elected men of eminent qualifications, but by the Act of Union it was limited to a single re- presentativea. The enlightened character and high feeling of the electors, make it an object worthy the ambition of the first talents and scholarship to contend for the honour of their suffrages ; it is therefore often severely and interestingly contested, and never con- ferred but upon such intellectual claims as preserve the value of the distinction. The following resolution is taken from the journals of the Irish House of Com- mons, and was entered in the second session of that parliament, whose sittings commenced in Dublin in the year 1613, and is introduced here on account of its recognising the charter of enfranchisement, as re- cently bestowed. "It is agreed (15 Oct. 1614) that warrants may be awarded from the house to the rolls for bringing in unto the said committee, on Monday next in the afternoon at two of the clock, the fiants and enrolments of two several charters, viz. one lately granted to the college near Dublin, the other to the town of Newcastle near Lyons, enabling them to send burgesses to the parliament ; and the officers of the rolls to be required to attend the said committee from time to time during the sessions, with such other new charters as they shall desire to peruse or see, con- cerning the sending of burgesses to parliament." — Com. Journ. Vol. I. p. 15.
The first public notice we can find of the cele- bration of a Commencement in this college took place, as we have stated, in February, 1601. A full descrip- tion of another of these important ceremonies appears in a very scarce work, printed in Dublin, A.D. 177^» entitled, " Desiderata CuriosaB."
It is therein stated, that " On the 18th of August, 1616, there was a great Commencement holden in the
a By the Act of the 2nd of King William IV., called " The Re- form Act," the privilege of returning two representatives to the Imperial Parliament, has been restored to this University.
FIRST PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT, (1616.) 17
University of Dublin," but tbe acts of disputation were not, as it appears, performed within the college, " because the rooms were very small," but in the choir of St. Patrick's Cathedral, according to the fol- lowing arrangements :
The number of doctors that proceeded that day were, in theology, five, videlicet :
" Dr. Jones, Lord Chancellor, and ") -R r«
Dr. King, Bishop of Elphin. / **? '
Dr. Ussher, ^
Dr. Richardson, and vln public disputation.
Dr. Walsh. )
Bachelors of Divinity, 3.
Masters of the Arts," 15.
Bachelors of the Arts, 17. — Being in all 38 Gra- duates that commenced, with two others incorporated."
It is evident that the proceedings on this occasion did excite considerable public attention, and appear to have been conducted with much pageantry, as we find them described in the above work, the style of which displays the quaintness of that period, although the description is very graphic. It goes on to say —
" The manner of this Commencement was accom- plished in the following order : — First, Dr. Hampton, Lord Archbishop of Ardmagh and ' Primate of all Ireland,' who having many years before proceeded Doctor in Theology, in the University of Cambridge, was now, at this Commencement, incorporated into the University of Dublin, and was senior Doctor and mo- derator of theological acts in the commencement : so, upon the day appointed, (18th of August,) the said Dr. Hampton, Lord Primate, together with the Pro- vost, Fellows, and Scholars of the House, passed from the College, through the city of Dublin, in very stately order, for the Lord Primate, and other ancient doctors, and also those that were to proceed doctors, were every one attired in scarlet robes with doctors' hoods : also the Bachelors of Divinity, the Masters and Bachelors of Arts, were attired in such other scholar- like attire as appertained to them — which made a very
c
18 FIRST PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT, (1616.)
beautiful appearance to the sight of all men ; and they were farther graced with the presence of the Lord Deputy, the Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Ridgeway, Knt., Treasurer, and the Treasurer at War, with divers other of the council who followed after them, and sate in the cathedral to hear their disputations and discourses, which were performed as followeth :
" First, on entering St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Masters and Bachelors of Arts sat down in the places appointed for them, each according to his degree. Likewise, Dr. Dunne, being a Doctor in the Civil Law, and Vice-Chancellor of the University, took his place which was appointed for him in the choir, — and then Mr. Anthony Martin, Proctor for the College, as- cended up into one of the pulpits, as Moderator of the Philosophical Acts ; and the Lord Primate, who was Father for the day, of the Theological Acts, with those three who were to proceed in the public disputa- tion, as also two Bachelors of Divinity, did ascend up to their places which were appointed for them on the right side of the choir ; and when the Lord Deputy, and the Lord Chancellor, and the Council were placed, and all things in good order, Dr. Dunne, the Vice- Chancellor began an oration in Latin, being as an in- troduction into all the Acts of that day's dispensation, which he performed learnedly ; and when he had ended his oration, the Primate began another, also in Latin, commencing the Act of Divinity, and those that were to commence doctor.
" This oration contained a long discourse, in which he administered four academical consequences as here do follow in order :
" 1st. He set them in his chair.
" 2nd. He gave them square caps.
*' 3rd. He delivered to them the Bible.
" 4th. He put rings upon their fingers.
" These ceremonies were ministered separately to each of them. First, to Dr. Ussher, then to Dr. Richardson, and lastly to Dr. Walsh. The Lord Primate expounding to them the signification of each ceremony.
FIRST PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT, (1616.) 19
" This manner of commencement was never used in Ireland before this time.
" Now all things being thus performed by the Lord Primate, Dr. Ussher went down into the choir, and ascended up into one of the pulpits, where he made a sermon-like oration upon the text, ' Hoc est corpus meum,' and after a long discourse thereon, the other two doctors (Richardson and Walsh) disputed with Dr. Ussher upon the same point ; in which disputa- tion, the Lord Primate, who was Father of the Theo- logical Acts, was also Moderator ; and having finished the Act, they 'rose up and returned to Trinity College, where a stately dinner was provided for the Lord Deputy and Council, and thus were completed all things concerning the acts of commencement in the University of Dublin, to their high credit and com- mendation.
" The total sum of all the graduates that have com- menced in this University from the first foundation thereof to this present year, 1616, inclusive, contain- ing the space of 23 years, viz. — In Divinity, 7 > in Civil Law, 1 ; in Physic, 1 ; Bachelors in Theology, 7 ; Masters of Arts, 38 ; Bachelors of Arts, 53 ; Bachelors of Music, 2. Total graduates, 109.
" Besides 1 Doctor and 2 Masters of Arts who were incorporated."
The account closes with a pious wish, that as Alma Mater had brought forth such a learned offspring in her early years, " she would, in a more mature period, (God blessing her increase,) produce multitudes of learned children, who shall flourish in the church, and commonwealth, to the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian religion."
SECTION III.
Referring to the list of members and students no- ticed in the foregoing section, who commenced doctors and bachelors of divinity, it is evident that a lecture- ship in divinity must have existed in the college from
20 PROFESSORSHIPS.
the time of its foundation. Yet it is also certain that it did not, for many years, assume the character of a regular university professorship ; an anomaly that may only be accounted for by the very slender condition of the collegiate funds, which could not afford it a proper endowment ; yet, under these circumstances, we find Dr. Luke Challoner, recorded as the first Divinity Lecturer ; and to him succeeded, in 1607, Dr. James Ussher, afterwards Archbishop of Ardmagh, &c. That distinguished prelate held the theological chair until he was made Bishop of Meath, in 1621, when Dr. Samuel Ward, of Ipswich, was appointed to it ; and thus there was a regular succession of divinity lec- turers, excepting about twenty years, during the govern- ment of " The Commonwealth." It was not, however, until 1674, that this important professorship was pro- perly endowed. This was done by letters patent is- sued expressly for that purpose by King Charles II., directing that certain lands, being a part of those then given to the college by the Act of Settlement, should be allocated for that purpose ; and the professor was then recognised by the royal letter as an officer of the University, with all the privileges connected with the office. Considerable changes and improvements have since been made in this professorship, in the reign of King George III., as we shall notice in their chrono- logical order.
The professorship of Law does not appear to have had any regular endowment or salary for its support, any more than the foregoing professorship. By the original statutes of the University " the study of the law" had been provided for, (Stat. Coll. cap. xviii.) By this it was enacted, that " one of the Fellows should devote himself to the profession of the Law," and the Fellow so appointed was bound to deliver, within two years after his election, a lecture in that faculty, once in each term.
It was not until A.D. 1668, that this professorship was established as it now stands by letters patent from King Charles II., which granted a proper en- dowment out of the lands granted by Act of Settle-
THE ORIGINAL CHARTER. 21
ment, to the officer, " as Regius Professor of the Canon and Civil Laws ;" when Dr. Henry Styles, LL.D., was elected the first professor under the new regulation.
The professorship of Medicine, the third faculty taught here, appears to have originally existed under similar circumstances to those of Divinity and Law ; and it is somewhat remarkable, that there does not ap- pear ever to have existed any charter, or royal letter, to establish in this institution a Regius Professorship of Medicine, distinct from the Medical Fellowship. Al- though, as we have seen, the Law Fellowship was recognised by the letter of King Charles II. Yet it cannot reasonably be doubted that the persons de- scribed in the college statutes as Jurista and Medicus, were the proper and acknowledged professors of these faculties ; and this view of the case is fully corro- borated by the statutes of Bishop Bedell, where we find these University Officers invariably styled Pro- Jessores Jurisprudentice et Medicince.
With regard to the offices of " Regius Professor of Physic," and the Medical Fellowship, they appear to have been originally held by one person until the Re- storation, ever since which period, these two places have been kept distinct, and except in two instances, namely, those of Dr. Stearne, M.D., and Dr. Hel- sham, M.D., they never have been held by the same person.
In the year 1637 the constitution of the college un- derwent essential alterations. By the original charter, several visitors had been appointed with concurrent authority, to correct abuses of magnitude, to deter- mine causes of grave and serious nature, and to act as a court of appeal from the ordinary scholastic tribunal of the provost and board. But it was now found that the number of visitors, instead of accelerating busi- ness, tended to impede it, and that the opinion which was intended to be decisive, only transferred conten- tion to a more elevated ground. The principal cause of collegiate dispute and animosity, at that time, was the election of provost, which by charter devolved on the fellows, or the majority of them. While they
22 THE NEW CHARTER.
were very few, this privilege did not occasion any serious inconvenience, but when from three, their ori- ginal number, they increased to seven, the excitement towards power introduced the spirit of party ; and philosophers were induced to pass the limits of their accomplishments to maintain an ill-graced rivalry in the arts of political intrigue. But there was another source of contention ; the frequent and fatal visita- tions to which the metropolis was subject in those times from the plague, made the fellows provide against any great or sudden diminution of their number by the appointment of a sort of associate fel- lows, called probationers, who were to succeed, by seniority, to the vacant fellowships as they might oc- cur. By this plan there were always persons of ac- credited qualifications to supply such losses in the superior ranks of the corporation, as from remaining unfilled, would be productive of inconvenience or delay to the collegiate proceedings. Those probationers were nine in number ; and in course of time, not being content with expectancy founded upon casual- ties, began to assume the name, and insist upon en- joying the privileges of fellow ; especially that im- portant one of a vote in the election of provost. In the propriety of those claims, the regular fellows could not be persuaded to acquiesce ; and as the former per- sisted in their demands, the college was degraded into an arena of disputed rights and controverted decisions. Whether a sincere desire to deliver the college from the indecorous flame of cabal and disquietude, or whether a motive of personal interest actuated the provost on this occasion, let other facts decide, but it is certain that by his exertions recourse was had to the sovereign power ; and the corporation in consequence surren- dered its charter into the hands of the king, and re- ceived a new one, accompanied by a body of statutes framed by Archbishop Laud, then chancellor, upon the model of the existing codes of the Cambridge Uni- versity. Those statutes endeavoured to give the liti- gated point a final adjustment, as will best appear by a comparative view of the new and old constitution, as to their several differences, in order.
THE NEW CHARTER. 23
In the First place, by the original charter, the right of electing a provost had been conferred upon the fellows, or the majority of them. By the new charter that great cause of contention was removed, as the appointment was reserved to the crown, and the office made dona- tive. Secondly^ by the first charter the office had been limited to seven years, from the time of com- mencing Master of Arts. By the second charter, it was enlarged to an optional tenancy for life. Thirdly, according to the first charter, the number of fellows was three, subsequently increased to seven, and they of equal authority. By the new charter, the number of fellows was augmented to sixteen, by which arrange- ment the seven former fellows and the nine proba- tioners were recognised under the distinguishing names of Senior and Junior Fellows. To the former the government of the college was exclusively committed under the visitatorial power, while the duty of the latter was to prepare pupils for the quarterly examin- ations ; and their right was, to succeed in turn to the vacancies as they occurred at the senior board. Fourthly^ by the first charter it had been provided, that, on a vacancy of a fellowship or scholarship, the place should be filled up within the two months en- suing ; and the right of election in both instances had been vested in the provost and the majority of the fellows. The new charter ordained, that, on the va- cancy of a senior fellowship, the same should be sup- plied within three days after it was made known, by a majority or equal number of the surviving senior fellows, together with the provost ; and, upon the va- cancy of a junior fellowship, or scholarship, that the same should be filled up by the provost and senior fellows, or the major part of them, on the Monday after Trinity Sunday ensuing. Fifthly, by the first charter, the provost and senior fellows had the power to frame laws from time to time, for the better govern- ment of the college ; and to incorporate with their code, or modify to its provisions, such as they thought proper to select for the purpose, from among those of Cambridge and Oxford. By the new charter, the
24 THE NEW CHARTER.
king, with the consent of the provost, fellows, and scholars, reserved the power to himself; the former statutes were declared null and void, and a new code (as has been mentioned) given them by their royal patron. But, in cases omitted to be provided for in the new statutes, a power was given to the provost and the major part of the senior fellows, to institute laws, which, if confirmed by the visitors, and not re- pugnant to those presented by the king, should remain in force until the provost and major part of the senior fellows, with consent of the visitors, should think pro- per to rescind them. Sixthly, the mortmain licence was enlarged to two hundred pounds per annum be- yond what the former licence had authorized. Se- venthly, by the first constitution, the visitatorial power had been divided among several parties, whereby its efficacy was destroyed, namely, the chancellor, or vice- chancellor, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishop of Meath, the vice-treasurer, treasurer of war, the chief justice of the King's Bench, and the mayor of the city of Dublin, all for the time being. By the new constitution, that power was thought to be rendered more prompt and efficient by being confined to the chancellor, or his vice-chancellor, and the Archbishop of Dublin ; though certainly the removal of the mayor from that honour was a most ungracious return for what the college owed to civic liberality. The charter of Charles also recites that part of the charter of Eli- zabeth, which granted to the college an immunity from all taxes, talliages, cesses, subsidies, and feudal ser- vices whatsoever, and gives it full confirmation.
Some important changes were also made in the col- lege educational system. The Irish, Hebrew, and Mathematical lectures, which existed from the founda- tion of the institution, were abolished, but to soften this matter somewhat, it was ordered by statute, that one of the senior fellows should be annually elected (20th of November) to the office of Greek Lecturer ; and who was bound to give three lectures in the Hall during each term, to all Bachelors in Arts and scholars of the sophister classes.
PROVOST CHAPPELLS CHARACTER. 25
Thus Charles, with the assistance of Laud, legislated for the University of Dublin, and may he considered its second founder, as he gave it a constitution by which its entire economy was in a great measure re- modelled ; in some instances indeed for the better, but in others, perhaps, his code evinced too much of a monastic and arbitrary spirit. It was not received with general satisfaction in college, though the pro- vost was decidedly its advocate ; he was indeed sus- pected of having been personally active in carrying the most objectionable parts of the new regulations, from a desire of rendering his power more independ- ent than was compatible with the welfare of a society which had never before been habituated to an unqua- lified obedience ; however that may be, his subsequent conduct far transgressed the bounds even of his newly created authority, and gave rise to proceedings which make it necessary to speak of him, and the transactions of his time, somewhat at large.
In the year 1634, the Reverend William Chappell, who had been educated in Christ's College, Cam- bridge, was appointed provost, and continued to ad- minister that office unsworn until the year 1637, when the new statutes were introduced, on which occasion he took the oath prescribed, and proceeded to exer- cise his increased powers with renovated activity. He was a man of imperious temper, and of some fame for controversial acuteness and acrimony ; but was rather a rigorous disciplinarian than a friend to merit, or a conscientious protector of learning. He was more solicitous for his own elevation than for that of the society over which he did not so truly preside as do- mineer. His love of wealth was as vehement as his eagerness for power ; the former led him to commit acts inconsistent with solemn duties, and to injure the property of which he should have been the vigilant guardian ; the latter led him to innovate imtempe- rately in order to prove his authority transcendant : by means of both he excited in college some alarm but more aversion, and multiplied enemies rather than created slaves ; accordingly complaints were preferred
26 THE IRISH, HEBREW, AND
against him, and his conduct became a subject for parliamentary inquiry.
Just before the foundation of the University, Ireland, as has been observed, was destitute of the means of public instruction ; the great mass of the Irish people had no intercourse with the English settlers, or their descendants : dissimilar in temperament and habits, and still more removed by mutual acts of injury and reprisal, the former preserved their language as a distinct mark of total separation. It was in vain to enact penal statutes to compel its disuse, the attach- ment which was before affectionate, then became de- votional ; they regarded the language obtruded upon them as the last badge of debasement, while their own appeared to them in all the sacred character of independence, and, like a proscribed faith, was con- secrated by adversity. It was therefore made a point, soon after the erection of the college, to encourage the natives to receive the advantages of a liberal edu- cation, that they might be the most efficient instru- ments of diffusing knowledge among their country- men ; and a lecture was even established for teaching the Irish language, that the students from those parts of the island where it had been disused, might be the better enabled to instruct those who adhered to their former habits and prejudices with affectionate and sullen resolution. At all events it was to be presumed that the language itself would gain them a favourable audience, and that the opinions it conveyed would be more intelligible and persuasive, than if offered through the medium of one but little known, and less respected. The good policy of the measure is said to have been evident, from the success which attended the exertions of those who pursued that mode of making the result of prejudice counteract its cause, by using it as the vehicle for that knowledge which produces the same liberal effects in every language in which it can gain the attention of the human mind. The statute of the 28th of Henry VI II., went upon a different principle, and one congenial with the less civilized character of its times, when it enacted,
MATHEMATICAL LECTURES SUPPRESSED. 27
" that all who would acknowledge themselves his highness' s true and faithful subjects should speak the English tongue." " A policy," says an old writer, " the goodness of which is not very discernible, par- ticularly when we consider how stiffly the nation ad- hered to their original language ; yet this lecture was undoubtedly a most benevolent mode to find an ex- pedient for informing them of the truth ; besides, it was quite consistent with the dignity of an University to chirish every legitimate mode of advancing the in- terests of learning." The conduct of England itself, in a ' similar case, furnishes a memorable warning against the principle of forcing upon a people, how- ever subdued, a language alien to their feelings ; and proves, that violent expedients to destroy national dis- tinctions are not so effective as the milder measures which lead to a gradual and mental conformity. There was a time when the Norman French was the language of the court and of the law ; but the people of England indignantly rejected its imposition in the same degree that it was imperiously enforced. Had William endeavoured to enlighten and conciliate, he might in time have succeeded, but his means were not as judicious as his intentions were ardent ; and the consequence has been, that the Norman tongue, and the dynasty of the conqueror, are extinct, but the language which he proscribed has become im- mortal.
It was one of the causes of complaint against the provost, that he suppressed the lecture intended for the purpose described ; he also abolished the Hebrew and Mathematical lectures, and made so many other essential and arbitrary innovations in the academic system, that the friends of the University felt them- selves called upon to make an effort to prevent its total subversion, as it was daily becoming more and more enfeebled in literary spirit, and was on the verge of being fatally abased in reputation ; but what was more criminal, he violated his oath by holding the provostship after he was elevated to the mitre, and
28 PARLIAMENTARY ENQUIRY
leased college lands, to the disadvantage of the cor- porate interests, for his own private emolument.
The information which was laid before the House of Commons, occasioned a serious investigation ; a committee was therefore appointed for the purpose of examining into the truth of the charges, and report- ing upon the state of the University. The proceed- ings which followed shew the great importance which parliament justly attached to the interests of the college, and also prove to what an almost ruinous state it was reduced by the man whose cupidity and violence was paramount to all that is sacred in duty, and exalted in ambition. The following account of the proceed- ings is extracted from the journals of the Irish House of Commons, and contain the several entries relating to the case in their regular order.
" It is ordered (23 Feb. 1640) that the persons un- dernamed shall take into their serious consideration, all matters whatsoever concerning the college, and touching the reformation of the grievances thereof; and the said committee to divide themselves into as many sub-committees as they please, who are to sit upon the same when and where they think proper.
" Whereas (27 Feb. 1640) by an order dated the 23rd of February, a select committee was appointed by this house, to repair to the college of Dublin, as well for examining all charters granted, and patents belonging to said college, as statutes and ordi- nances now of force therein, and likewise for hearing and considering of all grievances and innovations by disorderly government introduced there ; according to which order the said committee repaired unto the said college, and intimated unto the provost and fellows thereof the effect of the said order, expecting to have received a relation of grievances from some of the students ; but information was given to several of the said committee that there was, amongst other statutes there established, a statute lately made, whereby it is ordered, ' That if any student or mem- her of that society shall offer to exhibit any complaint
ON CHAPPELL'S CONDUCT.
concerning the misgovernment, or least grievance of the said house to any other than the provost and fellows of the same, that he or they so complaining shall forthwith he suspended or expulsed ;' by which means none of the said students dare exhibit any complaint of their grievances : it is therefore this day ordered, that if any such statute there be, the same shall be in this particular void and of no effect as if no such statute had been made ; and that it shall be free for any of the said scholars, students, or others, to pre- sent and exhibit to the said committee all manner of grievance concerning the misgovernment there or any manner of rights belonging to the said college, either wrongfully detained or unjustly made away ; and it is further ordered, that no student whatever shall suffer under the penalty of that or any other statute to that effect, there established, for setting forth, informing or discovering the several evils, grievances and mis- demeanours, under which the college now groan eth : for declaration whereof it is lastly ordered, that this order shall be forthwith published, in such manner and form as to the said committee shall seem fit.
" It is ordered (4 March, 1640) upon question by this house, that the government introduced into the college by the late provost, now bishop of Corke, and used there since the procuring of the late charter, (13° Caroli,) hath subverted the antient and first foundation thereof, and must tend to the discouragement of the natives of this kingdom, and is a general grievance.
" It is ordered upon question, that the committee ap- pointed to consider of the grievances of the college, shall draw up a charge against the late provost, now lord bishop of Corke, since his time of government in the college, and present the same to this house ; and that the clerk of the rolls shall deliver unto the said committee, copies of the several charters and other writings that belong to the college, gratis ; and the now provost and fellows of the college are to deliver gratis to the said committee, of such charters, statutes and writings as the said committee shall demand, and think fit to be copied for their better information ;
30 THE CHARGES CONTINUED.
and that William Newman and Robert Conway shall he forthwith sent for by the serjeant at arms, and answer here unto such matters as shall be objected against them.
" It is ordered that the committee formerly appointed to hear the grievances of the college of Dublin, shall forthwith repair to the lords, and humbly desire that the lord bishop of Corke may be speedily sent for, to answer to such things as by this house shall be ob- jected against him, concerning his evil government and practices used at the college at the time of his being provost therein, and voted in this house to be grievances.
" State of the case of the college of Dublin, (18 Feb. 1640,) for so much as hath been reported to the house for the grievance thereof.
" Queen Elizabeth by a charter dated the thirty- fourth year of her reign, in these words, c Pro ea cura quam de juventute regni nostri Hibernici pie et libe- raliter erudienda singularem habemus,' &c., on sup- plication made by Henry Ussher, in the name of the citizens of Dublin, did erect and found the college near Dublin to be a college and university per nomen prsepositi, sociorum et scholarium collegii Sanctse Trinitatis reginse Elizabeths juxta Dublin.
" And amongst other things, gave them power by that charter, of electing their provost when voidances should happen of that place ; and also power of mak- ing laws and statutes for the better government of that college, to be made by the provost and fellows of that college.
" And likewise appointed them thereby visitors, viz. : the chancellor and vice-chancellor of the University, the archbishop of Dublin, the bishop of Meath, the vice-treasurer, the treasurer at wars, the lord chief justice of his majesty's court of chief place, and the mayor of Dublin.
" Statutes were an tiently made, where by the elections and the whole government were reposecl in the pro- vost and seven senior fellows ; and thereby also among other things, the provost and fellows were to
THE CHARGES CONTINUED. 31
take an oath, when they or any of them wer to any of their places ; and by the said statute^ the natives of this kingdom were directed to be preferred to scholars' place and to fellowships in that college, before any other subjects of his Majesty's dominions, cseteris paribus."
" About August 1634, Mr. Chappell became provost, and continued provost, unsworn, until Trinity 1637.
" About May, 13 Caroli regis, a charter was pro- cured to the provost, fellows and scholars of the said college, hy which charter the antient charter seemed to be confirmed in part.
" But the nomination or donation of the provostship thereby was reserved or resumed to his Majesty.
" The statutes formerly in force, by that charter were annulled, and statutes annexed to that late charter, which were signed with his Majesty's hand, and with the hand of the archbishop of Canterbury ; and thereby it was further commanded, that these new statutes and none other should be observed, unless his Majesty should be pleased to add to them, or to change them as to his Majesty might seem meet.
" And by the said charter it was ordained, that the chancellor, or in his absence, the vice-chancellor, and the archbishop of Dublin, should be thereafter the visitors ; all which alterations among others were made, as the charter sayeth, ' Cum assensu prcepositi, sociorum et scholarium ; ' and yet there appeareth but two of the fellows that consented to that act and deed, viz., William Newman and Robert Conway, so that those two, together with the provost, seem the only persons of the college that wrought that change, and by their consent would bind the whole college.
" And those, two such fellows, as by the visitors, at a visitation held the twentieth of July 1636, were de- prived of their fellowships.
" By the late statutes it also appeareth, that the pro- vost should not hold a bishoprick while he continued provost, and the natives ought to be preferred as they were to be by former statutes.
32 THE CHARGES CONTINUED.
" Upon the acceptance of the late charter and statutes, the provost on Trinity Monday, 1637, took the oath to the new statutes, which oath during the continuance of the former statutes he would not take.
" The provost before and after the new statutes and his oath taken, put back the natives which ought to be preferred to scholarships or fellowships in that college, and before and after fetched in strangers of his pupils in Cambridge, and others of his purpose, though less learned than the natives, and preferred them to the fellowships and offices in the college and government, as also some to the scholars' places less worthy than the natives.
" Those that were preferred to fellowships having spent little or no time in their studies in this college, were suddenly so put into them as though they had been sent for to accept them, when the natives which expected them, were prevented by them.
" The Mathematick and Hebrew Lectures were by the said provost put down, and other exercises of learning.
" The natives of the kingdom by such practices have been infinitely grieved, disheartened and discouraged to follow their studies and civility.
" The donation resumed, if it so hold, strangers are likely to come in to favour strangers.
" The mayor of Dublin, at whose instance the college was founded, and the scite and lands on which the college stands, by him given, was ungratefully put forth from being a visitor.
" And the two visitors which are appointed, are not able to redress the grievances and abuses in govern- ment ; for that by express words in the late charter, ' In gravioribus negotiis,' the vice-chancellor and archbishop of Dublin can do, nor determine nothing without the approbation of the chancellor, who now is the archbishop of Canterbury, and they must be void. The provost after his acceptance of the bishopricks of Corke and Rosse, continued provost of the college
THE CHARGES SENT TO KING CHARLES I. 33
above two years, contrary to those statutes to which he was sworn.
" There is not among the senior fellows who govern all with the provost, but only one native now there. And whereas by the first charter, fellowships were to be but for seven years, by the new charter they are to continue their fellowships for life, so as the averseness settled in those strangers towards the natives is not like to be removed in their lifetime if not extraordina- rily redressed. Signed, &c.
" It is ordered upon question, that the state of the cause for so much thereof as hath been reported to the house concerning the grievance of Trinity College near Dublin, shall be drawn up by the committee ap- pointed for those grievances ; and the same being by them presented to the speaker of this house, he is to send it so drawn to the committee of this house now in England, together with a letter to be written by the speaker, recommending the same to their care, and requiring them that with the advice and assistance of the most reverend father the lord primate of Armagh, his grace, they should supplicate his Majesty for speedy redress of the said grievances ; and that the same may be done, if his Majesty shall so think ift, by an act of parliament, to be passed in this kingdom, discharging the new charter and statutes, and re-esta- blishing the first foundation and charter ; with such further clause and clauses as for the more successful propagation of learning in this kingdom to the natives thereof, as shall be thought fit by his Majesty, with like advice, to be inserted.
" It is ordered (4 die Junii, 1641) that John Hard- ing, D.D., is strictly hereby required to attend the hearing of the cause concerning the college griev- ances against the Lord Bishop of Corke, to declare his testimony therein as he shall be then required ; and that the persons undernamed are especially ap- pointed by the house to attend the prosecution of the charge against the Lord Bishop of Corke.
"It is voted by this house, (8th die Junii, 1641,) nullo contradicente, that all and every the proceed-
D
34 THE COLLEGE ELECTION INTERDICTED.
ings of William Chappell, late provost of Trinity College near Dublin, and now Lord Bishop of Corke and Rosse, since he assumed upon himself the office of being provost of the said college, and during his continuance in the said office, as they are expressed in the several articles exhibited against the said William Chappell, are great grievances and fit to re- ceive redress.
"It is ordered that the provost and fellows of Trinity College near Dublin shall this Trinity Monday next, and also hereafter, forbear the election of students to fellowships and scholars' places in the said college until this house give further direction therein.
"Whereas (2 die Augusti, 1641) by occasion of an order of this house, requiring the provost and fellows of Trinity College not to proceed to the election of scholars to scholars' places in the college till this house give further order therein, for as much as in- formation hath been given that Malachy Morgan, John Lissagh, and several other natives of this king- dom, have presented themselves to sit for scholars' places, and by means of the said former order the provost and fellows of the said college may not except any the natives from such scholarships ; and for that it hath been in some particulars heretofore used, that before the days of election of such scholars' places, the allowances and benefits of scholars' places have been permitted and allowed to several scholars ; it is there- fore ordered by the house that the provost and fellows of the said college shall forthwith take the several natives now ready to sit for scholarships into their consideration, and preferring those natives bred in the schools of Dublin before other natives, they, ac- cording to their several abilities in learning, may be allowed the benefit of scholarship from Trinity Monday last, to the end the natives may not suffer by any neglect of them until the time when they pro- ceed to their due election.
"Whereas (7 die Augusti, 1641) a complaint hath been made against the late provost the now Bishop of Corke, among other things that he made several
THE IRISH REBELLION. 35
leases of the college lands, to the hindrance of the college and disimprovement of their revenue ; and for that the state of the charter of the college, and the order of the government to be observed for the future, be under the consideration of this house ; and for that information is given to this house that several persons suspecting the estates made heretofore will be found fraudulent, and for that avoided, and that some of the tenants of the lands of the said college seek to take new leases of their lands, and several others seek confirmation of their former leases from the now pro- vost and fellows ; it is ordered by this house that the now provost and fellows shall make no lease of any of the said college lands, nor confirm any such lease already made till this house give further order therein."
SECTION IV.
In the month of October, 1644, the Irish rebellion occurred ; the sudden and awful violence with which it in a moment disturbed all the relations of society, and covered the country with scenes of memorable affliction, has seldom been surpassed by any event which the historian has recorded. The sanguinary rage of the rebels was at first but too successful, and many of those who escaped the first surprise, and carnage which accompanied it, fled into England, then itself upon the verge of an alarming crisis. It was at this time that the venerable Bedell, who had been provost of the college, and was then Bishop of Kilmore, a scholar of profound attainments, and a pre- late possessing every Christian virtue united to manners the most conciliating, fell into the hands of the insur- gents, who, although animated against protestants in general with the wildest ferocity, not only abstained from any attempt upon his life, but paid him that personal deference which the reputation of his singular worth inspired. He was however detained a prisoner in Cloghouter Castle, where he experienced every mark of respect ; but being full of years and much afflicted by the dreadful situation of a country for
36 CHAPPELL ABSCONDS.
whose improvement his life had been benevolently active, he did not long survive the event. In the month of March, 1642, he died, and was interred by the rebels, who came from all parts to his funeral, with the rude but expressive solemnity of military honours.
After the breaking forth of the rebellion Chappell, then Bishop of Cork and Ross, fled to his native country, and continued to reside there until his death*. In the mean time greater events than the grievances of the University occupied the attention of government. Parliamentary proceedings were for the present at an end ; and the prompt and vigorous movements of a military system succeeded to the deposed authority of the laws. At this time the revenues of the college severely experienced the malignant influence of the times ; and as most of its opulent protectors were driven from the kingdom or reduced to poverty, and all regard for learning and its serene occupations was lost in the noise of arms, the institution was in danger of being utterly subverted. The rebel power being at length completely suppressed, and the order and con- fidence of society somewhat restored, a parliament was summoned, which met in the beginning of the year l64/7> but was dissolved the next by Cromwell's party, of whose power it did not stand in awe, and to whose views it was not subservient. During its short exist- ence, the proceedings with respect to Chappell were again taken into consideration, as appears by the fol- lowing extracts from the journals.
A MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS BY MR. JUSTICE DONNELLAN ALONE.
" That there is a petition presented to their lordships by the Bishop of Corke, which was presented to the house five years or upwards.
"ANSWER TO THE MESSAGE.
" That it is a great respect done by the lords con- cerning the college, before whom the information
a At Derby, Whitsunday, 1649.
THE CHARGE AGAINST CHAPPELL RENEWED. 37
came ; it is concerning the being of it. The house taking into consideration the destruction of the college, the house doth therefore desire the house of lords to have patience, until they have repaired unto the college, which will not he any long time, and then this house will give a final answer thereto.
" It is ordered that the persons undernamed are ap- pointed a committee to view and peruse the articles exhibited against William Chappell, now Bishop of Corke and Rosse, late provost of the college of Dublin, and his answer thereunto.
" And that the said committee have full power and authority to send unto the fellows of the college, or any of them, or any other concerned therein, or any other person or persons whatsoever, as they shall think fit ; which said committee are to meet in this house at two of the clock on Monday next in the afternoon, and to adjourn themselves from time to time, and to such time and place as they shall think fit, and make report thereof to this house.
66 Committee of the college adjourned (17 die Maii, 1647) until the 20th day, at two of the clock in the afternoon.
"It is ordered (20 die Maii, 164-7) that this com- mittee doth adjourn themselves until the 24th day, at two of the clock in the afternoon ; and that Mr. Hamilton (chairman) write to the fellows and students of the college.
"COMMITTEE FOR THE COLLEGE, 24 DIE MAII, 1647.
"The provost and fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, are desired to certify this committee by Friday next, at two of the clock in the afternoon, in this house, under their hands, whether they think it inconvenient that the proceedings by the said house against the late provost of the said college, now Bishop of Corke and Rosse, should be deserted.
Adjourned to Friday next.
38 THE ENGLISH LITURGY INTERDICTED.
" A MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS (2 DIE JUNII, 1647) BY MR. BARON HILTON.
" The house was pleased to send the messengers, and they gave a general account, but no particular one especially concerning the college.
" IN ANSWER TO THE MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS.
" It is ordered, that Mr. Roger Burton, and Captain Theodore Schoute, and as many as please to accom- pany them, are forthwith to repair to the house of the lords, and to give an account as well of all other busi- ness, as especially the petition of the college.
" MEMORANDUM, 12 DIE JUNII, 164/7-
" The report made by Mr. Archibald Hamilton concerning the college :
" It is ordered, that Mr. Recorder of Dublin, and as many as please to accompany him, are forthwith to repair unto the House of Lords, concerning the busi- ness of the college, and to declare unto their Lord- ships the reasons which do induce this house to con- tinue the prosecution of the cause against the Bishop of Cork and Rosse, late Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, in this house." But the Parliament was soon after dissolved.
It was in the latter end of the year l64/7> that com- missioners appointed by the English parliament landed in Ireland to settle the affairs, religious and political, in conformity with the new state of things in Eng- land, then supposed to be essentially revolutionized. The first act of the commissioners was, to interdict the use of the English liturgy ; and the clergy in ge- neral ceased to officiate ; but at this crisis the college gave a remarkable proof of the uncompromising spirit of virtue by which its adversity was dignified.
Anthony Martin, the Provost, who was also Bishop of Meath, persisted in reading it, and actually preached against the innovation of the times, with an apostolic freedom, that nothing but the conscientious sense of what he considered a sacred duty could have inspired. The people, who never feel so deeply the power of re-
CROMWELL VISITS IRELAND. 39
ligion as in times of persecution and calamity, resorted thither in great numbers, and delighted to hear his fearless and impressive exhortations. His conduct will appear the more exemplary, when it is known that the plague was then consuming those whom the sword had spared. Nothing, however, could induce him to desist from the public exercise of his functions, and he fell the lamented victim of that dreadful dis- temper, after having, during the space of three years, contended for what he conceived to be the truth, with a firmness that made his enemies respect the man, whom their power could not overawe, and whom the adversity of his cause could not deter from its perilous vindication. The vacancy occasioned by his death gave the parliament an opportunity of appointing Samuel Winter, chaplain to the commissioners, to the important trust of presiding over the University, which, during his continuance in office, he modelled so as to meet the approbation of his patrons ; and it in con- sequence became a school of polemic controversy, in- stead of an institution of peaceful religion and the sciences.
SECTION V.
In the year 1649 Cromwell visited Ireland in per- son ; and so impetuous, sanguinary, and successful were his military enterprises there, that the tradition- ary character which he bears among the native Irish, even at the present day, partakes less of the splendid fame of the able chieftain, than of the ghastly renown of a destroying spirit ; and he is remembered, not as an armed missionary of a civilized cause, but as a being possessing a preternatural love and power of destruction. He certainly spread much misery and desolation throughout the kingdom, from which the frightful traces of the late rebellion had not been yet effaced ; and after performing many acts of exemplary vengeance, he left the Irish people more repressed than subdued, and more tranquil than contented. He afterwards summoned a parliament at Westminster;
4<0 ARCHBISHOP USSHER'S LIBRARY.
upon which occasion, to shew his great contempt for the independence of Ireland, he summoned thirty members from that kingdom as the legislative vassals, who were to perform, on the part of their country, the last ceremonies of its humiliation. The college was exempted from any communion in this melancholy service, as Cromwell did not call upon it to return any representatives.
It was Cromwell's army that purchased for £22,000 the valuable library of Archbishop Ussher, who, at the commencement of the Irish rebellion, had been obliged to fly ; and who, after the confiscation of his property, was allotted a residence in London, where he died, A.D. 1655. His library, which had been conveyed, after its purchase, to the castle of Dublin, was subsequently transferred to Trinity College, and added to its own ; as appears by the following order, extracted from the Journals of the House of Commons, dated the year after the Restoration.
" Ordered (31 die Maii, 1661) that the Vice-Chan- cellor, and Provost of the College of Dublin, and Mr. Richard Lingard, together with such others as they shall take to their assistance, be decreed, and are hereby empowered, with all convenient speed, to cause the library, formerly belonging to the late lord pri- mate of Armagh, and purchased by the army, to be brought from the castle of Dublin, where now they are, unto the said college, there to be preserved for public use ; and the said persons are likewise to take a catalogue of all the said library, both manuscripts and printed books, and to deliver the same into this house, to be entered in the journal book of the house. And it is further decreed, that the said Vice-Chancellor, Provost, and Mr. Lingard, do wait upon the right honourable the lords justices of this kingdom, and ac- quaint their lordships with the contents of this order, humbly begging of their lordships leave to have ad- mission into the castle for the use aforesaid, and at what time their lordships shall appoint."
In 1652, The Commissioners of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, for the affairs of Ire-
DR. JEREMY TAYLOR MADE- VICE-CHANCELLOR. 41
land, founded a public professorship of mathematics in this University, and thus restored to this institu- tion one of the essential parts of human knowledge, which had been suppressed most improperly by Arch- bishop Laud and Provost Chappell, when they re- modelled the college statutes.
At the Restoration, the existing fellows, who had been chosen by the party of Cromwell, on account of their zeal for his cause, were, with a single exception, all removed a. It was remarkable at this time, that the cultivation of learning had been so much discou- raged by the repeated calamities which had fallen upon the nation, that there were few members of the Uni- versity qualified to fill the vacant places.
The person appointed to the station of provost, was Dr. Thomas Seele, a native of Dublin, who had been educated in the college, and whose character was esti- mable in morals and literature. A new set of fellows were also chosen, mostly from Cambridge and Ox- ford; but as the ordinary mode of election prescribed by the statutes could not, in this instance, be observed, as they required to that and other acts of the board, the concurrence of the provost and four senior fellows, a writ of mandamus was issued to authorize their ad- mission.
At that period the Duke of Ormond was chief go- vernor of Ireland ; a nobleman whose views were en- lightened, and who took an anxious interest in the welfare of the University. As its affairs had been thrown into great disorder, he selected the most com- petent person he could find, for the important task of renovating them. Dr. Jeremy Taylor, the pious and celebrated Bishop of Down, a man whose virtues breathed as much of the primitive simplicity of reli- gion as his eloquence partook of its inspiration, was the person fixed upon for that important duty. By his judicious management as vice-chancellor, the cha- racter of the college was retrieved, and its disordered
a Dr. John Stearne, M.D. founder of the College of Physicians, and the first president of that distinguished Institution.
42 HIS JUDICIOUS MANAGEMENT.
system so arranged as to give great satisfaction to the lord-lieutenant.
It was the peculiar merit of this venerable prelate, that he always made whatever station he held serve to the diffusion of peace and charity, without which reli- gion can have no real existence. His mind, though tenacious of truth, was never divested of Christian kindness and humility ; his talents, his conduct, and his authority, were all on the side of conciliation, and his zeal as a preacher of the gospel, totally free from spiritual pride, was only to he seen in the force of his reasoning, and the example of a life of beneficent virtue.
In the year 1661, he preached before the University a sermon, shewing how the scholar shall become most learned and useful. This, which was one of his most instructive and eloquent discourses, was afterwards published in London. In the preface to it he says, (speaking of peacefulness,) " I first spake my thoughts of it before the little but excellent University of Dub- lin. They were pleased, with some earnestness, to desire me to publish it to the world." In the sermon he says, " If it were not that there are many who are homines multse religionis, nullius psene pietatis, it would not be that there should be so many quarrels in and concerning that religion, which is wholly made up of truth and peace."
The duke wisely deemed it a most important part of his administration to inspect the discipline, en- courage the studies, and promote the interests of the University and its several members. He was there- fore desirous of opening the avenues of preferment to those whose morals and attainments in college made it likely that their promotion would prove a national benefit. He wished also to stimulate the exertions of students, by the example of honourable success in those by whom they had been preceded. But his enemies in England, with a view to detract from his consequence, having persuaded the king to nominate an Englishman to an Irish bishoprick, without his
THE DUKE OF ORMONDES LETTER. 43
concurrence or recommendation, he made the follow- ing communication of his sentiments on the subject to the secretary of state.
" It is fit that it be remembered that near this city (Dublin) there is a University of the foundation of Queen Elizabeth, principally intended for the educa- tion and advantage of the natives of this kingdom, which hath produced men very eminent for learning and piety, and those of this nation, and such there are now in the church, so that, while there are such, the passing them by is not only, in some measure, a vio- lation of the original intention and institution, but a great discouragement to the natives from making themselves capable and fit for preferment in the church, whereunto, if they have equal parts, they are better able to do service than strangers ; their knowledge of the country and relations in it giving them the advan- tage. The promotion too of the already dignified or beneficed, will make room for, and, consequently, en- courage young men, students in the University, which room will be lost, and the inferior clergy much dis- heartened, if, upon the vacancy of bishopricks, persons unknown to the kingdom and University, shall be sent to fill them, and be less useful there to church and kingdom than those who are better acquainted with both."
The above cited opinion of the Duke of Ormond will not be considered illiberal, when it is recollected that the state of Ireland was, in his time, that of an unsettled, and, still more, suspected country ; which had experienced from its rulers more of jealous vigi- lance than of a conciliating attention ; by which moral obedience was destroyed on one side, and confidence banished from both. He wisely concluded that a dif- ferent mode of government would better serve the in- terests of the two countries, and prove that the one had that spirit of civilization to which she laid claim, and the other was not insensible to kinder treatment. He therefore endeavoured to confer those offices of power and influence upon men who were acquainted with the habits and temperament of the people ; who
44 A NEW COLLEGE PROPOSED.
had some sympathy with their condition, and were not likely to treat them with that neglect or severity which banished affection, and discountenanced improvement. It was indeed a notorious fact, that, with few excep- tions, those who were sent to that country for the pos- session of rank, and the receipt of large emoluments, regarded their Irish promotion as only a splendid exile ; and, instead of taking any pains to diffuse in- formation, and cultivate esteem, kept their attention fixed on the seat of power in another place, and ar- dently looked up to the hope of preferment at home. It was not therefore surprising that they neglected or despised the interests of a country, which was not that of their early connexions or ultimate ambition.
SECTION VI.
Soon after the Restoration it was thought that the University might be rendered more extensively useful in diffusing the knowledge of the liberal arts through- out Ireland, by the endowment of another college upon its foundation ; a provision was even made for that purpose by a clause in the Act of Settlement ; this evinced the high opinion which the framers of that act entertained of the utility of the existing college, and their desire to call its principle into still more vigorous and efficient action. Had the plan been car- ried into effect, there can be no doubt but it must have proved highly beneficial to the country, and although the present college might not in that case be so very opulent as it is, yet it would have a character better known, and of course more valued in the empire : the rivalry which would naturally exist between the two institutions, could not fail to raise the reputation of both ; the pride of advancing their respective col- leges, would inspire the members individually with the zeal of letters, beyond what can exist in a solitary esta- blishment ; the several professors would feel the in- cumbent necessity of pushing their labour further than the discharge of their daily duties required ; their learning would guide them into the region of dis-
TO BE NAMED " KING'S COLLEGE." 45
covery, and they would not neglect the great agency of the press, to establish themselves as the tutors of men and the rivals of philosophers, as well as the in- structors of the rising youth of Ireland. The splendid individual exceptions which we now see, would form the general rule, and the literature of the country would share in the prosperous fame of its University. The following extracts from the Act of Settlement will shew how sincerely the legislature seconded this liberal intention.
" Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the lord-lieutenaut or other chief go- vernor or governors of the kingdom of Ireland for the time being, by and with the consent of the privy coun- cil, shall have full power and authority to erect an- other college to be of the University of Dublin, to be called by the name of the King's College, and out of all and every the lands, tenements and hereditaments vested by this Act in his Majesty, and which shall be settled or restored by virtue thereof, to raise a yearly allowance for ever, not exceeding two thousand pounds per annum, by an equal charge upon every one thou- sand acres of land or lesser quantity proportionably, and therewith to endow the said college so as aforesaid to be erected ; shall be settled, regulated and governed by such laws, statutes, ordinances and constitutions, as his Majesty, his heirs or succesors, shall, under his or their great seal of England or Ireland, declare or appoint." (ft vol. Irish Statutes, 2 chap. 345.) In the year 1662, Parliament paid an honourable tribute to the memory of Ussher, whose great talents, learning, and integrity made him known and esteemed all over Europe, but did not exempt the close of his life from severe affliction. As he had been instrumental in founding the University, and was besides one of its first and most distinguished fellows, it is gratifying to be enabled to record a vote of the House of Commons, by which, after his death, the sum of five hundred pounds yearly, was granted to his daughter for ever, her father's property having been ruined by the troubles which drove him out of Ireland. The rea-
46 ANNUITY TO PRIMATE USSHER'S HEIRS.
sons set forth in the vote are equally creditable to the virtues and abilities which gave occasion for that na- tional testimonial, and to the legislature that awarded to the representatives of such a benefactor of his country, part of the debt which the nation owed his immortal services. If so laudable an example were acted upon in all like cases, literature could not have so often to lament the neglected or destitute state in which the posterity of men of extraordinary fame are sometimes allowed to languish. While worthless re- lics are preserved as invaluable, the most obvious and useful proof of veneration is often withheld ; but it should be recollected that even a Shakspeare or a Milton may have had little besides a splendid name to bequeath to his descendants, whom the nation there- fore is bound to protect, as sharing with them in the glory of their ancestor. The following is a copy of the ordonnance of the legislature on the foregoing occa- sion.
" 27 die Junii, 1662. Ordered, upon question, that the address as it was reported from the commit- tee, and had unto the house concerning the settling of five hundred pounds per annum on the heirs of the most reverend father in God, James Ussher, late lord primate of all Ireland, deceased, be and is hereby agreed unto by this house, and to be entered amongst the acts, ordinances, and orders of this present parlia- ment.
" This house having taken into serious considera- tion the most eminent piety and profound learning of that great luminary of religion, James Ussher, late Lord Archbishop of Armagh, Primate and Metro- politan of all Ireland, deceased, and the happy and successful application of those great endowments in his elaborate works, to which not only all his Majesty's kingdoms but also the remotest parts into which the light of the gospel hath shined, owe a grateful and lasting acknowledgment, and considering that it is notoriously known that upon no other account than his unshaken faith to God and his unspotted loyalty to his late Majesty, and to his Majesty our now sove-
ANNUITY TO PRIMATE USSHER'S HEIRS. 47
reign, he drank so deep of that bitter cup of affliction which the late rebellion and the late usurpation in these kingdoms tempered, that his personal wants and forlorn estate were such and so great, as some of the neighbouring princes, though of different religion, in- vited him to repose himself under their protection, with the allowance of an honourable support, which his great attachment to the principles he had long adopted, caused him respectfully to decline, choosing rather to bear the worst of wants. and miseries, lest it might be scandalously urged that he had deserted that cause of which he had been so constant an assertor. This house being therefore desirous to deliver over to pos- terity a testimony of the unanimous respect which this kingdom bears to the memory of that most pious and learned prelate, and the just sense they have of his heavy sufferings, which render his only child and nu- merous grandchildren objects worthy great and extra- ordinary consideration. And considering also that this house do humbly hope that his sacred Majesty will graciously consider the posterity of that so highly suffering and so eminently meriting a prelate.
" This house therefore, upon all those and several other weighty considerations, do order :
" That the undernamed persons, or any seven of them, be a committee of this house, to attend upon the right honourable the lords justices, and signify to their lordships, that it is the humble desire of this house, that their lordships and the council would be pleased to transmit to his Majesty in due form, a bill for granting unto Elizabeth, Lady Terrill, the late daughter and heir of the said late Lord Archbishop of Armagh, who is the wife of Sir Timothy Terrill, a great sufferer for his loyalty to his Majesty and his royal father, so much lands, tenements, and heredita- ments lately held in fee, or which paid chief ries to the church in this kingdom and not already disposed of, as are of the yearly value of five hundred pounds ster- ling per annum, ultra reprizas, and that the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, by the lord lieutenant and council to be set unto her, her heirs or assigns,
48 COLLEGE EXEMPTED FROM HEARTH-TAX.
after all lands, tenements, and hereditaments of that kind, which by the Act, intituled * An Act for the better execution of his Majesty's gracious declaration for the settlement of his kingdom of Ireland, and satisfaction of the various interests of adventurers, soldiers, and others, his subjects,' those acres ap- pointed for archbishops and bishops, and for the Pro- vost of Trinity College, near Dublin, and after the five hundred pounds a year, by a former vote of this house desired to be granted to the Most Reverend Father in God, John, now Lord Archbishop of Ar- magh, Primate and Metropolitan of all Ireland, shall be set out to them accordingly, to have and to hold to the said Lady Terrill, her heirs and assigns for ever, under such rents and services as were formerly paid or rendered thereout to the church, and submitting there- out to be reserved to his Majesty out of the premises, unto the judgment of the lord lieutenant or other chief governor for the time being with the advice of the council."
The next notice taken of Trinity College in the journals of the parliament occurs in an order of the house, by which it is exempted from the hearth tax : that impost had been abolished in England after the revolution, as vexatious and inquisitorial, but it con- tinued in Ireland to the year 1820.
" 30TH DIE AUGUSTI, 1662.
" Ordered, upon question, that Trinity College, near Dublin, be exempted from paying any chimney or hearth tax, and that a clause to that effect be in- serted in the bill for raising such monies."
About the year 1660, Arthur, Earl of Donegal, founded in the college a Lecture in Mathematics, and endoweditwith a salary of £,IOper annum, which, allow- ing for the alteration in the value of money at this time, would be about equivalent to £100 a year. The earl presented to the office during his life, but then be- queathed that right to the college, and in the year 1675, we find the first notice of the provost and board having exercised that privilege, and at the same time
THE CIVIL WAR IN IRELAND. 49
to have united this foundation to the public Professor- ship of Mathematics, which in the year 1652 the Par- liament Commissioners of the Commonwealth founded in this University, and which was held by Dr. Miles Sumner, from the above date until his decease in 1675.
CHAPTER II.
SECTION I.
THE University being again restored to that tran- quillity so congenial with its legitimate objects, con- tinued to pursue its proper duties, and grow calmly upon the public favour until the period of the Revo- lution. It was then once more unhappily forced into collision with the political world. That event, which in England renovated a kingdom without the sacri- fice of a citizen, and changed a dynasty by acclama- tion, was not as immediately auspicious to the fortunes of Ireland. It plunged that nation into the calamities of civil war, maintained by parties equally fierce, and perhaps mutually vindictive ; it retarded the regular course of improvement by the revival of ancient feuds, or the creation of such as have outlived the causes that produced them ; and it gave to the fierce and vulgar love of party, an alarming ascendant over the exercise of reason and the peaceful spirit of religion, which has ever since tended to keep the Irish people divided and unhappy, and amongst these lamentable consequences, the total ruin of this peaceful seat of learning had well nigh been completed, as we shall presently make manifest.
It appears from an entry in the book marked D., in the college registry, that on February the 16th, 1788-9, it was agreed on by the Vice- Provost and Senior Fellows, " That £200 of the college money
E
50 THE COLLEGE PLUNDERED.
should be sent into England for the support of those Fellows that should be forced to fly thither."
At the same time the danger of staying in the col- lege seemed so great that it was judged reasonable for all those that thought fit, to withdraw themselves from the college for their better security ; and that they should have liberty to adopt that course.
" About the 19th" of the same month, as we find in the above book, " all the horse, foot, and dragoons in Dublin garrison were drawn out and posted at se- veral places in the town, from whence they sent par- ties, who searched the Protestants' houses for arms, whilst others were employed in breaking into stables and taking away all the horses. Two companies of foot, commanded by Captain Talbot, of the royal regi- ment of foot-guards, marched into the college, searched it thoroughly, and took away those few fusils, swords, and pistols that they found. At the same time a party of dragoons broke open the college stables, and took away all the horses found therein ; the foot soldiers continued in the college all night, and next day they were drawn off.
" On the same day it was agreed on by the Vice- Provost and Senior Fellows, that the Fellows and Scholars should receive out of the college trunk, (the two hundred pounds not having been sent into Eng- land as was designed,) the salaries for their respec- tive fellowships, offices, and scholarships, which will be due at the end of this current quarter, together with their allowances for commons for the said quarter."
It further appears from the same book, that " on the 1st of March following, Dr. Browne, Mr. Downes, Mr. Barton, Mr. Ash, and Mr. Smith embarked for Eng- land. They were soon after followed by Mr. Scroggs, Mr. Reader, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Sayers and Mr. Hassett, or Blennerhasset ; Mr. Patrickson died in a few weeks after, and (of the Fellows) only Dr. Acton, Mr. Thewles, Mr. Hall, and Mr. Allen, remained in the college."
" On March 12th, King James II. landed in Ire-
KING JAMES II. HOSTILE TO THE COLLEGE. 51
land, and upon the 24th of the same month, being Palm Sunday, he came to Dublin ; when the college, with their vice-chancellor, waited upon him, and Mr. Thewles made a speech, which he seemed to receive kindly, and promised them his favour and protection."
The entries from which the above extracts have been taken, were made at the time, by the proper of- ficers of the college. Yet we find that the royal im- becile, who thus promised solemnly to protect this peaceful institution, did, on the 6th of September fol- lowing, seize this very college, changing it into a mi- litary garrison. On the 16th, he turned out the scho- lars, and sent six fellows and masters as prisoners to the main guard. On October the 21st, he seized the chapel and library. Yet, notwithstanding these acts of tyranny, Dr. Acton, the vice-provost, perse- vered in preserving the remnant of its privileges, and elected officers on the 20th of November, 1689; but he, unhappily, did not long survive this dangerous act of duty ; he died about the close of the following month, his death having been hastened by affliction.
In the month of April, 1689, King James assem- bled a parliament in Dublin, to which the University sent two representatives, namely, Sir John Mead and Mr. Coghlan, both celebrated lawyers. It was with some difficulty that the college prevailed upon these gentlemen to undertake the honourable but dangerous service, as they were not friendly to the measure pur- sued by the bad advisers of James, and they could not expect, by opposing them, to do any thing else in reality than proscribe themselves. After a short and ineffectual struggle with the prevailing party, they absented themselves, to escape the vengeance of those whom they vainly resisted, and the odium of actions over which they had no control.
Amongst the most indiscreet of those counsellors, to whose advice James was indebted for losing the last sympathies of the people, was the Lord Tyrconnell, chief governor of Ireland ; a minister who, incapable of any great design for restoring the fortunes of his royal master, possessed a great share of that officious
E 2
52 UNJUST TREATMENT OF COLLEGE.
zeal, which is a bad substitute for ability and pru- dence. To a mind like his, it would have been a matter of satisfaction to effect the ruin of the Uni- versity ; but as James had pledged himself, imme- diately after landing in Dublin, not only to protect the members of the college, but to increase rather than diminish the number of their privileges, it was neces- sary to resort to some contrivance which might exas- perate the king to a breach of his engagement, or by lowering its character, bring down upon the institu- tion the heavier evil of the censure of society. He soon conceived a project worthy of his capacity and intentions. There was among the number of his de- pendents one whose name was Doyle, by nature and education fitted to be the agent in such an enterprise. He was a person very illiterate, and still more im- moral, on which account Tyrconnell selected him for collegiate honours ; and persuaded the king to pre- sent a man notoriously unqualified, to the office of senior fellow. In a crisis so alarming, the provost and board behaved with prudence and firmness. They saw, on one side, the abasement of the character of the college, if such an associate should be admitted, and on the other the vengeance of an offended authority, which might effect its ruin, in case of his rejection. But Doyle's own mismanagement put it in their power to take a middle course, of which they instantly availed themselves. In obtaining a dispensation, he had, through ignorance, neglected to procure an exemption from the oath of fellow, in which that of supremacy was of course included. The provost, accordingly, tendered the oath, which Doyle, as was foreseen, afraid of incurring the displeasure of his party, refused ; and was immediately denied admission. Finding remon- strances and threats in vain, he preferred a complaint to his patron, Tyrconnell, and his case became a sub- ject of legal inquiry. The excess to which party spirit was, at that time, carried, allowed nothing to be sa- cred from its influence ; the highest offices of the law were degraded to the service of faction ; it was not therefore a matter of surprise, that, when Dovle's case
FELLOWS DRIVEN OUT OF COLLEGE. 63
came to be heard, such personages as Chief Justice Nugent, Baron Rice, and the Attorney-General Nugle should have appeared as his advocates. How ever, the character of the man shewed itself in so unfavourable a light, that even his most zealous friends became ashamed of making him an object of public interest, and, under the subterfuge of ordering Doyle to pro- cure another dispensation, they were content that the affair should fall to the ground and be forgotten.
A case nearly similar occurred, with respect to a person of the name of Green, in whose behalf a man- damus was issued, directed to the provost and fellows ; by which, after reciting that the statutes of the col- lege were liable to be changed and qualified according to the royal pleasure, Dr. Arthur Green was presented to the office of senior fellow ; but it does not appear that he was ever admitted.
The sentiments which Tyrconnell held with respect to the University were soon afterwards more clearly manifested. The foundation, at that time, consisted of a provost, seven senior and nine junior fellows ; who were chiefly maintained by a pension out of the ex- chequer, granted in perpetuity by King James I. This pension Tyrconnell, in an impatient spirit of re- venge, caused to be withheld, and was inflexible in refusing, as lord-lieutenant, to grant a warrant for its payment. The result must have been, the virtual ex- tinction of the corporate body ; for although its charter was not annulled, its maintenance was with- drawn, and distress must have eventually produced the effect of dissolution.
But his anxiety for its ruin could not admit of de- lay ; and having inspired the mind of the king with the same implacable animosity towards the residence of Irish literature which filled his own, the conse- quences were nearly as destructive as his malevolence could have desired.
The strong arm of power now fell heavily on the peaceful institution. The provost and fellows were contumeliously driven out; the public and private furniture, books, communion plate, and other property
54 INTENT TO DESTROY THE LIBRARY.
were seized, and thus a useful and respected body of men were, without colour of law, expelled from their freeholds, and divested of their chartered rights, whose only crime was an inflexible adherence to the rules of their society and a dignified resistance to ar- bitrary power.
By such violent conduct towards the University, James not only attempted to render the bounty of his illustrious predecessors unavailing, but also violated his own most solemn promise to protect its interests, and, suffering his bad passions to annul his engagements, proved that he esteemed the royal faith less sacred than the prerogative.
But rigorous as such proceedings were, they did not satisfy the malignity which had excited them. It was determined that the very mansion of philosophy should be visited with signal degradation, and accord- ingly the buildings so long consecrated by the resi- dence of literature, were applied to the purpose of a barrack, and many of the rooms made use of as places of confinement for the suspected. Even the chapel was converted into a magazine for gunpowder, and the whole establishment wantonly defaced by the licen- tious soldiery. It was then that the most ignorant and furious of the adherents of the Stuarts desired to consummate those mischiefs by giving the library to the flames, and that noble collection of books and manu- scripts must have suffered a fate like that which, under the barbarous triumph of an Omar, consumed the vast learning of the ancient world, were it not for the good sense of two individuals, who, although attached to the fortunes of James, were free from his intolerance. The name of one of these enlightened men was Moor, that of the other M'Carthy, both clergymen of the Roman Catholic persuasion ; the former of whom ex- erted his interest to be appointed provost, and the other obtained the office of librarian ; in which stations they so effectually interposed their authority for the conserv- ation of the magnificent but devoted pile, that they restrained their party from an act of senseless crime, and saved literature a memorable calamity.
THE BILL OF ATTAINDER, 55
To the efforts of Moor, while invested with the au- thority of provost, the college was indebted for benefits of an important nature. With a fidelity to the cause of learning worthy of the most benignant times, he made every exertion to protect from utter ruin the property of the institution and of the members, and succeeded in securing what yet remained of it from further pillage and abuse. He also endeavoured to mitigate the severe treatment which the prisoners ex- perienced ; and, to perfect his good offices, dissuaded the king from carrying into execution a design, with which one of his advisers named Petre had inspired him, of conferring the college and all its rights on the Jesuits. He could not, however, prevent the members from being all put under arrest ; but the interest which the Bishop of Meath, Vice- Chancellor, had with Simon Luttrell, Governor of Dublin, afterwards procured their enlargement, on the severe conditions that three of them should not be seen together upon pain of death.
Notwithstanding those vindictive proceedings, the college was not included in the bill of attainder, en- acted against the principal persons of the opposite party, by that parliament which James had summoned in Dublin on his arrival. For so extraordinary an exemption it was indebted to the zeal and abilities of Mr. Coghlan, who has been already spoken of, as one of the representatives of the University.
It has been observed, that after a short but active attention to his legislative duties, Mr. Coghlan, de- spairing to do any good by his public services, absented himself, as did his colleague, from his place in parlia- ment, both being in danger from opposing the predo- minant spirit of the house. Soon afterwards the famous bill of attainder was introduced, and Mr. Coghlan was ordered to attend, by a message from the speaker, as one of the burgesses of the University, that he might give in the names of the absent members of the college. He endeavoured to excuse himself, but was answered by another summons, on which, after having conferred with Dr. Acton, the Vice- Provost, he at-
56 COLLEGE ESCAPED BILL OF ATTAINDER.
tended in his place, and moved that the college hutler should be sent for, who had the care of what are called the huttery books, in which the names of all the members of the college are inserted, alleging, that with- out his production of the books, he could not make out the list required ; the motion was agreed to, and the serjeant-at-arms instantly dispatched to bring the butler to the bar. But the butler had, in compliance with the instructions previously received from Mr. Coghlan, absconded, with the design of keeping out of view during the whole of the affair. The house being anxious to pass the bill, could not delay for the pur- pose of enforcing his attendance, by which means the college was exempted from the dreadful operation of the bill of attainder.
It was Mr. Coghlan who also discovered the true nature of the bill of attainder, for the party whose con- trivance it was, had hurried it through the house, nor did they allow it to be published, intending only to make it known as opportunities occurred for carrying it into execution. Even James himself was not ac- quainted with all its provisions. His most zealous adherents found it necessary to conceal from him, that in following up their own plan of proscription, they had infringed upon the prerogative of which he was so tenacious, by depriving him in this instance of the dispensing power. The circumstances which Mr. Coghlan took advantage of in order to procure a sight of the bill, and which fully exposed the malice of its authors, were as follow : — When the Earl of Seaforth returned from France with King James, he heard that his friend Sir Thomas Southwell, a man of different politics from his own, was then lying under sentence of death, in hourly expectation of being executed, for keeping arms in his house to repel the attacks of the king's partisans ; it being made a capital offence by the Act for one of the opposite party to hold arms even for his own protection. The earl, though de- votedly attached to the cause of the Stuarts, yet still more alive to that spirit of honour and humanity which characterizes the true soldier, for he was a lieutenant-
ATROCIOUS NATURE OF THE BILL. 5J
general in James's army, went to visit him in prison at Galway, stayed the execution, and undertook to procure his pardon from the king*
His application to that effect was granted, and orders were given to draw up the necessary legal form ; Mr. Coghlan was the person employed for that pur- pose. He undertook the task the more willingly because it gave him an opportunity to procure a sight of the bill, and he declared he could not regu- larly draw up the warrant without such inspection. Upon this the earl obtained an express order from the king to have a copy delivered to him, and it was the only copy that was ever taken of the Act after having been enrolled. So anxiously was the secret guarded, that the earl had only leave to shew it to his lawyer, with whom he could not allow it to remain more than a day. Mr. Coghlan had it immediately copied, and drew up the warrant with a full non obstante to the act of attainder. The earl carried it to the Attorney- General, Sir Richard Nagle, to have a fiat for it ; this officer was exceedingly displeased at the transaction ; declaring the king could not grant the pardon, as the Act had deprived him of the power of dispensing with it. When this was told the king, he was very indig- nant ; such an attack upon his principles of sove- reignty he was not prepared to expect from his friends, and he accordingly expressed himself with great anger on the occasion ; however, Sir Thomas was pardoned, but it is evident he owed it in a great degree to the skill and firmness of the member for the University.
It may not be improper to mention, that the gene- rous nobleman above alluded to, was descended from that Colin Fitzgerald, an Irish chief, who, when hunt- ing with Alexander III., King of Scotland, saw the monarch suddenly unhorsed by the furious onset of a red stag, and before his attendants could come to his aid, the enraged animal would have inevitably de- stroyed him, had not Fitzgerald rushed forward, and being a man of great physical power, seized the stag by the antlers close to the head with one hand, and clove him down with his broadsword. The king was
58 FIRST SECULAR DAY CELEBRATED (1693).
so well pleased with this instance of courage and friendship, that he immediately created him earl of Seaforth, and bestowed on him other marks of the royal favour.
Affairs remained in a state of awful uncertainty until James's defeat at the Boyne decided the destinies of Ireland once more. When the news of that event reached Dublin, the followers of James, among whom were his foreign auxiliaries, rendered desperate by de- feat, and like all armed people under similar circum- stances, becoming relaxed in discipline, intended, it is said, to fire the city ; the alarm of such a project threw the citizens into the greatest confusion, but Cap- tain Robert Fitzgerald, son to the Earl of Kildare, and ancestor to the present Duke of Leinster, then a prisoner in the college, with about fifty others, succeeded by a bold effort in escaping from confinement, and securing the castle, intimidated the malcontents, and prevented the execution of so atrocious a design.
SECTION II.
From the evils produced by civil war, the college seems to have recovered very rapidly, as it would ap- pear, by the kindness of the government, and the great assiduity of those who were at the head of the institu- tion ; for we find that on the 9th of January 1693, the college having completed a century from its founda- tion, the first secular day was celebrated with a pomp and solemnity which was the greater on account of the thankfulness felt for having escaped the recent cala- mity which threatened its ruin. Dr. A she, afterwards Bishop of Clogher, preached, and has received from an old writer the commendation of having made " a notable entertainment for the lords justices, privy council, lord mayor and aldermen of Dublin." The provost delivered a learned and ingenious sermon on the subject of the foundation of the college ; the text was applied to the royal foundress, Queen Elizabeth, and was taken from St. Matt. xxvi. ver. 13. " Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be
PARLIAMENT FAVOURS THE COLLEGE. 59
preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her." In the afternoon several Latin orations were spoken by the scholars in honour of the queen and the suc- ceeding sovereigns, and an ode composed by Mr. Tate, the poet laureat, who had been educated in the col- lege, was performed by the principal gentlemen of the kingdom. " A very diverting speech" was made in English by the terrse filius, a fictitious character, who, according to the taste of the age, was allowed, in times of public festivity, to create merriment by a privilege similar to that enjoyed by a king's jester. At night, the college, the city, and many towns of note through- out Ireland were brilliantly illuminated.
The affairs of Ireland, after having continued in a state of warfare, highly unfavourable to literature, for more than half a century, being at length set at rest by the treaty of Limerick, men's minds were more free to attend to the culture of liberal education, and the University soon became an object of national im- portance and of parliamentary attention, for we find in the journal of the Irish House of Commons, the fol- lowing extracts, dated October 29, 1703.
Ordered, that leave be given to bring in the heads of a bill to enable the bishops of this kingdom, and likewise the college of Dublin, to make leases for lives renewable for ever, of the lands belonging to their respective bishoprics and of the lands belonging to the college of Dublin, and that Mr. Singleton, Mr. Conotty and Dr. Coghill do prepare and bring in the same.
In the year 1709* a serious disagreement happened between the lords and commons with respect to a grant to Trinity College. It appears that some time before, a person named Forbes was expelled the Uni- versity, for expressing political opinions hostile to the principles of the revolution ; the college having petitioned Parliament for a sum to enable them to erect a new library, the House of Commons addressed the Queen through the Lord-lieutenant as was usual, and mentioned in their address the expulsion of
60 FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS GRANTED
Forbes as an argument to prove the loyalty of the learned body, for which the public bounty was re- quired; the grant passed, but the House of Lords took offence at their proceeding, and in an address censured the grounds on which the prayer of the petition had been complied with ; this produced from the Commons a strong remonstrance, in which they charged the other house with an infringement of their privileges ; the contention, however, seems to have terminated there ; the following extracts contain the particu- lars.
" MERCURII, 1 DIE JUNII, 1?09.
"A motion being made that this house would become suitors to her Majesty, to extend her royal bounty to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College near Dublin, to enable them to erect a library in said college.
" Resolved that this house, taking into consideration the proceedings of the University of Trinity College, near Dublin, in censuring Edward Forbes by degrad- ation and expulsion, for speaking dishonourably of, and aspersing the memory of his late Majesty, King William the Third, and also the steady adherence of the provost, fellows, and scholars of said college to the late happy revolution, her present Majesty's go- vernment, and the succession to the throne as by law established, for the encouragement of good literature and sound revolution principles, do address His Excel- lency the Lord-lieutenant, that he will lay before her Majesty the humble desire of this house, that five thousand pounds be bestowed by her Majesty on the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, for erecting a public library in the said col- lege."
The following is the remonstrance of the House of Commons in consequence of, and in reply to the ad- dress from the House of Lords.
" S ABB ATI, 4 DIE AUGUSTI, 171 J.
" A motion having been made, and the question be- ing proposed, that this House having on the first of
TO BUILD THE COLLEGE LIBRARY. 6l
June, one thousand seven hundred and nine, come to the following resolution, (here the foregoing resolution is recited at full length,) which resolution heing laid before the Queen's most excellent Majesty, and her Majesty having been graciously pleased to order that five thousand pounds be paid to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, in com- pliance with our aforesaid application, as appears by His Grace the Lord-lieutenant's speech to both houses of Parliament, and the Lords having in their address to her Majesty, agreed on the lyth of July last, in- serted the following words, viz. ' Your Majesty has also extended your royal bounty to the College of Dublin, and at such a juncture as must testify to the world, that what your Majesty bestowed, was not given to promote those principles upon which it was first ap- plied for.'
. " That the Lords in the address have highly in- fringed the rights, privileges and liberties of the Com- mons, misrepresented her Majesty's condescension to their humble application, and have unjustly insinuated (to the dishonour of this house) that the principles for encouragement of which the aforesaid application was made, were such as her Majesty disapproved."
The numerous and formidable interruptions with which the University was assailed and afflicted almost from its very commencement, will readily account for the slow progress with wrhich its course of studies had been marked until the early part of the eighteenth century ; for we do not find any mention of lectures in anatomy, chemistry or botany in the college course, until the year 17 10. In June of that year ground was appropriated within the college park for a labora- tory and anatomical theatre ; and on opening the building in the following year, Dr. Hoyle lectured in anatomy ; Dr. Griffith, in chemistry, and Dr. Nichol- son in botany. Considerable improvements were made in these professorships, as we shall notice farther on.
The next circumstance connected with the college which came before Parliament was an inquiry into the right claimed by the members of the college to vote
62 DISPUTE OF THE RIGHT OF VOTING
for member of parliament for the city of Dublin. It seems that the resident students had, for some time past, laid claim to the exercise of the elective fran- chise for the city, and insisted that the occupancy of chambers in college, entitled them to vote for repre- sentatives in the same way as if they enjoyed the free- dom of the corporation. The original ground for that notion cannot now be ascertained, but it might have had some reference to the original grant of lands made by the civic body for the site of the University ; it was, however, in some instances, carried into effect, and would have been established as a customary right, but that in the year 1713, the corporation resisted it, and brought the case before the cognizance of parliament, by a complaint of the infringement of their chartered privileges. The following proceedings took place in consequence, and terminated in deciding the question of right in favour of the city.
" JO VIS, 3 DIE DECEMBRIS, 1713.
" Ordered, that the vice-provost of the college of Dublin do lay before this house, the register books of the college ; in which the names and ages of all the members of the college that voted in the election of representatives in Parliament for the city of Dublin were entered.
" SABBATI, 5 DIE DECEMBRIS, 1713.
" Ordered, that the vice-provost of the college of Dublin do direct the proper officer of the college to bring in a list of such scholars as have chambers by courtesy, and by what title such as have chambers in their own right hold the same, and what interest they have therein.
" MARTII, 8 DIE DECEMBRIS, 1713.
" The provost's sizer attending at the door, was called in, and delivered at the bar a book of the names of the students admitted into the college of Dublin, the title of which being read,
DECIDED IN FAVOUR OF THE CITY. 63
" Ordered, that the same do lie on the tahle for the members' perusal.
66 LUN.E, 14 DIE DECEMBRIS, 1713.
" Thomas Hudson, provost's sizer, delivered in at the table a list of such as have chambers in the college, with their ages.
" MARTII, 15 DIE DECEMBRIS, 1713.
" Resolved, that no fellow, scholar, or student of Tri- nity College, in Dublin, has any right to vote in the election of members to sit in Parliament for the city of Dublin, upon account of their having chambers in the said college."
In the years 1717 and 17^1 the provost and board petitioned Parliament for an augmentation of the royal bounty towards defraying the expenses of the library ; for the erection of which they had received five thou- sand pounds in the year 1709, from Queen Ann in compliance with an address of the House of Commons. That sum was found insufficient to complete the work according to the design on which it had been com- menced, and the choice of which reflected great credit upon the spirit and taste of the governors of the col- lege, who could not have better applied the public bounty, than in the construction of an edifice, which, in extent, symmetry, and classical splendour, no one can behold without acknowledging it one of the noblest temples that has been erected to literature in any country.
This is not the place to enter into a particular de- scription of this great work, but it may be observed here, that the internal state of Ireland had been for centuries adverse to the prosperity of learning and the arts, yet the library of Dublin college would have been worthy of a nation in profound peace, and in an era of the happiest refinement. The following passages prove the readiness with which parliament seconded the intentions of the heads of the college on that oc- casion.
" A petition of the provost, fellows, and scholars of
64 THE COMMONS VOTE £5000 TO COLLEGE.
Trinity College, near Dublin, setting forth, * that pursuant to the address of the House of Commons in one thousand seven hundred and nine, the petitioners received five thousand pounds, and have faithfully and carefully laid it out towards erecting a library, but that the said sum is not sufficient to finish that work, and declaring their resolution to instruct the youth under their care, in principles of zeal and affec- tion. to the constitution in church and state, and of duty and loyalty to his Majesty, King George, and his royal family,' was presented to the House and read.
" Resolved, that this House do address His Grace the Lord-lieutenant that he will lay before his Majesty, the humble desire of this house, that his Majesty will be pleased out of his royal bounty to give to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, such sum or sums, not exceeding five thousand pounds, as he shall from time to time judge necessary to be expended towards finishing the library of said col- lege.
" Ordered, that such members of this house as are of his Majesty's most honourable privy council, do at- tend His Grace the Lord-lieutenant with the said ad- dress, and lay the same before His Grace.
" DIE DECEMBRIS,
" Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer reported from the committee appointed to attend His Grace the Lord- lieutenant with the address of this House in favour of Trinity College, Dublin, that they had attended His Grace accordingly, and that thereupon His Grace was pleased to return the following answer :
" I will lay the address of the House of Commons in favour of the college before his Majesty, and I make no doubt but his Majesty will comply therewith, in regard of the duty and zeal they have shewn to his royal person and government."
Dr. William King, Archbishop of Dublin, gave to the college, in A.D. 1718, a sum of £500, to found a Divinity Lecture, for the better instruction of such Bachelors of Arts as intended to enter into holv orders.
KING'S DIVINITY LECTURE. 6,5
On Dr. King's decease, in 17^9, a further sum of £500 was devised to his nephew, the Rev. Robert Dougal, " In trust to purchase a further maintenance for the said lecturer." This endowment was annexed to a lectureship which had been previously supported in the college ; it was an annual office, and constantly held by a senior fellow ; the salary being small, it was indispensably held with other places ; but this has all been changed and greatly improved some years since, by resolutions of the provost and board of senior fel- lows, who have rendered this lectureship properly effi- cient in the Divinity education of the students, by deter- mining that the office of Archbishop King's lecturer shall always be held by a junior fellow, who must re- sign his pupils, and is ineligible to any college office except that of University Preacher. He can hold the office until elected a senior fellow, or be removed by death, resignation, deprivation, or other cause. The salary annexed to the office is seven hundred pounds.
" 6 DIE OCTOBRIS,
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, setting forth, 'that the sums already granted for finishing the library, though expended with the utmost care and frugality, 'are found insufficient for that purpose, and giving fresh assurance of their inviolable attachment to the late happy revo- lution, and the present establishment under his Majesty King George, and that they will always continue to discountenance and exterminate, as far as in them lies, all principles of a contrary tendency,' was pre- sented to the House and read.
" Resolved, that the House do address his Grace the Lord Lieutenant that he will lay before his Majesty the humble desire of this House that his Majesty will be pleased out of his royal bounty to give to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, such sum or sums, not exceeding five thousand pounds, as shall from time to time be judged necessary to be expended for finishing the library of said college."
In the year 1724 an act of parliament was obtained
66 ERASMUS SMITH'S PROFESSORSHIPS.
to authorize the further application of the rents and profits of the lands and tenements formerly given hy Erasmus Smith, Esq., for charitable uses. Under the regulations of this act the Professorships of Natural Philosophy and Oratory were founded in the manner following :
" That from and after the first day of May, 1?24, there he founded and continued for ever in the col- lege, two public lectures ; that is to say, one of Oratory and History, and the other of Natural and Experi- mental Philosophy ; and the provost and senior fel- lows are hereby empowered and required, on or be- fore the said first day of May, to examine all such candidates as shall stand candidates for the said lectures in the said college, at such times and in such places as the said provost and senior fellows shall think fit ; three weeks' notice being first given, and affixed on the said college gate.
" That the provost and senior fellows shall, within ten days after such examination, certify and return to the governors of the schools of Erasmus Smith, two of the best qualified and deserving of the said candidates, to be by them approved, as public lecturers in the col- lege. And in case the persons whose names shall be returned shall not be approved of by the said go- vernors within three months after they shall be so re- turned, then the provost and fellows shall proceed to a new election as before, and return the name of the party to the governors, until an approved person shall have been chosen.
" The persons thus appointed shall continue in this office only for such time as the said governors shall, by letter, limit and appoint. They are publicly to teach and instruct the students and members of the said college in such parts of Oratory and History, Natural and Experimental Philosophy, at such times and places as the provost and board shall appoint.
" That every professor so appointed shall annually, whilst he holds the office, read publicly four lectures, on days and at places appointed by the provost and board, and shall present to the governors two of his
A CONTESTED ELECTION IN COLLEGE. (>7
lectures yearly, to be printed and published if they think proper. The lecturers' places are to be filled up by some members of the college within three months after they become vacant.
" When a student, scholar, or any other member of college to whom any of Erasmus Smith's Exhibitions is, or has been payable, shall be a candidate for those of- fices, such scholar, student, or member (cseteris paribus) shall at all times in such election be preferred before all other persons.
" In case of any lecturer so appointed being a fel- low, or becoming one afterwards, and when he has been permitted to continue in this office to the time of his resigning his fellowship, such professor shall only be allowed to hold his office for such longer time after the resignation of his fellowship as shall appear to the provost and board expedient to enable them to provide that the lecture may be continued with the least in- terruption by his successor ; but the officer is not to hold his office on any pretext for more than six months after resigning his fellowship. And if any such public lecturer shall be removed from his fellowship in the college, then his office of lecturer shall be vacated by such removal, and the provost and board are to notify such removal to the treasurer and board of Erasmus Smith."
In the year 1739, there was a severe contest for the honour of representing the University, which gave rise to an investigation before a committee of the House of Commons on the petition of Philip Tisdall, a candidate, against the return of the sitting members ; the results will be seen by the ensuing passages from the journal.
"
VENERIS, 2 DIE NOVEMBRIS, 1739.
" A petition of Philip Tisdall, Esq., complaining of an undue election and return for the College of Dublin, was presented to the House, and read.
" Ordered to be referred to the committee of privi- leges and elections, and that they do examine the
68 A CONTESTED ELECTION.
matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereon, to the House.
" Ordered, that it be an instruction of the commit- tee of privileges that they do hear the matter of the petition of Philip Tisdall, complaining of an undue elec- tion and return for the College of Dublin, on Tuesday the <27th instant."
" JOVIS, 29 DIE NOVEMBRIS, 1739-
" Dr. Trotter, according to order, reported from the committee of privileges and elections, that they had heard the matter touching the election and return for the College or University of Dublin, and had come to several resolutions thereupon, which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the table, where the same were read and agreed to by the house ; and are as follows :
"' Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that Alexander Macauley, Esq., is not duly returned a member to serve in this present parliament for the College or University near Dublin.
" ' Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that Philip Tisdall, Esq., is duly elected a member to serve in this present parliament for the College of Dublin.'
" Ordered, that the clerk of the crown do attend this house immediately and amend the return by razing out the name of the said Alexander Macauley and in- serting the name of Philip Tisdall instead thereof.
" And Mr. Madden, deputy clerk of the crown, at- tended, and according to order, amended the return for the College of Dublin by razing out the name of Alexander Macauley, Esq., and writing the name of Philip Tisdall, Esq., instead thereof."
SECTION III.
In 1751, the number of students had increased so much as to make it necessary to enlarge the college buildings for their accommodation. No fund was ori- ginally set apart for that purpose, as in the then state of Ireland such an event had not been contemplated ; but
GREAT INCREASE OF STUDENTS. 69
the comparative repose which the country at this time enjoyed in its domestic interests made the influence of learning rapidly gain ground, and brought candidates to the walks of classic ambition from the furthest parts of the kingdom.
It was then becoming apparent that the affection which the natives of that country have ever displayed for useful and extensive learning, only required poli- tical tranquillity to allow the development of its latent powers, to produce the most beneficial consequences. An application by petition was therefore made to Par- liament by the Provost, Fellows and Scholars, for a sum of money to enable them to carry the requisite alterations into effect. This petition was received by the legislature with expressions of a just sense of the important interests for which it pleaded ; and the House of Commons voted such sums as enabled the applicants to complete the principal Square, and also to finish the elegant west front of the College, the latter part being particularly admired, both for its academic character and as a classic ornament to the metropolis.
The following extracts from the Commons' Journals will best explain the feeling of that House.
" JO VIS, 31 DIE OCTOBRIS,
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of Dublin, setting forth, that the said college does not contain chambers sufficient for lodg- ing the number of young gentlemen who, for several years past, have been sent thither for their education, and that many of the buildings of the said college are, from length of time, become ruinous, and are not ca- pable of being restored ; that by the statutes of the college no provision is made for new buildings, or for any other but the common annual repairs of the build- ing originally provided, notwithstanding which, the petitioners have expended several large sums, which by great care they have saved out of the ordinary ex- penses of the college, on necessary public buildings, and to increase the number of chambers for the recep- tion of students.
70 INCREASE OF BUILDINGS.
" That the petitioners have expended in manner aforesaid, all moneys which they have been able to spare from the indispensable uses of the college, and have it not in their power to add further to the build- ings, or to rebuild such of them as have become ruinous.
"It further states, that the petitioners have always instructed, with the greatest care, the youth confided to their charge, in the principles of zeal and affection to the constitution as by law established in Church and State, and of duty and loyalty to the Royal Family."
To this application the following answer was re- turned :
" Resolved (nem. con.) that the House do address his Grace the Lord-Lieutenant, that he will lay be- fore his Majesty the humble desire of this House, that his Majesty will be pleased, out of his royal bounty, to give to the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College such sum or sums, not exceeding £5,000, as he shall think fit, to be expended towards rebuilding and adding to said college."
This address was ordered to be presented by mem- bers of the house who were of the Privy Council.
Having obtained the foregoing grant, the heads of the college appear to have proceeded very satisfactorily with the objects proposed in their petition: much ad- ditional accommodation was obtained for the residence of students, yet the demand for chambers appears to have increased steadily. This was occasioned by the great improvement in the wealth, taste, and general knowledge of the people, which rendered it indis- pensable that their national University should be ex- tended, not only in its domestic plan, but that the aid of architecture should be called in, to bestow upon its external appearance that character of collegiate dignity which should ever belong to these valuable institutions : and finding that the Government, as well as the Parliament, were favourably disposed to assist in this very desirable object, the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars did, in November 17.53, send up a petition to the House of Commons, praying "for aid to enable them to rebuild the west front of said
BISHOP BERKELEY'S GOLD MEDALS. 71
College ;" and without delay the House passed a resolu- tion unanimously, to present an address to his Ex- cellency the Lord Lieutenant, requesting his lordship to lay before the King the humble desire of the House of Commons, that his Majesty would be pleased out of his royal bounty to give to the petitioners (named) " such sum or sums, not exceeding £20,000, as his Majesty should think fit, to be expended in rebuild- ing and making additions to said College." And such was the desire of the Government to second the zeal and liberality of the Irish Legislature, that on the third day after the above resolution had been passed, Mr. Conway, then Secretary of State for Ireland, reported to the House, that their address to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant in favour of the College had been presented to his Excellency, who upon reading it was pleased to return the following answer.
" I will immediately transmit the address of the House of Commons in favour of the College to his Majesty, and I make no doubt of his Majesty's con- tinuing his royal favour to that loyal and learned society."
This assurance of the Viceroy appears to have been very well founded, for with the supplies arising from the munificent grant to which it alludes, the heads of the college went on steadily with their im- provements in building for about two years, when we find that, in November IJ55, another application was made to Parliament for additional aid towards com- pleting the works in progress.
In the year 1752, Dr. Berkeley, the celebrated Bishop of Cloyne, being anxious to promote the study of the Greek language, gave a benefaction of one hun- dred and twenty guineas and a medal die to the Pro- vost and Board, for the purpose of having gold medals struck, two of which were to be given annually, for ever, as an encouragement to Bachelors of Arts to increase their knowledge of that language.
To this proposition the Provost and Board at once assented, and directed that these medals should be given
72 £20,000 VOTED BY PARLIAMENT.
to the middle bachelors, who have attended the lec- tures of the Regius Professor of Greek with remark- able diligence for two academic years, commencing with the term in which they received their Bachelor's degree. We do not, however, find any record of the presentation of these medals until the year 1781, and from that time down to 1821, ten years of that period have no record of the parties' names who received these medals, and one year (1817) the medals were not given; but from 1821 to the present time the names have been regularly recorded.
The comparative and indeed almost complete relief which Ireland experienced from the suppression of domestic wars and foreign intrigues during the last sixty years, (from 1692,) had increased this community so much, that its buildings could no longer afford proper accommodation to the students who crowded here to obtain by education the means which it offered them to obtain the honours and emoluments of pro- fessional life.
The Corporation therefore applied to Parliament for aid to rebuild the old, and erect new buildings and halls sufficient to supply the increased demand. For this purpose the following document was pre- sented to the House of Commons on the first of No- vember, 1755.
" 1ST OF NOVEMBER, 1755.
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, praying aid to enable them to rebuild the front of said College, was pre- sented to the House and read.
" Resolved, nem. con., that an humble address T)e presented to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant that he will lay before his Majesty the humble desire of this house, that his Majesty will be pleased, out of his royal bounty, to give the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, such sum or sums, not exceeding £20,000, as he shall think fit to be expended towards rebuilding and adding to said
£5000 VOTED BY PARLIAMENT. 73
College." This was promptly attended to, as we find by the following documents.
" 3RD OF NOVEMBER, 1755.
" The Right Hon. Mr. Secretary Con way reported to the House, that their address to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant in favour of Trinity College near Dublin had been presented to his Excellency, who therefore was pleased to return the following answer.
" ' I will immediately transmit the address of the House of Commons in favour of the College to his Majesty, and I make no doubt of his Majesty con- tinuing his royal favour to that loyal and learned society.'" With the liberal supply thus promptly afforded, the renovation and improvement of the College halls and chambers was carried on with great alacrity for two years, when another supply became indispensable, as the following extract will show.
" 2 DIE NOVEMBRIS, 1757-
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, setting forth that his Majesty, in pursuance of the address of this honour- able House, was graciously pleased, since the last session of Parliament, to give the petitioners the sum of £5000, to be expended towards rebuilding and adding to the said College ; that the petitioners have since proceeded with the greatest diligence to rebuild one side of the first court entering into the said College, in which they have been greatly delayed by the difficulty of finding a sufficient foundation ; that the petitioners find it will be necessary to rebuild the front of the said College, but as the sum received will not be sufficient for that purpose, and as no provision is made by the statutes of said College for the ex- pense of any new buildings, or for any other but the annual necessary repairs of the buildings originally erected, the petitioners find themselves disabled from proceeding in the said undertaking unless assisted therein by further bounty of this house ; that the
74 PARLIAMENT VOTES £20,000 TO COLLEGE.
petitioners have always attended with the utmost care to educate the youth committed to their charge in principles of duty and loyalty to his Majesty, and zeal for the Protestant succession as happily established in his royal house, and praying the house to take the premises into consideration, and to do therein as to the House shall seem proper, was presented to the House and read.
"Resolved nem. con., that an humble address be presented to his Grace the Lord Lieutenant, that he will lay before his Majesty the humble desire of the House, that his Majesty will, out of his royal bounty, be pleased to give to the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College, Dublin, such sum or sums, not exceeding £5000, as he shall think fit, to be expended towards rebuilding and adding to the said 'College.
" Ordered, that such members as are of the Privy Council do attend his Grace the Lord Lieutenant with the said address."
Like the previous appeals, this one was attended to in the most ready and cordial manner, of which good feeling on the part of the monarch and ministers, the following papers are the best evidence.
" JOVIS, 3 DIE NOVEMBRIS, 17<59-
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, was presented to the House and read, setting forth that his Majesty, in pursuance of the address of the House, was graciously pleased since the last session of Parliament to give the petitioners £20,000, to be expended in finishing the north side of the first court entering into the said College, and in rebuilding the front of said College ; that the petitioners have with all possible ex- pedition and care finished the said north side, and are now rebuilding the front, but as the sum received will not be sufficient for that purpose, and as no provision is made by the statutes of said College for the ex- pense of any new building, or for any but the annual
THE LIBERAL FEELING CONTINUED. J5
necessary repairs of the said buildings originally erected, the petitioners find themselves disabled from completing and finishing the said undertaking, unless assisted therein by the further aid of the House ; that the petitioners have always attended with the utmost care to educate the youth committed to their charge in the principles of duty and loyalty to his Majesty, and zeal for the support of the Protestant succes- sion, as happily established in his royal house, and pray- ing the House to take their case into consideration.
" Resolved, nem. con., that an humble address be presented to his Grace the Lord Lieutenant, that he will lay before his Majesty the humble desire of the house, that his Majesty will be pleased, out of his royal bounty, to give to the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College, near Dublin, such sum or sums, not exceeding £10,000, as he shall think fit to be ex- pended in completing the building now carrying on in the said College.
" Ordered, that the said address be presented to his Grace by such members of this House as are of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council.
" 9TH DIE NOVEMBRIS, 17 5Q.
" The Right Hon. Mr. Secretary Rigby reported from the committee appointed to attend his Grace the Lord Lieutenant* with the address of this house, in favour of Trinity College near Dublin, that they had attended his Grace accordingly, and that there- fore his Grace was pleased to return the following answer.
" * I will immediately transmit the address of the House of Commons, in favour of the College, to his Majesty, and make no doubt of his Majesty con- tinuing his royal favour to that loyal and learned society." '
SECTION IV.
In 1761, King George III. constituted (by the statute de professoribus} the Professorship of Divinity
» The Duke of Bedford.
76 THE REGIUS PROFESSORSHIP OF DIVINITY.
into a Regius Professorship, and placed it under the following regulations : viz.
1st. That the Professor be elected from the senior fellows of the College within three months after knowledge of a vacancy, by the Provost or Vice Provost and major part of the Senior Fellows.
Immediately after his election, the Professor must vacate his Fellowship, and resign all the right, power, and privileges of a Fellow.
Those privileged to attend this lecture are, the Bachelors of Arts, except those who are engaged in the study of Law or Medicine and all Masters of Arts of the first and second years.
The Professor is bound to deliver a prelection at the beginning of each term, wherein he is to lay before his auditors and explain to them the order and sub- jects of the studies appointed for that term. He is to lecture twice a week during term, explaining the Holy Scriptures, and discussing the controversies with the enemies of Christianity and the antagonists of our church. The Professor shall also give lectures and hold examinations in Ecclesiastical History, and shall select the books (with the approval of the Provost and Senior Fellows) in which the students are to be examined. He is to prescribe the Theo- logical exercises, and act as moderator in disputations for degrees in Divinity.
The Professor is also to preach before the Uni- versity on four appointed Sundays in the year, in defence of the Christian religion. — The first Pro- fessor under the new statute was B rabazon Disney, D.D.
The Professorship of Feudal and English Law, was also founded by statute in this year. The Professor is elected by the Provost and Fellows, and must be a barrister of two years' standing.
This officer may be elected for life or for a term of years, at the discretion of the electors. If he be a Fellow of this College, he must be appointed for life, and then resign his Fellowship. Immediately on his being elected, the Professor is admitted and sworn by the Provost or Vice Provost in the College Chapel.
Dr. Francis Stoughton Sullivan, LL.D., was the
ANDREWS S PROFESSORSHIP OF ASTRONOMY. 77
first person elected to this professorship : he was not a Fellow.
In the year 1762, an important addition was made to the College course by the founding of three new professorships by the Trustees of Erasmus Smith's Charities. These professorships were placed under similar regulations to those already founded by that Board. They were those of Mathematics, History, and the Oriental Languages, the former professorship of Oratory and History being restricted to Oratory only, and a distinct professorship of Modern History founded.
In 1769 the Right Hon. Philip Tisdall was elected for Ardmagh and also for this College ; he made his election for the latter place. In the same year, the Right Hon. Francis Andrews was elected for Bally- shannon and Londonderry ; he made his election for the former borough.
16th of March 1772. A bill was brought into Parliament to vest the estates of Dr. John Stearne, Bishop of Clogher, in trustees appointed for carrying the charitable and other bequests of his will into exe- cution.
In the year 1774 another important, and indeed essential Professorship to the course of University education, was provided for by the munificent bequest of Provost Andrews, who in that year left a sum of £3000 to the College, to be expended in erecting and furnishing an observatory, and in providing proper in- struments for the purpose of making astronomical ob- servations in such places as the Provost and Senior Fellows should think most suitable for that purpose. Dr. Andrews also left the annual sum of £250 for ever, to be applied in paying the salaries of a pro- fessor of Astronomy, and of a person skilful in taking astronomical observations, and such other assistants as the Provost and Board shall appoint. There was no time lost by the heads of the College to carry into effect the intentions of the testator, but their object was unexpectedly retarded for some time by an opposition which they met with from some relatives
78 CONTESTED ELECTION AT COLLEGE.
who were also devisees of the late Provost Andrews ; and who, in May, 1780, petitioned the House of Commons, in which they prayed the honourable House to interfere and investigate certain strong facts therein stated, of alleged injustice to which they had been subjected by the conduct of Dr. Andre ws's suc- cessor, (Provost Hutchinson,) in evicting them from the leasehold property which had been devised to them by Dr. Andrews. An abstract of the proceed- ings in this curious and rather complicated case could hardly be given with sufficient clearness to be satis- factory to any readers but those of the legal profes- sion, besides which it may be useful to shew, that be- quests if not made with the greatest possible accuracy, may prove injurious instead of beneficial to the devisees for whose advantage they may be devised, as the statements at pages 81, &c., will prove.
On the 8th of December, 1775, it was ordered that the committee of the whole house, on the paving bill, should be empowered to raise a clause to remit the annual sum to be paid by the Corporation of Trinity College, Dublin, for paving, flagging, &c., such places as they have been accustomed to pave, flag, &c., which was done.
The following year a disputed election occasioned the following proceedings :
" A petition of the Right Hon. Philip Tisdall, com- plaining of an undue election and return for the borough of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, was read.
" Ordered, that said petition be taken into con- sideration on the 13th day of July next."
On the 27th of October 1777, the petition of Robert Madder and George King, on behalf of them- selves and others, the electors of the College, &c., near Dublin, was presented to the House and read. It charges the Right Hon. Hely Hutchinson, Provost, with partiality as returning officer, and states that the Right Hon. Philip Tisdall had a fair majority of legal votes over Richard Hely Hutchinson, Esquire, although the latter was declared duly elected by the
PETITION AGAINST RETURN OF R. H. HUTCHINSON. 79
Provost : the petitioners conceive themselves highly aggrieved by said return, and request, on behalf of themselves and other electors, that the House will order the name of the said Right Hon. H. Hutchinson to be expunged from the list, and that a new writ may issue for the election of a member for said borough in his room, (Mr. Tisdall died pending the business,) or for other relief. It was ordered that the petition should be taken into consideration on the 23rd of January following.
The committee met accordingly, and, after several adjournments, came at last, on the 9th of February, to the following decision, viz.
" Mr. Thomas Loyd reported that the select com- mittee appointed to try and determine the merits of the petition of Robert Madder and George King on behalf of themselves and others, the electors of the borough of the College of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, complaining of an undue election and return for the said borough have determined :
" ' That Richard Hely Hutchinson, Esquire, was not duly elected, and ought not to have been returned a burgess to serve in this present Parliament for the said borough of the College of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin." His name was accordingly erased, and a writ issued for a new election.
SECTION V.
The serious dispute before alluded to, commenced at this time, between the devisees of the late Pro- vost Andrews and the corporation of the College; the affair was brought before Parliament, as we shall see presently.
VENERIS, 12 DIE MAII, 1780.
" Resolved, that an humble address be presented to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, that he will be pleased to give directions to the proper officer to lay before the House the memorial presented to the Lords Justices by Dr. F. Andrews in the year 1759, praying
80 PROFESSORSHIP OF MODERN LANGUAGES.
an augmentation of salary to the Provost of the College*.
" Ordered to be presented by such members as are of the Privy Council."
In the year 1777» during the Provostship of the Right Hon. John Hely Hutchinson, another im- portant addition was made to the system of education in this University; this was the founding of the two Professorships of Modern Languages. In pursuance of the provost's application for that purpose, King George III. caused the following royal letter to be issued in October 177 6, directed to the Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland.
" Whereas our right trusty and well beloved counsellor John Hely Hutchinson, Provost of our College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, has introduced into said College, two professors or teachers of Modern Lan- guages, the one of whom teaches French and German, and the other the Spanish and Italian languages. Now we being desirous of supporting the intentions of our said Provost, for the good of our said College, have given and granted to the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College, yearly, the sum of two hundred pounds, payable out of such of our revenues in our said kingdom of Ireland, as are liable thereto, to commence from the 29th day of September last, and to be payable half-yearly, on the 2,5th day of March and 29th day of September. One hundred pounds of said sum to be paid yearly, to a professor or teacher of the French and German, and the other one hundred pounds to be paid yearly to a professor or teacher of Spanish and Italian. The said professors or teachers to be resident in the said College, and to be subject to such regulations and orders as the Provost and Fellows shall from time to time make for their direction and government. The said professors or teachers to be appointed by us, our heirs and successors, during our pleasure."
* Dr. Frapcis Andrews.
PETITION OF DR. ANDREW s's DEVISEES. 81
In 1785, the professorship of French and German was divided into two, when Lieut.-Col. Hamilton was appointed professor of German, and the Rev. T. Bassonet, professor of French ; but in 1?97» the two languages were again united under one professor.
The following is the entry in the Journal of the 13th of May 1780, to which we have alluded at page 79-
" A petition of Robert Gamble and George Gamble, Esq., and Mrs. Sarah Norman, the devisees named in the will of the late Right Hon. Francis Andrews, deceased, was presented to the House and read, setting forth, that the said F. Andrews, who was provost of Trinity College near Dublin, departed this life the 12th of June, 1774, having first made his last will and testament in writing, and thereby did devise his lease- hold interests in the counties of Galway and Meath to his mother for life, subject to the sum of £10 a year to the Infirmary of the county of Galway, and also of £10 a year to the Infirmary of the county of Meath ; and did will and direct that after the decease of his said mother, his leasehold interest in the county of Galway should go to the petitioner Robert Gamble, subject to an annuity of £100 therein mentioned ; and did direct that his said leasehold interest in the county of Meath should go to the petitioner George Gamble, subject to an annuity of £100 to the petitioner Sarah Norman for her life ; that the said testator by his will devised all his paternal estate situate in the county of Antrim, of the yearly value of £665 and no more, to his said mother during her life, subject to certain annuities therein mentioned amounting to £120 yearly, and after the decease of his said mother he devised his paternal estate to trustees therein named and the heirs, upon trust, in the first place to raise by the receipt of the rents and profits thereof the sum of £3000, and pay the same to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College, Dublin, to be by them employed in erecting and furnishing an observa- tory ; and that said trustees and heirs, after raising the said sum of £3000, should raise the annual sum
82 PETITION CONTINUED.
of £250 for ever, to be applied in paying the salaries of a professor of Astronomy, and person skilled in taking Astronomical Observations ; and subject to the said several charges and annuities, devised all his said estate to his said mother and her heirs for ever. That the Right Hon. John Hely Hutchinson, the present provost of said College, upon the death of the late provost, instituted several suits (as provost of the said College) at law and in equity for the purpose of evict- ing the said leasehold interests, alleging that the said leases had not been made according to strict legal powers, and after a variety of tedious and most ex- pensive proceedings in a suit in the Court of Chancery in this kingdom, the provost appealed from the deter- mination made against him therein to the Lords of England, who were pleased to dismiss the said appeal, but he, after being defeated in equity, then proceeded at law, and at length obtained the verdict of a jury, defeating the title of the petitioners to the leasehold interests in the county of Galway, so bequeathed by the said provost aforesaid. That the petitioners acquiesced under said verdict after having expended upwards of £2000 in said suit, and gave up, as well the lease of the lands in the county of Meath, as the lease of the lands in the county of Galway, without further trouble or litigation ; and the present provost now holds and enjoys the said leasehold interests so devised to the petitioners by the late provost as afore- said, and which at present yields a clear yearly profit of £800 or thereabouts. ' That it seems apparent from the said will that the said testator intended that his said mother Elizabeth should have the profits both of the said real estate and leasehold interest charged as aforesaid during the term of her natural life ; that the petitioners Robert and George should have the leasehold interests after the decease of the said Eliza- beth, subject to the annuities before mentioned ; that the petitioner Sarah should have the annuity of £100 before mentioned, and that the charitable bequests were by the said will intended for the respective In- firmaries of Galway and Meath, but the said present
PETITION CONTINUED. 83
provost by defeating said leases as aforesaid, has, as petitioners humbly apprehend, disappointed every object of the testator in every item of the particulars before mentioned, and therefore the petitioners humbly conceive that the bequests and devise made in favour of said present provost and fellows, &c., as before mentioned, was made to them in error, and upon a supposition that they never would have controverted the other bequests, or any of them, made by the said will, and the petitioners humbly submit whether it is just or reasonable that the same person, or body of men, should not only control, but defeat the will of the testator in every material instance as aforesaid, and yet be permitted to establish the same in a par- ticular instance, seemingly much less material ; and the petitioners humbly submit whether it is just that the petitioners, who appear to be the first and great objects of the testator's bounty, should be, some of them partially, some of them totally, unprovided for ; and that charitable donations really material to the community should be entirely defeated, at the same time that a secondary object, and that perhaps rather ornamental than material, should be established. That the value of the said leasehold interest of which the petitioners were evicted in manner aforesaid, and whatever now held and enjoyed by the present provost, exceeded considerably the value of the bequests of the late provost charged on his paternal estate for the use of the College, and by such evictions the testator's in- tention is defeated, and the petitioners are totally de- prived of the present income intended for them by said will out of said leasehold bequests, and the mother of the said late provost, by being deprived in manner aforesaid of so large a portion of the income intended for and devised to her by her son the said late provost, was unable to make that provision and compensation for the devisees that otherwise she might and would have made, and therefore pray- ing that leave be given to bring in heads of a bill for the relief of petitioners, in conformity only to what
84 COUNTER PETITION OF PROVOST AND FELLOWS.
appears evidently to be the intention of said testator, and that each party may have the full benefit intended by the will of the testator and no more.
" Ordered that said petition be referred to the con- sideration of a committee.
" And a committee was appointed of Sir F. Flood, Mr. Montgomery of Donegal, and others, or any five or more of them, and they are to meet to-morrow morning at nine of the clock in the speaker's chamber.
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of &c., &c., near Dublin, under their common seal was presented to the House and read, setting forth that the petitioners have seen a printed paper, importing to be a copy of a petition from the executors and devisees of the Right Hon. F. Andrews, deceased, praying that heads of a bill may be brought in, to deprive the said college of part of its property; that the petitioners, alarmed at an attempt of novelty, and of such importance to the common right of the subject as well as to the particular rights of said college, think it their duty to lay before the House the circumstances of their case, viz. That the Reverend Richard Baldwin, deceased, many years provost of said college, died on the 30th day of September in the year 17^8, having by his will devised to the petition- ers a considerable real and personal estate ; that the Right Hon. F. Andrews, deceased, the late provost of the said college, who succeeded the late Dr. Baldwin, instituted several suits against several tenants of the provost's estate, who devised under leases made by the said Dr. Baldwin, and evicted or otherwise defeated all the leases made by the said Dr. Baldwin, as having been made at an under value, got into the possession of said lands, and made leases thereof in trust as appears by his will for himself; that the college, although the said estate was and is the separate estate of the provost for the time being, was at the expense of said suits so instituted by the said Dr. Andrews, and in the costs of the said suits, and in defending bills in equity brought by one of the
COUNTER PETITION CONTINUED. 85
tenants of the said Dr. Baldwin, advanced consider- able sums of money ; that one of the said tenants re- covered from the executors of the said Dr. Baldwin the sum of £4500, for the damages sustained in evict- ing one of the said leases so evicted as aforesaid by the said Francis Andrews, and £7^ 15s. 3d. for the costs of said suit, which sums were paid in the year 1765 by the then Burser, and were so much lost to the said college ; that the said college, by the pay- ment of the said sums and the costs of the said several suits, lost a sum of £5787 and upwards, which said sum was part of the personal estate of the said Dr. Baldwin as aforesaid, and had been lent out by him at interest at the rate of £5 per cent., and having been called in by the petitioners for the purpose afore- said, the said college has lost by the said several dis- bursements for and on account of the said Dr. Andrews, a sum which would in the whole at this day amount to £9838 ; that on the death of the said Dr. Andrews, the petitioner J. H. Hutchiiison, who succeeded to the said office of provost, obtained a verdict against a lease made by the said Dr. Andrews, of such part of the said provost's estate as lay in the county of Gal way, being the most valuable part thereof, as having been made at a great under value, and on a compromise, re- mitted to the executors of the said Dr. Andrews the entire surplus rents of all the provost's estate for the first three years of his provostship, together with £600 of the rents acknowledged to be payable to the provost under the lease so made by the said Dr. Andrews, amounting in the whole to the sum of £3000 or there- abouts ; that the petitioner J. H. Hutchinson would not have remitted so considerable a part of his property, if he had apprehended that any such at- tempt as the present would have been made ; that the be- quest made to the college by their late provost, of whose bounty and beneficent intentions they are fully sensible, is for a purpose not merely ornamental, as has been represented, but highly useful and necessary, and which the petitioners have not sufficient funds to establish ; that the legacy left by the will of the said
86 COUNTER PETITION CONTINUED.
Dr. Andrews is to the provost, fellows, and scholars of said college, but the corporation of the said college never instituted any suit against the executors of the late provost, and never interfered in the suits carried on by the late or present provost for the eviction of the said lease, save only by the payment of the said costs as aforesaid for the late said provost, at his desire, and those petitioners are advised that the provost is a sole corporation, separate and distinct from the corporation of the college, and neither the petitioners, the senior fellows, nor the corporation of said college have controverted or defeated the will of the said F. Andrews, and the petitioner J. H. Hutch- inson did not otherwise controvert or defeat the same, save only by evicting the said lease, which by law he was warranted to do ; and in carrying on the said suits he expended above £1 ,000 of his own money, and that he has not applied, nor does not intend to apply to the said college to be paid any part of his expenses, the said college not having interfered in any respect in his said suits, and that his successor will be in all re- spects equally benefited with himself by the eviction of the said leases, as he has not made, and does not intend to make, any lease or leases in trust for him- self, though by the money so remitted and expended by him, he loses a sum of <£4,000 ; and the said peti- tioner, in evicting the said leases, did all in his power to prevent any person being injured by it, leaving the real tenants and occupiers of the said lands, deriving under the said Dr. Andrews, the full benefit of their several leases ; and the said petitioner J. Hely Hutch- inson apprehends that he has not treated the execu- tors of his predecessor with any severity, and he in- tended to behave to them with kindness and regard as the representatives of an amiable friend and a respectable predecessor, who had by his will been munificent to said college ; that Elizabeth Tomkins died before the petition signed by her was presented, and the other petitioners are, as these petitioners are informed, strangers to the blood and family of the said Dr. Andrews ; and the said Elizabeth Tomkins has
BOTH PETITIONS REFERRED TO COMMITTEE, 87
made them ample amends for any disappointment they might have received in their expectations under the will of the said Dr. Andrews, by devising, as peti- tioners are informed, her real estate among them, which the petitioners have reason to believe the said Elizabeth Tomkins intended as a compensation to the petitioners for the eviction of the said leases, and that she for that purpose altered a will made by her before the said eviction ; that the petitioners lately remitted to the executors of the said Dr. Andrews, a legal demand which the college had against them, amounting to the sum of £585, or thereabouts, which the petitioners did in consideration of the said be- quest, and if it had been mentioned that the same was intended to be controverted, they would not have re- mitted the said demand ; that the said several sums amount to £10,423, which exceeds the value of the annuity and the legacy bequeathed by the said Dr. Andrews to the college, exclusive of the sum of £3,000, which the executor of the said Dr. Andrews retained out of the provost's estate, and therefore praying the protection of the laws of their country, for the said college for which they are trustees, and by law to represent that if the other petitioners have any equity in their case, which these petitioners by no means apprehend, they ought to resort to those courts in which the intentions of testators in their wills are properly determinable.
" Ordered, that the said petition be referred to the last mentioned committee.
" Ordered, that the several petitioners be heard by their council, if they shall think fit, before the said committee."
" MARTIS, 16 DIE MAII, 1780.
" A copy of the petition presented to the Lords Justices by Dr. F. Andrews, in the year 1759, praying an augmentation of salary to the Provost of Trinity College, Dublin ; the title whereof was read, and the said copy ordered to lie on the table for the perusal of members."
88 THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
On the 31st of May, the Right Hon. Sir H. Cavendish reported from the committee appointed to take into consideration the several petitions of R. and W. Gamble, Esqs., and the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College, Dublin.
The Report, at full length, is to be found in the Appendix to tenth volume of the Journals, it is a very long and very minute report; it contains the will of the late Dr. Andrews, several deeds of trust for the pur- chase of lands, a letter from Dr. Andrews to Wm. Gamble, at the time the Doctor was in the south of France, in the year 177 4< (that in which he died); also several law papers, and the examinations of witnesses, particularly Robert Fitzgerald, Esq., M.P., Dr. Cle- ment, M.P. for Dublin, the Right Hon. the Speaker, the Rev. Dr. Leland, D.D.; also the leases of the Gal way and Meath estates (valued at £1,247) were produced, and those of the Antrim estate, producing a clear yearly rent of £686; also the following evi- dence on the parts of the provost, fellows, and scho- lars, viz.
" An Act of the 10th and llth of Charles I.
" Chapter 3rd, provides for the preservation of the inheritances, right, and profits of lands in the church, and persons ecclesiastical. King Charles the Second, under the great seal of Ireland, granted certain lands lying in the counties of Galway and Meath, to the then provost of Trinity College, Dublin, to hold to him and his successors, Provosts of said col- lege, for ever.
" That those lands were intended to be a perpetual revenue for the office of provostship.
" 21st chapter of the statutes of the college, by which it is directed that a moiety of the yearly value should be reserved in all leases made by the college ; that the provost of the college has certain property, and that the lands in the counties of Galway and Meath are the separate estate of the Provost of the College of Dublin ; that the Rev. Dr. Baldwin was appointed provost in the year 171?> and continued so until he died in 1758.
THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT. 89
" That by his will, dated the 21st of September, 1758, he devised the greatest part of his real and per- sonal estate to the college, and made them his resi- duary legatees ; that the late Dr. Andrews was made provost in 1758, and brought ejectments to evict the leases made by Dr. Baldwin of the lands, as being made at under value ; that the college supported the expenses of said suits, upon which they expended the sum of £1,214 18s. I^d.
" Dr. Clement, M.P., in his examination (de bene esse) informed the committee that the sum paid by the college on account of the suits instituted by Dr. Andrews, amounted to the sum of £5,7$7 13s. 4td.9 and the interest on said sum for fourteen years is £4,050 18s. ; they therefore estimated their total loss at that time to be £10,423 Us. 4d.
" JOVIS, 1ST DIE JUNII, 1780.
" The order of the day being read for the House to take into consideration the report from the com- mittee appointed to examine the matter of the several petitions of Robert Gamble and George Gamble, Esqs., and of the Right Hon. the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin,
" Ordered, that leave be given to bring in the heads of a bill for the relief of Robert Gamble and George Gamble, Esqs., and Sarah Norman, devisees of the late Right Hon. F. Andrews, &c., &c.
" MARTIS, 6 DIE JUNII, 1780.
" Sir F. Flood presented to the House, according to order, heads of a bill for granting compensation to the legatees of the Right Hon. F. Andrews, late Pro- vost of Trinity College, near Dublin, deceased; for the injuries they sustained as legatees under the will of the said late provost, which were received and read.
" A petition of the Right Hon. Edmund Sexton Pery and the Right Hon. Marcus Paterson, was pre-
90 A BILL TO RELIEVE THE GAMBLES.
sented to the House, and read ; setting forth that the Right Hon. F. Andrews did, by his last will and testa- ment, devise the several estates therein mentioned to the petitioners upon trust, in the first place, to raise the sum of £3000, and pay the same to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College, to be applied in building and furnishing an observatory, and for raising the annual sum of £250 for ever, for the salaries of the professors of astronomy, and persons skilful in taking astronomical observations ; that the heads of a bill have been brought into this House to enable Robert and George Gamble, and the survivors of them, and the executors and administrators of such survivors, to take and receive the sum of £3000, de- vised to the petitioners upon the trust aforesaid, and to sell and dispose of the aforesaid annual charge of £250 so devised to the petitioners, and to apply the said £3000, together with the money arising or to arise from the sale of the said annual charge, in the same manner as the profits of the leasehold inter- est in the said will mentioned and directed to be ap- plied ; and praying to be heard by their counsel against the said heads of a bill.
" It was resolved that the parties should be heard by counsel at the bar, which was done, and the busi- ness adjourned for a few days.
"15 DIE AUGUSTI, 1780.
" A petition was presented from Robert and George Gamble, and Sarah Norman, devisees named in the will of the Right Hon. F. Andrews, deceased, in which after showing that by the eviction of the lease or other circumstances connected with the college, the intention of the testator to benefit them was defeated, and pray- ing that the House will grant them such relief as shall seem meet in case of such singular severity.
" Ordered, to lie on the table : A motion was made and carried, that the House do address the Lord-lieu- tenant, praying him to lay the same before his Majesty, hoping he will grant such relief as his Majesty shall think fit.
THE LITIGATION TERMINATED. 91
" The address was ordered to be presented by such members as are of the privy council."
Thus terminates the parliamentary notices of this unhappy litigation ; but we can add, that the recom- mendation of the Hon. House was met by a liberal feeling on the part of the Crown, and the petitioners were allowed a sufficient compensation, as prayed for in their petition.
These proceedings, however, retarded the pro- gress of the works requisite to complete the observa- tory, and the difficulty of obtaining a proper site at suitable distance from the University, also caused further delay ; and before this latter impediment was overcome, Dr. Henry Ussher was appointed professor, in 1783. It was not, however, until the year 1788 that the eligible site on which the observatory stands, was obtained, when the building was commenced.
SECTION VI.
In February, 1782, the House of Commons re- lieved the college from the pavement-tax, according to the following extracts :
" Ordered, that the committee appointed to take into consideration heads of the bill for paving streets, lanes, and other places in the city and county of the city of Dublin, and liberties thereof, and for prevent- ing and removing obstructions and annoyances within the same, and for other purposes, be empowered to receive a clause to repeal so much of an act passed in the fifteenth and sixteenth year of his present Majesty as enacts that the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity College, Dublin, shall pay the annual sum of £70, for the pavement in and about said college.
In July following, the House ordered, " that Mr. Speaker do issue his warrant to the clerk of the crown, to make out a new writ for electing a burgess to serve in parliament for the Borough of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, in the room of the Right Hon. Walter
92 PETITION OF PROVOST AND FELLOWS.
Burgh, appointed Lord Chief Baron in the Court of Exchequer."
In the year 1785, the lectures in Anatomy, Che- mistry, and Botany, were made University Professor- ships (Act 25 Geo. III., for establishing a complete School of Physic in Ireland). Under this statute the School of Physic consists of three King's Professors, on the foundation of Sir Patrick Dunn, (viz. Institutes of Medicine, Practice of Medicine, with Materia Me- dica, and Pharmacy,) and of the three University Pro- fessors of Anatomy and Surgery, Chemistry and Botany. After fifteen years' experience some alterations were found requisite so far as the University Professorships were concerned, as we shall presently see.
Ahout this time the Teller of the Exchequer ab- sconded ; amongst those defrauded by this man was the college corporation, which lost nearly £1100 of the money voted by Parliament.
" LUNA, 26 DIE MARTII, 1787.
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Eliza- beth, near Dublin, under their common seal, was pre- sented to the House, and read ; setting forth, that in the year 1751, the western square of the said college being then mostly ruinous, application was made to the House of Commons by petition, for a sum of money for rebuilding and adding to the said college; that the said petition set forth, that by the statutes of said college, no provision was made for any new build- ing or for any other than the necessary repairs of the buildings provided.
" That in pursuance of the addresses of the House of Commons, founded on a petition containing like alle- gations from time to time, his late Majesty was pleased to grant several large sums of money, amounting in the whole to £45,000, of which the net sum, after deducting pells and poundage, &c., received by said college, amounted to the sum of £42,518 6s. 6d. only, as there remained unpaid of the said sum, occa- sioned by the failure of the late Teller of the Ex-
ALLEGATIONS OF THE PETITION. 93
chequer, the sum of £1078 19s. 1\d. ; that in conse- quence of said grants a square, consisting of cut stone, was proceeded upon, and the northern and southern sides, according to the plan laid before the House, were finished, the extremities of which were ter- minated hy ruinous buildings, partly erected in the time of Queen Elizabeth and partly in the time of the late Archbishop Palliser ; that the said buildings were carried on at an expense, and pursuant to a plan that the funds of no private society could be sufficient to support ; that in the year 177«5» the remainder of the sum received, pursuant to the said grants for car- rying on the said buildings, £5,208 11s. \\\d.> the sum of £37,309 14s. "l\d. having been previously expended ; that the petitioners, since the year 1775, have proceeded to finish the southern line of the said square, according to the improvement recommended by Sir Wm. Chambers, and have expended in building the said square the sum of £53,876 19s. 6d., ex- ceeding the sum received in pursuance of the ad- dresses by the sum of £11,358 12s. ll^d., towards which the petitioners have received a donation of £2,500, and the sum of £4,277 4s. 4d., by the sale of chambers and old materials ; that the said Parliament Square, when finished, will be a great ornament to the University and to the Metropolis ; but the extremity of the northern side of said square is now terminated and deformed by a cross line of brick buildings in a ruinous state, the removal of which and the enlarge- ment of said square will contribute to the health of the students ; that the said square, together with the necessary undertakings in which the petitioners are at present engaged for the benefit of the college, can never be completed without the aid of parliament ; that it is the intention of the petitioners to cause a new chapel to be erected in the northern side of said intended square, the present chapel being very an- cient, and in a very decayed state, and insufficient to contain with convenience the present number of the society ; that the present number of the society have so greatly increased of late years that the chambers in
94 THE ALLEGATIONS CONTINUED.
said college are not nearly sufficient for their accommo- dation, and the late act of parliament for establishing a complete School of Physic in the kingdom, has in- creased the demand for chambers by the necessity of providing for the professors proper rooms for giving their lectures in ; that the petitioners have, since the year 177*5, caused a new square to be begun consisting of plain stone buildings, two of which are nearly finished and will cost the sum of £4,726, of which the petitioners have already paid £3,096, and they intended to proceed in completing the said square as they shall be enabled to do by the circum- stances of the college, and have also, since the above period, advanced several large sums of money in erect- ing an observatory and purchasing astronomical in- struments necessary for carrying on so important an institution ; these sums, amounting in the whole to the sum of £6,259, and the probable expense of further instruments and buildings wanted to complete said work will amount to the sum of <£2,313, at the least, for which the petitioners have received by a legacy from their late worthy Provost a sum of £3000, and the petitioners, from the opinions of persons of the greatest learning and experience in these subjects, have reason to flatter themselves that said observatory, when finished, will be one of the most complete in Europe ; that petitioners have, from the year 1776 to the year 1786, both inclusive, disbursed for the pur- poses aforesaid, and for their necessary annual ex- penses, several sums of money exceeding in the whole their annual receipt in the sum of £30,623, and in their said exertions for the good of the society intrusted to their care have been under the necessity of con- tracting a considerable debt, notwithstanding their having called in several large sums of money be- queathed to the college by the late Dr. Baldwin, to whose liberality the society is greatly indebted ; that the completion of the said Parliament Square will cost the sum of about £20,000 ; and that the peti- tioners are ready to engage to finish the same con- formably to a plan now laid before the House on re-
CLOSE OF THE PETITION. 95
ceiving a sum of £12,000, payable in four years ; that the sum necessary for finishing the part of the northern square now nearly completed, and of several other buildings for the benefit of said college, in which peti- tioners are now engaged without any expense to the public, together with the debt already incurred by the petitioners in the said undertakings, and the sum of £8,000, proposed to be expended by petitioners an the finishing the said Parliament Square, will amount to about £17,000, as will appear by an account ready to be laid before the House, exclusive of the large sums which must be hereafter expended in finishing the said northern wing of the square ; that from an at- tention to the health and accommodation of the stu- dents, petitioners have expended considerable sums of money in the purchase of ground for the enlargement of their park, the inclosing and finishing of which will be attended with considerable expense; that the peti- tioners have proceeded as far as the resources of the college would permit, and have declined making any application to the House till such time as they found themselves utterly unable to finish said work, which, when completed, will have cost, since the year 1775, a sum of about £40,000, at an additional expense to the public of £12,000, only.
" Ordered, that the said petition be referred to the consideration of a committee.
" 27 DIE MARTII.
" Mr. Arthur Brown reported from the committee to whom it was referred to take into consideration the petitions of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the college of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, the re- solutions which he read in his place and after de- livered in at the table, where the same were read, and are as follows : —
" ' Resolved, that it is the opinion of the committee, that the petitioners have fully proved the allegation of their petition.
" ' Resolved, that it appears to this committee that the petitioners require and deserve the aid of Parliament.
96 GRANT OF £3000 TO COLLEGE.
"' Resolved, that the said Report be referred to the Committee of the whole House, to whom it was re- ferred to take into consideration the supply granted to his Majesty, as also his Grace the Lord Lieutenant's speech.'
" 28 DIE MARTII, 1787.
" Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee that the sum of £3,000 be granted to the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, for the purpose of carrying on the square agreeable to the terms set forth in the petition presented to the House this Session of Parliament."
These extracts from the Parliamentary Journals, are given verbatim, as the best evidence to prove the very friendly feeling with which the legislature of Ireland regarded the University of that country, in which the greater part of them had received their education.
In the year 1791, a contested election occasioned the following proceedings before the Honourable House :
"14 DIE FEBRUARII, 1791.
" A Petition was presented from Laurence Parsons, Esq., also one from Courtney, Kenny, Garnett, and Andrew O'Callaghan, Esqs., electors, complaining of an undue election and return of the Hon. Francis H. Hutchinson for the borough of Trinity College, near Dublin.
" Ordered, that a select committee be appointed to take the same into consideration.
" JOVIS, 24TH DIE MARTII, 1791.
" Mr. Burton reported to the House, that the select committee appointed to try and determine the merits of the petition of Laurence Parsons, Esq., and also the petition of Courtney, Kenny, Garnett, and An- drew O'Callaghan, electors, complaining of an undue election and return for the borough of the college, &c., &c., near Dublin, had determined,
" That the Hon. F. H. Hutchinson was duly elected
RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE OBSERVATORY. 97
as Burgess to represent the said borough of that Uni- versity in this present Parliament,
" Also, that the Provost, as returning officer, of the said University, has acted legally and impartially at and before the election for members to represent the said University in Parliament."
CHAPTER III.
SECTION I.
IN the year 1791? the Observatory having been completed, and furnished with valuable and suitable instruments, a licence of mortmain was obtained, and at the same time a statute for regulating the duties of the Professor was confirmed. It is right to mention here, the becoming liberality with which the Provost and Fellows acted on this occasion, by expending, out of the college funds, above £5,000 more than the bequest (£3,000) left to the University for that pur- pose, by the Provost Andrews.
By the above mentioned statute it is enacted, " that there shall be for ever hereafter a Professor of Astronomy, to be called and known by the name of The Royal Astronomer of Ireland, on the foundation of Dr. Andrews ; and that the said Professorship, and the conduct of the Professor therein, be placed under the following regulations :
"1st. That the Professor shall make the Observatory his actual place of residence, and shall not absent himself from it for more than sixty-two days, either together or at intervals in the year, without leave ob- tained from the Provost, or in his absence, from the Vice-Provost and senior Fellows of the College.
" 2nd. That no person shall be admitted into the chambers where the astronomical or other instruments shall be kept, unless introduced or attended by the Professor, or his assistant.
" 3rd. That the Professor and his assistant shall
98 RULES AND REGULATIONS
not both be absent from the Observatory at the same time, and that the assistant shall be subject to the direction of the Professor in his attendance in the Ob- servatory, assisting him in making observations or en- gaged in making observations himself, making cal- culations, writing and transcribing as his secretary, moving the instruments, keeping them in good order, &c. And to insure the attention and respect of this operator, the Professor may recommend him to the Provost and Board as a careful and diligent person to be appointed his assistant, but he may also be dis- missed at the desire of the Professor.
" 4th. That the Professor and his assistant shall make regular observations of the heavenly bodies, and record them in the order of time, in books made for that purpose. And also, in the event of any future discoveries or improvements being made in astrono- mical instruments, or the making of observations, the Professor for the time being shall conform himself to such regulations as shall from time to time be made by the Provost or Vice- Provost and Board of Fellows, with the consent of the Visitors, touching all new mat- ters that may arise in consequence of such discoveries or improvements."
The fifth Rule directs that a fair copy of the yearly observations shall be presented to the College within six months from the end of each year ; and that those observations shall be annually printed at the College expense, and under the supervision of the Professor. Copies of these reports are directed to be presented to the chief observatories, academies, li- braries and eminently learned persons, both at home and abroad — the remainder of the copies are directed to be sold, and the profits are to belong to the Pro- fessor for his care in revising the press, &c. ; and he is to sign his name at the bottom of every page (to authenticate the work). The original observations and the computations from them must remain in the Observatory, (except removed by an express order of the Provost and Board,) to be consulted as records of Astronomy, by persons authorized by the heads of
OF THE OBSERVATORY. 99
college, or by the Professor. Also that correct copies of these books, &c., are to be presented by the Pro- fessor to the Librarian of the college, who is to de- posit them in the manuscript room of the library.
The Professor is to instruct in practical Astro- nomy, and the use of the instruments, such Fellows of the College as the Provost and senior Fellows shall direct.
The Provost and senior Fellows are to visit the observatory once a year, in the months of June or July, to examine the state of the building, and the instruments belonging to the observatory.
On the occurrence of a vacancy in this Professor- ship by death, deprivation, or surrender, the Provost and senior Fellows are to elect, within six calendar months of that event, a competent person to the Pro- fessorship ; and in case the Provost and Board should not elect a successor to this office within the time men- tioned, that the appointment of a Professor shall devolve on the Chancellor of the University ; and the person thus appointed shall hold and enjoy this office, and be considered the Royal Astronomer of Ireland, as if elected by the Provost and senior Fellows.
Thus, after a lapse of seventeen years from the date of Dr. Andrews's bequest, was this important Professorship permanently established and prepared for the practical operations of Astronomy ; these, it is true, had been carried on, but in a subordinate way, in the college from the year 1783, when Dr. Henry Ussher, D.D., was elected to the astronomical chair. It was not the good fortune of the talented and esti- mable man to carry into effect the great scientific purposes to which he had seriously devoted his talents and close attention for a series of years ; this gifted man was removed from the world at the moment when his persevering energies had succeeded in overcoming all the difficulties which presented themselves in the progress of this undertaking, not only in the planning and superintending the erection of a building wholly different in the principles of construction from any building previously erected in Ireland, but who was
H 2
100 BOTANIC GARDEN BILL.
also active and intelligent in suggesting the construc- tion and improvement of the principal instruments to be fixed in the observatory.
The vacancy occasioned by Dr. Ussher's death, gave occasion for a strong competition : to occupy the vacant chair was an object of high ambition, and con- siderable talents and acquirements were displayed by the candidates. The examinations also were close and severe, in accordance with the importance of the object. Finally, a majority of votes at the Board of Exa- miners gave the Professorship of Astronomy to the Rev. John Brinkley, D.D., of Trinity College, Cam- bridge, in 1792, and the event proved the propriety of this decision, for the new Professor proved himself in all respects not only competent to the peculiar duties of this office, but equal to the most skilful of his con- temporaries in Europe, in the theory and practice of astronomy. Something more will be said on this sub- ject when the detailed account of the Observatory is given.
We have already stated that a Lectureship of Botany existed actively in this college from the year 1711, in which year Dr. Griffith gave the first course of Botanical Lectures ; from that time these lectures were continued regularly each term until the year 1785, when this lecture was made a University Profes- sorship under the provisions of the Act (25 Geo. III.) " for establishing a complete school of physic in Ire- land ;" which Act was further confirmed, as we shall see hereafter. The want of a sufficient Botanic Garden, (for there existed only a small one in the College Park,) was felt as a great deficiency, which the state of the College funds could not supply ; and it does not ap- pear that the Provost and Board of Senior Fellows made any application to Parliament on the subject until the year 1793, when on a bill having been brought into Parliament by the Right Hon. the Secre- tary of State " to direct the application of certain sums of money heretofore granted towards providing and maintaining a Botanic Garden a, and for the appoint-
a To the Roval Dublin Society.
PETITION ON THE BOTANIC GARDEN BILL. 101
ment of Trustees for that purpose," the Provost and Board of Fellows, properly conceiving that the Col- lege was legitimately entitled to assistance in its Bo- tanical department, Drought the question before the House of Commons by the following petition :
" MARTIS, 11 DIE JUNII, 1793.
" A petition of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College, under their common seal, was pre- sented to the House and read, setting forth, that the Petitioners and their predecessors have for a long series of years used their best endeavours to promote the study and improve the faculty of Physic in said College, and considerable sums of money have been, and are annually and otherwise applied by them for that purpose.
" That an Act having passed in this kingdom for the establishment of a complete School of Physic, of which the University Professors make a part, namely, the Professors of Botany, Chemistry, and Anatomy, the petitioners, for the encouragement of science, and without obligation from the charter or statutes so to do, have continued to make a liberal provision for the support of those professorships ; that a Botanic Garden is indispensably necessary for the success of that sci- ence, but the funds of said college are totally inadequate to the establishment or support of such an institution, they have exerted their utmost efforts to promote it by allocating for that purpose a fund, which in the last year amounted to £112, but which will be insuf- ficient for the establishment or maintenance of such an institution ; that the legislature having been pleased to grant several sums of money to the Dublin Society, towards providing and maintaining a Botanic Garden, that society caused application to be made to the peti- tioners for their advice, assistance, and contributions, and, as the petitioners are informed, applied to the College of Physicians for the like purposes, and the members of the college have, as far as in them lay, granted the annual sum of £100 for the purpose, out of funds vested in them for medical purposes ; the
102 THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS* PETITION.
petitioners apprehend that by the application of the said several funds, and by the co-operation of a cer- tain number of persons out of the said three bodies, the success of said scheme will be most effectually promoted ; that the copy of a bill for these purposes having been laid before the petitioners, they are humbly of opinion that the said bill, if passed into a law, would tend to promote the success of the said in- stitution, which they consider as necessary to a com- plete school of physic, and useful to the university, and whatever regulations may be made in respect to the said establishment, they humbly hope that the wisdom of the legislature will provide that medical and other students shall have the full benefit of it, the petitioners having nothing in view but their ad- vantage, the success of said school of physic, and the advancement of science.
" Ordered, that the said petition be referred to the committee of the whole House, to whom it was re- ferred to take into consideration a Bill for directing the application of certain sums of money heretofore granted towards providing and maintaining a Botanic Garden, and for the appointment of trustees for that purpose.
" A petition from the President and Fellows of the King's and Queen's College of Physicians, in Dublin, under the common seal, was presented to the House and read, setting forth, that in the year 17«58, the House was pleased to appoint a committee to inquire into the best means for the establishment of a com- plete School of Physic in this kingdom, and to refer a petition from the petitioners for that purpose to the said Committee, before which several of said college were examined, who, on such examination, declared their opinion that a Botanic Garden was necessary to such an institution * j and the said committee was
» In the Botanic Garden Bill, there is a clause whereby persons of the Roman Catholic Church are enabled to hold the professorships of Anatomy, Chemistry, and Botany, if elected to these offices by the College of Physicians ; and the author recollects one instance of this privilege being exercised, about the year 1816, when Dr. Tuomy was elected, from amongst several competitors.
GOLD MEDALS INSTITUTED. 103
pleased to enter into a resolution to that effect ; that in the year 1790, the legislature was pleased to grant to the Dublin Society, towards providing and main- taining a Botanic Garden, and the said society in July following," &c., &c. It proceeds in a manner similar to the other petition, and praying the House to take into consideration a subject so essential to the improve- ment of science.
In November, 1793, the Provost and Board made a decree, that a gold medal should be given to every student who should have answered every examination, from his admission, to the taking of his Bachelor's de- gree ; and who, at each examination, had not got judg- ments inferior to one Bene, with Valde Benes : and that any student of the rank of a Nobilis, to be exa- mined for this medal, must have answered eight exa- minations on the above conditions — but ajilius nobilis, or an Eques, must have answered ten.
The above resolution continued in force for about twenty years, but this mode of encouragement was then abolished, and another plan adopted, which will be noticed in its place.
On the 20th of June following, (1794-,) the Right Honourable the Dublin Society sent into the House a petition, praying that they might have the sole management of the sums granted by Parliament for a Botanic Garden, and that said sums may not be in- vested in trustees contrary to the grant already made of it, and that no other body may be joined with said society in the execution of the trusts reposed in them.
On this occasion, the influence of the Right Hon. the Dublin Society, prevailed over that of the College, and that institution, in which were many members of parliament, was entrusted with the sole management of the large sums voted for the purpose mentioned.
The Primate's Hebrew Prizes. — In 1794, the Provost and Senior Fellows, being anxious to en- courage the more extensive cultivation of the Hebrew language amongst the students, devised the following plan, and made a decree of the Board for that purpose in February of that year ; by this decree, power was
104 THE DONNELAN LECTURE.
given to the Hebrew Professor to recommend to the Board, his best and most diligent answerer, " provided he has real merit," to whom under certain regulations a premium of four pounds shall be given, to be laid out in books of Hebrew or Divinity.
The professor was also authorized to make a return to the Board, of such students as his assistants had re- commended for their answering, and if more than four of them were returned, the professor was to ex- amine them himself, when the best answerer was to receive a premium of two pounds, to be laid out as before mentioned.
None of the candidates, however, could be entitled to the above premium, unless they had attended two thirds of the lectures in Hilary, Easter, and Michael- mas terms, or certified that he has been prevented by illness, and that the number he has actually attended, during the year, shall amount to two thirds of the whole number of lectures.
The Hebrew fund having been greatly augmented a few years later, by the pious munificence of Primate Newcome, which, to their honour, has been continued by his successors in the primacy ; this increase of means has occasioned very considerable alterations in the modes of conferring the premiums, as we shall see hereafter.
The Donnelan Divinity Lecture. — This Lecture- ship originated in the year 1794, from a bequest pre- viously made to the college by Mrs. Anne Donnelan, of the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, London, " for the encouragement of religion, learn- ing, and good manners;" and the manner of applying this fund, to promote those important objects, was left to " the discretion of the Provost and Board of senior Fellows," who, in February of that year, resolved that a " Divinity Lecture " should be permanently esta- blished, to be called " Donnelan's Lecture," and endowed with a salary arising from the interest of the £1200 so bequeathed; and that the lecturer should be at once elected from among the fellows of college, annually, on the 20th of November.
BISHOP LAW'S MATHEMATICAL PRIZES. 105
The subjects of the lectures are to be determined by the Board at the time of the election, and are to be treated of in six sermons, which shall be delivered in the College Chapel, after morning service, on certain Sundays to be appointed on the 20th of November next after the election of the lecturer, and within a year from said appointment.
The lecturer is to be paid in two instalments, the first so soon as he shall have delivered the six lectures, and the second moiety, when he shall have published four of these lectures, of which copies are to be placed in the College Library, in the Ardmagh Library, and in St. Sepulchre's Library ; a copy also is to be given to the Chancellor of the University, and one to the Provost of the College. A list of the Donnelan lectures, and the subjects lectured upon, will be given towards the close of the volume.
In February, 1795, Arthur Brown, LL.D., the Regius Professor of Greek, and one of the repre- sentatives of the University, having been appointed a serjeant at law, vacated his seat in the House of Commons, where on a motion it was ordered, " that Mr. Speaker do issue his warrant to the clerk of the Crown, to make out a new writ for electing a Burgess to serve in this present Parliament, for the borough of the College of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, in the room of Arthur Brown, Esq., LL.D., who has ac- cepted the office of one of his Majesty's counsel, learned in the law."
In the year 1796, Dr. Law, then Lord Bishop of Elphin, presented a sum of £735 to the College, to be applied to encourage the study of Mathematics, ac- cording to a plan which he suggested, and which was adopted with some slight variations ; these regula- tions direct that £20 shall be given to the junior bachelor who shall pass the best examination in algebra, the application of algebra to geometry and spherical trigonometry; and £10 to the junior bachelor who shall appear to be the second best proficient in the same subjects. The examiners for these premiums
106 DR. DOWNES'S THREE DIVINITY PREMIUMS.
are the Professors of Mathematics, Natural Phi- losophy, and Astronomy.
The examinations are held on two days in Michael- mas term, of which public notice is given on the first day of term, and the premiums are announced on the last day of that term.
The closing rule directs that £5 shall be given to each of these professors in rotation, in order that he may entertain the other examiners at dinner on the day that the premiums are adjudged ; the rotation begins with the senior officer.
In three years afterwards, the time of examination was changed from Michaelmas term, to the end of Trinity term, the period at which it is now held.
In the year 1797* the endowments allowed for the Professorships of Modern Languages, were, by act of parliament, placed upon a permanent basis, as may be seen on reference to the Journals of the House of Commons.
In the same year, the Divinity premiums of Dr. Downes were established out of a fund bequeathed by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore ; these pre- miums are open to all Bachelors of Arts who possess the qualification required by the regulations of the Provost and Board.
These premiums are divided into three separate classes, the first of which in order is "for a written composition." The competition for this honourable badge of distinction is always entered into by students of high reputation in their class, who make their best efforts to carry off the prize ; and to obtain it, consider- able talent must be displayed; for it is decided in presence of the Provost and members of the Board, the Lecturer in Divinity, and the Professors of Divinity and Oratory, in the hall. It is held on the last lecture day of Easter Term, when the Lecturer in Divinity proposes a subject either moral or con- troversial ; and on the day of the last lecture given by the Professor of Divinity in Trinity Term, such students as have attended during at least four terms
DR. DOWNES'S THREE DIVINITY PREMIUMS. 107
in divinity and oratory, with remarkable diligence, and are desirous to compete, are to deliver discourses on the subjects so proposed without hesitation, within the space of fifteen minutes for each discourse. To the best composer, £20 premium, (the maximum,) and to the second, £10 premium is adjudged, or a smaller sum in each case may be given, as the examiners may think proper — for the manner of pronouncing these discourses is much regarded, as well as the matter and style of them.
The premium for "an extempore discourse," is decided on the last lecture day of Trinity Term, when the Lecturer in Divinity proposes a subject, either moral or controversial, to such candidates as have taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and at- tended him, or one of his assistants, and also the Lecturer in Oratory, for four terms with remarkable diligence. For the best discourses of those delivered extempore, the examiners may bestow a premium of £12, and for the next in merit £8. The candidates for these premiums and the two preceding ones, may compete for and carry off the premiums three suc- cessive years, but not oftener.
The third class of these prizes is " for reading the Liturgy," and the trial of the candidates is always held on the first lecture day of Trinity Term, when the Professor of Oratory, and the Divinity Lecturer, adjudge the sum of £8 to the best, and £4 to the next in merit of the candidates in the class of Bachelors of Arts, who shall read in the best manner the parts of the Liturgy as now established, which shall be pro- posed to them, and who shall have attended with re- markable diligence the lectures in Divinity and Oratory for at least three terms. Candidates for these two premiums cannot receive them more than once ; and in the event of meritorious candidates not coming forward to compete, the savings of each year shall go to the augmentation of the fund, and being laid out in government securities, will go to the future increase of the premiums.
On the 18th of March, 1797, the Right Hon. the
108 NUMBER OF SENIOR AND JUNIOR FELLOWS.
Chancellor of the Exchequer brought in a bill for granting to his Majesty certain duties on various manufactures, and for granting certain sums out of the surplus consolidated fund for salaries to the professors of Italian, French, German, and Spanish languages, in the College of Dublin, as follows, viz. — To the pro- fessor of the French and German languages in said college, £100 per annum ; to the professors of the Spanish and Italian languages in said college, £100 per annum : Resolution to this effect passed the House unanimously on the 26th of the same month.
Early in the memorable year 1798, Ireland being then in a state of high political ferment, verging to a rebellion, the House of Commons, for some unex- plained reasons, ordered, on the 26th of February, " that the proper officer of the college should lay be- fore the House an account of the number of the senior and junior fellows, scholars of the house, and sizers of the foundation, in Trinity College, Dublin; specifying the number of each ; and also an account of their yearly salaries as fellows, scholars, or sizers, and the sum allowed for the commons of each respec- tively, and their accommodation as to lodging in cham- bers in the said college, and whether their respective chambers, or lodgings, are provided at the expense of the college, or at their own respectively ;" of the re- turn to which order, we have the following notice on the 21st of February :
" The House being informed that an officer at- tended at the door, he was called in, and at the bar, presented to the House, pursuant to their order,
" A return of the number of senior fellows on the foundation in Trinity College, near Dublin, their salaries, and sum allowed for commons of each ; the title whereof was read, and the return ordered to lie on the table for the perusal of the members."
The following is a copy of a return taken from the Appendix to the 17th volume of the Commons' Jour- nal, page 515.
" Return of number of senior and junior fellows and scholars on the foundation of Trinity College,
MADDEN'S FELLOWSHIP PRIZES. 109
near Dublin, their salaries, and the sums allowed for the commons of each.
44 Seven senior fellows, salary . . . £100 each. " Fifteen junior fellows, ditto . . 40 " Thirty native scholars, ditto . . 20 " Forty scholars, ditto .... 4 " Thirty sizers, no salary, maintained by the com- mons left at the table at which the fellows dine.
" Fellows allowed for commons, 10s. 6d. per week, for one half year, and 9s. lid. for the other; scholars allowed for commons, from 65. 8d. to 7$. 7d. per week, according to the variation of the price of provision.
" Fellows allowed for bread and beer 2s. O^d. per week.
" Scholars allowed for ditto ditto Is. %^d. per week. The fellows and scholars pay a sum on ob- taining a grant of rooms, which is repaid when they vacate them ; the prices are various, according to the goodness of the accommodations, being from £5 to £100.
" Signed by
" Trinity College, " THOMAS EBRINGTON,
Feb. 22, 1798." « Bursar."
" FRIDAY, 1ST JUNE, 1798.
" The proper officer having attended at the door, was called in, and presented to the House, according to act of parliament, several accounts, among others, one from the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, for building a new chapel between the 13th day of December, 1787, and the 20th day of November, 1797."
SECTION II.
Madden's Fellowship Prizes. — It had long been the practice, as already mentioned, for the Provost, and Board of senior Fellows, being the examiners at Fellowship examinations, to bestow premiums upon such candidates, and in such proportions, as in their judgment deserved those marks of approbation. But
110 MADDEN'S BEQUEST.
it was not until the year 1798 that the premiums known as Madden's Prizes were first bestowed accord- ing to the terms specified in a codicil annexed to the last will of Samuel Molyneux Madden, Esq., which he executed in 1782.
By this document Mr. Madden requested the then Lord Chancellor of Ireland, (Lord Lifford,) the Primate, (Dr. Robinson,) and Dr. Woodward, Bishop of Cloyne, and the Vice- Chancellor of the College to be the trustees and governors of the fund for carrying into effect the purposes of the testator, which were, as he has expressed it, that the property so bequeathed " should be employed in promoting learning and virtue in Trinity College, in the county of Dublin ; subject to such regulations as I shall exposite and declare in any codicil to my said will." The testator then goes on to say, " My will, intent, and request, therefore is, that at every examination for fellowships, in Trinity College, the whole produce of the said fund, (all his estate situated in the corporation of Belturbet, county Cavan,) during the preceding year, be given in one undivided sum, into the hand of that disappointed candidate for the fellowship, as the majority of his ex- aminers shall, by certificate in writing under their hands, declare to have best deserved to succeed if an- other fellowship had been vacant ; provided always, that no premium thus provided shall be given to any disappointed candidate in any year wherein there shall not be at least two disappointed candidates at the exa- mination, and also provided always, that the provost and fellows of college do not diminish the premiums which, through their zeal to encourage learning, they generously bestow upon the disappointed candidates for fellowships at each examination. And whereas, there are some years wherein there are not any exa- minations for fellowships held, no vacancy having hap- pened in the college, I do hereby desire that the revenue of my estate and fund, in every such year, be laid out in government securities by my said trustees, and the interest of such government securities to be added to the succeeding produce of the united fund
SAMUEL MADDEN'S CHARACTER. Ill
aforesaid ; and thus the premium to be increased which shall be given to disappointed candidates in the succeeding years. And 1 do desire that this pre- mium or bounty be continued to one only disap- pointed candidate for fellowships, until the annual revenue of the said fund shall arise to four hundred pounds, after which period, the trustees aforesaid may appropriate the further increase of the fund towards the constituting a bounty for a second disappointed candidate, or rather for a premium for the best ora- tion or essay in Latin, on such subject as the college shall annually choose, as such encouragement is greatly wanted. And further, in aid to the said intended fund, as the present revenue in the corporation of Bel- turbet is but £86 rent, I do hereby bequeath to the three trustees as aforesaid, all my personal estate of what nature soever, after the death of my dearly be- loved wife, to be by them converted into money, and to be laid out in government debentures, and applied to the great end of encouraging virtue and learning in the college, where the youth of the nation are edu- cated, and where most essential service may be ex- pected from their care and patronage, and therefore I appoint the said trustees my residuary legatees."
Here we have a very gratifying and remarkable in- stance of the high moral influence which a judicious system of education exercises over the human mind, not only in giving practical effect to the intentions of men naturally humane and well disposed, but also of repressing the equally natural tendencies of our nature to indulge in expensive, and not always the innocent gratification of the social state of man. Mr. Madden was a gentleman possessed of a moderately independent fortune, which at an early period came under his control, and gave him the means of indulging himself according to his fancy ; he was a fellow commoner in this college, and at first did not neglect the gaieties so congenial to the spring time of life, and which certainly in that day were rather over than under- valued in Ireland ; Madden' s natural good sense, however, soon led to reflection, and on taking his
112 IN 1798 THE EXAMINATIONS POSTPONED.
Bachelor's degree, he left college with the regret of his fellow students, the unsullied character of a gentle- man, and the reputation of a good classical scholar. It is not necessary here to go further into the biography of the truly excellent individual. Those facts are given merely to shew the sort of person it was who valued so highly, and estimated so justly, " the cultiva- tion of learning and virtue," as to leave a valuable property to be appropriated to their encouragement ; and which having been very well managed, has pro- duced extensively the good fruits intended by the be- nevolent testator.
The year 1798 was one fearfully fraught with un- happy events in Ireland, the memory of which it is neither the object nor desire of the author to rescue from the oblivion into which it is sinking. At that event- ful period, the university maintained, as it had done in times far more perilous, its ancient and invariable character of loyalty to the British Crown and Con- stitution in Church and State, and amongst the various proofs of its devotion to the cause, was that of raising a corps of volunteers from among the students, of a suitable age to carry arms ; this battalion was above three hundred strong, equipped as light infantry, and officered by the lay fellows of the college, and was re- garded as one of the best disciplined and effective of the numerous volunteer corps which were embodied at that dangerous period. And although the actual operations of war did not reach the college, yet the state of the whole country was in such disorder, that neither the quarterly examination of classes at Trinity term, nor the elections to fellowships and scholarships, could properly be proceeded with, therefore those essential matters were postponed for some time with the consent of the visitors ; but to save the charter, the Provost and Fellows, on the day when these duties should have been performed, proceeded to the hall, and called upon those who were candidates to come forward, but as the call was not responded to, the Provost and Board adjourned to a future day, and in the mean time an Act of Parliament was passed, au-
PARLIAMENTS DEMAND TO SEE THE CHARTER. 113
thorizing them to hold the elections and examinations in the month of October following, by which time the rebellion was at an end, and the general business of the country had got nearly back into its usual con- dition.
In the year 1799, when the bill for a legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland was under strong discussion both in and out of parliament, on a debate in the committee some serious difference of opinion arose as to the precise terms of the college charter. When the House of Commons made an order (20th March) that the proper officer of the college should lay before the House " the original charter " of King Charles I. to the corporation of the college, or an authentic copy of that document.
The return to the above order, it appears, was made in three days after, at which time the Journals state that " the proper officer presented at the bar, accord- ing to order, the Charter granted by his Majesty King Charles I. to the University of Dublin," the title whereof was read, and the charter ordered to lie on the table for the perusal of members.
In the month of April in the same session, the House of Commons directed that an estimate should be made by the Commissioners for making wide and convenient streets in the city of Dublin, of part of the college estate lying between the northern wall of the college and the river Liffey, which land, and the houses thereon, had by some great oversight, been let on a long lease to the then Bishop of Raphoe. After some delay, the House made a peremptory order, as we find by the following extract from the Commons' Journal, bearing date 27th of April, 1799, which orders that the proper officers do lay before this House, an account stating whether any and what estimate was made by Mr. Thomas Sherrard, by order of the before-named commissioners, of the college estate held by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Raphoe, and also to specify the time when such estimate was made.
Three days after this order, that is, on the 30th of
4 COLLEGE LANDS IN DUBLIN.
the month, the following account was presented, being a statement of the estimate made by Mr. Thomas Sherrard, by order of the " Wide Street Commission- ers," of the college estate held under a lease of years by the Bishop of llaphoe. It further states, that this account or report was read at a meeting of the Com- missioners of Wide Street, &c., which was held for that purpose at the Royal Exchange, on Friday the 20th of April, 1798 (exactly one year previously).
When there were present :
John Swan, Esq., in the Chair, the Right Hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons, Jeremiah D'Olier, Esq., Right Hon. Robert Ross, Andrew Caldwell, Esq., Right Hon. John Beresford, Rich- mond Allen, Esq., William Diggs Latouche, Esq., Thomas Burgh, Esq., Sir T. Leighton, Bart.
Mr. Sherrard, pursuant to order, laid before the board the following estimate of the college estate held by the Bishop of Raphoe.
feet. £ s. d. £ s. d.
Front of Aston s Quay, including the ) 7g() at j 1Q Q im 0 0
Brewery J
North side Fleet Street .... 540 129 614 5 0
South side ditto 516 129 58G 19 0
Fleet Lane, including each side . . 280 0 10 0 14-0 0 0
Hawkins Street, west side ... 260 100 260 0 0
Ditto, east side . • 260 100 260 0 0
Townsend Street 180 0 15 0 135 0 0
Poolbeg Street, each side included . 200 0 15 0 150 00 Present value per annum, if now to
let . . . 3316 4 0
Amount of the fee at 20 years' pur- chase . 66324 0 0
Deduct the value of the Bishop's term, being thirty- }
three years at the same rate, worth sixteen years' ,> 53059 4 0 purchase .............. j
Value of the reversion of the College ..... 13264160
Add the value of the present Bishop's rent for the said ")
term of thirty-three years, supposed <£400 per annum, > 6400 0 0 at sixteen years' purchase ......... j
Present value to the College, interest in fee ... 19664 160
£1000 per annum at twenty years' purchase.
Signed by order, T. SHERRARD, Sec., 30th April, 1797,
THE LEGISLATIVE UNION. 115
SECTION III.
The time, however, now approached rapidly, when the friendly acts and attentions of the Irish Parlia- ment were, like the existence of that legislative hody, to cease and determine. The Irish Parliament and University had always a reciprocity of cordial feeling, the cause of which was one of the most rational and honourable that can be found amongst mankind. The University had, for the last two centuries, been con- stantly engaged in cultivating the minds of the youth- ful nobility, gentry, and higher commercial classes in Ireland, and as it was from among these classes that a constant succession of members was selected to per- form the legislative functions in both branches of the legislature, it was quite natural for the members of the two houses, who had been well trained for public life within the precincts of the college, to feel an habitual and well-founded respect for Alma Mater, under whose care the powers of their minds had been gradually developed and judiciously trained in all the arts and sciences at those periods considered indispensable to form the character of a gentleman, whether to dis- charge great public duties, or in a private capacity to fulfil the moral and religious obligations which man owes to the social state — to promote by his example, the love of order, and the practice of all the domestic virtues ; to these great objects were the unwearied exertions of the Provost and Fellows constantly di- rected. And under this general influence the mind of Ireland advanced rapidly in the arts of civilization, and developed a strength and extent of intellectual capacity, which, from its having lain so long dormant and oppressed, it was supposed could not be in exist- ence ; unhappily, however, some few " tares were sown among the wheat," and the storm of political re- volution which devastated the continent of Europe, and which were provoked by the foul corruption, tyranny, and imbecility of the French monarchy, at length spread its pestilential influence over Ireland ; where the deplorable events to which it gave rise will be
116 COLLEGE DEPRIVED OF ONE REPRESENTATIVE.
long remembered. The fierce and sanguinary struggle for a separation, which we have already alluded to, not having been successful, led to the absorption of the Irish Parliament in that of England, and although but a very few of those who had been educated in the Uni- versity were found to have taken a disloyal part in the rebellion of 1798, and whilst on the other hand the active and intelligent loyalty of the heads of the col- lege and vast majority of the students was most con- spicuous, and received the thanks "of the British Government ; yet the Act of Union deprived this borough of one of its representatives, and caused a total disruption of that cordial feeling which had al- ways previously existed between the Irish Parliament and Ireland's only University.
From that period the college has maintained itself independent of parliamentary aid, although for some years after the Act of Union numbers of the Irish youth, who would have graduated here, were sent to Oxford and Cambridge, through the caprice of an ab- surd fashion that then had seized many of the Irish no- bility and gentry ; in which they were also actuated by the hope of obtaining English patronage through their connexion with those Universities. Thus was this noble and loyal seat of learning degraded to the rank of a borough of the lowest order ; an act that did no honour to the head or heart of the statesman* by whom it was perpetrated.
The college revenues were also diminished by the sudden migration of numerous titled and wealthy fami- lies, who abandoned their native land and the tenantry over whom a kind Providence had placed them as the natural guardians, to squander their wealth upon the luxuries, and too often upon the vices, of the great metropolis, under the specious pretext of attending their parliamentary duties, but in reality to dance at- tendance about a court by which they were looked down upon, and amongst a people by whom they were not at all respected, as they would have been by the same classes in their own country.
a The late Viscount Castlereagh.
THE COMPLETE SCHOOL OF PHYSIC. 117
Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the Alma Mater of Ireland continued calmly to follow up that extensive and useful system of education which had already done such extensive service in educating the numerous generations of natives since its foundation, and out of whom came forth some of the brightest ornaments to British science and literature that grace the pages of English history.
Ever anxious to improve and extend their course of education, the Provost and Fellows lost no time in applying to the Imperial Parliament, A.D. 1800, for an act to confirm and amend the act of the 25 Geo. III. " for establishing a complete School of Physic in Ire- land ;" and this was granted so far as relates to the University Professors.
By this act it is provided that those University Pro- fessors shall have perpetual continuance and succes- sion, and shall be elected in the usual manner by the provost, or in his absence, the vice-provost and board of senior Fellows. The several professorships are to be held for seven years, if nothing interrupts them. The same professors may be re-elected at the expira- tion of that term ; but in case of a new election, three months' notice must be given in the Dublin and London Gazettes, signed by the college Registrar, and the Registrar of the College of Physicians, stating what professorship is vacant, or expected to be vacant at the appointed time, the emolument and other ad- vantages connected with them, together with the time and place of election. The candidates are to send in to the registrar their name, places of education, gra- duation, and of precedency, to afford an opportunity of inquiring into the merits of each candidate. The professorships are open to the Protestants of all na- tions, provided they have received a medical degree, or a licence to practise from the College of Physicians. The Provost and board of senior Fellows are also au- thorized to make rules and orders to regulate the uni- versity professors, to be approved by the College of Physicians.
The lectures of each professor, except those on
118 NEW REGULATIONS OF THE SCHOOL.
Botany, must begin on the first Monday in November, and continue until the end of April, and shall be given four days in the week at least. The lectures on Botany commence on the second Monday in May, and continue until the end of July in each year, four times a week.
All these lectures are to be given in the college, and in the English language, unless otherwise specially ordered by the provost and board of college. And the professors are allowed to charge reasonable fees to be paid on admission, by all persons who attend their lectures.
The students in the School of Physic have also the privilege granted them of being matriculated in the University ; and for the registering of their names they shall pay five shillings ; but these students are not obliged to have a tutor, or to answer at the exa- minations, or attend to any of the usual academical duties of the University ; and the lecturers in each medical session are to return to the senior lecturer in college, the names of those pupils who have dili- gently attended during the first half of their respective courses.
The advantages of these enactments, all of which were proposed by the heads of the University, and ap- proved by the College of Physicians, soon became ap- parent ; the improvements which had been introduced were very soon recognised by society; and pupils crowded into the lectures, not only from all parts of Ireland, but also many from England, Scotland, and North America. Now, although this is the first of the University faculties which came under the notice of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland, yet the author believes it will be more satisfactory to his readers, if he should go on consecutively with the whole account of the sections in the college course, the duties required, the pecuniary expenses incident to each, and the advantages conferred on graduates of this college by their diligent perfonnance of the various duties con- nected indispensably with their under-graduate course. As a proper termination to this section of the work,
THE DIVINITY LECTURES. 119
some account of the Divinity system of education at present pursued here is subjoined, this faculty being, as it ever has been, the great basis upon which the university was originally founded.
SECTION IV.
Regius Professor of Divinity. — Having already shewn that a lectureship in this faculty existed in this institution from its commencement, and that in A.D. 1761, it was made a Regius Professorship, we shall now notice the alterations and improvements which have been introduced at later periods.
The next change, of great consequence, which took place after that just noticed in the School of Medicine, was one introduced into the Divinity classes, by Dr. Graves. Previously to that period the professor was allowed only one assistant ; and thus it stood until A.D. 1813, in which year Dr. Graves was appointed to this office. That learned and acute theologian soon perceived the vast importance of making this professor- ship one of extensive practical utility ; he lost not a moment in pointing out his views to persons in higher authority, who fortunately saw the merit of Dr. Graves's plan, which in fact was well calculated to work a thorough reform in the existing system. A statute was therefore passed and confirmed in the fol- lowing year, authorizing him to make the proposed changes, which he speedily accomplished, and soon introduced extensive theological knowledge into his prelections, and adopted a very strict method in his examination of students intended for the church, and instead of only one assistant being allowed, there are now five assistants, all fellows. This reformed system has since been maintained, and further improvements added by Dr. Graves's successors in the professor- ship, so that in fact it would be difficult to conceive a more sound, extensive and orthodox selection of theo- logical science, suited to prepare candidates for the sacred office of the ministry, in a more effective manner than that which is now practised in this University.
120 THE DIVINITY LECTURES.
In consequence of the efforts and intelligent sug- gestions of Dr. Graves, (then elected Dean of Ar- dagh,) a statute was passed in the year stated, by which the endowment of the professorships was further augmented, and additional regulations added, hy which it is laid down, that the professor, in addition to the duties already prescribed to him by the college sta- tutes, " shall read annually four public prelections in Divinity, at such times and places as the Provost and Board shall appoint," and of these prelections public notice must be given.
The professor is also to hold an annual examination of the students in Divinity for two days in the month of November, during four hours each day, in the morning of the first day, in the Old Testament, and in the afternoon in the New Testament ; in the morning of the second day, in ecclesiastical history, and in the afternoon in the Articles and Liturgy of the Church of England.
By the former statute, the provost and board were limited to elect a Professor of Divinity from among the senior fellows ; the new statute takes off that re- striction, and they are now at liberty to elect either a senior or a junior fellow of the college into this situa- tion, provided the party so elected be a Doctor in Divinity, and also the best qualified amongst the can- didates for the above office ; in equal cases, the senior in rank to be preferred to the junior.
It was also directed, that within three months after the professorship becoming vacant by the death, re- signation, removal, or promotion of the professor to a bishoprick, (on the latter contingency this office is immediately declared vacant,) the provost and senior fellows are directed to elect a thoroughly qualified person into the professorship from among the fellows who are Doctors in Divinity. And previous to the elec- tion, each elector must solemnly declare, that he will vote for that person among the candidates whom in his conscience he thinks best qualified to perform the duties of that office. This declaration, with names of the candidates, and the votes given by the electors,
DIVINITY LECTURES — REGULATIONS, ETC. 121
must then be entered in the college registry ; and the new appointment must be signified under the college seal to the chancellor, or in his absence the vice- chancellor of the University, praying this dignitary that he will admit to the office the person so elected after he shall have taken the prescribed oath before the chancellor, vice-chancellor, or his deputy.
And in case that the professor should become inca- pacitated through old age, sickness, or other ine- vitable necessity from performing the duties of his office, then it shall be lawful for the provost and fel- lows to appoint a deputy, who must be a Fellow and Doctor of Divinity, duly qualified, to whom a reasonable remuneration is to be paid out of the stipend of the professor. And should the professor be unable for a whole year to perform the duties of his office, then the provost and board may elect a permanent deputy under the same rules as those prescribed in the election of a professor, notice being given to all the fellows eligible to that office. The deputy is to take the same oath (mutatis mutandis} as that taken by the professor ; the oath is to be administered by the provost, or vice- provost, in the college chapel ; and the deputy is bound to the performance of the same duties, and subject to the same government and fines, &c., as the professor. He may retain his fellowship, but cannot hold any col- lege office with his place of deputy.
The professor is entitled to hold this appointment during his natural life, unless removed for neglect of duty, &cc., or in case he should be promoted to a bishoprick.
The deputy may, however, unless he chooses to re- sign, hold this office during the incapacity of the pro- fessor, and until the 20th of November after that in- capacity has ceased, of which due notice is to be given ; provided said deputy shall continue a fellow, and shall perform all the duties to which he is bound by that situation. .
In a very few years the good effects of this system began to manifest themselves in the superior qualifi-
RECENT IMPROVEMENTS.
cations with which the candidates for deacons' and for priests' orders entered upon their sacred functions ; further improvements have since been made in this system, as time and experience pointed out the pro- priety of such alterations ; all these changes will be fully noticed when we come to describe the practical operations of the whole college course, as in full ac- tivity at the present time.
It must, however, be understood, that it is not merely with regard to the original and long established course of education, that improvements have been made, for the facts, when stated, will prove that the improving, but not the revolutionary, spirit of the age has been kindly received into this University ; and al- though its governors have firmly resisted all attempts to introduce bold experiments into the system of edu- cation, so long and so advantageously pursued here, yet they have gradually and wisely introduced some highly useful branches of learning, that formerly were not recognised in this college, nor indeed were some of them, until within the last twenty or thirty years, considered of sufficient practical importance to society to be introduced into our University system of edu- cation. The progress of events, however, have proved their usefulness ; they have been embodied into the college course, the basis of which has thus been ex- tended and rendered more solid, and at the same time more ornamental. These alterations and additions, for the above reasons, raise this institution to a higher stand in public estimation, because its modes of ex- tending knowledge now harmonize better with the feelings of society, which in this enlightened nation always looks forward to the practical application of educational systems to the great business of life ; people in general, not feeling any particular interest in merely abstract speculations, although they may be very wise and learned.
The first of these additions to the previous course of education, that took place during the present century, was the establishing a lecture in Natural History, A.D.
ADDITIONAL PROFESSORSHIPS. 123
1816. To this lectureship the provost and board elected Dr. Whitley Stokes, who was a senior medical fellow.
In 1832, the Professorship of Political Economy was founded by Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, under similar conditions (^mutatis mutandis) as the Drummond Professorship at Oxford.
In 1837, the provost and board founded a Pro- fessorship of Moral Philosophy, and elected to the professorship Wm. Archer Butler, A.M.
In 1838, the same authorities established a Pro- fessorship of Biblical Greek, and elected George Sydney Smith, Professor.
In 1840, the provost and senior fellows very pro- perly re-founded the Professorship of the Irish Lan- guage, which had been arbitrarily and absurdly sup- pressed by Provost Chappie, about A.D. 1639- In the same year the college authorities created the office of Curator to the Botanical Museum; the latter had been forming for some time. To this office Thomas Coulter, M.D., was appointed. And likewise that of Numismatist; to this office John A. Malet, A.M., was elected.
In 1843, the provost and board resolved, upon ma- ture deliberation, to found and endow a school for civil engineering ; this has been accomplished, and the direction of it has been confided to John M'Neil, LL.D. F.R.S., &c., and H. L. Renny, Esq., late of the Royal Engineers, R.I. A.
In addition to these absolute and indispensable parts of the college system, there exist two others that partake much more of the graces of social life than the dryness of academic application. These are the Historical Society, and " The University Choral Society," the former had been originally established in 1770, by the collegians, out of their own funds, and arose spontaneously out of the constantly advancing state of civilization which found new modes of exer- cising the mind, and of making the theoretical lore of universities subservient to the practical business of life. The college authorities of that period, though
124 ROYAL VISIT TO THE UNIVERSITY.
not averse to this well conceived mode of embodying abstract learning with the active duties of society, did not openly encourage the attempt, and in consequence of some serious difference of opinion, a large portion of the members seceded, and formed an extern His- torical Society, which held its sittings in the exhibition rooms in William Street.
In 1794, a new intern society was formed in Col- lege, and both were in activity for twelve years, when in 1806, at a meeting held by the society in William Street, it was resolved to dissolve the society, and to present their library, &c., to the intern Society. The latter, however, was itself doomed to a similar fate — for after having been both useful and ornamental to the college for twenty-one years, it was, on account of some dispute amongst a few of the members, subjected to more stringent regulations than existed before, and this curtailment of privileges was so ill received by a large portion of the society, that an extra meeting was called, and after an animated discussion, it was re- solved (50 to 14) that the society should, from that moment, be dissolved ; which was done, and their library was placed in security by the heads of the col- lege. On the subject of this society we shall have something further to say when we come to the notice of its resuscitation in 1 843, in the provostship of Dr. Sadleir ; but at present it is the time to give an ac- count of the visit which King George IV. paid to the University, when that monarch went on his tour to Ireland.
SECTION V. VISIT OF KING GEORGE IV. TO THE UNIVERSITY.
On the 31st of July, 1821, his Majesty, King George the Fourth left Carlton Palace in his travel- ling coach and four, accompanied by the Duke of Montrose, Marquesses of Londonderry and Winchester, Sir B. Bloomfield, and a large suite of attendants, to embark in the Royal George yacht for Ireland.
ROYAL VISIT TO THE UNIVERSITY. 125
His Majesty arrived at Portsmouth at three o'clock in the afternoon, and immediately embarked in the state barge, which took him on board the Royal George yacht, Sir Edmund Nagle. Soon after his Majesty ordered a cold dinner, and in the afternoon, the awn- ing being drawn across, the deck was used as a draw- ing room, and here the king took coffee and conversed with a few of his particular friends ; he retired to rest early, having been much fatigued with his journey down. At ten o'clock next morning, the tide serving, the royal squadron made sail, the men-of-war and forts saluted, the troops were drawn out, and the spectators, who were very numerous and highly respectable, cheer- ing as they passed ; the wind was westerly and a little fresh, of course ahead, but his Majesty determined to proceed at all hazards, and in the course of that day, Sir Edmund Nagle, with great exertions, took the Royal George through the Needles passage in a most seamanlike manner ; they continued beating to windward until late on the evening of the 3rd, when they brought up in Weymouth Bay, where they were saluted by the Greyhound sloop of war. Here boats were sent ashore, and the fresh provisions, live stock, fruits and vegetables soon disappeared from Weymouth market. The wind having come round to the south-eastward, they weighed anchor early on the 4th, joined by the Greyhound sloop. They now stood down channel with a fair wind ; all sail being set, they made great way, passing Plymouth Sound at eleven at night ; Falmouth, at two in the morning of the fifth. At six o'clock they were seen off Penzance, and the Lee frigate sent her boat ashore for new bread, &c. ; the wind lulled for a time, and then sprung up at N.E. At one o'clock in the afternoon the squadron was about three leagues north-west of the Land's End ; if it had not been Sunday, the town would have been emptied of its inhabitants to enjoy a sight which has not been witnessed for many generations, the royal standard of England floating between the Scilly Isles and the main land.
On Monday, the 6th, the fleet fell in with the
126 ROYAL VISIT TO THE UNIVERSITY.
Welsh land, off St. David's Head, standing up chan- nel, with the wind variable, but mostly from the westward.
As it was known to be his Majesty's gracious inten- tion to visit the Marquess of Anglesea at Plas Newydd, the inhabitants of the island kept a good look out, having arranged that beacon fires should be lighted on different conspicuous points of land as the royal squadron came in view. After much anxiety, on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, at last the signal be- gan to blaze late on Tuesday afternoon, the others were fired in succession, and at 10 o'clock the Royal George came to anchor in Holyhead roads. On Wednesday morning the Marquess of Anglesea came on board, and was most kindly received by his Majesty ; but the wind being then tolerably favourable, he declined, at first, going on shore. However, as it was imagined that the preparations for his reception in the Irish capital might not be complete, his Majesty agreed to land, and at two o'clock, a signal being made from the Royal George, the king landed on the pier, under a general salute from the squadron, and field-pieces in the town. After receiving the congratulations and ad- dresses of the people in the most condescending man- ner, his Majesty entered a coach of Lord Anglesea's, and being attended by some others, drove slowly through the town, and afterwards went on at a travel- ling pace, accompanied by almost all the inhabitants of the island ; the column of persons was full a mile in length. His Majesty arrived at Plas Newydd, the beautiful seat of the Marquess of Anglesea, at six o'clock, where he was received with a royal salute from guns on the lawn, and the Arrow cutter in the river.
On Saturday the King re-embarked, and on Sunday afternoon, the 12th of August, 1821, his Majesty King George the Fourth landed on the western pier of Howth harbour, from a steam vessel, called the Royal George, commanded by Captain Skinner.
His Majesty was, of course, received with the warm- est and most genuine good feeling, which was the more grateful to the monarch, as he saw that it arose
THE COLLEGE ADDRESS TO THE KING. 127
spontaneously from the heart. The persons here were not prepared for his approach; there was no magis- terial stage trick, no arrangement of forms and cere- monies ; none of that hollow pageantry which has so frequently been played off to deceive monarchs as to the true state of public feeling, like charity, to cover a multitude of sins. So far from that, there was not even one person present belonging to the civil or military power, nothing but a few of the nobility, about one hundred of the gentry, and four or five hundred of the tradespeople, &c. After greeting him most heartily, they formed a guard of honour, and escorted the mo- narch to the lord-lieutenant's lodge in the park, where, on parting, he made them a very handsome speech. The king remained private until Friday, the 17th, when he made his public entry into the city. This grand procession it is not our business to describe.
When his Majesty arrived at the Castle, the public bodies in attendance for the purpose of presenting the addresses, which he was to receive on the throne, were introduced. His Majesty was seated, surrounded by all his great officers of state, and gave the answers in a a most graceful and impressive manner. They all breathe the purest regard and most anxious solicitude for his Irish people. The first address was from the archbishops, bishops, and clergy ; this was read by the Lord Primate, (Dr. Stewart). The second was from the city of Dublin ; it was read by the recorder. The next was from the provost, fellows, and scholars of the University of Dublin ; this was delivered by the Pro- vost, Dr. Kyle, and is here subjoined :
« TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. " MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,
" WE, your Majesty's most faithful and devoted subjects, the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, and the Vice- Chancellor and University, beg leave to approach your Majesty's sacred
128 THE COLLEGE ADDRESS TO THE KING.
person with the deepest sentiments of humility and veneration.
" In common with every rank of your Majesty's Irish subjects, we hail with joy and gratitude the arrival in this land of a sovereign of that illustrious house, under whose wise and benignant government the British empire has enjoyed, for more than a century, greater felicity than ever yet distinguished a people.
" In the general exultation which the recent im- portant and august solemnities have everywhere ex- cited in the breasts of your Majesty's loyal subjects, we most fervently unite, and we rejoice in the con- viction that this feeling will be lastingly impressed on the hearts of Irishmen, by your Majesty's unexampled condescension in visiting this part of your dominions, and in graciously choosing, for the time, this most auspicious juncture.
" But, Illustrious Sire, permit us, with all humility, to add, that on this happy occasion, peculiar motives should animate the gratitude and exultation of the University established and endowed by your royal predecessors, and flourishing under your Majesty's most gracious countenance and protection.
" Yet, earnest as we are to offer to your Majesty, in our academic capacity, not less than in that of Irish subjects, our most dutiful homage, we are deeply sen- sible that our gratitude as well as loyalty will be best evinced by using every effort in our several situations to insure all the purposes of our favoured institution.
" We therefore humbly trust that henceforward it will, if possible, be more than ever our ambition to make our University conducive, not only to the ad- vancement of sound learning, but to the promotion of all that can render human life valuable and happy ; and especially that every member of our body, and every pupil within our walls, may both cultivate and exemplify piety to his God, and fidelity to his sove- reign.
" May the Supreme Disposer of all events grant that your Majesty may long reign over a grateful and loyal people, their protector, under Providence, against all
HIS MAJESTYS ANSWER.
their enemies, the patron of every useful art and sci- ence, and the effectual support of just government and pure religion."
The signatures of the provost and members of the University were appended to the address.
The following is his Majesty's most gracious an- swer :
" IT is with the greatest satisfaction that I receive such a testimony of your feelings upon my arrival in this country, and of your affectionate and firm at- tachment to my person and government.
" In visiting this part of my kingdom, it is my earnest wish to manifest the very high sense which I entertain of the value of those excellent institutions and establishments with which it abounds. The Uni- versity of Dublin holds amongst them a most distin- guished place ; experience attests that within your walls, that cultivation has been given to genius, that useful knowledge acquired, and those principles im- planted, from which the public has in numerous in- stances derived advantages the most useful and im- portant.
" It will, I am persuaded, be your constant en- deavour to maintain and increase the reputation which you have so justly obtained, and in the discharge of those duties which belong to your several stations, you may be assured of my constant favour and protection."
His Majesty having signified his gracious intention of dining at the college, every preparation was made that the time would allow to receive the monarch in a style becoming the dignity of this learned body. Mon- day, the 27th of August, was appointed for this pur- pose, on which day the king arrived at Dublin Castle at five o'clock, from Slane Castle, on the Boyne, where he had been for three days. His Majesty immediately dressed for dinner, and proceeded to the college, whMi he entered by the great gate at five minutes before six o'clock, and passing through the grand, or Parlia-
K
130 ROYAL VISIT TO THE LIBRARY.
ment Square, which is terminated on the north arid south sides by the handsome porticos of the chapel and theatre or hall of examination, was received by the provost, fellows, and scholars at the entrance of an oc- tagonal vestibule, surmounted by the royal crown. The entire of this vestibule, and of the covered gal- leries connected with it, were beautifully arranged; one of them, leading to the entrance of the library, was used as a reception-room, the other to the dining-room ; the vestibule and galleries were temporary, being fitted up for this occasion.
His Majesty, on entering the library, was evidently struck with its chaste and simple grandeur, and having stopped some moments to enjoy its effects, he was addressed by Dr. J. Barret, the Vice-Provost, who had been forty-one years a fellow, in an elegant Latin speech, to which his Majesty paid very marked at- tention, as well as to the venerable scholar who de- livered it. The king was very particular in his en- quiries as to the extent, number of volumes and MSS., and other matters relating to the library. This noble room, which is two hundred and ten 'feet in length, forty-two in breadth, and forty in height, has long been the admiration of every man of taste and know- ledge in architecture who has seen it, and its effect was considerably improved by the various appropriate embellishments bestowed upon it for the reception of the sovereign. The white marble busts were newly arranged, and with great judgment; the floor was covered with crimson carpeting, and the classic con- struction of the throne, erected at the end of the library, was in perfect union with the other parts, and attracted particular admiration. His Majesty entered into a gracious and free conversation with the members of the University until dinner was announced, when the king, with a captivating politeness, bowed to the ladies who exclusively occupied the fine gallery of the li- brary, no gentlemen being allowed admission there. When we add this splendid assembly to what has been already described, and fancy the floor of the superb hall filled with nobility and gentry, clergy, and military
THE BANQUET TO IT [8 MAJESTY. 131
men, in the various costumes of the church, the law, the university, and the profession of arms, with the mo- narch enthroned in the centre, a more brilliant as- semblage or interesting picture can hardly be pre- sented to the imagination. From the library his Majesty was conducted by the provost along a covered gallery, decorated with much elegance, to the theatre. The gallery was terminated by an octagon vestibule, through which the king entered the dining-room, im- mediately close to his throne, in front of which was placed the royal table. It is difficult to conceive the splendid effect of the theatre on first entering it. This noble hall was fitted up with that classical purity of taste which presided over all the arrangements and decorations belonging to this interesting and magni- ficent festival. The throne, of crimson velvet of con- siderable richness, was placed in the centre of the circular space which terminates the room. A plat- form, elevated two feet, filled the semicircle, and the royal table was adapted to the curvature of the place. In the centre of the room, on one side, was erected a splendid Bacchanalian altar of chaste and classic design, upon which stood five bronze figures support- ing lights ; the summit was crowned with a marble vase filled with flowers, and the whole backed by a very rich drapery of crimson velvet suspended from a wreath of flowers. The room was splendidly lighted, and the coup d'ceil, on entering the room, incon- ceivably grand. The gallery at the end of the room was occupied by ladies of distinction, and its effect from the other end, where the throne stood, was pecu- liarly beautiful.
The choir occupied the two first rows of this gal- lery, and immediately on the king's entrance an ode, composed for the occasion by a student of the univer- sity, was performed, accompanied by the ancient organ. It was twenty minutes past six when his majesty en- tered the hall where dinner was served, and about one hundred and seventy persons of rank and fashion were assembled. He took his station under the canopy at the centre of the royal table. Dr. Lloyd then pro-
K 2
o^ GUESTS AT THE ROYAL TABLE.
nounced the usual college grace, and his Majesty and the company took their seats. The royal table was semicircular : it stood at the upper end of the hall, di- rectly opposite the regular entrance, on a platform covered with crimson cloth, elevated three steps above the floor. This table was furnished with a magni- ficent gold plateau, a fine service of silver plate, and beautiful cut glass. The provost helped his Majesty to soup, and the King then invited the provost to oc- cupy a chair next on the right of the royal seat. The persons who had the honour of sitting at his Majesty's table were :
ON THE KING S RIGHT HAND.
1. The Provost (Dr Kyle).
2. The Chief Justice (Downes), who is Vice-Chan- cellor of the University.
3. The Lord Primate (Dr. Stewart).
4. The Marquis of Headfort (Taylor).
5. The Lord Chancellor (Lord Manners).
6. Archbishop of Tuam (Dr. French).
ON THE KING'S LEFT HAND.
1. The Lord Lieutenant (Earl Talbot).
2. The Archbishop of Dublin (Dr. Beresford).
3. The Duke of Montrose.
4. Viscount Sidmouth (Addington).
5. The Lord Mayor (Sir A. B. King).
When dinner was removed, the provost arose and announced the health of his Majesty, which was re- ceived with long and loud continued cheers and plaudits by the noblemen and gentlemen who formed the com- pany, and waving of handkerchiefs, &c., by the ladies in the gallery. " God save the King" was sung with good effect by the choir.
The Marquis of Headfort then rose and said, " His Majesty drinks the health of the Provost, Fellows, and ^Scholars of Trinity College ;" the Provost and Fel-
THE TOASTS GIVEN. 133
lows rose and bowed very low to the King, and then to the company, and the choir sang, " Strike the Harp."
The next toasts were —
" The Duke of York and the Army."
" The Duke of Clarence and the Navy." — Song, " Rule Britannia:9 His Majesty paid great attention to this song.
" The Duke of Cumberland, Chancellor of the Uni- versity of Dublin, and the rest of the royal family." — Song, " Red Cross Knight."
The provost then announced the health of the Lord Lieutenant, by command of his Majesty. This was greatly applauded. Earl Talbot made his acknow- ledgements : the choir sung, " Glorious Apollo."
The next toast was, " Prosperity to Ireland," also by command of his Majesty.
The Duke of Montrose (Master of the Horse) now went to order the King's carriage, and in a few mi- nutes his Majesty rose to depart ; as he walked down the centre of the hall to the great door, he bowed with great affability, yet with much dignity of manner, to the company at each side of the hall, who had all risen : he recognised and saluted particularly several persons as he passed along. He ascended his carriage just at nine o'clock, and was attended to it by all the principal personages who were present. The Lord Lieutenant, the Lord Chancellor, Chief Justice, Arch- bishop of Dublin, and a few others, departed with his Majesty. The provost returned to the upper table, and caused the chair his Majesty had occupied to be re- moved ; he then placed his own seat a little more in front of the canopy, and the lord mayor advanced and occupied the seat just left by the lord lieutenant. The lord mayor then rose and said, " The Provost allows me to give a toast — I beg to propose, the Lord Pri- mate, and the Church of Ireland," which was drunk accordingly. The next toast was, " the 27th of Au- gust, the day on which his Majesty was graciously pleased to honour the university with his presence." This was proposed by the Right Hon. W. Plunket,
134 DISTINGUISHED GUESTS AT THE BANQUET.
M.P. for the college ; it was drunk with great ap- plause*. The other toasts were, " The Irish Bar" " The Trade of Ireland" and, " Prosperity to the cAty of Dublin" ; this last was given by the Lord Primate, soon after which the company separated, at half past ten.
Perhaps no public dinner ever went off better than this did ; the arrangements were so judicious and complete, that it appeared to differ from a private party only in the quality and number of the guests, and the costliness of the entertainment. Every body felt quite at ease, and each person was so well attended, that there was not the least appearance of bustle.
There were eight persons of the royal household in attendance on his Majesty's table ; they wore very rich liveries, of dark blue cloth, and a, profusion of gold lace.
Besides the distinguished persons already men- tioned, there were the Bishops of Clogher, Dromore, Raphoe, Kilmore, Derry, Killala, and Limerick ; Earls of Donoughmore, O'Neil, Carrick ; Viscount Frankfort ; Lords Castlecoote, Howden, Brandon, Cloncurry, Rossmore, Carbery, Castlemaine, Oriel, C. Bentinck, E. Chichester, Graves, Beresford, G. Beres- ford, Oxmantown, Burghersh, Aylmer, A. Hill, F. Conyngham, Forbes, Norbury ; the Chief Baron ; Judges Johnson, Jebb, Fletcher, Daly, Day, Moore, Pennefather ; Master of the Rolls ; Attorney, and Solicitor-Generals ; the Recorder of Dublin ; Serjeant Vandeleur ; Honourables T. H. Hutchinson, Pome- roy, Talbot, Legge; Deans of Ardagh, Ossory, Saint Patrick, Clogher, Derry, Kilmore, Clonmacnoise, Clonfert, Limerick, Connor, Emly, Down, Killala, Cork, Killaloe ; Sir S. F. Flood, R. Levinge, T. Ham- mond, S. Bruce, C. Vernon, B. Bloomfield, G. Hill, H. Burgh, J. Doyle, A. Barnard, S. Hutchinson, R. Shaw, J. Rowley, C. Paget, W. Smyth, W. Chatterton, M. Seymour, K. Waller, W. P. Carroll, M. Tierney,
a Mr. Plunket's health was proposed by the provost, and drunk with great applause; the toast which concluded the festivities of the evening was, " Sir Robert Shaw, and Mr. Ellis," city representatives.
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS AT THE BANQUET. 135
G. Wood, W. Brabazon, H. Meredyth, H. Langrishe, E. Nagle, R. Brough, R. Bolton, H. Turner, W. Con- greve, Barts. ; the Knight of Kerry ; Archdeacon of Dublin, Clogher, Armagh ; Generals Taylor, and Bayley ; Colonels Thornton, Masters, Hill, Quentin, Fowle ; Messrs. J. L. Foster, J. W. Croker, C. Grant, T. Ellis, M.R, J. Radcliff, J. Brent, Mark Ramsden Beresford, Shaw, Calthorpe, Esqs. ; Dr. Percival ; Captain Maynell, A.D.C. to Lord Talbot.
The great cordiality of feeling which characterized the acts and expressions of the monarch towards the institution on this memorable occasion were remarked by the thousands who witnessed them ; and there is no doubt that these sentiments, so well worthy of a British sovereign, on such an important subject, were excited and called forth by the favourable and correct opinion which his Majesty had then an opportunity of forming of the course of education carried on in this college, and of the means by which this system had been made so extensively useful, not only to that portion of the United Kingdom, but to the nation generally, in producing successive generations of highly educated men, to fill with credit stations in the public service, or in private life as exemplars, promoting the ad- vancement, and pointing out the numerous advantages of rational education. The great influence which the good opinion of British monarchs expressed towards* individuals, or public bodies, is very well known ; and on this occasion did not fail to produce their good effects. The approval of a monarch so fastidious as King George the Fourth, was sufficient evidence in the eyes of thousands, who perhaps never con- sidered the subject before, that this university must unquestionably be an institution of singular merit ; and an increase of students is said to have been the consequence.
The heads of the college very wisely determined to sustain this increased good opinion of the nation, and have not, we believe, neglected any legitimate and consistent means of improving their previously admir-
136 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLLEGE.
able college course, which, in every department, has been subjected to the proper changes which time, and the advance of civilization, require in matters of such importance as university education.
The extent of these alterations and improvements might be made quite evident by placing the former and present systems of this place in juxta position, but as that mode would occupy a larger portion of the volume than can well be spared from more interesting matters, we think that every useful purpose will be answered by laying before our readers an accurate description of the various branches of the course, as it is administered at the present time.
Whether these decisive evidences of a steady desire on the part of the college governors to improve gra- dually their system of education, will satisfy the ad- mirers of sweeping innovations and revolutionary movements, we know not ; neither is it of much con- sequence. Those governors will best serve the inter- ests of the nation, and secure the suffrages of all the thinking portion of society to their acts, so long as they do not admit or adopt any rapid or ill-considered changes, such as might eventually compromise the ex- istence of this very noble and useful institution.
We shall now see in what the government of the college consists, and what its system of education.
CHAPTER IV.
SECTION I. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLLEGE.
THIS important duty is vested, by the statutes, in the head of the college, who is styled the " Provost," and who with the seven Senior Fellows, constitute a coun- cil commonly known as " The Board of Senior Fel- lows ;" but the provost and four senior fellows are sufficient to constitute a board, and tlicv also have the
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLLEGE. 137
privilege of supplying the place of one absent senior fellow, by calling into council the junior fellow who is next to them in seniority.
This board has the sole management of the internal and external economy of the institution, such as grant- ing and renewing leases, determining all the elections of fellows, appointing officers, investigating charges of infringement of discipline, punishing offences against the college statutes and regulations, and granting graces for the university degrees, &c. The grace of the house for a degree in any faculty, must be granted by this board, before it can be proposed to the caput; the candidates who have been admitted to a degree at the board, are then presented to the vice-chancellor, and the whole university at a public congregation or senate, of which all masters of arts and doctors, having their names on the college books and resident in the university are members, by the regius professor of the faculty in which the degree is required, except it be a degree in arts, in which case the party is pre- sented by one of the proctors ; should no objection be made by any member of the caput, the presenting of- ficer supplicates, in a prescribed form of words, the congregation for their public grace, and having col- lected their suffrages, declares the assent or dissent of the house as it may result, and should the placets form the majority, the oath is administered as directed by the statute 34 Geo. III. ; then the candidates, having subscribed their names in the register, kneel before the vice-chancellor, who confers the degrees, according to the fortnula established by the statutes of the col- lege.
From the decisions of the senior board the actual members of the corporation (the provost, fellows, and scholars of the foundation) may appeal to the visitors, at the annual commencements ; but the mere pupils, of whatever rank, who do not belong to one of the above denominations or classes, have no right of appeal, as they are not recognised in the charter, and the su- perior courts will not receive the complaints of such parties against the decisions of the provost and senior
138 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLLEGE.
fellows, for, as it has been properly stated, the interests of learning require that this board should be endowed with the privileges of " a domestic forum," litigation is prevented in limine, and which, but for this pre- caution, would probably not be uncommon. The actual members, however, of the foundation, may apply to the King's Bench for relief when they have grounds for believing that the board has acted manifestly con- trary to the intentions of these statutes.
Another important board, but of limited jurisdic- tion here, is called the CAPUT SENATUS ACADEMICI ; it is composed of the vice-chancellor, the provost, or in his absence, the vice-provost, and the senior master non-regent, resident in college. Every grace must pass this council before it can be proposed to the rest of the senate, and each member of the caput has a negative voice.
The person next in authority to the provost, is the senior fellow of the board, who is styled the " Vice Provost." It is the duty of this officer to preside at the board in the absence of the provost.
The other officers, members of the board, are seven in number, viz. —
The Senior Lecturer, Senior Dean, Senior Proctor, Registrar, Librarian, Senior Bursar, and Auditor ; two of these offices being sometimes held by the same person.
The junior officers are generally appointed from amongst the junior fellows, in rotation, by the senior board, the officers are six, viz. —
The Junior Bursar, Registrar of Chambers, Assist- ant Librarian, Junior Proctor, Junior Dean, and Censor.
The office of Junior Bursar was instituted in 1819- The first person appointed to it, was James Wilson, D.D. The duty of this office, which must always be held by the senior of the junior fellows, is to superin- tend the accounts of the four classes of students, with the college, except the commons and sizings and to re- ceive their entrance fees, fines, and expenses of tuition. The other officers manage the minor, but still essen-
PROFESSORS, ETC. 139
tial parts of the college economy. They have a marker to assist them, who must always be a student, and whose duty it is to mark in his list the students who are ahsent without leave in time of duty, or not answering at roll calla ; for his services he is paid at the rate of £20 per annum. There is another of these officers, " The Provost's Marker," who is ap- pointed by the provost : the stipend of the latter is about £80 a year.
The Professorships and Lectureships. — The number of professors and lecturers, with their assist- ants, amount at this time, 1842, to forty-six persons besides the censor, according to the following list, the latter part of which has been supplied from the Uni- versity Calendar of the present year.
Professor of Civil and Canon Law. — This officer is moderator in all disputations for degrees in laws, and presents the candidates for those degrees, at the public commencements of the university.
The Regius Professorship of Feudal and English Law was not founded until the year 176l> when George III. granted a statute for that purpose. The professor, who must be a barrister of at least two years' standing, may be elected, at the option of the electors, either for life or for a term of years, unless he should be a fellow of this college, in which case he must be elected for life, and he then resigns his fellowship. His duty is to lecture twice a week during term, in the elements of feudal and English law ; to examine the students who attend, in the books ap- pointed by him for that purpose, under the sanction of the provost and board. He is to explain difficul- ties, and demonstrate the changes that have taken place in the laws, and the admitted reasons for those changes.
Regius Professor of Physic. — This professorship has been described at p. 117.
Regius Professor of Greek. — Although by the sta-
a The roll is called at half past eight o'clock, (evening,) in winter, and half past nine in summer, but the college clock is always a quarter of an hour later than the town clocks.
140 ERASMUS SMITH'S PROFESSORS, ETC.
tute of Charles I., there was a Greek lecturer ap- pointed to he elected of the senior fellows, on the 20th of November, annually, to give a lecture three days each week during term, to all bachelors of arts, and pupils of the Sophister classes, yet it was not until the sta- tute of George III., 1761, that this lectureship was constituted " a Regius Professorship." It is under the same rule of election as it was previously to the statute, but the salary has been augmented, and so has the duty in a remarkable degree, for the professor has now four assistants, all junior fellows.
Archbishop King's Lecturer in Divinity. — The origin and progress of this office is described at pp. 64 and 6,5.
Lord Donegal's Lecturer in Mathematics. — The origin of this lectureship has been already noticed at p. 48. It is now held by the senior assistant to Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics.
Erasmus Smith's Professors, — Erasmus Smith was a wealthy citizen of London, a member of the Mer- chant Tailors' Company ; having the command of a large capital, he purchased several of the estates in Ireland which had been forfeited by rebellion, and re-granted under certain conditions by the crown to the military officers and other adventurers who had assisted to drive King James's forces out of Ireland ; after a lapse of several years, however, it was discovered that the titles to several of these estates were so defective, that the courts of law or equity would, in all probability, if appealed to, be obliged to dispossess the new proprietors. In consequence of this uncertain state of the property, he consulted the crown lawyers, and after much negociation, the crown con- senj^d to pass patents for all the estates then held in Ireland by Mr. Smith ; but on condition that he should endow with lands, to be managed by trustees, four grammar schools a in that country, to be free to a certain class of the natives. The lands thus granted for educational and charitable uses, after allowing ample means for carrying on those schools, were found
a At Drogheda, Gal way, Ennis, and Tipperary.
ASTRONOMER ROYAL. SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. 141
to be so profitable that the funds accumulated, and a spirit of jobbing, it is said to a serious extent, got in amongst the trustees, and much of the surplus funds were absorbed by those unworthy stewards.
A reform of these abuses having at length been ef- fected, a conscientious board of Trustees to these cha- rities was formed, and the interests of learning in the Dublin University became with them an object of much solicitude.
In 1724 they consequently obtained an act of par- liament, described as " For the further application of the Rents and Profits of the Lands and Tenements formerly given by Erasmus Smith, Esq., deceased, for charitable uses." Under this act the three professor- ships of natural philosophy, of oratory and of history were founded.
In 1762 the board of governors of Erasmus Smith's schools, founded three new professorships*, as stated at page 77* These professorships are always well filled up, and we doubt that the duties can be performed in a superior manner in any university. The professor of oratory has one assistant, — of mathematics two as- sistants,— of modern history one assistant, — of Hebrew three assistants.
Astronomer Royal of Ireland, and Andrews' s Pro- fessor of Astronomy. — This professorship, the origin of which is noticed at page 77 > commenced operations in 1783. The regulations concerning it will be found more at large at page 97»
School of Medicine. — We have already noticed this important divison of the college course at pages 6l and 92. These lectureships were continued regularly until the year 1785, when, as we have seen, they were raised to the rank of university professorships by the a^£ of 25 George III. That acfcwas confirmed, so far as the university professors were concerned, by another act passed in the year 1800, (40 George III.,) which we shall have occasion to mention when describing the system of the " School of Medicine."
a Mathematics, History, and the Oriental Languages.
ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS.
SECTION II.
Examination at Entrance. — To be admitted into the university, it is required that the candidates shall pass an examination, which is held in the theatre of the college. On this occasion the senior lecturer is- sues certificates of admission, for each candidate whose answering he considers sufficient to entitle him to be- come a student of this institution ; that document is given to the junior bursar, and he gives it to the stu- dent, or his tutor, on payment of the admission fees ; the paper is then signed by the senior bursar and the provost, after which the name of the student is placed upon the college books.
Matriculation. — Soon after entrance, but generally at the time of the first Hilary examination, the senior proctor attends in the hall to matriculate the students admitted in the preceding year ; for this purpose each student must take his note of admission to the senior proctor, who having signed it, directs the stu- dent to sign his name to a declaration of his willingness to conform to the statutes ; he is then acknowledged to be a student of the university.
The junior fellows examine at entrance, and the senior lecturer enters in his book the name, age, and religion of each candidate, the name and profession or business of his father, the name of the schoolmaster from whom he received his education^ the name of the junior fellow under whom he wishes to study, and the rank in which he proposes to enter ; all which particulars are recorded in the books of the college. The senior lecturer then proposes a subject as a com- mejrcement of the examination ; on this subject* the candidates are required tojjprite in Latin, or to turn a passage from some English author into Latin ; after a proper time has been allowed for this exercise, the classical examination commences in Greek and Latin.
Greek. — Homer's Iliad, first eight books. — New Testament, the Gospels, and Acts of the Apostles. —
TERM EXAMINATIONS, EXERCISES, ETC. 1 1 >
Xenophon's Cyropsedia, first three books. — Lucian, the Dialogues, selected in Walker's edition.
Latin. — Virgil's Eneid, first six hooks, and Eclogues i. iv. ix. — Horace. — Juvenal's Satires, iv. x. xm. xix. — Terence, Andria, and Heautontimorumenos. — Sallust. — Livy, first three hooks.
The principal entrance days are the first Mondays in July and November, and certain days specified by public advertisement in October and January. Be- sides these, entrances are held on the first Mondays of the remaining months, except August and Sep- tember ; pupils who enter after November, and in- tend to go on with the junior freshman class, must pay a year in advance instead of half a year, and their names must have been entered on the college books before the 8th of July.
To encourage the cultivation of the Hebrew lan- guage, an examination is held immediately after that of the entrances in July, October, and November, when premiums are given to the best answerers in the Hebrew grammar and the first eight psalms.
The days of examination, in every instance, are made known by notices fixed to the college gates and the door of the examination hall.
For Sizarships. — This examination is held on the Tuesday next after Trinity Sunday, and the can- didates are required to prepare, together with the ordinary entrance course, the classics read during the first two terms of the junior freshman year.
Tutors9 Lectures. — Every student must place him- self at entrance under the tuition of one of the junior fellows who are tutors. The tutors lecture every day (Saturday excepted) on the science, and also on the Latin author appointed for the term.
Term Examinations, Exercises, fyc — This very important class of college business has within a few years undergone some material alterations, and im- provements. To understand the nature of these changes more clearly, it ought to be stated that, from the founding of the college, there were four terms kept here, and as these depended on the move-
144 EXERCISES FOR SEVERAL DEGREES.
able feasts, they were variable, and of very unequal duration. In 1833, however, the provost and senior fellows obtained a statute which directs that, from the year 1834, they are to consist of three terms only, these are fixed by permanent rules a. By these it is directed that Michaelmas or October Term shall be- gin on the 10th of October, and end on the 20th of December ; and —
Hilary, or January Term now commences on the 10th of January, and terminates on the feast of the An- nunciation, (Lady Day,) 25th of March.
Trinity, or Midsummer Term, begins on the 15th of April, ends on the 30th of June ; but if it happen that Easter should fall within the limits of Hilary or Trinity Terms, then the term within which it falls shall, for that year, be increased by an additional week.
The hours of examination are, on the first day of the general examination of each class, from half past nine to twelve, and from two to four. On the second day, — on the day of the catechetical examination, and on the days of examination for honours, from ten to twelve, and from two to four. Students cannot be ad- mitted after the doors of the hall have been closed ; this is done the moment the appointed hour has struck.
Exercises for the several Degrees. — The rule laid down in this university for keeping terms during the under-graduate course, is by answering at the regular examinations held at the beginning of each term, with the exception of the Divinity and Me- dical Terms, which are kept by attending the lec- tures of the professors; the latter, therefore, require the students to be resident in College, or in its imme- diate vicinity.
The student who proposes to take the degree of Bachelor of' Arts must, if he be a pensioner, keep four academic years, that is, he must have passed at
a The terms, as fixed by the statutes of Charles I., coincided with the Oxford Terms, they are now made to agree nearly with those of Cambridge.
FOUNDATION SCHOLAR. BACHELOR OF ARTS.
DOCTOR OF DIVINITY. FELLOW COMMONER.
DOCTOR OF LAWS. MASTER OF ARTS.
FORMS AND EXERCISES, ETC. 145
least eight term examinations, together with not less than four catechetical terms or examinations.
For the degree of A.B., the scholastic exercises ne- cessary pro forma are two declamations, one in Greek, and one in Latin, and a thesis, also in Latin, in laudem philosophise ; every candidate, whether moderator or not, must read these exercises.
At a proper time previous to the day fixed for per- forming the exercises, the junior proctor delivers three official papers to the moderator; each of these contains four questions in logic, natural philosophy, and morality. On the appointed day the moderator, having selected a set of three candidate bachelors, appoints them each to defend one of these papers of questions, and to oppose the other two ; thus each disputant in turn is opponent and respondent ; he op- poses the papers which the other two disputants have respectively undertaken to defend, by bringing an argument consisting of three syllogisms against each of the eight questions contained in those papers ; he defends his own paper by briefly pointing out the errors contained in the syllogisms of his opponents, and also responds in two brief Latin theses on any two questions not consecutive with the paper he has undertaken to defend.
To become a Master of Arts, the candidate must be a bachelor of arts of three years' standing. The exercises requisite for this purpose are, a declamation in Greek, and one in Latin, with one opponency and one respondency.
To obtain the Bachelor's degree in Divinity, the applicant must be Master of Arts of seven years' stand- ing, and in priest's orders ; previous to obtaining the private grace of the house for this degree, it is indis- pensable that the candidate shall perform the proper exercises before the regius professor of divinity, or his deputy. These exercises are, one respondency, one opponency, one concio ad clerum in Latin, and one sermon in English ad populum.
The candidate for the degree of Doctor in Divinity must be a Bachelor of Divinity of five, or a Master of
L
146 JUNIOR FRESHMEN, SENIOR FRESHMEN.
Arts of twelve, years' standing, of course in priest's orders. The exercises he is obliged to perform before the Regius Professor of Divinity are, one respond- ency, one opponency, a sermon adpopulum in English, and a Latin sermon, ad clerum. When the degrees of B.D. and D.D. are taken at the same time, the exercises for both must be performed.
A Bachelor of Laws. — .To be qualified for this de- gree, the candidate must be a Bachelor of Arts of three years' standing; to obtain the grace of the house he must respond and oppose once before the Regius Professor of Laws.
A Doctor in Laws must be a Bachelor of Laws of five years' standing, or four years will be sufficient, should he have taken the degree of Master of Arts. The ex- ercise consists of two theses on subjects appointed by the Professor, and two others selected by himself on any subject in Civil and Canon Law.
Bachelors in Medicine. — The times and qualifica- tions for commencing B.M. will be found at page 149.
SECTION III.
REGULATIONS RESPECTING THE UNDERGRADUATE EXAMINATIONS.
These regulations have, in a great degree, super- seded those that had been formerly in operation, and certainly must convince all persons who are competent to give judgment in matters of high education, that very considerable vigilance, assiduity and intelligence must have been employed by the provosts and fellows of this university, within the last twenty years, to dis- cover and introduce into practice so great a variety of useful and superior knowledge, which their experience taught them to believe would raise the intellectual and moral character of their college to its highest level, by introducing such additional information, and modes of instruction, as are consistent with the wants of society, springing as they do out of the constant progression of human knowledge.
In no part of the system of education pursued in
JUNIOR FRESHMEN. SENIOR FRESHMEN. 147
this institution, does improvement take a more decided character than in the mode adopted within the last eight years, hy which the undergraduate examina- tions are regulated ; they are as follow : —
1. The science taught in the first, or junior fresh- man year, is Mathematics ; in the second, or senior freshman year, Logic ; in the third, or junior sophis- ter year, Astronomy and Physics ; in the fourth, or senior sophister year, Ethics,
Senior and junior freshmen are examined in the science taught in all the preceding terms from the beginning of the course ; junior sophisters, in the sci- ence taught from the beginning of the second, or senior freshman year ; and senior sophisters, in the science taught from the beginning of the third, or senior sophister year.
2. Under-graduates are required to appear at all the examinations of their class, and are liable to a fine for every examination omitted. No student can rise from a lower to a higher class if he have omitted, or lost by insufficient answering, a greater number of examinations than those fixed by the following rules :
To rise from the class of junior freshman to that of senior freshman, one examination at least in the junior freshman year is necessary.
To rise from the class of senior freshman to that of junior sophister, four examinations must be kept in the freshman years ; one of which must be the Mi- chaelmas or October examination of the senior fresh- man's year.
No student can regularly present himself at this examination who has not previously kept three exa- minations, one of which must be in the senior fresh- man class ; but if one of these be omitted, he will be allowed to answer in the business of the omitted exa- mination at Michaelmas, and afterwards in the busi- ness of the Michaelmas examination in the succeeding Hilary term. This privilege is allowed only to those students whose names shall have remained on the col- lege books without having been removed therefrom from the time of entrance.
148 FELLOW COMMONERS. PENSIONERS.
A student, who has kept three examinations in his freshman years, one of them heing in the senior fresh- man year, hut who has omitted or lost the Michael- mas examination of that year, is not permitted to rise into the class of junior sophisters, unless he keep the next Hilary examination with the senior freshman class, answering, however, in the subjects appointed for the omitted Michaelmas examination.
To rise from the class of junior sophister to that of senior sophister, an examination kept as a junior so- phister is necessary.
If the Hilary examination of the junior sophister year be kept with the senior freshman class, as a sup- plemental examination, in place of the Michaelmas examination of the senior freshman year, it does not count as a senior sophister examination.
3. The qualifications necessary for admission to the final, or degree examination, and also the period and subjects of that examination, are different according to the rank of the student.
Fellow commoners must answer, at the least, two examinations as sophister, prior to their degree exa- mination, these may be both kept in the junior sophister year.
Fellow commoners, thus qualified, answer for their degree regularly at the Trinity examination of the senior sophisters.
A fellow commoner who, at the period of the re- gular degree examinations, has credit for but one so- phister examination, must answer then, or at some subsequent examination, in the subjects of the Hilary examination of senior sophisters, after which he may answer for his degree in the subjects of the Trinity examination at any subsequent examination of senior sophisters.
Pensioners and sizars must answer, at the least, three examinations prior to their degree examination, one of which must be in the senior sophister year.
Pensioners and sizars thus qualified, answer for their degree regularly at the Michaelmas examination of the senior sophister year, but if that be lost or
FEES FOR EACH DEGREE. 149
omitted, they may answer for their degree at any sub- sequent examination of senior sophisters.
The fees for attending on the clinical lectures are regulated by an act of parliament — they amount to £3 3s. to the professors for each three months' at- tendance, and (provided the student be of two years' standing in the university) £3 3s. to the treasurer of the hospital, for the first year, with a proportionate sum for any longer period. — The fees for each of the other courses are £4 4s.
The examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Me- dicine are conducted by the regius professor of the university, the six professors of the school of physic, and the Professor of Midwifery to the College of Phy- sicians.
No further examination is requisite for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, which may be taken at the ex- piration of three years from taking the degree of M.B., provided the candidates shall have graduated in arts. The fees for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, which entitles the professor to the same elective privileges as the degree of Master of Arts, are £2 2s.
A Bachelor of Music must compose and perform a service before the university. The standing neces- sary is the same as that required for a Bachelor of Laws.
A Doctor in Music must be a Bachelor of Music of five years' standing, and his exercise is the same.
The total amount of the fees paid for each degree :
£ s. d*
Bachelor of Arts— Nobilis . . 33 0 0
Fellow Commoner 17 5 0
Pensioner . . 8 17 6
Master of Arts 9 12 6
Bachelor of Medicine . . .11150
Doctor of Medicine . . . . 22 0 0
Bachelor of Laws . . . . 11 15 0
Doctor of Laws . . . . 22 0 0
Bachelor of Music . . . . 13 15 0
Doctor of Music . . . . 22 0 0
Bachelor of Divinity . . . . 13 15 0
Doctor of Divinity . . . . 26 0 0
150 HONOURS AND PRIZES.
A pensioner or sizar who may have risen to the rank of senior sophister, but who, previous to the Mi- chaelmas examination of that year, wants either one or two of the preliminary sophister examinations, may, at Michaelmas, answer in the subject of the ex- amination last omitted by him, and at any following examination, in the subject of the examinations last but one omitted by him. After he has so put in such examination, as a supplementalist, he may ap- pear as a candidate for the degree of A.B., at any succeeding examination, answering in the subjects of the Michaelmas examination of senior sophisters.
4. Honours and Prizes. — The examiners of the first two days select from their divisions those whom they deem qualified to become candidates for honours or prizes, whether in science or in classics, and fur- nish the senior lecturer with lists of the same. All the candidates in the same department from the seve- ral divisions of the class, are then, on two additional days, examined together by a court of examiners ap- pointed for that purpose.
At the October examination in each of the three first years' prizes of £4 and £2 are awarded by the Court of Examiners to the best answerers among the candidates.
The limit of the number of first prizes, is the one- fortieth of the entire class, or the next integer above the quotient, should the number in the class not be measured by forty.
The limit of the number of the second prizes, is double the number of the former.
At the first and second examinations of each of the four years' honours without prizes are awarded in like manner by the Court of Examiners, of which honours there are two ranks, the limit to the number of each rank being regulated as before stated.
At the October examinations of the fourth year, the examiners of the first two days recommend to the senior lecturer, from among the candidates for degrees, those students whom they have considered qualified to become candidates for honours in any of the three following departments, viz. — 1. Physics and mathe-
THE UNDER-GRADUATE COURSE. 151
matics. 2. Classics. 3. Ethics and Logics. The candidates in the same department are then examined together by a court of examiners during two days, which are not the same for the candidates in different departments.
Of the successful candidates in each department there are two grades, called senior and junior mode- rators, the limit to the number of moderators of each grade to be determined, as in the case of honours and prizes, at the previous examinations.
Those candidates for degrees who have obtained honours in the preceding part of the college course, are entitled to offer themselves as candidates for mb- deratorships without appearing at the preliminary ex- animations.
Distinctions of the first order, whether by prizes, honours, or moderatorships, are confined to those can- didates who are prepared in the extended courses as set forth in the programme of the under-graduate course.
Fellow commoners who do not avail themselves of their privilege of graduating at the July commence- ment of the senior sophister year, may become candi- dates for moderatorships in Michaelmas term, in which case they are examined in the same course as the pensioners.
At the conclusion of each examination, lists of the successful candidates for prizes, honours, or mode- ratorships, are made out by the senior lecturer, in- serted in his book, and also placed upon the college gates, published in the University Calendar, the news- papers and other periodicals, in which lists the suc- cessful candidates of each rank are arranged accord- ing to the order of their standing on the college books, except the senior moderators at the degree examina- tion, who are placed according to the order of merit.
THE UNDER-GRADUATE COURSE. i
This course is at each examination divided into two parts, the one to be read by such students as aim only at respectable judgments, the other to be re-
JUNIOR FRESHMEN. — SENIOR FRESHMEN.
quired of those who aspire to the higher honours of their class.
The following Tables contain a programme of the undergraduate course, as altered and fixed by the re- cent regulations :
JUNIOR FRESHMEN.
HILARY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Mathe- matics : Elrington's Euclid, Books i. ii. — Greek : Ho- mer, Iliad, ix. x. xi __ Latin : Virgil, ^En. vii. viii. ix. - Additional for Honours. — Greek : Iliad, xii. xiii. xiv — Latin : ^En. x. xi. xii.
TRINITY EXAMINATION. — For all Students, — Ma- thematics : Euclid, Books i. ii. iii. ; Definitions of Book v. and Book vi., omitting props. 27, 28, 29. — Greek : Homer, Iliad, xviii. xxiii. xxiv. — Latin : Vir-
fil, Georgics. — — Additional for Honours. — Greek: liad, xix. xx. xxi. xxii a. — Latin : Virgil, Eclogues.
MICHAELMAS EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Mathematics : Euclid, as before. Compendium of Algebra. Simpson's Trigonometry to the end of Plane Triangles. — Greek : Homer, Odyss. ix. x. xi. xii. — Latin : Juvenal, Sat. i. iii. iv. vii. viii. x. xiii. xiv.— Additional for Honours. — Mathem. : Analytic Geo- metry, first 31 sections. Spherical Trigonometry to the end of Neper's Rules. — Greek : The Knights of Aristophanes. — Latin : Persius, except Sat. iv.
SENIOR FRESHMEN.
HILARY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Ma- thematics : All the Mathematics read in the Junior Freshman year. — Logic : Murray's Logic with Walk- er's Commentary. — Greek : Euripides, Hecuba. — Latin : Terence, Adelphi, and Hecyra. -- Additional for Honours. — Mathem.: The additional Mathe-
a It was intended that, in 1843, the Idylls of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus, (Ringwood's selection,) should be substituted for these books of Homer; but that change is postponed until the year 1845.
JUNIOR SOPHISTERS. 153
matics of the Junior Freshman year. — Logic : Whately's Logic, (Analytical Outline,) with Book iii. (on Fal- lacies) and Book iv. chap. i. of Induction. — Greek : Medea. — Latin : Phormio, Andria, and Heautonti- morumenos.
TRINITY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Ma- thematics : as before. — Logic : Murray's Logic and Walker's Commentary, as before. Locke's Essay, In- troduction, with Books ii. and iii. (omitting Book ii. chap. i. sections 10-20. chap. xiii. section 10 to the end; chap. xv. chap. xxi. sections 11—71. chaps, xxx. and xxxii. and Book iii. chap, vi.) — Greek: Sophocles, CEdipus Tyrannus. — Latin : Horace, Odes, Books i.
ii. iii. iv. Additional for Honours. — Additional
Mathematics, as before. — Additional Logic, as before. — Greek : CEdipus Coloneus. — Latin : Epodes, and Carm. Seculare.
MICHAELMAS EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Mathematics, as before. — Logic : Logic and Locke, as before, with Locke, Book iv. — Greek : Euripides, Phcenissse. — Latin : Horace, Satires and Epistles. — Additional for Honours. — 'Additional Mathematics, as before. — Additional Logic, as before, with Brown's " Sketch of a System of the Philosophy of the Human Mind." — Greek : yEschylus, Septem contra Thebas. —Latin : Horace, Art of Poetry.
JUNIOR SOPHISTERS.
HILARY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Logic: Logic and Locke as read in the Senior Freshman year. — Physics : Wood's Mechanics, omitting sects, vi. and ix. — Greek : Demosthenes de Corona. — Latin:
Cicero, Lex Manilia, Archias, Ligarius. —Additional
for Honours. — The additional Logic of the Senior Freshman year. — Physics : Lloyd's Mechanics, (new Edit.) Statics, sect. i. sect. ii. sect. vi. to page 95, and from page 108 to end ; sect. vii. sect. xii. arts. 1-4. Dynamics, sect. i. sect. ii. arts. 1-5, sect. v. sect. vi. art. 7» sect. vii. arts. 1-5. — Greek : ^Eschines contra Ctesiphontem. — Latin : Milo and pro Dejotaro.
TRINITY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Logic :
SENIOR SOPHISTERS.
as before — Physics : Wood's Mechanics as before, with selections from Helsham's Lectures, from page 67 to end. Stack's Optics, omitting sects, viii. ix. — Greek : Stock's Demosthenes, vol. i. — Latin : Cicero in
Catilinam, i. ii. iii. iv. Additional for Honours.
Additional Logic, as before. — Physics : Vince's Hy- drostatics, Lloyd's Optics, (selected course.) — Greek: Stock's Demosthenes, vol. ii. — Latin : Philippics, i. ii. ix.
MICHAELMAS EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Logic: as before. — Physics, as before. — Astronomy: Brinkley's Astronomy, chaps, i— viii. and xiv. xvi. xviii. — Greek: Stock's Lucian, (omitting de Historia Con-
scribenda.) — Latin : Cicero de Officiis. Additional
for Honours. — Additional Logic, as before. — Addi- tional Physics, as before. — Astronomy : The remain- der of Brinkley's Astronomy, including the Appendix. — Greek : Lucian de Historia Conscribenda. — Latin : Cicero de Oratore.
SENIOR SOPHISTERS.
HILARY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Phy- sics : All the Physics of the Junior Sophister year. — Astronomy, as before. — Ethics : Burlamaqui's Natural Law, (omitting Part I. chap. i. ii. iii. iv. Part II. chap. viii. ix. x. xi.) — Greek: Plato, Apologia Socratis,
and Crito. — Latin: Tacitus, Annals, Books i. ii. •
Additional for Honours. — All the additional Physics of the Junior Sophister year. — Additional Astronomy, as before. — Ethics : Paley's Moral Philosophy, Books i. and ii. Gisborne's Principles of Moral Philosophy, chap. ii. — Greek: Plato, Phsedo. — Latin: Tacitus, Annals, Books iii. iv. v.
TRINITY EXAMINATION. — For all Students. — Phy- sics, as before. — Astronomy, as before. — Ethics, as be- fore, with Butler's Analogy, Introduction, Part I. chap. iv. v. vii. and conclusion, Part II. except chap, vii. — Greek : Herodotus, Book i. — Latin : Livy, Books
xxi. xxii. Additional for Honours. — Additional
Physics, as before. — Additional Astronomy, as before*
MODERATORSIIIPS IN MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 155
— Ethics, as before. The whole of Butler's Analogy, and Cicero, Quscst. Tusc. lib. i. — Greek : Herodotus, Books ii. iii. — Latin : Livy, Books xxiii. xxiv. xxv.
MICHAELMAS DEGREE EXAMINATION — For all Stu- dents.— Physics, as before. — Astronomy, as before. — Ethics, as before, with Paley's Evidences of Revealed Religion, Part I. — Greek : Thucydides, lib. i. — Latin : Tacitus de Moribus German., and Agricola.
WORKS EXAMINED IN FOR MODERATORS IN MATHEMA- TICS AND PHYSICS*.
Mathematics. — Hamilton's Conic Sections, Book I. Luby's Trigonometry. Lloyd's Analytic Geometry. Lardner's Algebraic Geometry. Leroy, Geometry of three Dimensions. Lacroix, Elemens d'Algebre. Young, Theory of Algebraic Equations. Newton's Prime and Ultimate Ratios. Lacroix, Differential and Integral Calculus, to the
end of Art. 293, omitting Art. 141-164. Graves's Translation of Chasles on Cones and
Spherical Conies, with the Appendix. Physics. — All the Physics of the Undergraduate
Course.
Lloyd's Mechanical Philosophy. Poisson, Mecanique, Book I. chap. 6; Book II.
chap. 3, sect. 2, art. 160; Book III. chaps. 2 and
4 ; Book IV. chaps. 1, 2, 3, and 9 ; Book V. and
Additions.
Lloyd's Optics, Parts 1, 2, and Appendix. Lloyd's Lectures on Wave-theory. Newton's Principia, lib. i. sects, i. ii. iii. ix. Luby's Physical Astronomy.- Pouillet, Elemens de Physique, Books 2 and 3, new
edition.
a The works to be examined in for classical mocleratorship, are subjoined in a columnar table, on account of the changes made in them, to 1845 (inclusive).
156
EXAMINATION FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.
CLASSICAL MODERATORSHIPS.
|
GBEEK. Aristotle, jEschylus, Aristophanes, Pindar, Thucydides, |
1842. |
1843. |
1844. |
1845. |
|
Rhetoric and Poetic. Prometheus Vinctus. Birds. Olympic Odes. Hist. Lib. ii. |
Same. Same. Same. Same. Lib. iii. |
Same. Eumenides. Acharnians. Pythian. Same. |
Same. Same. Same. Same. Lib. iv. |
|
|
LATIN. |
||||
|
Lucretius, Tacitus, Horace, |
De Rerum Natura, libb. i-ii. Ann. Libb. xi-xvi. Epistles, Lib. ii. Ars Poet. |
Same. Hist. libb. i-v. Same. |
Libb. iii. v. Same. Same. |
Same. Same. Same. |
MODERATORSHIPS IN LOGICS AND ETHICS.
Logics. — All the Logics of the second year.
Brown's Lectures on the Philosophy of the Mind, vols. i. and ii.
Bacon, de Augm. Scientiarum, lib. v.
— The Prefaces to the Instaur. Magna, and
Novum Organum, together with the Distributio Operis. Ethics. — All the Ethics of the fourth year.
Butler's Sermons. (Preface and Sermons, i. ii. iii. v. vi. viii. ix. xi. xii. xiii. xiv. with the Disser- tation on Virtue.)
Cicero, De Officiis.
De Nat. Deorum, lib. i.
Bacon, de Augm. Scientiarum, lib. vii.
Smith's View of the Ancient Moral Systems.
Paley's Evidences of Christianity.
Sir j. Mackintosh's Dissertation on Ethical Philo- sophy, with a Preface by Rev. W. Whewell.
EXAMINATION FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.
This important examination is held annually on the Thursday and Friday before Whitsunday, from eight to ten, and from two to four o'clock each day, and the successful candidates are declared on
UNDER-GRADUATE LECTURES. 157
Trinity Monday following. The examiners are the provost and senior fellows, or such junior fellows as may be called on for that time, to supply the place of absent members of the board. The course ap- pointed includes all the classics read for entrance, and in the extended course for under-graduates to the end of the second examination of the junior sophister year; or should the candidate be of higher standing than that of junior sophister, (reckoned from the time of his entrance,) to the end of the last examination which he might have added, had he proceeded regularly with his class. Sizars who in their first year descend to the new class, are to be considered as having entered in that class.
On or before the day of election, every candidate must send to each of the examiners his name, his father's name, the name of the county in which he was born, and of the schoolmaster by whom he was edu- cated. For this proceeding there is a regular form of words.
The Statute directs, cceteris paribus, that a preference shall be given to those who have been educated in the Dublin schools, or born in those counties where the college has property. Thirty of these scholarships have the privilege of an exhibition of £20 per annum during their four years' scholarship. These are called Natives' Places, or Hibernici ; but, in other respects, scholarships are conferred upon all British born sub- jects without distinction.
SECTION IV. UNDER-GRADUATE LECTURES.
Students, during the under-graduate course, are re- quired to attend the following lectures.
1st. Morning Lecture. This is held every morning during term, at half-past seven by the college clock a. Each class is lectured in the sciences appointed for the
a Three-quarters past seven by the town clocks. See a former note as to College time.
158 UNDER-GRADUATE LECTURES.
term, except on Saturdays, on which day the students compose a theme on a subject previously mentioned by the lecturer ; and for merit or proficiency in these compositions, premiums are often given by the Board, on the recommendation of the lecturer.
2nd. Greek Lecture. Held on the mornings of every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, during Term, at nine o'clock. The subject of this lecture is the Greek author appointed for the term.
All the students who reside in the college, or within such a distance as renders their attendance practicable, are held responsible for morning and Greek lectures. To keep the term, one-half, at least, of the whole num- ber of lectures must have been attended.
3rd. Catechetical Lectures. These are held every Saturday morning by nine o'clock, for the two fresh- man classes only. No student can regularly obtain his degree of A.B. until he shall have kept four Cate- chetical terms or examinations : two in the junior freshman year, and two in the senior freshman year.
Catechetical examinations are held at the beginning of each term, (immediately after the term examina- tion,) for the benefit of those who have not been resi- dent during the preceding term. The following tables will show the subjects of the last named lectures and examinations.
JUNIOR FRESHMEN.
Michaelmas Term (and Hilary Examination). The Gospel according to St. Luke.
Hilary Term (and Trinity Examination}. The Acts of the Apostles.
Trinity Term (and Michaelmas Examination), Archbishop Seeker's Lectures on the Church Cate- chism ; (Lectures vi-xvii. incl. on the Creed).
SENIOR FRESHMEN.
Micliaelmas Term (and Hilary Examination). Genesis, and the first twenty chapters of Exodus.
DIVINITY LECTURES. 159
The privilege of keeping supplemental terms or ex- aminations, instead of those that may have been omitted at their proper time, is granted under the restrictions pointed out in the following rule : —
" That in future every student shall be required to keep in each of his freshman years, two out of the three Catechetical Terms or Examinations belonging to such freshman year. For the enforcement of this Rule, an increased number will be required from those who shall not so have completed their attendance in the freshman years. Whenever, in a freshman year of a student, there is a deficiency of either one or two of the Catechetical Terms or Examinations of that year, such student must afterwards, as a supplement- alist, complete the number of three, so as to have a separate credit for each of the three terms of the year.
DIVINITY LECTURES.
Students in Divinity must keep six terms. Formerly four were considered sufficient. Three with Arch- bishop King's Divinity Lecturer, and three with the Regius Professor.
During their first year, which Divinity students may commence in their senior sophister year of the under- graduate course, they are to attend the lectures of Archbishop King's lecturer in divinity, together with the lectures of one of his assistants. It is intended that the lecturer shall occupy two terms with the evi- dences of Natural and Revealed Religion, and one with the Socinian Controversy.
During the second year, the students are required to attend the Regius Professor of Divinity and one of his assistants, the Professor's lectures on the Criticism and Interpretation of the Bible, the Articles and Liturgy of the United Churches of England and Ire- land, and the Controversy with the Church of Rome.
The Regius Professor of Divinity lectures on Tues- day and Friday, at eleven o'clock ; and his assistant lecturer the same days, at one o'clock.
Archbishop King's Lecturer in Divinity lectures on
160 COURSE FOR THE DIVINITY EXAMINATION.
Mondays and Thursdays, at eleven o'clock. His as- sistant lectures, on the same days, at one o'clock.
During the first year, the assistant to Archbishop King's Divinity lecturer, delivers lectures on the fol- lowing subjects :
In Michaelmas Term, St. Luke's Gospel, in Greek, as the basis of a harmony.
In Hilary Term, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, in Greek.
In Trinity Term, Bishop Pearson on the Creed, the first eight Articles.
The Divinity student cannot attend the lectures of the senior year, until his attendance upon the junior year is completed ; and to complete that year, it will be necessary, in addition to the attendance on the lectures of King's Divinity lecturer, to pass an ex- amination, which is conducted according to the fol- lowing rules of the College :
The examination shall be held at the end of Trinity Term, for all Divinity students, who have attended and obtained credit for the three terms of the Divinity lectures of the junior year.
Archbishop King's lecturer is empowered to call on his assistants to take a part in conducting the ex- amination.
A similar examination will be held at the end of the Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, for supplement- alists who shall have completed their attendance in these terms respectively.
In rejecting a candidate, the examiners shall de- termine whether he is to present himself again, at any of the supplemental examinations, or to be kept back until the next annual examination.
COURSE FOR THE DIVINITY EXAMINATION.
In Greek, the candidates are examined in the fol- lowing works :
The four Gospels, and St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans j Evidences of Christianity j Chalmers on
COURSE FOR THE DIVINITY EXAMINATION. l6l
Natural Theology ; Paley's Evidences ; Newton on the Prophecies ; Dissertations I. to XIII. incl., XVIII. XIX. XX. and XXL
The Socinian Controversy ; Pearson on the Creed ; Magee on the Atonement, vols. 1. and 2, omitting Nos. LIII. LIX. and postscript to LXIX.
An additional examination for prizes is held in Michaelmas Term : the regulations follow below, but attendance on this examination is not compulsory.
During the second year, the Assistants to the Regius Professor of Divinity lecture on the following subjects :
Michaelmas Term, Whately on the Book of Com- mon Prayer.
Hilary Term, Burnet on the Thirty-nine Articles.
Trinity Term, on the Thirty-nine Articles.
It is further necessary, in addition to the attendance upon the Regius Professor of Divinity and his as- sistants, to pass an examination held at the end of the Trinity term, conducted according to the rules of the examination held at the end of the junior year, by Archbishop King's Divinity Lecturer.
The following course has been appointed for this examination :
In Greek : The Epistle to the Hebrews.
Ecclesiastical History : Mosheim's History of the Church, (Soames's edition,) first three centuries, and sixteenth century.
Liturgy and Church Government: Whately on the Book of Common Prayer ; Potter on Church Government (the Rev. J. C. Crossthwaite's edition).
Articles of Religion : Bishop Burnet's Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles.
Roman Catholic Controversy : Leslie's Case stated between the Church of Rome and the Church of England, with his Tract on The true Notion of the Catholic Church, in answer to the Bishop of Meaux.
When attendance upon the whole Divinity course has been completed according to the foregoing regu- lation, the Divinity Testimonium is given, signed by the Regius Professor of Divinity and one of his assistants.
M
162 THE LECTURES OF THE CANDIDATE YEAR.
An annual examination for prizes is held by the Professor in Michaelmas Term, which the pupils are not obliged to attend.
Senior sophisters, during their attendance on Di- vinity lectures, are permitted to attend Hebrew lec- tures along with the class of junior bachelors.
Students in Divinity are required to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, at least three times in each year of their attendance on lectures.
LECTURES FOR BACHELORS OF ARTS.
When the student has passed his final, or "degree ex- amination," he is denominated a "Candidate Bachelor" until the next commencement, when he receives his degree of A. B. During the remainder of that year, which terminates with the anniversary of his Degree examination, he is denominated a "Junior Bachelor;" the next year he is a " Middle Bachelor ;" and the next year a " Senior Bachelor."
THE LECTURES OF THE "CANDIDATE" AND JUNIOR BACHELOR YEAR.
Exclusive of Divinity lectures are the following : —
1. Hebrew. This class begins to attend one of the Assistants to Erasmus Smith's Professor of Hebrew, in the Michaelmas Term in which the Degree ex- amination of the class was held. The lectures are delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at ten o'clock.
& Greek. After the spring commencement, this class begins to attend the lectures of the Regius Pro- fessor of Greek on Mondays and Wednesdays.
3. Oratory. These Lectures are delivered on Saturdays, at ten o'clock, by the Assistant to the Pro- fessor of Oratory.
Junior Bachelors are entitled to present themselves as candidates for Bishop Law's mathematical prizes.
Middle Bachelors are required to attend the follow- ing, besides the Divinity lectures : —
1. Hebrew Lectures, by the Senior Assistant of the Professor of Hebrew, on Tuesdays and Thursdays dur- ing term, at ten o'clock.
PUBLIC LECTURES. 1(33
2. Greek Lectures, by the Regius Professor of Greek, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from the begin- ning of Michaelmas Term until Shrove Tuesday ; and from Shrovetide to the Vacation, on Fridays only.
3. Oratory Lectures, by Erasmus Smith's Professor of History and Oratory. The duties of this professor- ship have recently been limited to the Prelections re- quired by Act of Parliament ; all Bachelors are there- fore henceforth to attend these Prelections, together with the weekly lectures of the Assistant.
LECTURES OF GRADUATES.
Senior Bachelors attend Erasmus Smith's Professor of Hebrew at one o'clock every Tuesday. The Greek and Oratory lectures in this case are the same as the preceding.
Law students in the three classes of Bachelors at- tend the Regius Professor of Feudal and English Law, in the Law School, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at nine o'clock.
Students in Law and Medicine are not required to keep Terms in Hebrew.
Candidates for Moderatorships in Mathematics and Physics, attend the lectures of the Assistants to Eras- mus Smith's Professor of Mathematics.
Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics delivers lectures on three days in the week, Mondays, Wed- nesdays, and Fridays, during term, to fellowship can- didates, at ten o'clock.
PUBLIC LECTURES.
Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural Philosophy delivers the lectures of his course, during term, on three days each week in the Philosophy School.
The Professor of Astronomy delivers his lectures in Michaelmas Term, in the Philosophy School.
The Professor of Political Economy delivers a course of at least nine lectures during some one of the academical terms of the year, which are free to
M 2
164 MODERN LANGUAGES.
all gownsmen ; and to which he may also, if he pleases, admit the public.
The Professor of Biblical Greek delivers a course of lectures during two of the three academical terms of the year.
To encourage the study of Biblical Greek, the board has lately determined to give prizes at an ex- amination, to be held by the Professors.
The Professor of Botany delivers a course of lec- tures in Trinity Term, to which the public are ad- missible.
The College Herbarium is always open to the pub- lic on Wednesdays and Fridays in term, from eleven until two o'clock. Any person desirous of verifying specimens, may obtain admission on Tuesdays and Thursdays, during the same hours, by giving notice to the Curator.
The Professors of Anatomy and Chemistry, at the beginning of the sessions, deliver each a course of twelve lectures, which are open to the public.
The Professor of Modern History delivers a Prelec- tion once a week during term, to which the public are admissible ; his Assistant lectures twice a week.
The Professor of Irish lectures once a week during term.
Expressly to encourage the study of the Irish lan- guage, the provost and board have placed the sum of £20 per annum at the disposal of the Professor of that ancient language, to be given in premiums to such students as shall distinguish themselves as proficients jn the Irish tongue.
MODERN LANGUAGES.
The Professors of the Modern Languages are re- quired to lecture a class of those students who may voluntarily present themselves for instruction. These students are required to pay to the professor the sum of one guinea entrance, and one guinea for each term of their attendance.
Examinations are held annually after Michaelmas
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. 165
Term, at which those students present themselves who are candidates for medals to be awarded for proficiency in the French, German, and Italian languages. The merit of the candidates will be decided by their trans- lation of English Prose passages into one of these languages, and by conversation. A senior or a junior freshman may be a candidate for one of these medals, provided he shall not have previously received a medal in the language in which he now presents himself to be examined,
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.
The School of Medicine, or, as it is intituled in the statutes, " The Complete School of Physic in Ire- land," is composed, as we have already stated, of six Professorships ; three of which are on the foundation of the College. These are called University Professor- ships, and are those of Anatomy and Surgery, of Che- mistry, and of Botany. And three are on the founda- tion of the late Sir Patrick Dunn, namely, those of the Institutes of Medicine, of the Practice of Medicine, and of Materia Medica and Pharmacy.
The Act of 40th George III., after setting forth the provisions of the former one, enacts that the said Professors shall have perpetual continuance and suc- cession ; and that they shall be elected in the usual and accustomed manner by the Provost, or Vice- Provost, and Board of Senior Fellows of this Col- lege.
And upon every fresh election, three months' notice is to be given in the London and Dublin Gazettes of the vacancy, the emoluments, and advantages of the office, its duties, &c., and inviting all who choose to offer themselves as candidates, and requesting them to send in their names, places of education, of the univer- sities where they have taken their medical degrees, &c. &c., that opportunities may be afforded to inquire into the merits of the candidates. The Professorships to be open to Protestants of all nations, should they have taken medical degrees, or have obtained a licence
166 SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.
to practise, from the College of Physicians, in virtue of a testimonium under the seal of Trinity College, Dublin.
These Professorships to become vacant every seventh year ; but the same Professor may be re-elected. The Provost and Senior Fellows are empowered to make rules and orders to regulate the conduct of these Pro- fessors. The lectures, except those on Botany, are to commence in November each year, and finish at the end of April. The lectures must be given in the English language, unless otherwise specially ordered, and they must be given in Trinity College, Dublin. The Professors are allowed to charge reasonable fees for all those who attend their lectures.
The University Professors deliver annually, a short " public course " on their respective subjects.
We should observe that all students attending the professor's lectures in these classes, are required to be matriculated by the senior lecturer of Trinity College, if their names be not already on the college books as students in arts.
Medical students matriculating as such pay five shillings, and are not obliged, unless they think proper, to attend to the academical duties of the university. A return is made to the senior lecturer by each pro- fessor, when he has delivered one half of his course, of such pupils as have attended such portion of his lec- tures, and at the conclusion of his course the professor gives to those pupils who have been diligent and regu- lar, certificates of attendance. Lectures on the fol- lowing subjects are delivered from the first Monday in November, until the end of the succeeding April, viz., on Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery, and on Chemistry in Trinity College. The lectures on Botany commence on the first Monday in May, also in college, and terminate at the end of July. The fees for each of these courses is four guineas.
Lectures on Pathology by the Professor of Anatomy and Surgery are given during the month of May; fee for the course, one guinea.
Anatomical Demonstrations arc given daily from
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. 107
the beginning of the session, 1st of October, until April, by the Demonstrator of Anatomy, in the col- lege. The students are superintended in their dis- section, and subjects are provided for them. The fees are six guineas ; for demonstration alone, four guineas ; for demonstration and an assortment, five guineas.
Students are instructed in surgical operations on the dead body, and have proper subjects provided for them for five guineas.
Towards the end of the session, a course of lectures is given by the Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, and another course on diseases of the eye, by the De- monstrator of Anatomy; terms for each of these courses, one guinea.
A course of lectures on midwifery and diseases of women and children^ is given in spring ; fee, one guinea.
It is intended to add a course on Toxicology, and Medical Jurisprudence.
At the chemical laboratory, pupils are instructed in operative chemistry ; fee, six guineas.
Botanical demonstrations are daily given by the professor's assistant, in the garden, during the season.
Medical officers of the army and navy, and gra- duates in the school, are permitted to attend the lec- tures on anatomy and surgery, in the college ; but if they purpose to obtain certificates, they are required to pay the usual fee at the commencement of the course.
The medical library of the late Sir Patrick Dun, is open to all the students of the School.
Students who do not graduate in arts, are admitted, at the end of three years from the date of their matri- culation, to an examination before the six professors, on producing to the Board of Trinity College, cer- tificates of attendance on Anatomy, Surgery, Chemis- try, Botany, Institutes of Medicine, Practice of Me- dicine, Materia Medica and Pharmacy, Clinical lec- tures, and the practice of Sir P. Dun's hospital ; to write and publish a thesis in Latin, and perform all
1(J8 BACHELOR AND DOCTOR IN MEDICINE.
the academical exercises for the degree of Doctor in Medicine, and then receive a testimonium under the seal of the college, stating their being qualified to practise medicine.
Those students who go through a collegiate course, on producing certificates of their attendance on the pro- fessors in the school of physic, the clinical lectures and the hospitals, are, three years after having graduated as Bachelor of Arts, examined before the Regius Pro- fessor of Physic, and the professors of Anatomy, and Surgery, Chemistry, and Botany, in Trinity College ; and on performing the usual academical exercises they take the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, upon suf- ficient standing, publishing a thesis, passing a second examination before the University Professors, and per- forming the necessary acts, the full degree of " Doctor in Medicine " is confirmed ; these rank with the de- grees of Bachelor, and Doctor of Medicine, obtained in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Students of the above description, if they intend to graduate in the English universities, ought to take the degree of A.M. before that of Bachelor of Medi- cine in this university.
As qualification, previous to examination for the testimonium, the certificates of the professors in Edin- burgh are admitted for any three of the courses re- quired, with the exception of the clinical lectures, which must have been attended in the School of Physic, in Ireland.
It is indispensable that students presenting them- selves for examination, shall have dissected regularly, during at least one season, and that they are con- versant with morbid anatomy.
Certificates of attendance on the Professors in the School of Physic in Ireland, are received as giving standing in other universities, and as qualifications for medical officers in the army, navy, and East India service ; and certificates of attendance on the anatomical and surgical lectures in Trinity College are also admitted in the different colleges of surgeons.
The chemical lecture is chiefly supported by fees
CHEMICAL AND BOTANICAL LECTURES. 1()9
from the senior sophister class, and from those who attend the course of lectures preparatory to obtaining a degree or diploma in medicine.
By the act of the 40th of Geo. III. the Professor is to deliver four lectures in each week, between the first Monday in November, and the end of April in each year, but a much greater number than this is given.
The course embraces all the recent discoveries in this science, and is copiously illustrated by such ex- periments as are calculated to explain the doctrine of chemistry, and exemplify to the student the best me- thod of research ; the laboratory contains a well se- lected range of apparatus, which is kept in excellent order, and the zeal and intelligence displayed by Dr. Barker, the professor, show how anxious he is for the improvement of the pupils, and also the judg- ment of the directors in their selection of one so well calculated to advance the cause of science in his de- partment.
Dr. Barker gives two courses in each year, the first of which is a short and general course, intended chiefly for University students. The second is much more detailed, and is delivered to all the students of the School of Physic.
The Botanical lectures are ably conducted by Dr. Allman, who has lately been made professor* : he is assisted by Mr. James Townsend Mackay, A.L.S., who is Curator of the College Botanic Garden, near Ball's Bridge, and is allowed to be one of the first practical botanists in Europe.
The present learned Professor gives annually in the college sixteen public lectures, commencing the last week in April, and about fifty lectures in the private course, which is annually given immediately after the public one. In the practical part of the latter course, the professor explains fully the Linnean system ; in the public one, he follows more particularly the natural method of Jussieu, as improved by Ventenant and others. He also describes the medicinal properties
a In the room of Dr. W. Allman, Avho was elected to it in 1809, and who has retired on a pension.
170 NATURAL HISTORY.
of such plants as occur in the different natural orders as he proceeds. He also takes care to point out the class and order in the Linnean system, where they are to be found. The number of students that attend the private course, as a branch of their medical studies, averages at present from forty to sixty.
A regular attendance at Botanical lectures is in- dispensable to obtain a degree in medicine.
Besides the above lectures, Mr. Mackay, the as- sistant botanist, gives demonstrations annually at the garden, during the period that the professor delivers his lectures in the college, but at a different hour, to allow the student the advantage of attending both.
Excursions are generally made by the Curator with the students once a week, during the course, to ex- amine the botanical productions in the vicinity of Dublin, of which there is a considerable variety, some of which are said to be peculiar to that district.
Natural History. — In the year 1816, as already noticed, the professorship of Natural History was established in the college : this improvement had been long in contemplation, but in that year Dr. Stokes, the senior lay fellow, wishing to give up his Fellowship for the purpose of attending more closely to his me- dical pursuits, the board knowing this gentleman to be eminently qualified for the situation, requested him to undertake the duties at a liberal salary : to this in- vitation he consented, and most certainly it would be difficult to find a professor more competent to give instruction in this useful, elegant, and interesting de- partment of scientific knowledge, which indeed, it must be admitted, had not previously been sufficiently cultivated in Ireland ; and, in the promotion of his object, Dr. Stokes has been allowed the command of all the specimens in the museum of natural history.
The following regulations, respecting medical de- grees, were made in 1839, and revised in 1840 and 1841:
The days of graduation are Shrove Tuesday, and the first Tuesday in July ; the medical examinations terminate on the Tuesday of the preceding week ;
EXPENSE OF MEDICAL DEGREES.
candidates having completed their medical education and paid the required fees to the senior Proctor, can procure from the Registrar of the Professors of the School of Physic, a schedule, testifying to the cor- rectness of the details of the attendance on lectures, &c., on producing which, with the Proctor's receipt to the College Registrar, he will issue a liceat ad ex- aminandwn.
Medical students may obtain the degree of Bachelor of Medicine in two modes :
1st. Candidates who have graduated in Arts may obtain the degree of Bachelor in Medicine, at any of the ensuing half-yearly periods of graduation, pro- vided the regular medical education and examination shall have been accomplished.
The payment at entrance is £15 ; the fees for study in arts, during four years, are £7 10s. each half year ; and the fees for graduates in arts, £8 17$. Gd.
2nd. Candidates are admissible to the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, without previous graduation in Arts, at the end of five years from the July following the Hilary examination of the first under-graduate year, provided the usual education and examination in arts of the first two years of the under-graduate course shall have been completed, as also the medical education and examination, as in the case of other candidates. The fees for two years' study in arts, besides the usual entrance payment of £15, are £7 105. each half-year.
The graduation fees for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine, are £11 15s. The testimonium of the M.B. degree will contain the following certificate : — " Testamur A.B. sedulam, operam medicinse na- vasse et examinationes, coram professoribus feliciter sustinuisse."
The medical education of a Bachelor of Medicine comprises attendance on the following courses of lec- tures in the School of Physic, established by act of Parliament, provided that one, and not more than three of the courses, which begin in November, be attended during each of four sessions. Three of
172 DR. DOWNES'S DIVINITY PREMIUMS.
these lectures, at the discretion of the candidate, may be attended at the University of Edinburgh. The courses are — on Anatomy and Surgery, Chemistry, Botany, Materia Medica, and Pharmacy, Institutes of Medicine, Practice of Medicine, Midwifery (by the Professor of the College of Physicians), Clinical lec- tures at Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital, during at least one session (six months), as delivered by the professors in the School of Physic. All students commencing there after 17th July, 1841, are to attend on such clinical lectures by the professors, during three addi- tional months of a summer session commencing in May, which is to be in lieu of attendance on the hospital from 1st of May to 1st of November fol- lowing.
SECTION VI.
PREMIUMS AT THE EXAMINATION FOR FELLOWSHIPS.
It has long been the practice at every fellowship examination for the provost and senior fellows to grant premiums to such candidates as in their judgment de- serve encouragement for good answering.
In the year 1793, Madden' s prizes were first granted in accordance with the will of Samuel Molyneux Mad- den, Esq., as described at page 110. The amount of these prizes are sometimes £200 or £300 sterling, and some of the most distinguished scholars, who have obtained fellowships, or high dignities in the church or at the bar, have gained these prizes.
DR. DOWNES'S DIVINITY PREMIUMS.
The original regulations, made in 1797? have been modified by the board, and settled in April 1834, as given at page 106 ; the examinations are held respec- tively, on three separate days, in the last week of Tri- nity Term ; notice of these days is given generally in the University Calendar, and by a bill posted on the college gates.
THE PRIMATE'S HEBREW PRIZES. 173
The examiners are, — the Regius Professor of Di- vinity, the Professor of Oratory, and Archbishop King's Lecturer in Divinity, with the assistance, in case of written compositions, of the Provost, and such of the Senior Fellows as may choose to attend.
The subjects are selected by the three examiners, and the subject for written composition is announced in the last week of Hilary Term by the Regius Pro- fessor of Divinity. Candidates must have attended with remarkable diligence as Candidates Bachelors or Bachelors of Arts, on Divinity Lectures in two terms, which may be any two terms antecedent to that in which the examinations are held ; and for extem- pore speaking or reading the Liturgy, the further qualification of having taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts is required.
The usual mode by which the merit of the candi- dates is tested on these occasions, is by a number of trials in various parts of the Liturgy ; after each trial the number of candidates is diminished. And in order that the candidates should have equal chances in the extempore speaking, and reading the Liturgy, they are only admitted into the room singly, and not until the moment when each is to be put on his trial ; still further to prevent any improper communi- cations with the candidates waiting outside, none of the parties in the room are permitted to go out until the final decision is made.
THE PRIMATE'S HEBREW PRIZES*
These prizes were first instituted by a decree of the board in February, 1794, and a fund allocated to encourage graduates to study the Hebrew Language. In the year 1800, Primate Newcombe added muni- ficently to this fund, and his successors in the see of Armagh have continued that good feeling ever since. Originally, the days of examination were at the Hilary and Trinity Terms, and an occasional examination was held for the class of Middle Bachelors, when- ever candidates appeared at the end of Michaelmas
174 THE PRIMATE'S HEBREW PREMIUMS.
Term. The premiums were confined to graduates until July, 1830, when further regulations were made defining exactly the times and the business for exa- mination in each of the Bachelor classes. In October, 1835, the following additional regulations were made by the Board.
REGULATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE PRIMATE'S HEBREW PREMIUMS.
That the Candidate or Junior Bachelor class be examined at the end of Michaelmas Term, in the grammar ; at the end of Hilary Term, in the first four chapters of Genesis ; and at the end of Trinity Term, in the history of Joseph, contained in Genesis, xxxvii. xli. xlii. xliii. xliv. xlv.
The Middle Bachelor class are to be examined at the end of Michaelmas and Trinity Terms ; and the Senior Bachelor class, at the end of Hilary Term, in the Psalms.
It is also provided that the professor may give a certificate, similar to that given for Divinity lectures, to any student who shall attend a course of Hebrew lectures for two years, or six terms, with remarkable diligence, and sufficient answering. That the assist- ants shall send to the professor, at the end of every term, duplicates of the returns made by them to the senior proctor, and the professor shall enter them in a book to be kept by him as evidence whereon he may sign the certificate. Junior Sophisters may also at- tend Hebrew lectures, and be examined for premiums with the Junior Bachelor class ; and Junior Bachelors who have attended during the Senior Sophister year with the Middle Bachelor class, so as to enable them to complete their two years of Hebrew, at the same time as their divinity terms.
Middle Bachelors, who have attended for two years, can attend a third year with the Senior Bachelor class ; and any student who may have attended for three years, shall receive a certificate in which the word trienniwn shall be substituted for biennium.
BISHOP BERKELEY'S GOLD MEDALS. 175
The scholars who have completed the entire course of Hebrew at the end of their Middle Bachelor year, are excused all attendance at Hebrew lectures during the remaining year of their scholarships.
BISHOP LAW S MATHEMATICAL PRIZES.
In the year 1796, John Lawa, Lord Bishop of El- phin, presented a donation of 700 guineas, on the ex- press condition that it should be applied to encourage the study of mathematics according to a scheme which the good bishop drew up himself, and which, with some small alteration made in it, during his own time, remains in all its original integrity and usefulness.
BISHOP BERKELEY'S GOLD MEDALS.
This eminent divine, whose benevolence was only circumscribed by his means, presented 120 guineas and an engraved medal die to the college, for the pur- pose of establishing annual gold medal prizes, to en- courage Bachelors of Arts to continue the study of the Greek language. And in 17*52, the Provost and Senior Fellows agreed to give annually for ever, two gold medals, agreeably to the bishop's intention.
These medals are now given to the Middle Bache- lors who have attended the lectures of the Regius Professor of Greek with remarkable diligence for two academic years, commencing with the term in which they have taken their Bachelor's degree.
GOLD MEDALS AT THE COMMENCEMENTS.
The origin of the series of medals commenced in 1793, when the Provost and Senior Fellows resolved that a gold medal should be given to such students as shall have answered every examination from their entrance to the taking of their Bachelor's degree,
a Brother to the late Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough.
176 MODERATORS AT DEGREE EXAMINATION.
provided they shall also have got judgments, at each ex- amination, not inferior to one Bene with Valde Benes. This mode was altered in 1816, and then the medals were given, one to the best answerer in classics, and the other to the hest answerer in science, at an examination held in distinct courses prescribed for that purpose. These regulations have also been laid aside, and at present, the gold medals, for classics and science, have been superseded by the substitution of Moderatorships with gold and silver medals, in Mathe- matics and Physics, in Classics, in Logics, and in Ethics.
By the same regulations which substituted the rank of Moderator for the gold medals given formerly at the commencements, the students that have obtained honours in any previous part of the undergraduate course, may offer themselves at the more solemn exa- minations without appearing at the ordinary examin- ation ; but those who have not previously distinguished themselves, must answer at the general examination of their class, and cannot present themselves as can- didates for moderatorships, unless they are specially recommended by their examiners for their answering at the ordinary examinations.
Moderatorships are obtainable in Mathematics and Physics ; 2d, in classics ; 3d, in Ethics and Logics ; this arrangement being the order in rank of each department. They are divided into Senior and Junior Moderatorships, besides others, who, though judged worthy of their degree, have not displayed any supe- rior merit.
All who obtain this rank, are placed at the head of their class, and presented to the Vice- Chancellor by the Proctor at the commencements, in the order of their places, &c., &c. The number of moderatorships is about one fortieth of the class of candidate bachelors, and the junior moderators double that of the seniors.
In 1835, the board resolved that a gold medal, si- milar to that formerly given, should be presented to the first senior moderator in each of the three depart-
BIBLICAL GREEK PRIZES. 177
ments, and gold medals, the same as the Berkeley medals, to the remaining senior moderators, and silver medals to be given to the junior moderators.
MEDALS FOR MODERN LANGUAGES.
The board instituted these rewards in 1835, and the examination for this purpose takes place in the Michaelmas Term.
PRIZES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.
We have seen that this professorship was founded by the Reverend Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dub- lin, in the year 1832. And to give a further stimulus to its operations, the Provost and Senior Fellows, in 1837, determined to institute annual examinations in this branch of science, and to offer a prize of £10, and another of £5 for proficiency therein.
The examinations, which are conducted either verbally or by written questions, are held at the be- ginning of Michaelmas Term, on a day of which notice is given in the preceding term ; they are conducted under the direction of the professor of this science. Students in the Bachelor classes, whose names are on the books, are the only persons eligible to offer them- selves as candidates. Successful competitors cannot receive a prize at any subsequent examination. The Professor also points out the most proper works to be consulted in this department of the course.
BIBLICAL GREEK (PRIZES).
The Professor of Biblical Greek holds his exa- mination for prizes, in this department, in Hilary Term.
178 EXHIBITIONS.
CHAPTER V.
SECTION I. EXHIBITIONS.
Regulations of the Exhibitions on the foundation of Erasmus Smith, Esq. — This increase of exhibitions is a decided improvement in laying out the funds in the hands of the Commissioners. They relate to the schools which have been already mentioned at page 140. The conditions are given at full length that the subject may be clearly comprehended.
The first rule states, that the masters of the various classical schools on the foundation of Erasmus Smith, shall every year, in the first week of September, make a return of the names of such pupils in their respect- ive schools, as shall have entered Trinity College, Dublin, on or after the first day of May preceding ; or who shall be prepared to enter before the first day of January following, whom they shall consider quali- fied for, and in every respect deserving of the exhibi- tions paid by the governors.
The lists so returned are referred to the Provost, with a request that he will direct that the young men, so recommended, may be especially examined ; and that those qualified may be appointed to the exhibi- tions so far as there may be vacancies, and their names returned to the governors.
The young persons educated in the schools on this foundation become eligible to receive the exhibitions from the moment of their being admitted of the Uni- versity, and may continue to hold them so long as they shall reside in college, and until they shall be of Masters' standing ; provided that no person shall be allowed to hold an exhibition from the second year of his having been appointed thereto, who has not within that period obtained, at least, one classical premium at the Term Examinations. Between the first year of competition (1834) and the close of 1843, twenty-
DIVINITY PROFESSOR'S PREMIUM. 179
three students were elected to these exhibitions, namely, from Drogheda, five ; Ennis, nine ; Gal way, seven ; and Tipperary, one of the largest, and the most tur- bulent counties in Ireland, two only !
The Regius Professor of Divinity is bound by sta- tute to hold an annual examination in the month of November, for two days, (four hours each day,) on the morning of the first day, in the Old Testament ; in the afternoon, in the New Testament ; on the morn- ing of the second day, in Ecclesiastical History ; and in the afternoon of that day, in the Creeds, Articles, and Liturgy of the united Churches of England and Ireland. This examination is open to all Bachelors of Arts.
The present Professor, (Dr. Elrington,) who takes a deep interest in this very important branch of edu- cation, has published a list of the books which he would recommend to the serious attention of the can- didates on these occasions. The following extracts from that paper will best explain the sentiments of the learned Professor on this subject :
" In reference to the first two parts, the Professor of Divinity wishes it to be distinctly understood, that he does not so much require a knowledge of the opinions of any particular commentator, as a general acquaint- ance with the Bible itself. He considers the Com- mentary of Patrick, Lowth, and Whitby, taken as a whole, to be the best ; but to the young student he would particularly recommend Elsley and Slade's An- notations on the New Testament. Nor can he (though he differs from them on some important subjects) for- bear to express his approbation of Doddridge's and Scott's Commentaries. More information will be ac- quired by consulting separate treatises on different parts of the Scriptures, as Dean G raves' s Lectures on the last four Books of Moses and Bishop Newton on the Prophecies.
" In recommending the following list of books to the candidates for the premium given at his examination, the Professor does not wish to limit them to the parti- cular works mentioned in it, but these books will
N 2
180 ARCHBISHOP KING'S DIVINITY PRIZES.
point out the extent of the information required, and they can all be easily procured.
Townson on the Gospels, and the Resurrection.
Davison on Prophecy.
Paley's Evidences.
Paley's Horse Paulinas.
Butler's Analogy.
Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History.
Carwithen's History of the Church of England.
Elrington on Ordination.
Marsh's Comparative View.
Jewel's Apology.
Burnet on the Thirty-nine Articles.
Pearson on the Creed.
Waterland on the Athanasian Creed.
Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, Books iii. and v.
Laurence's Bampton Lectures.
Mant, or Whately, on the Common Prayer."
From the above list it will be easily seen that stu- dents in this paramount Faculty of the Dublin Uni- versity, must acquire a very considerable knowledge and facility for maintaining " the faith that is in them." And this would be much more fully proved by a visit to the Hall during these examinations, which are of a most stringent character, but not more so than the preparation for the sacred office of the ministry re- quires.
ARCHBISHOP KING'S DIVINITY PRIZES.
These prizes are of very recent origin, being amongst the further proofs of the sincere and active desire that has existed in this University especially of late years, to extend the field of knowledge, and give its full expan- sion to the higher power of the human intellect, com- bined with man's temporal and eternal welfare.
The Provost and Board founded these prizes in the year 1836; they are called, " Archbishop King's Di- vinity Prizes," chiefly, as it would appear, to honour the memory of that distinguished divine and scholar,
THE ROYAL SCHOLARSHIPS OR EXHIBITIONS. 181
and because they are given at an annual examination held by Archbishop King's Divinity Lecturer.
The examination is held in Michaelmas Term ; it is restricted to students, who have been selected by the Examiners at the general Divinity examination, held at the end of the preceding Trinity Term ; and the subjects of the course examined in for the prizes, besides those appointed for the general Divinity exa- mination, are the following : — " Greek, the Acts of the Apostles ; — Christian Evidences, Butler's Analogy, Paley's HoraB Paulinse, Chalmers on the Miraculous and Internal Evidences of the Christian Revelation, Douglass's Criterion of Miracles, Bishop Sherlock's Discourses on Prophecy, and Davison on Prophecy, the Socinian Controversy, Magee on the Atonement, Vol. III.
The candidates will also be prepared with a proper knowledge of the principal questions discussed in the public course of lectures delivered by Archbishop King's Lecturer during the year of attendance on his lectures, and to have been examined in the writings referred to by him. Two prizes are given to the best answerers, and certificates to such as answer respect- ably. Extra prizes are frequently given by the Board, on the recommendation of the examiners. But the certificate is never given until the student shall have completed his Divinity course, and obtained the Divi- nity Testimonium.
THE ROYAL SCHOLARSHIPS OR EXHIBITIONS.
The year 1833 will be memorable in this University, as being the epoch when these scholarships were found- ed and munificently endowed by the Commissioners of Education in Ireland, from funds arising out of estates of the royal schools in Ardmagh, Dungannon, and Enniskillen. For the first named school, five scholar- ships of £50 per annum each have been founded; also five of £50, and five of £30 per annum, for each of the others mentioned ; the funds are supplied from the estates of the respective schools ; that is, £250 from
182 THE ROYAL SCHOLARSHIPS.
the Ardmagh, and £400 from the school estates of Dungannon and Enniskillen, respectively.
To obtain these exhibitions it is absolutely requi- site that the candidate shall have been at least three years a pupil in one of these schools, before he can make his essay to enter Trinity College. The pupils are allowed the right of moving from one of them to an- other, but to obtain the scholarships just specified, it is indispensable that the students must have entered the University from one of those for which the scholar- ships have been founded.
No pensioner can be admitted as a candidate for a Queen's scholarship, unless he shall have remained at one of these royal schools, until the November en- trance examination, neither can a sizar be admitted as a candidate, unless he shall have remained at the school until the Sizarship examination immediately before the examination in which he intends to stand for a Queen's Scholarship.
These scholarships may be held for five years, pro- vided that, proceeding regularly with their respect- ive classes, they obtain in each year of their under- graduate course, one honour of the first, or two of the second rank, the election to one of these scholarships being reckoned as equivalent to one honour of the second rank obtained in the Junior Freshman year. — A Moderator, as an honour of the first rank in the Senior Sophister year ; and an University Scholarship, in whatever year obtained, as equivalent to an honour of the first rank, at a term examination.
A scholarship is to be rendered vacant by the scho- lar incurring any heavy collegiate censure, such as public admonition or rustication ; or whenever all the examinations of a year have elapsed without his ob- taining in that year an honour of the first rank or two of the second rank, or the equivalents to them just mentioned.
The Provost and Board are to appoint annually two examiners to examine, on the first convenient day after the November entrance, such (candidates) stu-
THE ROYAL SCHOLARSHIPS. 183
dents as have entered during the preceding part of the year, from the three royal schools.
The subjects for examination comprise the whole entrance course with the addition of two Greek plays, which may be learned from time to time, together with the following course of History : Keightley's Roman Republic, and Roman Empire ; the History of Greece ; History of the Old and New Testament. The Out- lines of Sacred History, published by the Christian Knowledge Society. The proficiency of the candi- dates in Greek, Latin, and English composition are particularly inquired into, and also their knowledge of the rules in Greek and Latin versification, with spe- cimens of their skill in making verses in both lan- guages, great attention being directed to ancient history and geography.
The candidates from each school are examined to- gether, and a return is made to the Commissioners of their positive merit ; an arrangement is also made with respect to their answering, without distinction of schools ; the Commissioners reserve to themselves the power of suspending or diminishing one or more scholarships, if sufficient merit is not shewn by the candidates.
Fellow commoners cannot be candidates. In casee of equal merit, the poverty of a candidate will be taken into account.
No student can be candidate a second time. The exhibitions are payable half-yearly, (1st of May, and 1st of November,) those in May are made to such students only as have obtained, in the preceding half of that year, at least one honour of the second rank. A half-yearly payment held over in May, to be paid in November, provided an honour has been obtained in the mean time ; and a payment for the year to be made in November to such students as shall have ful- filled all the requisites in the year between the 1st of May and 1st of November.
In cases where very distinguished merit has been shewn during the undergraduate course, by students holding £30 scholarships, and when scholarships of
184 THE ROYAL SCHOLARSHIPS.
£50, for the same school, remain suspended, or have been forfeited, the Commissioners will receive at the close of each year, memorials from such distinguished students for an increase of their stipend, from £30 to £50 yearly, during the remainder of their scholarship. And where such promotion shall have taken place, the relinquished scholarship of £30 then becomes vacant.
No student can be elected " Queen's Scholar" un- less he shall have, previously to the examination for that scholarship, lodged with the secretary to the Board a certificate, signed by the master of the school from which he shall have entered this college, in which it shall be stated that he has conformed to the regu- lations of the Board relative to the election of Queen's Scholars.
Besides these solid inducements to promote the cause of learning, the provost and board have, " in compliance with the wishes of the Commissioners of Education in Ireland," made a rule that these Royal Scholarship men may wear "velvet caps,"* and that their names be inserted in the College books im- mediately after the names of the University scholars, but without altering their degrees of seniority among their class fellows.
The above-named board of commissioners have also made a rule to grant annually two prizes of £30 and £20 to such junior freshmen as shall have entered this university from Middle ton school (co. Cork) ; and who, having been examined along with and in the same course as the candidates for Queen's scholarships, shall be recommended by the examiners to the Com- missioners.
These are very gratifying proofs of the high estima- tion in which this university is held by those public boards and societies which have the best means of judging correctly as to matters of education generally,
a Some of our best moralists have expressed to the author douhts as to the soundness of this measure, whether it is not more likely to engender that deplorable weakness called personal vanity, than to excite and sustain a noble emulation to excel by intellectual exertion : — time alone will tell.
THE ELRINGTON THEOLOGICAL PRIZE. 185
with regard to its capabilities for bestowing the great advantages of the highest cultivation upon the human mind, in whatever direction the natural partialities may influence the taste for one or other species of mental application ; all which advantages must be still kept in a state of progression by that reciprocity of cordial feeling, which now happily exists between the truly educational institutions in Ireland.
In four years after the founding of these scholar- ships, the friends of the late Dr. Elrington, bishop of Leighlin and Ferns, devised a plan for further en- couraging the study of Theology, and, at the same time, of preserving in grateful remembrance the name of the deceased bishop.
SECTION II. THE ELRINGTON THEOLOGICAL PRIZE.
This additional excitement to honourable distinction in Theology arose out of a feeling highly honourable to the parties who brought it forward, and whose means contributed to its realization.
The real and avowed object of these gentlemen was to place upon permanent record their high feelings of respect for the memory of the late Dr. Elrington, Bishop of Ferns.
For this purpose a meeting was convened at Messrs. Milliken's, Grafton Street, in March, 1837, to consider the best mode of commemorating the virtues and learn- ing of the late Right Rev. Thomas Elrington, D.D., Lord Bishop of Leighlin and Ferns, and formerly Pro- vost of Trinity College, Dublin.
At that meeting, which was numerously attended by college men of all classes, the following resolutions were passed unanimously : —
" Resolved — That in the opinion of this meeting the conduct of the late highly respected Bishop was uni- formly distinguished by an earnest desire and endea- vour to do substantial good, without needless display or ostentation, as well by implanting in and strengthen-
186 THE ELRINGTON THEOLOGICAL PRIZE.
ing the minds of all those with whom he was at any time connected, whether as future candidates for the ministry, actual ministers of the church, or members of the church simply; a well founded belief in the truth and doctrines of our holy religion, and a steady attach- ment to its primitive institutions according to the form of Christianity established in the united churches of England and Ireland.
" That such a monument appears to us most appro- priate to his character, and calculated to do becoming honour to his memory, as shall be formed upon the principle of carrying forward those solid religious bene- fits which he was indefatigable in promoting during his life ; a mode of testifying respect to which this meeting is more inclined, by a consideration of the excellent personal representation of the late prelate which adorns the college library.
" That, for the foregoing purpose, it is adjudged de- sirable to institute an annual prize for one or more of the best Theological Essays composed by Bachelors of Arts of Trinity College, Dublin, of not more than three years' standing.
11 That the subjects of the essays be such as may direct the minds of the competitors to those topics in particular which were either discussed in the published works of the late bishop, or were prominent objects of his solicitude. For example — The Evidence of our Holy Religion ; the Constitution of the Christian Church ; the Scriptural Character of the Doctrines and the Apostolical Polity of our own Church ; the necessity and validity of her Orders, and the just claims and the solemn engagements of her Ministers.
" That this prize be denominated the ELRINGTON THEOLOGICAL PRIZE — that the subjects be proposed and the prize awarded by the Lord Bishop of Ferns, the Provost of Trinity College, and the Regius Pro- fessor of Divinity, all for the time being, in such way as they shall arrange among themselves. That the essay or essays be publicly read in the College Hall, at such time as the provost shall appoint ; and that the prize consist of a selection of standard Theological
THE LLOYD EXHIBITIONS. 187
works, of which the publications of the late bishop, if attainable, as, we trust, they will be rendered by the filial piety of the present Regius Professor of Divinity, shall at all times form a part." This prize cannot be obtained more than once by the same candidate.
THE LLOYD EXHIBITIONS.
These exhibitions originated out of those spon- taneous feelings of respect for departed worth, which could only be created by a deep conviction of the valuable services which the talents and virtues of this lamented Provost had rendered to society, by his zealous and intelligent discharge of his duties in the offices of a Fellow, and as Provost of this College, during forty-two years ; thirty-five of these years Dr. Lloyd had been one of the ablest, and most exemplary Professors and Lecturers possible, of the numerous classes that entered and passed through college during that long interval ; and for the last eight years of his useful life, Dr. Lloyd enjoyed the responsible and dig- nified office of Provost, or head of this University : in that situation his conduct and manners were such as endeared him to every class in college, from the members of the Senior Board down to the Junior Freshmen.
To carry this object into effect, a meeting of the subscribers to this fund was held in the University in November, 1839, on which occasion the Rev. Dr. Singer was chairman, when the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :
"I. That a sum of money having been subscribed for the foundation of exhibitions in the University, to commemorate the talents and virtues of the late Provost Lloyd, in promoting the course of learning in that institution, to the interest of which his life was devoted, the aforesaid sum shall be lodged in the hands of the Provost, the Professor of Natural Philo- sophy, and the Professor of Mathematics for the time being, in trust for the purpose declared in these reso- lutions.
" II. That the interest of the aforesaid sums as may
188 THE LLOYD EXHIBITIONS.
at any time be added to it, shall be applied to the founding of two exhibitions, of £20 per annum each, to be held for two years only.
" III. That the appointment to these exhibitions shall be made by a public examination, under the following regulations :
" 1. The examinations shall be held in Michaelmas term annually, after the Michaelmas term examina- tions, and shall be open to such students only as shall then be in the rising Senior Sophister class.
" 2. No student shall be admissible as a candidate a second time.
" 3. The exhibition shall be tenable only so long as the scholar shall have his name on the college books.
" 4. The examiners shall be the Professors of As- tronomy, Natural Philosophy, and Mathematics, or any three of them, as they shall agree amongst them- selves.
" 5. The subject of examination shall be a course of Mathematics and Physics, to be determined by the examiners, subject to the approval of the Board.
" IV. Any exhibition which may fall vacant before the natural period of its expiration, shall not be filled up, but its amount shall be added to the principal, for the augmentation of the fund ; and the same rule shall be followed in case it should at any time happen that no candidate of sufficient merit shall present himself.
" V. And if at any time the money in the hands of the trustees shall exceed the sum payable to the ex- hibitioners, the surplus may be employed, at the dis- cretion of the examiners, in giving prizes to such of the unsuccessful candidates as may appear to merit that encouragement."
The course of examination then appointed for these exhibitions, subject, however, to future altera- tions, were :
In Mathematics — Luby's Trigonometry, Lloyd's Analytic Geometry, Lacroix' Elemens d'Algebre, and Differential Calculus (omitting application to curved surfaces). In Physics, all the Physics of the undei*- graduate course, and Lloyd's Mechanical Philosophy.
THE IRISH PROFESSORSHIP. 189
PROFESSORSHIP OF THE IRISH LANGUAGE.
It appears somewhat surprising that this should be the only college in the world where the language of the country in which it is established, should, for a very long period, have been totally neglected ; for this absurdity we are not to blame the Royal Foundress ; the capacious mind of Elizabeth "saw far beyond the present hour," and easily perceived the great benefit that must result in time to the nation, by thus at- taching the natives more closely to the pursuits of learning, in a country where there was so little in- ducement to follow it from motives of profit ; and one of the inducements the Queen held out to them, with the approbation of her most learned councilT was to establish a professorship of the Irish language in her new University, as we have already stated. This continued as a regular part of the college course until the tyrannical government of Lord Str afford, when a pragmatic churchman*, who was much more learned and intolerant, but less enlightened and sagacious than Queen Elizabeth, contrived to lay it aside, after the experience of forty- five years had proved its utility. Of the person who suppressed this lecture we have already given sufficient account ; but the professorship being once laid aside, and the great troubles that began in 1641, which followed closely upon it, having continued to devastate Ireland by a succession of rapine for twenty years, and as this state of anarchy had nearly extinguished the college altogether, there could not be any attention paid to the revival of an individual part of the system, even after the im- mediate evils of war had been removed ; and still fur- ther, before it could recover the proper tone which the study of arts and sciences require, it was once more brought to the brink of ruin, by the sanguinary con- flicts which took place between the armies of King William and King James ; and by the time it had emerged from these calamities, many parts of the system of education were very much curtailed, others * Provost Chappie.
190 PROFESSORSHIP OF THE IRISH LANGUAGE.
neglected, and the Irish lecture quite forgotten ; the heads of the college exerted themselves to bring the institution hack to its proper state, and after much perseverance they succeeded admirably, except with respect to the Irish professorship ; but as a knowledge of that language was not essential to obtain a degree, that great stimulus to its revival was wanting, though some spirited individuals from time to time exerted themselves for its restoration, but in vain.
The last and greatest effort made for this laudable object, was by the celebrated Right Honourable Henry Flood, M.P., and Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. This gentleman graduated here, and soon perceived an evident necessity for establishing a professorship of the Irish language; but as the fund originally de- signed for this purpose had long merged in the general stock, it became necessary to provide new means for its support : with this laudable intention Mr. Flood, by will, bearing date the 27th May, 1790, bequeathed estates in the county and city of Kilkenny for that purpose, as the following extracts from his last will and testament will shew : "I give and bequeath all said lands (the denomination recited), houses, here- ditaments, and estates, so settled upon me on my said marriage, to the University of Ireland, commonly called the Trinity College, Dublin, by whatsoever style, and under whatsoever title it is most properly and legally characterized and distinguished, to hold in fee and for ever, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; that is to say, I will and direct that on the Provost and Fel- lows of said college coming into possession of this my bequest, on the death of my said wife, they do in- stitute and maintain as a perpetual establishment a professorship of and for the native Irish or Erse language, and that they do appoint, if he shall be then living, Colonel Charles Valiancy to be the first professor thereof, with a salary of not less than three hundred pounds per annum, seeing that, by his eminent and successful labours in the study and re- covery of that language, he well deserves to be so first appointed. And I will and appoint that they do grant
PROFESSORSHIP OF THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 191
one annual and liberal premium for the best, and another premium for the next best composition in prose or verse in the said native Irish or Erse language, upon some point of ancient history, government, religion, literature, or situation of Ireland. Also other annual and liberal premiums, one for the best and another for the next best composition in Greek, or Latin prose or verse, on any general subject by them assigned ; and other annual and liberal premiums, one for the best, an- other for the next best composition in English prose or verse, in commemoration of some one of those great characters, either of ancient or modern nations, who have been eminently serviceable and honourable to their country, seeing that nothing stimulates to great deeds more strongly than great examples. And I will that the rents and profits of my said lands, houses, hereditaments, and estates shall be further applied by the said University to the purchase of all printed books and manuscripts in the said native Irish, or Erse language, wheresoever to be obtained ; and next to the purchase of all printed books and manuscripts of the dialects and languages that are akin to the said native Irish or Erse language ; and then to the pur- chase of all valuable books and editions of books in the learned and in the modern polished languages ; and in case of the said University not complying with this my will, I in such event declare the said bequest to the said University to be null and void ; or if, by any other cause, this bequest to the University shall not take effect, then it is my express will and desire, that after the decease of my said wife all the said lands, houses, hereditaments, and estates so settled on my marriage as aforesaid, shall go and stand be- queathed in manner following," &c. &c.
From the foregoing it is evident that the testator had a most sincere wish to forward the best interests of learning ; but at the demise of Lady Flood, which took place a few years after that of her husband, the University having taken possesion of the estates so bequeathed, were obliged to relinquish them after a
192 REGULATIONS.
severe litigation; previous to this lawsuit, however, a gentleman had been appointed to the professorship, according to Mr. Flood's will, and he was allowed to hold the office after the legal decision against the Fellows had taken away the funds for its support. This Professor was succeeded by another gentleman, who was allowed £100 per annum, and chambers in college; but this person having expressed himself a little too freely at a public meeting, on a political question, the Provost and Board showed their disapprobation of his conduct by dismissing him in 1814.
From that time there does not appear to have been any attempt made to revive the Irish lecture until the year 1840, when the Provost and Senior Fellows most handsomely restored it to its place in the system as a college professorship, and endowed it out of the Uni- versity funds ; and to encourage the study of the Irish language, the Board have placed the sum of £20 at the disposal of the Professor of Irish, to be given in premiums to such students as shall distinguish them- selves by proficiency in the Irish or Erse language.
The Professor delivers his lectures on the Irish language on Mondays and Thursdays during term.
In full accordance with the just and enlightened views of the Provost and Board of College, and of the favourite though defeated object of Mr. Flood's noble intentions, the governors of the Irish College of St. Colomba have come forward, and with the ap- probation of His Grace the Lord Primate, and the sanction of the Provost and Senior Fellows of this Uni- versity, founded five Irish scholarships in the college; these places are only intended for such students as in- tend to become candidates for Holy Orders in the church in Ireland, consequently they are open to all members of the national church. These scholarships are to continue for five years each, therefore, one scholar will be elected every year after the first five.
The regulations are as follow :
1. The value of each Scholarship shall be, the first year, £24, increasing year by year up to £48 ; the sti-
REGULATIONS. 193
pend to be paid each year in three equal portions, on the Spring and Summer Commencement days, and on the 20th day of November.
2. An examination of candidates for these Scholar- ships shall be held annually in the month of November, on a day to be fixed by the Professor of Irish.
3. The Scholarships shall be open to students of any standing in the University, and shall be tenable until their class has answered its final Divinity exa- mination.
4. The Scholars shall be required to reside in the College, during the University terms, and to pass every term Examination : also to attend the lectures of the Professor of Irish, and (when of sufficient standing) to keep the Divinity terms, and pass the Divinity exa- minations, including the examination for the Divinity Professor's premium.
5. They shall be required to pass an annual exa- mination, at the end of Trinity Term, in the Irish language ; the subjects of this examination to be fixed by the Governors of the College of St. Columba, in conjunction with the Professor of Irish.
6. On each day of payment, the scholars shall pro- duce to the Governors, from the proper officers of the University, sufficient testimoniums in evidence of their having observed the fourth rule ; and on the Summer Commencement day, they must bring also, from the Professor, a certificate of having passed satisfactorily the examination in Irish.
7- On the failure of any of these testimoniums, the payment then due shall be withheld ; and, in addition, on the failure of the Scholar to pass the Irish examin- ation, no increase of his stipend shall take place in the next year, and on a second failure his Scholarship shall become void.
8. In the election to the scholarships, preference shall be given cceteris paribus to students who shall be educated in the College of St. Columba.
The subjects of examination agreed upon by the Professor of Irish and the Governors of the College of St. Columba, are the following :
REGULATIONS.
ELECTION EXAMINATION.
1. Irish Grammar and translation.
2. The four Gospels in Irish.
3. The Church Catechism to be repeated by heart in Irish.
4. The place which the candidates may have ob- tained at the Entrance examination, and their judg- ments at such term examinations as they may have previously passed, will be taken into account in the election.
JUNIOR FRESHMEN.
1. Irish Grammar, Composition, and Translation.
2. The Pentateuch and Acts of the Apostles in Irish.
3. The three creeds, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, to be repeated by heart in Irish.
SENIOR FRESHMEN.
1. Irish Grammar, Composition, and Translation, as before.
2. The Historical Books of the Old Testament in Irish ; from Joshua to the Chronicles, inclusive.
3. The first twenty Psalms in Irish, to be repeated by heart.
JUNIOR SOPHISTERS.
1. Irish Grammar, Composition, and Translation, as before.
2. The Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah : the Epistle to the Romans : with the books of Scripture read for the two preceding examinations.
3. The Book of Common Prayer in Irish.
4. Psalms xxi-1. in Irish, to be repeated by heart.
SENIOR SOPHISTERS.
1. Irish Grammar, Composition, and Translation, as before.
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING. 195
2. The Old Testament, with the Four Gospels and Acts, the Epistles to the Romans, and Corinthians.
3. The Book of Common Prayer, as before.
4. Psalms li-lxxx. in Irish, to be repeated by heart.
JUNIOR BACHELORS.
1. The Old Testament, Gospels, and Acts, as be- fore, with the Epistles of St. Paul.
2. The Thirty-nine Articles in Irish.
3. At this examination students will be liable to be examined in any of the subjects prescribed at the former examinations.
Candidates will be expected to bring such testimo- niums as will satisfy the Governors and the Professor of Irish, that they are bond fide members of the United Church of England and Ireland.
ELECTED ON THIS FOUNDATION.
1842.
Foley, Daniel. Coffey, John Taylor.
1843.
Skelton, Thomas Watson. Maguire, Edward.
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING.
This is the latest, and one of the most useful of the many additions made to the college system within the last thirty years. The idea was not hastily taken up ; but has been, it appears, the subject of serious discus- sion for some years at the board previous to final adoption into the course. In fact, it appears to have been called for by the growing wants of society, which now require a much more extensive and accurate knowledge of practical science than was formerly thought necessary ; and the heads of the college have again in this instance shewn the most commendable zeal and intelligence, together with a fidelity to the cause of learning, which does them great honour.
o 2
196 SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING.
The first opening of this school was in the year 1842. It embraces a course of study that will extend over three University terms of each year, under cer- tain regulations, the chief of which are : That the school shall be conducted by five lecturers : one in Mathematics, being an assistant to the Mathematical Professor ; two in Mechanics, viz., the Professor of Natural Philosophy and his assistant ; a Professor of Chemistry and Geology applied to the Arts of Con- struction ; and a Professor of Practical Engineering. Each of the professors is to receive £150 per annum, together with the proceeds of the class he may lecture.
All students in Engineering must have their names on the college books. Any student in Arts, who has answered two examinations in the Junior Freshman year, (of which one must be the Michaelmas examina- tion,) or any student in Arts of higher standing, may become a student in Engineering, without being re- quired to attend the other lectures or examinations of the College course in Arts.
The student in Engineering may, however, continue his course in Arts while attending the lectures of the school ; or he may resume it at any period during his attendance, or after its termination, recommencing where that course had been left off.
The course of instruction in the school shall consist of two years' lectures, in addition to the course pre- scribed for the Junior Freshman class in Arts. The student shall, in the first year, attend the lectures in Mathematics, the principles of Mechanics, and Che^ mistry and Geology applied to the Arts of Construc- tion ; and in the second year, the lectures in the prin- ciples of Physics, in practical Mechanics, and in Engineering. The student shall also, during the second year, study the arts of Mechanical Drawing and Surveying.
Examinations shall be held at the end of each year ; and at the termination of the course, the student, if recommended by the professors, shall receive a diploma from the board.
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING. 197
No student shall rise to the second year, without attending not only the lectures, but also the examina- tion of the first year. But any student may at pleasure attend the lectures of both years at the same time, although only one such attendance can be reckoned for his diploma. In order to obtain credit for a term, the student must attend at least three-fourths of the whole number of lectures with each lecturer.
The student shall pay, in addition to the ordinary half-yearly payment for keeping his name on the books, the sum of £10 each year, £5 being the Professor's fee, and £5 the College fee.
The student who attends the lectures of both years at the same time, shall, for such extra attendance, pay the Professor's fee of £5, but not the College fee. The student who, from any cause whatever, shall not have passed the examination at the end of either year, but continues to attend a second time the lectures of that year, shall pay the whole expenses of that year as at first.
The Junior Bursar shall receive the payments for the School of Engineering, at the half-yearly payments commencing in October ; and on the first Saturday in December, he shall send to each professor a list of those who, having paid, are entitled to attend his class.
The following is the appointed course of study, ex- tending over the three university terms of each year : —
FIRST YEAR.
Mathematics. — Rev. Thomas Luby, D.D., Fellow of Trinity College, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, M.R.I.A.
Principles of Mechanics. — Andrew Searle Hart, LL.D., Fellow of Trinity College, Assistant Professor of Natural Philosophy, M.R.I.A.
Chemistry and Geology applied to the Arts of Con- struction. — James Apjohn, M.D., V.P.R.I.A.
198 THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
SECOND YEAR.
Principles of Physics, and the Steam Engine.
Practical Mechanics. — Andrew Searle Hart, LL.D.
Practical Engineering. — John Mac Neill, LL.D., Professor of Practical Engineering, F.R.S., M.R.I. A., and H. L. Renny, Esq., (late of the Royal Engineers,) Assistant Professor of Practical Engineering, M.R.I. A.
Drawing and Surveying. — H. L. Renny, Esq., M.R.I.A.
EXHIBITIONS FOUNDED BY THE ACADEMIC ASSOCIATION.
The Academic Association of Ireland, although not many years established, has determined to lend its aid to the fine movement now in progess to promote the best objects of superior education in Ireland. To this end they have, (in 1842,) founded six exhibitions of £15 each per annum, to continue for two years and a half. They are open to all schools to which no other exhibitions are attached, on payment by the master of £10 per annum, and the annual subscription of £l towards the general purposes of the association. To entitle them to become candidates for these exhibitions, the pupils must have been educated for at least three years immediately before entrance at some school in- cluded in this association ; provided also, that they shall have obtained at entrance, from first to third place inclusive, or shall have been examined for first place at either the October or November entrances.
The course for examination is the same as that for the Royal Scholarships. Exhibitioners on this founda- tion have been placed, by order of the board, on the same footing with those of the royal schools, both as to academic rank and costume.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Having briefly mentioned the commencement and the vicissitudes of this distinguished association, (p.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 199
we shall now notice its resuscitation in college after an exclusion of twenty-eight years, for it was in No- vember, 1815, that a large majority of the members de- termined on breaking up the society rather than sub- mit to some new regulation of the provost and board, such regulations being in their opinion harsh and un- called for. The minority, however, amongst whom was the late J. Sydney Taylor and other distinguished men of the society, thought otherwise, and were willing to submit to the additional restrictions ; but they were too few to carry on the affairs of the establishment with effect, and therefore it was broken up, the books and other property of the institution being taken into possession and sealed up by the college authorities.
In November, 1843, Dr. Franc Sadlier being pro- vost, and other favourable circumstances concurring, it was thought to be an auspicious moment to apply for the re-establishment of this society. A meeting suffi- ciently numerous and talented for this purpose having been assembled, a successful application was made, and on Friday the 15th of November, 1843, the re- novated Historical Society held its first sitting in their former apartments over the dining hall.
The provost took the chair on this memorable occa- sion, and thus conferred upon the society a high moral tone combined with academic dignity ; thus openly conferring upon the institution a character of college legitimacy and recognition, which, being spontaneously and gracefully bestowed by the directors of the uni- versity, will be the best guarantee for the future good government of this very interesting association of youthful, talented, and ardent minds who are natur- ally anxious to render practical the fine lessons they have been taught, and to try their incipient powers ere they attempt to enter the great arena of public life. This appears to us to be a most rational mode of occu- pying those intervals of time which even in this actively engaged university are inevitable.
Yet, in common with, we believe, every other human institution, this society's usefulness has been very much questioned by some of the fellows and other respect-
200 THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
able members of college ; some of whom, perhaps, were influenced by prejudice against the introduction of any new feature in the academic course, whilst others had a dread of the new revolutionary mania, then rife in Europe, getting in amongst them, and there- fore the existence of this society was tolerated merely, not encouraged. It did not, however, produce any of the unpleasant effects prognosticated by its antagonists; it neither interrupted the regular circulation of college course, nor indulged political agitations. Some in- dividuals, no doubt, were members of it, who after- wards were notoriously disaffected persons ; but it might as well be said that their being students under the college system had made them disloyal ; that, how- ever, would be too great an absurdity to utter. In fact, these men would have been political agitators under any free government the first moment they could find, or make an opportunity suited to their purposes. The best proof, however, that no impeachment of its loyalty as a body was ever thought of is, that its meet- ings were never interrupted by the college authorities, whose information with regard to the characters of the individual members was most accurate, and some of whom would have been glad to lay hold of any cogent reason for dissolving the society ; not, indeed, that they had any dread of its becoming a political arena to train up garrulous demagogues, but because they themselves worshipped the dry scholastic system, by a strict adherence to which they had risen to col- lege greatness ; and of course they looked down with coldness upon every attempt to introduce any of the graces of literature into the system which they con- sidered a model of perfection. Yet, able and highly intelligent as they must have been, to obtain high stations in this University, these distinguished scho- lars were much more intimately acquainted with the theories of the arts and sciences than with their prac- tical application and their real value in the affairs of the world : faithful and just in the performance of their duties as preceptors of successive generations of youth, whom they safely conducted to the boundaries
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 201
of active practical life, and bade them farewell. It was not until then that the active duties of their pro- fessional career commenced, and it was only then that they felt the want of power to address public bodies, whether as lecturers, advocates, or preachers ; and it is well known that many men endowed with superior and cultivated talents, have remained all their lives in comparative obscurity, merely through the want of being able to express their thoughts, and develope the cultivation of their minds, before even a small assembly of people ; with the further disadvantage, that when they did attempt to oppose or advocate a question, they were generally soon silenced by the ready volubility of persons quite inferior to themselves in all educa- tional concerns, except in being practised debaters.
To remedy this serious inconvenience, and at the same time to remove the stigma which it threw upon the College system of education, some of the more active minds amongst the students proposed to set up a debating club. This was soon accomplished, and after some experience, its advantages were modified into " The Historical Society," much as we see it at the present day. This " interpolation," as it has been denominated, was not, therefore, engrafted upon the College system rashly or without due consideration, but was the object of much thought and reflection amongst its originators. Necessity was its parent — it was sim- ply the effect of an adequate cause, which had long been forming, and which had at length reached its proper season of development ; and what further strengthens this view of the case is, that it was com- menced under the Provostship of Dr. Andrews, LL.D., and in the twelfth year of his government. Distin- guished for his learning and eloquence, both in the senate and at the bar, Dr. Andrews had himself, with all his talents and acquirements, experienced the dis- advantages above alluded to in his incipient profes- sional efforts in the courts of law ; no one, therefore, could be more competent than Dr. Andrews to judge whether such an institution was required or not ; and his opinion being decidedly favourable to its forma-
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
tion, an application was made to the Board by the managers, and permission was obtained for the Society's meetings to be held in the chamber over the dining- hall vestibule, under certain regulations, which shewed that it was only suffered, not encouraged to proceed. The usual sagacity of the Board was not conspicuous in this transaction, for had they, instead of treating it as an alien, and placing it in a state of surveillance, taken it under their parental supervision and mild form of discipline, they could always so influence its movements as to prevent the crude and exuberant notions of youthful inexperienced ambition, from se- riously disturbing the useful and legitimate course of operations which it was originally intended to pro- mote. Left, therefore, in a great degree to their own guidance, we will not say discretion, at the most cri- tical period of man's life, the transition period between the state of pupilage and manhood, it cannot be so great a matter of surprise that some irregularities should have happened amongst them, as that, under such circumstances, so much good should have been done by this society in unfolding the latent powers of ge- nius in so many students of the University, who after- wards contributed to the strength and ornament of the United Kingdom.
Having already given a brief outline of the vicissi- tudes to which it was subjected, we now come to a pleasing part of our duty, in the announcement of its restoration to its original site in the University. This event is thus announced in the " Dublin Statesman," of Nov. 17th, 1843.
" THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. — On Friday night this celebrated Society, so conspicuous in the annals of Irish eloquence, and which, after having existed nearly half a century, had been dissolved in 1815, was revived. The Provost was in the chair, and there were also present Dr. Mac Donnell (Sen. Fellow), the Rev. Dr. Luby, the Rev, W. D. Sadlier, A.M., the Rev. Charles Graves, A.M., the Rev. F. M'Neece, A.M., J. H. Jellett, A.M., the Venerable Archdeacon Ma- gee, &c. Judge Jackson, and the Master of the Rolls,
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 203
who had been distinguished members of the old society, intended to have been present, but were detained by public business ; the rooms were densely crowded with students and strangers, who took a lively interest in this act of justice.
" Mr. Foote, who had been one of the committee of seven of the old society, an auditor and trustee of the books, also attended. The opening address was read by Mr. W. C. Magee, an ex-scholar and grandson of the late Archbishop. It was exceedingly eloquent and luminous, and we are glad, therefore, to state to our readers that it will be printed at the expense of the Society.
" After the address was read, Mr. Foote came for- ward to explain some matters relative to the late Society, and produced several letters from the then Provost (Dr. Elrington, afterwards Bishop of Ferns), to prove that he had not, as was stated, been opposed to the existence of that Society, but that he had more than once kindly remonstrated with them upon the course they were pursuing in introducing political subjects of debate.
" Mr. Foote also read an address, written to them by the late well known J. Sydney Taylor, in 1818, after the Society had ceased to hold its sittings within the walls of the College, and had removed to Radley's Rooms.
" The revival of this Society, at such a crisis, sug- gests interesting reflections, had we time to indulge them, for this may be said to have been the cradle wherein the genius of such men as the Malones, W. Hussey, Burgh, Flood, Burke, Grattan, Sheridan, Bushe, Curran, Plunket, Croker, J. S.Taylor, Hamilton, North, Perrin, Crampton, Doherty, and many other eminent men first became manifest, and underwent that discipline which raised its possessors to the highest pitch of moral and professional reputation."
Thus it would appear that this society still occupies the favourable position in the public mind which it held in its former days of prosperity, and there cannot be any doubt, that as the delusive mists of revolution- ary politics have vanished, with their mock " vision of
204 THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
glory," this society will not again suffer its existence to be jeopardized by political discussions.
The following list of its officers will afford the best evidence of its character, and the estimation in which it is held in the University.
The Provost (Dr. Franc Sadlier) is President ; the Vice Presidents are, — the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls, the Hon. Justice Jackson, George E. Ha- milton, M.P., the Right Hon. Frederic Shaw, M.P.
The Committee of Management is composed of the Junior Dean, William Magee, A.B., (Auditor) ; Henry Jellett, A.B., Treasurer ; John C. Mac Donnell, A.B. (scholar), Secretary ; J. L. Robinson, scholar ; Wm. Battersby, scholar ; Benjamin Dickson, scholar ; Charles H. Hemphill, scholar ; Hedges E. Chatter- ton, scholar.
All the Fellows of College are members (ex-officio) ; these are twenty-nine in number ; the other members of the society are at this time (May, 1844) rather more than seventy already, although so recently established.
THE UNIVERSITY CHORAL SOCIETY.
This institution was founded in Nov. 1837» and has for its object the cultivation of choral music, which appears to be quite proper in an University which possesses the privilege and exercises the power of con- ferring the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor in this very interesting branch of the Liberal Arts.
This Society is regarded with much favour: its patron is His Grace the Lord Primate of Ireland (Lord John Beresford) ; the President is Dr. Sadlier (the Provost) ; the Vice- Presidents are the Right Hon. Frederic Shaw, M.P., and the Right Hon. the Master of the Rolls.
The Acting Committee consists of the Junior Dean, Henry Jellett, A.B., Treasurer ; John C. Mac Donnell, A.B. (scholar), Secretary ; Launcelot Stud- dart, A.B., Librarian j Rev. J. H. Todd, D.D., F.T.C.D. ; Pelham Mayne, A.B. ; H. E. Chatterton,
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 205
A.B., scholar; George Finlayson, A.B. The Con- ductor is Mr. Joseph Robinson.
According to the rules of this society, it consists of performing and non-performing members : the number of the latter must not exceed ninety, but they must all have entered the University. The mode of admission is by ballot. The admission fee is one guinea, the performing members pay one guinea per annum ; and the non-performing members, one pound ten shil- lings per annum. The Society meets every Friday evening, except Good Friday, during the season ; this commences on the first Friday in November, and terminates on the last Friday in June. The hour of meeting is eight o'clock, by town time, and the music terminates at half-past ten. Strangers can only be admitted to the ordinary practice meetings of the Society by an order signed by two members of the Society ; but on the concert nights, each member may introduce a limited number of strangers by tickets, which are to be procured at a certain regulated price from the Treasurer.
In these meetings, held in the College Hall, no business that can lead to debate is permitted, the performance of the music selected being their sole ob- ject. Visitors whose names are on the College books cannot be admitted, unless they appear in their aca- demic habits.
The Society is pledged to dissolve whenever it may be required to do so by the College Board.
Thus it will be easily perceived, that there is a very extensive course of education now in active operation in this University — one which embraces all the solid, useful, and ornamental branches of intellectual instruc- tion comprised within the wide circle of the arts and sciences, with only one exception, and that branch is rightly considered to be amongst the most graceful in character, and interesting to mankind, of any in the fascinating sisterhood to which it is related, we of course mean " the Fine Arts," which under this col- lective appellation include painting properly so called, sculpture, and architecture. Should these arts, which embellish society, be admitted into the course of this
206 THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
University in a somewhat similar mode to that adopted for instruction in modern languages, it would complete the circle of knowledge taught here, and bring the system as near perfection as perhaps any human system of education can be, and would confer upon it a grace and finish that would raise the character of this seat of learning still higher in public estimation.
These arts belong properly to times of affluence ; they give to riches a wholesome direction, by affording encouragement to works of art ; such works render the union of the pleasures of the sense and in- tellect complete ; they define the sentiments of grace and elegance, wherever their influence is known and acknowledged ; they divert the mind from sensual pursuits by the exquisite powers of persuasion, at a time when the austere rebuke of wisdom might only hasten to the precipice ; and they lead it by flowery paths to innocent instruction and refined recreation.
Wherever the arts are cultivated with success, they almost imperceptibly educate the general taste, make politeness of mind keep pace with refinement of manners, and extend the sphere of that good taste, which is directly opposed to all incorrectness in lan- guage or conduct.
On this interesting subject the author begs leave to quote an extract from the writings of one who was himself no indifferent example of the effects of high and extensive education in the arts and sciences, and whose taste and judgment in the fine arts were of no ordinary description*. In describing the influence of the fine arts on society, he observes, " But in the classic ground of taste, how admirably is wealth em- ployed for rational improvement. What a new and beautiful creation does it raise ! the memory of which cannot perish with the vicissitudes of states ; the ruins of which cannot be buried in the dust that buries power, and wealth, and military glory. Where, now, is the gorgeous dominion of Xerxes, glittering with the gold and jewels of a hundred tributary nations ? Scattered on the plains of Marathon, buried in the
a The late John Sydney Taylor, A.M., Barrister at Law, who had been a distinguished scholar in this University.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 207
waves of the Hellespont, forgotten and unregretted. But where the arts and eloquent fame of Greece? Surviving in her statues, exciting admiration even in her ruined palaces and temples ; and where the barba- rian or time has triumphed, history has saved them from oblivion, and consecrated them to an affectionate and perpetual remembrance. Thus Persia had luxury without the arts, and with her empire perished all her greatness. But the arts of Greece made her luxury open a new field to genius ; and though her power has died, her empire over opinion is immortal."
What effect opinions so expressed, and coming from such a quarter, may have in this college, we cannot pretend to say ; we believe it will be a favourable one, because these sentiments are concurrent with those of the great body of the educated classes in the United Kingdom, — and we do know that those principles, often reiterated by the same competent hand, have produced in highly influential quarters the most de- sirable results to the fine arts in England ; and it does appear to many of the most enlightened per- sons in that country, that a Professorship of the Fine Arts in the University of Ireland would render it complete for all the purposes of superior education, whilst it would improve the character of the system by adding a certain degree of gracefulness to its sterner and more scholastic exercises. The expense of a Pro- fessorship of the Fine Arts could hardly be made a valid objection, because, although it would require a much more extensive range of information than the Profes- sorships of Modern Languages, yet the yearly stipend need not be much greater, because the classes of stu- dents would, it is reasonable to suppose, make the si- tuation sufficiently remunerative at a small outlay to themselves.
These observations are submitted with great humi- lity to the college authorities, who, it must be al- lowed, are the proper parties to judge of the propriety of originating an important measure of this kind ; yet it also is the duty of persons, theoretically and practi-
208 THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
cally conversant with certain arts and sciences, to offer, respectfully, to the Provost and Board, for their investigation, suggestions arising from long and actual experience, as to* the propriety of admitting those arts or sciences wholly or in part within the circle of col- lege education. But then it is not as matters merely ornamental, that the cultivation of the fine arts would be recommended to the favourable attention of the Provost and Board. The rapid expansion of the human mind within the last thirty years, has placed the arts upon a higher, because a more just elevation, in the estimation of the civilized world, especially within the British empire, than they had experienced since the celebrated cinque cento ; and this renovated affection has, in the British isles, at least, arisen from the simple fact of those arts having, without any spe- cial encouragement from the state, produced works which have satisfied the public mind that they were the creation of cultivated intellectual power, and can only be produced by the soundest condition of the mental energies.
On the general influence of these arts, the author begs leave to offer another extract from the writings of the author just quoted :
" Where the arts are well understood, fashion can- not be so monstrous or fantastic, as where they exert no salutary dominion over the fond love of variety. The source of excellence in art, being a judicious ob- servation of nature, and a right perception of her principles of symmetry and beauty, a closer adherence to nature will mark the fashions of society polished by their ascendancy, than can distinguish the habits of people without the sphere of their influence. Hence the barbaric nations, where there is much wealth, never expend it in such a way as proves that they have any notion of the pleasures of refinement. They delight in a hoarding and cumbrous magnificence ; they are solicitous to dazzle with profusion rather than please by propriety ; they endeavour to attract admir- ation through the vulgar passion of astonishment,
NEW REGULATIONS OF COMMONS. 209
which is in a moment excited, and as suddenly ex- pires, rather than create a rational respect, by con- sulting for the praise of enlightened opinion."
SECTION III.
NEW REGULATIONS OF COMMONS.
The old regulations respecting the commons of re- sident students not being quite suitable to the recent extension of the academic arrangement, it was decreed by the Board of College, in October 1886 :—
" 1. That all Fellow Commoners and Pensioners under the standing of A.M., and holding chambers in the college, be uniformly charged, in addition to the chamber-rent now paid to the registrar of chambers, a certain specified sum per week for certain portions of the year ; and that the sums thus accruing be con- sidered as contributions to a commons' fund.
" 2. That these charges be, for each Fellow- Com- moner, seven shillings and sixpence per week, and for each pensioner five shillings ; said charges to be levied for all the solid weeks intervening between the day of confirming the judgments of the examinations and the last day in each term ; or for so many of these weeks in any term as the student holds chambers without actually giving up the keys of the same to the person entitled to receive them.
" 3. That these charges be made by the clerk of the buttery books from the quarterly chamber-rent list, furnished by the registrar of chambers, against all persons liable to the same ; and be introduced in the half-yearly accounts payable to the Junior Bursar among the incidentals of the past half-year, under the name of commons9 fund. All persons, however, to whom chambers may be granted within any of the periods above specified, are not to be considered liable to these charges until the ensuing term.
" 4. That the weekly sums thus charged be allowed in the regular commons' charge to each student, and
210
COLLEGE CHARGES.
the remainder, or variable part of the commons' charge, be payable to the clerk of the buttery books.
"5. In all cases, and for all times not included amongst those above specified, the former commons' regulations are to continue in force [viz. that all stu- dents holding chambers in the college, and below the degree or standing of A.M., shall be subject to a fine of five shillings per half week, if their names be not on the commons' list]."
COLLEGE CHARGES.
The college payments are made half-yearly; the Junior Bursar attends in sufficient time to enable all students to pay their half-yearly accounts before the first Saturday in May, and the first Saturday in No- vember, on which days the fines for tardy payment commence ; and the names of all persons whose ac- counts are not paid before the first Saturday in June, and the first Saturday in December respectively, are taken off the college books, and not restored until the succeeding term examinations have elapsed, and all fines and fees have been paid.
The following is a table of the half-yearly charges, including tuition, but exclusive of rooms and commons.
|
Nobleman .... Fellow Commoner . Pensioner .... Sizar |
Entrance, including the first Half-year a. |
Half-year. |
|
£60 0 0 30 0 0 15 0 0 513 |
£30 0 0 15 0 0 7 10 0 000 |
a In addition to these charges the recent Stamp Act, 5 & 6 Viet. c. 82, imposes a duty of £l upon the admission or matriculation of any person in the University. The Act continues in force for three years.
UNIVERSITY PATRONAGE.
UNIVERSITY PATRONAGE.
The patronage of this corporation is strictly con- fined to church livings ; several of which were, by let- ters patent, bestowed upon the college by King James I., in the year 1610; and the right of pre- sentation was vested in the Provost and Senior Fellows. To these, (eighteen in number,) three others have been added, the advowsons having been purchased by the university ; and by the Act of William IV., ten additional livings have been granted to the college ; these ten have been selected by the Archbishops of Ardmagh and Dublin, under the authority of the above Act of Parliament. Therefore, the Provost and Board have now the patronage of thirty-one livings ; the annual income of each ranges from £^00 to £1600, and they are intended to be bestowed on such of the Fellows as wish to retire from the college duties, which are very onerous, and require the constant exercise of considerable mental and physical energies; yet with all their high accomplishments, and great assiduity in bringing forward their classes of pupils, few we believe ever have realized an income of more than £1000 per annum, which, indeed, is a high ave- rage of a Junior Fellow's professional income.
It is therefore a subject of much gratification to all who love learning, and esteem its promotion, to find that whenever the Junior Fellows of this University feel that the toils of a college life have become too irksome, or preferring the more tranquil, but most important office of a Christian pastor, they can make their selection generally within a year or two after they have made their minds up on the subject.
These livings are not always accepted by Junior Fellows, as the list will show, those only which are marked thus [t] being filled by Fellows ; and those marked thus [*] are those selected by the Archbishops, as already mentioned.
UNIVERSITY PATRONAGE.
BENEFICES.
Arboe a. Ardtrea, Clogherney b, Clonfeacle c, Clonoe, Dysertcrete d,
Aughalurcher e,
Clenish,
Derryvullen,
*Carrickmacross,
Enniskillen,
*Ballymacward ) and Clonkeen, J
*Ballymoney,
Ardstraw,
Cappagh,
Drumragh,
Killileagh «, *Clonallon, *St. John's, Sligo,
INCUMBENTS.
Diocese of Ardmagh.
[Vacant.]
tJames Kennedy, Bailie, D.D.
tJames Lowery,
tHenry Griffin, A.M.
tJohn Buck, D.D.
tJohn Buck, D.D.
Diocese of Clogher.
tGeorge Sidney Smith, A.M.f
John Sweeny, A.M.
tGeorge Miller, D.D.
t Thomas Romney Robinson, D.D.
Hon. John Charles Maude, A.M.
Diocese ofClonfert. Joseph John Seymour.
Diocese of Cork. R. Meade.
Diocese of Derry.
tRichard Herbert Nash, D.D. tHenry H. Harte, A.M. [Vacant.]
Diocese of Down. tEdward Hincks, D.D.
Diocese ofDromore. Edward Richards, A.M.
Diocese ofElphin. Charles Hamilton.
ADMITTED.
1830. 1794. 1831. 1835C.
1787.
1838. 1813. 1804. 1824. 1825.
1834.
1798.
1819. 1831.
1826.
1836.
1820.
a Alias Ballileagh. b Advowson purchased, 1827.
c Originally presented 1791 ; right of presentation recovered, 1825. d Alias Tullyoge. e Alias Lisnaskea.
f Professor of Biblical Greek. & Advowson purchased.
LIST OF DONATIONS.
213
BENEFICES.
*Lea, *Skreen,. Killesandra a, *Klimanagh,
Clondehorky,
Clondevaddock,
Conwall,
*Drumholm,
Killmacrenan,
Rathmochy c,
Tullyaghnish d,
*Drumcannon,
INCUMBENTS.
Diocese of Kildare. J. Powel, A.M.
Diocese of Killala. George Truelock, A.M.
Diocese of Kilmore. tJolm Charles Martin, D.D.
Diocese of Os&ory. Hans Caulfield, A.M.
Diocese of Raphoe.
Wm. Archer Butler, A.M. b tHenry Maturin, A.M. t Henry Kingsmill, D.D. Maurice George Fenwick, A.M. Anthony Hastings, A.M. tJohn Blair Chapman, A.M. tWilliam Atkins, A.M.
Diocese of Waterford. J. Cooke, A.M.
ADMITTED.
1834.
1834.
1829.
1801,
1837. 1797. 1836. 1828. 1812. 1835. 1836.
1798.
The following list of donations to Trinity College, Dublin, is read publicly in the college hall on Trinity Monday in each year : — Archbishop Loftus and Dr. Chaloner having pro- cured an ample site of ground from the Corporation of Dublin, and the charter of incorporation from Queen Elizabeth to found this university, as already stated, the same parties set to work actively to raise funds for the erection of a suitable edifice for this im- portant object. A collection was therefore set on foot throughout Ireland, and the sum collected we now find amounted to more than two thousand pounds. This was subscribed within a short period ; and it should be observed that money was then at least eight times
a Advowson purchased, 1764. b Professor of Moral Philosophy. c Alias Rahy or Raigh. d Alias Rothmelton.
214 LIST OF DONATIONS.
as valuable as it is now ; consequently that subscription may fairly be considered a liberal one, when we take into account the depressed state of every thing in that country arising out of the wars, and consequent state of rapine to which it had for many ages been exposed ; and it also proves that the love of learning and respect for learned institutions, so remarkable at all times in the character of the Irish people, had survived, in de- fiance of the havoc that a series of long and desolat- ing wars had spread throughout that ill-fated country. In consequence of the sums thus gratuitously sup- plied, the edifice was commenced in March, 1591, and it was got ready for the reception of pupils in less than two years, (1593,) and, as it would appear, without having received any assistance from the public treasury. Shortly afterwards, however, the government began to advance the sums necessary to support the new college, as our readers have perceived in chap. i. sec. i. But the first notice of the crown grants to be found in the records is, that, " In the thirty-ninth year of Queen Elizabeth, certain lands in the counties of Kerry, Tip- perary, and Limerick, together with an annuity of £388, were granted to the college. To this King James I. added other estates in the counties of Ardmagh, Fermanagh, and Donegal. King Charles II. granted anew to the college the lands in the counties of Kerry, Tipperary, Cork, and Limerick, formerly granted by Queen Elizabeth, but which had been forfeited by the treason of the tenants (to whom they had been let in fee farm) at the great rebellion. In 1601 a collection was made, amounting to upwards of £700, for the pur- pose of purchasing books for the library ; and in 1 637, there was another collection made, amounting, together with some legacies, to upwards of £1000 ; of this sum Lord Wentworth, then Lord-Lieutenant, contributed £100 for enlarging the college. In 1609, Briggs, the Mathematical Professor of Gresham College, gave £100 to found an exhibition ; and in 1640, a like sum for a similar purpose was given by Mr. Yelverton. In 1651, Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath, gave £400 towards fitting up the library.
LIST OF DONATIONS. 215
Dr. Fitzgerald, Dean of Cork, and the Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald, Archdeacon of Emly, erected a range of buildings at their own expense.
In 1661, by order of the general convocation as- sembled in Dublin, the books belonging to Primate James Usher, formerly a fellow of this college, were given to its library ; and in 1 670, Sir Jerome Alexander left £24 per annum, with all his books and MSS., together with legacies to the amount of £600, for sun- dry college purposes ; by Bishop Worth, £20 per annum ; and by Mr. Wm. Crow, £30, both for exhibi- tions. In 1668, Dr. Travers bequeathed a consider- able estate in the county of Tipperary ; and the Earl of Donegal gave £30 per annum to found a Lecture- ship in Mathematics. In 1697, Bishop Richardson, who had been a fellow of this college, left to it a con- siderable estate in the county of Longford. In 1671, the Countess of Bath, whose husband had been a fellow here, bestowed £200 on the library. There was be- stowed by Erasmus Smith, and by the Board of Go- vernors of the Charities founded by him, an annual sum of £1110 to found three fellowships, and to support the professorships of Natural Philosophy, History, Oratory, and Hebrew, and their assistants, and for exhibitions ; and by the same board, at various times, for buildings, £4166, together with the sum of £9000, for the purchase of the Fagel library.
From 1679 to 1768, sundry benefactions, amounting to £8900, were given to the college by various public spirited individuals, whose names are recorded in the college books. In 1691, King William granted for the use of the library all books seized from persons who had forfeited their goods from treason. By Dr. George Brown, £1200 was given to be laid out on buildings. Dr. Griffith, formerly a fellow of this college, gave £105 to found an exhibition. By the Earl of Pem- broke £500 was given to buy books for the library ; and Mrs. M. Parsons gave £100 to found an exhibi- tion. Mr. Hamilton also gave for the same purpose £200 ; and by Mrs. Echlin the lands of Killany and Ross Maghon, in the county of Louth.
216 LIST OF DONATIONS.
Archbishop King, formerly a sizar in this college, gave £1000 to found a Divinity Lecture. Mr. Span be- queathed £12 per annum for exhibitions. Archbishop Palliser left £1000 to be laid out in buildings, together with all his books of which they had not duplicates ; and also £200 to purchase books. For the same pur- pose, Bishop Foster left £.500, Bishop Pratt, formerly provost, £600, and Bishop Stearne, £1200, for the same object ; and also the latter to assist in buying type for the printing establishment, together with £ 100 per annum for exhibitions. Dr. Elwood, sometime vice -provost, left £1000 to the college. Dr. Gilbert, also a vice-provost, bequeathed all his books, MSS., medals, coins, and mathematical instruments to the college: the whole was valued at £12,000, together with a sum of £2450 to buy books for .the lending library. The Rev. John Worral bequeathed £120 a year to be given in exhibitions".
Provost Baldwin devised the whole of his estates, valued at £1686 per annum, to the college, together with £36,000, being the principal part of his personal property. King George III. ordered £200 to be granted towards the support of two Professors of Mo- dern Languages.
Primate Robinson bestowed a valuable apparatus for making philosophical experiments. By Primate Newcomb, during the time he held the See of Ardmagh, £100 per annum, for premiums to students in Hebrew. Primate Stewart also continued this annuity during his lifetime. This is still continued by Primate Lord John Beresford. By the late Dr. Madden, £2500 was bequeathed ; the interest of which is to be given to the best answerers among the disappointed candidates for fellowship. By the Rev. Dr. Downes, £50 per annum to be given to students in Divinity. By Bishop Law (of Elphin) £35 per annum, to be given to students in Mathematics.
By the late Mrs. Donnelan £1250 was bequeathed, the interest of which has been applied to found a lec-
a A preference given to the sons of freemen of Dublin.
LIST OF DONATIONS. 217
ture in Divinity. By Provost Andrews, to build an Observatory, £3500 ; and £250 per annum to endow a Professorship of Astronomy.
By the sanction of their Majesties, King William III., Queen Anne, Kings George L, II., and III., various sums were voted by parliament for buildings in college ; the whole sum amounting to £75,000. And still later, a sum of £20,000 was lent (interest free) by govern- ment for the same purpose.
The above is an exact copy of the list annually read in the hall on Trinity Sunday. We have also added other benefactors' names and gifts, which were discovered in various works in the college library.
A.D. 1 670, Sir Jerome Alexander, second Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, by will, bestowed his library of law books and others on the college, with £500 for fitting up a place for this library. Sir Jerome also bequeathed £500 to be laid out in addi- tional buildings, to be called "Alexander Buildings." He also gave £24 per annum, real estate, as follows :— £7 per annum to the library-keeper, £l yearly for a sermon on Christmas-day, to be preached in the college chapel, in memory of God's mercy in the Atonement, and the remainder to be disposed of monthly to such poor persons as the provost and senior fellows may think fit. The residue of his estates Sir Jerome left to his daughter, Elizabeth Alexander, on condition that she did not marry an Irishman, or any one connected with that interest ; but if she did so marry, or died without issue, then the whole estate should become the property of this college.
In 1591, John Garvey, Archbishop of Ardmagh, gave in concordatum, £75 towards building the col- lege. In 1678, James Marge tson, who was appointed vice-chancellor on the demise of Bishop Taylor, pre- sented £50 to be laid out on building in college. Dr. Michael Boyle gave £200 towards building a new gate- house to the college ; and also joined with Thomas, Bishop of Ossory, and Dr. Jeremy Hall, in a contri- bution of £100 for buying books for the library.
Many other benefactions have since accrued to this
218 UNIVERSITY OFFICERS AND
university ; but as they will be found in various parts of the work, it would be redundant to notice them in this enumeration.
CHAPTER VI.
SECTION I. UNIVERSITY OFFICERS AND THE RANKS IN COLLEGE,
THE highest dignity connected with this college is that of Chancellor. This dignitary is elected by the provost and senior fellows ; — the office is tenable for life. The officers must be sworn into office in presence of two senior fellows (deputed for that purpose) before the Lord Chancellor, or Lord- Keeper of the Great Seal of England, or before the Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
The first person appointed to this high office was Sir William Cecil, Baron Burghleigh, Lord High Chancellor of England. This statesman was nomi- nated in the original Charter of Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1592.
The other Chancellors since then were as follow : —
1597* Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
1601. Sir Robert Cecil, Secretary of State, after- wards Earl of Salisbury.
1612. George Abbot, D.D., Archbishop of Canter- bury.
1633. William Laud, D.D., Archbishop of Canter- bury.
1645. James, Earl, Marquis, and finally, Duke of Ormond.
1653. Henry Cromwell, Commander-in-Chief of the Parliament Army.
1660. James, Marquis, afterwards Duke of Ormond restored.
1688. James, Duke of Ormond, grandson to the former (outlawed in 1715).
1715. His Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales, afterwards George II.
VICE-CHANCELLORS. 219
1728. His Royal Highness Frederick, Prince of Wales.
1751. His Royal Highness William, Duke of Cum- berland.
1765. His Grace John, Duke of Bedford.
1771. His Royal Highness William Henry, Duke of Gloucester.
1805. His Royal Highness Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, LL.D., and King of Hanover, who still holds this Chancellorship.
VICE-CHANCELLORS.
The next office in dignity is the Vice-Chancellor, who is nominated by the Chancellor : — the office is tenable for life. The Vice- Chancellor is sworn into office, either before the Chancellor of the University, or the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In cases of illness or unavoidable absence, this dignitary has the privilege of appointing a pro vice-chancellor to act for him. In the charter of Elizabeth, the right of electing to this office was vested in the Provost and Fellows, but by the charter of Charles I., this power was transferred to the Chancellor of the University.
List of Vice-Chancellors since the foundation : —
1609. Henry Alvey, " late provost," is the first mentioned.
1612. Luke Challoner, D.D.
1614. Charles Dun, or Doyne, LL.D.
1614. James Usher, D.D., Professor of Divinity, afterwards Primate.
1646. Henry Jones, D.D., Bishop of Clogher, after- wards of Meath.
1660. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., Bishop of Down and Connor.
1667. James Margetson, D.D., Lord Primate of all Ireland.
1 678. Michael Ward, D.D., Bishop of Ossory, after- wards of Derry.
1682. Anthony Dopping, D.D., Bishop of Meath.
220 BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT.
1697. Edward Smith, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin.
1698. Richard Tenison, D.D., Bishop of Meath. 1702. St. George Ashe, D.D., Bishop of Clogher,
afterwards of Derry.
1713. John Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam.
1714. Thomas Smith, D.D., Bishop of Limerick. 1721. John Stearne, Bishop of Clogher.
1743. John Hoadley, D.D., Lord Primate of all Ire- land.
1747. Arthur Price, D.D., Archbishop of Cashel.
1752. George Stone, D.D., Lord Primate of all Ireland.
1765. Richard Robinson, D.D., Lord Primate of all Ireland.
1791. Rt. Hon. John, Lord Fitzgibbon, Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland.
1802. Rt. Hon. Arthur, Viscount Kil warden, Chief Justice, King's Bench.
1804. Rt. Hon. Lord Redesdale, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
1806. Rt. Hon. Wm.Downes, LL.D., Chief Justice, King's Bench.
1826. Thomas, Lord Manners, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
1829. Lord John George Beresford, D.D., the present Lord Primate of all Ireland.
BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT.
A list of the Burgesses returned to serve in Parlia- ment for the College, from 1613 (the llth of James I.), when the elective franchise was first granted to that borough, to the present time : — 1613 "| William Temple, LL.D., Provost, after wards
to > created a Baronet.
1615. J Charles Doyne, Donne, or Dunn, LL.D. 1fi28 fWttlram. Bedell, D.D., Provost, who feeling some scruple as to the propriety of his ~° ' holding both offices, resigned his seat, t James Donnelan Esq., Fellow of the College.
BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT. 221
( William Gerrald, or Fitzgerald, was elected '' \ in place of Bedell.
f Sir James Ware Knight, andJamesDonnelan, 1635. < Esq., a Barrister, were both returned on [ the recommendation of Lord Strafford.
1f39\Sir James Ware, Knight, and William
1641.J Gilbert
From 1641 to 1646, we have not been able to trace any return of burgesses ; the following year, however, we find that —
„ rSir James Ware and Sir Wm. Gilbert were 1 " J elected, but in the next year the right I of electing burgesses was taken from the !r I College.
From the latter date to 1661 there is another hiatus in the course of the representation, owing to the revo- lutionary Parliament having deprived the College of the elective franchise at the same time that they suppressed the two Houses of Parliament in Ireland ; but in the latter year we find —
1 fifil I ^ir James Ware again returned, with a new
" ( colleague, Lord Ossory.
1662 f Lord John Butler was elected, vice the latter, to <| who was in August this year called to the 1666. t House of Lords.
From this time until 1688 there does not appear on record any return of College Burgesses to Par- liament. On the 27th of April, 1689, writs were issued by order of King James II. to the Sheriffs of the various constituencies, to elect burgesses and to form a Parliament in Dublin on the 7th of May ; and on this occasion the College returned Sir John Meade, Bart., and Joseph Coghlan, Esq., a Barrister; the latter acted with great firmness and discretion during the time that this Parliament continued, and he did great services, not only to his constituents, but to all the respectable classes of society, as we have already shewn.
In 1692 Sir Cyril Wych and Wm. Molyneux, Esq., LL.D., were returned members to the Parlia-
222 BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT.
ment assembled in Dublin by order of King Wil- liam III.
In 1695, Richard (or Henry) Aldworth, LL.D., Secretary of State*, and William Molyneux, LL.D., were elected ; and in 1698, Wm. Crowe was elected in the room of Molyneux, deceased, in October the same year.
In August, 1703, the Right Hon. Edward Southwell and Sir William Robinson were returned representa- tives.
In 1713, we find that Sir Marmaduke Coghill, J.U.D., and John Elwood, J.U.D. and F.S.C., were returned.
In October, 1715, (2nd of George I.,) Sir M. Cog- hill was again returned along with Sam. Dopping, Esq., LL.D.; and in September, 1721, it appears that the Right Hon. Edward Hopkins was elected in the room of S. Dopping, deceased.
In 1727, the Right Hon. Marmaduke Coghill and the Right Hon. Samuel Molyneux were returned. In 1728, John Elwood, Esq., in the room of Sam. Molyneux, deceased.
In 1793, Alexander Mac Auley, Esq., was elected in the room of Coghill, deceased ; but Philip Tisdall, Esq., petitioned against the return, and was admitted in the room of Mac Auley, who was found " unduly elected."
In 1741, Archbold Atcheson and Philip Tisdall, Esq. ; the latter was returned in place of Elwood, deceased.
In 1748, Sir Archbold Atcheson and Philip Tisdall, Esq.
In 1761, Philip Tisdall, Esq., and William Clement, M.D. and S.F.T.C.
In 1763, the Right Hon. Philip Tisdall and Dr. Clement.
a In the College books he is named " Henry Aldworth," but in the Journals of the House of Commons, he is styled " Richard Aid- worth :" in the same volume, dated October 15, 1695, is the following remarkable passage : " Articles of high crimes and misdemeanours against Richard Aldworth, Esq., a member of this House."
BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT. 223
In 1769, the Right Hon. Philip Tisdall and Sir Capel Molyneux, Bart.
In 1776, the Right Hon. Richard Hely Hutchinsona, and the Right Hon. Walter Hussey Burgh.
In 1778, John Fitzgibbon, Esq., in the room of Hutchinson, declared " unduly elected." On the 27th of July 1782, Laurence Parsons b was elected in room of Burgh, appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer ; and in August, 1783, we find in the Commons' Jour- nals that Laurence Parsons and Arthur Browne, Esqs., were elected.
On April 16th, 1790, (30th Geo. III.,) Arthur Browne, Esq., LL.D., F.T.C., and the Hon. Francis Hely Hutchinson were returned; and in February, 1795, Arthur Browne, having been appointed King's Counsel, vacated his seat, but was re-elected.
On the 24th of July, 1797, Arthur Browne, Esq., LL.D., and the Hon. George Knox, LL.D., were re- turned to serve in the last national Parliament as- sembled in Ireland, and both these representatives of the University surrendered the trust reposed in them, and, unmindful of the solemn obligations which they had taken to uphold the independence of the Parliament of Ireland, thus aided in passing the act of political union, and did not even preserve the College privilege in this affair, by which it was deprived of one of its representatives.
In 1800, the Hon. George Knox, who had so acted towards his constituents, was rewarded by being ap- pointed by the Act of Union, as sole representative of this College in the Imperial Parliament ; but his con- duct had made him so unpopular, that, though a person of some rank and fortune, he was looked down upon, and scarcely tolerated amongst the respectable classes in Ireland. His late colleague, Arthur Browne, LL.D., had been very popular in the College ; his manners were mild and gentlemanly, and in private life he was kind and honourable ; but, in an hour of weakness,
a Afterwards Earl of Donoughmore. b Afterwards Earl of Rosse.
224 BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT.
he was prevailed on to sell that, which was strictly the property of others, but delegated in confidence to his guardianship, and for so voting he was made a Privy Counsellor and Attorney- General; but his heart was not seared to evil deeds. In the sullen calm that succeeded the late political turmoil, Dr. Browne had time for reflection. He found himself shunned by many, and looked down upon by others with whom he had long been in the habits of friendship. This was too much for his sensitive mind ; he fell into a lin- gering disorder, and died in about three years after voting for the union, leaving his widow and children in circumstances far from affluent.
We have seen that the College was both unjustly and unwisely deprived of one of its representatives by " the Act of Union," and in that state it remained until the passing of the Reform Act in 1830, when the franchise of the College was enlarged, and much improved by the Masters of Arts being allowed the privilege of voting for their representatives in Par- liament, as at Oxford and Cambridge, and also by the restoration of the second Burgess, of which the College had been deprived.
The order of elections and the members returned by the College from that time to the present, are as follows, viz. :
In 1800, the Hon. George Knox, appointed sole Burgess of the College by the Act of Union. He was succeeded in 1807 by John Leslie Foster, LL.D.
In 1812, the Right Hon. Wm. Conyngham Plun- ket was returned, and also in 1818, after a very close contest with the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker, LL.D. and F.R.S.
In 1820 and 1826, Mr. Plunket was again re- turned, and in 1827, the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker was elected ; in 1831, Thomas Lefroy, LL.D.; in 1833, Thomas Lefroy, LL.D., and Frederic Shaw, A.M.
The latter gentlemen have also been returned by the College at the general elections held in 1837 and 1841.
BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT. 225
In 1813, George Alexander Hamilton was&Lgcted in the room of Mr. Lefroy, who had been appointed a Baron of the Exchequer.
The Irish Reform Bill enacts, that in addition to the Provost, Fellows and Scholars, who have hitherto been the persons qualified to vote at the election of burgesses for the University, " every person, being of the age of twenty-one years, who has obtained, or shall hereafter obtain, the degree of Master of Arts, or any higher degree, or a Scholarship or Fellowship in the said University, and whose name shall be upon the books of the said University, shall be entitled to vote at any election of a member or members to serve in any future parliament for the said University, so long as the name of such person shall be kept, and continue to be kept, on the books of the said University as a member thereof, subject, however, and according to the rules and statutes of the said University ; provided always, that no person shall be entitled to vote at any elec- tion of a member or members to serve in any future parliament for the said University by reason of any degree of a purely honorary nature."
The right of voting at the election of members to serve in parliament for the University of Dublin, is now regulated by the recent act of 5 & 6 Viet. c. 74, which provides,
" That all persons with whom the college shall have compounded for a gross sum of £5 for their respective lives, under the provisions of the late act, shall be en- titled to have their names continued on the books of the University for their respective lives, and to vote at any election, without any further payment.
" Every elector whose name shall at the passing of this act (30th July, 1 842) be upon the books of the University, and who shall not have compounded, and who shall be desirous of the right to vote, shall, on or before 1st day of December, 1842, pay to the college the sum of £5, together with all arrears due in respect of the previous annual payment of £l ; or, at his option, such sum as together with the sums already paid by him in respect of such annual payment shall amount to
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226 BURGESSES RETURNED TO PARLIAMENT.
£10 in the whole. And in default of such payment, and without any demand thereof, the name of such person shall be removed from the books of the Uni- versity, and shall not be replaced thereon, unless it shall first have been replaced upon the college books conformably to the rules and statutes of the college : provided, that if any person whose name shall have been so removed from the books of the University shall not have been within the United Kingdom from the time of the passing of this act until after the 1st of December, 1842, such person shall, upon making the above specified payment within six months after his re- turn to the United Kingdom, have his name replaced upon the books of the University : provided also, that no person whose name shall have been removed on ac- count of the default of payment, and afterwards re- placed, shall be entitled to vote at any election until after the lapse of six calendar months from the time his name shall have been so replaced.
" Every person whose name shall be upon the College books, and who shall have obtained a Fellowship or Scholarship, or the degree of Master of Arts, or any higher degree in the University, (i. e. a Doctor in any faculty,) and every person who shall hereafter obtain a Fellowship or Scholarship, or the degree of Master of Arts, or any higher degree in the University, and who upon the removal of his name from the college books, or after he shall have taken such degree, shall be desir- ous of having his name placed or retained on the books of the University, for the purpose of voting, shall be- fore the 1st day of December next after his name shall be so removed from the college books, or after he have taken such degree, pay to the college the sum of £5, and thereupon his name shall be placed or retained upon the books of the University, and he shall be entitled to vote for his life without any further payment.
" Every person having his name on the college books shall be considered for all purposes as having his name on the books of the University."
ENUMERATION OF PROVOSTS.
CHAPTER VII.
SECTION I.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE PROVOSTS OF THIS UNIVERSITY.
HAVING completed, so far as we conceive it interest- ing or useful, all the circumstances connected with the general history of this University since its foundation, we shall now proceed, previous to describing its archi- tectural arrangements, to give a list of the provosts in chronological order, with biographical sketches of them, drawn from the best authorities.
We have already shewn that the provostship was conferred originally by the right of election vested in the Senior Fellows, but by the subsequent alterations in the statutes the appointment was vested in the Sovereign.
Archbishop Loftus was appointed provost by the original charter of Elizabeth, and the six following provosts in succession, from 1594 to 1634, were elected by the fellows according to that charter. But from 1637, the date of the new charter, they have been ap- pointed by the Crown.
It should here be stated, that the Provost is a cor- poration in himself, for besides his share of the profits arising from the general income of the college, and a suitable mansion handsomely furnished, he has, by the act of settlement, a rent-charge of £300 per annum derived from the forfeited lands in the Archbishopric of Dublin, an estate in the county Gal way, and another in the county Meath, worth together about £4,000 per annum. Both -these estates were the gift of King Charles II., to be as a perpetual revenue to the Pro- vostship.
The office of Provost in this University is one of con- siderable dignity, and its emoluments we have seen are in a tolerably just proportion to the rank which this officer holds in his own society and in public estimation ; the Provostship has sometimes been bestowed on per-
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228 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE
sons not connected personally with this Institution; but this practice, however unfair and objectionable it might be at the present day, was proper, and in fact indispensable, at the founding, and during the early years of this seminary of learning ; accordingly, we find that the first and four succeeding Provosts had been educated at Cambridge University, and the sixth Provost was Dr. Robert Ussher, (son of Primate Ussher,) who had been educated here, and was a Fellow ; but the two next Provosts in succession to Dr. Ussher, were Fellows of Cambridge or Oxford, but the latter of these officers having fled to England at the commencement of the great rebellion in 1641, Drs. F. Tate and D. Loftus, both of Dublin, were appointed temporarii subrectores (in succession) under the authority of the Lords Justices.
The Provost appointed to succeed these delegates (Dr. A. Martin) was from Cambridge, as also was his successor, Dr. Samuel Winter.
The next two Provosts were Fellows of this College, but their two immediate successors were of Oxford ; the last of these, Dr. R. Huntingdon, fled to Eng- land when King James II. landed in Ireland, and in his place Dr. M. Moore, a secular priest of the Church of Rome, was appointed by Lord Tyrconnell's re- commendation to the king.
This was the last of the Provosts who had not been educated in this University ; for Sir George Ashe, D.D., who succeeded Dr. Moore, and the thirteen Provosts who have enjoyed that office down to the present time, were all graduates of this University, and also fellows, except Dr. Hutchinson, who, although educated here, was not a fellow.
According to the Charter of Charles I., the Pro- vost of this University must be nominated by the Sovereign ; and in the 2nd chapter of the statutes, it is expressly declared that he must be in holy orders, a doctor, or a Bachelor of Divinity, and at least thirty years of age ; yet we find that this statute has, on two occasions, been disregarded, by the dispensing power which resides in the Crown :
PROVOSTS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
one of these instances was in the appointment of Dr. Andrews, a fellow, but a layman, — the other that of Dr. J. H. Hutchinson, who was also a layman, but not a fellow. The last of these acts was considered peculiarly ungracious, as the gentleman appointed does not appear to have possessed superior qualifications •that could have entitled him to be placed in this responsible situation — over the heads of senior Fellows whose merit had acquired for them high rank in the paths of learning, and who were eminently qualified to govern that seminary in which they had, by long residence and constant attention to its various offices, acquired peculiar fitness for this important and dig- nified position in the intellectual world; whereas Dr. Hutchinson did possess those talents and acquirements in his profession as a Barrister, which would in due time have placed him high upon the judicial bench in Ireland a.
The seven succeeding provosts have been fellows of this college, and duly qualified according to the sta- tutes b. In the hands of this officer and the seven senior fellows is placed the government of the Uni- versity ; the latter are styled " assessors to the pro- vost." With their advice and assistance this dignitary is to elect fellows, scholars, and officers, to confer de- grees, and in fact to manage all the majoranegotia of this University. During any vacancy of the provost- ship, all elections are suspended ; neither can leases, or any other documents requiring the college seal, be signed ; delays arising from this cause are, however, of short duration, as the Crown's advisers have always a successor ready to fill the vacant office; and this suc- cessor is generally introduced to the members of the college in a day or two after the funeral obsequies of his predecessor have been performed, and is imme- diately sworn into office, and generally presides at a board immediately afterwards.
a M.P. for the City of Cork, and Secretary of State to the Irish Government. He proved, however, a very good Provost. b Statutes, Cap. II., Cap. IV.
230 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE
The first person who received the appointment of Provost in this University was Adam Loftus, D.D., who at that time was Archbishop of Dublin. This prelate was the younger son of an ancient and wealthy family at Swinshead, in Yorkshire. His friends sent him to Cambridge for his education, and it so happened, that at one of the public acts young Loftus was parti- cularly noticed by Queen Elizabeth, who soon after- wards gave him the appointment of chaplain to the Earl of Sussex, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whither his good fortune still accompanied him, and in a few years later, (1562,) he was made Archbishop of Ar- magh, which is the highest church dignity in the Irish branch of the Protestant Church, as it includes the " Primacy of all Ireland." Yet in 1567 we find that this prelate descended a step in the Church, and, as some thought, not out of deep humility, to accept the second situation in the Church of Ireland, namely, the Archbishoprick of Dublin, whose occupant is simply styled " The Primate." Dr. Loftus succeeded Dr. Hugh Curwen ; and still further, he was twice made Keeper of the Great Seal, and finally Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland, which office he held, with his church preferment, through life. He was also four times ap- pointed one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. In June, 1594, he resigned the Provostship, after having ob- tained a royal licence for that purpose, in which it ap- pears that Queen Elizabeth expressed her great sa- tisfaction at the manner in which he had administered the duties of that office : yet it is certain that, although the archbishop resigned his official connexion with this institution, he never lost sight of its interests during the remainder of his life, which terminated in 1 605.
Dr. Walter Travers was elected to succeed Arch- bishop Loftus in the Provostship by the Board of Fellows, as the right was originally vested in that body by the charter of Elizabeth ; and he took the oath of office in December, 1594.
Dr. Travers had been educated in Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was looked upon as a person of very
PROVOSTS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 231
great abilities. His first public promotion was that of lecturer to the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple; but it appears from his biographer, that after some time there arose such animosities between him and the Rev. Mr. Hooker, then minister of that establishment, that it induced the court, and many others, to take different sides. The spirit of party it appears ran high ; but Mr. Hooker's supporters prevailed, and " Mr. Travers was silenced in the Temple for indiscretion." He soon afterwards went over to Ireland on this appoint- ment, and resided four years in the college ; he retired into England, on the breaking out of Tyrone's rebel- lion, (1598,) and though he did not return to his duties, it does not appear that another Provost was elected until the year 1601. In England Dr. Travers, as his biographer says, lived in a sort of obscurity for many years. He was a great proficient in the oriental lan- guages, and at his death, he bequeathed his valuable collection of books in those tongues, with fifty pounds' worth of plate, to the corporation of Sion C ollege, London .
The next person elected to this situation of honour, but not of profit a, was Mr. Henry Alvey, A.B. of St. John's College, Cambridge, who was sworn into the Provostship in October, 1601. Of this Provost's life there has been very little recorded, although it appears that he was a person of very good abilities ; but, like his predecessor in this office, he retired into England about the beginning of the year 1609, and died at Cambridge in January, 1626.
Mr. Wm. Temple, LL.D., was the next Provost elected by the board. This gentleman had been edu- cated in King's College, Cambridge, from whence he was appointed master of the Free School, Lincoln ; which he resigned on being chosen to be his secretary by the heroic Sir Philip Sydney, whom he accom- panied to the Low Countries, and attended during his government there. 'On the death of his illustrious patron, Mr. Temple was selected by Robert Earl of Essex to be his secretary, on being appointed Viceroy
a At tins time, and long after, the Provost's income jvas small for the situation — and even that was very badly paid.
PROVOSTS TEMPLE AND BEDELL.
of Ireland. Mr. Temple was also made a master in Chancery. After some time he found the various duties he engaged in too harassing for him, and he resigned part of his employments to be more at leisure for his literary pursuits. From this qualified retirement, how- ever, it appears he was after some time induced to come forth by the earnest solicitation of Dr. James Ussher, (the Primate of all Ireland,) a Prelate who well knew how to judge the worthiness of others by the immensity of his own merit, and he did at last prevail on his friend to accept the Provostship in the year 1809. Mr. Temple was also elected M.P. for the University along with Charles Doyne, Esq.a, when the elective franchise was granted to this college. He continued to administer the duties of Provost for seven- teen years, to the great advantage of the University, and in fact terminated his days in that honourable situation, at the advanced age of 7^ years. And, as his biographer reports, he " lies buried under a faire stone in the Colledge Chappie immediately before the Provost's seat."b
The Rev. Wm. Bedell succeeded Sir Wm. Temple in this Provostship, on the 29th May, 1627- This promotion appears to have arisen chiefly out of a re- commendation in writing to King Charles I. from Sir Henry Wootton ; in which paper he informed his majesty that he himself thought it impossible to find a fitter man for that charge in the whole kingdom for singular piety and erudition, combined with great zeal to advance the cause of religion.
Bedell was a native of Black Notley in Essex, and became a fellow of his college in the year 1693, and soon after was selected by Sir Henry Wootton to ac- company him as his chaplain, when that able diplo- matist was sent by King James I. as ambassador to the state of Venice. Bedell held this situation eight
a A Master in Chancery.
b The chapel above mentioned was the original building ; it was taken down A.D. 1797, on the completion of the new chapel. In the latter the vaults are appropriated solely to the interment of the Provosts and other persons officially connected with the University.
PROVOSTS BEDELL AND R. USSHER. 233
years, during which period he travelled much, and took an active part in the controversy between the Reformed Church and that of Rome, in which he showed himself profoundly versed in the works of the fathers and schoolmen. His knowledge of the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages was also very great, as may be seen in his literary correspondence with the celebrated "Padre Paulo," whom he greatly esteemed; yet with all these requisite accomplishments for public life, together with numerous other practical proofs of his capacity for business, Dr. Bedell remained several years after his return from the Continent without any notice, or promotion from the Court; but although rather neglected at home, the fame of his character reached Ireland, and in 1627 he was by the board of senior fellows elected (una voce) to the Provostship of this University, although at that time he was not person- ally known to the electors. In two years afterwards he was appointed by the Crown to the bishopric of Kilmorea, where he departed this life, as already noticed at page 36.
Robert Ussher, D.D., was elected Provost on the promotion of Dr. Bedell: he was educated here, and became a senior fellow sometime previous to his pro- motion to this office (Oct. 1629). Dr. Ussher resigned the Provostship in August, 1634, having been in- ducted into the Deanery of Meath ; and in the month of February following, he was consecrated Bishop of Kildare.
In Ware's MSS., he is described as a prelate or- thodox, learned, unblamable, of a meek, modest, conscientious, and gentle behaviour ; an enemy to all theatrical representations, and would not admit them into college, according to the usual practice, until commanded by the Lords Justices to allow them. He was a constant and assiduous preacher, remarkable for his abilities in sacred oratory ; a practice which he continued even after he fled to England, where he died, and was interred in the chancel of Duddeston
* Bedell might have held both offices, but he conscientiously re- signed the Provostship.
PROVOST CHAPPEL.
Church, in September, 1642, where some of the virtues he possessed are recorded on his monument.
William Chappel or Capel, D.D., was, at the desire of King Charles L, elected Provost (pro tempo-re), being at that time Dean of Cashel ; his appointment to the temporary Provostship took place ten days after Dr. Ussher had resigned it, yet from the am- biguous tenure in which he held this office, for he was not sworn in, it seems sufficiently clear that the great changes which soon were made in the college statutes, had been for some time contemplated and that Laud a had selected Chappel as a proper agent for that purpose.
Dr. Chappel had been educated in Christ's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow long before his promotion in Ireland, (1607). In June, 1637> that is, nearly three years after Chappel' s temporary superintendence had commenced, he was fully admitted and sworn into the Provostship b, at the same time that the statutes of Laud were brought in to super- sede those of the original founder.
These statutes were not considered so favourable to the natives as those bestowed by the pious sagacity of Queen Elizabeth's advisers, nor so indulgent to the fellows, or respectful to the classes out of whom the visitors were originally selected. The Provostship was endowed with a greater degree of arbitrary power than was formerly allowed to that officer, and of this privilege, it was generally believed that Dr. Chappel sometimes made an improper use. On the other hand, it has been asserted, that the exercises of the University were never, under any Provost, better at- tended, or the proper discipline of the place more rigidly enforced, though by some thought too cere- monious, than it was during Chappel's government ; one instance, however, of a contrary nature must be recorded, and it does not confer any honour upon his memory ; this was his suppression of the lectures originally established for teaching the Irish and the
a Then Chancellor of this University.
b During this interval the College registers were greatly neglected.
PROVOST CHAPPEL.
Hebrew languages, both of which were very well attend- ed to, especially the first, which was constantly frequent- ed by a large class of students, who justly conceived that by acquiring this branch of knowledge, they might become much better prepared for future employment in their country, especially as ministers of the Gospel, being well aware that the native Irish, on finding men of education address them in their own tongue, would be the sooner convinced of the great truths which they might be authorized to teach them ; and there- fore it was a most important object to cultivate, for it is quite certain that there does not exist any known people, who hold their vernacular language in higher respect and esteem than do the native Irish.
Besides, as it has justly been remarked by an old writer, " the dignity of an University is not com- promised (licet rumpantur morni) by maintaining an useful lecture, as the sole object of the heads of colleges should be to cherish every legitimate mode of advancing the interests of learning."
This Provost was, it is said, " a close Ramist, a notable disputant, and one who, in his middle age, favoured Mr. Perkins and that side." He was one day riding to Cork, when he was accidentally joined by Sir William St. Leger, then Lord President of Munster, who had with him the pseudo Dean of Cork. With this Romanist dignitary, the Lord Presi- dent wished Dr. Chappel to dispute. To this pro- position the latter assented without difficulty, but the Dean being very well aware of the Doctor's character, respectfully declined the proposal, for the latter was, it seems, known as a fierce and subtle arguer, one re- markable instance of which we have here selected.
It appears from the record, that at a Cambridge commencement, which was celebrated in presence of King James I., Dr. Roberts of Trinity being re- spondent in St. Mary's, Dr. Chappel opposed him so closely, and with such subtilty, that the Doctor, not being able to disentangle the arguments, fell into a swoon in the pulpit ! So that the King, wishing to up- hold the commencement, undertook to maintain the
236 PROVOST WASSINGTON.
thesis himself ; this, Dr. Chappel, by his syllogisms, as we are informed, pressed so home, " Ut Rex palam gratias ageret Deo quod opponens E.L Juisset sub- ditus non alteri alias potuisset in suspicionem adduci perindethronosuo, atquecathedro submoveri debuisset."
About a year before he left Ireland, Dr. Chappel resigned his Provostship, which probably was caused by the parliamentary proceedings, and shortly after the commencement of the rebellion in 1641, he went to England, where he lived rather in retirement until his decease in 1649. He was interred at Bilthorp, in Nottinghamshire, where his family caused an epi- taph to be engraven on his tomb, which is very laudatory of the bishop's character, and of which a copy has been inserted in Borlace's account of " The Reduction of Ireland."
The Rev. Richard Wassington, B.D., who had been a Fellow and Vicegerent of University College, Oxford, was the second Provost chosen by Royal au- thority. He was admitted by the King's letter, August 1, 1640, and took the oath of office, but en- joyed his promotion only a short time, for at the breaking out of the rebellion in October, 1641, he fled back into England, and of any further proceed- ings of his connected with the College we have not been able to obtain any account.
Immediately on the retirement of the last provost, the Lords Justices constituted Dr. F. Tate % and Dr. Dudley Loftus, (a Master in Chancery and Judge of the Prerogative Court,) temporarii subrectores, until the King's pleasure should be known as to the appoint- ment of a new Provost, and during this interval, Dr. Tate was licensed to reside in the Provost's buildings. In this imperfect state, the government of the College continued for about four years, when the King at length nominated a regular Provost, according to his royal prerogative b, in 1644.
Anthony Martin, D.D., of this University, was the
a Afterwards Poet Laureate.
b This was one of the last instances of King Charles exercising regal authority.
PROVOST MARTIN. 237
person selected to fill this post of danger, in the great struggle between despotism and democracy, as these principles were then understood in England.
This exemplary man, and excellent scholar, was a native of Galway, a city in the West of Ireland ; and after an elementary course he was sent to France for the purpose of completing his education ; but this plan was abandoned after some progress had been made, and the young student was removed to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he completed his academic studies ; and soon after he returned to Ireland, be- came a candidate for a junior Fellowship, and was successful, (1610.) In a few years afterwards he was made Archdeacon of Dublin, then made Dean of Waterford, and in 16&5 was created Bishop of Meath, in which diocese he was seated when he got the ap- pointment of Provost in this Institution, with a com- mand to hold both these situations, the united revenues of them being then very slender, and indeed scarcely sufficient for the decent maintenance of either. The Bishop of Meath was always, virtute officii, a Privy Counsellor (previous to the act of union) ; yet soon after, Dr. Martin having fixed his residence in College with his family, he was, by the then Privy Council, committed to the custody of the sheriff of Dublin, on some unfounded allegation, at the desire of the Par- liamentary Commissioners, but after enduring a long confinement, he was as capriciously set at liberty, without even the form of a trial; yet the severities inflicted on him by those despot-hating but ty- rannical republicans a, did not, however, bend him in the slightest degree from the right line of duty which he had long adopted, and which he continued to fulfil to the latest hour of his existence, as we have already noticed at page 39 b. Thus to the final close of his
a Those persons were members of " Barebones' Parliament," and with regard to them we may adopt a classical sentiment, with a different application, " the evil deeds that men do " (these men did) " live after them ; the good " (if any) " is often " (and has been in this case) " interred with their bones," for the historic muse has not placed one good act of theirs on record !
b The Provost was interred in the College Chapel.
238 PROVOST WINTER.
mortal career, justifying the early opinions of those friends who had analyzed and formed an accurate estimate of the true constitution of his mind, as de- scribed in the letter of Eyre's to Dr. Ussher, (A.D. 1607, p. ^7>) in which the writer gives a just descrip- tion of the talents, attainments, and moral worth of this young scholar ; and his words are, " Ut infra fines Hibernice generoso Juventis continentur neque extra Athenas vestras Romce aut alibi in- stituantur, et is est qualis alii plerique videre tantum volunt, et in humaniori literatures, et mice integritate germanissimus, certe Nathaniel sine fraude" The letter referred to was written at the time that Martin had obtained his degree of A.M. at Cambridge, and had decided upon standing for a Fellowship in the University of Dublin, and which he obtained about two years afterwards.
Yet this man of superior learning, of religious and moral qualities, unsurpassed in any age or nation, died in poverty, and left his family without any inheritance but the memory of their father's great talents and spotless integrity.
On the death of Dr. Martin, the current of politics still continuing to run adverse to collegiate institutions, the Commissioners of the memorable parliament already noticed, took the opportunity of recommend- ing their own creature and chaplain as fit to fill the Provost's chair.
This person was Mr. Samuel Winter, a native of Walsal, in Staffordshire; he was a student of Dr. Preston's, in Lionel College, Cambridge, where he graduated, and afterwards obtained the degree of A.M. ; from College he went to Boston, in Lincoln- shire, as an assistant to the Rev. John Cotton. In this place he married, and soon after obtained the small living of Woodbarrow, near Nottingham ; he gave this up soon after for a better situation in York ; here he continued until the civil war commenced, when he removed with his family to Hull, where his wife died, leaving him five children (sons). However, he changed his state in about three years, and married a
PROVOST WINTER. 239
lady with whom he had a good accession of property, as he likewise had by his first wife. Being an Anti- Royalist, he was chosen by the memorable Parliament just described to be the chaplain to their commissioners, and accompanied them to Ireland.
The appointment of this Provost (in 1651) was, however, an arbitrary measure, authorized by a spurious act of the same Parliament before named, which gave power to the Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland to place Governors, Masters, &cc., in the University of Dublin at his will and pleasure. But as if this gross violation of the statutes was felt to be an unsafe pro- ceeding, another act was passed, entitled " An Act for the better advancement of the Gospel and Learn- ing in Ireland," and under this Act Cromwell con- firmed, in June, 1652, the appointment of the provost, who had previously obtained a diploma of D.D. from Dr. Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath and Vice-Chan- cellor of the University. The senior fellows being mostly tainted with the same revolutionary principles, presented to him an honourable testimonium under the college seal for his services to the institution. It was signed by Henry Jones, Vice- Chancellor, the notorious Miles Symner, Csesar Williamson, Nathaniel Hoyle, John Stearne, and Adam Cusacke*. Yet, notwithstanding all these precautions and many others, taken by himself and his partisans to retain the good things which their republicanism found very comfort- able, Provost Winter was removed in March, i860, (and all the senior fellows except one,) from the government of the college, by the authorized Conven- tion of Ireland, because he had never taken the Pro- vost's oath. He left Ireland soon after, and died in England, October, 1666.
SECTION II.
Dr. Thomas Seele was appointed Provost on the removal of Dr. Winter He was a native of Dublin,
a This document is literally copied into the life of the Provost, London, 1671. He wrote Methodus Concionandi, 1648. And also (according to Grainger) " The Whole Duty of Man."— Biographical History, Vol. II. p. 218.
PROVOST SEELE.
and a graduate of the college, and held a high cha- racter ; indeed it appears both from traditions and written authorities, that a more fit and proper governor could hardly be selected to watch over the best interests of learning, and to direct, both by precept and ex- ample, in the paths of religious truth and moral rec- titude, the great community over which he presided. Dr. Seele's affection for the advancement of sound and liberal education was remarkable, and he possessed great literary attainments, His first promotion was to the rectorship of Bewley, county of Armagh (1635). In 1661 he was raised to the Provostship by letters patent of King Charles II., and soon after- wards had the chaplaincy of the House of Commons conferred on him. In the year 1666, he was elected to the deanery of St. Patrick's Cathedral. All these offices he held until his decease in February, 1675. He was buried in the college chapel.
Michael Ward, D.D., succeeded Dr. Seele in the Provostship, by royal letters dated in February, 1675. He entered college at the very early age of thir- teen years, and when only nineteen years old, he ob- tained a Fellowship ; an occurrence which was unprecedented, and is still without a parallel instance in this University, so that in fact, he was not only a " Boy Bachelor " but a Boy Fellow. Yet young as he was, the senior members observed that he took more than ordinary pains in the instruction and superin- tendence of his pupils, and was very successful in get- ting them forward. In November, 1670, being then only 27 years old, he was promoted to the deanery of Lismore, and soon after to the archdeaconry of Ar- magh; in 1672, he took the degree of D.D., and on the death of Dr. Lingard, he was made Reader and Professor of Divinity, and in February, 1675, Dr. Ward was made Provost of this College, and successor to Dr. Seele. In this very onerous office he conducted himself with the same intense and indeed habitual love for the promotion of learning, and of every good and virtuous principle ; and on the death of primate Margetson, he was appointed Vice- Chancellor, having been created Bishop of Ossory in the same year, 1678,
PROVOST MARSH.
from which see he was translated to that of Derry in January, 1679. In the latter city he died in 1681, being full of honour, though not of days, for he was then not quite forty years of age.
Narcissus Marsh, D.D., a graduate of Oxford, was appointed by the crown to the Provostship on the pro- motion of Dr. M. Ward to the see of Ossory (1778). Dr. Marsh was at that time principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxon. He was born near High worth in Wilt- shire, in December, 1638 : and descended by his father's side from a Saxon family of his name, which had long been settled in Kent, out of which county his great grandfather removed to the township just men- tioned. Dr. Marsh's mother was one of the Colburne family, of Dorsetshire. Young Marsh received the elementary principles of learning at his native place, and having been well prepared for college, was, in July, 1654, matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and in June, 1658, he was admitted as a probationer Fel- low of Exeter Hall, and at the annual commencement in July, 1660, he took his Master of Arts degree. Seven years later he commenced Bachelor in Divinity, and in June, 16715 that of Doctor in Divinity, to which degree he was also admitted in Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, in 1678. During these periods he was appointed chaplain to the Bishop of Exeter, who was afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, and also to Lord Chancellor Hyde.
In May, 1673, he was made principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford, by appointment of the Duke of Ormond, who was at that time Chancellor of the University.
From his character for superior learning and prudent management he was chosen unanimously to preach the Anniversary Sermon on the 5th of November, 1667, and also the "Act Sermon" in 1678, and on the visit of King Charles II. to Oxford, (1665,) he was chosen to act as one of the additional proctors for keeping the University in good order during the monarch's aojourn there. Such were the principal honours he received previous to his going over to Ireland, where he deservedly attained to the highest
R
PROVOST MARSH'S LIBRARY.
dignities of the church. Dr. Marsh's introduction to that country arose out of the recommendation of Dr. John Fell, and the friendship of the duke of Ormond ; in consequence of which the king nominated him to succeed Dr. Ward, in the Provostship of the Duhlin University, in December, 1678, and in the following month he was sworn into office. Whilst he held this situation he devoted much time to his studies, notwithstanding which, he always performed his pub- lic duties a so exactly, that his successors could not hope to surpass him in the judicious mode he adopted for governing that University; to equal him in this re- spect would be quite sufficient for every good purpose. He did not continue more than five years in this useful and honourable employment, for upon the death of Bishop Boyle, Provost Marsh was advanced to the vacant bishopric of Leighlin and Ferns, by patent, February 26, 1683, and in May following was con- secrated* in Christ Church, Dublin. In February, 1690, Dr. Marsh was translated to the archbishopric of Cashel, to that of Dublin in May, 1694, and to Ardmagh, with the Primacy of all Ireland, in February, 1702. Whilst Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Marsh built a noble library, in 1707, close to St. Patrick's Cathedral, on some ground attached to the archiepis- copal palace of Dublin, which he enlarged after his being translated to Ardmagh, and then furnished it with a choice collection of books, amongst them was the whole of the celebrated Bishop Stillingfleet's b library, which the archbishop purchased expressly for this purpose. He likewise added his own large and well selected library, and as his object was to make this place useful to the public, he handsomely endowed a librarian and sub-librarian to attend it at certain prescribed hours. Besides the endowment, which at that time was worth £250 per annum, he expended more than £4000 on the building and in books, and to make every thing
* Dr. Marsh published the elementary work much wanted then in college, entitled "Institutiones Logicce in usum Juventutis Academicce Dublhiiemis" so \vell known as " The Provost's Logic."
b Bishop of Worcester, then lately deceased.
PROVOST MARSH'S ALMSHOUSES.
secure, he obtained an Act Parliament for settling it a. This establishment is still a fine and a useful public library, into which all persons of honour and respectability are admitted for several hours each day, Sundays and holidays excepted, which last have in- fested this public institution almost as much as it formerly did the College library, to the great annoy- ance of reading men ; but we understand that the benefit of the reformation is to be extended to this fine national institution, and that the practice of honouring the Saints by the partial suppression of literary industry, is to be forthwith given up, as no longer tenable. It is much to be regretted that the archbishop left only ten pounds per annum, as a fund to supply it with new books ; the greater part of this sum is expended in keeping the books in order. Of course the supply of modern works is very scanty, for though we have often heard persons of property complain of this circumstance, we have not yet heard that any one has nobly come forward to advance the sum requisite to supply the deficiency.
This prelate, likewise, amply endowed an almshouse at Drogheda, for the reception of twelve widows of de- cayed clergymen, to each of whom he allotted a lodg- ing and £20 per annum. He appointed that those who would be entitled to such provision should be widows, whose husbands had been curates in the diocese of Ardmagh ; or, for want of these, then the next in turn should be widows of those who had served as curates in the diocese of Meath ; any deficiency of claimants after, then to be filled up by the widows of curates of the province of Ardmagh, without distinction ; if after all these there was still some part of the fund unclaimed, this surplus was to be applied to put out the children
a Part of the eulogium inscribed on Dr. Marsh's monument in St. Peter's Cathedral, runs thus,
" Hinc Dubliniensis publicam hanc extruxit Bibliothecam, Arma- chianus auxit, instruxitque libris in omni eruditionis genere selectissi- mus." The invitation to study which follows is no doubt sufficiently general.
" Qnalis quanta que sit adspice et inspice."
This library contains about 25,000 volumes, including some valuable works in Oriental literature, and very many on Polemic Divinity.
R 2
PROVOST HUNTINGDON.
of clergymen as apprentices, or to be laid out on their education.
He allotted also £40 per annum to the Dean and Chapter of Ardmagh, for the support of that church. He repaired many churches in his diocese at his own expense, and bought in several impropriations, and re- stored them to his see. He died in November, 1713, aged 76 years, and was interred close to the wall of his library, (at Dublin,) where a handsome monu- ment of white marble was erected to his memory, by Benjamin Huson, A.M.; upon it is a Latin inscrip- tion of some length, but not tedious, because it is well written and perfectly just a.
This mausoleum, being too much exposed to the weather, was removed within the church, and placed in the nave at the south side of the great aisle, in one of the large arches, with an inscription in English stating the cause of that change.
Robert Huntingdon, D.D., who succeeded Dr. Marsh, was a graduate of Oxford, having been brought up at Merton College, of which he was a Fellow, and where he enjoyed a high degree of reputation. He was prevailed on by Dr. Fell, though rather against his inclination, to accept the Provostship, which had become vacant by the promotion of Dr. Marsh to a bishopric. Dr. Huntingdon arrived in Dublin early in the year 1684, the letters patent of his appoint- ment to this office having been signed at the close of the previous month of September. Immediately on his arrival, he applied himself with great diligence to the duties of his situation, which it was observed that he fulfilled with great assiduity and good sense during his sojourn in college. Among other useful acts, this estimable Provost suggested the propriety of trans- lating the Old Testament into the Irish language, and this important work was completed with the concur- rence of Dr. Marsh, then Bishop of Ferns, and some other bishops ; the New Testament having before been published in that language, the whole expense of
a This inscription has been copied exactly into Whitelaw and Walsh's History of Dublin.
PROVOST MOORE.
which was defrayed by that truly honourable native of Ireland, Robert Boyle. It was published in 1686, with a copious preface in English, written by Dr. Martin, Bishop of Meath : it contains the canonical books only.
In the year 1688, the college being seized on and filled with the soldiers of James II., he retired for safety to England, but returned at the settlement, and continued in his office about two years, when he ac- cepted a benefice in England, whither he went. He married also, and then resigned the Provostship. He returned into Ireland on being made Bishop of Raphoe, but unhappily he did not survive his promotion more than twelve days, though he left after him a character not inferior in intellectual and moral worth to the best of those who had filled this important station a.
The Reverend Dr. Moore was made Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, 1689, from the unanimous re- commendation of the Roman Catholic Bishops ; and, as we have already shewn, it was a most fortunate acci- dent that placed such a governor over the society at this juncture. This conscientious man was, however, too honest for his party, and on one occasion, when preaching before the King, he took for his text the 14th verse of the 15th chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel b. In this discourse the Provost attributed all the miscarriages of the King's affairs to his following closely the counsel of the Jesuits, and rather insinuated that they would bring on his entire ruin. Petre, the Jesuit, who had great influence with that unfortunate prince, and who had also it seems a most sinister expres- sion of countenance, represented to the King, the evil tendency of Dr. Moore's sermon ; and persuaded the King that the text was levelled at his Majesty. The weak and misguided monarch was strongly excited against Moore, and dismissed him unceremoniously from the provostship. Dr. Moore went first to Paris, where he was greatly caressed for his learning and in-
8 A life of this prelate, (in Latin,) was written by the Reverend Dr. Smith.
b " Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind ; and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
246 PROVOST ST. GEORGE ASHE.
tegrity ; and he told some of his friends that his late master, James II., would not long remain hehind him. This opinion was soon justified by James's abandon- ment of his friends in Ireland, and his flight to the French capital. Upon this event taking place, Dr. Moore retired to Rome, where he was soon appointed to be the censor of books ; after this he was invited to Montefiascone, made rector of a seminary there, which had recently been founded by Cardinal Barba- rigo, and also appointed professor of philosophy and the Greek language.
Pope Innocent XII. was so well satisfied with his government of this college, that he annually bestowed upon it 2000 crowns ; and Moore was so highly es- teemed by Pope Clement XI., that he declared to several cardinals, his intention of placing his nephew under Dr. Moore's tuition.
At the death of King James, Dr. Moore was re- called to France, and his friend, the Cardinal de Noailles, had him appointed Rector of the University of Paris, Principal of the College of Navarre, and, by the King, Regius Professor of Philosophy, Greek, and Hebrew. He joined Dr. John Fealy in the purchase of a house contiguous to the Irish College, for the gratuitous reception of young men from Ireland, who came to study in France. He had collected a fine library, which he bequeathed to the above mentioned Irish College. His decease took place in France, Au- gust, 1726 ; he was then aged 85 years.
Saint George Ashe, D.D., a native of the county of Roscommon, was educated in the College of Dublin, where he was elected a Fellow in 1679, and was pro- moted to this office the 2nd of September, 1692, when only 34 years of age, by letters patent of King Wil- liam III. and Queen Mary ; and in some time after, he became Vice-Chancellor of the University; but long before this period, during the tyrannical govern- ment of King James II., he being then a Fellow, was obliged to fly from his country. He engaged himself in the service of Lord Paget, ambassador for King William III. at the court of Vienna; he was secre-
PROVOSTS GEORGE AND PETER BROWNE. 247
tary as well as chaplain to this nobleman, and thus he continued until the settlement of Ireland gave him liberty to return to his native land with a pro- spect/of security. He was made Bishop of Cloyne in July, 1695, translated to Clogher in June, 1697, and to Deny in February, 1716, where he died in the February of the following year.
George Browne, D.D., who had been educated in this university, and had been elected to a fellowship in 1673, and co-opted Senior Fellow, (in the room of Wallis,) in 1678-9, was appointed to succeed Dr. Ashe as Provost in July 169«5. Of this provost there is not much recorded ; it appears, however, that he managed the affairs of the college with prudence and economy, and that he was so well satisfied with the college system then in operation, that he did not like to introduce any new measures, for fear lest the altera- tions might become innovations, and for these he had no partiality. He died in the College, on the 106th anniversary of that Institution, Trinity Sunday, June 4th, 1699.
Peter Browne, D.D., educated in Trinity College, Dublin, was elected a Fellow in 1692, and on the de- cease of Dr. George Browne, he was raised to the Pro- vostship in August, 1699. All the church preferment he had previously enjoyed was a lectureship in Saint Bridget's Parish, Dublin, whilst a Junior Fellow ; after that he got the parish rectory of Saint Mary, which he surrendered on his promotion, the 9th of November, 1699, to the Dean and Chapter of Christ- church, to whom the presentation belongs. He was an austere, retired, and mortified man, but a divine of the first rank for learning among his brethren, and was esteemed the best preacher of his time, for the gracefulness of his manner, and a fine elocution. He studied and was master of the most exact and just pronunciation, heightened by the sweetest and most solemn tone of voice, further enhanced by a serious air and venerable person : the union of these qualities commanded an extraordinary degree of attention in his hearers of every rank. He was eminent for his
PROVOST PRATT.
critical skill in Greek and Hebrew, which enabled him to explain the beauty, energy, and sublimity of the sacred writings. As he had formed himself upon the best models of antiquity, he gradually introduced a true style of eloquence into the learned society of which he was the governor. He utterly banished the false glitter of shining thoughts, and idle affectation of points, and turns of phrase, which were common be- fore his time in the sermons of the most eminent preachers here ; and in place of the rhetorical display of words, he substituted one more plain but more cor- rect and nervous, which was united with solidity of reasoning and dignity of style. He was promoted to the see of Cork and Ross, in 1710> and died at the city of Cork, in August, 1735.
Benjamin Pratt was educated in this college, and elected a Fellow in June, 1693. He commenced D,D. in 1700. His learning was very considerable, and his conduct so correct, that Dr. Browne interested himself so much in his favour, that he was made Provost by Queen Anne, in 1710, when Dr. Browne resigned that office. He was afterwards appointed to the deanery of Down, in 1717> when he at once resigned the Pro- vostship.
Richard Baldwin succeeded Dr. Pratt in the go- vernment of the college; and what is known of his history proves it to be the most extraordinary of any provost of this college, whether his predecessors or successors, to the present day. During his life- time it quite puzzled his contemporaries to discover the particulars of his place of nativity, parentage, &c., but all their efforts were in vain. He, however, left an immense property to this college, their right to which has been disputed more than once ; the last suit at law by persons claiming it as his relatives, was decided in 1820, exactly sixty-two years after his demise, in favour of the college, and the question to all appearance is finally determined. We have been favoured with a loan of the claimant's brief prepared on that occasion, from which we have taken the following extracts :
PROVOST BALDWIN.
After giving at large the Doctor's will, which is not material here, the brief goes on to state that " In 1788, a claim of heirship to Dr. Baldwin was set up by a Mrs. Price, of Worcester, who claimed to be de- scended from a Thomas Baldwin of said place, and a case was laid before the then Attorney and Solicitor- general, on her behalf, and their opinion obtained thereon ; but although a writ of traverse was obtained by her, it does not appear that it was ever proceeded on, as it is presumed she was unable to produce any sufficient evidence upon the subject — not being con- nected in any way, save by the similarity in the sur- name of one of her ancestors with the late Provost.
" That at the time of Dr. Baldwin's death his family resided at Colne, in Lancashire, and were in a very humble situation in life ; and although aware of their affinity to the late provost, they were unable to assert their rights : that Henry Baldwin, who claims to be descended in a direct line from the eldest brother of said Provost, and to be his heir at law, is at present determined upon prosecuting his claim to the lands, &c., left by the late provost — should counsel so advise."
The following is the only evidence produced to show that the provost was of the same family as the claimant, which he has hitherto been able to obtain ; it is extracted from Dr. Whitaker's Biographical work :
" Richard Baldwin, son of James Baldwin, of Park- hill, near Colne, born in 167^, and educated at the grammar school of that town, where he is said to have given a mortal blow to one of his schoolfellows, upon which he fled into Ireland, and was admitted at Trinity College, Dublin, where, in 1717» he became Provost, on the removal of Dr. Pratt to the deanery of Down ; in this station he lived to extreme old age."
This account is from the Reverend Mr. Adamson, of Padisham, who was for twenty years curate of Colne, where the provost was born ; Mr. Adamson has his information from the common report of the
250 PROVOST BALDWIN.
neighbourhood, but more particularly from three old men, who had been born in that parish, viz. one of the family of the Banisters, of Park Hill, where Richard Baldwin was born ; a Mr. Dent, and a Mr. Clough. These were contemporary with Nicholas and Henry, brothers of the provost, from whom they had their in- formation. Mr. Adams is still living ( 1 820) to corrobo- rate this, and also adds that it is said, on Richard Bald- win's arrival in Dublin, being then of the age of twelve years, he was found crying in the streets, when a person who kept a coftee-house took pity on him and brought him to his home, where he remained for some time in the capacity of waiter. In a few months after, the provost (Dr. Robert Huntingdon) wanted a boy to take care of his horse, when Richard Baldwin was recommended to him by his master, and he soon shewed such a taste for learning that the provost had him instructed and entered at the college."
Such are the strange accounts recorded of a man who during the space of forty-one years filled the of- fice of provost in one of the first universities of Eu- rope. To us, however, they are not quite satisfactory ; there is still a considerable degree of mystery remain- ing as to the machinery of his promotion, and being preferred to men more highly gifted and of most ex- emplary conduct, and placed over them in this high and honourable situation. How this happened there is little chance now of ascertaining, but from some cir- cumstances not generally known, we are strongly of opinion that he was promoted by the exertions of some persons of great power and influence ; this influence, it appears, continued for a long time to serve him, but it is evident that its momentum ceased before 1730, for at that time he had been provost thirteen years, and the primate, (Dr. Boulter,) who had much influence with government, strongly recommended him for a vacant bishopric, but in vain ; although they were ap- pointing junior men constantly to the vacant dioceses. It astonished every one that he could not get out of the provostship, as much as it did to know how he got into it ; but however this may have been, it is evident
PROVOST ANDREWS.
that the provostship was very lucrative in his time, for he accumulated a property of above £80,000 in about forty-six years. It is true he never was married, but he, perhaps, dispensed as much of his wealth in amusements as would have supported a family in a becoming style. To his college, however, he was a most grateful and munificent benefactor, for he be- queathed to it by far the greater part of his wealth, as may be seen in the list of benefactions. In politics he was of the Whig party, and a partisan of Lei- cester House ; the superb marble monument erected to his memory will be fully described when treating of the Examination Hall.
Francis Andrews succeeded Dr. Baldwin, in 1758; he was a native of Dublin, educated in its university, of which he was elected Fellow in 1741 : a lawyer by profession, he displayed uncommon abilities in court, as well as in parliament, of which he was a distin- guished member for many years ; he was also a privy counsellor in Ireland. In the early part of his career it seems he was an admirer of Mrs. Woffington a, from which it was rather maliciously asserted, that to her exertions he owed his advancement; but this is mere assertion, and Hardy, in his life of Lord Charlemont, treats it as a fable.
His predecessor, Dr. Baldwin, professed Whig prin- ciples : and as Toryism was said to predominate in the University at the time of his appointment, the statesmen of that day, in order to eradicate Jacobitism, supported him in all his academical proceedings, and it is certain that he ruled over that respectable seminary with al- most unlimited sway. But though an absolute he was a decorous governor, and except in some few instances, he did not abuse his power. The same may be said with equal truth of Dr. Andrews : his cotemporaries who best knew him justly say that he governed the university for many years with great reputation.
He represented his native city in parliament, and he soon became a leading member of the House of Com- mons. He spoke often, and always with unquestioned a Vide Harilv's Life of Earl Charlemont.
PROVOST ANDREWS.
ability. Few men ever rendered themselves more accept- able to the great, not merely to statesmen, or those who had it in their power to serve him, but to the gay and fashionable part of the higher orders. Such was the versatility of his talents, that when in Italy he no less charmed than surprised the learned Professors of Padua by his classical attainments, and the uncom- mon quickness, purity, and ease with which he ad- dressed and replied to them in the Latin language. He captivated our young men of rank, then resident at Rome, by his lively and accommodating wit, his agreeable, useful, and various knowledge.
Yet his manners were not refined ; Sir Robert Wai- pole would have relished them more than Lord Ches- terfield ; but they were frank and open, accompanied with so much good humour, good nature, and real bene- volence, that he had few, if any, personal enemies. He liked and indulged somewhat in the pleasures of the table, but this added to the number of his friends; therefore, when the chair of the House of Commons became vacant by the resignation of the late Mr. Pon- sonby, (in 17?1») he displayed the extent of his influ- ence at the election of his particular friend, Mr. Pery, to the office of Speaker, who, though eminently qualified for such a station, was much indebted to Pro- vost Andrews for obtaining that high office. Two men of more dissimilar habits perhaps never existed, yet the most cordial union always subsisted between them. The loss of Dr. Andrews was deeply regretted and greatly felt by his numerous friends.
For some time previous to his decease, he grew quite weary of politics. To an intimate friend he ex- pressed his concern that he had relinquished his pro- fession of the law for the provostship : it is equally certain that he considered his academical engagements quite incompatible with those of a political nature, and seemed to regret the ardour with which he had en- gaged in them. He died at Shrewsbury, on his return from Italy, June, 1774.
In the disposal of his property he showed an un- common regard to the interest of learning in this
PROVOST HUTCHINSON. 253
University, having bequeathed to it, as we have al- ready seen, a considerable estate for building an ob- servatory and endowing a professorship of Astro- nomy.
The Right Hon. John Hely Hutchinson, whose pa- ternal name was Hely, was anative of the county of Cork ; he was educated in this University, where he distin- guished himself among his contemporaries. After taking his degree of A.B., he went to the Temple, in London, to qualify himself for the bar, to which he was called in Dublin, November, 1748. In 1762 he was appointed Prime Serjeant-at-Law, which he resigned in 1774, on the death of the Right Hon. F. Andrews, LL.D., Provost of the college, whose successor he became. In 1777, on the death of the Right Hon. Philip Tin- dall, Secretary of State, he was appointed to that office.
Dr. Hutchinson introduced a more classical idiom into the House of Commons : no member was ever more extolled or more in fashion than he was on his first appearance there. As an orator, his expression was easy, fluent, and lively; fertile in wit, in invention admirable, from its always being unclogged with any thing which could diminish the brilliancy and justness of its colouring. He is said to have attended much to the stage, and acquired a clearness and propriety of intonation which gave great force to whatever he de- livered. His acceptance of the Provostship was con- sidered an unwise step ; it certainly involved him in controversy with the senior members of that learned body, who no doubt felt hurt at having a layman placed over their heads, as their governor ; besides, the injury to his peace was not compensated for by the office, for it put a stop to any further advancement in his profes- sion, the highest honours of which he would no doubt have attained.
He was, however, a very effective Provost : he re- stored discipline among the students, who before his time were rather turbulent. He caused the most ob- noxious to be expelled, and the good effects of his administration are still very apparent. It is to his exer- tions that the University owes the improvement of the
PROVOST HUTCHINSON.
two professorships of modern languages, although in this object he met with very strong opposition. He was a man of an enlightened mind and extended views ; he clearly perceived what those who are secluded from intercourse with the world could not comprehend, though great their learning in books. He saw that, un- less some innovations were made in their system, to bring it more to the real business of life, in a few years it would be left far behind, by the natural pro- gress of civilization, and would sink down in time to a mere monkish retreat, where the inmates might be wondered at for their theoretical learning, rather than admired for their useful and practical knowledge.
His example has not been lost upon his successors : since his time several changes have been made in its sys- tem, that have in no small degree helped to disencum- ber it of the heavy gothic character with which it was unavoidably invested at its foundation. It is now ad- mitted that this Provost's views were consonant to the best principles of education. He died in the latter end of the year 1794.
Dr. Richard Murray, a native of Ireland, succeeded .Dr. Hutchinson; like the good archbishop King, he entered the University a sizar ; like him, Murray raised himself, by the exercise of his talents, above many who had entered college under happier aus- pices. So attentive was he to his college duties, and so amenable to the advice of his friends, that he obtained the highest honours of his class, and was at length chosen a Fellow in 1750 ; he was after- wards appointed to the professorship of mathematics, the duties of which he discharged with great credit to himself and advantage to the establishment.
On the death of Provost Hutchinson, Dr. Murray was looked on, by all his contemporaries, as the most proper person to succeed him. Public opinion thus running so strongly in his favour, he was offered the situation, but he at first declined it, not from an af- fectation of humility, but from a real distrust of his own capability for managing so extensive an establish- ment. His friends, however, urged him so earnestly
PROVOST MURRAY. 255
to accept the office, that he at last complied with their wishes ; and most certainly the Institution was very fortunate in this appointment, for there never lived a governor of this college, who knew better how to temper authority and discipline with moderation and firmness : with an affability of the kindest descrip- tion, he would not suffer authority to be weakened or encroached on by familiarity. All these quali- ties, joined to a character of extensive learning, and sound reasoning powers, gave a weight to his opinions which not only silenced, but convinced his opponents, for antagonists he had none. Under such a man it is no wonder that the college system was improved in many respects ; he abolished the barbarous custom, which had continued down to his day, namely, that of compelling the sizar to place the dishes on the fellows' table ! This practice, so inharmonious in an era of civil- ization, originated in an age when man had not yet learned to look upon superior intellectual power, ac- companied with great application to prepare it for the most important purposes of life, as among the highest titles to protection and encouragement. But Dr. Murray, acting up to those feelings that do honour to human nature, and which in him were tempered by experience and reflection, put an end at once to that ungracious practice.
Of the high estimation in which Dr. Murray was held by his contemporaries, and those under his govern- ment, a correct judgment may be formed on the un- biassed evidence of the late Dr. Thomas Elrington, D.D., Provost, — Bishop of Limerick, and afterwards of Loughlin and Ferns. In the treatise on the Elements of Euclid by this learned divine, which is used in the College course, and has been translated from Latin into English, Dr. Elrington, in his intro- duction, pays the following tribute to the memory of Dr. Richard Murray.
" I am indebted for assistance on this subject, par- ticularly for more elegant demonstrations of the 20th and 38th theorems, to the Rev. Richard Murray, who was for many years our Professor of Mathematics,
256 PROVOSTS KEARNEY AND HALL.
and afterwards raised to the Provostship, with the unanimous approbation of all who were attached to the interests of learning. While he lived, I was not allowed to make a public acknowledgment of my obligation to him, such was the great modesty of that distinguished character." a
Having with the most exact attention to its best in- terests governed this admirable institution for nearly five years, he was attacked by a violent disorder, that shewed strong nephritic symptoms, and which, as he was much advanced in years, left no chance of his re- covery. He bore his painful affliction with great resign- ation : his death took place in the latter end of 1799-
Dr. John Kearney succeeded Dr. Murray as Pro- vost: he was a native of Dublin, and graduated in its University. This Provost was always remarkable for his close attention to whatever might be considered likely to forward his improvement ; he therefore ad- vanced steadily in his course, and obtained a Fellow- ship in 1757. In this situation he shewed a great and laudable anxiety for the advancement of his pupils, and in his senior Fellowship he was no less assiduous in attending to his various duties. He has the credit of being the first person of consequence who distinguished Mr. T. Moore early in his progress through College, and justly admired the talents of that elegant poet, for whom his friendship continued through life.
He was appointed provost in 1799> and continued to fill that situation with great satisfaction for about seven years, being promoted to the Bishopric of Ossory in 1806.
Dr. George Hall succeeded Dr. Kearney in the Provostship : he was a native of Cumberland, from the vicinity of Whitehaven : he was partly educated at the school of St. Bees, in that county, and was brought to Ireland by a countryman of his own, to take upon him the office of junior assistant at Dr. W. Darby's school at Ballygall. After some time he got himself ad- mitted in the College of Dublin, in which he proved himself a most exemplary student. His friends finding
a Vide Elrington's Euclid, early edition.
PROVOST ELRTNGTON. £57
he made good progress in his studies, advised him to read for Fellowship. He took their advice, and in his third or junior sophister year he began seriously the Fellowship course, and in 1777 ne was elected, — the senior of two successful candidates, the other being Dr. Arthur Brown, afterwards M.P. for the College, and Attorney-General. Dr. Hall, while junior Fellow, had a great number of pupils, for whose improvement he was most assiduous. He became Professor of Natural Philosophy, and on the promotion of Dr. Kearney, he was appointed Provost in 1806. He was considered a very elegant classical scholar : he encouraged poetry and other branches of polite literature, to which he was very partial. In person he was tall and erect, with a very grave countenance, but great amenity of man- ners. He was considered a very good Provost.
In 1811 he was appointed Bishop of Dromore, and consecrated in the College chapel, but having been somewhat unwell for a few weeks previously, the exer- tion and agitation* consequent upon this very serious ceremony, almost exhausted his strength ; he became worse on the following day, and his friend Dr. Robert Percival was called in, who gave him such advice as, had he attended to it, most likely would have saved him ; but, like many others, he had too little faith in the usefulness of medicine; he neglected the advice, though he had the very highest esteem for his adviser. His illness increased; the third day an inflammation had seized his throat, which, as he was of a constitution that would not bend to the remedies administered, de- scended gradually into his chest, and terminated fatally on the seventh day from his consecration.
Dr. Thomas Elrington, a native of the county of Dublin, succeeded Dr. Hall in the provostship, Fe- bruary, 1811. He had been educated in the Uni- versity, where he obtained a foundation scholarship in 1778, and in 1781 was elected a Fellow. He was co- opted in 1795, in the room of Dr. Murray, and ac- cepted the College rectory of Ardtrea, in December,
a The author was present on that occasion, and ever}' one observed that Dr. Hall was greatly agitated by this very solemn ceremony.
S
258 PROVOST ELRINGTON.
1806: six years afterwards he was appointed Provost. In 1820, he was consecrated Bishop of Limerick, and in 1822, translated to the see of Leighlin and Ferns. He died in the spring of 1837.
In March following, a public meeting of the clergy and laity was held at Messrs. Milliken's, Grafton Street, Dublin, to consider the best mode of keep- ing in perpetual remembrance, the virtues and learn- ing of this distinguished prelate. In this assembly, resolutions were passed, which, as they were equally honourable to the feelings of gentlemen who com- posed that meeting, as to the memory of their late Right Reverend and lamented friend, we cannot in common historical justice decline laying before our readers ; for although in the mass of the general history, such details of private character might, to many, appear to be misplaced, yet in this portion of the work, which is devoted specially to describe the con- duct and character of each governor of this college, the privilege is claimed to give true copies of the re- cords which express, in terms most unequivocal, the genuine sentiments of admiration and regret of large assemblies of educated men publicly convened to give expression to their feelings of esteem and reverence for their deceased friend, and of deep regret for his loss. On these solemn occasions, sincerity of purpose is predominant, and we may, therefore, fairly conclude that the representation then adopted is as faithful a portrait of the departed friend's character and worth, as human means can display. Any further speculations upon the subject are no longer required, as the au- thor can fortunately place before his readers the fol- lowing verbatim copy of the resolutions passed on that occasion, viz. —
Resolved, " That in the opinion of this meeting the conduct of the late highly respected Bishop of Ferns was distinguished by an earnest desire and en- deavour to do substantial good, without needless dis- play or ostentation, especially by implanting and strengthening in the minds of all with whom he was at any time connected, whether those of future candidates
PROVOST ELRINGTON. 259
for the ministry, or those of actual ministers of the church, or those of members of the church in general, a well founded belief in the truth and doctrines of our holy religion, and a steady attachment to its primitive institutions, according to the form of Christianity established in the united Churches of England and Ireland.
" That such a monument appears to us most ap- propriate to his character, and best calculated to do becoming honour to his memory, as shall be formed upon the principle of carrying forward those solid religious benefits, which he was indefatigable in pro- moting during his life ; a mode of testifying respect to which this meeting is more inclined, by a consideration of the excellent personal representation of the late prelate, which already adorns the college library.
" That for the foregoing purpose it is desirable to in- stitute an annual prize for one or more of the best Theological Essays, composed by Bachelors of Arts of Trinity College, Dublin, of not more than three years' standing.
" That the subjects of the Essays be such as may direct the minds of the competitors to those topics in particular which were either discussed in the pub- lished works of the late Bishop, or were prominent objects of his solicitude. For example, the evidences of our holy religion. The constitution of the Chris- tian Church. The Scriptural character of the doc- trines, and the Apostolical polity of our own Church. The necessity and the validity of her orders, and the just claims and solemn engagements of her ministers.
" That this prize be denominated * The Elrington Theological Prize:' that the subjects be proposed and the prizes awarded by the Lord Bishop of Ferns, the Provost of Trinity College, and the Regius Professor of Divinity, all for the time being, in such way as they shall arrange among themselves. That the Essay or Essays be read in the College Hall, at such time as the Pro- vost shall appoint, and that the prize consist of a se- lection of standard theological works, of which the publications of the Bishop, if attainable, as we trust
s 2
260 PROVOSTS KYLE AND LLOYD.
they will be rendered by tbe filial piety of the present Regius Professor of Divinity, shall at all times form a part." This prize cannot be obtained more than once by the same candidate a.
The author cannot let this opportunity pass without acknowledging the friendly attention he received from Dr. Elrington in the commencement of this work, (1817 and 1818,) when he began to collect the materials preparatory to commencing the MS. copy, and for which kindness he must ever feel a grateful recollection.
Dr. Samuel Kyle, D.D., was appointed to succeed Dr. Elrington in the Provostship in 18^0. Dr. Kyle was a native of Londonderry, and was educated in this University, where he obtained a foundation scholarship in 1819, and in seven years after was elected to a fellowship. In 1820, he was co-opted with the senior fellows, preparatory to his being made Provost, and in 1831 he was created, by King William IV., Bishop of Cork and Ross.
Dr. Bartholomew Lloyd was appointed in 1831, by King William IV., to succeed Dr. Kyle, on his pro- motion the same year to the united Bishopricks of Cork and Ross.
Dr. Lloyd was a native of Dublin, who, during his under-graduate course in this University, gained and preserved an elevated position; A.D. 1790, he ob- tained a foundation scholarship ; and six years after he was elected a junior fellow along with Dr. Richard H. Nash ; and having served the junior offices, was appointed to the Professorships of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, in both of which departments he distinguished himself by the skill and assiduity with which he communicated to his classes the various and and extensive information required for their instruc- tion.
Dr. Lloyd also enriched the field of science by his literary labours. His "Analytic Geometry," and
a The Essays on the subjects proposed (to be sent in with fictitious signatures) are to be given to the Provost, or to the .Regius Professor of Divinity, on or before the first of October in each year.
PROVOST LLOYD. 26 1
" Mechanical Philosophy," are works of sterling merit, being the result of long experience and research, directed by a mind peculiarly adapted to these high branches of human knowledge ; and it is still more gratifying to record of this learned Professor, that on his rather unexpected decease in 1837, a meeting of the fellows and other members of the University w;is hold in College, to express their deep regret at the great loss that establishment had sustained by the premature death of Provost Lloyd ; and it was then unanimously resolved by the meeting, that in com- memoration of the talents and virtues of their late dis- tinguished Provost, Dr. Bartholomew Lloyd, a sum of money should be forthwith subscribed, for the found- ing of exhibitions in the University, to promote learn- ing in that institution to whose interests his life was de- voted. And it was then decided, that the interest of the sum subscribed, as well as whatever maybe added to it, should be applied to the founding of two ex- hibitions of £20 per annum each, to be held for two years only. The appointment to them to be held each year after the Michaelmas Term examination, and to be open to such students only as shall then be in the rising Junior Sophister class. To this distinguished scholar and very efficient public officer, the author was also much indebted for many valuable hints in the col- lection of his materials for this work ; and indeed on any occasion where the advice of so experienced a member of the University might be most required. In private life, Dr. Lloyd was one of the best of men in all the relations of society, and although he would not allow, on any occasion, the duties of public, or domestic life, to be neglected, yet his manner was so mild that its effect was irresistible ; and when this estimable man was removed from all earthly promotion, his loss was deeply and extensively felt, both in college and throughout society, and in his native city, where his memory will long be cherished with the highest regard by all those who had the pleasure and advantage of witnessing the practical lessons for the conduct of life — religious and
262 PROVOST SADLIER.
moral — which were remarked in the daily habits of this excellent man.
Dr. Franc Sadlier, (D.D.,) was appointed by letters patent of Queen Victoria, in 1837, to the provostship. Dr. Sadlier is a native of Ireland, who graduated here, and gained a foundation scholarship in 1794. He took priest's orders and got a living, but after some time he became a candidate for a fellowship, which he obtained in 1805. He was afterwards appointed Pro- fessor of Mathematics, and in the year mentioned was selected for the office of Provost, which he still enjoys, to the comfort and advantage of this great in- stitution, to the true interests of which he has proved himself a judicious and active friend, by the promo- tion or adoption of several important alterations and additions which have been made to the college course or system of education which was in use previous to his being appointed governor to the University. Dr. Sadlier's conduct in other respects has not been, we believe, surpassed by any of his able and gifted prede- cessors, in their endeavours to promote the welfare, temporal and eternal, of all those who were at any time connected with the institution over which he so worthily presides. Feelings of delicacy prevent the Author from saying more at present on this agreeable subject.
VICE-PROVOSTS.
The Vice- Provostship is an annual office, for which an election is held by the Provost and Fellows, every year, on the 20th of November ; but as the office is next in dignity and authority to that of Provost, it has been customary to re-elect the same person, gene- rally the senior of the junior fellows, for several years successively. The provost has a negative on the elec- tion of the vice-provost but in case of the illness or absence of the provost, the seven senior fellows may appoint a vice-provost, who is to be sworn before the senior dean, and he may hold the office until the 20th of the following November ; as if he had been elected with the provost's consent.
VICE -PROVOSTS, PROCTORS, DEANS. 263
VICE- PROVOSTS SINCE 1660.
1660 Nathan Hoyle, D.D. 1061 Joshua Cowley. 1662 Richard Lingard, D.D. 1666 Patrick Sheridan. 1668 Benjamin Phipps, D.D.
1670 Joseph Wilkins, D.D.
1671 Henry Styles, LL.D.
1673 John Fitzgerald.
1674 William Palliser.
1675 Henry Styles, LL.D.
1686 George Mercer, M.D.
1687 Richard Acton, D.D. 1691 George Browne, D.D.
1695 John Barton, D.D.
1696 Richard Reader, D.D.
1697 John Hall, D.D. 1713 Richard Baldwin, D.D. 1716 Claude Gilbert, D.D. 1735 John El wood, LL.D. 1739 Robert Shawe, D.D. 1742 Henry Clarke, D.D. 1745 John Pellesier, D.D. 1 753 William Clement, M.D. 1782 Richard Murray, D.D. 1795 John Kearney, D.D. 1799 Gerald Fitzgerald, D.D. 1806 John Barrett, D.D. 1821 Francis Hodgkinson, LL.D. Thomas Prior, D.D.
THE PROCTORS.
The college proctors are two officers annually chosen from among the senior and junior fellows. The senior proctor is moderator in the Philosophy Acts for the Masters of Arts, as the junior proctor is for Bachelors ; the senior proctor supplicates the grace of the senate only for the degree of Master of Arts, the junior proctor supplicates the grace for the degree of Bachelor. It is the duty of the senior proctor to read the writ authorizing the holding an election for bur- gesses to serve in Parliament for the University.
The Proctors are sworn before the Vice-Chancellor at commencements.
THE DEANS.
These two officers, like the preceding, are annually selected, one from the senior, the other from the junior fellows, on the 20th November. The deans have the general superintendence of the morals of the students, and especially to compel proper attendance upon col- lege duties. The senior dean superintends the at- tendance of the junior fellows and masters, at night roll, chapel, commons, &c. The junior dean has similar attention to bestow on the undergraduates
264 OFFICERS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
and Bachelors of Arts, whilst the Provost and Vice-Provost exercise a corresponding authority over the senior fellows, Doctors and Bachelors in Divinity.
THE SENIOR LECTURER.
This officer is chosen on the same day as the dean, from the senior fellows. The duty of this officer is to superintend the attendance of the students at the lectures and examinations, and to keep a faithful re- cord of their merits or defects in these matters. It is his duty also to solicit videre ut prcelectores, inferiores singuli locum tempusque prcelegendi quotidie et dili- genter obeatiL
THE CENSOR.
The duty of the censor is to impose exercises and duties upon such students as have incurred academic censures in commutation for pecuniary fines.
This office was instituted hy the provost and fel- lows, in 1723, and they appoint to the office a junior fellow.
REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY.
The period when this officer was first regularly ap- pointed is not clearly ascertained, as it appears that for several years the provost kept a record or minutes of the proceedings. The inconvenience of that mode, suggested the propriety of electing one of the fellows to do that duty.
REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY ELECTORS.
This office dates its origin from a very late period. It arose out of the Reform Bill, and was created in 1832, for the purpose of having a correct register kept of the names and qualifications of those persons who, at that period, had obtained the right of voting at the elections for college representative to Parliament. The registrar also receives the annual payments specified in the Irish Reform Bill, that payment being neces- sary to preserve the privilege of an elector.
PERSONAL RANK IN COLLEGE.
THE ORDERS OF PERSONS, OR PERSONAL RANK IN COLLEGE.
In this University there are eight degrees of rank or personal condition: the first of these is " THE PRO- VOST," who is the head of the college. This dignitary must be in Holy Orders, and a Doctor, or at least a Bachelor, in Divinity, not less that thirty years of age. Since the passing of the statutes (Charles I.) there have been two lay provosts, who held their office by special dispensation from the king.
Fellows. — They are all bound to take priests' orders within three years after their being admitted to the degree of A.M., except three; one of these is elected Medicus, by the provost and senior fellows, and adopts the profession of physic, the other two are elected Jurista Juris Ci mil's and Jurista Juris Anglici; these two are devoted to the profession of the bar.
Noblemen, sons of Noblemen, and Baronets, who are matriculated as such, under the titles of Nobilis, Filius Nobilis and Eques, are entitled to the degree of A. 13. in two years after admission, on keep- ing two term examinations in each year.
Fellow Commoners. — Who have the privilege of dining at the fellows' table. The number of terms re- quired of them for the degree of A.B., is two less than those required of pensioners. In this University, qualifications of parentage or fortune are not required for those who wish to enter into this rank.
Pensioners and Scholars. — The pensioners pay for their rooms and commons. The scholars are on the foundation, and have their commons free of expense, and their rooms for half the charge paid by the other pensioners : they pay for tuition, but are exempt from college charges of decrements, and receive from the college an annual exhibition. They hold their scholar- ships until they become, or might have become, Masters of Arts.
Sizars. — This rank is composed of young men
266 PERSONAL RANK IN COLLEGE.
whose means are generally much more limited than their talents ; therefore, intellectually, their rank is a high one, as the number of very eminent men who have come from this class sufficiently testifies. Indeed, most of the University honours and rewards, even many fellowships, are obtained by pensioners and sizars, but the examinations of the latter are still more stringent than those of the pensioners.
The Sizars have their commons, and often their chambers free of expense ; they are likewise exempt from all college and tutors' fees. They were formerly nominated by the fellows and the provost, so long as they did not exceed thirty persons, but for several years past they have been elected at the public en- trance examinations. The number of sizars was thirty, six more have been added by the college.
Doctors in the three faculties, Bachelors in Di- vinity, and Masters of Arts, whose names are on the college books, may dine at the fellows' table, and hold the same rank as the fellow commoners.
Bachelors in Civil Law and Physic, and Bachelors of Arts, are not obliged to keep their names on the college books, if their object be merely to proceed to a higher degree, but if they intend by that degree the privilege of voting in the election of burgesses for the University, they must keep their names on the books at the expense of twenty shillings per annum a.
a By the Stamp Act, 5 & 6 Viet. c. 82, a duty of £3 is im- posed upon the admission of any person to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and of £6 upon any person admitted to any other degree. But if conferred by special grace, royal mandate, patent of nobility, or in any other form out of the ordinary course, and conferring any right of election in the University, the duty payable is <£lO. This Act also imposes a duty of £3 upon the testimonial or certificate of admission of any person to the degree of Bachelor of Arts ; and a duty of £10 upon the testimonial or certificate of the admission of any other person to any other degree. These duties, it should be ob- served, are in addition to the charges for each degree already stated. This Act, however, will only continue in force for three years ; this Bill will consequently cease and determine in 1845, unless re- enacted.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 267
CHAPTER VIII.
SECTION I.
THE following list of fellows, from the foundation of the college to 1660, was copied from some MSS. which were in the handwriting of the late Dr. Barrett, Vice- Provost, and Professor of the Oriental languages, &c., &c., that very learned and no less singular man, having greatly favoured the author in collecting his materials for this work, many of which it is possible he might not have been able to discover, and others it would have cost him great labour to obtain, but for the kindness of that reverend gentleman, whose richly stored mind seemed to be an inexhaustible fund, from whence he could at pleasure draw copious information on all literary subjects, and the authors of every age and country. Under so experienced a director, the author felt the utmost confidence in proceeding ; and all the facts connected with this history, of which he has since acquired accurate knowledge, constantly cor- roborate the truth of Dr. Barrett's information. This list was copied verbatim et literatim for the first time by the author, under the learned doctor's inspection, who expressed himself satisfied with its correctness, con- sequently the original style of the writing is retained, as it might make the subject more interesting to some of our readers.
In 1591, Queen Elizabeth granted a charter, as al- ready stated, founding Trinity College, Dublin ; and appointed (nomine pluriutn) three fellows, viz., 1st. Henry Ussher, then Archdeacon of Dublin a ; 2nd. Luke Challenor, one of the Chapter of St. Patrick, being Prebend of Mullahiddert ; 3rd. Lancelot Monie, or Moyne, one of the Chapter of Christ Church, be- ing the prebendary of St. John's.
In 1593, the college being opened, and the fellows
a Archbishop of Ardrnagh in 1595, uncle to James Ussher, and father to Robert Ussher, Provost in 1G29.
268 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
increased to four, whose names were Luke Challenor, Launcelot Monie, James Fullarton3 and James Hamil- ton, Henry Ussher having resigned. At the number of four, the fellows continued for a few years, when the number began to be increased, the college having received an addition of property from the forfeitures in Ulster and Munster, and in the space of five or six years was raised to sixteen, who were divided into seven seniors, and nine juniors. At this number it continued until 1697-98, when one junior was added. In January, 172^, three juniors were added by act of parliament, and in 1768, two more by statute ; and still later three more by a king's letter ; so that the total number is seven seniors and eighteen juniors b.
From the year 1,593 up to 1610, the following ap- pear to have been elected to the fellowships which had either become vacant, or were added to the original number.
Matthias Holmes and Gulielmus Daniel0, appear to have been made junior fellows in the places of Luke Challenor and Launcelot Monie, whose places had become vacant by death or standing, as the fellowships were not then tenable for life, but for seven years only.
The others who followed, as it appears in an old register, written by Provosts Alvey and Sir W. Temple, were Charles Dun, John Brereton, Abell Walshe (Dean of Tuam), James Ussher d, George Lee (Dean of Cork), James Boyd, John Richardson e, Edwarde Kinge, and Matt, or George Lee.
About September, 1598, the rebellion broke out in the south of Ireland, where the property granted by
a Afterwards knighted. Tutor to Archbishop James Ussher. He was afterwards raised to the Irish peerage, by the title of Viscount Clan-a-bois.
b He completed the translation of the New Testament into Irish, Dublin, 1602 ; likewise the book of Common Prayer, Dublin, 1608.
c Vice-Chancellor of the University, 1612.
d Primate, 1624. See a complete edition of his works, edited by C. R. Ellington, D.D., from the University press.
e A fellowship has been founded from the profits of estates left by him when Bishop of Ardmagh.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 269
Queen Elizabeth lay. Soon after this Holmes died, and Fullarton and Hamilton left Ireland.
In 1601, the first commencement was held in this college, on the day previous to that on which the Earl of Essex, its Chancellor, the unfortunate favourite of Elizabeth, was beheaded.
We come now to the year 1609, when Joshua Hoyle was elected, from which time the names and dates are more certain.
March 7th, 1610. Ambrose Ussher a, Anthony Martin b, Edward Hill, John Winche, Henry Bour- chier, Isaac Lally, T. Smith, W. Phillips, Mr. Egerton (John), Mr. Pillen (Thomas), John Robinson, Josias Frythe, Thomas Lydiate °, Sir Chappell, Sir Holditch, Sir Travers, Sir Cock, and Mr. Bird (William), were chosen Fellows. 1611. Robert Ussher and Edward Donnellan; the latter resigned and was re-elected IQth August, 1612, and on the 26th following.
1612, August 26th. Mr. Warner (Edward), Mr. Piddock, and James Donnellan d were elected. A.D. 1615, October 21st, Mr. Pikeman chosen Fellow.
16 15, November 2Sth. Mr. Jones, Mr. Taylor (Benjamin), Mr. Wainright, Mr. Ram, Sir Smith, and Sir Damat, chosen Fellows.
1617, October 31st. Mr. Binns, Sir Peyton, Sir Paget, Sir Eustace (Maurice) % Sir Hoyle, Sir Jen- nings, and Sir Maxwell f, chosen Junior Fellows ; and on February 2nd, following, Mr. Goldsmith appears to be, with the last Sir of the above, a Junior Fellow.
1617-18. The Senior Fellows then were Mr. Ussher (Robert), Mr. Pikeman, Mr. Jones, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Ram, Mr. Wainright, Mr. Binns ; in all seven ; and it is further noted that Mr. Martin and Mr. Egerton having left their places, there were two vacancies to
a Brother to the Primate, a celebrated Oriental scholar. Amongst his MSS. in the college library, is his English Version of the Bible, made before our authorized version ; it is dedicated to King James I.
b Bishop of Meath, 1625. Provost, 1645.
c An eminent divine and voluminous writer on Chronology, enumerated in Watts's Bibloth. Britan. Part 1. 625.
A M.P. for the University in 1628.
e Speaker of the House of Commons — afterwards Lord Chan- cellor.
f Bishop of Kilmore, 1643 ; of Ardagh, in 1661.
270 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
be filled up at the next election. Those, with the above fourteen, make up sixteen, so that we find all the fellowships were now sixteen.
1618, October 24th, Sir Temple a, and Sir Kelly b chosen junior Fellows. 26th, Sir Brodley, sen., and Sir Brodley, jun., chosen Fellows; and on July 27th, 1619, the names of the Fellows stood thus :
{Mr. Ussher, Mr. Pikeman, Mr. Jones, Mr. Wainright, Mr. Paget, and Mr. Hoile, or Hoyle.
{Mr. Jennings, Mr. Goldsmith, Mr, Brodley, sen., Mr. Brodley, jun., Sir Temple and Sir Kelly.
1619, October 25th, Mr. Goldsmith chosen; itwould seem as if there were two Fellows of 'this name.
1620, December 6th, Mr. Reese, Charles Johnson, John Morton, John Garrold, and Thomas Temple °, chosen Fellows.
1622, May 6th, Mr. Wiggets, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lynch, and Sir Mallory, chosen Fellows.
1 624, November 6th, Mr. Flood or Floyd, Mr. Parry d, Mr. Travers6, Mr. Jones, Mr. Thomas, and Sir Fitz- gerald^ chosen Fellows.
1626, May 8th, Mr. Ware, Mr. Adams (Ranulph), Sir Jordan g, Sir Lysaght, Sir Price (Thomas) h, Sir Parry, chosen and admitted Fellows.
In 1626, therefore the Fellows were (probably) the nine juniors, viz., Wm, Travers, David Thomas, Win. Gerrald or Fitzgerald, Richard Jordan, Thady Ly- saght, John Floyd, John Johnson, Edward Parry, arid Nathaniel Lynch.
In June, 1626, Provost Temple died, and this was (in all probability) the list at that time.
a Master of the Rolls, son of Provost Temple.
b He translated some Irish MSS. into Latin ; these are in the library.
c Younger son of Provost Temple.
<* Bishop of Killaloe, 1647.
« Rector of Clonfeacle, 1630, acted as senior Fellow and Vice- Provost during the Parliamentary Usurpation.
f M.P. for the University.
s Vice-Provost, 1631.
h Bishop of Kildare, 1660; Archbishop of Cashel, 1667.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 27 1
In 1626-27, Randall Ince, chosen Fellow, also George (Nottingham, and Thomas Vesey, made Fel- lows, by mandamus, but this mandamus was probably withdrawn.
1628, November, Richard Brabant, Sir Boswell (Dudley), Sir Walker a (Ethiel), and Sir Meade, chosen Fellows.
1629, September llth, Wm. Ince chosen Fellow; died, December, 1635.
1631, May 28th, John Watson, Mr. Kerdiffe, Sir Conway, (by mandamus,) Sir Hoileb, Sir Pleasance, Pleasant or Pheasant ° (Thomas), Sir Cullen, and Sir Ware d, elected Fellows.
1632, William Newman6, made a Fellow, by man- damus.
1633-34, January 3 1st, Mr. Baker f (George), Mr. Davis, Thomas Secle8, elected Fellows. 1636, Alex. Hatfield elected ; and in June, 1637, the new charter and statutes were introduced, which fixes the day of election for Fellows, annually, to Trinity Monday, and no interruption of that regular mode of proceeding has since occurred, except in some few instances dur- ing the reign of Charles I. and Charles II.
For the purpose of carrying the surrender of the old or first charter, and the acceptance of the new, strong measures appear to have been adopted ; on the 18th of April, 1637, and on the 19th May, same year, Thomas Marshall and John Harding were made senior Fellows, by mandamus, having previously been Fellows of an English university. Harding was tutor to Lord StraiFord's son, and having vacated his senior
a Vice-Provost, 1634.
b Or Hoyle, Vice-Provost (reinstated by a king's letter, 1660).
c Lord Stratford's Letters, Vol. II.
d Fourth son of Sir James Ware, sen., and brother to Sir J. Ware, Jan., who died 1666.
e Newman (who had been Chaplain to A. Loftus, Lord Chancellor) and R. Conway, were intruded into the Fellowship by Provost Chap- pel, but were both deprived by the visitors at a visitation held in July, 1636. See page 31.
f Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, 1660.
s Provost, 1660 ; Dean of St. Patrick's, 1666.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
Fellowship by accepting a living beyond the statutable distance mentioned in his Fellow's oath, the king by letters dated March the 3rd, 1639, dispensed with the statutes, and ordered him to be restored and re- admitted a senior Fellow without taking the oath, and also dispensed with the 9th and 10th chapters of the statute so far as they related to Dr. Marshall.
1637, on the 5th of June, Cullen and Davis were co-opted senior Fellows, and the under-named were elected junior Fellows ; Christopher Buckwith, A.M., Wm. Clopton, Robert Cocke, Gilbert Pepper, John Garthwaite, and James Bishop, A.B. This was the first election to Fellowships under the new charter.
1637-38, 31st January, Thomas Seelea was made a senior Fellow, vice Arthur Ware, who had procured from the government a living called Wherrie, in the diocese of Meath. At this time the senior Fellows were as follows : John Harding, Thomas Marshall, Robert Conway, Nathaniel Hoyle, Arthur Ware b, Charles Cullen, Christopher Davys, and Thomas Seele. (N.B. On that day John Kerdiffe resigned his senior Fellowship.) And the junior Fellows were Alexander Hatfield, Christopher Buckwith, Wm. Clopton, Robert Cocke, Gilbert Pepper, John Garth- waite, James Bishop, and one must have been vacant. To make up the nine places, this vacancy, and that by Seele's co-optation, were filled up on the 21st of May, 1638, by the election of the two junior Fellows, Richard Nichols and Thomas G innings. In this same year, on the 28th of June, Hatfield was co-opted, as also on July the 18th, Buckwith, in the places pro- bably of Cullen and Conwayl
In 1639, May 4th, I find one John Fubbings, a junior fellow, as also Christopher Pepper, on the llth of May, 1639, but as Trinity Monday fell in that year on June 10th, they could not have been elected, but must have been made fellows by mandamus. Also
a He had accepted the Rectory of Beaulieu or Bewley, which act vacated his Fellowship, but on his supplication he was restored by the visitors.
b Who resigned the Fellowship at that time.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 273
Christopher Pepper seems to have been made, by another instance of the same nature, a senior fellow. Before February 28, 1639-40, two others also appear to have been elected fellows, viz., Percivall and Za- chariah Taylor; previous to February, 1639-40, Clopton was co-opted. These four, viz., Hatfield, Buckwith, Pepper, and Clopton, seem co-opted in place of Con way, Cullen, Marshall, and Davis, and Robert Cocke appears, November 20, 1640, as senior fellow, in place of John Harding. 1 640, William Ray- mond, A.M., was elected junior fellow, and with the consent of the visitors, George Lovelock was chosen to succeed to the next vacancy that should occur. This probably was done to prevent appointments by mandamus ; but Lovelock never became a fellow.
In 1641, June 9> the House of Commons (see the Journals, June 1641, and at p. 34) inhibited the provost and fellows from electing to fellowships and scholarships " until further directions therein." This is said to have been caused by John Harding and other members of the college declining to give evi- dence or communicate any information relative to the alleged malpractices of Provost Chappel and others in the college, during Lord Strafford's government; their excuse was, that they were prohibited by cap. xi. of the statutes. Harding was a creature of the Lord Deputy and Chappel.
In 1642, November 20, Mr. Gilbert Pepper was senior fellow; and in 1643, November 20, Thomas Locke, a junior fellow.
In 1644, John Kerdiffe % William Raymond, and James Bishop, petitioned the Marquis of Ormond, then Chancellor, to be made senior fellows, as there was not a sufficient number to co-opt them regularly ; this was complied with in respect of Kerdiffe, and probably of the other two, as the number might thus perhaps be rendered sufficient.
a He had been chaplain to Dr. A. Martin, Bishop of Meath, and vacated his fellowship by accepting the College living of Dysert Crete, in the diocese of Ardmagh ; from this place he was (by the rebels) forced to fly in 1641, and being in great distress, made the application as stated above.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
1646, September 1st, by virtue of a king's letter, Dr. Anthony Martin, Bishop of Meath, and Provost, elected, as junior fellows, Thomas Vale, Richard Coghlan, Roger Boyle a, and Daniel Neilan b. On the 29th of October, 1646, the Board allowed the excuse of Mr. Clopton, Senior Fellow, for absence.
In June, 1647> Dublin was surrendered to the English Parliament, at which time there were as seniors, Seele, Kerdiffe, Bishop, Raymond, Locke", Clopton, and Cocke ; and as juniors, Fubbings, Per- cevall, G innings, (all absent,) Vale, Coghlan, Boyle, Neilan, two either vacant places, or the names of the occupiers unknown ; and on the 20th of October, 164*7, Richard Coghlan was expelled by the provost and senior fellows.
In 1648, (August 30,) the Provost vacated Mr. Robert Cocke's senior fellowship, for seven years' absence, there not being now enough of senior fellows to discharge the official duties ; and as on Mr. Ray- mond's intended departure from college, there would not have remained four senior fellows to concur with the Provost, and thus the elective power would have been lost. On this occasion, therefore, the three senior of the junior fellows, Fubbings, Percevall, and Gin- nings, were passed over, being absent, and the fourth, Thomas Vale, was co-opted.
In July, 1650, Provost Martin died of the plague, then raging in Dublin ; and in a few months after, by an order of Oliver Cromwell, Dr. Samuel Winter was made Provost, and several fellows were made by order of the Commissioners of Parliament d, viz., Corbet, Edmond Ludlow, William Fleetwood, and Isaac Jones (Colonel). But all the official acts of this Provost and Board, during the usurpation, were re-
a Dean of Cork, 1662; Bishop of Down and Connor, 1667 ; of Clogher, 1672.
b Dean of St. Cannice, 1667.
c Chosen civilian at this time.
d The following are the names of the fellows thus intruded upon the University, the dates of their appointments, for we must not call them elections, are not considered very accurate. 1652, Joseph Travers, Vice Provost ; Nathaniel Hoyle, V. P.; John Stearne (1659),
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
scinded as " illegal " soon after the restoration, and the Provost retired into private life.
In 1660, King Charles II., very soon after his re- storation appointed, as we have seen, Thomas Seele to the provostship, and the following, by mandamus, to be senior fellows % John Steam, M.D. b, Joseph Cowley0, Richard Lingardd, William Vincent, and Patrick Sheridan0, the other two being probably, Nathaniel Hoyle, and Cesar Williamson. The King also appointed the following junior fellows by man- damus : Dr. Lambert Gougleman, Benjamin Phipps, Thomas Graham, Joseph Wilkins, Laurence White, Henry Styles, Richard Adderton, and Patrick Grattan.
In 1662, the elections were holden in the regular manner, when the successful candidates were * Charles Cormack, Henry Dodwellf, * Anthony Doppingg,
* Michael Ward h, and * John Jones.
In 1663, the following were elected fellows, viz.,
* William Smith1, * George Walker, * Henry Maxwell or Maxfield.
In 1664, no election held, as the college means were insufficient.
In 1665, Patrick Sheridan having accepted a living (Clonfeacle) resigned, and was restored by mandamus.
1666, election put off again from want of means.
resigned in November, (restored 1660;) Myles Symner, or Sumner, got a scholarship in 1626, a major in the Parliamentary army, after the restoration, continued Professor of Mathematics and auditor during life, took the degree of D.D. in 1654.
1654, Cesar Williamson, Adam Cusack, Edward Veele, B.A., of Oxford, William Lackey, John Price, Josiah Winter, Joshua Cowley, Gamaliel Marsden, Jos. Scott; 1655, Samuel Mather; 1656, Francis Saunders ; 1659, Robert Norbury, Goulburne, and Grimes, who was Junior Proctor in 1659.
a The names printed in Italics are those of laymen ; those marked thus *, had obtained foundation scholarships.
b Founder, and first president of the College of Physicians.
c Vice-Provost.
d Vice-Provost, Dean of Lismore, 1666.
e Vice-Provost, Dean of Connor, Bishop of Cloyne, 1679.
f Camden Professor at Oxford, 1688.
g Bishop of Meath, 1681 ; Vice Chancellor.
h Bishop of Derry; Vice Chancellor, 1682.
1 Bishop of Kilmore, 169(3.
276 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
In 1667, the following were appointed fellows by mandamus, viz., John Christian, * Francis Ussher, John Fitzgerald a, and Francis or Thomas Sheridan.
In 1668, William Palliserb was elected fellow in the regular way.
In 1669, * Thomas Ward, (brother of Michael Ward,) and James Ryan, elected in like manner.
In 1670, *Theophilus Teate, and John Pooley °, were regularly elected, and * George Mercer ', Medicus, was put in by mandamus ; he became Vice-Provost, and was removed from his college by Archbishop Marsh, for being married.
In 1671, Nathaniel Foy d, Patrick Fitzsimon and Tobias Pullen6, were duly elected, and William Loydf, was appointed by mandamus.
In 167^, * Patrick Christian, * Richard Acton g, in- stead of Bernand Doyle, * Thomas Wallis, * Philip Barber, and * Giles Pooley, were duly elected.
And in 1673, * George Browneh. It appears that from 1671, down to 1701, the fellows were allowed to proceed in their elections according to the college sta- tutes, except in one or two instances, wherein King James II. attempted to compel their sanction to the admission of persons wholly unfit for the office, either in morals or education. Such persons they very pro- perly refused to admit, although they well knew that
a Dean of Cork.
b Archbishop of Cashel, 1694.
c Promoted to the Deanery of St. Canice (Kilkenny), 1674; Bishop of Cloyne, 1697; of Raphoe in 1702, In 1709, he was sent a prisoner to Dublin Castle, by a vote of the House of Lords, because, in his place in Parliament, he protested against the House adjourn- ing to a holiday !
d He was appointed to the rectory of St. Bride's, Dublin, in 1 678, which he held with his fellowship, until made Bishop of Waterford, in 1691. He preached very much against popery.
• He first resigned his fellowship on a college living, and in 1682 was appointed to the deanery of Ferns, translated to the bishopric of Cloyne, in 1694, to Dromore in the following year.
f*He resigned on a college living in 1676, was made Dean of Achonry in 1683, and Bishop of Killala in 1690.
g Vice-Provost in 1688 and following year, when the College was occupied as a barrack for popish soldiers.
h Made Provost in 1695, seepage 247.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 277
their refusal would bring upon them the marked dis- pleasure of that royal bigot ; but we have already shewn at pages 51, &c., how very well the guardians of this sacred trust conducted themselves on these occasions, which were so disgraceful to a British monarch, and so deeply fraught with real danger, not only to themselves personally, but also to the noble institution of which happily they had the super- intendence.
In 1675, a lapse of one year having occurred, * John Padmore and Dive Downes were elected ; the latter was made Archdeacon of Dublin in 1690, and Bishop of Cork in 1699.
In 1676, * Edward Walkin ton elected ; he became Archdeacon of Ossory, and Chaplain to the House of Commons in 1683, Bishop of Down and Connor in 1695.
In 1677, four fellows were elected, viz., * John Grif- fith, who some years after was deprived for absence ; * John Barton, who was afterwards Vice-Provost, and in 1703, Dean of Ardagh ; * Thomas Smith, who was created Bishop of Limerick, and Vice- Chancellor in 1695 ; and Samuel Foley, who was made Bishop of Down and Connor in 1694. (Died in 1695.)
In 1678, Richard Crumpe was elected, he resigned upon the college living of Enniskillen, in 1683.
In 1679, St. George Ashe* elected ; he was made Provost in 1692, Bishop of Cloyne in 1695, of Clogher in 1697) and of Derry in 1716.
The only fellow chosen in 1681 was Sir Richard BulkeleyV
In the following year, * Benedict Scroggs and Thomas Patrickson were elected. The next year (1683) Richard Reader was the only fellow elected, and he afterwards became Vice- Provost.
* George Thewles was elected in 1684, with Edward Smith ; the latter was Chaplain to King William III., Dean of St. Patrick's 1695, and Bishop of Down and Connor in 1699.
a See an account of his writings in Ware. *> See Ware's Writers, and Calamy by Rutt.
#78 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
In 1685, * John Hall was chosen, he was eventually Vice- Provost, and had a college living ; at the same time Owen Lloyd or Floyd, for it is given in both these forms, was elected, and became Professor of Di- vinity : he was promoted to the deanery of Down in 1709. This is the Mr. Owen Lloyd, who, when junior dean of the college, it appears, charged Jo- nathan Swift (Dean) and some others with insulting him, which charge caused Swift and two others to be suspended from the degree of A.B., which they had taken, and from the capacity of taking any other, and likewise to ask pardon, publicly, of the junior dean on their knees, they having acted more violently than the others of their party. A circumstance which gave the character of vindictiveness to this sentence is, that the suspension, or rather deprivation of the degree, took place on the last day of November, Swift's natal day, when he completed his twenty-first year. The Board, however, reconsidered the case, and in the month of January following, the suspended persons were restored.
These facts afford the true solution of the animosity which Swift entertained towards the University of Dublin, and account for his determination to take a Master's degree at Oxford. At that period it was not unusual to take a degree per specialem gratiam. This circumstance therefore, could scarcely be the cause of his irritation, and the solution now given receives confirmation from the fact, that the Junior Dean, for insulting whom, Swift and others were punished, was the identical Mr. Owen Lloyd whom he, twenty years afterwards, treated with so much severity in the " Account of the Duke of Wharton."
In 1686, * Edward Sayers, and the next year Jere- miah Allen were elected.
In 1688, Bernard Doyle* brought a mandamus, which was eventually withdrawn, see pp. 52 and 53. Arthur Blennerhesset, or Hasset, put in by mandamus.
At the June election in 1689, Dr. John Griffith, who had leave of absence by a king's letter in 1687,
a A notorious pander of Lord Tyrconnell's.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 279
not having returned to his duty, King James II. is- sued a mandamus in favour of a person named Arthur Green, directing that he should be made a senior fel- low, in place of Dr. Griffith. Of this Arthur Green, there is no certain information relative to his con- nexion with the university. A person named Green appears to have obtained a scholarship in 1681, but his Christian name is not mentioned, at all events no person named Green ever held a fellowship in this in- stitution. The Vice- Provost*, (Richard Acton, D.D.,) however, refused to obey the despot's mandate, alleg- ing, as it is supposed, that Dr. Griffith not having been deprived, no senior fellowship was vacant. But the faithless monarch, inspired no doubt by the wretched spirit of bigotry which swayed all his actions, and this evil spirit still further exasperated by his treacherous minion, the infamous Tyrconnel, violated the solemn promise he made to protect the privileges and integrity of this university, as we have shewn at page 54, &c. Yet, although the king with an armed force did seize the college, and commit several of its members to prison soon after the above refusal, these tyrannical and unjust proceedings did not deter the in- trepid Dr. Acton from presenting a strong remon- strance to the king against his majesty's own proceed- ings, and did actually preside at a board for the elec- tion of officers, on the 20th of November, 1689, from which it would appear that he had recovered the pos- session of his "freehold," as he properly styled the college (in his remonstrance), although surrounded by king James's army.
The annual elections of 1691 were not held, the college being occupied as a barrack by the troops of King James II. From this time until 1692, there is no notice of any election of fellows. The civil wars between King William and his father-in-law, once more made and kept Ireland a prey to all the horrors
1 The Provost, Dr. Huntingdon, and some of the Fellows, having fled to England in the previous year from the rapacity of King James's partisans. In July, 1690, the Provost and Fellows returned from England.
280 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
of military devastation, which did not fail to give many of her cities and towns to flames and desolation, he- sides drenching her verdant fields with the blood of her hravest children (of both parties). To the van- quished it availed not that they possessed courage to face their foes in the open field ; it availed not to them that (however mistaken) they were led hy the best sympa- thies of our nature to compassionate a falling mo- narch, and that with a high chivalrous spirit they en- deavoured to restore his failing fortunes : even their strongly inherent feelings of patriotism, exerted in this direful struggle, availed them not, and why ? Because their chief wanted courage to lead them against the enemy. When he should have charged at their head, he slunk off to the rear, and instead of bravely fall- ing at the head of his companions in arms, he basely fled, in July, 1690, to linger out a dependent existence in a cloister, leaving his brave but unfortunate de- fenders to the mercy of an exasperated and victorious army.
The dislocation of civil society, consequent to these distressing scenes, having been at length reduced to some degree of order, the interests of peaceful learn- ing again resumed a portion of their former influence, and we find in 1692, after a lapse of four years, a re- gular election taking place in the college, when Peter Brown, Robert Mossem, and William Carr, (Medicus,) were the successful candidates.
In 1693, Benjamin Pratt, (Provost, 1710,) Dean of Cork, 1717. * Richard Baldwin, (afterwards Provost,) and in the same year Claudius Gilbert*, Professor of Divinity, Vice-Provost, 1716, were duly elected.
In 1694, * John Wetherby, Dean of Cashel, 1710, and Nicholas Forster b, were successful.
In 1696, *John Ehuood, (Jurist,) Vice-Provost, and M.P. for the University; * William Tisdall ; * Wil- liam Mullart, Dean of Cashel, 1706 ; and Thomas Coningsby were elected.
a Rector of Ardstraa, 1735. He was a considerable benefactor to the library.
b Bishop of Killaloe, 1714; ofRaphoe, 1716.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 281
In 1697, * William Grattan, William Christmas, and *John Dennis, (Medicus.)
1699, * Anthony Raymond, (Medicus); and * Mat- thew French.
In 1701, * Thomas Squires was appointed by man- damus, and William Lloyd by due election.
1703, *Ranulph Walley, *John Walmsley and Ro- bert Howard, Bishop of Killala, 1726 ; of Elphin, 1729. (Ancestor of Lord Wicklow.)
1704, * Richard Helsham, (Medicus,) afterwards Professor of Natural Philosophy.
1707, *George Berkley81, Dean of Derry, 1724; Bishop of Cloyne, 1733.
1708, * Patrick Delaney, Dean of Down b, and Thomas Bindon, Dean of Limerick, 1732.
1710, *Charles Grattan0, John Madden, Dean of Kilmore ; and Edward Synge, Bishop of Clonfert, 1730 ; Ferns, 1733 ; and Elphin, 1740.
1712, *John Kearney.
1713, * William Thompson and John Hamilton. In 1714, Robert Clayton, Bishop of Killala, 1729 ;
Cork, 1733; and Clogher, 1745. In 1715, the elec- tions were adjourned by a king's letterd.
1716, *John or Jonathan Rogers, * William Rowan, and James Stopford, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, were duly elected. A lapse of four years now occurred in the elections merely because no vacancies occurred, when, in
1720, * James King, *John Whitcomb, Bishop of Clonfert, 1735 ; Down, 1752 ; Archbishop of Cashel,
a Celebrated for his metaphysical labours and high moral qualities. His works have been published by T. Prior, Esq., in 2 vols. 4to, 1784. See Watts's Bibloth. Brit.
b Very eminent both as a preacher and writer. See Watts, as before.
c Removed for not taking Holy Orders, appointed to the Master- ship of Enniskillen School.
d This lapse in the regular proceedings was caused by the Provost and Board having " censured and expelled a student for speaking favourably of the decapitation of King Charles I. The government, then in the hands of Whigs, caught up this Act as a proof that the college was strongly tainted with Jacobitism ! and under this exces- sive state of delusion, inhibited all elections during that year.
282 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
and Charles Stewart, Vice-Provost, were ap- pointed fellows.
In 1722, * Robert Shaw, Vice- Provost, and
* Lambert Hughes, (expelled, 1739-)
In 1724, *Henry Clarke, Caleb Cartwright, Hugh Grattan, Robert Berkley, Benjamin Bacon, Richard Dobbs, were elected.
In 1727, *John Pellissier, and in 1728, Christopher Donnelan, *John Obins, * Henry Hamilton, * Edward Hudson.
In 1730, Edward Ford, (killed by a shot accidentally fired in the college park,) * Ed ward Molloy.
In 1731, Marturin Allinet.
1732,* Wood Gibson, Rector of Cappagh, July, 1750.
1733, * William Clement, (Medicus,) Vice- Provost, and M.P. for the University.
1734, *John Forster, Rector of Tullyaghnish, 1757-
1735, *John Lawson, Professor of Divinity, 1753, and of Oratory.
1736, Thomas Forster, *Brabazon Disney, *John Whittingham, and *Paul Read.
1737> Thomas M'Donnell, Rector of Derryvollen, 1744.
1738, James Knight was nominated by the Provost, (Dr. Baldwin,) and * Francis Stoughton Sullivan was duly elected a junior fellow.
1740, * Henry Mercier, Francis Andrews, (Jurist,) and Samuel Holt, and in 1744, *Theaker Wilder,
* Richard Radcliffe and * Joseph Grace.
1745, John Boswell.
1746, * John Stokes was nominated by the Provost, (Dr. Bald win,) * Thomas Leland, (translator of Demos- thenes, who wrote a History of Ireland, &c.,) and William Martin were elected.
1747, William Andrews.
1748, *John Hastings.
1750, * Richard Murray, Vice- Provost, 1782; Pro- vost, 1795.
1751, ^Christopher Hudson, and Hugh Hamilton, (Professor of Natural Philosophy,) Dean of Ardmagh, 1790 ; Bishop of Ossory, 1798.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 283
His Essay on the existence and attributes of God, is a work of deservedly high reputation. He also wrote many clever essays, which are published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. His work on Conic Sections displays great talent, combined with practical knowledge of the subject. That work has thus been mentioned by Euler, who first noticed it on the continent, in his celebrated work, The Analysis of Infinites. He says, " There are but three perfect mathematical works, these are by Archimedes, Newton, and Hamilton."
1753, * Thomas Wilson and James Stopford.
1754, * Robert Law, Rector of Lisneskea, 1766, and St. Mary's, Dublin.
1756, *Gabriel Stokes, Rector of Ardtrea, 1760. 1757) * Michael Kearney, Professor of History, Rector of Tullyaghnish.
1758, Edward Leigh.
1759, * William Dobbin, resigned on Enniskillen, 1768 ; and Patrick Palmer, (Jurist,) Professor of Law, in 1766.
1760, * Henry D'Abzac.
1761, * Patrick Duigenan, (Jurist,) Professor of Laws ; and William Clement.
1762, John Forsayeth, Archdeacon of Cork; * John O'Connor, Rector of Arboe ; and James Drought, Professor of Divinity, were elected; and in 1763, * Joseph Gray don, elected upon the new founda- tion; and * Joseph Stock, Bishop of Killala, 1798 ; of Waterford, 1810.
1764, * Henry Ussher, Andrews Professor of As- tronomy, and John Kearney, Provost, 1799 ; Bishop of Ossory, 1806.
1765, *Thomas Torrens, and *Gerald Fitzgerald, Vice- Provost.
1766, *William Richardson, and *John Ellison, Rector of Clonfeacle, 1783; Rector of Conwal, 1784.
1768, *John Waller, Rector of Raigh, 1791.
1769, *William Hales, Rector of Killeshandra, 1787.
284 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
1770, *George Lewis Shewbridge.
There occurred a lapse of four years without one election, from 1770 until 1774, when * William Day, (Rector of Drumragh and Killileagh in 1789,) was elected, and in 177-5, * Matthew Young, Professor of Natural Philosophy ; Bishop of Clonfert, 1799.
1776, *Digby Marsh.
1777, *George Hall, Provost, 1806; Bishop of Dromore, 1811 ; and * Arthur Brown, (Jurist,) M.P. for the University, and Prime Serjeant.
1778, *John Barret, Vice-Provost, Professor of Oriental Languages, Librarian, and Translator of a very ancient Greek MS. of St. Matthew's Gospel, &c., 1801.
1779, * Richard Stack, Rector of Cappagh, and
* William Hamilton, Rector of Clondevadoge. This gentleman was murdered by insurgents, in 1797, at the house of Mr. Waller at Sharon.
1781, John Buck, an Englishman, and * Thomas Elrington, Provost, 1811 ; Bishop of Limerick, 1820, and Leighlin and Ferns, 1822.
1782, * Francis Hodgkinson, (Jurist,) Vice- Provost, &c., 1804, and * Robert Burrows, Dean of Cork, 1818.
1784, *John Stack, Rector of Derryvollen, 1791.
1786, * Richard Graves, Professor of Divinity, 1814, Dean of Ardagh, and Rector of St. Mary's, Dublin.
1787, * Whitley Stokes, (Medicus,) Lecturer in Natural History, 1816 ; Professor of Physic, 1830.
1788, * William Magee, Professor of Mathematics, Dean of Cork, 1813; Bishop of Raphoe, 1819; Arch- bishop of Dublin, 1822; and author of the celebrated work " On the Atonement."
1789, * George Miller, nominated by the Provost ; Master of Ardmagh School, author of " The Phi- losophy of History," &c.
1790, *John Ussher, * Robert Phipps, (Jurist,)
* Robert Russell, Rector of Aghalurcher ; and * Joseph Stopford, Rector of Conwal, 1810.
1791, * Agmondisham Vesey Ward, and * John Walker.
FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 28J
1792, * Thomas Prior, Vice-Provost, 1833 ; and Henry Maturin, Rector of Clondevadoge, 1797-
1794, Cornelius Henry Ussher, Rector of Tully- aghnish, 1814.
1795, * William Davenport, Rector of Clonfeacle, 1823.
1796, * Richard Herbert Nash, Rector of Ardstraa, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy ; and Bartholomew Lloyd, Provost, 1831.
1798% * Samuel Kyle, Provost, 1820; Bishop of Cork, 1831.
1799, * William Cotter.
1800, * James Wilson, Rector of Clonfeacle, 1825; * Henry Wray, and * Arthur Henry Kenney, Rector of Kilmannan, 1810; Dean of Achonry, 1812; Rector of St. Olave's, Borough of South wark, London, 1820.
1801, Daniel Mooney.
1805, Francis Sadlier, Provost, 1838; Thomas Meredith ; and Charles William Wall, D.D., Professor of Oriental Languages, Librarian, Senior Dean, &c.
1807, Stephen Creagh Sandes, Bishop of Killaloe, 1831, and Philip Crampton, (Jurist,) Professor of Oratory, English and Feudal Law, and Chief Justice Common Pleas, Ireland.
1808, Richard M'Donnell, Bursar and Senior Proctor.
1809, Charles Hare, D.D.
1810, Charles Richard Elrington, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity ; Joseph Henderson Singer ; and Henry Griffen, (Rector of Clonfeacle.)
1813, Edward Hinks, (Rector of Ardtrea, 1819; of Killileagh, 1826) ; Richard Purdon, and Thomas Gannon.
1814, Thomas Romney Robinson, Rector of Ennis- killen.
a This year the rebellion was raging in Ireland, and had not at- tained its highest violence at the usual time for holding the Ex- aminations. The election was, therefore, with consent of the visitors, postponed until the return of peace. An Act of Parliament, however, was obtained for putting off the examinations until the October fol- lowing, and to save the charter, the Provost and Senior Fellows pro- ceeded to the Hall, on the 30th of May, but there not being any candi- dates present, both the election and examinations were deferred to the time specified.
286 FELLOWS OF THE UNIVERSITY.
1817, William Phclan, and James Kennedy, Rector of Ardtrea, 1830.
1819, Henry H. Harte, Rector of Cappagh, 1831.
1 820, James O'Brien, Archbishop King's Lecturer (Divinity), 1833; (Bishop of Ferns and Ossory, 1843.)
1821, John C. Martin, Rector of Killishandra, 1829 ; and Charles Boy ton, Rector of Conwal, 1833; of Tullyaghnish, 1836 (died 1844).
1822, Joseph Stack, John Blair Chapman, Rector of Ramochy, 1835.
1823, John Darley, Rector of Arboe, 1832.
1824, Humphrey Lloyd, D.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy, Senior Fellow, and Senior Lecturer, 1843.
1825, Mountif or d Long field, (Jurist,) Professor of Political Economy, 1833.
1828, Henry Kingsmill, Rector of Conwal, 1836.
1829, John Lewis Moore, D.D. ; Sam. John M'Clean.
1831, Thomas Luby,D.D., G. Sydney Smith, Rector of Aghalurcher, 1838; James Hen thorn Todd, D.D.
1832, John Meade, James M'Cullagh, (Jurist.)
1834, W. D. Sadlier, (A.M.)
1835, Andrew Searle Hart, (Jurist.)
1836, John Toleken, (Medicus,) Thos. M'Neece, Charles Graves.
1837, Samuel Butcher, Joseph Carson.
1838, John Adam Malet, Robert Vickers Dixon. Thomas Stack.
1839, G. M'Dowell, William Lee.
1840, J. H. Jellet.
1841, G. Salmon, W. Roberts.
1842, George Longfield, A.B.
1843, William Atkins, A.M., Rector of Tullyaghnish, 1844 ; Michael Roberts, A.B.
By the above list, we find that the total number of fellows elected in this college, from its foundation in 1591 to the present time, (1843,) a period of 253 years, is 387, or a very small fraction more than three fellows per two years ; a number barely sufficient to fill the se- veral college offices, and give instruction to the va-
JUNIOR FELLOWS' OCCUPATIONS. 287
rious classes: a circumstance seriously to be regretted; for with the great and various knowledge they possess, (had they leisure to apply their intellectual endow- ments practically,) many of these learned men would no doubt contribute largely and usefully to the stock of knowledge in the arts, sciences, and literature. And we think ourselves fairly borne out in this view of the subject, by referring to what has already been achieved by many persons educated here ; for it is now tolerably well known that some of the first literary cha- racters in the present and two preceding centuries re- ceived their education within the walls of this Uni- versity, of which institution many of them were fellows. In corroboration of this assertion, we have made out a catalogue of the works they have pro- duced, which list, though not quite perfect, will afford the best evidence on this point, both as to the high attainments of the authors, and their industrious exer- tions to make those talents and acquirements practically useful.
The number of junior fellows is, therefore, still in- sufficient to admit of their performing effectively the numerous and very important duties of this institution, and at the same time to allow them sufficient leisure for the purpose of deliberately combining and direct- ing their original thoughts, and of arranging for pub- lication the copious knowledge which they are con- stantly obtaining through their practical intimacy with the best sources of superior intelligence. Their ener- gies, however great, must be too much absorbed by their educational occupations, to admit them also to become authors of new works, which would require, in no ordinary degree, continuous and profound thinking. Consequently, to those who are correctly acquainted with the facts, it is more a subject of surprise than of disappointment, that this learned body should have con- tributed so much as we find they have done, to the stock of superior literature. And we think this fact may be fairly brought forward to prove the existence of great talents and mental energies amongst the members of this learned society ; which qualifications,
288 FELLOWSHIP EXAMINATIONS.
had they not been kept in abeyance by the tutors' con- stant occupation, would, as may reasonably be sup- posed, have produced numerous and valuable additions to the literary and scientific riches of the British em- pire.
In corroboration of those opinions, which, indeed, are generally entertained amongst the educated class in Ireland, it will be requisite to point out the works of merit which have been produced by the Fellows of this University ; and also those which are the pro- ductions of authors who were their pupils at various periods of its existence — at least so far as it may be possible to obtain correct information upon the subject. And from such statistics we hope it will be seen that very many of the fellows did not look upon the attainment of a fellowship, and its emoluments, as the ultimate ob- ject of their exertions and ambition ; rational and just in their views and principles, they have afforded noble and attractive examples, in guiding successive genera- tions along those elevated paths of moral, religious, and scientific education, which greatly benefit society, and often lead to the highest offices under the crown, both in church and state.
That our readers may be enabled to form a correct judgment, and therefore to appreciate the degree of talent and application necessary to qualify a student to become a candidate for the fellowship, it is indis- pensable that we should set before them an accurate account of the preparation requisite, and process adopted at these elections, all which are matters of great interest and importance in college, and always excite very considerable attention through- out society. It need scarcely be mentioned, that all those who enter the hall on the day of examination, to contend for this distinguished honour, do not suc- ceed in that object; and of late years few gain it in their first essay: indeed, generally speaking, so nicely balanced are the merits of the contending parties, that a small degree of superiority often decides the victory. Yet those who are unsuccessful derive a certain de- gree of credit, and also pecuniary rewards, according
FELLOWSHIP EXAMINATIONS. 289
to their merit in answering*. And so fair and honour- able are the principles and practice upon which this examination is conducted, that we have never heard, in the course of more than forty years' intimate know- ledge of this institution, one charge of partiality brought against the Board of Examiners. The unsuccessful candidates must naturally feel disappointed ; but they are too honourable, and have too high a sense of propriety, to suffer their feelings to get the better of their judgment, or to attribute improper motives to any one concerned in the decision.
The following course of examination will show how richly the mind must be prepared for the contest.
The election of this class of members of the uni- versity should be commenced, whenever there is a vacancy, (according to the statutes,) on the Wednesday immediately preceding Trinity Sunday, and must be public on the first, second, and third days ; it is held in the great hall of examination, and is always wit- nessed by some hundreds of persons, strangers as well as inmates of the college, who are greatly interested in the proceedings ; the fourth day is private, being reserved for Latin composition in prose and verse.
All the candidates must have taken a Bachelor's de- gree in Arts. The subjects of the examination are : —On the morning of the first day, Logics and Me- tapliysics, during which time they are examined in the following authors, viz. Bacon's Novum Organum, Ars cogitandi, Clericus, Locke, Berkeley, Read, Priestley and Harris.
In the afternoon, all the branches of Mathematics, viz. Algebra — The whole Theory of Equations — the text book, viz. Newton's Universal Arithmetic ; Hales's Analysis ; Lacroix, Algebre, et complemens d' clemens ; Lagrange, sur les resolution des equations numeriques. Trigonometry. — Woodhouse, Lacroix, Hamilton's Conic Sections, Lloyd's Analytic Geo- metry.
Second morning. Natural Philosophy > viz. New-
a These amount generally to from one to three hundred pounds and upward*. See Madden's Prizes, &c.
U
290 FELLOWSHIP EXAMINATIONS.
ton's Principia, (Physical parts,) also his Optics, and Lectiones Opticse ; Smith's Optics, and likewise Har- ris's ; Robinson's Mechanical Philosophy ; Playfair ; Laplace, Systeme du Monde ; Lagrange, Mechanique Analytique, Poison Mechanique, and some portion of the Mechanique Celeste.
Second evening. Ethics, viz. Cicero, Crellius, Bacon De Augmentis Scieritiarum ; Cumberland De Legibus Naturae. Conybeare's Answer to Tyndal ; Hutchinson on the Passions, on the Sublime, and on Moral Good and Evil ; Bishop King De Origine Mali ; Porteus, and Leland ; Butler's Analogy and Sermons ; Burlemaqui on Natural Law ; Brown's Answer to Shaftesbury ; Warburton on the Divine Legation ; Adams's Sermons on the Nature and Obligation of Virtue ; Paley on the Nature and Obli- gation of an Oath.
The third morning is occupied with History and Chronology. In the first part: Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Polybius, Plutarch, Montagu on the Causes of the Decline of the Roman Republic ; Montesquieu on Ancient Republics. In the second part: the chrono- logical works of Newton, Beveridge, and Hales.
The third evening is devoted to the whole series of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew literature.
From the above enumeration it will easily be per- ceived that, to succeed in this noble contest, the human intellect must be exposed to a very severe trial of its power and capacity for comprehending the great prin- ciples of human knowledge in their most extensive meaning; and of this fact, those persons will be the most competent judges, whose minds have undergone the highest and most judicious cultivation.
The unsuccessful parties generally make a second effort, and succeed ; others do not try again, but enter into one of the learned professions, and here they find the great advantage of having answered creditably at a fellowship examination.
The whole of the fellows were originally interdicted from matrimonial connexions, under pain of being de- prived of their fellowships.
THE STATUTE OF CELIBACYr. 29 1
% This portion of the college statutes has been a fertile source of controversy and discontent amongst the fellows of the University, from the time when the original ordinances of Elizabeth were revised and re- modelled by Archbishop Laud in 1637, until 1817, 57 Geo. III., when the Prince Regent, having been applied to by some influential parties, took the advice of the council of ministers, and caused a statute to be framed expressly to put an end to any further doubts or misinterpretations as to the privilege of marrying, which had been claimed and exercised by many of the fellows during the above period ; whilst others of them believed that the statutes of this college were prohibitory on the subject of matrimony, and similar to those of Oxford and Cambridge, in that respect. It was high time to establish some certain rule on this important business, since we find that a layman, George Mercer, M.D., elected 1670, and Vice- Provost, was deprived by Archbishop March for being married, and Thomas Squire, who had been elected a fellow in 1701, was deprived of his fellowship for marriage some years after, by Provost Peter Browne a, and many others were living in a state of clandestine matrimony, which necessarily made them subservient to the Pro- vosts, who frequently feigned ignorance of these connubial acts, until at last they became so frequent, that it was no longer considered unstatutable ; and Dr. Forsayeth, though an unmarried fellow, had dared to question the power of the injunction to celibacy ; and he was allowed to be well qualified to judge of the meaning of the University statutes. He strenuously supported the opinion, that the clause respecting the married fellows, only applied to those who were mar- ried previous to its enactment.
Dr. Matthew Young b also held that opinion, and confirmed his view of the case by taking a wife ; and on being threatened by the Provost ° with expulsion on account of his marriage, he told this superior officer
a Afterwards Bishop of Cork and Ross.
b Bishop of Clonfert, 1799.
L> The Right Hon. John Hely Hutchinson.
U 2
THE STATUTE OF CELIBACY.
that he denied his power in such cases, and defied its execution. How the provost got out of the dilemma is not recorded, but it is certain that Dr. Young con- tinued for several years after this to enjoy his fellow- ship, and only resigned it on his being made Bishop of Clonfert, by Marquis Cornwallis, in February, 1799.
Dr. Franc Sadlier, DJD., the present Provost, (1844,) who was elected a fellow in 1805, also main- tained the same matrimonial view and interpretation of the case as did Dr. Young and others, and this Dr. Sadlier did in practice, as well as theoretically. The author had the honour, in 1818, of receiving from his hands a correct copy of an essay, which he wrote at great length, in support of his side of the question. It is a very ably drawn up paper, in which the reverend doctor fairly shows, that although it may be possible that Archbishop Laud may have intended to place the fellows of this college under precisely similar restrictions, as to marriage, with the fellows of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, yet that he has not done so in plain intelligible language is evident enough on examining the statute of celibacy ; and to account for this want of clearness and precise mean- ing in the terms used, appears unaccountable, unless the primate intended that it should bear a double in- terpretation. The statute, however, which superseded Laud's, has fixed the subject in a manner so clear and precise, as to be quite intelligible to the most ordinary capacity.
The statute of Geo. IV., however, although so de- cidedly prohibitory as to its anti -matrimonial object, has since had the fate of many other statutes, having been consigned to the dust, amongst the abrogated parchments of " other days," and has been superseded by a statute which was granted to the University by Queen Victoria, (shortly after her marriage with Prince Albert,) by which the Fellows are allowed the privilege of marrying and retaining their Fellowships, and all the offices and emoluments connected therewith, in the amplest manner that they could desire.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF UNIVERSITY. 293
What the effect of this plenary indulgence in matri- monial speculations will be, it seems impossible to give a correct opinion : whether it will tend to make the University an arena for family compacts, collusion, and jobbing, which would render the true interests of the University and of superior learning matters of secondary consideration, or whether the college duties, for that is the only question worthy of attention, will be as well and as faithfully performed as they were previous to the existence of Queen Victoria's statute, time alone can prove. However speculative this matter may be, and the author is in possession of weighty ar- guments on both sides of the question, yet one thing is certain, and acknowledged to be so, which is, the honesty of mind and integrity of purpose by which Dr. Sadlier and those fellows who supported him in apply- ing for that statute were actuated ; and we are quite satisfied in believing, that should the disadvantages, just hinted at, display themselves unequivocally during the government of Dr. Sadlier, this just man and his supporters would be among the very first to memorial- ize the Crown for the abrogation of this statute.
CHAPTER IX.
SECTION I. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSITY.
HAVING now given to our readers a concise, though we believe a complete and accurate account of the various branches of classical and scientific know- ledge cultivated in this seat of learning, it is time that some account should be given of the archi- tectural taste and arrangement of its various build- ings, whether constructed for public business or do- mestic occupation.
This noble edifice, which is one of the finest structures of its class in Europe, consists at this time of a spacious quadrangle upon its original ground plan, with another
THE PRINCIPAL FRONT.
added in 1812, and the north and east sides of a new quadrangle, composed of handsome buildings, recently erected in the College Park, a little to the eastward of the great Square and " University Press Office."
The principal front of the University presents to the westward a spacious elevation of the Corinthian order, three hundred feet in length and sixty-five feet in height ; in fact, it occupies entirely the eastern side of College Green. The centre of this facade is adorned by four detached columns of the Corinthian order, placed on high pedestals ; the capitals of these columns are copied from a fine antique type, and support a suitable entablature, which is terminated by a bold angular pediment. The north and south extremities of this front are formed by two pavilions, projecting about ten feet from the curtain line ; these pavilions are ornamented in the centre by handsome Palladian windows, and on the projecting angles by coupled pilasters of the order mentioned, supporting an attic story surmounted by an elegant balustrade. There are some rich wreaths of fruit and flowers carved in bold relief above and below the large centre window, and the windows in the pavilions.
Some critics have thought that, in point of architec- tural beauty, it would have been better had this struc- ture been limited in height to three stories, instead of four, which it now has ; others think that the build- ing, from its great length, would have appeared mean, or of a very commonplace character, as compared to what an edifice of this description ought to be, and we know that quantity, as opposed to meagerness, is one of the essential qualities in architecture, as well as in the human figure, and indeed all the fine arts. Be- sides this, it would have been absurd to abandon the principle of real utility, for one of very questionable beauty. Here, however, as it appears to us, the princi- ples of beauty and utility have been united with con- siderable judgment, and whilst the educated eye looks with pleasure upon the elegant and classic character of this building, reason is satisfied that a sound discre- tion has been exercised on this occasion, in combining
THE PRINCIPAL FRONT. 295
solidity with good taste, and propriety with extensive usefulness. According to the original plan, the centre of this building was to have been crowned by a dome, and the absence of so noble a feature in a pile of build- ing which reminds us of the classic day of Italian archi- tecture, detracts much from the grandeur, and indeed fitness of purpose, which characterize this structure. Want of sufficient funds was, we believe, the cause of that unhappy departure from the original design ; but this frustration of a grand design, it is hoped by all who take an interest in the prosperity of this seat of learn- ing, will not much longer be allowed to remain, for critics to hold up as a reproach to the liberality and good taste of the governing powers who direct the affairs of this University.
Portland stone is the material of which the columns and pilasters which support the entablature of the pediment, and of the pavilions, with their enrich- ments, is composed, but all the ashlaring of the walls, and other parts of the masonry, are of a fine-grained granite, neatly wrought, particularly the dressings of the windows, arches, &c. This material has been quarried in the mountainous district of the county of Dublin, where it exists in immense masses of various qualities and textures, and can be prepared of any re- quired dimensions.
The centre of this front is perforated by a lofty arched entrance, through which you enter the vestibule that leads into the grand quadrangle. This vestibule is octagonal, about thirty feet in height, where it termi- nates in a groined ceilingwhich supports the floor of the museum. On the left side, as you enter the vestibule, is the porter's lodge, as it is called, and although it is but an humble apartment, and its occupants sober and discreet men, yet its influence is, by a certain class of students, technically known as " Town Haunters," considered more depressing and pestiferous than the vapours of Trophonius's cave, or those of the celebrated Grotto del Can?. When Great Tom has ceased to toll the hour of nine, this portal is closed, and then vigil- ance puts into activity her sharpest features, that
£96 THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM.
none may enter without being " noted down/' Argus might be, and it is believed was, deceived by Mer- cury's artifices ; but this winged messenger of Olym- pus would find it hopeless labour, we opine, to at- tempt the spreading of his drowsy influence over the dragon-like watchfulness of Argus's Irish descendants who guard this classic temple,
The Museum. — On the right side of the vestibule is the doorway opening upon the staircase that leads to the College Museum of Natural History and Antiqui- ties. This is a spacious, well lighted, and finely pro- portioned room ; it is sixty feet long, by forty feet wide, and thirty feet high, with a deep rich frieze and cor- nice. From the latter springs alight and elegant coved ceiling, tastefully ornamented with stuccoed pannelling*
In the museum department, considerable improve- ments have taken place within the last thirty years : numerous and valuable additions have been made to its miscellaneous collection. This museum was com- menced shortly after the completion of the grand front of the college, and in 1780, William Hamilton, A.M., was appointed to its curatorship. The systematic arrangement of the cases was originally the work of the Rev. Walter Stephens, who made a catalogue of the specimens, which was not published until 1807- This was corrected, and greatly enlarged in 1818, by Dr. Thomas Taylor. From these documents it ap- pears that the collection amounted then to 1200 articles ; to these 200 specimens have been collected from Greenland: they were given by the late Sir Charles L. Giesecke, Professor of Mineralogy to the Royal Dublin Society.
In 1831 the college purchased Mr. Knox's col- lection of minerals : this consists of several series, the principal of which is a general collection arranged and described by Sir C. L. Giesecke ; the others are a collection of rocks, one of Irish a, one of Italian, and one of American minerals ; one from the districts around Paris, and a diagnostic collection arranged
a Amongst these are specimens of gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, and iron found in Ireland.
ANCIENT IRISH HARP. 29?
chromatically ; these amount to about six thousand specimens. To these Mr. Graydon's collection of vol- canic products has been added, having been pur- chased by the college. This portion contains fifteen hundred articles ; and the whole collection of minerals amounts to more than nine thousand specimens.
There is also a large collection of the dresses, im- plements of war, and others for domestic purposes, used by the South Sea Islanders ; the greater part of which were collected by Lieutenant Patten, II. N., whilst he was circumnavigating with Captain Cooke. Dr. Conwell, of the East India Company's service, also presented to the museum a collection of East India corals, and various other subjects of Natural History. A collection of stuffed birds has also been accumulating for some time, and at present it amounts to more than 250: they are chiefly presents from amateur ornithologists.
The museum also contains several curious coins, and many Irish antiquities. These, though not nu- merous, are valuable and interesting. Amongst the ancient relics of art, are some well deserving atten- tion. The chief of these is, certainly, a handsomely formed Irish harp of ancient days. It is traditionally stated to be the harp of Brien Boroimhe, monarch of Ireland, whose army gave a total overthrow to the Danish forces, or Ostmen, on Good Friday, in the year 1014, at Clontarf, near Dublin; this king being slain at the close of the battle.
Opinions are divided as to the fact of this instru- ment being of so early a date, some antiquaries assert- ing that the workmanship of the silver ornaments upon it afford proof that it is of a later era : the question, however, is likely to remain undecided until some better evidence shall be brought forward at either side a. This harp is 32 inches high at the
a The following is an account of its pilgrimage, as extracted briefly from General Valiancy's " Collectanea." It appears that Donagh, the son and successor of Brian Boroimhe, being dethroned by his subjects, A.D. 1064, for his crimes, fled to Rome, to obtain expiation of his
298 CURIOUS RELICS OF ANTIQUITY.
sounding board, which is of oak, the arms are of red sally. There are still a good many silver ornaments about it; amongst these is the armorial bearing of "the O'Brien " Chief, a this is on the front arm, or staff. The instrument has keys and string-holes for twenty- eight strings, but the foot-board or pedestal on which the sounding board rested has been broken off. After almost countless adventures, it was presented to this college by the Right Hon. William Conyngham, in 1782.
Other curious relics of antiquity are, the " Charter Horn," or drinking cup of the O'Kavanaghs, Princes of Leinster, and the silver case in which St. Moling's copy of the gospels was kept ; these were presented to the college by the late Mr. Kavanagh of Burros in Ossory. Here are two handsome brazen vases, one found in county Donegal, the other near Gray Abbey, county Down ; also an instrument very similar to the Etruscan Crotalce. Six of these were found about sixty years ago, at Slane, county Meath. A fibula of large size and handsome appearance, found near Cashel. There are likewise several croziers, spear- sins, and carried with him the solid golden crown and the other regalia, and this harp, which he laid at the feet of the Pope, Alexander II. The wily Italian took them as a demonstration of a full submission of the kingdom of Ireland to the see of Rome, and under this very ab- surd pretence, Adrian IV., surnamed Brakspeare, an Englishman, in his bull for transferring Ireland to Henry II, , alleged this circum- stance as one of the principal titles by which he claimed the sove- reignty of Ireland. These regalia remained in the Vatican until Cle- ment X. sent the Harp, but not the Golden Crown, to Henry VIII. with the celebrated cartoons of Raffaelle, and the title of "Defender of the Faith." This circumstance of the pope bestowing what he had no right to, " the sovereignty of Ireland," upon the king of England, who was then one of his vassals, proves any thing but a claim to gratitude from the Irish people towards the Roman pontiffs. To be in any degree consistent, the " Repealers" should repudiate all subjec- tion to the Popes of Rome, as these were the real usurpers who first degraded Ireland from its national independence.
a The Red Hand, palewise, supported by lions. This harp is said to be much too small for the class of instruments " that once through Tara's Halls the soul of music shed." It is supposed to have been one of those which were used by the ecclesiastics at the cathedral services, processions, &c.
NATURAL HISTORY, ETC. 299
Leads, hatchets, and other weapons, consecrated bells, &c., &c.
Of the fossil remains, the most interesting certainly are the skulls, and some other parts of the skeletons, and the branching antlers of a species of deer, which must at some remote period have been rather numerous in Ireland ; but they have become extinct so long since, that these remains are all we have to prove their former existence. These horns are still occasion- ally found in the turf bogs, (peat mosses,) and even in meadow land, mostly of the alluvial formation ; they generally lie at a depth of from six or seven to fifteen feet below the present surface, and are most commonly in good preservation. Their length is from four to five feet and upwards along their main branch, but their extent across is from six to eight or ten feet, and we believe there is one at Castle Dillon, the seat of the Molyneux family, in the north of Ireland, which is twelve feet across from outside to outside of the palms at their broadest part, and the weight of these last mentioned is above fifty pounds, others weigh thirty or forty pounds.
The present improved state of this interesting re- pository is attributed, very justly, to the judicious ap- pointment of Dr. Stokes to the office of its curator : the choice could scarcely have been better, as the event has fully proved. It was also fortunate that Dr. Stokes had for a time the assistance of Dr. Thomas Taylor, whose intelligence and zeal in geological science was allowed to be very extensive.
The staircase leading up to this apartment is spacious, and its walls are adorned with many speci- mens of mechanic art and natural history. Amongst the latter are the horns of the gigantic Elk or Moose Deer, already noticed. A curious specimen of the alli- gator tribe. Ancient Irish swords, axes, arrows, and other implements of Celtic warfare. The Mohawk war- rior. Model of the Giants' Causeway, and some other articles have for some time past been placed in the great room. The old painting, however, yet remains upon the wall. This work of art appears to be nearly coeval
300 COLLEGE BUILDINGS.
with the scene it is intended to represent (in namely, the fort and harbour of Kinsalc, on the south-east coast of Ireland, with the Irish and Spanish garrison besieged by the English and Irish army a, under the lords Mount] oy and Clanrickard, at the moment that the Spanish troops in the field, led by Don Alonzo Del Campo, and the Irish forces under Tyrone and O'Donnel, made a daring attempt to raise the siege, but in which attempt they were de- feated with considerable loss ; a circumstance that was soon followed by the surrender of Kinsale, and eventually by the suppression of Tyrone's rebellion, which terminated in a few months after this event.
The visitor having left the museum, now passes through the vestibule, into the great square of the college, this fine quadrangle is nearly 600 feet in length, from the west entrance to the opposite side next the college park, and is about 212 feet in breadth : it was formerly divided centrically across its length by a range of brick buildings, extending from the library towards the refectory or new square. Those quadrangles were nearly of equal dimensions, the Parliament Square being the larger by about twenty yards. The name thus given to this square was intended to keep in remembrance the liberal grants which the Irish parliament voted toward the rebuilding the principal front, and general improve- ment of the college buildings.
The rear of the grand front, above described, forms the western boundary of this extensive area, and is also built of granite, with a portico, pediment, and columns similar to that in front : the north and south sides of the original Parliament Square are also con- structed with cut granite and equally well wrought masonry. These two flanks and the front are divided into twelve buildings of four stories each, containing nearly 200 apartments, in which several of the fellows
a It was this portion of the army that so nobly commenced the sub- scription mentioned at page 14, which laid the foundation of " that superb monument of learning," the Library of the University of Dublin.
THE COLLEGE CHAPEL. 301
and students arc lodged, and, on the average, each of these buildings can accommodate thirty students. There are four other buildings, similarly constructed, and connected to the east and west sides of the Chapel and Examination Hall, which four buildings are ex- clusively occupied by senior fellows. Formerly, pre vious to the removal of the range of brick buildings that separated this from the other quadrangle, called the Library Square, the Chapel and Theatre, or Hall, which exactly face each other on the north and south sides of this quadrangle, were the terminations to it. In their external appearance they exactly re- semble each other, both being of the Corinthian order. Each fa§ade is composed of a portico, of four elegantly proportioned columns of the Corinthian order, in Portland stone, the capitals of which are equally fine with those at the grand entrance ; these columns support an angular pediment, formed with equally good taste to the other parts, and of similar materials. The interior of the Chapel is eighty feet in length, exclusive of a semicircular recess, or apsis, of thirty-six feet diameter, at the east end: it is forty feet broad, and forty-four feet high, having an organ loft and gallery over the entrance. In the choir are four ranges of seats, rising gradually from the aisle to the side walls : the back row, which is the highest, is appropriated to the fellows. The walls are wainscoted with finely polished oak pannels to the height of twelve feet, over which is a broad surbase, from which spring the windows ; the piers between them are ornamented with coupled pilasters, fluted, and of the most enriched Ionic order: these are sur- mounted by a very richly ornamented frieze and cor- nice. Erom the latter springs the coved and groined ceiling, which is tastefully ornamented in stucco, par- ticularly the soffits of the elliptic arches, which, alter- nating with the groined arches, have a good effect. The building was not originally designed to have galleries, but the pupils have become so numerous that two galleries have been added, running the whole length of each side. They are supported by slender
302 THEATRE OF EXAMINATIONS.
iron pillars, and have an iron railing in front : their appearance is that of a temporary erection, and they do not add any thing to the original beauty of the place. The organ is a very fine one ; it was put up in 1798. The choir was established at the same time. The latter is composed chiefly of the same persons who constitute the choir of the two cathedrals, and probably is not surpassed in science, harmony, or executive power, by any similar establishment in the United Kingdom. In the ante-chapel is a marble slab with a Latin in- scription to the memory of Dr. Newcomb, Primate of all Ireland, A.D. 1793.
The Theatre of Examinations and Lecture Hall, as it is called, corresponds in its external appearance ex- actly with the chapel, but its interior arrangement is very different. In this structure, the pilasters are of the composite order : they stand singly on a rustic basement, ten feet high. This Hall has not any windows in the sides, but receives its light from three windows in the circular recess, or apse, at the upper end, and from a range of fan-shaped windows placed over the cornice, and corresponding with the five pannels between the pilasters. On each side, the six pilasters that divide the pannels and support the frieze and cornice, are handsomely ornamented with rich Arabesques without any fluting. From the cornice springs the ceiling, very richly ornamented in stucco, and coved similarly to the ceiling of the chapel. In the five pannels on the east side of the hall are placed whole-length portraits in oil : the first is Queen Elizabeth, the foundress, in a rich state dress ; the others are, Primate Ussher, Archbishop King, Bishop Berkley, and Provost Baldwin. In four of the pannels, on the opposite side, are, Dean Swift, William Moly- neux, Edmund Burke, and Fitzgibbon, Lord Clare. In the centre pannel is placed the very fine sculptured marble monument of Provost Baldwin. In this work the provost is represented in a recumbent position, resting on his left elbow, and holding in his hand a scroll supposed to represent a will, by which he be- queathed his fortune, amounting to near £80,000, to
PROVOST BALDWIN'S MONUMENT. 303
this university. His head, which is of a dignified cha- racter, is thrown a little backward, and looking up- ward with an expression of pious resignation, which is admirably represented : the extension of the right hand is quite in unison with the turn of the head, and leaves nothing wanted to complete the difficult subject. A female figure, emblematic of the university, bends over him in an attitude and with a countenance ex- pressive of the most tender grief; at his feet is an angel approaching him, holding in her left hand a wreath of palm, and looking on him with a counte- nance of ineffable benignity, points up to heaven. These figures, with the matress or couch on which they are placed, is of fine Carrara marble. Behind the figures rises a pyramid of dark-coloured Egyptian porphyry, which has a fine effect as a ground to the subject. The matress on which the provost reclines is supported by a very rich sarcophagus of black and gold marble, sus - tained at the lower corner on massive lions' claws ; these again, rest on a black marble plinth, which lies on a pedestal of the same material : all these are highly polished. In contemplating this splendid work of art, it is impossible not to be struck with the great elegance and propriety of the design : in our judg- ment nothing of this kind could be conceived more natural, chaste, or unaffected. To the beauty of the conception are added correctness in drawing and ele- gance of form, the whole conducted with a degree of care in the execution suitable to the subject, and which throughout displays the hand of the master. In sculpture, we have seen very few modern works that could rank higher than this, in any of the qualities that constitute elevated art.
This noble work is the production of Mr. Hewet- son, a native of Dublin, whose friends sent him to Rome, where he executed this monument, the expense of which was £2000. We lament to say that this artist of genius died in the prime of life, shortly after the great powers of his mind had begun to develop themselves in his art, which thereby suffered an incal- culable loss.
In the room over the ante-hall, is the old organ,
304 THE DINING HALL.
which belonged to the former chapel, and which, tra- dition says, was taken in a Spanish ship, and pre- sented to the college by the first Duke of Ormond. At the opposite side to the theatre, not directly in a line with it, but parallel to the chapel, and retired about forty feet from the line of its front, stands
The Refectory, or Dining Hall. — This is a de- tached building, in the lower part of which are the spacious kitchen, cellars, and other offices. It presents a handsome front, having an angular pediment, sup- ported by six pilasters of the Ionic order. The en- trance is approached by a flight of steps, the whole length of the front: this has a good effect. In the pediment is placed the clock, which strikes the time a quarter of an hour later than the town clocks, on purpose that the pupils may have an opportunity of getting into college in good time to avoid fines, &c. The dining room is seventy feet long, thirty-five feet broad, and thirty-five feet high ; it is wainscoted with oak pannel to the height of twelve feet, finished with a scotia moulding. Over this, on the east side, the win- dows, four in number, are placed; these are large, with semicircular heads, carried quite up to the cor- nice. At the north, or upper end, opposite to the en- trance, and over the fellows' table, is a Venetian win- dow of large dimensions ; these give plenty of light to the hall. The west side is without windows, but in- stead of them it is ornamented with circular-headed flat niches, seven in number. In each of these is placed a full-length portrait of some eminent public character who has graduated in this college ; they are habited in their academical robes, according to the degree they may have taken. Most of these post- humous paintings were executed during the provost- ship of Dr. Elrington, by an artist named Joseph, from London, who also painted portraits of Dr. Bar- rett and some others of the fellows then living ; for all which the artist was much more liberally rewarded than the merit of his works could have afforded any claim. The niches are finished with broad mouldings in stucco, and immediately over them runs a bold den- til cornice, of great depth and classic character.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S ROOMS. 305
From this cornice springs the ceiling, which is coved, for about ten feet from the cornice, throughout its whole length. The central portion of the ceiling is flat, and in it are ornamented apertures, through which are suspended large chandeliers.
The provost, fellows, resident masters, and fel- low commoners dine at the tables at the upper (north) end of the hall, whilst the scholars and pensioners are placed, according to their classes, at the other tables ; the sizars a come in and dine at the fellows' table, when the latter and the fellow commoners have retired from the hall.
The Historical Society's Rooms. — These apartments are situated over the vestibule or ante-room of this refectory, from which a spacious staircase leads to the large room in which the debates are carried on, and the other business of the society transacted, for which purposes it is sufficiently capacious. Posterior to the large room is situated a smaller one, which is used for committees, and where refreshments of tea and coffee are served to the members.
Having already given a sketch of this society's his- tory, of its rise, progress, fall and resuscitation, we have nothing further to add, except a few incidents which were overlooked in our notes.
Several of the junior Fellows, it appears, assisted the senior students in drawing up and settling a plan for the government of this society, the principal features of which are the following : All the Fellows were declared to be members ex officio ; all other members must be subjected to a ballot. No person whose name was not on the college books could be a member, nor could any student become a member until his junior sophister year. Any member who in- curred a college censure, ceased to belong to the
* Some fastidious persons have objected to this great distinction be- tween the sizars and other classes; but it should be known that with- out considerable College attainments no one can be a sizar, and as their manners and moral conduct generally harmonize with their knowledge in arts and sciences, they often attain to great eminence in the learned professions.
X
306 HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S ROOMS.
society. Each member, on his admission, paid a very moderate subscription. The objects which were es- pecially cultivated were History, Poetry and Oratory : examinations were held every quarter. On these occa- sions, the candidates for historical honours underwent a long and strict examination in Ancient and Modern History. At this time, also, the compositions in poetry were read carefully and compared, and the members who had exerted their powers in oratory, on the subjects discussed at the weekly meetings, had their claims likewise laid before the society; and each, in turn, was taken by ballot. Every successful candidate was presented by the chairman with a silver medal appended to a white ribbon ; on the medal was an inscription stating the subject for which it was obtained, with the name of the pos- sessor.
At the opening of the society's session in October, and on closing it in July, there was always a speech delivered from the chair, by one of the most dis- tinguished members, who for his exertions received the remarkable thanks of the society ; but when this speech proved to be very superior in taste and com- position, and was delivered in a corresponding style, the orator was honoured with a gold medal, and some- times they requested him to publish the oration. The society had purchased a good collection of books suit- able to their purposes : to this stock they continued to make additions annually from their surplus fund.
In 1792, the first of its vicissitudes befel this society. In that year, the last but two of Proves! Hutchin- son's life, the Board wished to interfere with their proceedings on a particular occasion, but that the members would not submit to ; the Board then met, and by a resolution dissolved the society in college. The formation of the once intern society in 1794, and the dissolution of the extern society in 1806, have already been mentioned ; also the dissolution of the new intern society in 1815, and finally its resuscitation in 1844, with every appearance of its permanency : for although past time cannot be recalled, yet as past errors may
HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S ROOMS. 307
by possibility be repeated, the real friends of this very interesting and useful society have every hope and confidence, that past experience, and consequently those just and rational views of the true position which it should maintain in the University, will be a sufficient guarantee against any recurrence of those mistakes by which its utility was checked, and its very existence long held in abeyance. We use this term advisedly, for it appears that, although twice under the ban of college authority, it always preserved a real existence, as we find by the speeches delivered at the openings and closings of various sessions, which have come into our hands occasionally*. (The society had chambers out of College.) We very much regret not being able to obtain copies of all those orations b, but from those which we have seen, we are decidedly of opinion, that the true spirit of practical improvement in history, poetry, and oratory, which characterized the Historical Society in its most palmy days0, has always, like the "sacred fire," been
a Only two of those publications are now in the author's hands, namely, that of W. Archer Bntler, delivered at the closing of the session of 1 834-5 ; and that of William Ribton, on opening the session 1835-6; both these were justly honoured by the thanks of the society.
b The author had several of these speeches, but having lent the greater part of them, has not the advantage of them at present. He greatly regrets that one of these publications, a debate on the pro- priety of abolishing the punishment of death, has got out of his hands ; it was sent to him as "Secretary to the Society for Diffusing In- formation on the Criminal Code." The debate was a most interesting one, and displayed the true spirit of justice combined with humanity.
c Well aware of the capabilities and integrity of the judges to whose examination their works were to be submitted, the members would not venture to deliver a hasty speech, or produce a composi- tion not maturely considered. Their close reading and examination of all the available authorities, gave them habits of industry; it extended their knowledge whilst it concentrated their ideas; it drew them from the paths of unmeaning levity and enervating pleasure, to those of quiet mental exertion and invigorating knowledge. Within this sanctuary were developed and exercised the early efforts of talent that in mature years have shone conspicuous in the senate, the pul- pit, at the bar, and in the field of military renown, as the names of Magee, Moore, Wellington, Spencer, Hutchinson, Plunket, Curran, Doyle, Donoghmore, Wellesley, Bushc, and others fully testify.
x 2
308 PARLIAMENT SQUARE.
kept alive — nourished, unquestionably, by the remem- brance of
" the mighty dead, That rule us from their urns."
Transferred, therefore, as this noble and ennobling spirit will be, into the renovated system of the society, we cannot hesitate to believe, that it will prepare and send forth into public life numerous men of cultivated talents, who will prove themselves to be the legitimate and worthy successors of "the great departed," whom they so wisely emulate, and whose memories are en- rolled amongst the imperishable records of Fame.
SECTION II.
When the old Chapel and Hall were taken down in 1796, a large space which they occupied was left open in the range of brick buildings parallel to the front, and which separated the Parliament Square from the Library Square. In this space it was intended to erect a triumphal arch of the Doric order, with side passages. This arch was to have supported a square tower with four circular-headed windows, ornamented with Corinthian columns and pilasters surmounted by colossal urns. In this tower was to have been placed the great bell, (which is considered to be the finest in Ireland,) and the clock. The whole edifice was to have been finished with a lofty obelisk of an octagonal form ; but this design is quite given up.
The old Library Square has merged in the Parlia- ment Square ; it was 270 feet long by 220 feet broad, bounded on three sides by brick buildings, except the opening above mentioned: the south side was formed by the north face of the library. The brick build- ings in this square were eighteen in number, capable of accommodating sixteen pupils each : at No. 32, were the rooms which Dodwell and afterwards Oliver Gold- smith occupied*. These have recently been pulled
a A set of chamhers in this huilding was allotted to the late Syd- ney Taylor, and George Downes, on their obtaining the foundation scholarships ; and in these chamhers were wont to assemble of an
LIBRARY BUILDINGS. 309
down and entirely removed ; other buildings, however, and in an elegant taste, have been erected in the park to accommodate the pupils.
The Library. — This fine edifice was opened in 1732, having been about twenty years in building ; its basement story, except the pavilion at each end, is a piazza, or arcade, open to the north and south, but divided longitudinally by a wall, which materially assists in supporting the immense weight of books in the great room. Jn this wall is a door to admit the fellows into their garden and promenade, on the south side ; the piazza on the north being only for the pupils. The walls of this building are of solid brick- work, four feet thick, faced originally, except the piers of the piazza, with well cut sand-stone, which, though perfect in some parts, had suffered so much in general from the action of the weather, that the whole of it (with the balustrading above the cornice) was re- moved and replaced by a new ashlaring of granite, of a fine hard texture. The balustrade was renewed with a similar kind of stone. The piers and arches of the piazza are faced with a black building stone, called calpe, found a little to the westward of Dublin. On this, though exposed more than 110 years, there is not the slightest indication of decay. The plan of the building is simple, being merely an extended centre terminating at each end in a projecting pavilion, in the same taste. The lower part of the eastern pavilion is composed of two large apartments, called the Astro- mony and Natural Philosophy Schools, being appro- priated to the lectures on these two sciences. The lower part of the western pavilion is occupied by the
evening the late Rev. Charles Wolfe, author of the poem on the death of Sir John Moore, £c., the Rev. Samuel a and the Rev. Mor- timerb O'Sullivan, Dr. Dickenson, late Bishop of Meath, A. Russel, (Archdeacon of Clogher,) G. A. Grierson, LL.D. and other "premium men," to enjoy the feast of reason and the flow of soul, and certainly nothing in college life could he more delightful : wit, learning, and good humour were the characteristics of those social parties.
a Author of the work " On Divine Providence."
b Master of Ardmagh School, and an eminent preacher (now D.D.).
310 THE GREAT ROOM.
vestibule and a large room called the Law School, or "lending library," in which are deposited the books appropriated to that purpose according to the will of Dr. Gilbert, for which purpose he bequeathed £2450. The collection of books in it now seems to be worth more than that sum, which could hardly be expected, from the wear and tear of them in the lapse of a cen- tury.
The junior dean has the care of this library: to him must those students apply who wish to borrow books, and this officer is to receive a deposit to the full value of the work, of which he has a priced catalogue : if any book lent is spoiled, or not returned within a given time, the deposit is forfeited, but if returned ac- cording to engagement, there is no expense whatever to the borrower. In this room also, the law lectures are given, and generally those on divinity ; the examin- ations in the latter are also held here. In the vesti- bule is the great staircase leading up to the library and librarian's room ; this last is outside the great room, and exactly over the law school. The staircase is suit- able to the magnitude of the building ; it is six feet broad, with mahogany balusters, richly carved. At the top of this staircase, a pair of large folding doors open into the great room.
The Great Room. — On entering this noble apart- ment, it is impossible not to be struck with the grandeur of the appearance: its length is 210 feet, its breath 41 feet, height to the ceiling 40 feet : it is divided into forty stalls, twenty on each side, with a passage in the centre 24 feet wide; the stalls are squares of eight feet, each fitted with a window, desks, and seats, and two rows of shelves to the height of 26 feet, on
O
which the books are deposited. On each side of the room are twenty-four pilasters in varnished oak of the richest specimen of the Corinthian order, fluted; these support the gallery, which is continued all round the room. Over the entablature is a handsome range of balustrades, divided into equal compartments by con- tinuous pedestals rising from each pilaster ; on these
THE FAGEL LIBRARY,
THE FAGEL LIBRARY. 311
pedestals plinths are placed, for the purpose of being crowned with white marble busts a of the great literary and scientific men, of ancient and modern times. This idea, wherever it may have originated, was a good one, because it is in harmony with the spirit of the place, and in good taste as a matter of architectural and pic- torial arrangement, forming a classical and appropriate termination to the upper line of this splendid apart- ment, which contains above 100,000 printed volumes. The line of busts, however, not being complete, se- veral of the pedestals remaining still unoccupied, the effect we would refer to is of course imperfect, and must be so, until a bust shall occupy each pedestal : there are at present but few vacancies, and these are likely to be occupied at no distant period. At pre- sent, there are twenty-five of these stations adorned with the busts of Homer, Socrates, Demosthenes, Cicero, Aristotle, Plato ; Drs. Baldwin, Clement, Gilbert, Lawson and Clayton ; Shakspeare, Milton, Francis Bacon, Ussher, Locke, Newton, Swift, Boyle, Delany and Parnell. Some of these busts are copies from the best antique, and modern sculptures, others are originals of late dates, but the greater part are the works of Irish sculptors, and do credit to their taste and skill as artists. In niches at each side of the entrance to this room are white marble busts of the Earl of Pembroke and Lord Percy, both of whom were students here, and benefactors to the library; at the east end, in similar niches, are busts of his Ma- jesty King George III., and of the present Duke of Cumberland, who is Chancellor of the University. At this end, also, are large folding doors to correspond with the principal entrance ; these open into the large room in the eastern pavilion, in which is arranged
The Fagel Library. — This splendid collection of choice literature formerly belonged to the Pensionary Fagel, of Holland ; he had been all his life collecting
a Long since the above MS. was written, this plan has been changed, and pedestals have been placed on the floor of the library, against the pilasters ; and to these the marble busts have been trans- ferred from the gallery above, and some others have been added.
312 THE MANUSCRIPT ROOM.
it. When Holland was threatened with a French in- vasion, in 1794, he very prudently sent this superb selection of books to London, where it was, some years afterwards, brought to sale by his heirs. Agents from many parts of Europe were authorized to give various large sums for it ; even Bonaparte was desirous to add this library to the stock of rare literature in France ; but this college offered at once 8,000 guineas, British currency for it, and they were declared to be the pur- chasers*. In the year 1802, the above sum was given to the college for this purpose by the trustees of the late Erasmus Smith's estates, " bequeathed for chari- table uses, and the promotion of learning."
This apartment is 52 feet long, 24 feet broad, and 22 feet in height, but without a gallery. The books are piled up to the cornice. They number about 17,600 volumes; many of them are very fine editions, and most of them scarce and valuable. This room, except in not having a gallery, is fitted up in a manner exactly similar to the great room ; the finely wrought oak pilasters and ornaments in both are handsomely varnished, so as to resemble mahogany.
The staircases leading up to the gallery of the great room are at the west end. The gallery is eight feet broad, with a rich cornice supported by twenty- four pilasters, to correspond with those below ; the number of pedestals is equal to the pilasters ; several of them are without busts, and thirty others support white marble busts, as stated before.
At the east end of the gallery, exactly over the Fagel Library, is the Manuscript Room. In this apartment are preserved more than twelve hundred MSS., mostly very rare and valuable, and in various languages ; they are contained in fourteen classes, the first seven of which, viz. A, B, c, D, E, F, and G, contain MSS. collected by Archbishop Ussher, and were presented to the college by the Irish House of Commons, though they are said erroneously to be a gift from King Charles II. Class F. contains the donation given by
a This transfer was negotiated by Mr. Cadell, of the well known house of " Cadell and Davis," in the Strand, London.
THE MANUSCRIPTS. 313
Dr. Stearne, Bishop of Clogher. Class G. the gift of Sir Jerome Alexander.
Amongst the five other classes of MSS., there are several donations; the remainder were purchased by the college at different times. These treasures are not permitted to be taken out of this room, nor even inspected in it, except in presence of the librarian ; neither is this apartment opened for reading, in the same manner as the outer library ; it is never permit- ted to be opened unless in the presence of the libra- rian. These measures are required by the college sta- tutes, and are diligently observed, in order to preserve the MSS. and render them as authentic documents as possible. There is a catalogue of this collection drawn up by Dr. Lyon, A.M., about A.D. 1745 ; it is very well arranged ; the author had the advantage of the . earlier catalogues to assist him. But as several MSS. have been presented to the college or purchased by its funds since that time, the late librarian, Dr. Barrett, D.D., Vice Provost, and his successor, Dr. Wall, have taken care to enter them at the end of the catalogue, with every particular relative to them, that came to their knowledge. It is also to be observed, that though these MSS. are in very good condition, generally speaking, yet they are extremely difficult, in many in- stances, to be read, owing chiefly to the various con- tractions of the words used by their different writers ; to which cause it is chiefly to be ascribed, that the public have not derived so much advantage from con- sulting them as they otherwise might have done, for the college has, upon every proper occasion, permitted the most free and liberal access to all those who wished to consult and inspect them. The classification of the seven first series of MSS. are thus designated in the catalogue, viz. —
A. Complectitur Biblia sacra et partes bibliorum cum commentariis et concionatoribus.
B. Complectitur breviaria, MSS. alia et ecclesia Romanse ritualia, Patres sanctos et scriptores orientales.
c. Complectitur, Patres S. scriptores systematicos scholasticos, Polemicos et alios theologos.
THE MANUSCRIPTS.
D. Complectitur catalogos philosophos, medicos, mu- sicos, historicos, oratores, poetas veteres, et recentiores etiamque Usserii scripta partim edita, partim non edita.
E. Complectitur genealogias atque res historicos Britannise, et Hibernise, tarn civiles, quam ecclesi- asticos.
F. Complectitur codices ejusdem argumenti et theo- logos quondam ex donis Reverendi admodum Johamris Episcopi Chlochor. The above valuable donation, mostly relating to Ireland, was made by tbe bisbop when vice-chancellor of the University, in 1741 ; many of them had been collected by John Madden, and they are mentioned in the printed work by Tanner, en- titled, "CatalogusMSS. Anglise et Hibernia3." Oxon.
1697-
G. Complectitur historicos et theologos cum MSS. quondam Hieronymi Alexander, Equitis auratis, quse tractant precipue de rebus forensibus et juridicalibus a.
a Among the number of valuable and interesting MSS. in the Irish character and language in this collection, is a very beautiful transcript of the Gospels; it is designated " The Book of St. Columbkill." On the cover is a silver plate, the inscription on which is said to be by St. ColumbkhTs own hand.
Here is also " Plunket's Glossary of the Irish, Latin, and Bis- cayan Languages," compiled about 1662; it throws a strong light upon the real derivations of words, which so many of our etymo- logists have so strangely confounded.
" The Annals of the Four Masters " are also very valuable Irish MSS., for they are generally allowed to be the most accurate, con- sistent, and valuable compilations towards a history of Ireland, that are at present known in the Irish language. These are called, also, " The Annals of Donegal," from their having been transcribed in Donegal, by some learned friars, in 1636.
The author begs leave to mention here, on the authority of Mura- tori, the existence of an Irish MS., called " The Bangor Antiphonary," written about 1150 years ago; it was, when M. wrote, in the Am- brosian Library, at Milan, where it probably remains. In that work, St. Patric is distinctly mentioned. This fact, with the other evidence, especially that brought forward by Ussher and some others, would go far to remove the doubts of that Saint's existence, which a few writers have entertained from Bede's silence on this subject. The latter was born in 678, but the MS. mentioned appears to have been written an- terior to that epoch. In that valuable repository of literary memorials, " Bishop Nicholson's Irish Historical Library," a detailed account will be found of the chief part of the MS. Psalters, Annals, and Poems of
DR. BARRETT'S DISCOVERY. 315
In 1748, Major Clanaghan, of Gibraltar, presented to the college a Hebrew MS. of the Pentateuch, and another MS. of some of the prophets, both of which he received from a Jew, in Africa.
In 1787, Wm. Dygges Latouche, Esq., presented to the college five valuable Persian MSS.
In 1806, the Right Honourable the India Com- pany presented a fine copy of the " Shah Nam ah," and a copy of the Koran, both very valuable, particu- larly the latter, which the Persian ambassador, Abn Hassen, on his visit to this library, in 1720, valued at 1,000 guineas. Sir John Sebright presented thirty- nine MSS., some of them extremely curious and inter- esting to Irish historians.
One of the most curious and interesting MSS. in this fine collection is, apparently, nothing more than a monkish legend of the 13th century, written on vellum, in the common Greek letter of that era. It is rather a thick book, small quarto size ; its cover is composed of two pieces of red deal, strongly varnished. It lay here neglected a very long time, until the late Dr. Barrett, Vice- Provost and librarian, looking at it one day attentively, thought he saw some letters under the modern writing ; this excited his active mind to exa- mine it, and the result, after some years of most per- severing assiduity, was his clearly discovering a considerable part of St. Matthew's Gospel, a portion
Ireland ; these amount to some hundred pieces. Since the Bishop's day, several others have heen discovered, chiefly by the efforts of the Royal Irish Academy and the Gaelic Society, by whom many have been published, and others are in preparation. Dr. Johnson's views on this subject are worthy of being recorded. — In a letter to Charles O'Connor, he says, " I have long wished that Irish literature was cul- tivated in Ireland, — and surely it would be acceptable to all those who are curious, either in the origin of nations or affinities of lan- guages, to be further informed of the revolutions of a people so an- cient, and once so illustrious." Edmund Burke, also, in his cor- respondence with General Vallancey, constantly recommended that the originals of these MSS., with literal translations into English, should be published ; for he justly observes, " until something of this kind be done, the ancient period of Irish history, which precludes official records, cannot be said to stand on any proper authority. A work of the kind, carried on by the University and a society of anti- quarians, would be an honour to the nation."
316 CODEX MONFORTIANUS.
of Isaiah, and some orations of Gregory Nazianzene ; all written in the Uncial Greek letter, probably about the middle of the second century. This volume has been published by authority of the provost and board, at a great expense, for they got a copper plate en- graved for each page : these give a critical resem- blance of the writing of the original (square) Greek, for it was not possible to obtain any type of that cha- racter without incurring, perhaps, a greater expense in getting one cast for this purpose. The work is so arranged that you have the original (ancient) text on one page, and opposite to it a version in the common Greek ; and at the bottom of each page are copious notes in Latin, with numerous references. It is a work that displays the uncommon erudition, perse- verance, and acuteness in research of its learned editor, who showed himself well deserving the thanks of every lover of classic literature, for rescuing so valuable a portion of ancient learning from oblivion.
Here is also the celebrated Codex Monfortianus, in Greek, which gives the contested verse in St. John's 1st Epistle, 5th chapter, 7th verse, as it is in our translation a.
Likewise a copy of the four Gospels, with a con- tinued commentary in Greek, written in the ninth century.
Here is also a very curious MS. map of China, near five feet square. It displays no great knowledge of the geographic science ; the writing is in the Chinese character.
A copy of an engraved map of Galway, which was
a " For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost : and these three are one/'
This book is also known as, " The Codex Britannicus :" it was written early in the 15th century. With regard to the verse above quoted, it must be observed that Luther never allowed it to be printed in his Bible, because he did not think it genuine ; neither does it appear that as yet any ancient Greek MS. has been found which contains it. Wettstein examined as many as eighty-seven without finding this verse. Vide Marsh's Michaelis, Vol. IV. sects. 1 to 7. Camb. 1801; also Hewlett's Commentaries, Vol. XX. chap. v. p. 165.
MEDALS AND COINS. 317
made by order of King Charles I., to show the con- venience and beauty of that city, to the Prince Palatine (of the Rhine), who intended to settle in it. This map is six feet square, in piano-perspective.
The Numarium. — This is contained in two large iron presses in this room. The collection of coins is numerous, but not quite complete. There are gold, silver, and brass series, the impressions on some of them very fine ; there is also a good variety of medals of various nations, some of them are amongst the best specimens that are to be had ; in fact, it is a choice collection, but having until lately been kept from the public inspection, it has consequently been of very little use to collectors or writers of this class. The judgment displayed in collecting it is highly credit- able to the memory of Dr. Claude Gilbert, who be- queathed this collection to the college. In this room is a large library book-case, called Bibliotheca Quiniana : it is full of printed books of the most valuable kinds, bequeathed by the late Dr. Quin, M.D., in 1805.
In the east wall of this room, are inserted two bassi relievi of female heads, in white marble, they are pro- bably portraits, the ordinary size of nature ; they are the gift of Dr. Pococke a, Bishop of Ossory. The fol- lowing information relating to them we discovered in Gudius's Antique Inscriptions: Art, 13. " Smyrnce in domo cujusdam Grceci Zacharice nomine duce mu- liebres imagines sculptce adfabre et incorruptce altera
cum ha>c mscriptione....KA^ ATSlMAXHN . THN 3>UANAPON O OPERAS ©HATMITPHS : altera cum hcec inscriptione....^}™ NEAN MTH2IHNIIOAIN... TIA2 ATTIKO2."
Students of the college are not allowed to read in the library until they obtain their Bachelor's degree in Arts ; at that time, if they choose to take what is termed the library oath, they are free of it. Persons, not students, are allowed that privilege on the same terms, if they can shew that they are engaged in any work of arts or sciences that require such aid ; but to obtain this privilege, they must get a certificate
a The Celebrated Oriental Traveller.
318 "MUNDUS ET INFANS."
properly drawn up and signed by a senior and a junior fellow, in which it must be distinctly stated, that they, having personal knowledge of the character of the applicant, consider him a proper person to be ad- mitted to read in the library. These precautions may seem illiberal to strangers, but they do not appear so to those who are better acquainted with the nature and history of the Institution. To set this matter in a clearer light, it may not be improper to state, that a person who was employed by the Board to assist in making out a new set of catalogues, finding that great confidence was placed in him, as must be the case on all such occasions, did foolishly and meanly take the worst advantage of this favourable feeling, and pur- loined several of the choicest work$, and disposed of them for much less than their current price. He had continued this practice for some time without being discovered, but at last he was overtaken. It appears he purloined the rarest book in the library, the title of which is " Mundus et In fans" It was the first work printed in England a, and there are only two copies of
a By Wynkyn de Werde. Unfortunately this is not the only instance in which dishonest men have succeeded in abstracting valu- able books or MSS. from this library; another remarkable instance of which we mention, to shew how very strict the appointed guardians of these treasures should be, with regard to the characters and conduct of persons to whom they allow the privilege of examining these valuable works.
The circumstance we allude to, was the complete abstraction of the celebrated Irish MS., known as the Leabhar Leacain, or " Book of Leacan," so named from a town which was the residence of the hereditary antiquarians of Ireland. The book contains a large number of Irish treatises, mostly historical. This valuable MS. had long been in this library, (and it is considered a high authority, by Ussher, O'Flaherty, and other eminent writers,) when suddenly it disappeared, but the precise year of this event is uncertain, for Llhuid, in his Archeeologia, printed in 1707, notices this manuscript particularly, and even enumerated its contents ; and in the preface to O'Connor's translation of Keating's History of Ireland, printed at Dublin, in 1723, he distinctly states that he obtained the perusal of this book for six months, on giving £, 1000 security for its safe return : this was correctly done.
The manner in which this book was furtively removed from College, is still as great a mystery as ever, although several versions of that fact are recorded ; which, as they may be interesting to many
" MUNDUS ET INFANS." 319
it extant, the other being in the library of the King of France. This volume he sold to a house in Pater- noster Row, for £300. The purchasers did not know where it came from, or even the person of the vendor, as the business was transacted by letter. The pur- chasers of course put it in their catalogue of old books. A copy of this catalogue being seen by the college bookseller, (Mercier,) he mentioned this curious item in it to the Vice-Provost, (Dr. Barrett;) they were both astonished, and searched the library most care- fully ; the book was gone ; but nothing could give a clue as to how it went! At last the bookseller wrote to the house above mentioned, stating the circumstance, and requesting to know how this book got into their hands. This request the party complied with at once,
of our readers we here subjoin. In the first place, it is stated by the Abbe M'Geohegan, in his History of Ireland, that James II. caused a great manuscript folio volume, called " The Book of Leacan," to be taken from Trinity College, Dublin, and deposited in the Irish College at Paris, of which a formal notice was then executed before public notaries. Yet it appears that this very book was in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, thirty-three years after 1690, the year in which King James fled to France from Ireland.
General Vallancey mentions in his " Green Book," that about the year 1778, Dr. Raymond lent a manuscript volume out of the library of Trinity College, Dublin, to a person of the name of Thady Naghten ; this book was stolen from Naghten by a man named Egan ; the latter gave it to his master, Judge Marlay, in whose library it was at his death, from whence it was by some unknown means conveyed to the Lombard College at Paris.
Dr. Aherne, Professor of Theology in Maynooth College in 1797, was, previous to the French Revolution, Professor in the Irish College : he became a member of that community in 1 740. He was informed by some seniors of that College, that the Book of Leacan was originally brought there by an Irish priest; who being a well known proficient in the Irish language, prevailed on the librarian of Trinity College, Dublin, to lend him the vellum manuscript on the deposit of a sum of money, not being able to find other security. Implicated in the troubles of the times, soon after, he was obliged to decamp suddenly from his country. He carried with him this borrowed book, which he deposited in the above Irish College at Paris.
A transcript of it was afterwards promised to the Dublin Society, but was never completed. It remained in the Lombard College at Paris, until 1788, when it was presented by the Heads of that seminary to the Royal Irish Academy, where, after so many ad- ventures, it is now safely deposited.
320 TIME ALLOWED FOR READING.
by sending him the original letter that accompanied the hook. That cleared up the point ; the board found this letter to be in the handwriting of the per- son they had confided in ! He got a message to attend the board, but suspecting the cause, he fled the country, and has not been heard of since. Mean time the book was sold to a third person, and the college demanded their property, which it appears occasioned some negociation, which at last, it is said, terminated in their agreeing to remunerate the first purchasers on their restoring the book.
TIME ALLOWED FOR READING.
The library is open every day, Sundays and vaca- tion excepted, from 8 o'clock in the morning until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There are not now any of those idle times called " Saints' days" allowed here; no single holidays being kept, but a vacation of six weeks, at the end of summer, has been adopted in lieu of them, besides the old vacation by statute, which closes the library from December 23rd to January 14th, each year. This is certainly a very considerable improve- ment as compared with the former system : it confers advantages upon literary men for which the provost and senior fellows deserve their most sincere thanks.
The library offences punishable are, 1st. For any person refusing to give his name, when asked by the librarian : this subjects the offender to exclusion from the library. 2nd. For writing over or upon a book, even though the book should have sustained no injury: this makes the offender liable to a fine of five shillings for the first offence, ten for the second, but if detected a third time, to exclusion; and should the book have been injured, the offender is fined double the value of the book. 3rd. Those who by carelessness or intention- ally displace books, or neglect to restore them to their proper shelf, are liable to a fine of three shillings, and if the offence be persisted in, the offender is pu- nished at the discretion of the Provost and Senior Fellows.
BENEFACTORS TO THE LIBRARY.
SECTION III. BENEFACTORS AND DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY.
It is rather a curious circumstance, that the first donation of any great value, which was made to this library, should be the private collection of Primate Ussher himself; and it may fairly be said, that it was wonderfully preserved through extraordinary vicissi- tudes ere it was finally deposited in the college library. And it is also singular that for this munifi- cent gift, as well as for the original founding of this library, literature is indebted to the officers and sol- diers of the army serving in Ireland. To understand this matter clearly, it is necessary to go back to the time when Archbishop Ussher left Ireland. This was about the end of the year, 1640, when he went to England upon some matters of public business, and in October of the following year, that memorable rebel- lion broke out in Ireland, which in its consequences were so disastrous to that country. During the early part of this turmoil, almost the whole of the Primate's property was subjected to the devastations of the insur- gents ; his books, however, remained untouched ; he had them sent over to Chester, and soon afterwards to London. In 1642, Ussher was selected to act as one of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, but being staunch to his principles, he not only refused to attend, but openly preached against their proceedings at Oxford. For this exercise of his right of free opinion, the large portion of his library which he had left behind him at Chelsea was confiscated, by order of the House of Commons ; but here his particular friend John Selden, through the assistance of Dr. Featly, obtained permission to purchase them as if for himself*, though really for the purpose of restor-
a Selden also saved from dispersion the valuable collection of books in the library of Lambeth Palace. The same " Commons House " had ordered them to be sold, as the private property of the then living Archbishop ; but Selden proved to them, that the Lambeth
Y
322 BENEFACTORS TO THE LIBRARY.
ing them to their original owner, in whose possession they remained until his decease in 1655, when, al- though he had originally destined this then invaluable collection for Trinity College, Dublin, the misfortunes brought upon him by the times, caused him to bequeath them to his only surviving- child, Lady Tyrrell, who was in narrow circumstances with a numerous family. In a short time afterwards, agents from the King of Denmark and the Cardinal Mazarine made this lady very handsome offers for the purchase of the library; Cromwell, however, issued an order prohibiting the late Primate's family from selling it without his con- sent, and refused to permit its being sent out of the kingdom. In a short time afterwards, the officers and soldiers then serving in Ireland, being desirous, as it seems, of emulating the conduct of the Irish army in the time of Elizabeth, and, as it has been stated, assisted secretly by Cromwell's purse, pur- chased the whole of the books, rare manuscripts, and coins, for £22,000 ; for the purpose of presenting them to the University of Dublin. However, by the time the collection arrived in that city, Cromwell de- clined to allowr the intentions of the donors to be car- ried into effect, assigning as a reason for his conduct, that he intended to found a new hall or college, in which the collection might be more conveniently pre- served separate from all other books. Therefore, the library was deposited in the castle of Dublin, where it was much neglected, and a number of valuable books and MSS. were stolen or destroyed. On the restoration, however, King Charles II., at the request of the Irish Parliament, ordered the remainder of this library to be delivered over to the University, in ac-
collection of books, pictures, and manuscripts was not private but public property, and that therefore it could not be confiscated. It is still a valuable library, and has been an object of great solicitude to the present Archbishop, (Dr. Wm. Howley,) who has expended considerable sums of money in renovating the building, which has been by these means rendered useful and ornamental. The present librarian (1844) is the Rev. Mr. Maitland, A.M., to whom the author feels much obliged for his friendly attention, on those occa- sions when he had to examine some documents there.
BENEFACTORS TO THE LIBRARY. 323
eordance with the generous intentions of the original purchasers.
In 1674, Sir Jerome Alexander, a judge of the Common Pleas in Ireland, left his whole collection of law and other books to the college, with £100 to fit up a proper place for them; also the MSS. in class G. as mentioned before.
Dr. Wm. Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel, who had been a Fellow of this college, and had been always a liberal benefactor to it, left by will above 4,000 volumes to this library in 17^6. These are placed in the west side of the great room, and are styled BibliothecaB Palliserianse.
Dr. Claudius Gilbert, who had been Vice- Provost and Regius Professor of Divinity here, also left, in the year 1735, nearly 13,000 volumes, which he had been all his life collecting. And this most estimable man, also presented to the college fourteen of the marble busts in the library.
Dr. John Stearne, Bishop of Clogher and Vice- Chancellor of the University, bequeathed to it the valuable MSS. in class p., and all the books in his library, of which they had not copies in the college.
In the year 1774, Thomas Holies, Esq., bequeathed to the library £100, to be applied to the purchase of books written by English, Irish, or Scotchmen, upon Politics, Natural, or Civil History, and Mathe- matics.
In the year 1805, Henry John Quin, Esq., left to the college a choice collection of books, amongst which were many Editiones Principes of the classics, under certain restrictive prudential conditions, stated clearly in his will, of which a copy is preserved in the college : it is dated September 23, 1794.
This collection is in the original book-case of the donor, in the manuscript room, and is marked Biblio- fheca Quimana.
Y v?
BENEFACTORS TO THE LIBRARY.
BENEFACTORS AND DONATIONS TO THE MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY.
This library is also greatly indebted to many liberal and generous individuals for valuable gifts, presented to it at various periods. The following names have been recorded: King Charles II.; Petrus Carew.
Dr. Robert Huntingdon, Bishop of Raphoe, and Provost of this College, many valuable Oriental MSS. ; Thomas H alley ; Alexander Johnson ; Dr. Miles Sumner, a fellow during the Commonwealth, and for many years Donegal lecturer in Mathematics in the University ; Sir William Grose ; James Ussher; Sir Henry Prescott ; Dr. Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath, and Vice-Chancellor of the University ; Dr. John Parker, Archbishop of Dublin ; William Barry, A.M., T.C.D. ; John Lyon, A.M., T.C.D. (Libra- rian) ; Thomas Hay, of Chester, A.D. 1646 ; Gordian Showbridge ; Murtogh Dowling, A.D. 1693 ; Charles Willoughby, M.D. ; Cornelius Higden ; and Claude Worth, M.'D.
The late Sir John Sebright presented thirty-nine MSS., some of them extremely curious, and highly interesting to Irish historians a.
a These valuable remains of Irish literature chiefly relate to the Brehon code of laws, by which the Irish were governed, and which are said to have been first compiled in A.D. 90, a second time in A.D. 254. The latter are believed to be still extant ; at all events, this collection, so generously given by Sir J. Sebright, is considered the most valuable and extensive of any at present known. In this transaction, Edmund Burke was the person who persuaded the fortunate possessor to bestow this valuable portion of MSS. on the University of Dublin ; but it was through a correspondence with Gen. Vallancey, that Mr. Burke was informed of their locality. They were accordingly sent by Dr. Leland, and deposited where they now are. Dean Swift had formerly applied to the Duke of Chandos for some fragments of those laws in his possession, but His Grace declined to comply with the Dean's request. The Chandos MSS. just now alluded to, are part of a collection commenced by Sir James Ware, before the re- bellion of 164-1, and continued for some time after that period. When Lord Clarendon was Viceroy, temp. Jac. //., he obtained this collection from Sir J. Ware's representatives, about the year 1686, and brought them to England. After his death, the whole was sold to the Duke of Chandos, who had a catalogue of them printed in 1697.
BENEFACTORS TO THE LIBRARY. 32,5
There are two copies of the Annals of the four Masters a (already mentioned) here. They are beautifully written in the Irish character; one of them is in four volumes.
It should also be mentioned, that the beautiful copies, in the Persian language, of the " Sha Namah" and the Alcoran were taken by the British army from the library of Tippoo Sahib. Dean Swift, Esq. ; Captain Williamson ; the very Rev. Dean Blundell ; the Right Hon. Phillip Tisdall; the late Duke of Marlborough ; Dr. W. Hales ; George Ussher, Esq., of Gloucester, 1824 ; the Right Hon. Edmund Burke ; Rev. Dr. T. Lyster ; Thomas Bailey, Esq. ; Dr. M. Kearney, (brother of the Provost,) were also con- tributors.
Library privileges. — This College is one of the eleven learned Institutions b which enjoy the privilege
It was the perusal of this catalogue that caused Dean Swift to make the application as stated above.
There are many other very rare and valuable works in the Irish letter and language, several of which are of the early ages of Chris- tianity, some even so early as A.D. 9, another A.D. 45, one in A.D. 70, and so on in every century of the Christian era, for more than sixteen centuries. These written evidences shew that there yet remains in Ireland, but more especially in the archives of its University, many works in the native Irish tongue, (some of which are beautiful specimens of the Irish alphabetical characters,) which display an ex- tent of erudition much greater than could have been expected to have escaped throughout the nine centuries of rapine to which that country was, with a few and short interruptions, subjected by her Norwegian, Danish, and Norman-English invaders.
The subjects treated of in these works are, History, Jurisprudence, Botany, Medicine, Geometry, Logic, Ethics, Philology, Poetry, and Polite Literature.
In Bishop Nicholson's " Historical Catalogue," (Dublin, 1723,) will be found a detailed account of many of these works, their origin, contents, &c., and as since that time a great many others have been discovered, we shall endeavour to obtain a complete list for this work.
a There is also a fine copy of these Annals in the Duke of Bucking- ham's Library at Stowe, where the Abbe Dr. Charles O'Connor de- posited the whole of his grandfather's valuable collection of Irish MSS. From these have been published two large volumes of the Prolegomena.
b The others are the British Museum, Sion College, the Bodleian at Oxford, Public Library at Cambridge, that of the Advocates,
326 THE LIBRARY OATH.
conferred by statute 54 George III., which entitles them to receive a copy of every hook published in England, and which brings an annual increase of first editions to the library.
Every person admitted to a degree in this Uni- versity pays a certain sum to the funds of the library : it is included in the fees for his degree. For the Bachelor's degree, a Films Nobilis pays £1 IJs. ; a Fellow Commoner, 18s. 6d. ; a Pensioner, or Sizar, 9s. 3d.-, a Master of Arts pays the same sum as a Fellow Commoner ; Bachelor of Laws, or of Medicine, £1 Us. 9d.-, Doctor of Laws, or of Medicine, £3 3s. 6d.; a Bachelor of Divinity, £2 2s.; a Doctor of Divinity, £4 4s.
All the above classes of graduates are entitled to the use of the library, first having taken the library oath, to wit : —
THE LIBRARY OATH.
" I • do solemnly promise and swear before
God, that as often as I shall come into the library of this college, I will so use the books and other fur- niture as that they may hold as long as possible. I swear also that neither will I myself carry away or designedly injure, interline, or abuse in any other manner, any book, nor suffer the same to be done by others as far as in me lies ; but I will report to the provost or the librarian the names of those who shall in these respects have transgressed the rules, within three days after I shall have been acquainted of them : all and every of which, and all statutes concerning the library, I promise that I will faithfully observe as far as in me lies. So HELP ME GOD."
Strangers, or persons not otherwise qualified to read in the library* may be introduced by a Fellow or
Edinburgh, the King's Inns, Dublin, and the Libraries of the four Universities of Scotland.
THE LENDING LIBRARY.
Master of Arts, resident in College, provided the same Fellow or Master remain with him, or sit by while he is reading. Those who transgress this rule are excluded from the library, and fined, at the dis- cretion of the Provost.
Any person once excluded from the library, cannot be readmitted without a special grace granted by the Provost and Fellows.
SECTION IV.
THE LENDING LIBRARY.
This collection consists chiefly of the books be- queathed to the University by Sir Jerome Alex- ander, Dr. Gilbert, and the late Provost Murray. In the year 1800, this library was subjected to its present regulations. It is placed under the care of a junior fellow; indeed, this librarian has always heretofore been the junior dean. This officer is annually elected on the 20th of November. His salary is £30 per annum ; this being the interest of £500 at 6 per cent., left by the Rev. Dr. C. Gilbert.
The librarian, soon after taking the office, is to make a report of the state of the library, in writing, to the registrar, describing the condition in which he finds the library, the number of books lent at the time of his appointment, and the sum deposited for each ; also, the number of books lost, if any, during the preceding year, and the amount of the sums deposited for them.
The librarian's attendance here is from one until three o'clock, Tuesdays and Fridays during term, and out of term, from one until three on Fridays only.
These volumes can be lent only to persons whose names arc on the college books, and who have taken the library oath, with the exception of the Divinity and Mathematical books, which may be lent to students who attend the lectures on those subjects, on the production of a certificate from the Professor or
328 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Lecturer whom they attend. The names of persons who borrow, are entered in a book, and they deposit a sum equal to the value of the set. This money is re- stored to the person on his delivering up the book in good order.
There are other regulations to the amount of twelve, which give clear instructions on the other matters connected with this department.
The University Press. — The founder of this very useful adjunct to an university was the Rev. John Stearne, D.D., Bishop of Clogher, and Vice-Chan- cellor of the University. This worthy prelate gave £1,000 to the college for this purpose, in the year 1733. Two years after, his lordship added to this handsome gift the sum of £250, for the purchase of type. This building was erected in 1734 ; upon it is the following inscription :
R,R. JOHANNES STEARNE, S.T.P.
EPISCOPUS CLOGHERENSIS,
VICE-CANCELLARIUS HUJUS ACADEMIC
PRO BENEVOLENTIA QUAM HABUIT
IN ACADEMIAM ET REM LITERARIUM
POSUIT 1734.
By an act passed in 1818, a drawback of the duty is allowed for paper used here in printing Bibles, Testa- ments, Psalm Books, Church of England and Ireland Common Prayer Books, and several other classes of works, all of which are enumerated.
Several excellent editions of the classic authors have been brought out here, and also several modern works on arts and sciences, all of which, independent of their intellectual excellence, are very creditable to the me- chanical skill and taste of those who conduct this establishment, which, strangely enough, had long been looked upon in a very subordinate point of view ; but within the last twenty years, a more correct esti- mate of its value has been entertained ; and this opi- nion has been justified by practical experience, which
THE ANATOMICAL THEATRE. 329
annually increases its good reputation, by demon- strating its great usefulness, not only as being placed so conveniently for members of the college who may be unable to attend to the corrections of a work printed at a distance from their chambers, but also within the immediate reach of younger essayists in author- ship, who may, in this case, commence printing their productions without loss of time, and at a moderate expense ; two objects which are generally not to be overlooked or treated with indifference by most juve- nile authors.
SECTION V.
THE ANATOMICAL THEATRE, ETC.
About twenty yards from the south-east corner of the Library stood the original Anatomical Theatre, built in 1704. Of course, after one hundred and thirty years' service, it was not in the best condition ; it never had been a handsome building, and at the present day would have been rather discreditable to the other architectural portions of the establishment. The Board, therefore, have had it totally removed for some time, and have caused a handsome and convenient edifice to be erected at the further, or eastern side of the park, in which the arrangement, apparatus, and sur- gical museum are more convenient and economic than those they have displaced. The interior construction is so complete as to accommodate it to the various sciences connected with this part of the college system. The present building is chiefly occupied with a spa- cious chemical laboratory and lecture room. The ana- tomical lecture room, and museum, and the other parts of the building, are stored with subjects for anatomical demonstration. In the old building, one of the apart- ments was quite filled with glass cases, in which were kept representations, in coloured wax, of subjects con- nected with midwifery ; they were the work of a French surgeon, (Mons. De None,) from whom they were purchased at Paris, by Lord Sheilburne. These
330 ANATOMICAL MUSEUM.
have been found very incorrect, and were removed at the instance of the late Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, Dr. Macartney : their place has since been supplied by real subjects. This important branch of knowledge, therefore, is now studied with considerably more advantage to the student, as well as to society. Indeed, it would be quite absurd to lecture from incorrect wax models in Dublin, where there is a greater choice of subjects to be had than, perhaps, in any other city; a circumstance that has tended of late years to raise considerably the character of the school of anatomy and surgery.
In the anatomical lecture room and museum, are arranged glass cases, in which a vast number of pre- parations, made by Dr. Macartney, are kept and regu- larly classed. The chief part of them he brought with him from London, the others he added since, with the exception of two upright cases holding the remarkable skeletons of Magrath the giant, and Clarke the ossified man. The anatomical collections are divid- ed into two grand classes. One of these is allotted to natural, the other to morbid parts ; the former in- cluding preparations of human and comparative ana- tomy, arranged systematically.
The morbid preparations are for the illustration of diseases in the human subject, and are placed in the divisions of the different organs from whence they have been taken. Among the above rare and valuable collection, we think an account of the two skeletons already mentioned may be useful and entertaining. The first of these in elevation, though not in chro- nology, is that of Magrath ; this is at present 7 feet 8 inches in height ; the other of Clarke, only about 4 feet 10 inches.
The former lost his parents when very young, and as an orphan, came under the care of Dr. Berkeley, the celebrated Bishop of Cloyne, in whose diocese Magrath's family lived. There is a vulgar report, which we have not been able to trace to any authentic source, which is, that the bishop tried gastronomic experiments on this orphan, to ascertain the possi-
SKELETON OF THE IRISH GIANT. '3,31
bility of increasing the human stature by means of medicaments. It was said that by such means he in- creased the power of digestion so much in the subject, as to enable him to take great quantities of food, to which cause his great stature was attributed. But, un- fortunately for the story, this last circumstance (vora- ciousness) is known to produce quite the contrary ef- fect. Instead of enlarging, it diminishes the human frame; so that we may at once discharge the bishop from this tax upon his humanity so gratuitously levied by persons evidently ignorant of the first principles of animal economy. Besides, such overgrown persons are not so very uncommon in Ireland, and it is remark- able that the largest of them were born and reared among the poorer classes, who, like the poor of other countries, rarely possess any redundancy of food. Magrath had attained the height of nearly eight feet at seventeen years old, and was shown in various cities of Europe as the Irish Giant ; he died in his twenty- second year, not from mere exhaustion, as has been re- ported, but from the effects of a severe injury in the chest3, which brought on a rapid decline. From an in- spection of the bones, it would appear that he was a man of great physical power. Of this we have heard some instances. His lower jaw is larger in proportion than the other parts. The spine appears to be finely formed ; no sign of weakness appears in that part, though persons ignorant of anatomy believe that the beautiful curvature of the vertebral column is a proof of general debility. In other respects, also, the skeleton shows a sound and perfect state of constitution, though more than sixty years in its present condition.
a This accident was caused by a young college-man, named Hare, who with some of his companions went to see Magrath. Hare was not above the middle size, but was muscular and athletic. He believed himself strong enough to hold Magrath at arm's length, and a trial soon took place. Magrath, however, soon lifted his antagonist off the ground, by grasping his arms near the elbows : Hare got vexed at being thus exhibited, and suddenly struck Magrath a violent blow with his head on the chest, which nearly knocked the poor fellow down. He did not resent the injury, but he attributed his mortal illness to that cause.
332 SKELETON OF THE OSSIFIED MAN.
In another glazed alcove is the skeleton of the ossi- fied subject ; and the common account of this most extraordinary case, shews a still greater power of invention than even that of Magrath. The following authentic statement is copied from the original papers drawn up by the late Dr. Edward Barry, of Dublin, who had the subject in his possession, and afterwards presented it to the college.
William Clarke, the subject of this article, was the son of John Clarke, a soldier in Sir Richard Aid- worth's company. William was born in 1677> and very soon shewed symptoms of this most uncommon disease : even in his infancy he never could turn his head to either side, or even bend his body. As he grew up, he could not raise his hands higher than to the level of his elbows, nor could he ever put them behind his back. His under jaw becoming fixed, he could never open his mouth ; but previous to this time, his teeth being broken by accident, he sucked in soft food. Though often intoxicated with liquor, it never made him sick but once, and then he was very near being suffocated. When he walked, he stepped first with the right foot, which he did with much difficulty, he then dragged the left foot to the right heel : whenever he tumbled down by accident, he never could rise without assistance. There were cavities made in his bed, in which he placed his hips, knees, and elbows. In his youth, he managed with difficulty to creep from Sir Richard's house to the village of Newcastle ; but as he advanced in years, he grew quite inactive, so that at last he could scarcely move the length of his patron's kitchen, where he spent most of his time, and where he experienced the most benevolent attention.
He was sometimes placed to look over the work- men, but when he was once fixed in his station, there he remained. He stood in a kind of sentry-box, with a board placed in a groove, as high as his breast, for him to lean on.
He had always a bony excrescence issuing out of his left heel, which sometimes grew to the length of two
SKELETON OF THE OSSIFIED MAN. 333
inches, and then it shed as a deer does its horns, but continued to sprout as before. Towards the latter part of his life, several long excrescences were ob- served in his thighs and arms, which he had not in his youth. He died in the year 1738, in his 62nd year. The immediate cause of his death was probably an inflammation of his lungs ; for as they adhered to the pleura and ribs, they became immovable, as well as the diaphragm ; the capacity of the thorax was also diminished: all which concurring, caused him to have a constant quick respiration, which terminated in a fatal oppression ; otherwise he might have lived till all the bones had been so much increased as that the ribs and whole thorax would have become one trunk of bone. He had been dead five days before he was opened, so that the muscular parts began to dissolve. His viscera had nothing in them remark- ably preternatural, except that his lungs adhered closely to the pleura.
The attitude or posture in which he had become fixed for some time before his death, is that of bend- ing forward a little, the arms inclining inwards, the right one lower than the left. His left foot resting on the toes, the leg at that side appears shorter than the right one. The lower part of the trunk is so much bent outward as not to be seen when the subject is viewed in front. There is scarcely a bone in the whole mass, of its proper form, except the tibia? and fibula?, which are not much distorted. He is one entire bone from the top of his head to his knees. The sutures of his skull are more united than in common skulls. The jaw bones are entirely fixed, as before mentioned, and the back teeth joined together. A bone grew from the back of his head, which shoots down to his back, passing by the vertebra? at an inch distance ; this bone unites with the vertebrae of the back and the right scapula, from which it disengages itself again, and continues distinct in two parts near the small of the back, and fixes itself into the hip bone behind. The vertebra? of the back are one continued bone. There are various ramifications from his os-coccygis and thigh
334 THE PROVOST'S HOUSE.
bones, not unlike the shoots of coral; infinitely more irregular, some in knobs and clusters, others in irregular shoots of eight and nine inches long. His knees are pretty close together, inclining to the right. His left shoulder is higher than his right one. A bone of his arm, the ulna, was once broken by a fall, and as if to prevent a similar accident, another bone shot out from the lower part of the humerus, a little above the bend of the elbow; this passed over the joint and fracture, and united to the broken bone below the in- jured part in such a way as to make it much stronger than it was before. All the cartilages of the breast, except four, were ossified ; these served to assist in re- spiration. On dissecting him, a bone was found in the fleshy part of his arm, quite disengaged from any other bone : it is three or four inches long, a quarter of an inch broad, with ramifications. Another strange circumstance is, that while these isolated parts were growing, he never complained of any pain in his muscles.
This very extraordinary skeleton is still in a toler- able state of preservation, although it shews evident symptoms of decay; a circumstance by no means sur- prising, when we consider that it has now been exposed to the ordinary action of the atmosphere for more than 100 years.
In this place, also, is the skeleton of a Delphine Orca : this is 30 feet long. The creature run itself on shore at Hythe, about 28 years ago, and was cap- tured by the fishermen.
SECTION VI. THE PROVOST'S HOUSE.
This mansion stands on the east side of Grafton Street, about 20 yards from the western flank of the Grand or Parliament Square, from which a doorway opens to a covered corridor, about 40 feet in length, which leads directly to another doorway in the north flank of this edifice ; and this is the passage by which
THE PROVOST'S HOUSE. 335
the Fellows and other members of college proceed to attend the Board, or to transact some other business with the Provost, relative to their college duties.
The plan and elevation of this house are copied al- most critically from a house designed and built by Ri- chard, Earl of Cork and Burlington, a view of which will be found in Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus ; the front is composed of granite finely ashlared. The ground story is richly embellished with icicled and rusticated work, over which the principal story is adorned by a range of Doric pilasters, with their architrave, frieze, and cornice. In this story are five windows, the centre one being in that style called " Venetian," the columns and ornaments of which are of the Tuscan order : two well proportioned windows are placed at each side of this central one, and they all have balusters under them. The in- terior has been judiciously planned, and decorated with good taste. It contains a spacious and handsome hall and staircase, leading up to a very fine suite of apartments: the chief of these is a large and elegant drawing room. On the ground floor, with an entrance from the hall, is a commodious ante-room : this leads into the large dining room, which is also called "the Board room," because this is the place where the Provost and Senior Fellows assemble in council to deliberate, and decide upon such matters of college government as require their attention. In this room is a collection of portraits, some of which are curious and interesting ; they are representations of all the Provosts who have been Governors of this Institution. The earlier ones are in the dry German style, in- troduced by Holbein; gradually this subsides, and some later ones, particularly that of Provost Winter, may be considered clever. From that time, the re- mainder is commingled of good and indifferent paint- ings, arranged chronologically down to the present time. In the house is also an exceedingly well selected library of ancient and modern works, in every class of superior literature.
336 THE PROVOST'S HOUSE.
The various offices are judiciously added as wings, the height of the ground story, and are very commo- diously arranged for domestic purposes. In front of the house is a spacious court, inclosed by a curtain wall of cut stone, in which is a handsome gateway, with side entrance, and granite piers, rusticated. At the rear of the house, all the windows look out upon a large lawn and shrubbery, and beyond that into the fellows' garden, and the park. From the two latter it is separated by a sunk fence, so that the whole ap- pears as one uninterrupted demesne.
The spirit of rational improvement which has been going on here for some years, the effects of which are so evident in the quadrangles of the college, has caused the massive curtain walls that swept round its long southern and part of its eastern boundaries, to be removed, and also some good houses of trade, which had long been erected upon the college ground, at the north side of Nassau Street, joining Grafton Street. These houses, from their situation, must have produced a profit rent of several hundred pounds to the college, but the truly liberal spirit of its governors, abandoned this pecuniary advantage, to permit a greater circula- tion of air around their buildings, and to allow the public to be gratified with a view into the interior of the college, its park and gardens, so far as the indis- pensable college character of retirement may sanction. To complete these improvements, the high and heavy curtain wall which separated the college park from Nassau, Leinster, and Park Streets,, throughout their whole length, has been entirely removed, and with the same spirit of genuine liberality, which, though always active here, has been more conspicuous of late years, the heads of this great national establishment have given for the public advantage a strip or belt of ground, from seven to twelve feet broad, which they have cut off from the southern boundary of their park and gardens, and added to Nassau Street, which is thereby rendered much more convenient, and the houses (none of which are college property) much more valuable ; for besides this increase of the car-
IMPROVING THE COLLEGE PARK, ETC. 337
riage and footways of the streets, the new boundary wall to the park will be not more than six feet high, ashlared with cut granite, with a coping of the same materials, upon which a very handsome course of iron railing, seven feet high, is placed : this affords to all who pass through Nassau Street, or Leinster Place, a sufficient, and certainly a very pleasing view of the park, and south side of the library, chapel, hall, and other college buildings ; whilst at the same time a more free circulation of the air is permitted, and this portion of the city surprisingly improved. Now the actual outlay required to build a very solid ashlared wall of granite a quarter of a mile in length and six feet high, surmounted by a lofty and handsome wrought iron railing, must be very considerable, in- dependent of the value of the ground bestowed on the public thoroughfare. Now this belt of ground is at least 400 yards long by a medium breadth of three yards, (independent of the plots of ground on which the tenanted houses stood,) consequently, if it were to be purchased, it must, in this superior part of Dublin, have been valued at a large sum of money. These are pleasing facts, that deserve to be recorded with sentiments of approbation in the annals of Dublin, as well as by the historians of its University ; and still more gratifying is this exchange of high and gloomy stone walls for light, air, and prospect, as we have good reason to believe, that " moral government" is now found to be far more general and effective in keeping the students in the paths of duty than the physical obstructions just abated were wont to be, when the dingy stone walls were scaled with impunity, and often through mere bravado. Then the secret screw-bar was unscrewed, and the " town haunter" after his revels frequently managed to get into his own or some friend's chambers without being discovered ; and the more frequently he thus clandestinely violated the college laws, the nearer he was supposed to approach the character of a " hero." Unhappily, however, for the glory of these pseudo heroes, the term examinations generally reduced them below the intellectual level of
338 IMPROVED STATE OF MORAL DISCIPLINE.
ordinary men. Occasionally, however, a superior mind would show itself amongst these irregulars ; more fre- quently a caution for bad answering, or in extreme cases where breaches of college dicipline were proved, then the tolling of the great bell announced their un- honoured departure from the sanctuary of Alma Mater for ever. This class of pupils never was very nu- merous in proportion to the others, and this proportion gradually diminishes, whilst that of the students has greatly increased. When the pupils were not more than 600, severe punishments for gross breaches of discipline were almost annually inflicted ; but now that the pupils amount to 1600 and upwards, this disagree- able exercise of power has been very seldom required during the last forty years, and for several years past we have not heard that any student has shown himself so dead to the sense of honour and interest as to incur this mark of degradation. The progressive elevation of morals and manners has therefore encouraged the Provost and Board to indulge their taste in carrying forward the improvements described, which will be followed by others now in contemplation. This cordiality of feeling, long known here, — this harmony of purpose, between the conscript fathers of educa- tion and the rising generation of youth whom it is their pleasing duty to direct in the intellectual path of an honourable ambition, is the harbinger of many and great advantages, not only by the promotion of the superior system of elegant and useful education pursued, hut also by the extensive reaction it will produce on society in general. Reciprocrated cordiality is not, however, a new circumstance in this University; it has existed between the teachers and the students, time immemorial. The well-known capabilities of the fellows who are the tutors, and the unwearied, in- telligent zeal with which they apply themselves to promote the improvement of their various classes of pupils, may be, and no doubt is, equalled in some other universities, but to be surpassed, cannot be ex- pected, nor indeed required from human agency ; con- sequently, the sincerity of purpose, being carried into
SUPERIOR MORAL GOVERNMENT. 339
practice, has the natural effect of creating and main- taining a manly and just confidence in the pupils' minds towards their preceptors, whose kind offices they well know are always at their service upon every proper occasion ; and few indeed are the dispositions here, who do not perform their duties out of respect for their tutors, as well as for their own honour and advantage *. Kindness is the fascia by which these parties are united in mutual esteem and rational obedience. The stilty dignity which is to be found in some other places, is scarcely known here, and when- ever this grave coxcombry does display itself, the un- happy possessor is sure to be the cause of considerable amusement to the students, by affording them themes for the exercise of their satirical powers.
Under the influence, therefore, of a system combin- ing all that is wise and good in parental authority with all the precision and firmness proper to restrain the exuberance, whilst it encourages the development of the nobler and more useful qualities of the human mind, combined with the principles of true religion, it cannot be a subject of surprise, still less of wonder, that the elegant and extensive course of education al- ready described, should be carried on with so much success in this University, and with such great ad- vantage to the British empire, to which it has supplied annually, for many years, a succession of from three to four hundred graduates, well qualified to fill with credit the offices in the Church, the legal, the medical, and surgical professions, and likewise the important duties of landed proprietors, as county magistrates, or senators in the Houses of Parliament ; and not a few of the young men who graduate here, purchase com- missions in the army, for which the Irish people in general have an evident partiality, and in which, we need hardly add, many of them arrive at the most
a That very despicable species of fraud, called "cramming," that dis- honest means by which the dunce and the idler are so often foisted upon the public, as graduates of some Universities, is scarcely known here ; and when discovered, it is treated with any thing but leniency.
z 2
340 IRISH STUDENTS SENT TO ENGLISH COLLEGES.
honourable distinctions which can be conferred in that arduous profession.
After all the facts we have stated as to the system of education pursued here, showing its intellectual and comprehensive character, its superiority in moral science, religious instruction and good manners to most other Universities, will it be credited that very few of the Irish nobility send their sons here to be educated ? For this unnatural conduct several causes are stated, but not one good reason assigned ; the practice, indeed, seems to have arisen more out of a confusion of ideas, than from any clear or rational views upon the subject ; the causes alluded to are, not that this University is in any degree inferior to the other Universities in the theory and practice requisite for bestowing in the highest degree intellectual cultiva- tion on man, — this pretence would be too absurd for credence, and therefore is not advanced ; the causes avowed are, that " the English colleges have become more fashionable; that they afford opportunities to the Hibernici of forming acquaintanceships with Anglici of their own rank ; that they increase their oppor- tunities of making good or at least rich matrimonial alliances ; and that they are nearer to the chances of court patronage." These are the cogent causes as- signed by those Irish landlords for paying twice as much for their sons' University degree, as they could get it done for at home. It is therefore, in strict sense and parlance, (with the greater number,) " an affair of trade," " a matter of mere pecuniary speculation," in which the cultivation of the mind is no part of the concern. These sordid views, however, are very seldom realized, for the scions of English nobility are mostly averse to forming intimacies with strangers, particularly with that class of them whose pockets are evidently and specifically lighter than their own. In the matrimonial schemes, it is true, the adventurers make occasionally a good stroke (as we say of an expert billiard player). These accidents happen when the Hon. Jack, Tom or Harry, runs his head into a china or
THEIR ABSURD SPECULATIONS. 341
glass shop amongst the ladies, or into a tanner's yard, the very smell of which would have knocked down his stately grandfather ; or amongst the classical mill-owners in the classic districts of Leeds, Manchester, Bolton- le-Moors, the Borough (reeking with hops), Hackney, the euphonious Mile-end Old Town, Hogs-Norton, or Norton Folgate, &c. But not half a tithe of these attic aspirations after the wealth of retired tradesmen is successful. Then as to the chances of these noble cadets, gaining "court patronage" because they may have escaped through an English University, among the oi polloi at a commencement, what can the world say of the verdure of any person's understanding, who would build his hopes upon such a sandy flat ? Why, that it was "very brilliant" Our royal courts are generally crammed with aristocratic mendicants of superior pretensions, (foreigners and natives,) conse- quently this speculation is rather a hopeless one for our adventurers. We have now disposed of the three great moving causes alleged by their authors to be the pri- mum mobile of this unjust preference ; and even- handed justice makes the effects worthy of the causes ; for, in at least nineteen cases out of twenty, these ad- venturers are served as the fable states a certain knowing animal to have been treated, " who went out to collect wool, and came back shorn ; " for although this section of the Irish students fail so lamentably as to their educational and property speculations, yet they do acquire a great deal of information practically, which they never could hope to obtain in Dublin Col- lege. But at Oxford and Cambridge the majority of them gain celebrity as scullers, smokers, oarsmen, jockeys, gamblers, and in other equally noble and fashionable occupations for losing or winning money. Not that such scientific pursuits are part of the re- gular course, at any University ; but then Newmarket and the Cam, Oxford racecourse and the Isis, lie so conveniently for practical operations, that the tempta- tions, to a dull or an idle man removed from all re- straint, are irresistible. And such is the sort of know-
342 THE GREATER PART NEGLECT THEIR STUDIES.
ledge this class brings home, " to astonish the natives," -—which no doubt it does very considerably.
This is, however, a very painful subject, and one which we have taken up "more in sorrow than in anger." It is truly lamentable to see a number of fine youths, to many of whom a gracious God has given fine faculties, and occasionally endowed with superior powers of mind, rendered often useless, sometimes noxious to society, through the sordid, vain, unjust, and often infatuated conceits of parents and guardians. Yet, painful as this task is, the duty of an historian de- mands to have it performed, for it is high time to re- move the mask from these transactions, that the pub- lic may judge whether or not great delusions have been practised, and to decide whether they ought to continue.
It must not, however, be inferred, from what we have just stated, that all the junior branches of Irish nobility and gentry who are entered at Oxford or Cambridge Universities become idlers, and sink into the low and degrading habits already described. Such is far from being the fact. We know many truly noble exceptions amongst the Irish students, young men of the best talents, and blessed with the highest religious and moral principles and feelings ; these fine speci- mens of mankind would do honour to any age or country under Heaven ; but they are the minority. These gentlemen, naturally and on principle, detest and repudiate all the mean and base deceptions which are inseparable from horse-racing and all other species of gambling, but which have of late become so glaring a feature in our parliamentary proceedings a and the courts of law. Now as to the actors in these nefarious and demoralizing turf- transactions, the true Irish gentleman sincerely despises them, whether the offender
a The bill brought into the House of Lords last session, by the leader of a band of aristocratic turf gamblers, to screen himself and his party from the consequences of some breaches of the laws in their horseflesh speculations with inferior blacklegs, will be a disgrace to the statute book of the united kingdom whilst it remains there : the Bishop of Exeter alone raised his voice against that unworthy measure.
TWO CLASSES OF IRISH STUDENTS. 343
be a duke, who has plundered his victims of thousands of pounds, or a donkey man, who by a similar process contrives to pocket a few shillings ; and he justly considers the ducal blackleg, by far the more dingy character of the two.
This class of Irish students, therefore, by their con- duct retrieve their country, so far as they are con- cerned, from the stigma which the others would throw upon their native land ; indeed, it is a very curious circumstance in the history of mankind, that the natives of Ireland should exhibit the anomaly of hav- ing (with few exceptions) in their general appearance a sufficiently national similarity, and yet to differ most widely — "far as the poles asunder" — in their moral per- ceptions and conduct. This theme is not at all new, and has been confirmed by long experience, for it has often been said, and written, that a real Irish gentleman approaches as near the perfection of that character, as it is possible for a native of any nation. Kind, humane, obliging, firm, honest, generous and sincere, intelligent and unobtrusive, he selects his associates with care, and is particularly cautious to avoid the " ir- regulars" amongst his own countrymen ; and these cha- racteristics, excepting the cultivation of mind, and the polish of good society, are found pretty generally in every lower grade of persons, including the day labourer, excepting the mongrel breed mentioned at page 363 ; but, on the other hand, the reckless Irishman, be his rank in life what it may, is indeed a reckless being in morals and conduct. In these essential points, there- fore, these two classes may be considered as antipodes : one considers the other too proud ; the latter looks upon the former as deficient in the true feelings of in- dependence and self respect, without which, he rightly conceives that no man can be a safe or a valuable companion. The line of demarcation between them, in morals and conduct, therefore, cannot be easily mistaken ; but the adventurers often pay that involun- tary homage to virtue, which is so frequently the mark of very inferior minds, " who are wiser in their gene- ration than the children of light." These parties hypo-
344 DUTY OF AN HISTORIAN,
critically try to imitate the suavity of manner and gentle- manly bearing of their superiorly moral countrymen ;
" For neither man nor angel can discern Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks Invisible, except to God alone ;"
and by this trickery they do sometimes contrive to ingratiate themselves into the favourable opin- ion of very worthy and wealthy persons, upon whose richly endowed daughters, or wards, they have deter- mined to make a prey. It happens, however, occasion- ally, and always luckily for the intended victims, that some tavern or street brawl, or insolvent transaction, conveys these fortune hunters to figure in a police office or a court of law, which in those instances acting like the spear of Ithuriel, makes the hero to start
" Discovered and surprised."
Thus are the broad lights and shades which con- stitute the effect of this moral picture placed fairly be- fore the public. The author experiences very poignant regret that the shades should be so dark ; he, how- ever, cannot help the case. An historian is bound to state the facts as he knows them to be, and few in- deed are they who have had better or more extensive opportunities of witnessing the good and evil he has sketched out for general information. Time-serving and false delicacy should never sway an historian, for such weak or corrupt sentimentalism betrays the cause of truth, and acts more as an incentive than an oppo- nent of demoralization ; and as to caring for the favour, or disfavour of any person, clique or faction, the man who does not let such ephemeral vapours pass by him
" Like the idle wind, which he regards not,"
is totally unfit to undertake the onerous duty of an historian. The true recorder of historical events, — he who feels that he has seriously undertaken the sacred trust to instruct society, by laying before them the good and evil effects of the virtuous and vicious con- duct and actions of other days and other men, should not be a mere respecter of persons, any farther than persons deserve to be respected for their good qualities.
TO DEAL WITH FACTS AND PRINCIPLES. 345
It is with facts and principles that a true historian has to deal. Such a man should sincerely be able to say, with Alexander Pope,
" Shall I not strip the visor off a knave ? Unplaced, unpension'd, no man's heir or slave."
Should he come short in the least degree of that honest and manly energy, he must not be considered as " an historian," but merely as an amusing writer of historical romances, or the interested agent of some political party.
With respect, however, to the unavoidable mention of the justly celebrated Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, in connexion with the Irish students, the author cannot imagine that the circumstances which the case imperatively called upon him to lay before the public, can or could be supposed to convey, in the slightest degree, any thing disrespectful to the well- earned and long established reputation of those great seminaries of superior learning ; certainly not. Those who know the profound respect which the author en- tertains for all the Universities of Great Britain, will at once dismiss any idea of that kind. In fact, the evils complained of, arise simply from the false views and interested notions of ignorance, carelessness, and vanity in those who too often have the early con- trol (as parents or guardians) of such youths under their hands. With this perversion of the parental du- ties, the universities have nothing whatever to do. It is not their business to reject pupils sent to them, whose presence they never solicited ; and whom they do not consider of the least value to their colleges in any way whatever. The fault, therefore, rests solely with those who are so imprudent as to send mere school- boys, far away from all parental control or supervi- sion, to mingle with thousands of young men, strangers to them, who can feel no interest in their welfare, and many of whom are adepts in all the vulgar and im- moral practices before described, and who are gene- rally anxious to impart their baneful knowledge to the freshmen, who are thus seduced from their proper avocations, almost solely because they have none of
34*6 GREAT MISTAKES IN EDUCATION.
those friends near them whose influence could prevent these serious mischiefs. For all practical moralists well know that the bad are much more apt to gain an ascendancy over the good, than the good are to reform the vicious.
The author hopes that this explanation will be suf- ficient to show how distinctly the University systems are exonerated from being the causes of those deplor- able mistakes in the conduct of the young men al- luded to. A formal apology from the author would be superfluous, for where it is so clear that no offence could have been intended, to apologize must be wholly unnecessary ; nor indeed was it intended to have en- tered so fully into an exposure of the follies and vices engendered and ripened by these unintellectual prac- tices, were it not that some member of the govern- ment is reported to have expressed himself favourable to the practice of sending the scions of the aristocratic and wealthy classes of Ireland to English Universities, because, as he thought, " they had a tendency to unite the people of the two countries." Whoever it was who could seriously express himself to that effect, could hardly have taken an ample and statesmanlike view of the question. We should rather suspect, that the speaker had been deceived by parties interested in such speculations ; or, perhaps, it may have been a courtier-like compliment to the Universities of Eng- land at the expense of their younger sister in Ireland ; but from whatever cause such expressions may have arisen, we regret to say, that we dissent from them toto coelo. We are not in that class of religionists who hold it right " that evil may be committed, on a speculation that good may follow." Such con- venient doctrines we leave to those polite statesmen, who being enormously paid for serving a Protestant State, look with complacency at the march of Roman- ism through the land which pays them. The pure doc- trine of Christ tells us "not to do evil on any pre- tence ;" but here is a speculation commencing in evil, and which ends as it began, but far more darkly. It is said that about one hundred young Irishmen
ABSENTEEISM NOT TO BE ENCOURAGED. 347
are sent annually to the English colleges from Ireland, and that the average expense for each person is £500 per annum. Here, then, you have £50,000 taken out of Ireland every year, without the shadow of a good reason being assignable for such a gross injustice; for as to the vain idea that this band of mostly dissi- pated youths, " cement the union of the two countries," it is about as absurd a notion as it would be to think of keeping two line-of-battle ships tied together by apiece of packthread. No, no; something amazingly different from these secondary causes, from these ephe- meral but unjust practices, must be brought into ope- ration to cement the friendship of the two countries *: and in the mean time we would take the liberty of suggesting that it would, on the part of an English statesman, look much more like an honest and sincere desire to " cement the union of the two countries," if he promoted the interests of superior learning in Ire- land, through the instrumentality of the Dublin Uni- versity, rather than to encourage one of Ireland's greatest evils, that curse called "Absenteeism;" an evil which too many of Ireland's landed proprietors are always quite ready to inflict upon their unhappy coun- try, and then scandalously to turn round, and deride that very poverty and ignorance of which they are the chief contrivers.
a A rational mode of doing this great patriotic service would be, 'not to feed and keep alive the fire of party spirit, a practice which has long been carried on by English Ministries. This is not only a vulgar, but a brutalizing mode of governing, suitable perhaps to barba- rous times, but disgraceful to an age of civilization. The same English ministers who urged on in secret the Romanists to prosecute their claims to what was called " Emancipation ;" are reported to have given Mr. O'Connell a carte blanche to raise all the agitation he might think proper to force that object forward ; and at the same time, those same Ministers had, by their agents, (several of whose names the author has by him,) excited the revival of Orange Lodges to oppose those claims, and then, when the plan was ripe, openly denounced and put down those same Orange Lodges, and pretended to yield to the clamour which them- selves had privately encouraged ; and the same system of policy is said to be still actively at work, keeping that unhappy country in a state of constant turmoil. The recent scandalous finale enacted about the " writ of error," would therefore show that Mr. O'Connell's ministerial backers have kept their faith with him, by bearing him scatheless at the expense of every principle of British law and justice.
348 THE OBSERVATORY.
The author having now performed a part of his duty which he could not abandon, although it was un- pleasant, now returns to another and an agreeable portion of his work, which will include a description of the College Observatory, at Dunsinc, and of the Botanic Garden at Ball's Bridge ; after which will succeed biographical notices of the men of this Uni- versity who have distinguished themselves in literature and science, with a list of their publications, so far as it may be possible to obtain such information.
SECTION VII. THE OBSERVATORY.
Having already sketched out the history of Dr. Andrews's bequest to found an Observatory, and endow a Professorship of Astronomy, and of the unhappy and expensive litigations which arose out of that testament, our object now is one of a more agreeable nature, because it will shew the beneficial result of the learned testator's good intentions.
The aforesaid law proceedings not having been got completely rid of until the year 1781, just seven years after the decease of Dr. Andrews, the Provost and Board at last finding the ground safe under their feet in that affair, lost not a moment in looking out for an able Professor to commence with. To this honour- able post Dr. Henry Ussher was the first elected (in 1783). The difficulty of obtaining a proper site for their proposed building now presented itself: this occasioned another lapse of five years ere the present most eligible situation was found, adopted, and secured by purchase, soon after which the proposed building was commenced, under the direction of Dr. Ussher, the Professor. Having thus at length succeeded with regard to the situation of this building, and in obtain- ing an able Professor, the next object was to pro- cure instruments in all respects suitable for the im- portant purpose in view. To ensure this object, the Provost and Board commissioned Dr. Ussher to visit
DR. BRINKLEY ELECTED PROFESSOR. 349
London, and give instructions to the celebrated Ramsden for a transit instrument, six feet in length, and other instruments, all without limitations of price. Just previous to Dr. Ussher's visit to London, Rams- den had completed the astronomical circle of five feet in diameter, which is in the Observatory at Palermo. Perceiving the great scientific advantages to be gained by such an instrument, the Professor suggested to the heads of his college, the propriety of possessing such a powerful apparatus. The Provost and Board im- mediately ordered a circle of ten feet to be made. This was begun by Mr. Ramsden, and laid aside after he had made some progress in it. He then commenced one of nine feet diameter, which he carried on so far as to divide and nearly finish it, when he got dis- satisfied with it and laid it aside. He then commenced one of eight feet, (now in the Observatory;) this he carried on to a very advanced state, wjien he died, and after some further delay, Mr. Berg, Ramsden's partner, finished it, and it was set up in the observa- tory A.D. 1808, that is, about 20 years after it had been commenced. Thus, between litigations and Ramsden's procrastinations, 34 years had passed away before even a beginning could be made in the practical observations ; for although the transit in- strument had been fixed in its place some years ere this time, yet it could not be of great use without the circle ; and this instrument Dr. Ussher never saw, for he died (in 1790) about three years after he had given Ramsden the order for its construction.
On the demise of Dr. Ussher, the Provost and Senior Fellows determined to invite (by advertise- ment) to a public competition, all the astronomers of Europe who might wish to obtain the Professorship.
In 1792, the competition took place, and was ex- tremely well contested by several candidates eminently skilled in astronomy. At the close, however, Dr. Brinkley, of Trinity College, Cambridge, was found to be the best qualified for this office. The governors of the University, therefore, committed the super- vision of the building, the instruments, and, in
350 VALUABLE INSTRUMENTS.
short, every thing belonging to the concern, into the hands of their new Professor, and also commissioned him to go to London, and order from Mr. Ramsden other instruments, without any limitation of price. The next object of the Professor, was the arrange- ment of the place, the completion of the building, and the commodious disposition of the instruments, so as to give each a direction suited to the observations to be made ; and he devised a plan which was approved by the governors of the college, who committed to him the management of those parts that required the greatest nicety and attention. And having satisfied himself that they had secured the three great points requisite for the erection of a proper observatory, namely, situation, foundation, and soil, the Pro- fessor commenced his architectural operations, which were completed, and some of the instruments fitted in their situations, in 1798.
To our readers who are not acquainted with the lo- calities of the place, it may be useful to mention that the Halls, buildings, or Lecture Rooms hitherto described, are all within the immediate boundary of the college grounds, which, including the park, contain rather more than 25 Irish, or 31 English acres. The soil is alluvial, the surface flat, and its greatest elevation not more than ten feet above the level of the spring tides in the river Liffy, which is about 150 yards distant from the northern wall of the College Park ; consequently, had there been space sufficient whereon to have erected an observatory, the locality could not, under any circumstances, be made suitable for the more important objects of astronomical science ; as we shall show in the course of our description of the present edifice, the situation of which has certainly been selected with great judgment, and the plan of the building, mode of construction*, and arrangement of the instruments, are equally judicious.
This observatory stands upon a moderately ele-
a For these two advantages, the college is indebted to the late Dr. Ussher, who was father of the late gallant and distinguished officer, Captain Ussher, R.N. Dr. Brinkley arranged the instruments.
SITUATION OF THE OBSERVATORY. 351
vated piece of table land, called the Hill of Dunsinc, which lies to the north-west of Dublin, (beyond the Phoenix Park,) near Castle-noc, and is four miles from that city, or five and a half from college a. At the observatory, the mercury in the thermometer stands at 0.254 lower than it does at the high water- mark (spring tides) in the river Liffy ; and when the thermometer reaches 52° in Dublin, it marks 59° at the observatory.
The foundation of this structure is imbedded in a solid and immense rock of limestone, which, it is well known, extends for several miles around this spot, where it rises to within about twelve inches of the surface ; and it is of so hard a substance, that when required by the farmers for lime or building, it can only be obtained by blasting it with gunpowder ; the incumbent and circumjacent soil is composed of common loam and a substance called limestone gravel, which is extremely absorbent.
The horizon here is very extensive, its range is, in fact, without the slightest obstruction on any side, ex- cept that to the southward is situated the long range of Wicklow mountains ; some summits of which attain an elevation of 2500 feet or more above the marine level. These mountains, however, are at a distance of from ten to fifteen English miles, a space that removes any apprehension with regard to their having an attractive effect on the plumb-line. Besides this, there is the gradual and equal acclivity of the hill on which the building is erected, which seems a sufficient security to it against any more proximate and danger- ous local effects of that nature.
Considered also in another point of view, these moun- tains afford some striking advantages, which we have witnessed, and which the late professor assured the author, was often useful to his operations. This is, that when the clouds are coming up from the south, the observer may see them directed and retained by the mountains ; thus leaving the space from thence
a This is now seven miles, because the English standard of land measure has become the standard measure of Ireland.
352 DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING.
to the zenith quite serene; whilst to the east and west, where no such attractions intervene, the sky has been obscured by numerous flying clouds.
From east to south-east the sea is visible, at a distance of from ten to twelve miles, a circumstance presenting several advantages, one of which is, the opportunity it affords, by means of the lighthouses at the end of the mole, called " the south wall," and at Kingstown, for making observations on terrestrial re- fraction, both by night and day.
In particular states of the atmosphere, but more especially preceding the approach of very severe weather, the outline of the mountains in North Wales is distinctly observable, including the whole Snow- donian range ; but much more plainly is seen that ridge of hills known as " the Rivals," which stretches away from north-east to south-west beyond the isle of Anglesea, and terminates in the promontory called Braich-y-pwll, which is the northern boundary of Car- digan bay ; these hills are nearly 30 leagues from the observatory in a direct line, but the range of " the Snowdon Hills " is still further inland.
The principal front of the observatory looks towards the east, and is composed of a projecting centre and two wings ; the centre is surmounted by a dome, which latter is not only ornamental but useful, as we shall see presently. The two principal apartments in the building, devoted to astronomical purposes are, the "Equatorial" and "Meridian" rooms. The first of these contains one of the finest equatorial in- struments in Europe.
This room is elevated above the other parts of the building, so far as to command every portion of the visible horizon. To effect this essential object, the dome has been constructed on the moving principle, and in it is an aperture of two feet six inches wide, which opens six inches beyond the zenith ; propelled by a lever fixed in the wall : this implement is applied to cogs projecting from the base of the dome, which can be moved round with the greatest ease, and the aperture may be directed to any part of the horizon.
THE MERIDIAN ROOM. 353
In this room is fixed the equatorial instrument ; it is supported by a pillar of the most solid masonry, 16 feet square at the base, where it projects from the rock in which its foundations are imbedded. This pillar rises through the floor in the centre of the dome : it stands quite insulated, and unconnected with the walls or floor. On this pillar the instrument rests, and remains perfectly undisturbed by any motion, as indeed none can be communicated to it from any part of the building. A broad platform surrounds the lower part of the dome, and from this place there is a com- manding view of extensive and agreeable prospects.
The Meridian Room. — This large apartment stands on the west side of the building a ; it is used solely for the purpose of taking observations of the heavenly bodies when passing the meridian, and also on their meridian altitudes ; it therefore required an un- interrupted view from north to south, and also an. attention to several particular circumstances, all of which have been admirably effected. Solidity of foundation being one of these objects, the utmost precaution that a knowledge of construction could devise was resorted to for that purpose. A mass of solid masonry in the form of a broad cross was first imbedded in the rock, and then carried up a little way, no part of it being allowed to come in contact with the surrounding walls : on the southern limb of this cross, is laid a solid block of Portland stone, nine feet two inches in length, three feet in breadth, and one foot four inches thick. This block supports the pillars of the transit instrument: these are seven feet six inches in height, three feet in breadth at the base from north to south, and two feet six inches from east to west. Each of these blocks is formed of a single stone : thus all the effects that might arise from lime, mortar, and iron cramps, are avoided.
The temperature of the pillars at different heights is shewn by thermometers, whose bulbs are inserted into
a This was done in some measure on account of the westerly winds which prevail here almost nine months in the year, and the fogs and smoke of the city are thereby avoided.
A A
354 THE MERIDIAN CIRCLE.
the stone. Near the western end of the foundation cross arise four other pillars, for the purpose of sup- porting the frame of the vertical meridian circle. Be- neath, from north to south, is laid another massive block of Portland stone, so placed as not to touch the pillars or floor : this is to support the vertical axis. The " clock pillar" is another of these solid supports for that requisite instrument : the clock was made by the late Mr. Arnold especially for this place.
The meridian aperture for the transit instrument and circle, is five feet wide from the horizon to the zenith, and the air is admitted, that the temperature within and without may be equalized ; but there is also a thin canvass covering to this opening, which is drawn over, except a space of two feet in the middle. These openings have also shutters, which are only closed in very damp or wet weather.
The south wing is assigned for occasional observa- tions, such as eclipses, occultations, &c. ; for comets are always most conveniently observed by the equa- torial instrument, which, here, has the entire com- mand of the horizon.
The Meridian Circle. — This circle, which is sus- pended between the solid pillars already described, is eight feet in diameter; it possesses immense optical power, with wonderful accuracy, both qualities, no doubt, arising from the very great precautions taken in the construction of the instrument, and of the ma- chinery contrived for its suspension. In both of these operations the most consummate skill and discern- ment have been displayed.
To our readers who may not have seen this circle, or read any description of it, some account of it may be interesting. It is entirely metal, and was com- menced by Mr. Ramsden, of London. The view we give, and the following sketch may be interesting: —
This splendid instrument is by far the largest of its class that ever has been completed; it is a broad circle, composed solely of brass ; it is supported in a frame, which turns on a vertical axis : this axis is a double cone, each portion being four feet in length,
THE MERIDIAN CIRCLE.
and the pressure of the circle upon it is completely relieved by a very ingenious application of a lever as- sisted by friction wheels. The circle is divided into intervals of five minutes, which are divided by micro- metic microscopes into seconds and parts of seconds. There are also three microscopes attached to it : one of these is opposite to the lower part of the circle, a second opposite the right, and a third opposite the left extremity of the horizontal diameter. By these microscopes the minute subdivisions of the circle, which are indistinct to the naked eye, are marked with the greatest accuracy. From the vast size of the instrument, and the great interval between the upper and lower parts, the temperatures must occasionally differ ; and from this cause the relative positions of the points of suspension of the plumb-line (ten feet long) which adjusts the vertical axis and the point be- low, over which it passes, would experience some change ; but to obviate an accident that must be so fatal to the accuracy of the observations, the point of suspension and the point below are on similar com- pound bars of brass and steel ; and hence the distance of the plumb-line from the vertical axis always remains the same ; a fact which has been repeatedly and satis- factorily proved, and the remarkable ease and steadi- ness with which this great circle and its frame turn upon their respective axes by the slightest touch of the fingers, is not only a great advantage in working the instrument, but is also another proof of the beau- tiful adjustment and balancing of all its members.
It is, however, a subject of much regret to all men of science, that the uncommon slowness of the opti- cians (already noticed) in completing these instru- ments should have delayed so long the progress of practical astronomy in Ireland. In affairs of this kind, when twenty years are lost, they cannot easily be re- gained ; however, they now seem to make quick atone- ment for their long delay, although that delay alone has prevented this observatory from affording the as- sistance it might have contributed in bringing to their present state, approximating to perfection, the astro.
A A 2
356 PARALLAXES OF SOME FIXED STARS.
nomical tables ; almost all which improvements are the results of the observations made during the last eighty years at Greenwich. But Dr. Brinkley was professor from 1792 until 1808, before he had obtained the proper instruments to commence his observations. This was entirely owing to the dilatoriness of the optician, Mr. Ramsden. So that, in fact, Dr. Brinkley may be said to have been curtailed of one half of his profes- sional life, as to the higher objects of astronomical science; for during nearly the first seventeen years after his being elected, he had little to do except in lectur- ing and examining the astronomical students in the Philosophy school of the University a ; and then at the end of the next seventeen years he was installed Bishop of Cloyne. However, the moment that Berg, who succeeded Ramsden, had placed the circle in a true state of adjustment, the astronomer commenced his observations, and soon discovered a very important circumstance relative to certain of the fixed stars, which had been suspected to exist, but had not been proved ; this was the annual visible parallaxes of the following stars : a Lyra, a Aquila, a Arcturus, and a Cygni. The parallax of the first he set down at = 1>7.0; of the second, 2".7; of the third, 1".10; of the fourth, 1".0. Shewing in the first place, that Aquila, though less brilliant than Lyra, is by one half the distance nearer to us than that star, and that Arcturus is only half the distance of the two others. These results have been obtained from a mean of seve- ral hundred observations made at various times, in every season of the year. Should these parallaxes be found correct, it will open a vista into space, almost too vast for the human mind to contemplate, — a distance, compared with which, our solar system would be a mere point in the universe. The ocean of space now open to view being, as Dr. Brinkley assured the author, equal to 200 billions of millions of miles. The details of these operations are to be found at large in
a In the year 1799, Dr. Brinkley published a treatise on astronomy, for the use of the students. This work experience has proved to be well calculated for the instruction of that class of pupils.
THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 357
the 12th Volume of Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy.
On the promotion of Dr. Brinkley to the bishopric of Cloyne, (1827,) another severe competition took place for the professorship of astronomy, which was decided in favour of W. Rowan Hamilton, LL.D., the present professor, who thus became " Astronomer Royal of Ireland." This gentleman has since received the distinction of knighthood ; but his solid distinc- tive honour consists in his being ranked amongst the first class of European astronomers ; and, therefore, the chair which his talented and excellent predecessor so ably filled is occupied and honoured as it ever ought to be.
THE BOTANIC GARDEN.
This interesting section of " The complete School of Physic " has been incidentally mentioned in the gene- ral history, at pages 165 to 170 inclusive ; a descrip- tion of the garden will now be added.
The ground upon which this garden has been formed, was acquired by the college in the year 1807, and the first thing done was to inclose it with a wall ten feet high. In the following year, the laying out of the ground was commenced by Mr. J. T. Mackay, who had been appointed to be its curator, on account of his superior knowledge as a practical man. The ground on which this elegant and very interesting garden has been formed, is situated at the lower end of Pembroke Road, near Ball's Bridge, about a mile and a half from the college. It was originally a small field, containing only about three English acres ; in 1832, two acres were added, on the south-west side, having a front of 375 feet in length, facing the high road from Dublin to Merrion, &c. This front is se- cured by a massive base of cut granite, two feet and a half high, upon which is placed a lofty and substantial iron railing.
The original ground is laid out in different com- partments for trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, ar*
3.58 THE BOTANIC GARDEN.
ranged according to the Linnean system. The trees and shrubs, however, correspond pretty well with the natural order.
There is also a collection of British plants, arranged according to the natural method on De Candolle's sys- tem, and another compartment for medicinal plants ac- cording to Jussieu's method.
The greenhouses are separated into three divisions, and extend 165 feet in length. The hothouses or stoves are similarly divided ; these are 1 80 feet long. There is also an orchidaceous house, forty feet in length. The collections in all these compartments are very extensive.
A considerable portion of the recent addition is oc- cupied with a pretty full collection of pines and other coniferse, together with many choice trees and shrubs, on a very well dressed lawn ; which division of the garden, as well as the garden in all its other divisions, is greatly and justly admired, not more for the beauty, healthful appearance, and variety of its vegetable trea- sures, than for the good taste, judgment, and economy with which the numerous families composing this highly interesting scene have been arranged, either for the display of their beauties, or to produce evidence of the medicinal, nutritive, and other useful qualities with which they are combined.
In front of the conservatory is an aquarium, in which there is a choice collection of the plants which belong to the various aquatic species which love that element, amongst which the Egyptian lotus and the splendid trumpet or St. Helena lily, are conspicuous.
Supported by the extensive walls, but more espe- cially on that which bounds the south-east side of the garden, and which is 800 feet in length, are many New Holland and other ornamental plants, which show by their great luxuriance, how well their culture and constitutions are understood.
The duties of the Professor of Botany in college, and who is indispensably an officer of the medical school, have already been stated at pages 70 aild 71 •
ANCIENT IRISH AUTHORS. 35Q
The students attending lectures in college and at the garden, have free access to it ; where likewise all respectable persons are freely admitted on showing an order from the Provost, Fellows, the Professor or Curator ; and since the addition was made to the garden, the number of visitors has increased con- siderably.
The late Professor, Dr. Wm. Allman, was elected to that office in 1 809, and held it, with great credit to himself and advantage to the students, during a term of thirty-five years a, and it is somewhat curious that his successor in the chair of botany, should be of the same surname (a very scarce name in Ireland). Yet Dr. George Allman, who now fills that office, is not a relative of his immediate predecessor.
Mr. James Townsend Mackay, who was elected to the office of curator to this garden at the time it was commenced in the year 1808, still vigorously performs the duties of his situation, with that superior intelli- gence in botany, and that natural suavity of manner, which have proved so conducive to the improvement of the students, and have justly gained for him the ap- probation of his superior officers, and of an extensive circle of friends.
CHAPTER X.
SECTION I. ANCIENT IRISH AUTHORS.
HAVING at length brought to a close, our account of the rise, progress, and present condition of the Uni- versity of Dublin, its educational means, the state of learning, morals, and manners which characterize its systems, the author will now commence the bio- graphical sketches of the distinguished men who have been educated here, and whose talents and virtues
a This able botanist retired on a pension in 1844.
300 ANCIENT STATE OF LEARNING IN IRELAND.
have contributed to the safety, honour, and prosperity of the British empire, under the numerous casualties of good fortune or calamity which have befallen the British monarchy, since the foundation of this esta- blishment ; and the author need not assure those readers with whom he has the honour and happiness of being acquainted, that this cannot be considered as a matter of parade, but one of common justice. It is but fair that the people of Great Britain should know how far the University of Dublin has been a contri- butor to the best interests of learning and the progress of civilization ; and perhaps the most intelligible mode of doing this will be to give the names of the parties, with the titles of their literary works, and such other facts as connect them with these great ob- jects. This list will be confined to those educated in this University, or who have been officially connected with its affairs; therefore the period over which it will be extended cannot exceed two centuries and a half a, no great space of time certainly to restore the mind of a nation from a state of barbarism to one of useful and superior knowledge in the arts, sciences, and literature.
It cannot be expected, therefore, that in point of illustrious names, this University should occupy a posi- tion in any respect so elevated as that on which the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are so justly placed, and to institute a close comparison between them in that respect, would be too great an absurdity for any rational person to entertain.
There is no doubt, however, that in the earlier cen- turies of the Christian era, several kinds of literature flourished in Ireland, the evidences of which now exist in the great libraries, both in the British isles and on the Continent, in the form of beautifully written manuscripts in the Irish character and language. Of these manuscripts many fine specimens are, as we have mentioned, still in the University library ; they embrace an extensive circle of erudition ; and
a About one-fourth of the time that the Universities of England have been in a state of active existence.
KING ALFRED AND JOHN ERIGENA. 36 1
from the many fragments remaining, it is evident that literary occupations must have been very numer- ous in those early ages when the north-eastern parts of Europe were overrun by unlettered barbarians. The evidences of these facts are derived from sources above suspicion of nationality ; they are the statements of foreigners, who mention the literary character of Ire- land as a fact well known.
Without entering here into a long dissertation upon this subject, we shall merely state the fact of King Alfred having been partly educated in Ireland : this is supposed to have taken place at the college of Lis- more, and certainly Alfred was considered the most learned and polite person then in Europe. On his return from Rome, he invited Johannes Erigenaa, his preceptor, to accompany him to his court, and soon afterwards Alfred founded the University of Oxford.
Morinus, in his life of the founder of the college of Lismore, (County Waterford,) has the following passage.
" Certatim hi properant diverse, tramite ad urbem Lismoriam, juvenis primes ubi transigit annos."
Scaliger the younger informs us that " du terns de Charlemagne, 200 ans apres, omnes vera docti etoit d'Irlande."
Fergil also (Latinized into Virgilius, and Solivagus)
a John of Ireland, Latinized as in the text, was the friend and pre- ceptor of King Alfred, who may truly be called " the Great." Erigena was a very distinguished theologian in the time he lived. He held faithfully to the true apostolic doctrine of the Christian Church, at that era, arid long afterwards preserved in Ireland. He opposed with great acuteness that then new-fangled and very disgusting species of canni- balism, " the real presence," which had not long previously been in- vented by corrupt theologians, to promote the intended encroach- ments of ecclesiastical tyranny and usurpation, Erigena's "excellent learning" was acknowledged by that able Pontiff, Nicholas the First, surnamed " the Great," but this Pope, in his letter, which is still ex- tant, although he charges Erigena with " heterodox opinions," never presumes to threaten him with the thunder and lightning of the Vatican, as well knowing that his doing so, would expose him to great ridicule amongst the Irish people, who, in those ages, habitually scorned all foreign domination, whether in religion or politics.
362 INVASIONS OF NORTHERN BARBARIANS.
who at length hecame Bishop of Saltzburgh, was a man of very surprising knowledge for the age in which he lived ; he taught the sphericity of the earth, and, as a necessary consequence, explained the doctrine of the antipodes. Here then, we have a view of two well authenticated personages of Ireland, one of whom may be considered as the precursor of the great Re- ligious Reformation, and the other of the true prin- ciples of astronomy, in Europe. Of these matters, de- tailed accounts are to be found in Ussher, Ware, Mosheim, Dupin, Spotiswood, &c. The venerable Bede, also, is another unequivocal authority in this matter, in which he uses the following remarkable words. " Quos omnes Scoti libentissime, sus- cipientes victum quotidianum sine pretio, libros quoque ad legendum et magisterium gratuito prseberi curabant." (Lib. iii. cap. xxvii.) William of Malms- bury also tells us, that Alfred retired to study in Ireland, " In Hibernia," says he, " omni philosophia animum composuit," (lib, i.) and in Camden, (see Vita Sullugenes,) we find, " Ivit ad Hibernos Sophia mirabile claros," &c. These authorities are referred to because they are not Irish, or connected with Ire- land, and therefore cannot be suspected of partial feeling in these matters. So far then as they go, we have fair testimony to show that the climate, soil, and people of Ireland, were favourable to the cultivation of the arts, sciences, and literature, from a time long anterior to the preaching of the Gospel in that country ; and that its subsequent falling back in these matters, arose from the horrid invasions of the northern pagan barbarians, from Norway, Denmark, and Scandinavia, which began about the beginning of the ninth century, and were carried on with almost uninterrupted cruelty and devastation until the year 1014, when these marauders were irretrievably dis- abled from a further course of extensive rapine, by the memorable defeat which they suffered at the battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday in that year : but they had done the work of ruin upon the arts and civilization of Ireland ; these disastrous effects
KING HENRY II. VISITS IRELAND. 363
left the people weak and impoverished, and along with their pentarchical form of government, kept them from being able to recover, or to unite, concentrate, and form a compact political system of government. The consequence of these unfortunate circumstances was, that these petty sovereigns were always either engaged in hostilities against each other, or against their common enemy, the piratical Danes and Nor- wegians, who almost annually visited the Irish coast on plundering expeditions ; and in this distracted state it was, when the immorality and baseness of one of those petty Irish Kings, invited Robert Fitzstephen, Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, and other adventurers to invade that country. Here was a new and abund- ant source of anti-civilization, for a more unprincipled gang of brigands a never visited with rapine and desolation the coasts or territories of any people. Dismal and very disgusting are the details still pre- served of the mutual hatred, and the cruelties ex- ercised upon each other by those adverse barbarians. The progress of civilization was not only stayed, but it was thrown back completely for two or three centuries ; because, although King Henry II. went to Ireland and staid in Dublin for about six months b, yet the persons he appointed to govern that country,
a These armed " missionaries of civilization," as they have been called, were mostly composed of the dregs of humanity who had just escaped the law, at the successive general gaol deliveries in Eng- land and Wales ; and it is a very remarkable fact, that the descend- ants of these " civilizers," who are quite distinguishable by their names and complexion from the native Irish, form the most ferocious and ungovernable class of the Irish mobility, and prove their high descent, by giving more trouble to the courts of criminal jurisdiction than all the other grades of society united. This mongrel breed forms the most bigoted adherents to the Church of Rome, and the most noisy and rude actors at " Repeal " and other political meetings.
b In about four years after the King's departure, Cardinal Vivian, the Pope's legate, held a synod in Dublin, (1176,) and therein pub- lished the King of England's title to hold Ireland, and the Pope's (Adrian IV.) ratification of it, denouncing excommunication against all that should withdraw their allegiancefrom their sovereign . It should be observed, that the Pope, who was guilty of this gross act of political swindling, was a Hertfordshire man, and the only native of England who is recorded ever to have worn the Romish triple crown.
364 QUEEN ELIZABETH PROMOTES CIVILIZATION.
were rapacious and unprincipled ; and, although that sagacious monarch introduced the laws and customs of England into his newly acquired territory, this wise measure was of little avail to stop the tide of rapine with which successive generations of these adventurers were so vehemently imbued ; and thus this state of servile warfare continued, to the neglect of every thing that could improve a people, until the reign of Eliza- beth, who saw and detested that vile system of political intrigue and cruelty which, with few intervals, had covered Ireland with ignorance, crimes, and innumer- able other misfortunes for nearly four centuries, besides rendering that portion of the empire an incumbrance instead of a useful auxiliary to the commonwealth ; and although that great princess could not in her reign, reduce to order that political and social chaos, into which the blunders and bad management of her predecessors had involved this part of her dominions, yet this high minded and enlightened sovereign took one of the best measures that human wisdom could devise, to restore civilization to this land of ancient learning, and also to make the political and moral condition of Ireland an honour instead of a disgrace to England's government. To demonstrate the effects of that wise system will, therefore, form the corollary to this volume, as it is only intended to notice those dis- tinguished men who have been educated in the Eliza- bethan University. And these notices must, from the nature of the work, be very brief; and indeed little more, in most instances, than merely the names will be given; the intention being to restore the disjunctce membrce (now fugitive, or claimed by other colleges) to their proper locality, and order of time, in a compact form, that the confusion, prejudice, and absurdities which have so long prevailed on this subject may have an end, and the greatest of England's monarchs be placed in the true light, and honourable position which that Queen ought to hold in the minds of the British and Irish people, as one of the noblest civilizers of mankind.
EMINENT LITERARY MEN. 365
SECTION II.
A LIST a OF THE EMINENT LITERARY PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN EDUCATED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, WITH THEIR WORKS, ETC.
JAMES USSHER, one of the first pupils of this col- lege, and afterwards Archbishop of Armagh and Pri- mate of all Ireland, whose history is so well known, wrote the following works in Latin, viz.
Gravissimae Questionis de Christianarum Ecclesiarum, &c. Lond. 1613, 4to. Iterum 1687, 4to. Iterum Hanoviae, 1658.— Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge, &c. Dub. 1630- 1632. Par. 1665, 4to. — Britannicarum Ecclesiarum, Antiqui- tates, &c. Dub. 1639, 4to. Lond. 1687, fol.— Poly car pi et Ignatii Epistolae, Gr. et Lat., cum dissertatione, &c. Oxon. 1644, 4to. A copy of this work is in Trin. Coll. Dub., corrected by the bishop's own hand. — Appendix Ignatiana in qua continentur Ignatii Epistolae genuinae, &c. Lond. 1647, 4to. — Diatriba de Romanae ecclesiae symbolo, &c. Lond. 1647. Oxon. 1660. — De anno So- lari Macedonum et Asianorum. Lond. 1648, 8vo. Par. 1673. Lugd. 1683. — Annales Veteris Testamenti a prima mundi origine deducti, &c. Lond. 1650, fol, — Epistola ad Lodovicum Capel- lum, &c. Lond. 1652, 1655. — Annales Novi Testamenti, &c. Lond. 1654, fol. — De Graeca Septuaginta Interpretum versioue Syntagma, &c. Lond. 1655, 4to. — Gotteschalci et Predestina- tione Controversial Dub. 1631. Hanov. 1662.
His posthumous works in Latin, are : —
Chronologia sacra. (Dr. T. Barlow), Oxon. 1660, 4to. Par. 1673. — Historia Dogmatica Controversiae, &c. Lond. 1690.
He published in English : —
A Sermon preached before the House of Commons, 18th Fe- bruary, 1620. Lond. 1621, 1631, 4to. — A Speech made in the Castle of Dublin concerning the Oath of Supremacy. Lond. 1 631 , 1661. — A Sermon preached before the King on the Universality of the Church of Christ, &c. Lond. 1631. — An Answer to a Je- suit's Challenge, in Ireland, &c. Lond. 1625. — A Speech at the Castle of Dublin, &c. Dub. 1627. — A Discourse on the Religion anciently professed by the Irish and British. Lond. 1631, 4to; 1636, 4to. — Immanuel ; or, the Mystery of the Incarnation, &c. Dub. 1638. Lond. 1649, 1658, 4to. — His Petition to the House of Lords against John Nicholson. Lond. 1640, 4to. — A Geogra- phical and Historical Disquisition on Asia properly so called, &c.
a This list is composed of the names of persons who have gradu- ated in this college, whether it be so mentioned or not. Those names connected with college, but not graduates, will be so noticed.
3()6 WORKS OF JAMES USSHER, D.D. JAMES WARE.
Oxon. 1641, 1643, 4to.— The Judgment of Dr. Reynolds, &c. Oxon. 1644. — A Discourse of the Origin of Bishops and Metropo- litans. Oxon. 1641, 4to.— The Principles of the Christian Re- ligion. Lond. 1654, 12mo. — A Body of Divinity, &c. Lond. 1649, 1658. fol.
His posthumous English works are : —
The Annals of the Old and New Testament. Lond. 1658, fol. — The Prince's Power, and the Subject's Obedience, fairly stated. Lond. 1661, 4to ; 1683, 8vo, 1691.— Sermons preached before the King at Oxford, &c. Lond. 1662. — Letters to several learned Men, &c. Lond. 1686, fol.
The following were collected and published by Dr. Bernard : —
Episcopacy restored to the form received in the Ancient Church. Lond. 1656, 4to. — The Extent of our Saviour's Suffering and Atone- ment upon the Cross, &c. Lond. 1657, 8vo. — Of the Sabbath, &c. Lond. 1657, 8vo. — Of Ordination in the Reformed Churches. Lond. 1657, 8vo. — His Opinion of the state of the See of Rome. Lond. 1659. — On Ordination. — On the Use of a set Form of Prayer. — His Commentary on St. John, c. xx. v. 22, 23. Lond. 1659.
Besides many works in MS., viz : —
On the Herenachs, Termon, and Corban lands, written in 1609. —Polemical Lectures, (lost,) 3 vols. 4to. — Censurae Patrum et Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum. — De veterum Paschalibus scriptis. — De ponderibus et mensuris. — De primis haereticis et haeresibus Judeorum. — Veteris Observationes Coelestes Chaldaicae, Graecae, et ^Egyptiacae. — De Differentia Circuli et Spherae, &c. — Annota- tione Rabbinicae, &c.
AMBROSE USSHER, (brother to James,) was a Fellow of this College ; he attained considerable skill in the Oriental tongues. He died young. He had only time to publish a catechism for the instruction of youth : his other works remain in MS. in the library of Trin. Coll. Dublin, as may be seen among the list of MSS. in the catalogue ; they are thirty-four in number, and display considerable erudition.
JAMES WARE was descended from a noble and an- cient family in Yorkshire, the head of which was Roger de Ware, Lord of Isefield, and a baron of Par- liament in the reign of King Edward I.
The family is now extinct in that country, and the only remains of it in Ireland are the descendants of this author. He was the son of Sir James Ware, who came
SIR JOHN DENHAM. EDWARD WORTH. 367
to Ireland as secretary to the Lord Deputy, Sir Wil- liam Fitzwilliam, in 1588 ; and he was born in the city of Dublin, November, 1594.
James Ware entered this University at sixteen years of age, and continued in it six years, under the care of Dr. Martin, afterwards Bishop of Meath, and Provost, of whom he makes honourable mention. He took the degree of M.A. in 16 16. He soon after at- tracted the notice of Dr. Ussher, and Daniel Moly- neux, the great antiquary, whom Ware mentions in one of his works as " Venerandce antiquitatis cul- tor" Harris gives Ware's history most exactly in his second volume, to which we beg leave to refer. His printed works are : —
Archiepiscoporum Cassiliensium et Tuamensium Vitae, &c. Dub. 1626. — De praesulibus Lageniae, &c. Dub. 1628. — Cceno- bia Cistertientia, &c. Dub. 1629. — De scriptoribus Hiberniae, &c. Dub. 1639. — De Hiberniaet Antiquitatibus, &c. Lond. 1654, 8vo. — Ditto, enlarged. Lond. 1658, 8vo. — Opuscule Sancto Pa- tricio. Lond. 1656. — Venerabilis Bedae Epistolae duae, &c. Dub. 1664.— Rerum Hibernicarum Annales Regnantibus, &c. Dub.
1664, fol. — De praesulibus Hiberniae commentarius, &c. Dub.
1665, fol.
Besides several MSS. of unpublished works in the College Library, and a great number of others in the Chandos collection.
SIR JOHN DENHAM was born in Dublin, and had the elementary part of his education in this College, but being very slow in his improvement, he was sent to Oxford, which did not make it better, for he took much to gambling. He was afterwards a student of Lincoln's Inn, where having incurred his father's dis- pleasure for this blackleg propensity, he commenced author, and wrote, first,
An Essay against Gaming. — In 1641, he wrote the Sophy, a tragedy. Lond. 1642, 1667. — Cooper's Hill. Oxon. 1643, 4to. — Cato Major, &c. Lond. 1648. — The Destruction of Troy, &c. Lond. 1656. — Poems and Translations, with the Sophy. Lond. 1684 ; and a version of the Psalms of David. Lond. 1714.
EDWARD WORTH was a native of the county of Cork, educated in the University of Dublin, where he took his doctor's degree.
368 JAMES BARRY, FAITHFUL TATE.
He was advanced to the see of Cork and Ross in January, 1660, and was consecrated in St. Patrick's, Dublin, the same month.
He founded the hospital in the south suburbs of Cork, which is called St. Stephen's, or the Blue-coat Hospital, and endowed it with lands for the support and education of boys whose parents have not the means of paying for their education. It was placed by him under the superintendence of the mayor and corporation of the city of Cork, who appear to have taken good care of its interests. Out of its endow- ment Bishop Worth reserved twenty pounds per annum, for the encouragement of four students in Trinity College, Dublin, natives of Cork, and educated in the schools of that city ; to be presented to them by his heirs for ever.
He died at Hackney, near London, in August, 1669, and was interred at St. Mildred's Church, (in the Poultry,) London.
He published the following works : viz.
A remarkably fine Sermon, which he preached at the funeral of Robert Boyle, Archbishop of Tuam. Cork, 1644. — Scripture Evidence for Baptizing the Infants of Covenanters. Cork, 1653. — Another fine Sermon, preached at the funeral of the Irish Lord Chief Justice Pepys. Dub. 1659.
JAMES BARRY, a native of Dublin, and graduate of its University, was bred a lawyer, and became second Baron of the Exchequer, during Lord Went worth's government ; he afterwards was appointed Lord Chief Justice, and created Lord Santry.
This learned and distinguished lawyer published " The Case of Tenure " upon the commission of de- fective titles, which was a question of great importance to Irish landholders : it was solemnly argued by all the judges of Ireland, 1625. It contains their reasons and judgments thereon. Dub. 1637-
FAITHFUL TATE was born in the county of Cavan, and was a graduate here for a time, as we have seen, and Provost pro tern. He wrote, on the interment of Sir Charles Coote, " The Soldier's Commission, Charge, and Reward." Lond. 16,58.
AUDLEY MERVIN. — EDWARD AND JOHN PARRY. 369
Also, A Discourse on the Proverbs. Dub. 1666. — The Doctrine of the Trinity. Lond. 1G69. — Meditations, &c. Dub. 1672.
AUDLEY MERVIN, of the county Tyrone, was edu- cated in this college, and brought up as a lawyer; he afterwards became a colonel in the army, and was knighted for his services. Colonel or Sir Audley Mer- vin published five remarkable speeches upon various memorable occasions, betwen A.D. 1641 and 1662, and an exact relation of occurrences in the northern counties of Ireland, presented to the House of Com- mons of England, London, 1642.
EDWARD PARRY was a native of Newry, in the county Down ; he received his education in this Uni- versity, where he took the degree of D.D. He first got the Prebendary of Stagonyl, then the Deanery of Lis- more, and Treasurership of Christ Church. He was promoted to the bishopric of Killaloe, in March, 1647. In July, same year, he signed the petition of the clergy praying to be allowed the use of the Liturgy, then abolished by order of the commissioners under Crom- well ; this petition and its fate are fully recorded by Borlace. (Append. 94.)
He was father of John and Benjamin Parry, both of whom became successively Bishops of Ossory.
He died of the plague, in Dublin, July, 1650, and has left behind him a high character both for superior talents and great goodness of disposition.
JOHN PARRY, son to Edward, Bishop of Killaloe, who had been a fellow of this college, was born in Dublin, and educated at this University, where he took the degree of A.B.; he then removed to Oxford, and was elected a fellow of Jesus College, and chaplain to the Marquis of Ormond ; after several other promotions, he was at length created Bishop of Ossory, in April, 1672. He was considered a prelate of much learning, and certainly was a great benefactor to his see, besides being a patron and encourager of his clergy. He laid out £400 in repairing the episcopal mansion, and it cost him as much more for a ring of six bells, which
B B
370 BENJAMIN PARRY.
weighed three tons and a half; these he placed in the steeple. He passed the patent for certain augmenta- tion lands granted to his see by the act of settlement ; these were valued at the annual amount of £400 ; and for securing many impropriations to the use of his clergy, which would have gone into other hands but for the address he used on that occasion.
He also obtained a charter of confirmation of the privileges belonging to the ancient corporation of Irishtown, Kilkenny, of which the Bishops of Ossory are prescriptive lords, and claim a right of approba- tion of its chief magistrate at elections. Among other bequests he left two pounds sterling to each of six sizars, such as the Provost for the time being should think most worthy.
He died in Dublin, in December, 1677, and was interred there in Saint Audeon's Church.
His published works are : —
Pious Reflections on our Saviour's Sufferings, &c. Lond. 1666. — Discourses upon the Festivals, &c. Lond. 1666. — A Sermon on Nehem. Chap. xiii. v. 14. Oxon. 1670.— Meditations and Prayers. Lond. 1673.
BENJAMIN PARRY, second son to Edward, Bishop of Killaloe, and brother to the last named Bishop, was born in Dublin, and graduated in that University ; he afterwards went with his brother to Oxford, be- came a fellow of Corpus Christi College, and was ap- pointed Greek lecturer. His first promotion was a prebendal stall in York Cathedral, which he resigned when appointed chaplain to Capel, Earl of. Essex, with whom he returned to his own country. His Ex- cellency promoted him to the Deanery of Saint Canice, in 1678 ; to that of Saint Patrick's, Dublin, in 1674 ; and by the Duke of Ormond, who succeeded the Earl of Essex, to the see of Ossory, in 1677; but he did not survive his brother nine months, for he died in October, 1678.
The only work we have met with which he pub- lished, is,
Chymia Ccelestis. Lond. 1659.
ROGER BOYLE. — ROBERT BOYLE. 3?1
ROGER BOYLE, (Earl of Orrery,) was born at Lis- more, county Waterford, April, 1621, and educated in this college, where he had the character of being a most attentive student : after graduating he was sent to travel for two years. From the time he returned home in 1640, to his death in 1679, his life seems to have been composed of a series of the most arduous occupations and pursuits, whether in the capacity of a statesman, scholar or soldier, in each of which cha- racters he displayed in turn, courage, prudence, learn- ing and wit.
His presence of mind on difficult emergencies was surprising, and his natural generosity and humanity were made more conspicuous and useful, by his strong sense of religion.
Yet, notwithstanding the various employments in which he was incessantly engaged, he found leisure to devote to the pursuits of literature, as the list of his works will show, viz. : —
The Iriih Colours displayed. Lond. 1665, 4to. — A Letter in answer to one of Peter Walsh. Dub. 1662. Lond. 1662.— A Poem on the Restoration of King Charles II. — A Poem on the late Mr. Cowley. 1667.— Henry the Vth, a Tragedy. Lond. 1668.-— Mustapha, a Tragedy. 1668.— The Black Prince, a Tragedy. Lond. 1672.— Try phon, a Tragedy. 1672, 1690.— Parthenissa, a Romance, 3 vols. 1665 and 1667, fol.— The Art of War. Lond. 1677, fol. — Mr. Anthony, a Comedy. Lond. 1690. — Guzman, a Comedy. 1693. — Herod, a Tragedy. 1694. — Altamira, a Tragedy. 1702.
ROBERT BOYLE, the seventh and youngest son of the first Earl of Cork, and in point of learning considered the first of that gifted family, was born at Lismore Castle, his father's residence, in the county Waterford. Having received part of his education at Dublin, he was sent to the University of Leyden; he then travelled through the greater part of Europe, and on his return, went to Oxford. At the restoration he settled in London, where he erected an extensive chemical la- boratory, in which he employed a number of persons, and wherein he conducted his experiments for the im- provement of that science. These things he did merely to gratify his love of knowledge, and without any view
372 FRANCIS BOYLE. — H. JONES. — W. DILLON.
to his personal advantage, for he gave away all the produce of this establishment, to those whom he thought most deserving of encouragement. He died in December, 1691, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. His works are : —
New Experiments, Physical, Mechanical, &c. Oxon. 1660, 1662. — A Defence of the Doctrine touching the Spring, and Weight of the Air, £c. Lond. 1661, 1662.— An Examen of Hollis's Dialogus Physicus, &c. — The Sceptical Chymist, 1661, 1680. — Physiological Essays, &c. 1662, 1669.— Experimental History of Colours. Lond. 1663, 1664. — Discourse on Experi- mental Philosophy. 1663, 64, 71. — On Natural Philosophy. 1669. Oxon. 1671.— Experimental History of Cold, &c. 1665, 83.— A Method of conveying Liquor into the Mass of Blood. — Experi- ments on the Barometer.
His entire works, some of which are very elaborate, are seventy-two in number ; a catalogue of them is to be found in Harris, completed from one published by Samuel Smyth, 1690.
FRANCIS BOYLE, Lord Shannon, wrote and published, " Moral Essays and Discourses," and " A Letter to an Atheist."
HENRY JONES, Bishop of Meath, D.D., of Trinity College Dublin, wrote —
An Account of the Rebellion in County Cavan, 1641, with the Acts of the General Convocation at Kilkenny. Lond. 1642. — A Remonstrance of divers Remarkable Passages concerning the Church and Kingdom of Ireland, &c. Lond. 1642.— Description of the Origin, &c., of St. Patrick's Purgatory. 1647.— Three Ser- mons on various particular Occasions. Dub. 1667, 76, 78. — A Letter to Dr. Borlace.
WENTWORTH DILLON, Earl of Roscommon, was born in Ireland ; he received part of his academical educa- tion there, under Dr. Hall. He was sent first to Oxford and thence to Caen, in Normandy, where he was placed under the learned Bochart. Dryden has justly eulogized him, and Pope has an elegant com- pliment to him in his Essay on Criticism. His works are the following : —
An Essay on Translated Verse. Lond. 1680. This has been re- printed several times. — A Collection of Poetical Pieces, Transla- tions, &c. Lond. 1684. — A Translation of Horace's Art of Poetry.
RT. HON. ARTHUR ANNESLEY, M.P., AND OTHERS. 373
1680.— A Translation of Dr. Sherlock's "Case of Resistance" into the French Language. 1680.
ARTHUR ANNESLEY, Earl of Anglesea, son of Sir Francis Annesley, Bart., afterwards Lord Mountnorris, and Viscount Valentia, was born in Dublin, July, 1614. Having received the first part of his academical education in this college, he was sent to Oxford at sixteen, and entered of Magdalen Hall, after which he became a student of Lincoln's Inn ; he then made the tour of Europe, and on his return got a seat in the Irish Parliament. He accompanied King Charles I. to Oxford, but was afterwards reconciled to the Parliament, and was sent by them to Ireland, as one of their commissioners, in 1645. At Cromwell's death, he joined those who were favourable to the restoration of King Charles II., for which he was soon afterwards made a privy councillor, created Earl of Anglesea, and Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. In a few years after this promotion he was made Lord Privy Seal, which he held nine years.
He died April, 1686, his works are : —
Animadversions on "The Remonstrance" of the Romish Clergy of Ireland, &c. 1666.— The Truth Unveiled, &c., (a Political Essay). — Reflections on a Discourse of Transubstantiation. 1676. — Letter to the Earl of Castlehaven. 1676. — Account of the Proceedings between James Duke of Ormond, and Arthur Earl of Anglesea. — Remarks on Jovian. — A Statement of the Privileges of Lords and Commons, &c. — The King's Right in Spiritual Matters, &c. Lond. 1688. — Memoirs of the Earl of Anglesea.
ULICK BOURKE, Marquis of Clanricarde, Lord- Deputy of Ireland in 1650, wrote, " Memoirs of His own Time," which are very interesting to historians. Lond.
ROGER BOYLE, Bishop of Clogher, wrote —
Inquisitio in Fidem Christianorum, &c. Dub. 1665. — Summa Theologiae Christiana?. Dub. 1681.
CHARLES MOLLOY, a native of the King's County, educated here, hecame a member of the Middle Temple ; he wrote an excellent work, which went through several editions, it was entitled,
De Jure Maritimo, et Navali. Lond. 1681.
374 ALLEN MULLEN AND OTHERS.
CHARLES MOLLOY was also educated at Dublin, and entered of the Inner Temple ; he wrote three comedies, viz. —
The I Perplexed Couple— The Coquette -and The Half-Pay Officer.
ALLEN MULLEN, a native of the north of Ireland, was educated here, and took the degree of M .D. ; he was an eminent physician ; he died in the West Indies, whither he went to examine some mines, &c. He wrote the following works : —
An Anatomical Account of the Elephant which was accidentally burnt to death in Dublin, in June, 1681. This Essay was addressed to Sir W. Petty. -And he likewise published some Anatomical Observations on the Eyes of Animals ; this he addressed to the Hon. Robert Boyle. Lond. 1682. — And also Five Essays on various subjects connected with his profession ; these are to be found in the Philosophical Transactions.
ANDREW HAMILTON, Prebendary of Clogher, &c., wrote —
The Actions of the Enniskillen Men. Lond. 1690.
THE REV. WILLIAM HAMILTON published —
A Discourse concerning Zeal, Profaneness, and Immorality, &c. Dub. 1700.
WILLIAM HAMILTON, Archdeacon of Ardmagh, wrote the Life and Character of Mr. Bonn el, and some very excellent Sermons. Dub. 1723.
SAMUEL FOLEY, Bishop of Downe and Connor, published —
A Consecration, and also a Visitation Sermon. Dub. 1683. — An Accurate Account of the Giant's Causeway, in the North of Ireland. — An Exhortation to the People of his Diocese, on the Religious Education of their Children, &c. Dub. 1695. This is an admirable work, quite suitable to the present age.
DUDLEY LOFTUS, LL.D., son of Sir Adam Loftus, and grandson of Dr. Loftus, Archbishop of Ardmagh, &c., was born at Rathfarnham Castle, co. Dublin; he was educated here, and took the degree of A.B. ; he went for a short period to Oxford. On his return, the rebellion of 1641 had just broken out, when his father, who was Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, prevailed
DUDLEY LOFTUS. 3J5
on the government to place a garrison in his castle at Rathfarnham, and he got the command of it for his son Dudley, who was very active in defending the city from the incursions of the Irish mountaineers in his district. He was promoted successively to be a Master in Chancery, Vicar-General of Ireland, and Judge of the Prerogative Court, all which he held during life. He was considered the most learned man of his country in the civil law ; but his know- ledge of the Oriental tongues was most remarkable, for, in his twentieth year, he could translate many of these languages into English. He died in June, 1 69-5, aged 77.
His published works are as follow, viz. : —
The Ethiopic New Testament, translated into Latin at the re- quest of Archbishop Ussher and Mr. Selden. This version is in the Polyglott Bible, in the preface to which, Dr. B. Walton says of him, " Vir doctissimus tarn generis prosapia quam linguarum Orientalium Scientia nobilis." — Logica Armenica, in Latinum tra- ducta. Dub. 1657. — Introductio in totum Aristotelis Philo- sophum. Dub. 1657. — The Proceedings, &c., observed in the Consecration of the Twelve Bishops in St. Patrick's, Dublin, 27 January, 1660. Lond. 1661. — Liber Psalmorum Davidis ex Armeniaco, &c. Dub. 1661. — A remarkable Speech of James Duke of Ormond, in the Irish Parliament, translated into Italian. Dub. 1661.— Lettera Erostatoeia di mettere Opera, &c. — The Vindication of a Lady, &c. — The Case of Ware and Shirley. — Speech at a Visitation of Clogher. 1671. — zMF'AMIAS AAIKTA. Lond. 1677. — Air AM IS AAIKIVA. Lond. 1678. — Translation of Dionysius Syrus's Comments on St. John the Evangelist. — Dionysius Syrus's Commentary on the Four Evangelists, translated out of the Syriac tongue. — Commentary by Moses Bar Cepha, on St. Paul's Epistles, translated from the Syriac. — Translation from the Syriac of Dionysius Syrus's Exposition of St. Mark's Gospel. Dub. 1676. — Translation from the Syriac of Gregory Maphinus's History of the Eastern and Western Church. — Translation from the Syriac of Gregory Maphinus's Commentary on the Epistles General, and the Acts of the Apostles. Dub. 1693.— Praxis Cultus divini, &c., &c., containing the Liturgies of the Twelve Apostles, of St. Peter, and St. John the Evangelist, and Dionysius the Areopagite, from the Syriac ; with the Liturgies of Bar Sherumine, of Eustathius, and the Ethiopian. Dub. 1693. — A Clear Explication of the History of our Lord, collected by Dio- nysius Syrus, from about thirty Greek, Syriac, and other Oriental writers, translated into English. —The Invention of the Cross, from the Armenian. — Translation into Latin, of Jacob Bar Isalabi's Commentary on St. Luke's Gospel. — A translation of Abul
ANTHONY DOPPING AND OTHERS.
Faragi's Life, from Arabic into Latin. — A Latin Translation of Dionysius Syrus's Sermons, from the Syriac. — A Latin Translation from the Syriac of Bar Abchi.
GEORGE PHILIPS, a gentleman of good estate in the county of Londonderry, wrote a clever work, entitled,
" The Interest of England lies in the Preservation of the Rights of Ireland," which he dedicated to the Parliament of England. Lond. 1689.— Lex Parliamentaria. Lond. 1680.
WILLIAM PHILIPS, (son of the preceding George Philips,) wrote —
The Revengeful Queen, a Tragedy. Lond. 1698.— Also, St. Stephen's Green, or the Generous Lovers, a Comedy. Dub. 1700. — Hibernia freed, a Tragedy. Lond. 1722. — Belisarius,a Tragedy. Lond. 1724.
ROBERT WARE, second son of Sir James Ware, was a native of Dublin, and a graduate of the University. His writings are : —
The Life and Death *>f George Browne, Archbishop of Dublin. Dub. 1680. — Foxes and Firebrands. Lond. 1705. — Besides several Political Essays.
ANTHONY DOPPING, was born in Dublin, March, 1643 ; his first education was in the school of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He entered the University at twelve years of age, and in 1662 (his 19th year) was elected a Fellow, in which office he gained the esteem of all his acquaintance. In 1669, he commenced B.D., and was appointed Vicar of St. Andrew's, Dublin ; in 1672 he commenced D.D., and became chaplain to the Duke of Ormond, who had him pro- moted to the bishoprick of Kildare, in 1678 ; he was translated to the see of Meath in February, 1681. He died in Dublin, April, 1697> much regretted by all ranks of people. He lies buried in his family vault in St. Andrew's Church. The following is a tolerably correct list of his publications : —
A Speech in the Parliament of Ireland. — A Form for the Re- conciliation of Lapsed Protestants, &c. Dub. 1690. — Modus tenendi Parliamenta in Hibernia. Dub. 1692. — The Funeral Sermon of Archbishop F. Marsh. Dub. 1694.— The Case of the Dissenters of Ireland. — De Visitationibus Episcopalibus. Dub. 1696.
WILLIAM MOLYNEUX. 377
WILLIAM MOLYNEUX, 1656, admitted to this Uni- versity on the 10th of April, 1671, where he com- menced A.B. ; he received from the Senior Board a very ample testimony of his talents, probity, and learning. In June, "1675, he entered the Middle Temple, and applied himself most strenuously to study the laws of his country, though he did not adopt the law as a profession, having a stronger bias for philo- sophical and mathematical learning ; and, even in his early days, he shewed a contempt for the scholastic learning then taught in the Universities.
His constitution was delicate, but this did not hinder him from distinguishing himself in the literary world.
In 1681, he commenced a correspondence with Flamstead, the astronomer, which continued through life. In 1683, he assisted in forming a society in Dublin, on the plan of the Royal Society of London, of which he was a member ; Sir William Petty was the first President of this Society, and Mr. Molyneux first Secretary ; it only existed five years, being dis- persed by the war between King William and King James.
His abilities recommended him to the Duke of Ormond, who, in 1684, appointed him, in conjunction with Sir William Robinson, Surveyor-General of Works and Chief Engineer. In 1685, he was sent abroad to visit the most considerable fortresses in Flanders, in company with Lord Mountjoy ; he travelled through that country, also Holland, part of Germany, and France. Soon after his return home he was forced to fly into England from the tyranny of Lord Tyrconnel's government.
A Parliament being called in 1692, Mr. Molyneux was elected one of the representatives for this Uni- versity, which learned corporation, at the close of the session, conferred on him the degree of LL.D. The Lord-Lieutenant appointed him one of the Com- missioners of Forfeitures, to which was annexed a salary of £400 per annum, a great stipend in those days ; but the employment being an invidious one, he
378 EZEKIEL BURRIDGE. — JOHN STEARNE, M.D.
did not accept it. He carried on a close and friendly correspondence with John Lock for many years, and went to England in 1698, on purpose to visit that great man ; and in the following year, shortly after his return home, was seized with a nephritic com- plaint, which soon proved fatal ; he was then in his 46th year.
William Molyneux published the following works, viz. : —
Six Metaphysical Meditations, proving the Existence of a God, and the distinctness of separation between the Mind and Body of Man. This was replied to by Hobbes, which brought a rejoinder from the author. 1680. — A Letter to Wm. Musgrove, H. B., Secretary to the Philosophical Society of Oxford ; relative to the
Eetrifying quality of the water of Lough Neagh. 1684. — Another jtter on the same subject. — A letter from him (when Secretary to the Right Hon. the Dublin Society), giving a description of the Hygroscope, just invented by him. — A Letter on the Circulation of the Blood. 1685. — An Essay on the Problem, " Why Bodies dis- solved in Menstrua specifically lighter than themselves, swim therein." 1686. — On the Dioptric Problem, " Why four Convex Glasses in a Telescope show Objects erect." — On the Tides at the Port of Dublin. 1686. — Eclypsis Lunae Observatae Dublinii. Nov. 19, 1686. — On "A New Contrivance for adapting a Tele- scope to a Horizontal Dial, for Observing the exact moment of Time by Day and Night," (with proper Tables). This is useful in all astronomical observations, for regulating and adjusting curious pendulum watches, and other time-keepers. — On the apparent Magnitude of the Sun and Moon, or the apparent Distance of two Stars when near the Horizon and when ascended higher. 1687. — A Treatise on Dioptrics, in two parts, explaining the effects and appearances of spheric glasses of all forms, single and com- bined, &c. 1692.— A Letter of John Locke.—" The case of Ire- land's being bound by Acts of Parliament made in England." Dub. 1697 ; — which made a great stir at the time, and is a well argued essay. — Practical Problems relative to Projectiles, applicable to heavy Artillery and Mortars.
EZEKIEL BURRIDGE, horn in the county of Cork, and educated here, published the following works: —
Historia nuperae Rerum mutationis in Anglia, &c. Lond. 1697. — Jura Populi Anglicani. Lond. 1701. — Short View of the pre- sent State of Ireland. Also, Locke's Essay on the Understanding; which he translated into Latin, under the title of De Intellectua Humana. Lond. 1701.
JOHN STEARNE, M.D., and J.U.D., was born at Ard- braccan, in the county of Meath, Ireland ; he was ne-
JOHN STEARNE. JOHN STEARNE, D.D. 379
phew to the Primate, Dr. James Ussher. Having gra- duated here, he was appointed to a junior fellowship, in 16.52, during the Cromwellian usurpation, and made Hebrew Lecturer in 1659: he resigned his fellowship in the same year. In 1660, he was made a Senior Fellow, by a king's letter, and became Professor of Laws, with a dispensation, he being a married man. Dr. Stearne exerted himself strenuously to promote the respecta- bility and usefulness of his profession ; he, in fact, for these worthy purposes, founded the College of Physi- cians, in Ireland, and was the first President of that excellent institution.
Dr. Stearne's works are : —
Aphorismi de Felicitatis. Dub. 1654. 1664, 8vo. — 0ANATO- AOFIA, sive de Morte Dissertatio. Dub. 1656-59, 8vo. — Animi Medelaseude Beatitudine et Miseriae. Dub. 1658, 4to. — Adrian! Heerebordi Disputationem de Concursu examen. Dub. 1660, 8vo. — De Electione et Reprobatione. Dub. 1662; with Manu- ductio ad vitam probam. — De Obstinationem posthumum. — Pietatem Christian!, Stoicam, Scholastica, more suadens. This was published by Mr. Dodwell (who had been his pupil). He preferred it to, Prolegomeno Apologetico de Usu Dogmaticum, Philosophorum praecipue Stoicorum in Theologia. Dub. 1672.
JOHN STEARNE, afterwards D.D., was of the same family as Dr. Stearne, M.D. Shortly after he graduat- ed; the rectory* of Nicholas parish, Dublin, (within the walls,) was conferred on him, and subsequently he was selected to be one of his chaplains, by Sir Charles Porter, Bart., then Lord Chancellor, and one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. He died young, in 1704.
He published the following works, viz.:—
King David's Case applied to King James and King William. — Seasonable Thoughts in Passion Week. Dub. 1691. — A Sermon "on the Prayer of Moses;" another "on God's Wonderful Mer- cies," and a version of Select Psalms.
JOHN STEARNE (D.D.) was the son of Dr. Stearne, M.D., &c., previously noticed ; who took especial care to have him educated in the best manner, under his own inspection. In a short period after his com-
a The celebrated " Laurence Stearne," was also a descendant from this stock.
380 GEORGE FARQUHAR. — HENRY DODWELL.
mencing A.B., he was made Vicar of Ferns, then Chancellor of that diocese, and at length was elected Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral ; subsequently he be- came Bishop of Dromore, and finally was translated to Clogher, in 171?> and appointed Vice-Chancellor of this University in 1721.
Dr. Stearne was a benefactor to his college, as we have already shewn in the list of benefactions ; and he also wrote and published several works, the prin- cipal of which are as follow : —
Tractatus Visitatione Infirmorum, &c. Dub. 1697. — Concio habita ad Reverendissimus Archiepiscopos, &c. In Ecclesia Ca- thedrali St. Patric. Dub. 1703.
Sir RICHARD BULKELEY, Bart., a native of Dublin, was educated here, and published several essays, to be found in the Transactions of the Royal Society, of which he was a member ; also Proposals for sending back to Ireland its Nobility and Gentry.
GEORGE FARQUHAR, son of a clergyman, was born in Derry, and admitted to the University in 1694. He quitted college before he obtained his degree of A.B., and took to the stage, but was not successful. He then went to London, and began to write Comedies, in which he had better success, and procured for him- self a lieutenant's commission of infantry. His works are the following : —
Love and a Bottle. Lond. 1698. — The Constant Couple. Lond. 1700.— Sir Harry Wildair. Lond. 1701.— The Inconstant. Lond. 1703.— The Stage Coach. Lond. 1704.— -The Twin Rivals. Lond. 1705.— The Recruiting Officer. Lond. 1707.— The Beau's Stra- tagem. Lond. 1710.
Of these works many editions have been sold. His widow published a poem of his writing, called, " Barcelona," which was dedicated to the Earl of Peterborough.
HENRY DODWELL, whose universal learning and pro- found judgment in the sciences have justly rendered his name so conspicuous among the learned men of Europe, and whose piety and soberness of life, had gained him the highest respect and veneration from all ranks of
HENRY DODWELL. 381
people, was born in Dublin, October, 1641. His father, who was an officer in the army, carried him into England, in his seventh year: he was sent to school at York, where he continued nearly three years. In 1654, he returned to Dublin, and went under the care of his uncle Dr. H. Dodwell, and in 1656 he entered this University. He took the degree of A.B., and soon after commencing A.M. was elected a fellow. This office he afterwards resigned on con- scientious principles, as he did not consider himself competent to the serious charge incurred by taking Holy Orders : he retired to Oxford to have the bene- fit of the public library, and the conversation of some learned friends. Having attained his object, he re- turned home, where he contiuned for several years, and published some of his works. In 1675, he went to London, where his learning, writings, and ex- emplary life, soon introduced him to those who were most eminent in learning and virtue ; among others, Dr. Lloyd of St. Asaph's, and Dr. Pearson of Chester.
The University of Oxford, unknown to him, be- stowed upon him their Camden Professorship, April, 1688 ; this office he vacated in 1691, being unwilling to take the oaths to King William and Queen Mary: he remained a nonjuror during life.
He went into retirement at Cookham and Shottes- brook, between Oxford and London. In this retirement, January, 1694, he married a virtuous young woman, whom in her early years he had instructed in the prin- ciples of religion : they had ten children, of whom Henry, and William, and four daughters survived them. He had a good estate in Ireland, the profits of which he left with a kinsman there until he married.
The care of his family did not prevent his follow- ing up his studies : he continued writing and publish- ing to the time of his death, which happened in June, 1711, in his seventieth year. He was a truly religious man, and, as such persons always are, of a cheerful conversation.
Dr. Brokesley has written at large a particular his- tory of this great writer, to which we beg leave to refer
382 NAHUM TEATE.
our readers who wish for more information. Dod- well's published works are : —
Prolegomena Apologetica in JohanneStearnii, M.D., de obstina- tione librum postbuminn. Dub. 1672. — Two Letters of Advice, (Theological). — An Introduction to a Devout Life. Dub. 1673. — Consideration how far the Romanists may be trusted by Princes of a different Faith. — Separation of Churches from Episcopal Government, as practised by non-conformists, proved to be Schism- atical. (This was answered by Mr. Baxter). — A Reply to Mr. Baxter's pretended Confutation of a Book, &c. — Concerning the Obligations to Marry, &c. — An Apology for the Philosophical Writings of Cicero. — Annales, Thucydidei et Xenophontii, &c. Oxon. 1702. — A Letter on the Immortality of the Soul. — A Letter to Dr. Tillotson, about Schism. — De Nupero Schismate Anglicano Parenaris, &c. — Exercitationes Duae ; de aetate Phala- ridis, et de aetate Pythagoras. Lond. 1704. — Chronologia ad Dionisium Halicarnasseum, &c. Oxon. 1704. — De Mtate Dion. Halicarnassensis. Against occasional Communion. — The case of the Deprived Bishops considered. — A Discourse on the Nature of the Soul, &c. Lond. 1706. — Defence of the above. — On Sacer- dotal Absolution. — Scripture Account of Eternal Rewards and Punishments, &c. Lond. 1708. — Dissertatio ad fragmentum quoddam T. Livii. Oxon. 1708. — On the famous Passage of Just. Martyr, with Tryphon. Lond. 1708. — In Julii vitalium Epitaphium, &c., Hernes Alfred. Oxon. 1712. — Dissertatione Cyprianicae. Oxon. 1682. — Discourse on the one Altar and the one Priesthood, &c. — Dissertatio de Ripa Striga. Oxon. 1684. — De Jure Laicorum Sacerdotali Dissertatio, &c. — Additiones ad V. Cl. Job. Pearsonii, £c. — Dissertatio singularis de Pontificum Romanorum, &c. — Dissertationes in Irenaeum, &c. Oxon. 1689. — Prelectiones Camdenianae, &c. Oxon. 1682. — Vindication of the Deprived Bishops, &c. Lond. 1692. — Annales Velleiani, &c. Oxon. 1693. — An Invitation to the Study of Ancient History, &c. Lond. 1694. — Defence of his Vindication of the Deprived Bishops. Lond. 1694. — Chronologia ad Thucydidis Historiam, &c. Oxon. 1696. — Annales Velleiani, Quinctiliani, Statiani, &c. Oxon. 1698. — De Tabulis Caelorum Dissertatio, &c. Oxon. 1698. — Tabula Chronologica, &c. Oxon. 1698. — Dissertationes ad primum volu- men, &c. Oxon. 1698. — Dissertationes ad secundum volumen, Geog. Graec. Min. Oxon. 1703. — Chronologia Xenophontea. Oxon. 1700. — De Veteribus Graecorum Romanorum Cyclis, &c. —Ad Clariss. Goetzium Puteolano, &c., published with the former. — De .ZEtate et Patria Dionisii Periegete. Oxon. 1712. — A Cor- respondence of Four Letters between Mr. Dodwell and the Bishop of Sarum. — De Parma Equestri Woodwardiana dissertatio. Oxon. 1713. — An Inquiry into the Phoenician Dialogue in Sanchoniathon.
NAHUM TEATE, son of Dr. Teate, already men- tioned among the pro-provosts of this college, was horn in Dublin, and graduated in its University; soon
THOMAS SOUTHERN. WILLIAM SHERIDAN. 383
after which he went to London, and published some poetry : he succeeded Mr. Shadwell as Poet Laureat in 1692. He possessed considerable learning joined to a good share of wit, and very agreeable manners, but he was too modest to push himself into those situations to which his merit fairly entitled him, and which positions are often usurped by inferior persons. His poems and dramatic compositions, twenty-two in number, are well known, and have gone through several editions ; amongst these, his Rise and Progress of Priestcraft, and his Characters of Vice and Virtue display great knowledge of moral good and evil and of human nature.
THOMAS SOUTHERN was born in Dublin, 1660: he entered the University in 1676, and commenced A.B. In four years from thence he went to London, and entered the Middle Temple, but his natural turn for poetry was too strong for him to resist, and he occupied his time in writing plays. He went into the army, and became a captain in the Duke of Berwick's regi- ment : at the Revolution, he left the army and took up his pen. He was remarkable for introducing an easy and well bred conversation into his dialogue.
His dramatic works, ten in number, are well known, particularly his Oronooko a.
WILLIAM SHERIDAN was the elder brother of Patrick Sheridan, Bishop of Cloyne ; he was educated and took all the subordinate degrees up to D.D. in Dublin College. He was first made chaplain to Sir Maurice Eustace, Lord-Chancellor of Ireland ; and then filled the same office to James Duke of Ormond ; got the Deanery of Down, and finally, was made Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh in 1681. In 1692, he was deprived for declining to take the oaths to these princes. Upon his deprivation, these sees were
a It is a singular fact, that " The Spartan Dame," a Tragedy, by this author, was not allowed to be acted, nor was it printed until thirty years after it was written ; because some persons about the Court got it into their sagacious heads, that there was something in the character of " Chelonis " that seemed to reflect on Queen Mary.
384 JOHN VESEY, ROWLAND DAVIS, AND OTHERS.
offered to Dr. Huntingdon, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, but this divine declined the offer ; yet, Wood in his Fasti Oxon. vol. ii. affirms that he did accept them. Now the fact is, that Dr. William Smith, Bishop of Raphoe, was the person appointed, on Dr. Huntingdon's refusal, to succeed Dr. Sheridan, by letters patent, dated April, 1693. Dr. Sheridan published three volumes of Sermons. Lond. 1703, 1705, and 1706.
The Rev. JOHN VESEY, Master of Arts of this College, published a volume of excellent Sermons in Dublin, A.D. 1683.
ROWLAND DAVIS, of Gille Abbey, near Cork, graduated in this University, where he took the degree of Doctor of Laws. He was considered a good civilian, eventually was ordained, and became Dean of Cork and Vicar-General of that diocese. He published several Controversial Essays in favour of the Protestant Establishment. Lond. 1694. Dub. 1716.
EDWARD SMITH, Bishop of Down and Connor, elected a Fellow in 1684, at 19 years old, was born in co. Antrim. He was chaplain to King William, and in great power with that monarch, who first promoted him to the Deanery of St. Patrick's. He published several Sermons on great public occasions, in London and Dublin, from 1689 to 1703.
He was a member of the Philosophical Society of Dublin, and of the Royal Society of London : in the Transactions of these societies, many of his essays may be seen.
CHARLES LESLIE, son of Dr. J. Leslie, Bishop of Clogher, had his elementary education at Enniskillen school. He graduated in this College, and afterwards studied the common law in the Temple, London, for some years, but did not go to the Bar. In 1680, he received ordination. In 1687, ne was appointed Chancellor to the diocese of Connor. He suffered greatly for his opposition to King James's govern-
ROBERT MOLESWORTH. — NICHOLAS BRADY. 38,5
ment ; and when that king ahdicated, Dr. Leslie was deprived of his preferment for not taking the oath to King William III. ; after which refusal, he was con- sidered a principal leader of the nonjuring party. He went abroad for many years, and made several vain attempts to convert Prince Charles (the Pre- tender). In the year 17^1, he returned to Ireland, and died at Glasslough, co. Cavan, in March, 1722. He wrote a great many theological tracts, and a vast number of political papers to serve the cause he had embraced ; of the former, 27 have been collected and published in two volumes, folio, Lond. 1721 ; of the latter, 19 are known to be his; of these Harris has given a catalogue. These works display ex- tensive learning and firm adherence to his principles, directed by sound judgment.
ROBERT MOLESWORTH, a native of Dublin, and graduate of its University, where he had a high cha- racter for abilities and learning. King William III. appointed him ambassador to the Court of Denmark. On his return home, he usually had a seat in the House of Commons, in England or Ireland, in which he always showed himself a staunch friend to the Pro- testant succession, and the liberty of the subject. His conduct gained him the good will of the government, and on the accession of King George I. he was made an Irish Viscount, the first of that rank created by his majesty. He died in 172,5. He wrote the fol- lowing works, viz. : —
An Account of Denmark, as it was in 1692. Lond. 1692-94. — Franco Gallise ; a translation from a Latin treatise by the famous civilian Hottoman. Lond. 1711. — Plans for Promoting Agricul- ture, and Employing the Poor. Dub. 1723.
NICHOLAS BRADY was a son of Major N. Brady, and a descendant of the first Protestant Bishop of Meath; he was a native of Bandon, co. Cork, where he re- ceived his early education, and from thence went to Westminster School ; he afterwards graduated in Dub- lin, where he commenced M.A. He became an emi- nent divine. He settled in London, obtained several
c c
386 MICHAEL MOOR, D-D. WILLIAM KING.
church preferments, and was chaplain to their majes- ties King William and Queen Mary, and Queen Anne. It was this Dr. Brady that joined Tate in publishing a version of the Psalms which superseded Hopkins and Sternhold. He also published three volumes of sermons, each volume consisting of four- teen discourses. Lond. 1704. 1706. 1713. After his death, three similar volumes of his writings were published by his son. Lond. 1730. Dr. Brady also translated the ^Eneid. Lond. 17^6.
TOBIAS PULLEN, Bishop of Dromore, published some theological pieces at Dublin, 1695.
MICHAEL MOOR, D.D., whom we have already no- ticed among the provosts, wrote several very learned works in Latin, some of which were published in Italy, some at Paris, and some in London, 1687.
WILLIAM KING was born at Antrim, north of Ire- land, 1st of May, 1650 ; was descended from an an- cient and honourable family of the house of Burras in the north of Scotland, whence his father removed, in King Charles the First's reign, to avoid engaging in the solemn league and covenant. His first education was at the Latin school of Dungannon, in the county of Tyrone ; in April, 1667, he was admitted a sizar of Trinity College, Dublin ; here his abilities and ap- plication were soon noticed, and he gained a scholar- ship and native's place.
In 1670, he commenced A.B., and in three years after A.M., and was ordained deacon. On his ad- mission into college, Dr. Dodwell honoured him with his acquaintance, and instructed him in logic and his- tory; and though he differed with that very learned man in many points of divinity, yet they always kept up a familiar and close correspondence.
At the demise of the provost, (Dr. Ward,) he of- fered himself a candidate for the vacant fellowship ; on which occasion, though he did not gain that honour, yet his character was so raised by his answer- ing, that Dr. John Parker, Archbishop of Tuam, took
WILLIAM KING. 387
him under his protection, ordained him priest, and placed him in his family as chaplain, and gave him some church preferment.
Whilst in the Archbishop's family, he closely ap- plied himself to all useful learning, and laid the found- ation of that knowledge which enabled him after- wards to become so eminently useful. His patron took great pains in improving and directing his great natural abilities to their proper object, and in this he was not disappointed ; and when Dr. Parker was pro- moted to the see of Dublin, he appointed Mr. King to the chancellorship of St. Patrick's in 1679, to which the parish of Saint Werburgh's is annexed. In 1688 he was constituted president of the chapter of St. Pa- trick's, Dublin ; and in 1689, for his activity in pro- moting the interest of his own party against that of King James, he was, with many other clergymen, committed prisoner to the Castle of Dublin, and con- fined six months by order of Judge Nugent.
He suffered great hardships during his confine- ment, having nothing left him to subsist on except the bounty of his friends. In 1690 he was again apprehended and confined in the common guard- house for some time, without a bed or convenience of any kind. He was enlarged on bail by the good offices of Herbert, then appointed by King James II. Lord Chancellor of England. He returned from prison to discharge his duty to his flock, and Dr. F. Marsh having fled for safety to England, he appointed Dr. King his commissary, to take care of his diocese, which he did in conjunction with Dr. A. Dopping, Bishop of Meath. His attention to his duties brought him often into danger ; he was arrested in the street, and at another time had a musket levelled at him, but it missed fire. However, when affairs were somewhat settled by the flight of King James, Dr. King was promoted to the see of Derry, in January, 1691; here he found every thing in ruins, and was indefatigable in his exertions to re- store order, and to repair the ravages of war and fanaticism, in which he succeeded admirably, and his
c c 2
388 WILLIAM KING.
successors in that office should be grateful to his memory for the state in which he left it for them.
While he held this see he greatly improved and adorned the episcopal palace, and added some ad- vowsons to the hishoprick, besides contributing to build five new, and to repair all the old churches in his diocese, which were burned or dilapidated during the war. He built a large house in Derry, the upper rooms of which were for a library, and the lower for a school and schoolmaster. He bought the greater part of Bishop Hopkins' s library, which, by will dated May 6, 1726, he devised to Wm. Nicholson, then Bishop of Derry, and his successors, in trust to remain in the said library, for the use of the clergy and gentlemen of the said diocese for ever. When Dr. N. Marsh was made primate, in 1702, Bishop King was elected by both chapters administra- tor of the temporalities of the see of Dublin, during the vacancy, and was, on the llth of March following, translated to this diocese, which he governed with ad- mirable zeal and diligence for twenty-six years; the par- ticulars of which are found at large in Harris's life of this prelate. Among other things, he purchased from Lord Ross a large parcel of impropriated tithes in the county of Kildare, at £2800, and placed them in the hands of trustees for augmenting small cures in his diocese, upon this especial condition, that the incum- bent do constantly reside, and that the income of the parish does not exceed £100 per annum. About the same time he purchased £4<9 per annum, part of the estate of Sir John Eccles, at £1050, and settled it for the support of a lecturer in St. George's Chapel, Dublin.
He was by King George 1. four times appointed one of the Lords Justices. He died at his palace of Saint Sepulchre's, on the 8th of May, 17^9, having entered his 80th year ; he was buried on the north side of the churchyard of Donnybrooke, near Dublin as he had directed long before. His private charities were very considerable, but so secretly dispensed, that we have not a particular account of them j but among
BENJAMIN HAWKSHAW. W. CONGREVE. 389
his public ones, he gave £500, long before his demise, to this college, towards founding a Divinity lecture, for the advantage of those bachelors of said college who intended to take holy orders ; and devised £500 more to his nephew, the Rev. Robert Dougal, in trust to purchase a further maintenance and endowment for the said lecture, with many other gifts and bequests for various useful purposes, of which Harris gives an enumeration.
He appears evidently to have had the advance- ment of religion, virtue and learning quite at heart, and may be justly enrolled among the greatest, the most generally learned and accomplished prelates of his own time, or of any other period.
He wrote a great number of theological and con- troversial works, which he published mostly in Dublin; among them his great work "De Origine Mali," Dub- lin, 1702 ; London, 1702. This work was attacked by Bayle and Leibnitz ; it was originally composed in Latin, but was translated into English, by Dr. Ed- mund Lane, a fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, London, 1731-32, two vols.
The Archbishop also published a great many of the sermons he preached on great public occasions, Lon- don, Dublin, and Cambridge, from 1685 to 1739, most if not all of which have been reprinted in London and Dublin.
BENJAMIN HAWKSHAW, a native of Dublin and graduate of its University, was ordained in 1692. He wrote,
On the Reasonableness of Constant Communion in the Church of England, &c. Dub. 1709.— Sermons. Dub. 1712.— Poems. Lond. 1693.
SIR RICHARD STEELE was born in Dublin, and had his early education there, but it does not appear that he ever belonged to its University. He com- menced the Spectator, Guardian, &c., in which he was joined by Addison, and other great literary men.
WILLIAM CONGREVE was born in Ireland, his father was steward to the estate of the Earl of Burlington in
390 SIR THOS. MOLYNEUX. — SIR HANS SLOANE.
Leinster ; he had his early education at the free school of Kilkenny, from whence he entered the University of Dublin. After graduating here, he entered the Middle Temple, but he gave up the study of the law to follow his inclination to poetry. His dramatic works, which are well known, consist of four comedies, a tragedy, an opera, and a masque. He translated Homer's Hymn to Venus. His poems, &c., have gone through many editions.
THOMAS MOLYNEUX, younger brother to William Molyneux before mentioned, was born in Dublin, and after graduating there he went to Ley den and Paris. On his return, he became Professor of Physic to this University, physician to the state and physician general to the army. His reputation and practice were very great. He was created a baronet in 1730, and died in 1733. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of London, and among the Transactions of that Society are to be found a great number of his Essays, viz., in Nos. 181. 186. 202. 209. 212. 225. 227. 236. 251. and 282.
PETER BROWNE, Bishop of Cork, already noticed among the Provosts, published several theological works, and some excellent sermons ; a list of above twenty of his literary works is to be found in Harris's " Account of the Writers of Ireland;" and except in the style, which is antiquated, are not surpassed by any works of a similar kind of the present day.
EDWARD SYNGE, D.D., of the University of Dublin, Bishop of Raphoe, and Archbishop of Tuam, published a great number of very elaborate works, theological and controversial, which display much talent and great learning, combined with pious and humane senti- ments. A list of thirty-seven of his works is published in Watts's Biographia already quoted.
SIR HANS SLOANE was born at Killyleagh, in the county of Down, he was educated in Ireland, and took the degree of M.D. ; he had an early bias for the study of plants and natural history in general. Having settled in London, he was a few years after chosen by the
DR. JOHN VESEY, ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM. 891
Duke of Albemarle, then appointed Governor-Gene- ral of Jamaica, to accompany him thither as his phy- sician. Here, though his stay was not quite eighteen months, he employed himself so indefatigably in his favourite studies, that he collected of plants alone above eight hundred specimens, which he brought to England, besides many other objects of natural his- tory. On his return to London, he followed the busi ness of his profession with great success. He was elected Fellow, and then President of the College of Physicians ; Secretary, and afterwards President of the Royal Society ; first Physician to King George I. and II., the former of whom created him a baronet.
He was elected member of the Imperial Academy of Science at Petersburg ; of the Royal Academies of Paris and Madrid ; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. But what places him higher than all these titles, is his strong regard for the true interest of society in originating, if not actually found- ing, that fine national establishment, the " British Museum."
JOHN VESEY was born atColeraine, in the county of Derry, March, \63J. He was first sent to Westminster School, from whence he was admitted to this Univer- sity, where he took the degree of A.M., and in 1661, he was appointed chaplain to the House of Commons; in 1672, he commenced D.D. With other preferments he held the Archdeaconry of Armagh, in which his father succeeded him ! when he was made Dean of Cork. He was appointed to this see in January, 1672, and translated to the Archbishopric of Tuam, in March, 1678. He was forced to fly from Ireland dur- ing Tyrconn ell's government. He went to London, where he served a lectureship of forty pounds per annum. He was afterwards, three different times, ap- pointed one of the Lords Justices of Ireland ; the last of these appointments being in 1714, conjointly with Robert Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, and William King, Archbishop of Dublin. During this prelate's lifetime, his son Sir Thomas Vesev, Bart., was succes-
JOHN VESEY, A.M. GEORGE BERKLEY.
sively appointed Bishop'of Killaloe and of Ossory. He died in March, 1716, and was interred at Holymount, his place of residence. He left a number of legacies for most laudably charitable purposes ; and, long before his death, he gave twenty pounds to provide a new silver mace for this college.
The Archbishop wrote much, but we have only met with the following printed works by him : —
The Life of Primate Bramhall, &c. 1 vol. Dub. 1678.— A Sermon preached before the King (William III.) at Windsor, 1691. — Another Sermon, of great merit, preached to a large con- gregation of exiled Irish Protestants in London, 1690.— A Ser- mon, equally powerful and appropriate, preached before the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and both Houses of Parliament, in Christ Church, Dublin, 1692.
The Rev. JOHN VESEY, A.M., of this College, pub- lished a volume of excellent Sermons in Dublin, 1683.
GEORGE BERKLEY was born at Kilisin, near Thomastown, in the county of Kilkenny, March, 1684. He was the son of William Berkley, who came to Ireland at the restoration : his family having suf- fered for their attachment to Charles the First, he was appointed collector of Belfast.
Young Berkley received his preparatory education under Dr. Hinton, at Kilkenny School, he afterwards became a student of this college, and, in 1707, he had the honour of being elected a fellow. In 1713, the Earl of Peterborough, Ambassador to the Italian States, appointed Mr. Berkley his chaplain and secre- tary: he returned with his lordship in 1714. He soon after went to travel with the son of Dr. St. George Ash, Bishop of Clogher, the bishop most anxiously desiring it, behaved to him most liberally. He remained four years on the Continent. In 1721, the Duke of Grafton took him to Ireland as his domestic chaplain. He became senior fellow of his col- lege in 1717.
In May, 1724, he resigned his Fellowship, having been appointed by the Duke of Grafton to the Dean- ery of Deny, about the time he published his plan for founding a college in Bermuda, as the best mode
GEORGE BERKLEY. 3Q3
of ultimately converting the native Americans to the Gospel. This plan was considered so favourably by the government, that a grant was made by Parlia- ment for the purpose of founding it. Dr. Berkley went to America with his family, but by reason of Sir R. Walpole's narrow and crooked policy, the affair came to nothing.
Soon after his return to England, Queen Anne nomi- nated him to the Deanery of Down, but the Duke of Dorset wishing to get it for a friend, the queen allowed it, but said she would make Dr. Berkley a bishop. Cloyne next year became vacant, and he was appointed to it, March, 1733.
He resided in the see during all the time he held it, except one season when he attended his parliament duty in Dublin. He applied himself with a most useful vigour to the faithful discharge of all episcopal duties, at the same time that he continued his literary exer- tions with unabated ardour. His character stood so high, that Lord Chesterfield, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, wrote to inform him that the see of Clogher, then vacant, the value of which was double that of Cloyne, was at his service, but he handsomely declined the offer, being quite content with his situation.
In July, 1 7«52, he removed, though in bad health, with his lady and family, to Oxford, where his second son, George, was then recently admitted. Before he left Cloyne he made a lease of his demesne, by which £200 per annum was secured to the indigent housekeepers of his diocese during his absence, or until his demise ; this happened in January, 17«53, when he calmly de- parted, full of honour, in his seventieth year. He was interred in Christ Church, Oxford, where his lady erected a handsome marble monument to his memory, with an elegant inscription in Latin, by Dr. Mark- ham, afterwards Bishop of Chester ; but the single line of his friend Pope surpasses the most elaborate pro- duction of this class : he gives
" To Berkley, every virtue under Heaven."
391 RICHARD AND ANTHONY MALONE.
This gifted and very estimable prelate wrote orpub- blished the following works, viz. : —
Arithmetica, absque Algebra et Euclide demonstrata. 1707. — An Essay towards a new Theory of Vision. Dub. 1709. — The Principles of Human Knowledge. Dub. 1730. — A Vindication of his Theory of Vision. Dub. 1732. — Sermons in favour of Passive Obedience, 1712, three editions. — Dialogues on the Reality and Perfection of Human Knowledge, the incorporeal Nature of the Soul, and the immediate Providence of a Deity, in opposition to Sceptics and Atheists. Lond. 1713. — A Proposal for Converting the Savage Tribes of North America to Christianity, by means of a College to be erected in the Island of Bermuda, 1725. — The Analyst, a Discourse addressed to an Infidel Mathematician. Lond. 1734. — The Querist, a work of much public interest. Lond. 1735. — A Defence of Free Thinking in Mathematics. 1735. — Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher. 1732. — A Discourse ad- dressed to Magistrates, 1736. — Siris, a chain of philosophical re- flections and enquiries respecting the virtues of " Tar Water " in the Plague. Lond. 1744; enlarged, 1747. This occasioned a good deal of interesting controversy. — An Account of his Life, with Notes, &c., 1776. — Measure of Submission to Civil Govern- ment, 1784. With some accounts of the Petrifactions in Lough Neagh, in the north of Ireland, and other papers to be found among the Philosophical Transactions.
RICHARD MALONE, a native of Dublin, and one of the ablest lawyers of his time, was descended from an Irish family of very high antiquity, (vide 7th vol. Archdall's Peerage of Ireland). He was educated in this university, from whence he entered the Middle Temple. Whilst a student there, he was entrusted with a negociation in Holland, and so successfully acquitted himself in the affair, that King William III. honoured and rewarded him for his services. He was forty- four years at the bar, where he was only surpassed in professional skill by his son. He died in 1745.
ANTHONY MALONE, who was born December, 1700, the year his father was called to the bar. He had his early academical education in this college, from whence he removed to Christ College, Oxon. ; after two years' stay here, he became a student of the Mid- dle Temple.
In 1726, he was called to the Irish bar, at which he
ANTHONY MALONE. 3<J«3
continued to practise for fifty years, the brightest ornament of his profession. The singular modesty, dis- interestedness, and integrity of this accomplished orator added such a grace and lustre to his consummate abili- ties, that it was impossible not to love and respect, as well as admire him. His person was large, and even robust. An elegant contemporary writer says of him, " to a benign and dignified speech, and an address both conciliatory and authoritative, did he join the clearest head that ever conceived, and the sweetest tongue that ever uttered the suggestions of wisdom." He was never perplexed with subtlety himself, and always despised perplexing and misleading others. This, no doubt, enabled him to keep his faculties un- impaired to the last, and avoid the fate of many members of his profession, who begin with a certain dexterity in confounding others, and end in com- pletely confusing themselves. He seemed incapable of saying or doing any thing without a certain graceful and felicitous expression accompanying his words and actions. On no occasion in private life was he ever known to be discomposed by slight inconvenience or untoward accidents, nor did he in public ever appear in the smallest degree ruffled, unless he was provoked by obstinate and petulant folly, which sometimes so far overcame his composure as to extort from him a reprimand, delivered with some warmth, but never with any thing like asperity or virulence.
His style was a perfect model for the eloquence of the bar; always adequate and never superior to his subject. He seemed studiously to avoid, as hurtful to his purpose, all ardentia verba, all ornaments of lan- guage, and all flowers of rhetoric ; so that the force of his speech resulted rather from the general weight, energy, and excellence of the whole, than the splendour of particular parts. All was clear, flowing and simple, yet most impressive ; and such was the comprehension of his mind, and the accuracy of his expression ; so perspicuous his arrangement, and so numerous his ar- guments ; that when he ceased to speak, the subject
396 EDMUND MALONE.
appeared utterly exhausted. There was nothing omit- ted, nothing superfluous ; and to add to his speech, or to confute it, seemed utterly impossible.
His memory was so very great, that there was hardly a cause in which he had been engaged for fifty years of which he could not give a satisfactory ac- count whenever a reference was made to it at the bar ; though he never took notes of cases, and in his time no reports were printed.
He was successively Prime Sergeant, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a Privy Councillor; in each of which stations he acquitted himself with great credit to his own character, and gave equal satisfaction to those concerned with him.
He was the faithful representative of his county in parliament for forty-two years. He continued his pro- fessional pursuits, (which crowded upon him,) until the week before he died, which event took place on the 8th of May, 1776, after an illness of eight days.
" Such," says his biographer, " was Anthony Ma- lone," the perfect delineation of whose great and ad- mirable character would require more room than in a work of this nature can be allotted to an individual ; however, it is hoped that even this sketch may con- vey to posterity some notion, however slight, of this celebrated orator. To use the words of the learned F. Bohours, on another occasion, " He was one of those extraordinary men who have been rarely equalled, and who, for the benefit of mankind, ought to be im- mortal."
EDMUND MALONE, brother to the above, was born at Dublin, in 1704, was educated there, and became a student of the Middle Temple, from which he was called to the English Bar, in 1730 : there he prac- tised with great success until 1740, at which period his friends prevailed on him to go to the Irish Bar. He was made king's counsel in 1^46, then second sergeant, and finally appointed a judge in the Court of Common Pleas, in Ireland, which dignity he held
EDMUND MALONE. 39?
till his death, in 1774- We shall only say of him, that he possessed a large share of the fine disposition and splendid talents of his family.
EDMUND MALONE, son of the judge, was born in Dublin, 4th October, 1741. He was educated at the school of Dr. Ford, in that city, from whence he en- tered the University, where he commenced A.M. Here his talents very soon displayed themselves, and he signalized himself by a successful competition for academical honours with several young men who after- wards became the ornaments of the Irish senate, pul- pit, and bar. It appeared that at his outset he had laid down to himself those rules of study to which he ever afterwards steadily adhered. When sitting down to the perusal of any work, either ancient or modern, his attention was drawn to its chronology, the history and character of its author, the feelings and prejudices of the times in which he lived, and any other collateral information which might tend to illustrate his writings, or acquaint us with his probable views and cast of thinking. In later years, he was more particularly engrossed by the literature of his own country, but the knowledge he had acquired in his youth, had been too assiduously collected, and too firmly fixed in his mind, not to retain possession of his memory, and to preserve that purity and elegance of taste, which is rarely to be met with, except in those who have de- rived it from the models of classic antiquity.
In 1763, he became a student of the Middle Temple, and in 1767, he was called to the Irish bar, where he gave great hopes of future eminence ; but an ample fortune soon after devolving to him, he retired from the bar, and from that time devoted his whole atten- tion to literary pursuits, for which purpose he settled in London, and resided there almost constantly during the remainder of his life.
His first literary essay appears to have been a pamphlet, in which he clearly showed that the ** Poems of Rowley" (the pre- tended monk,) by Chatterton, were fabricated by that unfortunate young author. In 1780, he published two supplemental vo- lumes to Steevens's edition of Shakspeare ; in the year 1790, he
EDMUND MALONE. SAMUEL MADDEN.
published his edition of that great poet, of whose works his admi- ration amounted to enthusiasm. In collecting materials for this great work, he was occupied above thirteen years, but then it remains, and will remain, as a testimony of his extensive learning, sound taste, and critical accuracy. He went to his friends in Ire- land to recruit himself after his fatigues of authorship, and after a few months returned to London. In 1795, he again displayed his zeal in defence of Shakspeare, against the fabrication with which the Irelands endeavoured to delude the public. — In 1797, he su- perintended the publication of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, to which he prefixed a pleasing Biographical account of their Au- thor.— In 1800, he published a most complete collection of the Prose works of Dryden, with a very interesting Biographical Pre- face.— In 1808, he prepared for the press some productions of his friend, the celebrated William Gerard Hamilton, with a brief, but elegant Sketch of his Life.
In 1811, on the death of Mr. Windham, whom he much esteemed and admired, he drew up a short me- morial of his amiable and illustrious friend. This ap- peared first in the Gentleman's Magazine : it was afterwards enlarged, corrected and published sepa- rately. In 1812, he was on the point of putting to the press his new edition of Shakspeare, when he was seized with an illness which carried him off, to the great regret of all who had the happiness of knowing him. He died on the 12th of May, 1812, in his 70th year.
In his person he was about the middle size. The urbanity of his temper, and the kindness of his dis- position, were depicted in his mild and placid coun- tenance. Accustomed from his early years to the society of those who were distinguished for their rank and talent, he was at all times easy, unembarrassed, and unassuming, exhibiting in his most casual in- tercourse with mankind, the genuine and unaffected politeness of one born and bred a gentleman. His conversation was in a high degree entertaining and instructive, his knowledge was various and accurate, and his mode of displaying it, void of all vanity or pretension. His heart was warm, and his benevolence active, but judicious and discriminating.
SAMUEL MADDEN, a name which Dr. Johnson says " Ireland ought to honour," was born at Dublin, in
SAMUEL MADDEN. 399
1687, where also he received his education. He took priest's orders in compliance with the wishes of his family, who had the joint presentation to the living of Drumilly, worth, at that time, £400 per annum a. Previous to this, he published a tragedy, in London, called " Themistocles, or the Lover of his Country." He had been a colonel of militia ; some years after he was appointed to a Deanery. In the year 1731, he projected the plan to promote learning in the Uni- versity of Dublin, by giving premiums at the quarterly examinations ; this plan has been found, after ninety years' experience, to be highly beneficial. In 1740, we find him in his native country, setting apart £100 annually, to be distributed by way of premiums, to the inhabitants of Ireland only ; namely, £50 to the author of the best invention for improving any use- ful art or manufacture ; £25 to the person who should finish the best statue ; £25 to the person who should produce the best piece of painting, either in the history or landscape classes of art ; the premiums to be decided by the Right Hon. the Dublin Society, of which society Dr. Madden was also the original instituter. The good effects of these well applied benefactions have not only been felt to great ad- vantage in the kingdom where they were bestowed, but have extended their influence to the sister country, where this example gave rise to the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Com- merce, at the Adelphi, London.
The late Richard Brinsley Sheridan's father, in an oration which he delivered in Dublin, says of Dr. Madden, when speaking of his premiums, " had he never contributed any thing further to the good of his country, he would have deserved immortal honour, and must have been held in reverence by the latest pos- terity."
But he was not confined in his exertions to these public acts for promoting the welfare of mankind, for this practically benevolent man continued his dis- interested endeavours, during a long life, to promote
a Equivalent then to ,£1200 per annum at the present time.
400 WILLIAM DANIELL, OR O'DONNELL.
honest industry in every possible way, and thereby to increase the amount of human happiness to the benefit of society at large. He died December 30, 1765.
Dr. Madden published in 1732, "Memoirs of the Twentieth Century." (This book is now very scarce.) Lond. Bowyer. — In 1743, a Poem, called "Boulter's Monument," which was cor- rected for the press by Dr. Johnson. — Also, an epistle of 200 lines by him, prefixed to his friend Dr. T. Leland's 2nd edition of " The Life of Philip of Macedon." There is another very scarce work of his, entitled " Reflections and Resolutions proper for the Gentlemen of Ireland ; as to their Conduct for the Service of their Country." Dub. 1738. This admirable work has not been mentioned by any of his early biographers, though it is replete with the soundest practical principles of national and political, but not revolutionary, economy. This work alone would prove him to have been a person of a fine, strong and well cultivated under- standing, of a noble and generous disposition, combined with the highest moral and religious feeling ; all these fine qualities he kept in a state of vigour, by constantly exercising them whenever he found a proper occasion.
The premiums already mentioned, of which he was the original proposer, are those so well known as the 40s. premiums, and are given, at the quarterly ex- aminations, to the best answerers in each division.
WILLIAM DANIELL, or O'DONNELL, was one of the first scholars of this University at its foundation. He was also the first elected Fellow, and either the first or second who took the degree of D.D. at one of its earliest commencements. He was made Treasurer of St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1609, and Archbishop of Tuam in the same year.
This prelate was born in Kilkenny, and was a man of very distinguished learning. He translated the book of Common Prayer out of the English, and the the New Testament out of the Greek, into the Irish language ; the former of these was printed in 1 608 a, the latter six years previously ; this was afterwards re- printed in 1681, by the Hon. Robert Boyle. Dr. O'Donnell was also considered an accomplished He- brew scholar — and the Irish language he thoroughly
a This volume was, however, reprinted, and circulated extensively throughout Ireland ; it is to be found in all the public, and most of the private libraries in Ireland.
ARCHBISHOP PALLISER. — EDMUND BORLACE, M.D. 401
understood, as it might be considered as his vernacular tongue. His object was to give the Irish, religious in- struction through the medium of their own language. This noble purpose was frustrated by the culpable neglect of the successive Lords Deputies of Ireland.
WILLIAM PALLISER was born at Kirkby Wilk, in Yorkshire: he came young into Ireland, was educated in an Irish school, and graduated in this College, where he was elected a Junior Fellow, in 1668. He be- came a Senior Fellow and Doctor of Divinity, was pro- moted to the Bishoprick of Cloyne in February, 1692, from thence he was translated to the Archbishoprick of Cashel, on the removal of Dr. N. Marsh to Dublin, in June, 1694. He made a large fortune, which he left to an only son. To this University, however, he was a considerable benefactor ; when Senior Fellow, he gave to it £10 towards additional buildings, and when Archbishop, he gave, in two benefactions, £1200 more for the same purpose : at his death, he be- queathed to it " all such books and editions of books of which the college library had not copies ;" those have been deposited there to the amount of 4000 volumes. He particularly specifies that the said collection shall go by the name, and be always called "Biliotheca Palliseriana" and shall be kept and placed next to the library devised to the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars by Primate Ussher, called Bibliotheca Usseriana; and further, that if they should fail to designate the books so given by him by the above name, or should fail to keep them next to Ussher's library, that then the above disposal of the books should be void. The Archbishop also bequeathed £200 to establish a fund, the interest of which was to be laid out in books to be added to those already mentioned.
EDMUND BORLACE was son of Sir John Borlace, Master of the Ordnance Department, and one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. He was born and educated in Dublin, where he took the degree of A.B. He went from thence to Ley den, where he commenced M.D.,
D D
402 HENRY BROOKE, A.M.
in 1650, and was soon after admitted to the same de- gree at Oxford. He finally settled at Chester, where he practised as a physician with great success : he died in 168'2.
Among his published works are : —
Latham Spaw, in Lancashire, with some Account of the Cures effected by it. Lond. 1670. — The Reduction of Ireland, &c., with the Governors, since Henry II. — Account of the Rebellion, 1041. — The Origin of Trinity College, Dublin, and College of Physicians. Lond. 1675. — Another History of the Irish Rebel- lion, 161-1. Lond. 1648, folio. — Brief Reflections on the Earl of Castlehaven's Memoirs, &c. Lond. 1652.
HENRY BROOKE, an amiable and able writer, was born in the county of Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1700. He was at first educated under Dr. Sheridan, from whose school he entered this college, took the degree of A.B., and was, at seventeen, a student of the Middle Temple. About this time he became acquainted with Pope and Swift, who both regarded him as a young man of very promising talents. He was called to the Bar on his return from London, but before he could establish himself, he imprudently married ; this involved him in family cares rather prematurely. He returned to London, where he resumed his ac- quaintance with his former literary friends, and in a few years went back to Dublin. In 1737, he went again to London, when he was introduced to Lyttleton, and the other political and literary ad- herents of the Prince of Wales. His literary exer- tions now proved a source of fame and profit : he took a residence near Mr. Pope's villa, at Twickenham, and brought his family over, intending to settle there, but a violent and obstinate ague compelled him to try his native air : he was restored to health, but did not return to London, by which means he lost the opportunity his talents had gained of realizing a hand- some competency for his family. He still kept up a literary correspondence with h'is friends, who were much surprised at his not returning to them. His tenderness of heart, and unsuspecting temper, involved him in pecuniary difficulties. He was ever prone to
DR. RICHARD SHERLOCK. A. M. TOPLADY. 403
relieve the distressed, though the consequences to himself were often unpleasant. In 1773, he lost his faithful companion, with whom he had lived happily for nearly fifty years. Of his seventeen children, only two survived him.
His literary works are : —
Universal Beauty, a poem. — A Translation of the first three books of Tasso. Lond. 1738. — Gustavus Vasa, a Tragedy. Lond. 1739.— The Earl of Westmoreland, a Tragedy. — " Con- stantia, or the Man of Law's Tale," in Ogle's version of Chaucer. — The Farmer's Letters. — To Moore's volume of Fables, Mr. Brooke contributed four of great poetical merit, viz. : The Temple of Hy- men ; The Sparrow and Dove ; The Female Seducer ; and Love and Vanity. — The Dramatic Opera of " Little John and the Giants." Dub. 1748. — The Earl of Essex, a Tragedy. Dub. 1749. — The Trial of the Roman Catholics, a political essay in favour of their emancipation. — The Fool of Quality, a Novel. — The "Redemption," a Poem. 1772. — Juliet Greville, a Novel. There have been several editions of these works.
RICHARD SHERLOCK was horn in 1613, at Oxton in Cheshire. He was at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, a short time, when he went to the University of Dublin, where he graduated and took holy orders. At the re- storation his college granted him the degree of D.D., and the Earl of Derby gave him the rich benefice of Winwich, which enabled him to practise those benefi- cent virtues which were so eminently blended with his existence. His principal work is his " Practical Christian," which has gone through many editions.
AUGUSTUS MONTAGUE TOPLADY, a strenuous champion for the Calvinism of the Church of England, was born at Farnham in Surrey, November, 1740. He went to Ireland with his mother, and entered this college, where he took the degree of A.B., and took orders on Trinity Sunday, 1762. He got the living of Broad Hembury in Devonshire, which produced but little profit, as he would not resort to the usual mode of collecting tithes. His chief objects in writing and preaching, .were the defence of Calvinism, and to show that proofs of Calvinism are to be found in the articles, &c., of the Church of England. He died August, 1778. His works, sixteen in number, have since been
D D 2
404 THOMAS SHERIDAN. — EDMUND BURKE.
collected into a complete edition of six volumes, be- sides a volume of posthumous pieces.
THOMAS SHERIDAN, the intimate friend of Swift, was born in 1684, in the county Cavan. Having shown strong indication of genius, he was sent to this Univer- sity, where he obtained the degree of D.D. : he after- wards kept a school of high reputation, and got some small preferment in the church. He died in 1738. His principal work, besides his Letters to Swift, is a prose translation of Persius, with many judicious notes of his own. Lond. 1739.
THOMAS SHERIDAN, jun., son of the preceding, was born at Quilca in Ireland, near the seat of Dean Swift, in 1721. His father sent him for a short time to West- minster School. Soon after his return to Dublin, he entered the University, and at the usual time com- menced A.M. In 1743, he came out on the Dublin ' stage, in the character of Richard the Third, with great success : he afterwards had an engagement at Covent Garden in 1744, and at Drury Lane, 174,5. On his return to Dublin, he became proprietor of the Theatre there, which he held for about ten years. He afterwards gave lectures on education in Scotland, and various parts of England, with great credit. He died in 1788. His best works are a Dictionary of the Eng- lish Language, and a Life of Dean Swift.
EDMUND BURKE. This distinguished politician and political writer was born near Dublin, 1st of January, 1730. His father was an attorney of respectability in that city, his mother was of the respectable family of the Nagles, of county Cork : Edmund was their second son. He was at a very early age sent to Ballytore School, in the county Kildare, twenty miles south-west of Dub- lin. This seminary was kept by Mr. Abraham Shakel- ton, as it was afterwards by his son: it produced several eminent men. Young Burke soon dis- tinguished himself here, by his ardent attachment to study. From thence he entered this University, where, if we may judge from the specimens we have of his first literary essays, he did not lose his time in idle-
EDMUND BURKE. 405
ness. For the shortness of our sketch of this illustrious man, and some others, we beg leave here to remind our readers that our view in giving biographical notices of eminent men is chiefly to show how far this University has really contributed her share in prepar- ing and polishing for public life, those superior minds endowed with fine natural qualities, that otherwise might never have benefited mankind, or done honour to human nature. We shall confine ourselves, there- fore, to the mere facts that establish such claims, and give a catalogue of their works to show what their literary exertions have been. We beg leave, at the same time, to refer for more detailed accounts, to the Biographias, particularly that of Dr. Chalmers, from which we have in many instances derived much cor- rect information.
Mr. Burke having taken his degree of A.B., went to London, where he entered as a student of the Middle Temple. Here he was remarkable for his dili- gence, his habits and conversation, which were equally creditable to his morals and his talents. In 1765. he was appointed private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham, and then first sat in Parliament for the borough of Wendover : he was afterwards elected for Bristol, Mai ton, &c. In 1782, he was appointed- paymaster of the forces, and again in 1783 : this office he resigned in the same year. His impeachment of Warren Hastings is well known, as well as his conduct on the " Regency," the "French Revolution," &c. Having determined to quit the bustle of public life so soon as the trial of Warren Hastings should be concluded, he vacated his seat when that gentle- man was acquitted, and retired to his villa at Beacons- field. Here he lost his son, on the 2nd of August, 1794. Soon after this event, the king (George III.) bestowed a pension of £1200 per annum upon him for his own life, and that of his wife, out of the civil list, and two other pensions of £2500 a year for three lives, payable out of the four and a half per cents. These gifts were of course represented by party feel- ing as a reward for his having changed his principles,
406 LUCIUS GARY, LORD FALKLAND.
though at this time he had left Parliament : this charge he repelled in a letter, to Earl Fitzwilliam, written in terms of eloquent, just, and keen sarcasm. He died on the 8th of July, 1797, aged 68. Mr. Burke published, —
Some Essays in Answer to Dr. Lucas. Dub. 1749.— A Vin- dication of Natural Society. Lond. 1756. — A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beau- tiful.— The Annual Register, carried on for some years. — Observ- ations on the Present State of the Nation. 1768. — Thoughts on the Public Discontents. Lond. 1769. — Reflections on the French Revolution. Lond. 1790. — Thoughts on the Prospect of a Regi- cide Peace. 1796.
Lucius GARY, afterwards the celebrated Viscount Falkland, was bora in England, but came to Dublin in the year 1622, that in which his father arrived in Ireland as Lord Deputy. His son Lucius entered as a student of Dublin University when he was twelve years of age, where he graduated, and took the de- grees of A.B. and A.M. In 1629, he returned to England with his father, who was then recalled. He afterwards took a Master's degree, at St. John's College, Cambridge; and from the beginning of the dis- pute between King Charles II. and the British Parlia- ment, the admirable lessons of loyalty and love of order he imbibed here, never forsook this accomplished and estimable young nobleman. He adhered firmly to the cause of that ill-fated monarch, to whom he was secretary at the commencement of the civil war, and held that office until he bravely fell at the battle of Newbury, on the 20th of September, 1643: he was then in the 34th year of his age. In so very slight a sketch as this must be, no one will expect that any thing like a just description of the entire merits of Lork Falkland can be attempted, or justice done to a character so exalted ; fortunately such an effort is not required here, for that has been amply performed by the elegant pen of Lord Clarendon.
Lord Falkland's published works : —
A Speech " on Evil Councillors about the King." — A Speech against the Lord Keeper Finch, and the Judges. — A Speech
DR. ROBERT CLAYTON. 407
against the Bishops, February 9th, 1640. — A Draught of a Speech concerning Episcopacy. Oxon. 1644. — A Discourse on the In- fallibility claimed by the Church of Rome. -A View of some Exceptions made against the preceding Discourse. — A Letter to p. ]VI. — A Letter to Dr. Beale, Master of St. John's College, Cambridge. It appears also that he assisted iiishop Chillingworth in his " Religion of Protestants." His lordship likewise wrote some good verses on Ben Jonson.
ROBERT CLAYTON was born in Dublin, in Itty5. His father, the Dean of Kildare, sent him to West- minster School, from whence he entered this college, and having graduated, was elected a Fellow in 1714, being then in his twentieth year ; soon after which, he made the tour of France and Italy, and took the degree of D.D., 17^9-
On the decease of his father, in 1728, Mr. Clayton got possession of a large fortune ; he then generously gave to each of his three sisters double the portion left them by their father's will. He married a daughter of Chief Baron Donnellan, and bestowed her fortune on her sister. Soon after this he went to London, where a person in distressed circumstances applied to him for assistance, with a recommendation from Dr. Samuel Clarke, when, instead of the usual donation on such occasions, he gave the man £300, which was all he wanted to make him prosperous in this world. This unusual incident introduced him to Dr. Clarke, by whom he was converted to Arian principles. Dr. Clarke having mentioned to Queen Caroline the account of Dr. Clayton's beneficence, it made a powerful impression on her Majesty's mind in his favour ; an immediate recommendation to Lord Carteret, then chief governor of Ireland, was the con- sequence, and Dr. Clayton was accordingly advanced to the see of Killala, in January, 1730 ; translated in November, 1735, to Cork, and in 1745 to Clogher. He died February, 1758. He published —
Royal Funeral Sermon, on Rev. xix. 13. 1727. — Letter to his Clergy, caused by a Message from his Grace the Lord Lieutenant to the House of Lords. Dub. 1739. — An Introduction to the History of the Jews. — The same in French. Leyd. — The Chro- nology of the Christian Bible Vindicated: the facts compared with other ancient histories, and the difficulties explained, from the
408 SIR C. AND SIR E. COOTE.
Flood to the death of Moses ; together with some conjectures in relation to Egypt in that period of time. — Also two Maps, in which are attempted to be settled, the Journeyings of the Children of Israel. Lond. 1747. This work excited considerable animad- version, and called forth the author's power in several refutations. — Dissertation on Prophecy, wherein is shewn, that the final end of the dispersion of the Jews will be coincident with the downfall of Popedom, and take place in about the year 2000 of the Christian era. 1749. — Impartial Inquiry into the Time of the Coming of the Messiah. 1751. — An Essay on Spirit, in which the doctrine of the Trinity is considered in the light of nature and of reason, as well as in the light in which it was held by the ancient Hebrews. Lond. 1751. — Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testaments, in Answer to the Objections of the late Lord Boling- broke. Dub. 1752. — A Journal of a Tour from Grand Cairo to Mount Sinai and back ; translated from a MS. written by the Prefect of Egypt ; in company with the Missionaries de pro- paganda Jide at Cairo. To which are added some Remarks on the Origin of Hieroglyphics, and the Mythology of the Ancient Heathens. Lond. 1753. — Defence of the Essay on Spirit. 1753. — Thoughts on Self-Love. Lond. 1753. — Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testaments, Part II. 1754. — Part III. 1757. — The Doctrine of the Trinity, as usually explained, inconsistent with Scripture and Reason. Lond. 1754. — Letters between him and W. Penn, on Baptism. Lond. 1755, 1759. — Speech in the Irish House of Lords, for omitting the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds out of the Liturgy. Lond. 1757. — Letter on the Question whether the Logos supplied the Place of a Human Soul in the Person of Jesus Christ. Lond. 1759. — An Humble Apology for the Christian Orthodoxy. Lond. 1761.
Sir CHARLES COOTE, a distinguished military officer in the 17th century, was educated here. He was created Earl of Montrath, hy King Charles II., for his activity in assisting to bring ahout the restoration.
Sir EYRE COOTE, a descendant of the same family as the preceding officer, was also educated here. He entered the army young, having served during the Re- hellion of 1745.
In 1757> he went with his regiment to India, where he distinguished himself, and on the taking of Calcutta, was appointed Governor of that place. He assisted in the capture of Hooghley and Chander- nagore, and distinguished himself at the battle of Plassey : he afterwards took the fort of Vandevashe, and defeated Count Lally, the Governor of Pondi- cherry, which important place he greatly assisted in cap-
DR. PATRICK DELANY. — DR. RICHARD LINGARD. 409
turing, and in which the captors found great treasures. He was appointed Commander in Chief of the India Company's forces in 1769. In 17?1» he was made Knight of the Bath, and in 1773, appointed Colonel of the 37th Regiment of Foot. He was then made a member of the Supreme Council at Bengal, and commander of the Company's troops in that Presidency. In 1783, he with 10,000 men defeated Hyder Ali, who had 150,000 men. This accomplished and suc- cessful officer died at Madras, in April, 1783.
PATRICK DELANY, a native of Ireland, was born in 1688. He entered this college a Sizar ; by his talents and application he afterwards became a Junior Fellow, then Senior Fellow, and finally, was presented to the Deanery of Down. He was for many years the inti- mate friend and companion of Dean Swift : he lived to the age of 83 years, dying in 1769. He published the following works :
The Tribune ; a periodical paper. — Revelation examined with Candour, 1732 ; Ditto, 2nd volume, 1734; a third edition in 1735. — Reflections on Polygamy. — An Historical Account of the Life and Reign of David King of Israel. — A Volume of Sermons upon the Social Duties. — An Essay to shew the Divine Origin of Tythes. — An Answer to the Earl of Orrery's Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dean Swift. 1754. — A Volume of Sermons. 1754. — A periodical paper, called the " Humanist." 1757. — An humble Apology for Christian Orthodoxy. — The third volume of his Revelation examined with Candour. 1763. — Against Tran- substantiation. — Eighteen Religious Discourses. 1766.
Dr. RICHARD LINGARD was appointed (by a king's letter) to a Fellowship in 1660, and was made Pro- fessor of Divinity about the same time. In two years afterwards he became Vice Provost, and in 1666 was appointed to the Deanery of Lismore : further promo- tion was stopped by his decease in 1670.
He published an admirable Sermon on 1 Chronicles, ch. xxix. verses 24 to 30. Lond. 1668. And also a Letter of Advice to a Young Gentleman on leaving the University. This is an excel- lent treatise on morals, manners, and conduct. It has been more than once reprinted, and certainly should be in the hands of every young College man a.
a It was originally written for young Lord Lanesborough, who had been his pupil in College.
410 OLIVER GOLDSMITH. DR. HUGH HAMILTON.
ST. GEORGE ASHE we have already noticed in the list of Provosts. The works he published are : —
A Sermon preached in London, Oct. 1691, to the Irish Pro- testants there — Another equally effective Sermon, at St. Mary le Beau, (Bow Church,) before the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts. — A Sermon, preached at Christ Church, Dublin, before the Lords Justices — A New and easy Way of solving some Propositions in Euclid. — Observations on a remark- able Solar Eclipse at Dublin, July, 1684. — With numerous clever Essays, published in the Transactions of the Royal Society.
SECTION III.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH was born at Pallas, county of Longford, in Ireland ; his father was a clergyman. He entered the University in his fifteenth year. In 1749, he took the degree of A.B., soon after which he left college. The events of his chequered life are well described in the account of him prefixed to his works. He published, —
A Life of Voltaire, 1758. — The Present State of Polite Litera- ture in Europe, 1759. —The Vicar of Wakefield. — The Art of Poetry. — A Life of Beau Nash. — Le ters on the History of Eng- land. — The Bee. — The Traveller. — The Goodnatured Man, a Comedy. — The Roman History. — The History of England. — A History of the Earth and Animated Nature. — A Life of Dr. Par- nell.— -A Life of Bolingbroke.— The Deserted Village, 1769.— She stoops to Conquer, a Comedy, 1773. — The Haunch of Venison. — Retaliation. Dr. Goldsmith also wrote many Prefaces to works, and several Essays in periodical publications, particularly " The Citizen of the World." These works have gone through numer- ous editions.
HUGH HAMILTON was a native of Dublin, born in March, 1729. He entered this College in 1742, and was elected one of its Fellows in 1751, being then in his 22d year. He was one of the most eminent mathe- maticians that Europe has produced. In 1759, he was elected to Erasmus Smith's Professorship of Natural Philosophy.
In 1764, he accepted a college living, (and of course resigned his fellowship,) to which was added, in 1767, the living of St. Anne's, Dublin, which he resigned in 1768, on being promoted by Primate Robinson to the Deanery of Armagh. In 177 2, he married an
C. AND J. HOPKINS. DR. THOMAS LYDIATE. 411
Irish lady of good family. In 1796, he was conse- crated Bishop of Clonfert, and in 1799, he was re- moved to the see of Ossory, where he continued till his death in December, 1805. He got both the bishoprics without solicitation. He was a learned, acute, and sound philosopher. In every office which he held, whether ecclesiastical or otherwise, he seems to have been anxious to perform all the duties of those situa- tions with fidelity and care.
His works have been collected and published by his son in 1809, 2 vol. 8vo, viz.:- De Sectionibus Conicis, 1758. — An Essay on the Existence and Attributes of the Supreme Being. — An Essay on the Permission of Evil. — Three Philosophical Essays on the Ascent of Vapour, the Aurora Borealis, and The Princi- ples of Mechanics. — Remarks and Hints on the Improvement of Barometers. — On the Power of Fixed Alkaline Salts to preserve Flesh from Putrefaction; and Four admirable Introductory Lectures on Natural Philosophy.
CHARLES HOPKINS, son of Dr. Ezekiel Hopkins, Bishop of Raphoe, was bora at Exeter, in 1664, but graduated at this College : he afterwards took a de- gree at Queen's College, Cambridge. He was much admired by all the literary men of his day for the goodness of his style in writing, and his agreeable gentlemanly qualities.
He wrote " Epistolary Poems and Translations," in Nichols's Collection. — Pyrrhus, a Tragedy. 1695. — The History of Love. — The Art of Love. — Court Prospects — Boadicea, a Tragedy. 1697. — Friendship improved, &c., a Tragedy. 1699.
JOHN HOPKINS, brother of the above author, was born in Dublin, January, 167«5, and educated in this University. His works are —
The Triumphs of Peace, &c., 1698, a Pindaric Poem. — Another of the same kind, called " The Fall of Beauty," 1698. — Amasia, a Collection of Poems, in 3 vols. 1700. — And several Sonnets, Essays, &c., which display both good taste and learning.
THOMAS LYDIATE is said to have been born in Oxfordshire;. he, however, graduated in the University of Dublin, where he obtained a Fellowship in 1609. He was a very eminent scholar.
His published writings are : —
DR. THOMAS WILSON.
Tractatis variis Annorum formis cum Defensione cum Prae- lectione Astronomica de Natura Coeli, et Conditionibus Element- Drum) Disquisitio Physiologicae de Origine Fontane. Lond. 1605. — Defensio de variis Annorum formis, contra Joseph Scaligerum, una cum Examine Canonum Chronologiae, Isagogicorum. Lond. 1607. — Emendatio Temporum ab initio Mundi hue usque com- pendio facta, contra Scaligerium et alios. Lond. 1609. — Ex- plicatio, et addita Mentum Argumentorum in Libello Emendationis Temporum Compendio facta, de Nativitate Christi, et Ministerii in terris. Lond. 1613. — Solis et Lunae Periodus seu Annus Mag- nus. Lond. 1620. — De Anni Solaris Mensura, Epistola Astrono- mica. Lond. 1621. — Numerus Aureus Melioribus Lapillis In- signitus, 1621. — Canones Chronologici, necnon Series Summorum Magistratuum et Triumphorum Romanorum. Oxon. 1675.— Annotationes ad Chronicon Marmoreum de Molti Darii Hys- taspis. Oxon. — Letters to Dr. James Ussher, Primate of all Ire- land, (printed in Dr. Parr's Life of the Lord Primate.) — Mar- moreum Chronicum Arundelianum cum Annotationibus. Oxon. —Besides several unpublished works of great merit, chiefly on his favourite science, Chronology.
THOMAS WILSON, afterwards the pious and vener- able Bishop of Sodor and Man, was born at Burton, a village in the hundred of Wirral, in the county palatine of Chester, A.D. 1663. He had his ele- mentary education in the city of Chester, and when qualified, he was entered at this University. Here he distinguished himself by his proficiency in academical studies, and the regularity of his conduct. He at first intended to devote himself to the medical profession, but a dignitary of the Church persuaded him to turn his thoughts to Divinity. He continued in this college until 1686, when he was ordained Deacon, by the Bishop of Kildare ; soon after which he left Ireland, owing to the confusion that prevailed under the un- happy reign of King James II. In 1692, his ex- cellent character recommended him to the Earl of Derby, who appointed him his domestic chaplain. In 1697> ne was made Bishop of Sodor and Man : in this station he continued 58 years, declining every promotion offered to him, particularly the see of Exeter, in 17^3. His life was one uniform system of active and judicious benevolence, directed by the soundest dictates of religion. He died in March, 1755. His works, consisting mostly of religious
SIR THOMAS VESEY, BART., BISHOP OF OSSORY. 413
tracts, have been repeatedly printed separately, and extensively circulated, as well as his sermons : they were collected by his son, and published in 2 vols. quarto. Lond. 1780. And since, in 2 vols. folio.
Sir THOMAS VESEY, Bart., was son of Dr. JohnVesey, Archbishop of Tuam. He was born at Cork, and partly educated in Dublin, from whence, having fled from King James's tyranny, he was admitted of Christ Church College, Oxford, where his means of support being cut off by the malice of the Lord Lieutenant Tyrconnell's Government, Dr. Wake, then a canon of Christ Church, and who afterwards became Arch- bishop of Canterbury, took the care and expense of completing his education upon himself, until he was elected a Fellow of Oriel College. Some time after this, he married the daughter of David Muschamp, Esq., Muster Master General of Ireland : by this lady he inherited a large fortune.
He was created a baronet in July, 1698 : this was before he took orders, although he always intended to do so. After ordination he retired to his parish, of which he took good care ; from whence the Duke of Ormond, on his last mission to Ireland, prevailed on him to go with him as his chaplain, and at the same time recommended him so strongly to Queen Anne, that he was appointed to the see of Killaloe in June, 1713, and was translated to that of Ossory in April, 1714.
He appears to have been quite a model for prelates : his diocese he kept in admirable order, and with the greatest ease to himself, which shews his superior skill in government, and the merits of his clergy; his judgment and virtue directing him to appoint the the most worthy. Harris says of him, that he was never known to be under the necessity of inflicting a public censure in his diocese, which Dr. King, in his triennial visitations, often took care to mention. His estate was large before his promotion, and his heart was too large to make any addition to it ; the tithes be- longing to his see he would never receive, but gave
414 JONATHAN SWIFT.
them entirely to his curate, and the rectorial tithes of Abbey leix, part of his private property, being of greater value, he settled on the vicar.
He repaired and improved his palace at Kilkenny, and maintained a school for forty children in that city, until he found it did not answer his intention.
He died in Dublin, August, 1730, to the universal grief of his clergy, to whom he was a father, brother, friend, and companion ; proving himself to be not only a good bishop, but a perfect gentleman.
JONATHAN SWIFT was born in Hoey's Court, Castle Street, Dublin. His father was an attorney and member of the King's Inn in that city. In 1665, Jo- nathan Swift, senior, memorialized the benchers of that honourable Society, praying to be appointed to the office of steward or under treasurer to them : in this he modestly states that he thinks himself qualified for the appointment from having been assistant to Mr. Wale, who lately filled that situation; he further sets forth that " his father and whole family were loyal, and faithfully served his late majesty, (Charles II., )by which they were great sufferers." Accordingly, he was appointed to the office he sought, on the 25th January, 1666 ; but he did not enjoy it long, dying on the 25 th April, 1667. It was on the 30th of November following that young Swift was born, nearly seven months after his father's decease. The first week in January, 1668, Mrs. Swift memorialized the bench, requesting that " her brother-in-law, Mr. Win. Swift, may be allowed to col- lect the arrears due to her late husband," and pathe- tically showing how much she required them. Young Swift was carried to England by his nurse, when he was a year old, and remained there three years. At six years of age he was sent to Kilkenny School, and at fourteen entered Trin. Coll. Dublin, April 24, 1 682. He commenced A.B. by special grace llth February, 1685-6. On the 30th of November, 1688, he was suspended from his degree for some irregularity in his conduct to the junior dean, who appears to have been rather a contemptible sort of man. The day he was
JONATHAN SWIFT. 415
suspended was that on which he completed his twenty-first year ; he was, however, restored to his de- gree on the 6th of January following. Soon after this his uncle Godwin Swift dying, he was left without the means of following his studies. He left the college and went to join his mother at Leicester. She advised him to apply to Sir William Temple ; he did so, was graciously received, and continued on a visit for two years at Sheen. It was at this time King William offered to make him a captain of horse. He was admitted to his Master's degree, in Oxford, ad eundem, in 16(J2. In 1694, he took orders, and got a small living in the county of Antrim, which he resigned at the instance of Sir Wm. Temple, who promised to provide for him in England, but did nothing for him ; however, he left him a small pecu- niary legacy, and his posthumous works. Earl Berk- ley brought him to Ireland as his chaplain and pri- vate secretary. At length he was made Rector of Laracor and Rathbeggan ; here he performed the duties of his sacred office with the utmost punctuality and devotion. In 17*3, Queen Ann made him Dean of St. Patrick's. In 1716, he married Miss Johnson, a lady for whom he had an affection for eighteen years ; this amiable lady died in 17^7> greatly lamented by the Dean. His giddiness and deafness increased progressively, and at last terminated in a state of mental imbecility, under which he laboured for two or three years, when it became fatal in 1745. He left £11, 000 to endow an hospital for lunatics and idiots in his native city.
His works, of which the most remarkable are, — The Tale of a Tub.— The Battle of the Books.— Gulliver's Travels.— On the Contests for Power between the Nobles and Commoners of Athens and Rome. — The public Spirit of the Whigs. — The Con- duct of the Allies. (Of this tract 11;000 copies were sold in a few weeks.) — Free Thoughts on the present State of Affairs. — Cadenus and Vanessa ; a Poem. — A Proposal for the Use of Irish Manu- facture.— The Drapier's Letters. — Directions to Servants. — With many other tracts. They have been often printed in various forms, and afford abundant materials to define the literary cha- racter of this extraordinary man. The most elegant edition is a sort of variorum one in 14volumes; eight volumes of it being pub-
416 DR. NATHANIEL FOY. SAMUEL MOLYNEUX, A.M.
lished by Dr. Hawkesworth, three by Dean Swift, Esq., and three by Mr. Nichols ; they have been reprinted in 25 vols. 8vo, 27 vols. small 8vo, and 27 vols. 18mo. In 1784, a new edition was printed in 17 vols. by T. Sheridan ; and in 1816, a fine edition of 19 vols. by the late Sir Walter Scott.
DEANE SWIFT, Esq., the grandson of Godwin Swift, Esq., the Dean's uncle, was educated here, and strongly recommended to Alexander Pope, by his gifted relation. He died in 1783.
This gentleman published " An Essay upon the Life, Writings, and Character of Dr. Jonathan Swift." Lond. 1755.— In 1765, he brought out the eight quarto volumes of the Dean's works ; and in 1768, two volumes of his Letters, all of which are extremely interesting.
NATHANIEL FOY, son of John Foy, of the city of Cork, M.D., was born in that city. He was educated in this University, of which he was elected a Fellow in 1671? and took the degree of D.D., in 1684. He strongly opposed King James's proceedings in Ireland, and preached openly against the doctrine delivered from the pulpit hy a Doctor of the Sorbonne, for which his life was endangered, and he was assaulted and threatened to be shot by King James's soldiers, until at length he was committed to prison, along with Dr. King and others. On that unfortunate monarch's flight to France, Dr. Foy was appointed Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, in July, 1691. He enjoyed this dignity for seventeen years. In his lifetime he gave a donation of £10 to this College, towards build- ings. He left a fund in the hands of the mayor and corporation of Waterford, for the purpose of putting out boys and girls as apprentices. He also left an estate to endow the free school, in which seventy-five children, besides being clothed, are instructed gratis in reading, writing, and accounts, &c.
SAMUEL MOLYNEUX, son of the before mentioned William Molyneux, was born in Chester, but edu- cated at this University, under the care of his uncle, Dr. Thomas Molyneux, an excellent scholar and eminent physician. Samuel became also a first rate scholar, and a most accomplished gentleman ; he was
THOMAS PARNELL, A.M. 417
made secretary to King George II. when Prince of Wales. Like his father, Samuel was strongly at- tached to the sciences of astronomy and optics, in which he seriously engaged himself, particularly in the years 1723, 24, and 25, in endeavouring to per- fect the modes of making telescopes ; one of which, completed by himself, he had presented to John V., King of Portugal. Being appointed one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, he was so much occupied with public business, that he had not leisure to pursue his studies. He gave his papers to Dr. Robert Smyth, of Cambridge, and died soon after, in the flower of his age. Dr. Smyth, shortly afterwards, completed and published his " Complete Treatise on Optics," which was very well received and justly esti- mated by men of science.
THOMAS PARNELL was a native of Dublin, where he was born in the year 1679. He entered this Uni- versity very young, for he took the degree of A.M. in the year 1700, being then 21 years of age : in five years afterwards, he was appointed Archdeacon of Clogher; and on Dean Swift's recommendation, Archbishop King gave him a prebend, and in 1716, the Vicarage of Finglass.
Parnell's learning and talents brought him ac- quainted with all that great "constellation of wits" which made the reign of Queen Anne so illustrious ; and he is allowed to have given to English versifica- tion its highest polish — in which, as Dr. Johnson re- marks, " his poetry surpasses that of Pope himself." He died at Chester, in 1717> on his way to Ireland, aged only 38.
His works are —
The Life of Homer, prefixed to Pope's translation of the Iliad ; he also assisted Pope in that great work. — He translated beautifully, Homer's Battle of the Frogs and Mice, with the re- marks of Zoilus the Cynic ; and the Life of Zoilus, which was afterwards prefixed by Pope to his edition of the Odyssey. — His Poems were published by Pope, in 1721, with an elegant letter to Lord Orford ; another volume was published in 1758. — He also wrote many of the best Essays in the Spectator, Guardian, and other popular works.
E E
418 PHILIP FRANCIS. SIR PHILIP FRANCIS.
PHILIP FRANCIS was born in Dublin, about 1705, where bis fatber had some good preferment in the church, and therefore was not, as Watts has stated, " an English clergyman."
He was educated in this college, taking all the de- grees up to D.D. inclusive. His unrivalled translation of Horace first !brought him into notice, about 1743. Of that work, Dr. Samuel Johnson says, " the lyrical part of Horace never can be properly translated, so much of the elegance is in the numbers and the ex- pressions. Francis has done it the best, Til take his, five out of six, against them all."
The Horace appeared in Ireland, in 1742, and in England the following year. This was a poetical translation of the works of that great writer, with the original text, and critical Notes collected from his best Latin and French Commentators. Of this work seven editions were sold in four years, the eighth was published in 1778. Lond. 4 vols. 8vo. — In 1753, he published a translation of part of the Orations of Demosthenes, intending to comprise the whole in 2 vols. 4to, which he accomplished in 1755. He also brought out Eugenia, a Tragedy. Lond. 1752; and Constantia, a Tragedy, 1753, 8vo, Lond.
Dr. Francis also wrote a great many papers on political subjects, which, as they were not at the same side with Churchill's views, drew upon him the serpent tooth of that able but malignant writer ; however, he signally failed in these attempts to lacerate the character or feelings of Francis. He resided at Bath during the last seven or eight years of his life, and died there in 1773.
SIR PHILIP FRANCIS, son of the above, was also born in Dublin, and took the degree of A.B. in this Uni- versity. In a few years after, his father took him to Eng- land, from whence he went to India, in the Company's service, and so much distinguished himself there in the civil service, that he was appointed one of the supreme council of Bengal, in 1778. He was amongst those who have been charged with writing the " Let- ters of Junius." He wrote and published —
Original Minutes on the Settlement and Collection of the Bengal Revenues. 1782. — Speech in the House of Commons, in 1784, and
MARMADUKE COGHILL. 419
two others in the same House on the East India bill. 1784. — An- other in the House of Commons. 1786.— An Answer to the charges exhibited against the author, Gen. Clavering, and Col Monson, by Sir Elijah Impey, on the defence of the Nundcomar Charge. 1788. —Remarks of the defence of Mr. Hastings, so far as it concerned the Rohilla War.— Letter to Lord North, &c. 1793.— Heads of his Speech in reply to Mr. Dundas in a Committee of the whole House, to consider the Government and Trade of India. 1793. — Resolution and Plan, drawn up in 1793, and laid before the Society of Friends of the People. 1794. — Proceedings in the House of Commons, on the Slave Trade, and state of the Ne- groes in the West India Islands, with an Appendix. 1796. — Speech in reply to Mr. Sylvester Douglass. 1796. — On the State of Af- fairs in India. 1803. — Speeches in the House of Commons on the War against the Mahrattas. 1805. — Speech against the exemption of foreign property in the funds, from the duty on income. 1806. — Letters to Lord Howick on the State of the East India Company. 1807. — Reflections on the abundance of paper in circulation, and scarcity of specie. Lond. 1810. -Letter to Earl Grey. 1814.
MARMADUKE COGHILL was a native of Dublin, born in the year 1673, At fifteen years of age he was admitted a student of this University : here he graduated, and eventually took his degree of Doctor of Civil Law ; soon after which the College elect- ed him to the rank of one of its representatives in Parliament ; and this very distinguished honour was continued to Mr. Coghill at every general election whilst he lived. Having filled several important of- fices in the state, he was, in the year 17^1, appointed Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. This office he held during the remainder of his life, that is, nearly seventeen years : he died in 1738. In the perform- ance of his public duties, he was a man of unwearied diligence and clearness of judgment : he combined the very rare qualities of being an honest counsellor of the crown, and an independent representative of the peo- ple. Amongst the many benefits that this learned and excellent man conferred on society, is, that being one of the original commissioners of " the board of first fruits," he in a great measure organized that body, and thus became the great, and indeed prin- cipal cause of the numerous benefits which have arisen to the established church of Ireland from that circum- stance. In private life he was greatly esteemed for
*E E 2
CHARLES MACKLIN.
his benevolence, and all the other social virtues. He wrote several able papers on finance, &c., which bave been published in the Transactions of the learned societies.
CHARLES MACKLIN, or MACLOGHLIN, is said to have been born in Dublin, where, at all events, his parents resided during his infancy. His father was a gentleman of the co. Down, who commanded a troop of horse for King James II., at the battle of the Boyne. His mother was daughter of a man of estate in co. Westmeath. Young Macklin was born just before that almost decisive battle ; and his parents being at the wrong side in politics, their estates were forfeited to the crown, and the family at once reduced from affluence to indigence. In 1704, Macklin's father, being thus impoverished, died broken hearted, in Dublin. Young Macklin's education, not being com- pleted, was insufficient to obtain for him a sizarship in college, and thus left wholly destitute in his 15th year, some under -graduates, with whom he had pre- viouly been acquainted, prevailed on him to accept the place of a badgeman in the University. In this situation, however, he pursued his studies with suc- cess until his 21st year, when something turned his attention to the stage, and the slender success he at first met with did not discourage him. He went to London in 171 6, and commenced strolling player, and it was ten years later before he made his appearance before a London audience, at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Some time after, he was en- gaged at Drury Lane, and afterwards had engagements at the theatres of the three kingdoms. As an actor, in three or four prominent characters, he had no com- petitor. He took leave of the stage in 1790, in his inimitable character of " Shylock," being then in his hundredth year. He died seven years after this, with an excellent character, in private life.
Macklin's dramatic works, which are written with considerable judgment, discrimination, and vigour, are : — Henry VII., a Tra- gedy, 1746. — The Married Libertine, a Comedy, 1761. — True Born Irishman, a Comedy, 1763. — Love-a-la-Mode, and Man of the World, Comedies, 1770, and 1781. He wrote other pieces that
DR. CHANDLER. DR. POCOCK. F. 8. SULLIVAN.
have been acted but not printed, and also adapted to the stage some of the older dramas. Macklin's Bible was his last work.
EDWARD CHANDLER, who became Bishop of Lich- field and Coventry, and was afterwards translated to Durham, was educated here, and obtained a found- ation scholarship in 1683. He was a great preacher, and soon obtained clerical promotion in England : he died in 1750. His principal publications are —
A Thanksgiving Sermon for the Union of Scotland with England. 1707.— Another from Psalm cvii. 42, 4,3. 1710.— Another of St. John xviii, 36. 1715. — Another Thanksgiving Sermon for the sup- pression of the late (Scottish) Rebellion. 1716. — A Sermon preached before the king. 1718.— Another on Judges xvii. 6. — Another on Matthew xiii. 31, 32. 1719.— Another on Genesis iv. 9. 1724. — Defence of Christianity, from the Prophecies of the Old and New Testament. 1725. — A Vindication of the above. 1728. — A Charge delivered to the Grand Jury of the Quarter Sessions at Durham, concerning Corn, and the Riots thereby occasioned.
RICHARD POCOCK. — This learned divine was born at Southampton, in 1704 ; he graduated here, and took the degrees of D.D. and LL.D. After some minor promotion, he was made Archdeacon of Dublin, and afterwards became Bishop of Ossory, He died in 1765. He was a great traveller, being in fact one of the earliest of our British learned voyagers who visited Syria, Egypt, &c., and described them accurately,, as they then were. He published —
A description of those countries in several volumes, including also Observations on the Holy Land, Mesopotamia, Cyprus, and Candia ; on the islands of the Archipelago, Asia Minor, Thrace, Greece, and some other parts of Europe. Lond. 1743-5. — In- scriptionum Antiquarum, Gr. Lat. liber. 1747. fol. — Of the Giants' Causeway, in Ireland. Phil. Trans. 1748. — Another account of that scene. 1753. — Of a Rock on the West side of Dunbar Harbour, re- sembling the basaltic character of the Causeway, Phil. Trans, vol. Hi. art. 17. — An Account of some Antiquities found in Ireland. Archaeologia, ii. p. 32. 1770.
FRANCIS STOUGHTON SULLIVAN was born in the south of Ireland, and graduated at this University, where he first obtained a foundation scholarship in 1734, was elected a lay fellow in 1738, and took the degree of LL.D., became jurist, and was appointed Professor of Common Law in the College. Dr. Sulli- van was a person of considerable talents, as his works will prove. His greatest work is —
DR. THOMAS LELAND. REV. MERVIN ARCHDALE.
An Historical Treatise on the Feudal Law, and on the Constitu- tion and Laws of England, with a Commentary on Magna Charta, and necessary illustrations of many of the English Statutes. Lond. 1770. 1772. 1776, 4to, the latter edition being posthumous.— A new edition of these works with some additions, was published by Gilbert Steuart, in 1777, 4to.
THOMAS LELAND, D.D., was the son of a citizen of Dublin, in which city he was born in 1722 ; he had his elementary education at Dr. Sheridan's school at Quilca. In 1737 he entered this College, of which he was elected a Fellow in 1746, and Professor of Oratory, 1768. He was also chaplain to Lord Towns- hend, and held a prebendal stall in St. Patrick's Ca- thedral.
As a divine he was excellent, and most eloquent as a preacher : amongst his contemporaries, who greatly esteemed him, were Dr. Johnson and Dr. Parr, by both of whom he was eulogized in their writings. He published —
A Dissertation on the Helps and Impediments to the Acquisition of Knowledge in Religious and Moral Subjects. 1749. — In con- junction with Dr. John Stokes, at the desire of the University, he published an edition of the Orations of Demosthenes, with a Latin version and Notes, 2 vols. 1754. — Translation of Demosthenes, 1st vol. 1756 ; 2nd in 1761 ; 3rd in 1770.— -History of the Life and Reign of Philip, King of Macedon, 2 vols. 1758. — A Dissertation on the Principles of Human Eloquence. 1764. — A History of Ire- land, 1773, with a preliminary discourse, in 3 vols.
A collection of his sermons was published after his decease ; they are in 3 vols. Dr. Warburton attacked Leland's Principles of Eloquence, to which attack he made an able reply ; and in this dispute, Dr. Leland is considered to have gained the superiority,
MERVIN ARCHDALE was born in Dublin, in 1723, and graduated in the University with considerable credit. Soon after taking his degree, he displayed a taste for antiquarian pursuits in so very decided a manner, that he was specially noticed by several learned antiquarians, and particularly by Dr. Pocock, then Archdeacon of Dublin, who, when he was ap- pointed to the Bishopric of Ossory, presented him with a good living. In this situation he devoted all
CHARLES JOHNSON. EDMUND, LORD PERY. 423
the time he could spare from his clerical duties, to collecting materials for his great work, '« The Mo- nastieon Hibernicum," in which he employed him- self nearly forty years. He intended to have pub- lished it in two volumes folio, but want of sufficient encouragement compelled him to abridge it into one volume quarto. It came out in 1786, and the author died in 1791, with a high character, not only for learning, but for the finer qualities that adorn human nature.
The enlarged edition of Lodge's Peerage, in seven volumes 8vo, was also published, on the author's de- mise, by Mr. Archdale. Mr. Lodge, it appears, had made additions to this work, but these being written in cypher, were to all persons unintelligible, until at length, Mrs. Archdale, like the wife of Leonidas, deciphered the tablets by discovering the key to them.
CHARLES JOHNSON was born in the north of Ire- land, in 17^8, and educated here ; he afterwards en- tered the Temple, and was admitted to the bar in England. He went to Bengal in 1782, where he be- came rich by his literary talents, and died in 1800.
He wrote Chrysal; or, Adventures of a Guinea, 1760, 2 vols. ; a new edition, 1765, 4 vols. — The Reverie ; or, Flight to the Para- dise of Fools. 1762. — History of Arbaces, Prince of Betli. 1774. — A Picture of Life. — Juniper Jack, 1781. — Besides many essays of great merit in the periodical publications.
Mr. EDMUND PERY, afterwards Lord Pery, was educated for the bar : he came into Parliament in 17«5l. He was not only master of his profession, but an admirable member of parliament. He saw further into futurity than almost any man of his time. In good sense he was equal to the best of his contemporaries ; in fortitude superior to most men. He delivered the boldest sentiments in the calmest manner, so that for- titude was not an effort, but the ordinary temperament of his mind. He was one of the best speakers that ever filled the chair in the Irish House of Commons. There was scarcely any great public measure adopted in Ire- land whilst Lord Pery engaged in business, which did not originate in his comprehensive mind.
424 BARRY YELVERTON. - LORD SHANNON.
BARRY YELVERTON, afterwards Lord Avonmore, was bred a lawyer, in which profession he became very eminent. He was returned to parliament for the borough of Carrickfergus in 1780. He distinguished himself greatly by his eloquence on various occasions of great national importance. He was first made Attorney- General, and afterwards Lord Chief Baron of the Common Pleas.
HENRY BOYLE, afterwards Earl of Shannon, was bred to the bar, and came early into parliament. He was a person of superior understanding ; and in the management of contested elections, his opinion was so much relied on, that few indeed would persevere in canvassing a county without certainty of his support. He was the much respected speaker of the Irish House of Commons for some years.
JOHN GAST was a son of Daniel Gast, a French Protestant refugee, who settled in Dublin about the year 1684. John Gast was born in that city about 1715, was educated there, and graduated in the Uni- versity. Having taken priest's orders, he was selected to perform the duty of Pastor to the French Protestant congregation at Portarlington, where his conduct was so satisfactory, that on his return to Dublin he was honoured with a Doctor's Degree in Divinity by the Provost and Fellows of the College, and soon after- wards (1761) was presented with the Archdeaconry of Glendaloch, and the Rectory of Arklow. Besides sermons and other useful writings, Dr. Gast published a History of Greece, which is held in high estimation. In all his writings he displayed an actively charitable mind, which was always engaged in contriving plans for the relief of those who were in distress or affliction.
GABRIEL STOKES was born in Dublin in His father was an optician of great ability, who made several useful discoveries and improvements in me- chanics, and published a treatise on calculation, for which he was appointed Deputy Surveyor General of Ireland. Gabriel Stokes was educated and graduated in the University, under his brother Joseph, then a
CAHANE O'HARA. — c. F. SHERIDAN.
Senior Fellow. Stokes, junior, obtained a Junior Fellowship in his twenty- third year, and soon after went out on the College living of Ardtrea, where he did the duty for fourteen years. He afterwards pre- sided over the corporation grammar school at Water- ford, with great reputation. He was, by Bishop New- come, presented to the Chancellorship of the Water- ford Cathedral. He was next promoted to the living of Dysert-martin, in the diocese of Derry, where, up to his 74th year, he diligently exercised all his profes- sional duties, and his death was caused by over exer- tion in assisting to put out a fire.
Dr. Stokes published an Essay on Primate Newcome's Harmony of the Gospels. He also edited Iphigenia in Aulis. A most useful work of his was unhappily left unfinished by his death ; it was en- titled, The Errors and Dangers of the vulgar Misapprehension of several Texts in Scripture, when taken in an insulated Sense ; in which he showed their connexion with the contexts, &c. A volume of his Sermons was published after his death, Dub. 1812.
KANE or CAHANE O'HARA was the descendant of an ancient and respectable Irish family. He was born in Dublin, about the year 173^, and entered of Trinity College, where he took the degree of A.B. and B.M.; the latter faculty he specially attended to, as he has a taste for music that might be called ex- quisite, and this endowment enabled him to acquire great skill in musical composition. This of course, with his own social and cheerful disposition, made him a welcome acquaintance to the most eminent literary men of his time. His sight quite failed him a few years before his death, which happened in 1782.
To O'Hara's genius, the British public are in- debted for that novel species of comic opera, called " The English Burletta." The works in this new dramatic style which he produced are —
Midas, a Burletta. 1764. — The Golden Pippin, a Burletta. 1773. — The Two Misers, a Musical Drama. 1775.— April Day, a Burletta. 1777.-— Tom Thumb, a Burletta. 1780.
CHARLES FRANCIS SHERIDAN was born in Dublin, in July, 1750. He was the second son of Thomas Sheridan, A.M., already mentioned, and senior to the celebrated Richard Brinsley Sheridan, whom we
426 ROBERT JEPHSON. JOHN, LORD FITZGIBBON.
shall presently have occasion to notice. Charles Francis received the elements of his classical and scientific education along with his gifted younger hrother, at the well known seminary of Samuel White, in Grafton Street, and completed that educa- tion here, under the guidance of his father, to whom he acted as an assistant for some years in his public courses of lectures. Under such favourable auspices, a young man of his talents must become distinguished; accordingly, we find that Mr. C. F. Sheridan was very soon appointed to the honourable situation of Envoy to the Court of Stockholm, and on his return was made Under Secretary at War for Ireland. He was also elected a member of the Irish Parliament, where he was much admired for the wit and elo- quence which characterized his speeches. He was not, however, fated to arrive at the the full develop- ment of his powers, for he died in 1795, being then only in his forty-fifth year.
ROBERT JEPHSON was born in the south of Ireland, in 1736. He graduated in the College, and soon after this he went into the army. Having seen some years' service, he retired on the half-pay of the 73rd regiment, 1763. He was afterwards appointed Master of the Horse, to Lord Townshend, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and to eleven of his successors. He died in 1803.
The first of his productions, which at once brought him into literary notice, was, The Heroic Epistle to George E. Howard, from Alderman G. Faulkner in 1772; it ran through eight editions. — Braganza, a Tragedy, followed in 1 775 ; acted with distinguished applause. — The Count of Narbonne. 1781. — The Law of Lom- bardy, a Tragedy. — Julia, a Tragedy. — The Conspiracy, a Tragedy. — The Hotel, a Farce. — The Campaign, an Opera. — Love and War ; and Two Strings to your Bow ; both Farces. — A Poem in quarto, called Roman Portraits. 1794. — A Satire on the French Revolution, called The Confessions of John Baptiste Couteau. 1795. The Tragedies are written in a fine dramatic style, just, forcible, and elegant.
JOHN FITZGIBBON, afterwards Earl of Clare, was a son of John Fitzgibbon, an Irish lawyer. He was was born at Donny brook, near Dublin, in 1749- He
F. HUTCHISON, LL.D. — F. HUTCHINSON, D.D.
graduated in this University, and afterwards took a degree at Oxford. He applied himself to the pro- fession of the bar, to which he was called in 1772, and in which he became very eminent. He greatly distinguished himself in the Irish Parliament in
O
favour of " the Legislative Union." Previous to this, he had risen progressively from the rank of Attorney- General to that of Lord-Chancellor of Ireland, 1789, and Viscount Fitzgibbon ; and in 1795, he was created Earl of Clare. The only printed composition of his is a speech on the Union.
FRANCIS HUTCHISON, LL.D. was born near to Dublin, in 1694, and graduated in its University : he was considered by some persons to be a philosopher of the Shaftesbury school. His talents, however, were not questionable, which caused him to be elected Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. He was a voluminous writer, as the list of his publications will show. The first is —
An Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue. Lond. 1725. — An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Pas- sions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense. Lond. 1728. (Many editions). — Philosophise Moralis, institutio compen- diariae. Glasg. 1742. — A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy, in three books, containing the Elements of Ethics, and the Law of Nature, with the Principles of (Economics and Politics. Glasg. 1747.54. — Metaphysicae Synopsis. 1742, Glasg. — Reflections upon Laughter, and Remarks upon the Fable of the Bees. Glasg. 1750. — A System of Moral Philosophy, in three books, to which is pre- fixed a life, £c., of the Author, by W. Leechman. Glasg. 1755. — Letters concerning the true foundation of Virtue, or Moral Goodness. Glasg. 1772. This was published by his son, Francis Hutchison, M.D., from his father's original MS.
FRANCIS HUTCHINSOX, a native of Ireland, was educated in the college of Dublin, and gradually ob- tained preferment until he became Bishop of Down and Connor. He published as follows : —
A Visitation Sermon in 1692. — Comment on Psalms 9 and 10. 1G98. — An Assize Sermon on Judges xviii. 7. 1707. — On the Union. Lond. 1718. — Defence of the Ancient Historians, with a particular regard to the History of Ireland, Great Britain and other Northern Nations. Dub. 1734.
WALTER HARRIS, a native of Dublin, was educated
428 W. HARRIS. REV. WILLIAM HALES, D D.
in its University. He was nephew to Sir James Ware, Bart., aud a voluminous writer. His principal works are : —
A History of the Life and Reign of William Henry, Prince of Nassau and Orange, Stadtholder, King of England, Scotland, &c. Dub. 1749. — Faction unmasked ; relative to the Irish Rebellion, &c. Dub. 1752. — " Hibernicae," ancient pieces relating to Ire- land. Dub. 1757. — History and Antiquities of Dublin, from the earliest accounts ; compiled from authentic Memoirs, Offices of Record, Manuscript Collections, and other unexceptionable vouch- ers. With an Appendix, containing a History of the Cathedral of Christ Church, and St. Patrick's, the University, the Hospitals, and other Public Buildings. Also Two Plans of the City as it was in 1610, and as it was at the time he published it. Lond. 1766.
WILLIAM HALES, a native of Ireland, graduated in this University, where he obtained a foundation scholarship in 1767, and fellowship in 1769, became Doctor in Divinity, and accepted the college living of Killeshandra, and was made an Archdeacon soon after. He published —
Sonorum Doctrina Rationalis et Experimentalis ex Newtoni et Optimorum, Physicorum Scriptis, cui premittitur, Disquisitio de Ae're et Modificationibus Atmospherae. Lond. 1778. — Analysis jEquationum. Dub. 1784. — De Motibus Planetarum in Orbibus Excentricis secundem Theoriam Newtonianum, Dissertatio. Lond. 1786. — Observations upon the political influences of the Pope's supremacy. Dub. 1787. — Survey of the Modern State of the Church of Rome ; with additional observations on the Pope's supre- macy. Lond. 1789. — Observations on Tithes, showing the incon- veniences of all the schemes proposed for altering the ancient Manner of providing for the Clergy of Ireland. Lond. 1 794. — The Inspector, or Select Literary Intelligence for the Vulgar. 1799. — Analysis Fluxionum. Lond. 1800. — Methodism Inspected ; with an Appendix on the Evidence of a State of Salvation. 1803-5.— Prospectus of an Analysis of Ancient Chronology. 1807. — Disser- tations on the principal Prophecies respecting the Divine and Human Character of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 1808. — A New Analysis of Chronology, in which an attempt is made to explain the History and Antiquities of the Nations recorded in Scripture; together with the Prophecies relating to them, on principles tending to remove the imperfections and discordance of pre- ceding Systems of Chronology. Plates. Lond. 1809. Vol. 2. 1811 ; Vol. 3. 1812 ; Vol. 4. 1814. This is truly considered the most elaborate and careful system of Chronology that has yet ap- peared in our language ; and to the biblical student, it is of the greatest value, as it affords him illustrations of almost every difficult text in the sacred writings. — Also an edition of Letters on the Tenets of the Romish Hierarchy. Dub. 1812. A Second edition of this work was called for, and published in 1813.
J. HELY HUTCHINSON, LL.D. J. STOCK, D.D. 429
JOHN HELY HUTCHINSON, LL.D., Provost of the University, who has been noticed at p. 253, wrote and published an admirably written work on the " Com- mercial restraints " then long imposed on Ireland by the English government.
RICHARD H. HUTCHINSON, Earl of Donoghmore, graduated here ; he was an able parliamentary speaker. He published a Speech in the House of Lords on the Romish Emancipation question, in 1810 ; and one on the Romish petition in 17 12.
J. COOPER WALKER was the son of an opulent citizen of Dublin, and was born there in 176 1. He was educated in the University in the most liberal manner, but his health was too delicate, and his constitution not strong enough to endure the climate even of Ire- land ; he therefore went to reside in Italy for several years: with the language, manners, and literature, he became intimately acquainted. He returned to his native land not improved in health, and died in April, 1810. His works are: —
Memoirs of Alessandro Tassoni. — Essays on the Customs and Institutions of ancient Ireland.— Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bar.ds. Dub. 1786. — On the Dress, Weapons, and Armour of the ancient Irish. Dub. 1790. — An Historical Memoir of Italian Tragedy. 1799.— On the Revival of the Drama in Italy. 1805. — Brookesianae, 2 vols. 1807. — He also contributed many Essays to the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy of Literature, of which he was a member.
JOSEPH STOCK was the son of a citizen of Dublin, in which city he was born, in 1741. He entered the University, where he obtained a foundation scholar- ship in 17^9) and a fellowship four years later. He resigned on the living of Conwal in 1779, and was appointed Bishop of Killala in 1798, from which he was translated to Waterford in 1810. He died in 1813.
When the French troops, under General Humbert, landed at Killala in 1798, they took Bishop Stock a prisoner in his own palace ; but by his conciliatory manners and address, he was successful in preventing any great excesses being committed by either the French soldiers or the rebels.
430 HENRY JONES. — LORD STRANGFORD, ETC.
Dr. Stock produced an edition of Demosthenes, which has long been read in the University course. He wrote an Account of the Landing of the French, at Killala. This is a very interest- ing narrative. — He also published a Paraphrase on the Book of Job.
HENRY JONES, the political and dramatic writer, was a native of Drogheda, on the Boyne, who gra- duated here. His chief works are : —
An Epistle to Lord Orrery, on reading his Lordship's Translation of Pliny's Epistles. Lond. 1751. -The Earl of Essex, which displays much talent, and is his best performance. His Poems are: Merit; The Relief, or Day Thoughts. Lond. 1753. — An Address to Britain. 1760. — Kew Gardens, in 2 Cantos. 1766. — Vectis, or the Isle of Wight, in 3 Cantos. — The Cave of Idra, or Heroine of the Cave, a Comedy, in five Acts.
MATTHEW PILKINGTON, A.M., a native of Ireland, was educated in this University. He was made Vicar of Donabate and Portrahan, in the county of Dublin, and took a Doctor's degree in Divinity. He publish- ed that excellent work, " The Gentleman's and Con- noiseur's Dictionary of Painters," which was, indeed, the first attempt made in England to produce a work of this description : it contains a complete collec- tion and account of every artist of any fame who flourished in the various schools of painting at Flo- rence, Rome, Venice, Bologna, Naples, Lucca, and the other states and cities of Italy; likewise those of Holland, Spain, France, Belgium, England, and Ger- many, from the year 1250, about which period the art was said to be revived by Cimabue, to the year 1678, being a period of more than 500 years, and including the names of above 1400 artists. This work, which is highly interesting and useful, has gone through several editions, and many names added to the original list of painters. It was published in London, in 1770.
LORD STRANGFORD, (Irish Peerage, P. Charles Syd- ney Smithe,) published an admirable translation of the Poem of Camoens, from the original Portuguese, Lond. 1803, with remarks on the life and writings of that author, and copious interesting notes. This work has passed through several large editions.
WILLIAM PRESTON was born in Dublin, A.D. 1753.
WILLIAM PRESTON. RICHARD B. SHERIDAN.
He lost his father when only two years of age ; but his natural energies were great, and he pursued his studies so intensely, that in three years from the time he began it, he completed the whole college course prescribed for entrance. In 1766, he was ad- mitted a pensioner. He afterwards was entered of the Middle Temple ; and called to the Irish bar in 1777- He still continued his favourite studies. He was a member of the Neosophist Society, in the Uni- versity, and assisted them in founding the Royal Irish Academy, of which literary society he was elected secretary, and so continued through his whole life. He contributed his share to the publications of that period. In 1793, he made a collection of all his pieces, with the exception of " Democratic Rage ;" these he published in two volumes, 8vo. He also was an active agent in establishing the Dublin Library Society. He was made a Commissioner of Appeals. His intense application, and neglect of himself, brought on a fever, which terminated his life in 1807. He was a man of great literary attainments, with a well cultivated mind, abundantly stored with classic lite- rature, and perhaps, in his day, he was not surpassed by any of his contemporaries. As an elegant and ac curate scholar, in modern as well as classic literature, and in private life, he was a man of most estimable character. His contributions to the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy are : —
Thoughts on Lyric Poetry. — Essay on Wit and Humour. — On the Choice of a Subject for Greek Tragedy. — On Credulity. — On the Ancient Amatory Poets, Ovid, Propertius, Tibullus. — On the German Writers. — On the natural Advantages of Ireland. This gained the prize of ,£50. His dramatic works are: — Offa and Ethelbert. — Messinefred. — Romanda. — Democratic Rage. This was founded on the events of the French Revolution, then raging in all its fury. This play was so popular, that three editions of it were published and sold in as many weeks; and its success on the stage was equally surprising. The next and last work was a trans- lation of the Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius. On Mr. Pres- ton's death, the University took the whole of this edition to distri- bute in premiums at quarterly examinations.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN, — We come now to
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN.
notice, but very briefly, the last, and from various circumstances the most celebrated, although perhaps not the most gifted of this very highly talented family, except as to his dramatic works ; and it has justly been said that Sheridan inherited the regularity, wit, polish and variety of character of his countryman Congreve's drama/ with greater purity of style. It does now seem almost hopeless to expect any thing approach- ing the excellence of " The Way of the World," or " The School for Scandal."
Richard B. Sheridan was the third son of Thomas and Frances Sheridan: he was born in Dublin, October, 1751. He received his elemental education under the well known Samuel White a, who was his mother's cousin, and who kept a very excellent classical academy in Grafton street, a short distance from the College. Sheridan did not, however, display any of those supe- rior features of that genius which in later life made him so distinguished a character ; in fact, his capacity appeared rather below than on a level with that of ordinary boys. He was entered of the Middle Temple. Having married without means to support a family, he appears to have become a dramatic writer from neces- sity ; but his first work was a translation of the Epistles of Aristaneus from the Greek. In this walk, how- ever, his powerful mind developed itself at once ; and he produced his first Comedy, the Rivals, in 1775, being then in his twenty-fifth year. In 1776, he be- came joint patentee. His next piece was St. Patrick's Day, a Farce. — The Duenna, a Comic Opera.— The Camp, a dramatic entertainment, 1777. — The School for Scandal, (same year.) — The Critic, a dramatic satire, 1779. He likewise altered, for the stage, Van-
a This gentleman was one of the most remarkable, and the most fortunate of that very competent class, the schoolmasters of Dublin. He kept his large establishment in a flourishing state for more than half a century, and his school produced many distinguished men ; — besides R. B. Sheridan, Thomas Moore, (Anacreon,) J. Sydney Taylor, A.M., &c. Mr. S. White assured the author, that Sheridan was not a bright boy, but that his sister, (afterwards Mrs. Le Fanu,) quite surpassed him at the books.
MATTHEW YOUNG. 433
burgh's Trip to Scarborough ; also Pizarro and the Stranger, from Kotzebue. He wrote a Monody on Garrick, several poems and political pamphlets.
Of the detailed events of Sheridan's public and private life, of his superior eloquence and unrivalled wit, of his dramatic and other poetry, a history has been produced by Mr. T. Moore (Anacreon). His parliamentary speeches have been published in four volumes 4to. He died in Saville Row, London, in July, 1816. His funeral was attended to Westminster Abbey by several persons of the highest distinction.
MATTHEW YOUNG was born at Castlereagh, in the co. Roscommon, Ireland, in 1750. He was educated first at Ballitore School, where he was junior to Ed- mund Burke a. He entered this University in 1766, and was elected a fellow in 177<5. He was an enthu- siastic admirer of the Newtonian Philosophy ; and even at his examination for fellowship, he displayed an uncommon knowledge and comprehension of its prin- ciples. In 1786, he was elected to the Professorship of Natural Philosophy in his college : in this situation he brought his lectures to a degree of perfection un- known until then in the University of Dublin, and perhaps never exceeded in any other place.
In 1798, Earl Cornwallis, Lord Lieutenant of Ire- land, conferred on him the Bishopric of Clonfertb, in a manner equally honourable to himself and Dr. Young, who neither solicited nor even thought of ask- ing for it, so little interest had he with persons in power ; but the fame of his talents had reached Lord
a Dr. Young's father 'lived on his paternal estate, producing at that time more than c£l,800 per annum. This gentleman was so strongly tinctured with the love of hospitality, then not practised with so much judgment as it is in these days, that he encroached too far upon the funds requisite to give his sons an education suitable to their condition in life. His eldest son, however, graduated at the Uni- versity of Dublin, got a curacy in the co. Cavan, and after Matthew had been about three years at Ballitore, took him home, and prepared him for college.
b The discovery of a principle in natural philosophy, which he ap- plied to gunnery, and which was found very effective^ introduced his name to the notice of the Marquess Cornwallis.
F F
434 PHILIP TISDALL. HENRY FLOOD.
Cornwallis from so many quarters, that he decided at once in his favour, in preference to applications from some persons of much higher rank in society. Dr. Young did not, however, enjoy this just promotion long ; he died in less than two years after, November, 1800, to the great regret of his numerous friends, and an irreparable loss to the sciences. His works are : —
The Phenomena of Sounds and Musical Strings, 1784. — The Force of Testimony, &c. — The Number of Primitive Colours in Solar Light. — On the Precession of the Equinoxes. — Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1800. — Analyses of Newton's Principia. — A Translation of the Psalms from the original Hebrew. — The two latter are still in MS., in the College Library.
PHILIP TISDALL, afterwards Attorney-General ; he was returned as representative for the college in 1739, and was reelected often for the same place, until his death in 1777- He had a most superior under- standing ; he was an excellent politician, and as able a speaker as ever entered the Law Courts and the House of Commons. He was a profound lawyer; his opinion was often resorted to from England. In domestic life, he was social and agreeable ; in fact, he was altogether one of the most singular, as he undoubtedly was in the first class, of all the statesmen who have ever been engaged in Ireland.
The Right Hon. HENRY FLOOD is represented by his contemporaries as by far one of the ablest men that ever sat in the Irish Parliament ; active, ardent, and persevering, his industry was without limits ; in advancing a question he was unrivalled, as his dis- sertations on Poynings' law sufficiently prove. He was in himself an opposition* possessing, as he did, the talent of tormenting a minister, and every day adding to his disquietude ; but in repelling an attack, or in returning to the charge, he was most powerful, and in these qualifications he never was surpassed. He was made Vice-Treasurer of Ireland in 177«5 ; this office he held about three years, the last of which he was a leader in the opposition, and he persisted in holding his situation until the king, from whom he had received the appointment, ^ave^him leave to re-
W. HUSSEY. J. SCOTT. SIR G. BARRY. 435
sign. His exertions were eminently useful in pro- curing the repeal of Poynings' law, as well as in ob- taining that right of participating in the commerce of the empire, commonly called the free trade, the Bill for which purpose received the royal assent in 1782.
WALTER HUSSEY, who afterwards took the name of Burgh, was a native of the south of Ireland. He graduated here, and distinguished himself in his collegiate course ; he entered a student of the Temple, and was called to the bar ; soon after, he became a member of the House of Commons, by the influence of the Duke of Leinster. Here he distinguished himself by his superior eloquence : it was sustained by great ingenuity, considerable rapidity of thought, luminous and piercing satire, rich in refinement, with great simplicity of arrangement. He was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland.
JOHN SCOTT, afterwards Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Viscount Earlsfort, and Earl of Clonmel, was born in the county of Tipperary, Ireland, and gra- duated in the University. He afterwards studied the laws, and a few years after he was called to the Irish bar : Lord Lifford recommended him to the notice of Lord Townshend, when Lord Lieutenant, who pro- cured him a seat in Parliament for one of Lord Granard's boroughs. Here he proved himself an undaunted partisan of Government ; and on the death of Philip Tisdall, he was made Attorney-General. He had many social virtues, and much unaffected wit and pleasantry, with a most cordial civility of manner. As he rose in life by his own merit, it is recorded to his honour, that he never forgot an obligation : his gratitude to persons who had assisted him in the mediocrity of his fortune was unquestionable, and marked by real generosity.
Sir GEORGE BARRY, M.D., was educated here, and became Medical Professor in the University. He was a very eminent practitioner, and wrote a great deal on
F F 2
43(i RICHARD BARTON, B.D. JOHN BARRETT, D.D.
the practical treatment of diseases. He died in 177(i. On account of the subjects, we can only notice a few of his works : —
A Treatise on Consumption of the Lungs. Dub. 1726; Lond. 1727. — On Three different Digestions, &c. — Observations, Histo- rical, Medical, and Critical, on the Wines of the Ancients; and on the Analogy between them and the Modern Wines ; with Observ- ations on the Principles and Qualities of Water, and particularly those of Bath. — The good effects of opposite Scirrhus of a strong Mercurial attractive. — Case of Mania, from a callous Pia Mater, &c.
RICHARD BARTON, B.D., was a native of Ireland, arid a graduate of its University. He was a very learned man, and turned his attention very much to natural philosophy and history. He published —
Divine Analogy in the Material, Sensitive, Moral and Spiritual system of Things. Dub. 1737; Lond. 1750. — Dialogue concern- ing Points of Importance in Ireland ; being part of a design to write the Natural History of that country. Dub. 1751. — Lecture on Natural Philosophy. Designed to be a foundation for reason- ing pertinently upon the Petrifactions, Gems, Crystals, and Quartz Formations of Lough Neagh, in Ireland. Intended to be an intro- duction to the Natural History of the Counties contiguous to that Lake, and particularly the County of Ardmagh. Dub. 1751. Plates. — Remarks towards a Full Description of the Lakes at Killarney, co. Kerry, Ireland. Dub. 1751.
The Rev. JOHN BARRETT a, D.D., Vice Provost of the University of Dublin, and Professor of Oriental Languages there, was born in the county of Dublin. He qualified himself for entrance, and became a sizar in Trinity College, where his great diligence and re- spectable talents obtained for him a foundation scholar- ship in 1773, and a fellowship in 1778. He remained all his life in a state of strict celibacy, according to the College statutes of that period; his habits were formed upon a very strict system of economy as to pe- cuniary matters, and his income having for a long period been large, he accumulated considerable wealth, which, at his demise, in 1821, he left in the hands of
a The author was greatly indebted to the learned professor for much early information relative to the History of this University. He was anxious that a proper History of his College should go before the world, and he most obligingly contributed to mr^e it authentic.
REV. H. BOYDE, A.M. H. BOYD. D. BEAUFORT. 437
the Provost and Board, to be distributed for chari- table uses. The works Dr. Barrett published arc : —
An Enquiry into the Origin of the Constellations that compose the Zodiac ; and the Uses they were intended to promote. Dub. 1800. — Essay on the earlier Life of Jonathan (Dean) Swift, with several original pieces ascribed to him. Dub. 1808. But his most erudite work, and that which occupied him several years, was that mentioned at p. 315, Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, ex Codice Rescripto in Bibliotheca Collegii, SS. Trin. Dub. De- scriptum Opera et Studio, Johannes Barrett, S.T.P. Socii Sen. Trin. Coll. Dub. Cui adjungitur, Appendix Collationem Codices Monfortiani Complectens. Illust. Tab. Aen. LXIV. 4to, bds. 1801.
Rev. HENRY BOYDE, A.M., a native of the north of Ireland, graduated in Dublin University, where he obtained a foundation scholarship in 1773. He be- came domestic chaplain to Viscount Charleville, and had some church preferment. He was an excellent classic scholar, and made himself master of the Italian language ; his translation of the first class poetry of that country, is highly creditable to his talents. His works are : —
A Translation of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri into English verse, with critical and historical Notes, and the Life of Dante ; to which is added a specimen of a new Translation of Orlando Furioso, of Ariosto. Lond. 1785. — Two Vols. Poems, mostly Dramatic and Lyric. 1796. — The Divina Commcedia of Dante, consisting of the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso ; translated into English verse, with preliminary Essay, Notes, and Illustra- tions. Lond. 1802, 3 vols. — The Penance of Hugo, a Vision, from the Italian of Vincenzio Mante, with two additional Cantos. 1805. — The Woodman's Tale, after the manner of Spenser : to this are added other poems, chiefly narrative and lyric, and the Royal Message, a Drama. 1805. — The Triumph of Petrarch, translated into English verse, with Notes. Lond. 1807.
HUGH BOYD was born in Ireland, A.D. 1746, and died in 1791. He graduated here, and was a man of celebrity in public life. He is one of the reputed authors of Junius's Letters. He edited " The Indian Observer," and several miscellaneous works. He wrote in Ireland, a political periodical called " The Freeholder." An account of his life and writings has been published by L. D. Campbell. Lond. 1798.
DANIEL BEAUFORT was a native of England, but
438 ROBERT BLAKE, M.D., AND OTHERS.
graduated here, and finally took the degree of LL.D. He got the rectory of Navan, county Meath, which he administered with great benefit to his parish. He published —
An Account of the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome, divested of all Controversy, and earnestly recommended to all good Romanists as well as Protestants. Dub. 1788. — Me- moir of a Map of Ireland, illustrating the Topography of that Kingdom ; and containing a short account of its present state, civil and ecclesiastical ; with a complete Index to the map. Dub. 1792 ; Lond. 1792.
ROBERT BLAKE, a native of Dublin, graduated here. He took the degree of M.D., and adopted dentism as his line of the profession, in which he became very eminent. He published —
An Essay on the Structure and Formation of the Teeth in Man and various other Animals, Plates. Dub. 1801.
Lieut-General LORD BLAYNEY was a fellow com- moner here. This distinguished officer published —
A Narrative of a Journey through Spain, in the years 1810 to 14-. 2 vols. Lond. Vol. 3, 1816 ; being a sequel to the two former, and including Observations on the State of Ireland.
Sir RICHARD BOLTON graduated here, and arrived at great eminence at the bar. He published —
The Statutes of Ireland, from 3rd year of Edward II. to 13th of James I. Dub. 1621. — A Justice of Peace for Ireland, in two books ; reprinted in 1683 and 1750.
The Rev. GILBERT AUSTIN, D.D. This accomplish- ed scholar and estimable man was a native of Dublin, who graduated in its University. He afterwards established a schpol for the education of a limited number of the sons of the higher classes in Ireland, in which profession he was eminently successful. His high endowments in ancient learning were directed by an elegance and purity of taste which could scarcely be surpassed, and which was equally conspicuous in the classical character of his English productions. In morals and manners this gentleman stood equally high in the opinions of his friends, and of course his acquaint- ance was eagerly sought by the best people in society.
DR. ALLOT. REV. G. BAKER, A.M.
With the late Duke of Leinster, he was an especial favourite ; his Grace placed his only son, the present duke, under the care of Dr. Austin ; and the best proof we can give of the esteem the young nohleman felt for his learned preceptor was, that soon after he had succeeded to the dukedom, he presented him to a very valuable living which had then become vacant.
Dr. Austin was also a very much admired preacher. The works he published are : —
A Sermon, preached at the Magdalen Asylum, Dublin ; a very elegant and powerful composition. 1791. — Chironomia; or, a Treatise on Rhetorical Delivery, comprehending many precepts both ancient and modern, for the proper regulation of the Voice, the Countenance, and Gesture, and a new method of the Notation thereof, illustrated with figures. Lond. 1806.— Description of a portable Barometer. — Description of an Apparatus for impregnat- ing Water and other substances strongly with Carbonic Acid Gas. — Description of an Apparatus for transferring Water over Gases or Mercury. These are in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca- demy, 4th, 8th and 10th vols. — Also on a New Construction of a Condenser and Air Pump. Phil. Trans., 1813, p. 138.
Dr. ALLOT, afterwards Dean of Raphoe, in Ireland, was a graduate here. He published several excellent Sermons, the best of which is one he preached before the House of Commons, on the appointed fast and thanksgiving day in 1806.
The Rev. GEORGE BAKER, A.M., was born in Ire- land, and became a graduate here.
He made an excellent translation of Livy's Roman History, from the Latin original, with Notes and Illustrations. Lond. 1797, 6 vols. 8vo. Several editions of this work have been sold. — The Unitarian Refuted ; or, the Divinity of Christ and Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, plainly proved from various texts of Scripture, with Notes collected from the New Family Bible.
440 EARL OF MORNINGTON'.
CHAPTER XL
SECTION I.
THE EARL OF MORNINGTON (Garrode Wellesley), This estimable and talented nobleman, whose sons have made their family so illustrious, and have rendered such extensive and lasting services to the British em- pire, was born at the seat of his father, the Lord Vis- count Wellesley, in July, 1735. His Lordship gra- duated as a " Filius Nobilis " in the University, in which class he distinguished himself as an elegant classical scholar. At an early age, he displayed a very de- cided turn for musical composition, which he devoted much of his time in cultivating, not only in composi- tions but practically, for his lordship attained to a con- siderable degree of skill on the violin and violoncello. In 17«58, a musical academy was established in Dublin by the influence of this nobleman, who became its president and leader. It was exclusively composed of amateurs from among the nobility and gentry, ladies be- ing included. This did much good in improving the taste for musical entertainments in Ireland, and once a year they performed in public for the benefit of some charitable institution, and a large sum was thus col- lected for benevolent purposes. His lordship was also Professor of Music in this University, and gave his courses of lectures with great success. Lord Morn- ington's " Sacred Music " holds a distinguished place amongst our cathedral compositions. His lighter compositions, catches and glees, display fine taste ; the beautiful glee " Lightly tread, 'tis hallowed ground " is a sample of his lyrical style. His lordship also built a church and established a choir at Mornington, co. Meath, and it is said impaired his fortune by his love of music. Lord Mornington was also a general of volunteers, in the glorious era of 178O and 1782 ; and it was then his illustrious son first imbibed a taste for that military life, which has shed such lustre upon the
RT. HON. P. DUIGENAN, ETC. 441
British arms, and achieved, under Divine permission, the security of the British empire.
The Right Hon. PATRICK DUIGENAN, native of Ire- land, entered this University as a sizar, he, however, soon obtained a foundation scholarship, in 1756, and was elected a Fellow in 1761, and Professor of Laws. He was a strenuous supporter of the church and state, as by law established at the glorious Revolution, 1688; and was elected Member of Parliament for the loyal city of Ardmagh, Ireland. Dr. Duigenan's first pub- lication was —
Lachrymae Academical, written on occasion of the late Right Hon. J. H. Hutchinson being appointed Provost of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin. — Address of Theophilus to the Nobility and Gentry of Ireland. Lond. 1786. — Speech on the Romish Bill, in the Irish House of Commons. 1795. — Answer to Henry Grattan's Address to his Fellow Citizens. Dub. 1797. — A fair Representation of the Political State of Ireland, in a Course of Strictures ; and two pamphlets, one, The Case of Ireland re-considered; and the other, Considerations on the State of Public Affairs. 1799. — Speech in the House of Commons on the proposed Legislative Union. Lond. 1800. — Speech on the Motion approving his Ma- jesty's Conduct in declining to negotiate a Peace with France. 1800. — The Nature and Extent of the Demands made by the Irish Romanists fully explained.
JOHN CONROY published " Custodium Reports" (cases relative to outlawries in England and Ireland, &c.,) argued in the Exchequer, of England and Ire- land. Dub. 1795.
WILLIAM COOPER, B.D., of this College, wrote —
The Doctrine of Predestination unto Life explained and vin- dicated, in Four Sermons. Lond. 1765. — The Promised Messiah ; a Sermon. 1796. — Letters on Religious Subjects. 1806. Exa- mination of the Penitent on the Cross. 1812. — Inquiry into the Antiquity of the Sabbath ; chiefly with Reference to the Opinion of Dr. Paley. Lond. 1814. — Examination of the Penitent on the Cross, and of the Inference from it. 1814.
THOMAS ADDISS EMMET graduated here. He wrote a number of pieces on Irish history. 1807.
ISAAC WELD, Esq., M.R.I. A., took the degree of A.B. here. He published the following works : —
Travels through the States of North America, and the Provinces
442 WILLIAM NEILSON, D.D., AND OTHERS.
of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795, 6, and 7, with Maps and Plates. Lond. 1799. — Illustrations of the Lakes of Killarney, and surrounding country, Plates and Maps. Lond. 1807.
The Rev. WILLIAM NEILSON, D.D., and member of the Royal Irish Academy, graduated here, and ob- tained the rectory of Dundalk, county Louth, Ire- land. He published —
Greek Idioms exhibited in select passages from the best authors, with English Notes, and a Parsing Index; to which are added Ob- servations on some Idioms of the Greek Language. 1800 — 10. — Greek Exercises in Syntax, &c., with a Key. 1805, 3rd edition, 1812. 8vo. — Introduction to the Irish Language, and Elements of English Grammar. 1813.
RICHARD HELSHAM, M.D., graduated in this col- lege, and obtained a Scholarship in 1700, and a Fel- lowship in 1704, and was appointed Professor of Phy- sic, and of Natural Philosophy, in the University. He was a scholar of high reputation in his department.
He wrote a course of Lectures in Natural Philo- sophy, which were edited the year after his death (1739), by Bryan Robinson, and which contain much excellent information, particularly on the theory of vision. 2nd edition, Lond. 1743.
The Rev. JOHN LAWSON, D.D., was born in Ireland, and graduated at this University, where he obtained a Scholarship in 17^9, and a Fellowship in 1735. He was appointed Lecturer in Oratory and History on the foundation of Erasmus Smith, in Dub- lin University. He published —
A Course of Lectures on Oratory, which display much know- ledge of that attractive subject. — Also a volume of Sermons.
Rev. RICHARD MURRAY, D.D., already noticed among the Provosts, published a very able work on Dr. Halley's series for the calculation of logarithms, Trans. R. I. Acad. 1801.
Sir RICHARD Cox, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, a native of the county Cork, graduated here. He pub- lished-—
The History of Ireland from the Conquest of it by England, to
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE. 443
his own time, with an account of the ancient state of that kingdom. Lond. 1689, 2 vols. folio ; Part II, 1690, folio. — An Inquiry into Religion, and the Use of Reason in reference to it. Lond. 1711. — Letter showing a sure Method of establishing the Linen Manu- facture in Ireland. Dub. 1712.
ZACHARY CROFTON, D.D., graduated here. He re- fused to conform, and went to reside in England, where he died in 1672. He published a great many very learned works in Theology ; these are in various lanfmao-es, and amount to twenty-three in number. (See Watts, Vol. I.)
JOSEPH CLARKE, M.D., a native of Dublin, and graduate of this college, published —
Observations on Puerperal Fever, as it appeared then in the Lying-in Hospital. Dub. 1790. — Account of a Disease which lately proved fatal to many Infants in that Hospital, with Observa- tions on its Causes and Prevention. — On some Causes of the Ex- cess of Mortality of Males above that of Females. — Observations on the Properties commonly attributed by medical writers to Human Milk, on the changes it undergoes in digestion, and the diseases supposed to originate from this source in infancy. — On Bilious Cholic and Convulsions in early Infancy. Trans. R. I. Acad. 1780—88, &c.
ROBERT PERCEVAL, M.D., and M.R.I. A., a native of Dublin, graduated here. He was a physician of great eminence, and Professor of Chemistry in this University. He published several practical works in Chemical science, under the title of
Chemical Communications and Inquiries. Dub. 1790. — Account of a Chamber Lamp Furnace, 1791. — On the Solution of Lead by Lime. 1793. — Account of some Chalybeate Preparations. Dub. 1794.
WILLIAM MAGEE (Archbishop of Dublin). This justly celebrated scholar and theologian was born in the spring of the year 1766, of a family of ancient respectability, which settled in the county Fermanagh in 1640, and were staunch loyalists. The grandfather of the Archbishop had seven sons, each of whom en- joyed an independent property. From John Magee, one of these sons, Dr. William Magee was descended, and was the only son of four who lived to maturity. H is father having embarked a large property in the linen trade, was fraudulently tricked by his partner, who
444 ARCHBISHOP MAGEE.
absconded, and John Magee's whole property, except £100 per annum, was given up to the creditors. He then settled with his wife (a most respectable lady) in Enniskillen, where the subject of this sketch was born, in March, 1766 ft. He very soon began to show talents of a superior order, and of a noble and amiable disposition, which his countenance plainly indicated. Young Magee's education was early and carefully at- tended to, both at the endowed school of Enniskillen, and afterwards under the care of Dr. Viridet, his ma- ternal uncle, who generously took the charge of his entrance into college and expenses there on himself. William Magee entered as a pensioner in June, 1781, under the Rev. Dr. Stack, who also showed him the kindest and most cordial feeling, qualities that were natural to that excellent and kind-hearted man. William Magee much distinguished himself in his undergraduate cpurse ; he gained a scholarship in 1784 ; he obtained all the college honours, and took his degree of A.B. in October, 1785, and in June, 1788, he was elected a junior fellow with great credit. He wished to obtain a lay fellowship, for the purpose of becoming a barrister, according to the wish of his friends ; but providentially this was refused him, and thus, as his able biographer justly says, "William Magee was under a gracious Providence ordained, who lived to be one of the brightest orna- ments of the church, and one of the most powerful vindicators of the Christian faith." He took holy orders in 1790, soon after which he married an ex- cellent young lady, named Moulson, of an ancient Cheshire family; this happy union produced sixteen children, of whom twelve have survived, and are worthy of such parents. Dr. Magee was elected a senior fellow in the year 1800, and in 1812 went out on a college living, and in 1814 was appointed to the Deanery of
a In the adjoining house, lived the family of W. C. Plunket, and it was there that talented man was horn, who was afterwards Attorney- General, and eventually made Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and created Lord Plunket. The two families were very intimate, and a lasting friendship grew up between the youths, which continued through life,
ARCHBISHOP MAGEE. 445
Cork; in 1819, made Bishop of Raphoe ; and in 1821, when King George IV. visited Ireland, that monarch appointed him dean of the viceregal chapel in Dublin Castle, where he preached before the King, who was so highly pleased with the sermon, that his majesty directed Earl Talbot, the Lord-Lieu- tenant of Ireland, to write a letter of thanks to Bishop Magce, in his name. In 1722, Dr. Magee was of- fered the Archbishopric of Cashel, which he declined ; but immediately after this, Ardmagh became vacant, Lord John Beresford was appointed to it, and the Archbishopric of Dublin, which his lordship had held, was conferred on the Bishop of Raphoe. In 182,5, Archbishop Magee lost his excellent wife a, and from that time his health appears to have rather rapidly declined, and he was called from this world in August, 1831, "full of honour," and with an understand- ing as clear and a mind as firm in the doctrines of our holy religion, as perhaps any that ever sojourned on this earth. To give in a work of this kind any thing like a tolerable outline of a character so pre- eminently good in morals and religion, and so highly gifted with intellectual power and mental cultivation, is not to be expected. This has, however, been ably performed by the Rev. Dr. Kenny, Rector of St. Olave'sb, South wark, who had himself obtained a fel- lowship in this college in 1800. The splendid ser- mons which Dr. Magee preached would fill numerous volumes. But the work on which the great profes- sional character of Archbishop Magee securely rests, is that splendid one " On the Scriptural Doctrines of Atonement and Sacrifice," one of the noblest produc- tions of the human mind, as connected with the Chris- tian religion.
a Those only who had the happiness of knowing that excellent lady can form a just opinion of the severe affliction which her loss would occasion to one of so pure and affectionate a mind as Dr. Magce possessed. The author having had that honour, can speak with certainty of the domestic happiness which ever reigned within their dwelling.
b The Rev. Arthur Henry Kenny, D.D., an ex-fellow of the Dub- lin University, and formerly Dean of Achonry.
446 F. DOBBS, M.P. SIR T. F. BUXTON, M.P.
FRANCIS DOBBS, Esq., M.P., was of a respectable family, but of moderate fortune, in the north of Ire- land. He graduated here, and was called to the Irish bar, where he became a respectable practitioner. He possessed many virtues, and no vices of any ac- count. He soon became a member of the Irish House of Commons, through the Charlemont interest, and was entirely devoted to the cause of Irish independ- ence. He published —
A volume of Letters on Irish Independence, which were excel- lent in style and argument, and very spirited. Dub. 1782. — A Universal History. — A number of Miscellaneous Tracts on various Moral, Religious and Philosophical subjects.
THEOPHILUS O'FLANAGAN was born in the county of Clare, and from John Nunan's classical school he entered this University, under the care of Dr. Mat- thew Young, then a junior fellow, afterwards Bishop of Clonfert. O'Flanagan obtained a foundation scholarship in 1787. About that time the Irish lan- guage became an object of considerable literary in- quiry and much interest, and Dr. Young learned it of his pupil, who understood and spoke it well. Mr. O'Flanagan was elected the first secretary of the Gaelic Society, in 1806. He translated —
The celebrated Ogham inscription on Conawn, an ancient Irish Chief. — The Romance ofDeirdre. — And an Inauguration Poem, by M'Broden, (Bard to the Prince of Thomond,) delivered at the coro- nation of Donogh Obrien, with several other valuable ancient Irish compositions.
Sir THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, A.M. and M.P., born in England, was educated for college at the Rev. John Moore's school, Donnybrook, near Dublin, and in 1804 became a fellow commoner of this University, where he distinguished himself by his mathematical an- swering at the quarterly examination, and obtained pre- miums in science. The constant advocacy of that gen- tleman, in conjunction with those of other talented men, in the cause of negro emancipation, and the reform of our then cruel and inoperative criminal code of laws, are well known, and their eventual success is a matter of congratulation to the friends of justice and humanity.
R. GRIER, A.M. R. BURROWS, D.D. — G. DWYER, A.M. 44?
Sir F. Buxton has also writen much on these subjects in various reviews, and other publications, His principal works are : —
An Inquiry whether Crime and Misery are produced or pre- vented by our present practice of prison discipline, illustrated by descriptions of the various gaols, and the proceedings of the Ladies' Committee visiting Newgate. Lond. 1818. New edition, Edinb. 1818. This work puts the question in a very forcible arid just position ; and no doubt it assisted to overthrow the old and vile system upon which our gaols were previously constructed and governed.
The Rev. RICHARD GRIER, A.M., master of Middleton School, county Cork, obtained a foundation scholarship in this University in 1780, and soon after commencing Master of Arts, was appointed to the ar- duous duties above mentioned. He published several sermons and essays ; but his chief production is the answer to Ward's Errata of the " Protestant Bible," with an Appendix, containing a review of the preface to the fourth edition of " the Errata," in which he ably exposes " the poisonous venom " of that Jesuit- ical publication. Lond. 1812 (Cadell).
The Rev. ROBERT BURROWS, D.D., graduated here, and obtained a foundation scholarship in 1775, and fellowship in 1782. He took the living of Cappagh, and when the mastership of the endowed school at Enniskillen became vacant, the Rev. Mr. Burrows was presented to it, and his performance of the duties there continued for some years, and were considered so effective, that, as a stimulant to others, Dr. Burrows was appointed to the deanery of Cork. He published —
Sermons preached before the Society for discountenancing Vice, and promoting the Practice of Virtue and Religion. Dub. 1695. —On the First Lessons of the Sunday Morning Service. — And a Volume of Sermons upon various subjects. Cadell, Lond. 1818.
The Rev. GEORGE DWYER, A.M., was born in the south of Ireland, and graduated in this college ; he afterwards was appointed to the rectory of Ardrahan, (diocese of Clonfert,) where he carefully performed his pastoral duties for many years. When the subject
448 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. W. S. TIGHE, M.P.
of the Irish tithes was taken into consideration by the Whig ministry, in 1832, Mr. Dwyer published —
A View of Evidence on the Subject of Tithes in Ireland ; given before the Committee of Lords and Commons in that year. In this volume he fairly vindicates the Protestant Clergy of that country, exposing at the same time the schemes of the agitators, and clearly showing the necessity of a firm maintenance of the Pro~ testant Church in Ireland, to prevent a dissolution of the Union.
The Rev. WILLIAM PHELAN, D.D., was born in the south of Ireland, and graduated here, in 1808. He ob- tained a foundation scholarship, and was elected to a Ju- nior Fellowship in IS 17» and Junior Proctor, &c., He afterwards accepted the Royal Mastership of school of Ardmagh, and of course vacated his fellow- ship. When the parliamentary inquiry into " the state of Ireland" took place in 1824 and 1825, this gen- tleman was brought from Ireland to give evidence on that great question ; and afterwards, when that great body of information was laid before both Houses of Parliament, Mr. Phelan, or his friend, the Rev. M. O'Sullivan, published a digest of it, in a compendious form, suited for public instruction generally.
The Right Hon. RICHARD, MARQUESS WELLESLEY, K.G.,&c., was born in the castle of Dangan, co. Meath, Ireland, in 1760. The great achievements of this eminent statesman, in the public service of his coun- try, are well known and recorded, especially his re- duction of Tippoo Sultaun's power in the Carnatic. His published works are —
Speech in the House of Commons, on a Motion for an Address to his Majesty, on commencing the Session of Parliament, in 1794, relative to the late transactions in the Mahratta Empire, with Military Plans. Lond. 1804. — History of all the Events and Transactions which have taken place in India; containing the Ne- gociations of the British Government, relative to the glorious ter- mination of the late War. Lond. 1805. — Account of the Esta- blishment of the College of Fort William, in Bengal. 1805.— Letter to the Governor of Fort St. George, relative to the new form of Government established there. 1812. — Letter to the Directors of the East India Company, on the Trade of India.
WILLIAM TIGHE, Esq., M.P., of the co, Kilkenny,
HENRY MOSSOP. — SIR WILLIAM o'DOGHERTY, A B. 449
was a fellow commoner of this College, and was rather a distinguished student in his under-graduate course. He was representative for the co. Wicklow, in the Im- perial Parliament at the time of his decease, 1815.
Mr. Tighe edited the charming poetical composition of Psyche, which emanated from the elegant mind of Mrs. Henry Tighe, his sister-in-law. He also wrote the Statistical History of the County Kilkenny ; an excellent work, published by the Royal- Dublin Society.
HENRY MOSSOP, the celebrated tragedian, was born in the co. Galway, near Tuam, in 1799, where his father, who was a clergyman, held a living. He en- tered this College as a pensioner, and took a Bachelor's degree in Arts. This young man, who had foi-med a long and early attachment to the stage, went to Lon- don, and offered himself to Garrick and to Rich, by both of whom he was rejected. Sheridan, however, soon perceived his latent powers ; and under that great master, Mossop made his debut in Zanga, and quite astonished the audience by the fervid and natural energy of his acting : his celebrity never diminished. He died in 1761.
RICHARD DE COURCY was born in the south of Ire- land, and obtained the degrees of A.M. and B.D., in this College. He afterwards held the vicarage of St. Alkmund's, Shrewsbury. He published several excel- lent sermons, preached on great public occasions ; some able controversial papers, in reply to the Baptists ; and some clever theological works. A volume of his sermons, with "An Essay on Pure and Undefiled Religion," was also published. Lond. 1810. He died in 1803.
THOMAS DOGHERTY, A.M., of Clifford's Inn, an eminent special pleader and law writer, graduated here. He published a considerable number of prac- tical works on various parts of the usages, offences, punishments, and practices in both the common and statute laws. Editions from 1739 to 1800.
Sir WIILLIAM O'DocHERTY, A.B., published an
G G
4.50 W. DUNKIN. REV. P. LE FANU.
Epitome of the History of Europe, from the reign of Charlemagne to that of George III. Lond. 1788.
WILLIAM DUNKIN, D.D. graduated here, was a foundation scholar, and took all the degrees up to Doctor of Divinity. He was an able writer. His principal works are,
Epistola Bindonem Arm. cui adjiciuntur Quatuor Odae. Dub. 1741. — An Epistle to the Right Hon. the Earl of Chesterfield ; to which he added, an Eclogue. 1760. — Also an edition of his practical works, to which his Epistles are added. This work, in two volumes, was dedicated to the Earl of Chesterfield. Dub. 1774.
The Rev. PHIILIP LE FANU, A.M., graduated in this University. His ancestors were refugee Hugue- nots, who fled from France on the revocation of the edict of Nantz, hy that treacherous despot, Louis XIV.
The Rev. Mr. LE FANU, after graduating as B.D., obtained a moderately good church living. He pub- lished—
An Abridged History of the Council of Constance. Dub. 1787. — And also a translation of that superior work, Les Lettres de certaines Juives a Monsieur Voltaire. Dub. 1790.
The Rev. PETER LE FANU, A.M., brother of the above gentleman, also graduated here. He was made a prebendary of St. Patrick's Qathedral, and curate of St. Bride's parish, Dublin. This reverend gentle- man was long known as one of the most popular preachers of the Irish metropolis ; he was a rival, but adopted a very different style of preaching from that of his gifted contemporary*. Mr. Le Fanu had not the energy and fire of that gifted man, but he pos- sessed a more easy and fluent mode of addressing a congregation, with a peculiar power of persuasion, from the colloquial familiarity of his manner ; and he adopted the extemporaneous form of addressing his auditory. Many of his sermons, which are fine com- positions, have been published and republished.
* The Rev. Mr. (afterwards Dean) Kirwan, one of the most powerful and popular preachers of charity sermons that, perhaps, ever appealed to the feelings of a Christian audience.
W. P. LE FANU. REV. JAMES B. GORDON, A.M. 451
W. P. LE FANU was a nephew of the above clergy- man. He was born at Dublin, 1774, and educated in this College, from whence, soon after having gra- duated, he was called to the Irish bar in 1797, where his talents and conduct must have ensured success, but he soon gave up these alluring prospects for the purpose of promoting various plans of public and pri- vate charity. He attended a course of medical lectures in Trinity College, that he might be enabled to prac- tise among the poor with propriety ; and this he did extensively. Endowed with a small patrimony, and with moderate desires, his time and half his fortune were devoted to found schools, establish dispensaries, and in every way to promote the good of his poorer fel- low creatures, and to benefit society.
As a literary man, the character of Mr. Le Fanu deservedly stood high ; his great natural talents having been developed by a fine system of education. He wrote much, yet with sufficient imaginative power to amuse, he preferred being instructive. He saw, with an almost intuitive glance, the follies and the vices of society ; and like Cowper, in private life his cha- racter was most amiable ; and similar to that estimable man, his talents were always exercised on the side of virtue, religion, and humanity. He was called from this earth in 1817? aged only 43 years. His published works are —
A Letter addressed to Lord Cornwallis, then Lord Lieutenant in Ireland. — The Farmer's Journal, in 1812 ; a most useful pub- lication.— The Gallery of Portraits. — Intercepted Letters from China. — The Metropolis. — The "Familiar Epistles," were absurdly attributed to his pen ; but in no way do they bear the slightest resemblance to his style or turn of thinking. He contributed largely to Ledbetter's Cottage Dialogues ; and also wrote and published numerous tracts and essays, singly and in various pe- riodicals, for the purpose of promoting the cause of order, religion, and morality to the utmost of his power.
The Rev. JAMES BENTLEY GORDON, A.M., was a son of the Rev. James Gordon, of Neeve Hall, co. Derry (and a younger branch of the ducal family of Gordon). Gordon, junior, entered this University in 1769, and commenced A.B. in 1773, and took orders
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45% JOHN P. CURRAN. — JOHN BRINKLEY, LL.I>.
in the church ; was made rector of Cannaway, in the co. Cork, and afterwards was bestowed that of Kil- legny, co. Wexford, In the latter parish, where Mr, Gordon chiefly resided, he spent all the time which his clerical duties permitted, in collecting historical and geographical information, which he afterwards condensed, selected, and constructed anew, with con- siderable skill, erudition, and industry. This excel- lent scholar, and estimable man, after having by in- tense application collected original MSS. for several historical and geographical works, and even arranged almost every page for publication, was removed from this life ere he could commence the publication of more than one quarto volume, and this was an His- torical and Geographical Memoir of the North Ame- rican Continent, its Nations and Tribes. A most clever and interesting work. This volume was edited by his son-in-law, the late Thomas Jones, Esq., of Nutgrove House, Rathfarnham, in the eo. Dublin.
JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN, a native of Cork county, born 1748, entered a sizar of this College, where he ob- tained a foundation scholarship in 1770. His great natural talents were here nurtured and developed for public life. He became an eloquent and powerful orator at the bar and in the Irish senate ; and during Mr. Fox's short administration, he was appointed Master of the Rolls, in Ireland. A volume of his speeches has been published, which afford much instruction as to the strange mode in which Ireland had been, and continued to be governed up to his own time.
WILLIAM HENRY CURRAN, A.B., son of the above. He has written a life of his father, which is a very interesting historical as well as biographical memoir.
JOHN BRINKLEY, LL.D., Astronomer Royal in the University of Dublin, was elected at a competition of many eminent philosophers. This profound scholar, and excellent man published —
General Demonstrations of the Theorems for Sines and Co-sines of Multiple Circular Arcs ; and also of the Theorems for express- ing the Powers of Sines, and Co-sines of, by the Sines and Co-sines
JOHN JEBB, A.M. MICHAEL KEARNEY, D.D. 4<53
of Multiple Arcs. To which is added, A Theorem, by help whereof the same method may be applied to demonstrate the pro- perties of Multiple Hyperbolic Areas. Trans. Irish. Soc. 1800.— A General Demonstration of the Property of the Circle discovered by Mr. Cotes, deduced from the Circle only. R. Irish Acad. 151. — On the Orbits in which Bodies revolve, being acted upon by a Cen- tripetal Force, varying as any function of the distance, where these Orbits have two Apsides. Ib. viii. 215. — On determining innu- merable portions of Sphere; the Solidities and Spherical Superficies of which portions are, at the same time, Algebraically assignable. Ib. 1513. — Examination of various Solutions of Kepler's Problem, and a short practical Solution of that Problem pointed out. Ib. ix. 143. — A Theorem for finding the Surface of an Oblique Cylinder, with its Geometrical Demonstration. Also an Appendix, contain- ing some Observations on the Methods of finding the Circum- ference of a very excentric Ellipse, including a Geometrical De- monstration of the remarkable property of an Elliptic Arc, discovered by Count Fagnani. Ib. 145 — An Investigation of the General Term of an Important Series in the Inverse Method of Finite Differences. Phil. Trans. 114. 1807. — Extract of a Letter on the Annual Parallax of a Lyra ; and other Letters on the Annual Parallaxes of « Arcturus, &c. 1810-12-15.
JOHN JEBB, A.M., of this University, published many clever works, viz : —
A Short Account of Theological Lectures now reading at Cam- bridge ; to which is added A New Harmony of the Gospels. Lond. 1770. — A Continuation of the Narrative of Academical Proceedings relative to the Proposal for establishing Annual Exhibitions in the University of Cambridge ; with Observations upon the Conduct of the Committee appointed by grace of the Senate, on the 5th of July, 1773. Camb. 1773.— A Proposal for the Establishment of Public Examinations in the University of Cambridge, with Occa- sional Remarks. Lond. 1774. — A Letter to the Right Rev. the Bishop of Norwich. Lond. 1775.— Address to the Members of the Senate of Cambridge. Lond. 1776. — Sermon before the Lord-Lieutenant (of Ireland) and the Irish Association for Dis- countenancing Vice. 1803. — Sermons on Subjects chiefly practi- cal ; with Illustrative Notes, and an Appendix relating to the Cha- racter of the Church of England, as distinguished from other Churches of the Reformation, and from the modern Church of Rome. Dub. 1815.
MICHAEL KEARNEY, D.D., Senior Fellow of this University, and Professor of History of the foundation of Erasmus Smith, Esq., published —
Lectures on History, given in Trinity College, Dublin, 1775. Lond. 1776.— Thoughts on the History of Alphabetic Writing. R. I. Academy, hi. 1789. — The evil Effects of Polytheism; or, the Morals of Heathens. 1790. — On the Power of Painting to express mixed Passions.
454 HENRY GRATTAN, M.P.
ALEXANDER KNOX, Esq., A.B., wrote —
Essays on the Political Circumstances of Ireland. Written during the Administration of Marquess Camden in that Country. With an Appendix, containing Thoughts on the Will of the People ; and a Postscript, first published. Lond. 1799, 8vo.
HENRY GRATTAN, M.P. This distinguished orator and illustrious patriot was born in Dublin in 1746, and educated in its University, where he graduated as a fellow commoner. His father, who was then Recorder of Dublin, was desirous that his son should adopt the profession of a barrister ; and the son was called to the bar, but did not seriously devote himself to its oc- cupation, for soon after putting on the advocate's gown, he was returned to serve in parliament for the borough of Charlemont, and in the next parliament he was elect- ed one of the members for the city of Dublin ; after which his hitherto latent power came suddenly forth, and he became the intrepid and eloquent defender of his country's independence. Soon, therefore, those transcendant talents, which afterwards distinguished this celebrated personage, were perceived rising above ordinary capacities, and like a charm, communicating to his countrymen that energy, that patriotism, and that perseverance for which he himself became so emi- nently distinguished. His action, his tone, his elocu- tion in public speaking bore no resemblance to that of any other person. The flights of genius, the arrange- ments of composition, and the solid strength of con- nected reasoning, were singularly blended in his fiery, but deliberative language. He thought in logic, and he spoke in antithesis ; his irony and his satire, rapid and epigrammatic, bore down all opposition, and left him no rival in the broad field of eloquent invective ; and the progress of his brilliant and manly eloquence soon absorbed every idea but that of admiration at the overpowering extent of his intellectual faculties. All the fruits of his patriotism and talent were, however, nullified within a few later years. He lived to see the noble constitutional fabric demolished, of which he was the chief architect, and "as he had watched over its infancy, so he followed it to its grave."
JOHN WILSON CROKER. HUGH KELLY. 4<55
His Speeches on the Union, &c., have heen collected and published in 3 vols. by his son, H. Grattan, Esq.
The Hon. and Right Rev. WILLIAM KNOX, D.D., Bishop of Derry, published —
Sermons preached in Trinity College, Dublin, 1799. — A Thanksgiving Sermon to Almighty God for the glorious late Victory obtained by Lord Nelson over the French Fleet, and for other interpositions of his good Providence towards the Effectual Deliverance of these Kingdoms from Foreign Invasion and Intes- tine Commotion. Lond. 1800. — Revelation indispensable to Mo- rality. Lond. 1802. — Besides many moral and religious Essays and Tracts to which he did not put his signature.
JOHN WILSON CROKER, LL.D., F.R.S., Sec., was born in Dublin, became a fellow commoner in this University, adopted the profession of the bar, and be- came M.P. for Downpatrick in Ireland, and afterwards was for many years secretary to the Admiralty. This gentleman wrote much, and ably, in the " Quarterly Review," and other first rate periodicals. His sepa- rate works are : —
Familiar Epistles, in Verse, 1803. — Satires on the Management and Actors of the Irish Theatre Royal: these were severe, but generally just, and tended to make the actors more careful in studying their parts, and attending to certain matters of moral propriety. — A Sketch of an Intercepted Letter from China. 1805. — The State of Ireland. 1807. — The Battle of Talavera, a Poem. 1809.
Sir PHILIP CRAMPTON, M.D., Memb. Royal Coll. Surgeons, Ireland, a very distinguished member of his profession. He published —
Many curious Cases in the Medical Journals, and An Essay on the Inversion of the Eyelids. Lond. 1805. — Description of an Organ by which the Eyes of Birds are accommodated to the dif- ferent distances of objects. Phil. Trans. 1813.
W. COOPER, B.D., published —
Four Sermons upon Predestination unto Life. Lond. 1765. — The Promised Messiah. — Letters on Religious Subjects. — En- quiry into the Case of the Penitent on the Cross. — An Enquiry into the Antiquity of the Sabbath ; chiefly with regard to the Opinions of Dr. Paley. Lond. 1814.
HUGH KELLY, born near the lake of Killarney, graduated here, and became one of the most dis- tinguished of our modern dramatic writers.
His Thespis is a spirited and clever publication, and his False
4,56 REV. EDM. LEDWICH. C. AND H. LUCAS.
Delicacy, a Comedy, established his character as a Dramatic Writer, 1668. It was translated into the French, Italian, and Spanish Lan- guages.— A Word to the Wise, a Comedy. 1770. A new edition of this play was revised for the benefit of his Wife and Family ; it was introduced by an elegant and pathetic Prologue, by Dr. Johnson. — Clementine, a Tragedy. Lond. 1771. — School for Wives, a Comedy. Lond. 1774. — Romance of an Hour, a Comedy, in two acts. — The Man of Reason, a Comedy. — He also wrote a Vindication of Mr. Pitt's Administration. — The Babbler, 1767. — He was also the Editor of the Ladies' Museum, the Court Maga- zine, and other periodicals, besides many original Essays and pieces of Poetry. He died in his 38th year.
The Rev.EDMUNDLEDwicH,LL.B.,M.R.I.A.,&c., graduated in Dublin. He held the vicarage of Ag- hahoe, and was secretary to the Committee of Anti- quaries of the Royal Irish Academy. He pub- lished—
The Antiquities of Ireland, in 1790 — 94 and 96.— The Statisti- cal Account of the Parish of Aghaboe, in Ireland. Lond. 1790 — 96. — A Dissertation on a Passage in the 6th Book of Homer's Iliad. — Observations on the Romantic History of Ireland. — On the Religion of the Druids. — Observations on our Ancient Churches.
CHARLES LUCAS, M.D., graduated here. He was a distinguished man in his profession, and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. He pub- lished—
An Essay on Waters, viz. : 1st, Simple Waters. 2nd, Cold Me- dicated Waters. 3rd, Natural Baths. Lond. 1750. — Analysis of Rutty's Synopsis of Mineral Waters, 1757. — Remarks on the Methods of Investigating the Principles and Properties of the Bath and Bristol Mineral Waters, in an Effort to revive Ancient Medi- cal Doctrines, and to ascertain and extend the Virtues of these Waters. — The Theory and Uses of Baths. — On extracting the Acid of Sulphur ; with some other professional Essays.
HENRY LUCAS, A.M., graduate of Dublin Univer- sity, and Student of the Middle Temple, wrote —
The Tears of Alnwick, a Pastoral Elegy on the Death of the Duchess of Northumberland. 1777. — Visit from the Shades, a Poem. Lond. 1778. — The Earl of Somerset, a Tragedy, and other pieces. 1779. — Poems to her Majesty. — The Cypress Wreath, a Poem to the Memory of Lord Robert Manners. — A Pastoral Elegy in memory of the Duke of Northumberland, 1786. — Ccelina, a Masque. 1795.
Sir Lucius O'BRIEN, Bart., M.P., graduated here. He was a true descendant of the ancient monarchs of
SIR L. O'BRIEN. — LORDS O'NEIL AND MOUNTJOY. 457
Ireland, and a steady and able supporter of the " Free Trade " question in 1780, 81 and 82. This gentle- man wrote and published some able arguments, and very rational views of that question, viz. : —
Letters concerning the Trade and Manufactures of Ireland, especially as regards that of Iron, and the Exportation of such Wares. — Also Resolutions of England and Ireland, relative to a Commercial Intercourse between the two Countries. Dub. 1779.
LORD O'NEIL graduated here when only Mr. O'Neil. He was descended from the most celebrated chiefs of his country. His talents were excellent, suitable for public life ; his personal appearance, noble and commanding, combined with great affability and be- nevolence of character. He was a distinguished member of the Irish House of Commons, (previous to his accepting a peerage,) and a colonel of militia. In Parliament, this nobleman was always the first to bring forward or support any measure tending to re- move the political disabilities of the Irish Romanists, and participated in every measure that tended to im- prove his country, and ameliorate the condition of the working classes. But in the rebellion of 1798, this estimable nobleman fell in battle waged against the crown by that very class of persons whose cause he had uniformly espoused.
LORD MOUNTJOY, a contemporary and intimate friend of the above nobleman, graduated here about the same time, and was a member likewise of the Irish Parliament. It is a remarkable fact, that both these estimable and talented noblemen were such steady advocates for removing the political disabilities of the Romanists, that the one used to move and the other to second every resolution to that effect which came before Parliament ; and Lord Mountjoy had a similar fate to that of his noble friend, in that san- guinary struggle.
Lord O'Neil was killed at the battle of Antrim, and Lord Mountjoy at that of New Ross, county Wexfbrd, both in June, 1798, the latter at the head of the County of Dublin Militia. With his lordship fell Capt.
4,58 REV. JAMES WHITELAW.
Dillon, father of the present Earl of Roscommon, and many of his men.
The Rev. JAMES WHITELAW, A.M., was a native of the county of Leitrim, Ireland. He entered this University in the pensioners' a class, in which he distinguished himself by his superior answering at the term examinations, and he was sometimes success- ful even against Matthew Young, afterwards Bishop of Killala: these fellow students were both elected to foundation scholarships in the year 1769. On leav- ing college, Mr. Whitelaw became tutor to the late Earl of Meath, who gratefully conferred on him the living of St. James's parish, and afterwards the vi- carage of St. Catherine's, both within the liberties of Dublin. Mr. Whitelaw's whole life was occupied in acts of Christian duty ; his elegant and highly culti- vated mind was never idle for a moment either in conti'iving modes of relieving the spiritual and physi- cal wants of those over whom he was the beloved pastor, or in actively carrying those plans into operation. But we are consoled for the inadequacy of our biogra- phical scale, to describe the virtuous acts of this ex- cellent man, (many of which we witnessed,) by the memoir of his life so ably and justly drawn up, and published by the Rev. Robert Walsh, A.M., M.R.I. A., prefixed to that elaborate and clever work, " War- burton's, Whitelaw's, and Walsh's History of Dublin." This estimable man died of a malignant fever, caught in attending a dying patient at a fever hospital, a duty from which he never would flinch.
Besides the History just mentioned, which is comprised in two large quarto volumes, with plates, Cadell, Lond. 1718, he pub- lished Circular Letters to the Inhabitants of Dublin to raise Funds for establishing Evening Schools for the Instruction of Servants and Apprentices. These Letters produced a degree of success
a The college acceptation of this word, as all college men know, is widely different from the usual meaning which it stands for in common parlance. In colleges, the " pensioners" pay an annual sum, quite sufficient to meet the expenses of their tuition, and equally so for their commons and chambers, should they live within the college precinct.
KEV. P. BROWNE, D.D. R. CHENEVIX. 459
greater than he expected ; the schools were established, and pro- duced considerable benefit to society. — In 1798, he undertook to make a census of the city of Dublin, a subject presenting difficul- ties of great magnitude, yet his intelligent mind and persevering habits achieved the task, and an abstract of the Report was pub- lished in 1800, 1 vol. 4to. — Parental Solicitude was his next work; an affecting and affectionate appeal to every parent, on the subject of right education. He also compiled and completed a new and rational System of Geography, with accurate Maps, mostly drawn by himself. The Maps were engraved, but the writings still, we believe, remain in MS., owing to his premature decease.
The Rev. PETER BROWNE, D.D., born in Ireland, was a graduate here, and obtained all the successive grades, up to the Provostship, as already noticed. His literary productions are : —
An Answer to Toland's book called, " Christianity not Mys- terious." Lond. 1697. — The Doctrine of Parts and Circumstances in Religion laid open. Lond. 1716. — Of Drinking in Remem- brance of the Dead. Lond. 1715. — Discourse of Drinking Healths. Lond. 1716. — The Progress, Extent, and Limits of Human Un- derstanding. Lond. 1728. — Things Divine and Supernatural, conceived by Analogy with things Natural and Human. Lond. 1733. — Sermons. 1749, 2 vols. These are chiefly directed against Socinianism, and are much admired for the easy style and true manliness of expression with which they are composed.
RICHARD CHENEVIX, A.B., of this College, was born in Dublin in 1774, and became a fellow of the Royal Society. He wrote and published many works of great value in chemical science, viz. : —
Remarks upon Chemical Nomenclature, according to the Princi- ples of the French Neologists. Dub. 1802. — Observations on the Mineral Systems, (originally written in French,) with Remarks on D'Aubigne's Reply to the Observations. 1811. — The Mantuan Rivals, a Comedy.— Henry Vllth, Historical Tragedy. Lond. 1812. — Ob- servations and Experiments upon Oxygenized Muriatic Acid, and upon some Combinations of the Muriatic Acid, in its three States. 1 802. — Analysis of Corundum, and some of the substances which ac- company it. — Analyses of the Arseniates of Copper and of Iron, and alsoof the Red Octahedral Copper Ore of Cornwall. 1801. — Observ- ations and Experiments on Dr. James's Powder, with a method of preparing in the humid way a similar substance. 1801. — Observa- tions upon the Chemical Nature of the Humours of the Eye. 1803. — Enquiries concerning the nature of a Metallic Substance, lately sold in London as anew metal, under the title of "Palladium." — On the Action of Mercury and Platinum on each other. 1805. — Ana- lysis of a New Variety of Lead Ore. — Analysis of Manachoerite from Botany Bay. — Experiments to ascertain the quantity of Sul-
460 REV. JOHN CLAYTON, D.D., ETC.
phur contained in Sulphuric Acid. — Observations and Experiments upon Oxygenized, and Super-oxygenized Muriatic Acid. 1802. — Researches on Acetic Acid, and some Acetates. 1810.
The Rev. JOHN CLAYTON, D.D., graduated here, obtained a scholarship, and after other promotions in the church, was made Dean of Kildare ; he had an inquiring philosophic mind, and investigated much the principles of the animal, vegetable, and mineral king- doms. He published —
Flora Virginica exhibens plantas, quas Jo. Claytonus in Vir-
§inia crescentes observavit, &c. Leyden, 1762. — Account of the oil, &c., of Virginia. 1793. — Experiments concerning the Spirit of Coals; 1739. This appears to have been the earliest notice of that powerful illuminating vapour called gas. — Of the Nitrous Particles of, or in, the Air. — Account of the Nations of Virginia. (These are all long since extinct.) — Experiments on the Elasticity of Steam ; 1739. This also appears to have been, if not the first, at all events a very early idea of applying that tremendous power (which had so long been wasted) to great and useful purposes.
ARTHUR BROWNE, LL.D. and M.P., graduated here, and obtained a scholarship in 1774, was elected a Junior Fellow in 1 777, and became Professor of Civil Law in this University. His writings are —
A Brief Review of the Question, Whether the Articles of Limerick have been violated ? Dub. 1788. — A Compendious View of the Civil Law, and the Law of the Admiralty ; being the sub- stance of a Course of Lectures in the University of Dublin. Dub. 1797, 1798, 2 vols. — Miscellaneous Sketches; or, Hints for Es- says.— Compendious View of the Ecclesiastical Law of Ireland; with a Sketch of the Practice of the Ecclesiastical Courts. Dub. 1803. 2 vols.
WILLIAM BURKE, A.B., wrote and published a Greek and English Derivative Dictionary ; shewing, in Eng- lish characters, the Greek originals in such words as, in the English language, are derived from the Greek ; and comprising correct explanations from the most approved Lexicographers, of the meaning of each word. Lond. 1806.
PRESTON FITZGERALD, Esq., A.B., was a Fellow Commoner here, and wrote —
The Spaniard and Siorlamh ; a traditional tale of Ireland ; with other Poems. 1810. — Spain Delivered, and other Poems. 1813, 8vo.
BARNARD CONNOR, M.D. — M. o'DEDY.
THOMAS STAFFORD, Esq., A.M., was a native of England, educated here, who wrote the work known as the
Paccata Hibernica ; or, a History of the Wars in Ireland, espe- cially those in the southern provinces, " Minister," or " Mononia," during the government of Sir George Carew. This was published with plates in London, 1633, and a new edition of it published at Dublin in 1810, 3 vols. 8vo.
ANDREW CARMICHAEL, A.B., graduated here, and published —
An Essay on the Influence of Habit, considered in Conjunction with the Love of Novelty. — An Essay on the Invention of Alpha- betic Writing. Dub. 1811.
BARNARD CONNOR, M.D., a native of Dublin, graduated here ; he afterwards went to travel on the continent, and became physician to John Sobieski, King of Poland. In a few years he returned to London, where he settled as a practitioner and lec- turer. He published —
Lettre contenant une Dissertation Physique sur la continuite de plusieurs os, a 1'occasion d'un Squelette surprenant. Paris, 1691. — Mirabilis Viventium interitus in Charonea Neapolitana Crypta et de novissima Vesuvii Montis incendio. Rom. 1694. — Dissertationes Medico-Physicae de antrig lithiferis de Montis Ve- suvii incendio, de stupendo ossium calitu, de immani Hippogastriis Scarcomati. Oxf. 1695. — Letter to him concerning the Method he used in his Physical and Anatomical Lectures at Oxford. Lond. 1695. — His Answer concerning the Plan of his Chymical and Anatomical Method for understanding the (Economia Animalis. Lond. 1695. — Letter to James Tyrrell concerning the farther Explanation and Vindication of the Plan of an Animal Economy. Lond. 1695. — The Evangelis Medici S. de Suspensis Naturae Legibus, sive de Miraculis reliquisque «» TOE? |3»£Ato»$ Memoratis quae Medicae inda- gini subjici possunt. Lond. 1695. — A second edition same year, and Amst. 1697-99. Jena, 1724. — Letter concerning his Medicina Arcana de Mistico Corporis humani statu. Lond. —A compendious Plan of the Body of Physic. Oxon. 1697.— De Secretione Ani- mali. Lond. 1697. Dr. O'Connor died in the following year ; as we find that his friend, Mr. Savage, published, in 1698, his History of Poland, its Ancient and Present State ; in a series of Letters. Lond. 1698, 2. vols. In the Phil. Trans., 1694, is an account of a human skeleton, wherein all the vertebrae and some other parts were ossified into one continuous mass of bone, without joint or cartilage.
M. O'DEDY, A.M., published—
A View of the Laws of Landed Property in Ireland. Lond.
462 SIR JOHN PARNELL, BART., M.P.
1812. — Letters to Lord Erskine on the Laws of Principal and Ac- cessary; with an Examination of the New Rule affecting Principal in the second degree, for Arbiters present at Murder, &c., 1811.
SAMUEL DERRICK, A.B., a native of Ireland, (born 1724,) graduated here ; some years later he became master of the ceremonies at Bath. He wrote much, and published the following works: —
Sylla, a dramatic entertainment, translated from the French. 1753. — A Voyage to the Moon; from the French of Bergerac. 1753. — Memoirs of the Count de Beauval ; from the French of the Marquis D'Argens. 1754. — The Third Satire of Juvenal; translated into English Verse. 1755. — A View of the Stage (pub- lished under the name of Wilks). 1759. — Dryden's Poetical Works, with a Life and Notes; a beautifully printed work. 1762, 4 vols. — Battle of Lora;'a Poem. 1762. — A Collection of Voyages. 1763, 2 vols.— The Wit's Chronicle. Lond. 1769.— Letters from Liverpool, Chester, &c. Dub. 1767, 2 vols.
FRANCIS HARDY, Esq., M.P. and A.B., was edu- cated here ; he was an active and intelligent member of the Irish House of Commons. He published —
Memoirs of the Political and Private Life of James Caulfield, Earl of Charlemont. Lond. 1810 ; 2nd edition, Lond. 1812, 2 vols. — Thoughts on some particular Passages in the Agamemnon of ^Eschylus. Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 1788.
Rev. GEORGE HAMILTON, A.M., soon after taking his Master's degree, was promoted to the rectory of Killernoc, Ireland. He published —
A General Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew Scriptures; with a Critical History of the Greek and Latin Versions of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and of all the Chaldee Paraphrases. Lond. 1813; Dub. 1814, 8vo.
The Rev. HANS HAMILTON, D.D., published a very clever work, entitled "The Necessity of Maintain- ing Scripture Doctrine, and endeavouring by every means, to promote Union in the Church of Christ." In two Act Sermons. Dub. 1818, 8vo.
Sir JOHN PARNELL, Bart., M.P., son of Sir J. Parnell of Rathleague, graduated here. He was edu- cated with a view to diplomatic pursuits, and soon excited attention in the Irish Parliament, as a person of more than ordinary capabilities. He had an eminent capacity for public business, a strong mind, retentive intellect, and a well cultivated understand-
REV. J. A. HAMILTON, D.D. REV. W. HAMILTON. 4f)3
ing. He held the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland for seventeen years ; yet, such was his dis- interestedness, that the name of a relative, or dependent of his own, scarcely ever increased the place or pension lists of Ireland. Yet this zealous and trustworthy officer of the Crown, being called upon by the minister of the day (the Right Hon. Wm. Pitt) to sacrifice his principles and betray the trust reposed in him, as a re- presentative of the people, he at once gave up his office, but retained his integrity, and was rewarded by the approbation of his conscience and the affection of his country. He published some clever papers on Finance, &c., and a volume of his speeches in parliament has since appeared.
MATTHEW CONCANEN, A.B., graduated here, and soon afterwards went to London, where he became, as Dr. Watts truly says, " a miscellaneous writer of note." He published —
The History and Antiquities of the Ancient and Venerable Church of St. Saviour's, Southwark, plates. Lond. 1795. — Letter to Wm. Garrow, Esq., regarding his illiberal behaviour to the author at the trial of a cause, Ford v. Pedder and others. 1796. — Plan for effectually distributing Bankrupts' Estates, with Re- marks on the conduct of Assignees. 1801.
The Rev. JAMES ARCHIBALD HAMILTON, DJX, &c., of this College, wrote and published the follow- ing Essays, viz. : —
Account of an Extraordinary Parhelia seen at Cookstown, September 24, 1783.— Of anew kind of Portable Barometer for measuring Heights. — Methods of determining the Longitude by Observations of the Meridian Passages of the Moon and a Star, at two places. 1794. — On Comparative Micrometric Measures. 1805. — On the Present State of Astronomical Certainty. — Of the Difference of Right Ascension of the Moon's enlightened Limb with the Sun's Centre, and with Stars under different Meridians. 1806. — On Comparative Micrometric Measures. 1807.
Rev. WILLIAM HAMILTON, A.M., Archdeacon of Ardmagh, wrote and published —
Two Sermons concerning Zeal, which are justly esteemed for their style and logical accuracy of argument. Dub. 1700. — The Embassy, Life and Character of John Bonnel, Esq. Lond. 1707. — And several Sermons before the House of Commons. Lond.
1722-25.
The Rev. WILLIAM HAMILTON, B.D., was educated
464 LORD ORIEL. J. L. FOSTER, A.M.
here, was elected to a Fellowship in 1779, afterwards resigned on a College living in Donegal. His works prove him to have been an excellent scholar. He published —
Letters from the Coast of Antrim, Ireland, with a Natural History of its surprising Basaltic Formations, with an account of the Antiquities, Manners, and Customs of that Country. Lond. 1786. — Letters on the Principles of the French Democracy, their Application and Influence on the Constitution and Happiness of Great Britain and Ireland. Dub. 1792. — An Account of Ex- periments made to determine the Temperature of the Earth's Surface in the Kingdom of Ireland, A.D. 1788. — Memoir on the Climate of Ireland. 1794. — Nicholson's Journal. 1798.
The Right Hon. JOHN FOSTER, M.P., (Lord Oriel,) was a distinguished pupil in this University. He was elected Speaker of the Irish House of Commons a few years previous to " the Legislative Union," to which unpopular measure he gave his favourable opinion, after having originally opposed its principle.
He published a very able Speech on the Bill brought forward in the Irish Parliament to allow Irish Romanists to vote for Members of Parliament, in which he showed that the Bill had a direct tendency to subvert the Protestant Establishment, and to cause a complete and lasting separation of that Kingdom from Great Britain. Dub. 1793. — Speech on the Proposed Union of Ireland and Great Britain. Dub. 1799, 8vo.
JOHN LESLIE FOSTER, A.M., after graduating here became a student of Lincoln's Inn, but was afterwards called to the Irish Bar, and finally was made a judge in the Court of Exchequer, Dublin. He published—
An Essay on the Principles of Commercial Exchange, more especially as between England and Ireland. Lond. 1804, 8vo. — A Speech on Mr. Grattan's Motion for removing the remainder of the Penal Laws in force against the Romanists of Ireland. Lond. 1812.
The Rev. JOHN GARNETT, D.D., after some minor promotion in the Church, was made Bishop of Clogher in 1770. This Prelate wrote and published many able Sermons, amongst which are —
The New Creation a state of Proselytism, Gal. iv. 15. 1740.
Several Assize Sermons, on Rebellion and Commemoration,
Rorn. xii. 11. 1745. — A Fast Sermon, on Job i. 5.— Another on Chron. xxix. 20, 21. 1747.— A Dissertation on the Book of Job. — Introductory Discourse on the Book of Job. Lond. 1754.— On the Irish Protestant Schools. 1756, 4to.
JOHN GIFFORD. REV. R1CHD. GRAVES, D.D. 465
JOHN GIFFORD, B.M., did for a time pursue his profession with ardour, but eventually became a poli- tical writer of great intelligence. He was elected High Sheriff of Dublin city, and on vacating that office at the usual time, became a Sheriff's Peer, and Member of the Common Council of Dublin, for life. He died 1819. His Works are : —
An Elucidation of the Unity of God, deduced from Scripture and Reason, addressed to Christians of all denominations ; with a Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. This work went througli four editions. Lond. 1786. — History of France, from the earliest times to the death of Louis XVI., condensed from the eminent French Historians, critical and explanatory Notes. Lond. 1791 — 4, 5 vols. 4to. — A Plain Address to the Common Sense of the People of England, with an abstract of T. Paine's Life and Writings. 1792. — Narrative of Transactions relative to Louis XVI. from June, 1791, to January 21, 1793. — Reign of Louis XVI. and History of the French Revolution, with Notes, critical and explanatory. Lond. 1794 — 96. — Letters to the Earl of Lauderdale, with Strictures on his Letters to the Peers of Scot- land. Lond. 1795 — 1800. — A Residence in France, during the years 1792, 3, 4 and 5, being a Series of Letters from an English Lady, with Remarks on the French Character and Manners. Lond. 1797, 2 vols. 8vo. — The Banditti unmasked ; or, Historical Memoirs of the Present Times, from the French of Gen. Dani- can, with a Preface showing the present state of France. Lond. 1797. — Letter to the Hon. Thomas Erskine, containing Strictures on the view of the Causes and Consequences of the present War with France. Lond. 1797. — A Defence of the French Emigrants, from the French of Gerald Trephine Lally Tollendal. Lond. 1797. — A Short Address to the Members of the Loyal Association on the Present State of Public Affairs ; containing a brief exposi- tion of the designs of the French upon this country, and of their proposed division of Great Britain and Ireland into three distinct Republics. Lond. 1797. This went through five editions, the last in 1798. Lond. — Address from CamilleJourdan to his Constituents, on the Revolution of the 4th of Sept., 1797; translated, with a Preface and Notes added. Lond. 1798. — Preface to Cobbett's "Bone to Gnaw," for the Democrats. — A History of the Political Life of the Right Hon. William Pitt, including an Account of a part of the time in which he lived, Portraits. Lond. 1809, 3 vols. royal 4to.
The Rev. RICHARD GRAVES, D.D., was a distin- guished student here. He obtained a foundation scholarship in 1782, and junior fellowship in 1786, was made Dean of Ardagh, and became Deputy Lecturer on Divinity for Dr. Drought, on whose demise Dr.
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466 REV. W. HENRY, D.D. G. E. HOWARD.
Graves was unanimously elected to that important office, which he filled for several years with great zeal and ability, he introduced great improvements in the mode of lecturing, and additional information for the students in this department. Dr. Graves's published works are : —
A Sermon on the Deliverance of Ireland from the invasion lately attempted by the French forces. Lond. 1797. — Essay, contain- ing several discourses on the character of the Apostles and Evan- gelists ; designed to prove that they were not Enthusiasts. Lond. 1798. — A Series of Sermons: — on the Clerical Character ; on Su- perstition ; on Miracles ; on Submission to the existing Powers ; on the Love of Pleasure ; on the Temporal Disadvantages of Vice ; on Happiness ; on Evangelical Righteousness, and on Justice. Lond. 1799. — Sermon at the Consecration of Dr. Warburton, Bishop of Limerick, 1806. — Lectures on the four last books of the Pentateuch, designed to show the Divine Origin of the Jewish Re- ligion, &c. Lond. 1807 — 11, 2 vols — A Sermon preached in aid of the London Society for Converting the Jews, 1811, with several other excellent religious discourses.
The Rev. WILLIAM HENRY, D.D., Rector of Ur- ney, in the diocese of Derry, published —
The Advantages of Peace, and the Means to Perpetuate that Blessing; being a Thanksgiving Sermon on Psalm cxlvii. 12. 14. 1749. — Christian Perfection. — Sermons on Psalm cxii. 6. — On Samuel, xxiii. 1. 3. — On the Anniversary of St. Patrick, Luke xxiv. 5. — A Fast Sermon, Deut. xxxiii. 28. 31. — Account of an extraordinary Stream of Wind which shot through the County of Tyrone, Oct. 11, 1752. Phil. Trans. 1752.— On the Copper Springs in county of Wicklow. Ireland, 1753. — Description of a Man whose tendons, bones and muscles were gradually becoming ossified.
GEORGE EDMUND HOWARD, A.M., became a mem- ber of the Irish Bar. He published the following works, viz. : —
Treatise of the Rules and Practices of the Pleas side of Exche- quer in Ireland. 1759, 2 vols. — Treatise of the Rules and Prac- tices of the Equity side of the Exchequer in Ireland. 1760, 2 vols. Almeyda, or Rival Kings, a Tragedy. Dub. 1770 ; Lond. second and third edition. — The Siege of Tadmor, a Tragedy, third edi- tion. Lond. 1772. — Rules and Practices of the Court of Chancery in Ireland, Adjudged Cases, &c., 1772. — Special Laws against the farther growth of Popery in Ireland, 1775. — Abstract and Com- mon Pleas of all the British, English and Irish Statutes relative to the Revenue of Ireland and the Trade connected therewith, al- phabetically ; with special precedents of information, &c., upon
JOHN O'KEEFE. 467
these Statutes, and other matters never before published, 1780-1, 2 vols. — Miscellaneous Works in Verse and Prose. Dub. 1782, 3 vols. 8vo.
ISAAC MANN, B.D., a zealous clergyman, pub- lished, among other valuable Religious Essays —
Short Discourses on the Lord's Prayer, chiefly designed for the use of country Villages. Dub. 1814.
DAVID M'BmDE, M.D., a native of Antrim, Ire- land, graduated here. He published —
Experimental Essays on the Fermentation of Alimentary Mix- tures; on the Nature and Properties of Fixed Air ; on the respective Power and Manner of Acting of the different kinds of Antiseptics; on the Scurvy, and a New Method of Curing it at Sea ; also on the Dissolvent Power of Quick-Lime. Lond. 1774 — 76. — Historical Account of the New Method of treating the Scurvy at Sea ; con- taining Ten Cases which show that this disease may be easily and effectually cured without the aid of Fresh Vegetable Diet. Lond. 1768. — Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Physic. Lond. 1772; Dub. 1776, (enlarged and corrected,) 2 vols. To this is added a Case of Angina Pectoris. — On an Improved Method of Tanning Leather. — Account of extraordinary Cases after Delivery. — History of Angina Pectoris successfully treated.
THEOBALD M*KENNA, A.M., Barrister at Law, published —
An elaborate and able Political Essay, relative to the Affairs of Ireland, 1791, 2 and 3, with Remarks on the Present State of that country. Lond. 1794. — Constitutional Objections to the Govern- ment of Ireland by a separate Legislature, in a Letter to John Hamilton, Esq., occasioned by his Remarks on a Memoir on the projected Legislative Union. Dub. 1799. —Thoughts 013 the Civil Condition and Relations of the Romish Clergy, Religion and People in Ireland. Lond. 1805.
JOHN O'KEEFE, the celebrated dramatic writer, was matriculated here, but it does not appear that he became a graduate. He went to reside in London about 1780. He was one of the most fertile and amusing writers for the stage that has appeared in modern times. His published works are : —
Tony Lumpkin in Town, a Farce. Dub. 1778.— Son-in-Law. Dub. 1779. — The Prince of Arragon, a Drama, with Songs. Dub. 1783. — Omai, a Play. 1783. — Prisoner at Large, a Comedy. Lond. 1788.— The Toy, a Comedy. 1789.— The Little Hunch- back of Bagdad, a Farce. 1790.— The World in a Village, a Comedy. 1793. — Sprigs of Laurel, a Comic Opera. 1798.—
H II 2
468 JAMES KENNEY. A. KING, LL.D.
Rambles in Dorsetshire, a Comedy. 1793. — The Castle of Andalusia, a Comic Opera. 1794. — Wild Oats, a Comedy. 1794.— -The Transfer of the Laurel, a Poem. 1795.— Life's Vagaries, a Comedy. Lond. 1795. — Blunders at Brighton, a Musical Entertainment. 1795. — Dramatic Works. Lond. 1798, 4 vols. 8vo. — Alfred, a Comedy. — The Basket-maker, a Musical Entertainment. — Beggar on Horseback, a Farce. — Blacksmith of Antwerp, a Farce. — The Czar Peter, a Comic Opera. — The Doldrum, a Farce. — The Farmer, a Farce. — Fontainbleau, a Comic Opera. — Le Grenadier, a Pantomime.— The Highland Reel, a Comic Opera. — Love in a Camp, a Farce.— Man Milliner, a Farce. — Modern Antiques, a Farce. — Poor Soldier, a Comic Opera — Positive Man, a Farce. — Tantarara, a Farce. — Wicklow Mountains, an Opera.
JAMES KENNEY, A.B., a very popular dramatic writer, published the following successful pieces :—
Society, a Poem in 2 Parts, with other Poems. Lond. 1804. — Raising the Wind, a Farce. 1803.— Matrimony, a petit Opera. Lond. 1804. — Too many Cooks, a Musical Farce. 1805. — Ella Rosenberg, a Melodrama. — False Alarms, a Comic Opera. 1807. — The World, a Comedy. 1808. — Turn Out, a Musical Farce. 1812. — Debtor and Creditor. — The Family of Anglade, a Drama. Lond. 1815.— Touchstone, or the World as it goes. 1817.
ANTHONY KING, Esq., LL.D., an eminent lawyer, published several professional treatises. His most important work is—
Thoughts on the Expediency of adopting a System of National Education more immediately suited to the Policy of this Country; with brief remarks on the Diocesan Schools. Dub. 1795.
SAMUEL LAB AT, M.D., a graduate, • published a very able and humane address to the medical prac- titioners of Ireland, on Vaccination. Dub. 1803.
The Rev. JAMES LITTLE, B.D., afterwards Rector of Lacken, co. Mayo, Ireland, wrote, —
On the Air Pump. — Description of a Reflecting Level, or Artificial Horizon, for taking Altitudes of the Celestial Bodies, £c., on Land, by Hadley's Quadrant. — Inscription on an Ancient Sepulchral Stone at Kilcummin, near Killala, co. Mayo.— Observa- tions on the Metallic Composition for the Specula of Reflecting Telescopes, and the manner of casting them. — On the Back Horizon Glass of Hadley's Quadrant. — These have been pub- lished in the Transactions of the Royal Academy, and in Nichol- son's Journal, between the years 1796 and 1811.
GUSTAVUS HUME, Esq., the eminent surgeon, graduated here. He wrote many .excellent papers on
JOHN MACAULAY. C. MAC CORMAC, ETC. 469
subjects connected with his practice, which are strictly professional, others for more general circulation are, — . Observations on the Treatment of Internal and External Dis- eases.—On the Management of Children. Dub. 1832. — Observa- tions on Angina Pectoris, the Gout, and Cow Pock. Dub. 1804.
Sir JOHN WHITE JEHVIS, Bart., A.B., a fellow com- moner here, wrote —
An Essay addressed to the Gentlemen of England and Ireland on the Inexpediency of a Federal Union between the two King- doms. Lond. 1798. —A Refutation of Montgaillard's Display of the Situation of Great Britain. — A Brief Statement of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of the Ancient Christian Church. Dub. 1813, 8vo.
JOHN MACAULAY, Esq., A.B., and member of the Royal Irish Academy, published —
Unanimity, a Poem. 1780. — The Genius of Ireland, a Masque. 1785. — Monody on the Death of Lady Arabella Denny. 1792. — A Poem on the Death of the unfortunate King Louis XVI. 1793. The History of the Reformation; from the French of M. de Beausobre. 1812.
CHARLES MAC CORMAC, Esq., LL.B., published —
Memoirs of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, entitled An Im- partial Review of his Private Life, his Public Conduct, his Speeches in Parliament, and the various productions of his Pen, Political and Literary; interspersed with a variety of curious Anecdotes and Extracts from his Secret Correspondence with some of the most distinguished characters in Europe. Lond. 1798.
The Rev. ARTHUR MACGUIRE, B.D., published, —
A Description of his New Portable Barometer. — And also of his Self-registering Barometer ; both accounts are in the Transac- tions of the Royal Irish Academy, i. 41, 1786, and iv. 1791.
LEONARD MAC NALLY, Esq., A.B., distinguished himself as a Criminal Law Barrister in Ireland. He published : —
The Claims of Ireland ! the Resolutions of the Volunteers vindicated. 1782. — Retaliation, a Farce. — Tristam Shandy, a Bagatelle Farce. Lond. 1783. — Sherwood Forest, a Comic Opera. Lond. 1784. — Fashionable Levites, a Comedy. 1785.— Richard Cceur-de-Lion, a Comic Opera. 1786. — Abstract of Acts passed in Parliament, from June to October 27, 1786. — Critic upon Critic, a Drama. 1792. — Cottage Festival, an Opera. 1796.— Apotheosis of Punch, a Masque. 1799. — The Rules of Evidence in Pleas of the Crown, illustrated from printed and MS. tracts and cases. Lond. 1802-3, 2 vols. 8vo.— The Justice of Peace, of Ireland. 1808, 2 vols. 8vo.
470 ARTHUR MURPHY.
The Rev. EDWARD MANGIN, A.M., a descendant from an ancient and honourable French Hugonot family, settled in Ireland, published, —
The Life of C. G. L. Malesherbes (from the French). Lond. 1805-14. — An Essay on Light Reading, as it may be supposed to influence moral conduct and literary taste. 1808. — Hector, a Tragedy, from the French of Lance val. 1810. — The Complete Works of Samuel Richardson, with a Sketch of his Life. 1811, 19 vols. 8vo. — A View of the Pleasures arising from the Love of Books ; a Series of Letters to a Lady. Lond. 1814. — Oddities and Outlines. — George III., a Novel.
HENRY MASON, Esq., A.B., published an excellent work, entitled, —
An Address to the Nobility and Gentry, on the great necessity of using every possible exertion to promote the proper Education of the Poor in Ireland. Dub. 1815.
ARTHUR MURPHY, Esq., A.B., a very clever dramatic and miscellaneous writer, was a native of Roscommon, Ireland, born in 1727. His published works are —
The Upholsterer, a Farce. 1758.— The Orphan of China, a Tragedy. Lond. 1758-59. — A Poetical Epistle to Mr. Samuel Johnson, A.M. 1760.— The Examiner, a Satire. 1761.— The Old Maid, a Comedy; 1761.— To the Naiads of Fleet Ditch. 1761.— All in the Wrong, a Comedy. 1761. — The Works of H. Fielding; with a Life of the Author. 1762, 4 vols.— The Citizen, a Farce. 1763. — No One's Enemy but his Own, a Comedy. 1764. — The Grecian Daughter, a Tragedy. 1772. — Alzuma, a Tragedy. 1773. — Three Weeks after Marriage, a Comedy. 1764. — Know Your own Mind, a Comedy. 1778. — The Way to Keep Him, a Comedy. 1785.— His Works. 1786, 7 vols.— A Poem, imitation of Juvenal's 13th Satire. 1791. -Seventeen Hundred and Ninety-one, aPoem. — TheRival Sisters, a Tragedy. 1793. — Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson. 1792. — Translation from the Original Latin Works of C. Tacitus ; with an Essay on his Life and Genius, (notes, maps, &c.) 1793, 4 vols. 4to, 8 vols. 8vo. — Arminius, a Tragedy. 1 798. — The Bees, a Poem, from the 1 4th Book of Vanieses Preedium Rusticum. Lond. 1799. — Addisoni Epistolse Missa ex Italia ad Illustram Dominum Hallifax; anno 1701. 1799. — Life of David Garrick, Esq., Anecdotes, History of the Stage, Letters, Poetry, Prologues, Epilogues, &c. 1801, 2 vols. — Translation of the Works of Sallust, (unfinished, but completed by T. Moore, Esq.) He also was the Editor of the Gray's Inn Journal, a weekly paper, and of another weekly pub- lication, The Test, commenced in 1757, and also of the Au- ditor, a periodical work intended to counteract the influence of Wilks's North Briton.
MARQUIS OF PIASTINGS. THOMAS MOORE. 471
T. O'BRIEN M*MAHON, A.M., wrote and pub- lished—
An Essay on the Depravity and Corruption of Human Nature ; wherein the opinions of La Bruyere, Rochefoucault, Esprit, Serrault, Hobbes, Mandeville, Helvetius, £c., on that subject, are sup- ported on grounds entirely new, against Hume, Shaftesbury, Sterne, Brown, and other apologists for mankind. Lond. 1774. — Man's capricious, petulant, and tyrannical Conduct towards the irrational part of the Creation inquired into and explained. Lond. 1775. —The Candour and good nature of Englishmen in their deliberate, cautious, and charitable way of characterizing the Customs, Man- ners, Constitution and Religion of neighbouring Nations, of which their own Authors are always produced as Vouchers. Lond. 1777.
FRANCIS, Earl of MOIRA, and Marquis of HAST- INGS, &c., published —
His Speech on the third Reading of the Bank Loan Bill in the House of Lords. 1791. — Speech on the alarming State of Ire- land, in 1797. — Letters to Colonel M'Mahon, on the Change of his Majesty's Ministers. A Speech on the aspect of Public Af- fairs. 1803. This invincible soldier was also an orator of supe- rior talents in the senate.
The Rev. DANIEL MOONEY, D.D., obtained a scholarship, and afterwards a fellowship here. He published —
Doctrina generum sive Introductio ad verum Logicam. 1812. — Method of taking Radicals out of Equations. Trans. R. I. Acad. 1796.
THOMAS MOORE, known among the literati as " Anacreon Moore," was the son of a citizen of Dub- lin, and was prepared for college under Samuel White, the celebrated schoolmaster in that city. The first decisive evidence young Moore gave of his poetic genius arose from a trivial circumstance. At one of the quarterly examinations in the University, his examiner gave him a portion of one of the Odes of Anacreon to translate into English. This, Mr. Moore did readily, and so well, that the examiner requested him to take the whole Ode to his chambers, and com- plete the translation ; which he did. The examiner was still better pleased than at first, and showed the translation to the Provost, Dr. John Kearney, who was himself a very elegant scholar, and of a superior taste in poetry. The Provost requested that the trans-
JOHN MONK MASON, ETC.
lator might be introduced to him, which was done ; and from that time he lost no opportunity of pro- moting Mr. Moore's interests in College. He after- wards entered of the Middle Temple to prepare for the bar; but his genius was decidedly poetic, not foren- sic, and he followed the Muses' inspirations with much applause. His first work was —
Anacreon, with notes and plates. Lond. 1800; 8th edition, 1813. — Poetical Works. Lond. 1801, 1805, 1808; llth edition, 1813. These are called " Little's Poems," the moral of which is not of an elevated character. — A candid Appeal to public Confidence on the actual and imaginary Dangers of the Present Crisis. 1803. — Epistles, Odes, and other Poems. Lond. 1806. — A Letter to the Roman Catholics of Dublin. 1810. — Intercepted Letters, on the Twopenny Post Bag, by Thomas Brown the younger. Lond.
1812. (This work passed through 14 editions). — Selections of Irish Melodies ; with symphonies and accompaniments by Sir John Ste- venson ; words, &c. 1813-14-16-18-20. — Poems from Camoens.
1813. — Sacred Songs, Duets, and Trios; music selected by Sir J. Stevenson and Mr. Moore. — Lallah Rookh, an Oriental Ro- mance, containing the Veiled Prophet, &c. Lond. 1817. — The Fudge Family in Paris. 1818.— Dramatic Works of R. B. She- ridan, M.P. 1818. — Captain Rock, a political pamphlet. 1819. — Sacred Melodies. — Mr. Murphy's unfinished translation of Sal- lust was also finished by Mr. Moore.
The Right Hon. JOHN MONK MASON, a fellow commoner here, published —
An edition of the Dramatic Works of John Massinger, with Notes, Critical and Explanatory ; with an Essay on the Life and Writings of that Dramatist. Lond. 1779-94, 4 vols. 8vo. — Comments on Reed's Edition of Shakspeare. 1785. — Comments on the Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher ; with an Appendix con- taining further Observations on Shakspeare, continued to the edi- tions of Malone and Stevens. Lond. 1798. — An Oration com- memorative of the late Major-General Hamilton. 1804.
WILLIAM SHAW MASON, A.M., and Mem. R. I. Acad., published that able, and useful, work — A Statistical Account, or Parochial Survey of Ireland ; drawn up from the official communications of the Pro- testant Clergy. Dub. 1815-17.
The Rev. THOMAS M'DONNELL, D.D., wrote and published —
An Essay towards an Answer to a Book entitled, An Essay on Spirit, &c. Dub. 1754. — A sincere Christian's Answer to the
REV. JOHN MEARS. - REV. G. MILLER, D.D. 473
Appeal to the Common Sense of all Christian People, concerning an important point of Doctrine imposed upon their consciences by the authority of Church Government; and in particular to the Members of the Church of England. In a letter to the Appellant. With an Appendix.
The Rev. JOHN MEARS, B.D., published —
A Volume of Sermons. Dub. 1741. — An Explanation of the End and Design of the Lord's Supper ; with suitable Meditations and Prayers ; and a Preface, recommending a due attendance on that sacred Institution. With a Postscript concerning Self-exami- nation, with Forms of Prayer for those who desire such assistance.
The Rev. GEORGE MILLER, D.D., graduated here; obtained a scholarship in 1782, and a fellowship in 1789. He published —
Lectures on the Philosophy of Modern History ; delivered in the University of Dublin. 1826, 2 vols. — On the Nature and Li- mits of Certainty and Probability. Trans. R. I. Acad. 1793. — Essays on the Origin and Nature of our Ideas of the Sublime. — Observations on the Theory of Electric Attraction and Repulsion. Ib. 1799.— Nicholson's Journal. 1801.
The Rev. PHILIP SKELTON, B.D., distinguished himself in his undergraduate course, and obtained a scholarship in 1726. He was a very effective preacher and minister of the church. He was the author and publisher of many excellent sermons. Dub. 1736-40,
The Rev. HUGH MAFFET, B.D., distinguished him- self at a scholarship examination, which honour he gained in 1760. His skill in the classics was con- siderable. He published an excellent edition of Sal- lust. Dub. 1772.
The Rev. EDWARD RYAN, D.D., obtained a high place at scholarship examination in 1767. He dis- tinguished himself as a Protestant pastor, and was author of a clever and intelligent work, entitled " The Effects of Christianity." Dub. 1780.
The Rev. HENRY MURRAY, B.D., also distin- guished himself in his college course, and was re- warded with a Scholarship in 1781. He devoted his time and talents to the spiritual instruction and im- provement of his flock. His principal published work
474 G. W. VERNON. J. KELCS F. NEVIL, ETC.
is entitled " The Evidence of Christianity." Dub. 1790.
GEORGE WM. VERNON, Esq., A.M., Barrister-at- Law, gained a scholarship in 1779, and was a suc- cessful practitioner at the Bar. He brought out a series of " Reports of Important Cases argued and determined in the Irish Courts of Law." Dub. 1783, 1784, &c.
JOHN KELLS, Esq., A.M., obtained a good position at a scholarship examination in 1780, and was soon afterwards called to the bar. He confined himself chiefly to consulting, or chamber practice ; and pub- lished a very useful index to the Law Reports of Cases, &c. Dub. 1790.
FRANCIS NEVIL, Esq., A.B., a Fellow Commoner, published —
An Account of several Arras and Sepulchral Monuments lately found in Ireland. Phil. Trans, vi. 1713. — Observations on Lough Neagh, Ireland. Ib. 1713. — Account of some ancient Trumpets and other pieces of Antiquity discovered in the co. Tyrone, Ire- land.— Of a fine Quarry of Marble discovered in co. Fermanagh, Ireland. — Of some very large Teeth lately dug up in the North of Ireland. Ib.
MICHAEL NOLAN, A.M., Barrister-at-Law, after taking his degrees here, was entered of Lincoln's Inn. He published —
Reports of Cases relating to the Duty and Offices of Justices of the Peace, from Michaelmas, 1791, to Trinity Term, 1792. Lond. 1793. — Reports of adjudged Cases in the Court of Chancery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, from Trinity Term, in the 2nd year of George the First, to Trinity Term in the 21st year of George the Second; taken from the Notes of Sir John Strange. Third edition, with notes, and additional references to contemporary Reporters and later Cases. Lond. 1795. — A Treatise on the Poor Laws of England, 1805, 2 vols. ; 2nd edition, 1808, 2 vols.
CHARLES WM. QUIN, M.D., was educated here, and afterwards became Physician-General to his Ma- jesty's forces in Ireland, and of the Invalid's Hospital, near Dublin. He published —
A Treatise on the Dropsy of the Brain, which is illustrated by a variety of Cases : to which is added, Observations on the Use
REV. J. RICHARDSON, D.D., ETC. 475
and Effects of the Digitalis Purpurea, in cases of Dropsy. Lond. 1790.
The Rev. JOHN RICHARDSON, D.D., Archbishop of Ardmagh, was a graduate here, and obtained a Fel- lowship in 1,593. He was allowed to be a prelate of great piety, learning, and benevolence. He also very much enc6uraged the cultivation of these qualities in those under his direction. He published —
An admirable work on the Doctrine of Justification by Faith. Dub. 1625. — Choice Observations, and Explanation upon the Old Testament. Lond. 1655.
The Rev. JOHN RICHARDSON, B.D., of this Col- lege, published —
Sermons upon the principal Points in Religion ; which he trans- lated into the Irish language for the use of the Natives. 1711. — Proposals for the Conversion of the Popish Natives of Ireland to the Established Religion. Dub. 1711. — History of the Attempts that have been made to convert the Popish Natives of Ireland to the Established Religion. 1712.
The Rev. WM. RICHARDSON, D.D., graduated here ; obtained a foundation Scholarship in 1761, and a Fellowship in 1766. He was a great naturalist. He published —
A Letter to the Right Hon. Isaac Corry, on the Properties of Fiorin Grass. 1809. — Essay on the Cultivation and Utility of Fiorin Grass. — Letter to the Marquess of Headfort on the Cul- ture and Uses of Fiorin Grass. 1810. — A New Essay on Fiorin Grass. 1813. — Observations on the Basaltic Coast of Ireland. Nicholson's Journal, xiii. 1801. — Account of the Whynn Dykes in the neighbourhood of the Giant's Causway, Bally castle, and Bel- fast. Trans. R. I. Acad. 1802. — On Button's Theory of the Earth ; with the Arrangement of the Strata, and other Pheno- mena, on the Basaltic Coast of Antrim. Ib. 1803. — On the Vol- canic Theory. Ib. 1804. — Memoir of useful Grasses. 1809. — A Description of the Strata, as arranged for 60 miles on the south, and as many on the north of Gosford Castle, Ardmagh, Ireland. — On the Speculations of Theorists, especially the Neptunians. Phil. Mag. 161. — On the Similitude and Difference in the original Formation of the Island of St. Helena, and the Doctrines regard- ing the Basaltic Formations in the County of Antrim. Ib. 246. — Essay on Agriculture as a Science, subdivided into separate de- partments. Ib. 262, &c.
THOMAS NUGENT, LL.D., graduated with distinc- tion here, and afterwards resided chiefly in London ; where he appears to have been incessantly engaged in
476 T. NUGENT, LL.D. AVILLTAM RIDGWAY, ESQ.
writing original works, or in making translations from the superior classes of continental publications. He published the following : —
Translation of Burlamaquis' Principles of Political Law. Lond. 1752. — An Essay on the Origin of Human Knowledge, (Supple- ment to Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding,) from the French of Condillac. Lond. 1756. — Chronological Abridgment of the Roman History, from the foundation of the City to the Ex- tinction of the Republic, from the French of Macquer ; with Notes Critical arid Geographical, illustrating the Antiquities of Rome. Lond. 1759. — A Chronological Abridgment of the History of France, the Public Transactions of that Kingdom, from Clovis to Louis XIV., their Wars, Battles, Sieges, &c., Laws, Manners, and Customs; from the French of Henault. Lond. 1762 — Emilius ; or, an Essay on Education, from the French of Rousseau. Lond. 1763, 2 vols. 8vo. — History of Vandalia, containing the Ancient and Present State of Mecklinbourg, its Changes under the Van- dals, Venedi and Saxons, with the succession of its Sovereigns, their Actions, &c. Lond. 1766 — 73, 3 vols. — Pocket Dictionary of the French and English Languages, containing all Words of General Use, adopted by the best writers and the most approved Dictionaries. Lond. 1767. — Travels through Germany, containing Observationson the Manners, GDvernment, Religion, Customs, Com- merce, Arts, and Antiquities ; with a particular Account of the Courts of Mecklenburgh, with Plates of the Palaces, Gardens, &c., of the Dukes of Mecklenburgh. Lond. 1768.— The History of France, from the Foundation of its Monarchy to the Reign of Louis XIV., from Velly. Lond. 1769. — The Present State of Europe, a View of the Natural and Civil History of the Several States, their Con- stitution, Forms of Government, Customs, Religions, Arts, Sciences, Commerce, &c., from Totze's German. — New Observations on Italy and its Inhabitants, from the French of two Swedish Travel- lers. Lond. 1769. — Life of Benvenuto Cellini, the Florentine, with a variety of interesting particulars connected with the Fine Arts, and the History of his own time, from the original Tuscan. Lond.
1771, 2 vols. — A Tour to London ; or, New Observations on Eng- land and its Inhabitants, from the French of Mr. Grossley. Lond.
1772, 2 vols. 8vo.
WILLIAM RIDGWAY, Esq., Barrister at Law, gra- duated here. He devoted much of his time to collect- ing and publishing —
Reports in the Courts of Law and Equity in England and Ire- land.— Reports of Cases argued and determined in the King's Bench and Chancery, during the time Lord Hardwick presided in those Courts, from a MS. never before printed, with Notes. Lond. 1794. — Reports of Cases upon Appeals, and Writs of Error, be- fore the High Court of Parliament, in Ireland since the Restora- tion of the Appellant Jurisdiction, 1795, 3 vols. — Irish Term Re-
JOHN HAWKEY. WILLIAM BALL, ETC. 477
ports of Cases in the King's Bench Court, Ireland, 34 Geo. III. to Hilary Term, 35 Geo. III. (assisted by W. Lapp, and J. Schoales). Dub. 17f)6. — Report of Proceedings in Cases of High Treason, at a Court of Oyer and Terminer held at the New Ses- sions House under a Special Commission.
JOHN HAWKEY, A.M., graduated here, and gained a foundation scholarship in 17*23. His knowledge and taste in literature were considerable. He superin- tended that edition of the Classics which bears his name. Dub. 1735.
WILLIAM BALL, A.M., Barrister at Law, obtained
a foundation scholarship here in 1767. He compiled
and edited that laborious work, the Index to the Irish Statutes. Dub. 1794, 5, 6, &c.
The Right Hon. ARTHUR WOLFE, (Lord Kil- warden,) afterwards Attorney-General, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland, gained a scholarship here in 1759- He afterwards became Vice-Chancellor of this University.
W. FRIDDEL, A.M., B.M., was elected to a scholar- ship in 17^6. He was intimately acquainted with the science of music, and published a very able Essay on that Art in 1737. Lond. 1?38.
The Rev. WALTER SHIRLEY, A.B., got the rectory of Lourghrea, county of Galway. He was esteemed an excellent preacher, and was called upon to exert his talents on some particular occasions. Twelve of these sermons were revised and published by him. Dub. 17()1 ; Lond. 1763.
CHARLES SMITH, A.B., M.D., was born in the south of Ireland. He devoted the best part of his time to historical and topographical researches. He published —
The Ancient and Present State of the County of Down, 1774. — The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Waterford (a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical and Topographical de- scription). Dub. 1746; second edition, 1772. — Ancient and Pre- sent State of the County and City of Cork. Dub. 1750, 2 vols.
478 SIR GEORGE LEONARD STAUNTON, ETC.
8vo. — The Ancient and Present State of the County of Kerry, with Remarks on the Baronies, Parishes, Towns, Rivers, Moun- tains, &c. Dub. 1756.
Sir GEORGE LEONARD STAUNTON, Bart., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., was a native of Ireland, and graduated in medicine here, but took his Doctor's degree in France. He became secretary to Lord Macartney, on his Chinese Embassy. He published —
An Account of that Voyage and all its Details, with Observations made and Information obtained in travelling through the Chinese Empire, and past Chinese Tartary ; and a Relation of the Voyage to the Yellow Sea and Gulph of Pekin, with notices of several places they stopped at in their way home — Madeira, Tene- riffe, Rio Janeiro, St. Helena, Sumatra, Cochin China, &c. Lond. 1797, 2 vols. 4to, and 1 vol. folio of Plates ; also in 3 vols. 8vo.
WILLIAM STAWELL, A.M., Rector of Kilmaloda, county of Cork, wrote and published —
A very clever Translation of the Georgics of Publius Virgilius Maro, with the original Text, and Notes critical and illustrative of Ancient and Modern Husbandry. Lond. 1808, 8vo.
The Rev. JONATHAN SMEDLEY, D.D., graduated here, and finally became Dean of Killala. He was a zealous and learned divine. His published works are : —
An Accession Sermon, on Gen. xii. 1-3. 1714. — On the Original Freedom of Mankind. — A Sermon on the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Deut. xxx. 15. 1715.— On Samuel xv. 25. 1716.- On the Prince of Wales's Birthday, 1 Peter ii. 17. 1716.— A volume of Sermons. 1719. — A Specimen of an Universal View of the Eminent Writers on the Holy Scriptures, &c. 1728.
The Rev. GEORGE STORY, A.M. and D.D., who had graduated here, but who fled to England, with numerous other fugitives, from the cruel persecutions of the faithless King James II. and his infamous minion, Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, returned to Ireland as chaplain to a regiment of infantry soon after King William's accession to the British throne. In the fulfilment of his duty he was unavoidably a spectator of many of the remarkable actions in the sanguinary struggle between the forces of these two contending kings. Dr. Story was at length promoted
REV. JOSIAH STORY, D.D. — R. TIGHE, ETC. 479
to the Deanery of Limerick. He died in 1710. He published —
A True and Impartial History of the most material Oc- currences in the Wars of Ireland during the years 1790 and 1791, with a Continuation, from the Landing of Duke Schomberg to the final Close of that War in 1692. Lond. 1693, 4to.
The Rev. JOSIAH STORY, D.D., a descendant of the preceding, was eventually made Bishop of Kil- more, in Ireland. He published a very learned work, entitled —
An Essay on or concerning the Nature of the Priesthood. Lond. 1750, 8vo. — An Introduction to English Grammar. Lond. 1778, I2mo.
RICHARD TIGHE, Esq., A.B., published a very pious and learned work, entitled —
Testimonies from the Sacred Scriptures, relating to the Glory and Extent of the Kingdom of God. Dub. 1812, 8vo. — An Account of the Life and Writings of the Late Rev. William Law (Bishop of Elphin. and brother to Lord Chief Justice Ellen- borough). Dub. 1813.
ROBERT STEARN TIGHE, Esq., A.B., wrote a very clever work, entitled —
Observations and Reflections on the State of Ireland. Dub. 1804, 8vo.
The Rev. HENRY USSHER, D.D., &c., &c., and of the same family as Archbishop Ussher, obtained a Scholarship here in 17<59> and was elected a Junior Fellow in 1764 ; he was co-opted Senior Fellow in 1781, and soon after was elected to the office of Andrews's Professor of Astronomy, being the first who held that situation. Dr. Ussher published : —
An Account of the Observatory belonging to Trinity College, Dublin. — Observations of the Lunar Eclipse, March 18th, 1783. — Account of a New Method of illuminating the Wires and re- gulating the Position of the Transit Instrument. — Account of some Observations made with a View to ascertain whether Mag- nifying Power or Aperture contributes most to the Discovery of Small Stars in the Day-time. — An Eclipse of the Sun, June 3, 1788. — Of an Aurora Borealis seen in full Sunshine. — Observa- tions on the Disappearance and Reappearance of Saturn's Ring, in the year 1 789 ; with some Remarks on his Diurnal Rotation. — Account of Two Parhelias observed February 25th, 1790. — These Papers are all to be found in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, from Vol. i. 1785, to Vol. iii. 1790.
480 REV. J. USSHER. REV. G. WALKER, D.D.
The Rev. JAMES USSHER, A.M., who like the pre- ceding, was one of the Archbishop's family, was born in 1720, and educated here. He published—
A New System of Philosophy, founded on the Universal Opera- tions of Nature. Lond. 1764, 8vo. In this, some of Locke's views are censured. — Clio, an elegant work on taste, addressed to a Young Lady ; to this ingenious Essay was afterwards added an Introduction to the Theory of the Human Mind. Dub. 1770.
The Rev. GEORGE WALKER, D.D., was born in co. Tyrone, Ireland ; after having graduated here with a very good reputation in all respects, was ap- pointed to a rectory in the city of Londonderry, where his attention to the duties of his sacred calling, and his unequivocal loyalty to the British constitution, made him so popular, that when the army of King James II. laid siege to that city in 1789, and the Governor, Colonel Lundy, was inclined to capitulate, the townspeople deposed Lundy, and prevailed on Dr. Walker to take the command of the garrison ; which he did, and by his courage, example, and skill, repelled every attempt, whether open or insidious, made upon it by the enemy ; and finally, after enduring with them the severest hardships that famine and disease could inflict upon his brave companions in arms for some months, forced the enemy to raise the siege and re- tire, with a considerable loss of men and materials. Dr. Walker published, — A History of the Siege of Londonderry ; with an Account of the Troubles in the North of Ireland, with Plates. Edinb. 1689- 1707, fol. — A Vindication of this History. Lorid. 1789, fol. Dr. Walker was not, however, Bishop of Londonderry, as Dr. Watts says, for when King William III. led his army from the northward to the river Boyne, Dr. Walker accompanied him, and in the battle that ensued at the passage of the river, Dr. Walker exposed himself in the same way as the military men, and was killed about the same moment and near the Duke of Schomberg. The bishopric of Londonderry became vacant soon after this, and Dr. William King got the appointment.
THOMAS WALLACE, Esq., A.B., and a distinguished
LORD PONSONBY. THE EARL OF OSSORY. 481
member of the Royal Irish Academy, and Barrister at Law, published —
A Work on the Manufactures of Ireland, in which is In- vestigated the Question as to what Manufactures her Natural Ad- vantages are best suited, and what are the best means of improving such Manufactures. Lond. 1798.— An Essay on the Variations of English Prose, from the Revolution (1088) to the present time. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, 1796, Vol. vi.
The Right Hon. GEORGE PONSONBY, afterwards Lord Ponsonby, and son of the Right Hon. John Pon- sonby, who had been Speaker of the House of Commons in Ireland, was a fellow commoner here, in which class he distinguished himself by his classical attainments. He became a member of the Irish Bar, and soon after a member of the Irish House of Commons, where his senatorial qualities were greatly admired. He was in general a leader on the popular side, and a determined and most able advocate against the Union. His actions are very much connected with the History of Ireland ; his public character added greatly to the character of his country, and he took a very patriotic and distinguished part, down to the very day that the annexation of Ireland was consummated. He was ap- pointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland by the Duke of Bedford, but resigned that office on the succession of the Duke of Richmond.
Many of Lord Ponsonby 's Speeches upon public affairs have been collected, revised, and published: they are admirable specimens of the fine style of oratory that then prevailed in Ireland.
THOMAS BUTLER, Earl of Ossory, was born in the Castle of Kilkenny, July, 1 634, and graduated here, previous to his going into the military profession, where he so greatly distinguished himself, both by sea and land. He was also an able speaker in the Parliament ; one speech of his in particular, that ad- dresed to the Earl of Shaftesbury, in vindication of his father, (the Duke of Ormond,) whom the former peer had unjustly aspersed, was the theme of general admiration ; and it is said to have confounded that intrepid orator, who was looked upon as the master-spirit of the British ministry and of the House
i I
482 JOHN PURCELL. SIR L. PARSONS.
of Lords at that time. Lord Ossory's father said, when he was told of his son's death, "I would not ex- change my dead son for any living son in Christ- endom."
JOHN PURCELL, M.D., a graduate, and afterwards Professor of Anatomy here, published many practical works, the result of his professional experience, some of which, though highly interesting as medical works, are not necessary to mention ; but his Treatise on the Vapours, as they were then called, and on Fits of Hysteria, are among the most useful of that class of works ; it was published in Lond. 17^1» and re- published in Dub. 1703. — Treatise on the Colic ; containing analytic proofs of its many causes, &c., with methods of curing it at large. Lond. 1702-14 -15. German translation at Naerden. 1772-
The Right Hon. Sir LAWRENCE PARSONS, after- wards Earl of Rosse, took a very good degree in this University, and afterwards distinguished himself in the Irish Parliament as an able debater *. Some of his speeches have been published, likewise his " Defence of Ireland," in which he ably points out the gross absurdities narrated, she whig the extraordinary ignor- ance of some English writers on Irish affairs. Dub. 1796. He also published, Observations on the Present State of the Currency of the Bank of England. Lond. 1811, 8vo; and the lapse of time has proved the accuracy of these speculations.
a His lordship displays a great knowledge of men and politics on both sides of the Irish Channel, by looking with the calmest indiffer- ence and contempt upon the actors in Ireland, and prompters in Eng- land, of Repeal agitation in that country. He has been deeply and actively engaged in promoting objects of true science, for the real benefit of mankind, as we find by an account published in the last number of the North British Review, of the immense Newtonian reflector, the largest ever constructed ; the speculum is six feet in diameter, and has an area of 518 feet, being also an exquisite specimen of the op- tician's art. This is another remarkable instance of the great desire that always exists in Ireland, amongst the people generally, to culti- vate the arts and sciences that promote civilization ; but in which they are constantly interrupted by the grievous divisions excited and kept alive amongst them by the crooked and pettifogging policy of one party or other in England.
F. SANDFORD. 11T. HON. W. C. PLUNKET, M.P. 483
FIIANCIS SANDFORD, A.B., a native of county Wicklow, 1630, afterwards became an heraldic writer, in which profession he distinguished himself by the number and value of his writings. He pub- lished—
A Genealogical History of the Kings of Portugal. Lond. 1664. — The Ceremonies, &c., at the Funeral of George Duke of Albe- marlf. Savoy, 1670, (with engravings).- Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of England; from the Norman Conquest, (106(>,) to Charles II.; with the descents of many noble families now existing, descended directly or collaterally from them. — Co- ronation of King James II. and Queen Mary. Plates, Lond. 1687. fol. These works have been republished since his time, in 1713.
The Right Hon. W. CONYNGHAM PLUNKET, M.P., Attorney-General, 1803, Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1831, created Lord Plunket at the same time. This distinguished member of the Irish bar was born in En- niskillen, and curiously enough, in the next adjoining house to that in which his gifted friend Dr. Wm. Magee came into the world some months afterwards. The friendship of these two highly talented men may, therefore, be said to have commenced in the cradle, and as certainly did only terminate in the tomb, when the Archbishop was called from this life in 1831. In politics they were directly opposed to each other a, but both were consistent, neither could be charged with veering or changing their colours in a political sense at any time: the merit of consistency, therefore, was theirs in the highest degree ; and although a mass of mean political intrigue not surpassed, perhaps un- paralleled, in the history of modern Europe, was unceas- ingly at work in Ireland, all through the administra- tions of Mr. Pitt and the late Lord Castlereagh, and which first fomented the Rebellion of 1798, as a cause by which the legislative union of the two countries was effected in A.D. 1800, and although threats and bribery were extensively employed to carry that measure, yet we do not find that either Dr. Magee or Mr. Plunket ever shifted the political ground upon which
a Dr. Magee was a zealous supporter of the Reformed Church, as opposed to Romanism, and the measure called " emancipation." Lord Plunket was on the other hand, (although a member of the Protestant Church,) always a supporter of that measure.
I I 2
484 SIR JONAH BARRINGTON.
they originally commenced public life ; therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the high situations to which they were eventually promoted, must have been bestowed on them for their cultivated talents, and not, as upon many others, for talentless tergiversation.
Mr. Plunket entered the University with the Pen- sioner class, in 1780, and two years afterwards ob- tained a foundation Scholarship. He soon became a student of the King's Inns and Middle Temple. His progress at the bar was not very rapid at first, until he was returned to parliament for the borough of Charlemont. He strenuously opposed the Legislative Union. Mr. Plunket afterwards became Attorney- General of Ireland, and in 1812, was elected member for the University ; likewise in 1818, 1820, and 18^6. On the Reform Bill being passed, Mr. Attorney- General Plunket was made Lord Chancellor of Ire- land, which office he held until 1841, when he was superseded by Lord Campbell ; he being at the time full of vigour, and capable of presiding in the Court of Chancery for some years, if it were required.
Several of Lord Plunket's speeches have been pub- lished ; they are powerful in argument, and elegant in style and composition.
Sir JONAH BARRINGTON, LL.D., was the youngest son of Colonel Barrington, of Cullenagh, co. Kilkenny. He distinguished himself here in his under-graduate course. He was afterwards called to the Irish Bar, and became a member of the Irish House of Com- mons, where he displayed the best qualities of an able parliamentary advocate. Soon after the Legislative Union this gentleman was appointed to the Judgeship of the Court of Admiralty, in Dublin.
Judge Barrington's principal work is a History of the Union, or " Historical Anecdotes and Secret Me- moirs of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland." Of this interesting work only five num- bers or parts (quarto) appeared; the first in 1709, and the fifth six years later. Although incomplete, it dis- closes many of the causes which have kept Ireland so far
SIR JONAH HARRINGTON. 48,5
behind the other great divisions of Great Britain, in wealth, commerce, and consequently in general im- provement. He shews clearly that the people of that country cannot be blamed for this unhappy state of things, but those English ministers who governed them. The latter have always, since the days of Henry II., had the absolute power in their hands, and they have far too often used that weapon in a cruel and tyrannical manner, even long before the religious reformation, when both the oppressor and oppressed, were equally under the yoke of Romanism a. Oppression led to insurrec-
a The higher order of the clergy appear in general to have been superiorly rapacious. Two instances only are taken at random out of a great number :
The first is that of Henry de Londres, (Henry the Londoner,) Archbishop of Dublin, who, soon after he got this appointment, wished to raise the rents of his bishops' lands. To effect this, he contrived a monstrous fraud. He directed, on some pretence, the tenants to bring into his office, on a day named, the leases of their holdings. This was done, and the moment he got them into his hands, he suddenly threw them into a large fire prepared for the oc- casion. When these parchments were all burned, a tumult was the consequence, and several of the retainers of this mitred swindler were slain or wounded in covering his retreat into a strong position in his palace, where he defied the fury and derided the curses of his unhappy defrauded tenants ; but from that time this Pope's Legate was called " Scorche Villeyn," or Scorche Bille, (A.D. 1220.)
Another bishop, a worthy successor of "Scorche Villeyn," was John Alan, who had been a friar of some London monastery, and was made Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and afterwards Archbishop of the see. This man appears to have been a great vil- lain ; he, for sordid purposes, secretly fomented disturbances between the Irish and English, who were living peaceably together. Having succeeded in some of these objects, he grew bolder, and greatly de- sired to gain a large slice of the Earl of Kildare's estate by subjecting that family (the Fitzgeralds) to an attainder. To carry this base project into effect, he pretended that he had news from England, stating that the Earl of Kildare, then at London, had been seized and put to death by order of King Henry VIII. This report was be- lieved, and the Earl's eldest son, Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, who was Lord Deputy during his father's absence, flew out into open rebel- lion, and laid siege to the city and castle of Dublin, which he pressed so closely, that Alan, afraid of falling into the besiegers' hands, em- barked in a ship in the river, to escape into England. They put to sea, but were driven back to the north side of Dublin Bay, where Alan landed, and took refuge in a sanctuarv at Ardtain ; here he was discovered by the Fitzgeralds, and put to death. For this act, which the victim provoked by his own baseness, Lord T. Fitzgerald and five of his uncles were afterwards tried, found guilty of murder,
486 SIR JONAH HARRINGTON.
tion, and then followed, of course, confiscation ; the object, no doubt, intended to be gained ; and thus needy and unprincipled adventurers became persons of property, whilst the ancient proprietors were reduced to pauperism. A rancorous feeling- was the natural consequence of such flagrant and continued acts of in- justice ; reprisals were of course attempted, but these only led to new aggressions, and this system of bar- barizing a people, instead of trying to civilize them, became at last habitual ; and as the aggressors had the law, generally a military one, in their own hands, complaints were worse than useless. Thus it was that, when enquiries were made in England about Irish affairs, the maltreated people were represented as incorrigible barbarians, in every acceptation of that term ; and not only the body of the people in England were deceived as to the real circumstances of the case, but the sovereigns themselves were imposed upon by the grossest delusions, contrived by their own ministers for the purpose of calumniating their Irish subjects ; and these practices have been continued down to a very late period. Indeed, so much has this been the case, that even in the enlightened age in which we live, those absurd calumnies against the Irish character, its talents and moral perceptions, have not yet, it would seem, entirely lost their hold on the imaginations of the sovereigns and people of England. This is a rapid sketch, but a faithful outline, of the broad features that have marked the character of the English government in Ireland, with few exceptions, from the invasion of that country by Earl Strongbow, (1171,) down to the visit of King George IV. in 1821 ; when that sovereign, whose intimate knowledge of mankind, and of the intrigues of courtiers, on his arrival there, soon discovered that very gross decep- tions had been practised upon him, and also upon his
and executed, and their estates confiscated, and descendants attainted. This attainder was not removed for more than 20 years, when they were restored in blood, and to the greater part of their estates. By such practices whole counties have been escheated in Ireland. Alan was the last Romish Archbishop of Dublin. Bishop Brown succeeded him, aud was the first Protestant who held the see.
SIR JONAH BARRINGTON. 487
royal predecessors ; and on his return, this monarch re- buked the ringleader a in these latter political frauds so decidedly, that it sub verted his judgment, and the un- happy catastrophe that followed, was it is said the con- sequence.
That able writer also goes into the details of those dark measures that were planned by Mr. Pitt's cabinet, and carried into effect by the Marquis Cam den, Marquis Cornwallis, and Lord Castlereagh ; in the first place, to foment the discontents of the country into a state of open rebellion, and then, through the exhaustion of both parties, to seize the opportunity of carrying into effect the long desired object of a Legislative Union ; to effect which, it ap- pears that every mode of political corruption was re- sorted to, and almost exhausted ; and the loyalists who had fought and conquered in that sanguinary struggle to support the constitution and integrity of the British empire b, were treated with more indif- ference and contempt, than those were who had been at open war with the government °.
a The late Marquis of Londonderry.
b That rebellion was put down almost solely by the Irish militia and yeomanry corps of Ireland. When its fury had subsided, a force of from sixty to seventy thousand English militia and regulars were sent into Ireland, where they remained until the Legislative Union was completed.
c The Romanists, as a body, made no opposition to, and their Clergy addressed Lord Cornwallis in favour of, " the Union." Mr. Pitt promised to give them all the privileges of the British con- stitution if they remained quiet on that question. They did remain passive, and then Mr. Pitt tricked them by going out of office, under the pretext that he found he had not the power to redeem his promise ! It is, therefore, monstrously absurd for that class of our fellow subjects to disturb the peace of the realm after having, through other hands, obtained the payment of their contract. They sold their own parliament for certain political rights and franchises, which they received in return, and now enjoy. Common sense and common honesty, if such solid and useful ingredients ever belong to political agitation, would have suggested the absurdity of expecting to get back the article sold and to keep the wages of the salesmaster. The attempt itself is ridiculously futile ; and the actors both before and be- hind the curtain, laugh at the dulness of those who are duped by such farcical proceedings, as the " Comedy of Errors," lately enacted in the House of Lords, shew the thing to be, — and in which Lord Wharncliffe acted as prompter, — Lords Denman, Cottenham, and
488 SIR R. MUSGRAVE. R. L. EDGEWORTH.
Sir Jonah Barrington being a public man, and in the very focus of all the intelligence of public life, and conversant with all the writers on Ireland, had the most ample means of acquiring a correct know- ledge of the facts which he states candidly, so far as his work was carried. It is to be regretted that it was not half produced from the press, when ministerial in- fluence, somehow or other, got it suppressed, or abandoned ; and thus are some strong facts, though known, left unpublished, which, had they been before the world, would probably have prevented some more recent political juggling ; or at least would have cast a broad light upon the manner in which "Emanci- pation " was connived at, and upon the secret springs of the mock repeal agitation of the present time.
Sir RICHARD MUGSRAVE, A.B., was a fellow com- moner in this University, and possessed an estate in the co. of Waterford, adjoining that of Wexford. The latter became the focus of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 ; previous to which period, this gentleman had given much attention to the political relationship be- tween England and Ireland. He published —
A Letter on the Present State of Public Affairs. Lond. 1794. • — Considerations on the present state of England and France. 1796, 8vo. — Memoirs of the various Rebellions in Ireland from the arrival of the English there ; with a particular detail of that which broke out in 1798, and the History of the Conspiracy that preceded that explosion, with the characters of the principal actors therein ; to this is added, a Complete History of the Reformation in Ireland, and Considerations on the means of extending its ad- vantages in that country, 2nd edition. Dub. 1801, 4to. — 1802, 2 vols. 8vo. — Short View of the Political State of the Northern Powers. 1801, 8vo. — Observations on the Reply of Dr. Caulfield. 1802, 8vo. — Observations on the Speech of Dr. Drumgoole, at the Romish Board of Emancipation Delegates, December, 1813. 1814, 8vo. In this speech, the Doctor disclosed some of the real objects of that Board, and thereby caused much consternation among the abettors of that measure, as well, as amongst its opponents.
RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH, Esq., A.B., of
Campbell, being amongst the chief Dramatis Personce, and who by special desire, (for that night only?) " trode a measure" (saltuatim) right through the laws of Great Britain and Ireland, and over the heads of fourteen of the most honest and intelligent judges who ever sat on the Benches of Law or Equity.
SIR M. EUSTACE, REV. G. FITZGERALD, D.D. 489
Edgeworthstown, co. Longford, Ireland, graduated here as a fellow commoner, and obtained some college distinction. He devoted much attention and means to the development of principles in natural philosophy. He published : —
On the Defence of Ireland, and the Use of the Telegraph. Lond. 1796, 8vo. — Practical Education.— Poetry explained, for the Use of Young People. 1802, 8vo. — Essay on Irish Bulls. Lond. 1802.— Essays on Professional Education. Lond. 1809.— An Essay on the Construction of Roads and Carriages. Lond. 1810-12. — Experiments on the Resistance of Air. Philosophical Transactions, 1783. — On the Meteor of August 18, 1783. Ib. 1784. — On Discoveries in the Turf Bogs of Ireland. Archaeol. 1785. — Account of his Experiments on Wheel Carriages. Transac- tions of the Royal Irish Academy, ii. 1778.— An Essay on the Art of conveying Secret and Swift Intelligence. Ib. 1797. — Description of an Odometer for a Carriage ; with Remarks on the Patent Boring Machine of Mr. Ryan. Nic. Journ. xv. 81, 1806. - — On the Construction of Theatres. Ib. 1809. — On Telegraphic Communications. Ib. xxvi. 1810. — A Method of Rooting a BuildingsecurelywithFlagstor.es. Ib xxix. 1811. — Description of a Spire on a new Construction. Ib. xxx. 1811. Observa- tions upon Wheel Carriage Experiments. Phil. Mag. 1815. — On Aerostation. Ib. 1816.
Sir MAURICE EUSTACE, afterwards Attorney-General, and finally Lord Chancellor of Ireland, graduated here, and was elected to a Fellowship in 1619 ; he was also Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He published —
Letters containing Information on the proceedings of the Irish Parliament in 1642, 4to. — Letter from Sir Maurice Eustace, Knt., &c., being a perfect relation of the last true News from Ireland. Lond. 1642, 4to.
The Rev. GERALD FITZGERALD, D.D., born in the north of Ireland, was entered here in the pensioners' rank. He first obtained a scholarship on the founda- tion in 1761, and was elected junior fellow in 1765, and was co-opted senior fellow in 1781, and afterwards became Vice- Provost. He wrote, —
An Essay on the Originality and Permanence of the Biblical Hebrew. Dub. 1796.— The Academic Sportsman, or, a Winter's Day, a Poem. Dub. — And other Poems. Dub. 1797, 8vo.— A Hebrew Grammar, for the Use of the Students in Dublin Uni- versity. 1798.
490 REV. A. II. KENNEY, D.D. DR. T. ELRINGTON.
The Rev. ROBERT WALSHE, A.M., graduated here, and obtained a scholarship in 1794s and took priest's orders. His stock of erudition was very extensive. When Lord Strangford went out Ambassador to the Ottoman Government, he took Mr. Walshe with him as chaplain. His published works are : —
A History of Dublin, 2 vols. Uo (finished after Dr. Whitelaw's decease). — A Journey from Constantinople, &c. — Notices of the Brazilian Empire, &c., 2 vols. 8vo. — An Essay on Christian Coins and Gems, &c.
The Rev. ARTHUR HENRY KENNEY, D.D., was a distinguished student here, and obtained a foundation scholarship in 1793, and seven years after he was elected to a Junior Fellowship; in 1810, vacated fel- lowship on the college living of Kilmacrenan, and in 1812 was made Dean of Achonry, and in 1817 was presented to the Rectory of St. Olave's, Southwark. Dr. Kenney's principal published works, (besides ser- mons,) are —
The Dangerous Nature of Popish Power in these Countries ; as illustrated from the awful records in the time of King James II. Lond. 1839. —The Works of the Most Reverend William Magee, D.D., Lord Archbishop of Dublin. Collected and printed from the Author's corrected copies, on the Scriptural Doctrine of the Atonement and Sacrifice. — His published Sermons and Visitation Charges ; with a Memoir of his Life. 2 vols. royal 8vo. (This is the 4th large edition of the " Atonement and Sacrifice.")
Dr. THOMAS ELRINGTON, whose college advance- ment we have already described up to the provost- ship, and successively to the sees of Limerick and Loughlin with Ferns, published —
A volume of Sermons in 1796, and another volume in 1801-. — An Answer to the wicked Libel, denominated " Ward's Con- troversy of Ordination." — The Clergy of the Church of England truly Ordained. 1809, 8vo. — Reflections upon the Appointment of Dr. Milner, as the Political Agent of the Roman Catholics of Ireland. 1809, 8vo.
The Rev. CHARLES RICHARD ELRINGTON, D.D., son of the preceding, was elected to a Junior Fellowship in 1810, and in 1829 vacated his fellowship to accept the professorship of Divinity, with which no other col- lege duty is compatible. The principal work published by Dr. C. R. Elrington is an edition of the whole of
REV. J. KEARNEY. REV. C. R. MATURIN, ETC. 491
James Ussher's works, (D.D., Archbishop of Ard- magh, and Primate of all Ireland). This is the only complete edition of that great man's writings ; it also contains the memoir of his life. It is well edited, and is a correct and elegant edition.
The Rev. JOHN KEARNEY graduated, and obtained a scholarship in 1717; nc afterwards took the degree of D.D. He was a learned and exemplary divine, and excellent preacher. There are but few of his sermons in print, but one of them, which was pub- lished at Dublin, in 17^7, is an admirable specimen of his style, and indeed of true pulpit eloquence. It was preached for the benefit of the poor remainder, and descendants of the Protestants who had so nobly and successfully defended Inniskillen and Londonderry, in 1690.
The Rev. CHARLES ROBERT MATURIN was a pen- sioner here, and obtained a scholarship in 1798 ; he afterwards graduated B.D., and held a small church living. He devoted much of his time to literary pur- suits, and published —
The Milesian Chief, a novel, 4 vols. 1811.— The Wild Irish Boy, 3 vols. — Montorio; or, the Fatal Revenge, 3 vols. 1812. — Bertram ; or, the Castle of St. Aldobrand, a Tragedy. Lond. 1816. — Woman; or, Pour et Contre, a Novel. Edinb. 1820, 3 vols. 8vo.
JOSEPH GABBET, A.M., graduated here, and obtain- ed a scholarship in 1787 ; he was afterwards a student of the Middle Temple, and King's Inn in Dublin ; and was called to the bar in 1791. His chief lite- rary work is —
A Digested Abridgment and Comparative View of the Statute Law in England and Ireland down to the year 1811. Lond, 1812. 3 vols. 8vo.
The Rev. THEAKER WILDER obtained a scholar- ship here, and finally became a Senior Fellow, and D.D. He published —
Universal Arithmetic ; or, a Treatise on Arithmetical Compo- sition and Resolution. Written in Latin by Sir Isaac Newton, translated by the late Mr. Ralphson, revised and corrected by Mr. Cunn. To which is subjoined, a Treatise upon the Measures of
492 REV. B. LLOYD, D.D. — REV. H. LLOYD, D.D.
Ratios. By James Maguire, A.M. The whole illustrated and explained in a series of notes. Lond. 1770, 8vo.
The Rev. JAMES ORMSBY, A.M., obtained a founda- tion scholarship in 1787? and some years after was presented to the college living of Ardtrea. He went to the continent to recruit his health, and soon after his return, published a very interesting work, entitled " Travels in Portugal." Dub. 1798.
The Rev. BARTHOLOMEW LLOYD, D.D. This dis- tinguished scholar, and very estimable man, having already been mentioned among the provosts, it only remains for us to mention the works he published, viz —
A Compendium of Algebra, for the Use of Undergraduates in Trinity College, Dublin. — Discourses, chiefly Doctrinal, de- livered originally in Trinity College, Dublin, 1822. — An Elementary Treatise of Mechanical Philosophy. Written for the use of Under- graduate Students of the University of Dublin, in 1826. (Dr. Lloyd was then Professor of Natural Philosophy in that establishment).
The Rev. HUMPHREY LLOYD, D.D., is a son of Provost Lloyd, obtained a foundation scholarship in 1818, and a junior fellowship in 1824. In 1831, he was appointed to the professorship of Natural Philo- sophy, upon Erasmus Smith's foundation; and in 1843, was co-opted senior fellow ; previous to which he pub- lished—
Two Introductory Lectures on Physical and Mechanical Science. 1824. — Twelve Lectures on the Wave Theory of Light. 8vo. — A Treatise on Light and Vision. — Prelections on the Studies con- nected with the School of Engineering. 1840. «
The Rev. FRANC SADLEIR, D.D., who was ap- pointed provost by a King's letter, on the demise of Provost Lloyd, in 1837, and who still happily governs this University, published —
The various Degrees of Religious Information vouchsafed to Mankind, were those best suited to their Moral State at the pecu- liar period of each Dispensation. Dub. 1816. — The Formulas of the Church of England conformable to the Scripture. Dub. 1 822. — Sermons and Lectures on occasional Subjects, with six Lectures on the Scriptural Character of the Liturgy of the Church of Eng- land. These were delivered in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, when Dr. Sadleir was Donnelan Lecturer, in 1823. — The Socinian Controversy. 1827-32.
REV. R. CRAIG, D,D REV. C. W. WALL, D.D.
The Rev. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS MATTHIAS, A.M., gained a foundation scholarship here in 1794*. He took holy orders and became a very excellent popular preacher in Dublin.
He published several volumes of his Sermons. — An Exposition of the Doctrines of the Reformation.— A History of the Council of Trent, 2 vols. (a very clever work).
The Rev. ROBERT CRAIG, D.D., obtained a scholar- ship here in 1797» and afterwards established an ele- mentary classical academy near the southern shore of Dublin Bay, where he prepared numerous pupils to enter college creditably. He published several very able tracts against popery.
The Rev. CHARLES WILLIAM WALL, D.D., (Libra- rian, Senior Dean, and Registrar,) is a son of the late archdea-con of that name, in the county of Waterford. Wall, junior, got a high place at the scholarship ex- amination of his class ; elected to a Junior Fellowship in 180,5, and was co-opted Senior Fellow in 1825. When a junior fellow, Dr. Wall was a very popular tutor ; his chamber lectures were extremely well at- tended, and many of his pupils became eminent in Col- lege, or in the various learned professions, and always retained a lively and a true sense of the paternal soli- citude with which he watched over their interests, both temporal and eternal. The author can never forget the great kindness which Dr. Wall always showed to his lamented brother, the late J. Sydney Taylor, A.M., who on every proper occasion through life was eloquent in the just praise of his beloved and venerated preceptor; but such rational arid honourable feelings are the rule, not the exception, between the fellows and students of this University. Yet with all this devoted attention to the sacred duties of train- ing up and directing successive generations of youths in the paths of solid, elegant, and useful learning, combined with sound moral and religious principles, to go forth into the learned professions, and equally suited to benefit public or adorn private life ; not- withstanding these intense exertions of mental and
494 REV. J. WALKER. REV. R. STACK, D-D.
physical labour, Dr. Wall devoted the small remnant of hours which he might call his own, (for he was also Professor of the Oriental Languages,) to the in- vestigation of a subject worthy of his intellectual en- dowments, most useful for the elucidation of religious truths, and highly honourable, as a literary work, to the University of Ireland.
The title of this very learned work is, An Examination into the Ancient Orthography of the Jews, Part I. — On the Origin of Al- phabet Writing; and on Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Part II. — On the Propagation of Alphabets, and on Ideagraphic Writing, Part III. being a continuation of Part II. In three volumes imperial octavo. Lond. 1841-42.
The Rev. JOHN WALKER, A.M., obtained a found- ation scholarship in 1788, and was elected a junior fellow in 1791, which office he resigned in 1804. His published works are : —
T. Livii Patavini Historiarum, ab urbe condita, libri qui supersunt xxxv. Textum recognovit selectis variorum notis illustravit suos- que aliquot adjecit, &c., Tom. vii. 8vo. Dub. 1797 — 1813. — T. Livii Patavini Historiarum ab urbe condita libri quinque priores. E recensione J. W. &c. Coll. Dub. Socii, in usum Scholarium, 8vo, Dub. 1827. — Virgilius, Georgics with a literal translation, and English Notes. — A Familiar Commentary on the Compendium of Logic used by the Undergraduates of Dublin University. — Homeri Odyssea, cum vers. Lat. ex recensione, et cum notis S. Clarkii, et J. A. Ernestii ; edidit suosque notulas adspersit, &c. 8vo, Dub. 1830.
The llev. RICHARD STACK, D.D., was of the pensioner class here, and obtained a distinguished place at the scholarship examination in 17&9. In 1779, he was elected to a junior fellowship, and in 1791 vacated this office, by accepting the livings of Omagh and Killileagh, (which he afterwards ex- changed for Cappagh.)
This gentleman was a most exemplary tutor in col- lege, was much sought after and respected by every one who knew him, not only for the variety and ex- tent of his learning, but for the kindness of his heart and the excellence of his disposition. His college pupils were numerous, and amongst them were many young
REV. GEORGE CROLY, D.D. 4<95
men of high talents who afterwards distinguished themselves in puhlic life a. He published —
Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles, explanatory and practical, 2nd edition. Lond. 1805. — Introduction to the Study of Che- mistry. Lond. 1802. — Essay on the Sublimity of Writing. — .Ex- amination of an Essay on the Dramatic Character of Sir J. Fal- staff. Lond. 1806.
The Rev. JOHN STACK, A.M., a relative of the former gentleman, obtained a scholarship here in 1780, and a junior fellowship in 1784. He resigned on the living of Derryvollen in 1791- He pub- lished—
A Treatise of great merit entitled, An Essay to improve the Theory of Defective Sight. Dub. 1794. — And a System of Optics, chiefly designed for the use of the Undergraduates in the Univer- sity. It has gone through several editions, and is a text book here.
The Rev. GEORGE CROLY, D.D., (Rector of St. Stephen's Walbrook,) a native of Ireland, graduated here, and obtained a foundation scholarship in 1798, and took deacon's and priest's orders as soon as this might be done, and commenced the duties of a Chris- tian pastor early in life. This learned gentleman has held for some years, the living of Walbrook parish, in London. Dr. Croly has written a great deal on various subjects, chiefly ecclesiastical and historical. He published —
A Commentary on the Apocalypse, which displays much erudi- tion.— And also many Tracts against Popery, which evince much knowledge of that subject. — Also many excellent Sermons.
WILLIAM HARTY, M.D., a native of Dublin, was a graduate here, and was successful in obtaining a scholarship in 1799. Dr. Harty was an intelligent and active member of the medical profession, and was on the commission for investigating the causes of ty- phus fever, and for adopting remedial measures when it was extensive in Ireland. He published —
A Report on the Typhus Fever in Ireland. — Also a Volume of Medical Tracts, Cases, &c.
* Amongst these were the late Archbishop Magee, the present Ex-Lord Chancellor, Lord Plonket, Arthur H. Kenney, D.D., Dean of Achonry, &c.
REV. W. EAMES, A.M. R. NUNN, ETC.
The Rev. WILLIAM EAMES, A.M., was in the pen- sioner class here, and obtained a scholarship in 1799. He got a living when he had taken holy orders, and attended his pastoral duty with zeal and discretion. He published —
An Apology for the Church of England.— A variety of Sermons, and several Tracts on Religion.
RICHARD NUNN, Esq., A.B., a native of Dublin, graduated here, and gained a foundation scholarship in 1 803. After studying at the Temple and King's Inn, he was called to the bar, and after some years' prac- tice, he published a Digest of the Irish Statutes.
EDWARD BERWICK, A.B., obtained a scholarship here in 1807. He published a Treatise on Church Government. Dub. 1812.
WILLIAM BRYSON, A.M., born in the north of Ire- land, was elected to a scholarship in 1807- This promising young man possessed a decided genius for poetry, which he was induced to cultivate, from hav- ing gained the head premium for prize subjects pro- posed by the Provost and Board, or by the Vice-Chan- cellor. One of these displayed considerable merit ; the subject was " Admiral Duncan's Victory over the Dutch Fleet off the Coast of Holland." This piece was published with some other of his poems, all of which were greatly admired. An accident, however, (being much injured by the overturning of a gig,) put an end to his existence in a few months afterwards.
The Rev. HENRY H. HARTE, D.D., was born in the south of Ireland, and in his efforts for a scholar- ship was quite successful in 1809- He then read for and obtained a fellowship in 1819, but in 1831 he resigned upon the living of Cappagh. Dr. Harte is a very sound mathematician, as his works in that science testify. He published —
An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, 8vo. — Also a clever translation of La Place's System* du Monde. 2 vols. 8vo. — La Place's Mechanlque Celeste, (translation.) — Poisson's Treatise of
REV. W. PHELAN. REV. J. KENNEDY, D.D., ETC. 497
Mechanics, translated from the French, and elucidated with ex- planatory Notes, 2 vols. 8vo.
The Rev. WILLIAM PHELAN, A.M. In mentioning this distinguished fellow of the University, we inad- vertently omitted to mention the course of lectures he delivered in 1818, when Donnelan Lecturer. They have long since then been revised, and, with some other of his writings, published by the late Dr, John Jebb, Bishop of Limerick, viz. : —
Christianity provides suitable Corrections for those Tendencies to Polytheism and Idolatry, which seem to be intimately interwoven with human nature. Lond. 3832.
The Rev. JAMES KENNEDY, D.D., a native of Ire- land, was an exemplary student in his under-graduate course, and gained a scholarship in 1810. He was elected a Junior Fellow in 1817, and in 1830, va- cated his fellowship for the college living of Ardtrea. Dr. Kennedy was a zealous and judicious contributor to the stock of real learning. He published —
Select Speeches of Demosthenes, (translations,) with notes. — Ho- meri Ilias ex optimis editionibus fideliter expressa, accedunt II- lustrationes ad difficiliora, tarn in sensu, quam in re critica enucle- anda comparatae nee non index memorabilium. Dub. 2 vols. 8vo. 1 822, — JSschylus Agamemnon, from the corrected edition of Blomfield; with the German version of Voss, and an English translation in blank verse ; with copious Notes, critical and explan- atory, Indexes of authors, subjects, and words. Dub. royal 8vo, 1829. — Ten Lectures on the Philosophy of the Mosaic Record of Creation; delivered in the chapel of this university (when Don- nelan lecturer) in 1824, 2 vols. 8vo. 1827. — Preelections on the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece; delivered in the university of Dublin. 8vo, Dub.
The Rev. HENRY KING, A.M., a native of Dublin, graduated here, and gained a scholarship in 1710. He applied himself closely to literary pursuits, but did not live to carry his objects into effect. He only lived to publish some excellent sermons and religious tracts. Dub. 1824, 8vo.
The Rev. EDWARD HINCKS, D.D., distinguished himself in his under-graduate course, and obtained a high place at scholarship examination in 1810; three years afterwards he was elected to a Junior Fel-
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498 REV. T. R, ROBINSON, D.D. RKV. C. WOLFE.
lowship, an:l in 1819 resigned on a college living. He has published Classical and Antiquarian Researches, in conjunction with Dr. James Kennedy. It is a very valuable work, not only for the new features which this erudite class of writing has received from its learned authors, but also for the correct style and good taste with which these volumes have been edited.
The Rev. THOMAS ROMNEY ROBINSON, D.D., was the son of an eminent historical and portrait painter, who went from England to settle in Belfast, where this son was born, who early evinced a strong bias for mathematical researches, and being indulged in this pursuit, he entered this university early, and obtained a Scholarship in 1808, and a Fellowship in 1814; which he vacated in 1823, for the rectory of Ennis- killen : and he was also elected to the honourable dis- tinction of Professor of Astronomy, at Ardmagh. Dr. Robinson is considered to be one of the ablest astro- nomers of the present day. He has written and pub- lished a great many original papers in the Transactions of the learned societies.
GEORGE DOWNS, Esq., A.M., a native of Dublin, obtained a good place at scholarship examination in 1812. He published several works, viz. —
A Hebrew Grammar, 12mo. — Travels in the Northern States of Germany. 1820. — A Collection of Poems, &c.
The Rev. CHARLES WOLFE, A.M., was born in the county of Kildare. He had his elementary education at Winchester School, from which he entered this University in the pensioner class, and obtained a high place at scholarship examination in 1812. He adopted the clerical profession ; but though a person of most exemplary life and manners, besides being a man of talents quite above mediocrity, he did not obtain a higher station than that of curate in a remote northern district of Ireland, where the duties were very heavy, and the remuneration very inadequate for the labour ; but Charles Wolfe was not a sordid being, self was with him always the smallest part of his concern.
REV. CHARLES WOLFE. 499
Kind, manly, and generous in his disposition, he looked with indifference upon all pecuniary considerations, unless they were in perfect harmony with the pure principles of that holy religion in which he was a faithful pastor. He was too sincere a follower of " a meek and lowly Master" to value beyond its worth "the yellow dross" which great multitudes worship, and which all must leave behind them when called to their last account. His honest and humane mind would as soon have worshipped " Moloch" as " Mam- mon." He looked with a noble scorn upon —
" The gay licentious proud,"
whose chilly hearts he could not, with all his efforts, warm to the mildest temperature of Christian charity ; for icy cold to this greatest of human virtues, must that heart be, which the eloquent and soul exciting language, and the engaging manners of Charles Wolfe could not excite to benevolent feeling. The sincerity of his own intentions made him wonder sometimes at the indifference with which his appeals in favour of the sick and aged, the widow and the orphan, were listened to; "but such instances," he used to say, "are cer- tainly rare in Ireland." To make up in some degree the deficiencies in the sums required for relieving the destitute, Wolfe's proper income was called into active requisition, and his own comforts often abridged " to make the widowed heart to sing for joy." His habits of life were very plain, simple, and abstemious ; all which must have favoured longevity in a constitution not naturally weak, but which required more comfort, and less mental and physical exertion than he was ex- posed to, for its preservation. Neglected colds, (that very fruitful cause of mortality,) which he caught in the performance of his duties, laid the foundation for phthisis incipiens ; this finally became a confirmed consumption, which carried him off from his mourn- ing relatives, his numerous and sorrowing friends, be- fore he had reached his 30th year. And thus, he who scripturally fulfilled the duties of " Religion, pure and imdefiled before God and the Father," by " visiting
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500 REV. J. RUSSEL, D.D. RT. HON. C. K. BUSHE.
with kindness the widows and the fatherless in their affliction," and keeping himself " unspotted from the world," was called early before the throne of Eternal Majesty and Mercy to give an account of his steward- ship.
In a word, the Rev. Charles Wolfe, with whom the author and his late brother, J. Sydney Taylor, were long upon terms of the most disinterested friendship, possessed as many virtues, and as few failings, as can possibly be found in the constitution of a human being. The works (poetry) which go under his name, have been published since his death, for he did not make a collection of them, although he published several beau- tiful compositions anonymously in the periodicals. The Ode " On the Death of Sir John Moore, at Corunna," was claimed by many plagiarists, but the only perfect copy of it in existence was in the possession of his former college -class fellow, J. Sydney Taylor, who promptly came forward and produced to the public such clear evidence as to the real author, that the pretenders vanished, and the honour was restored to the memory of his dear departed friend and fellow student. C. Wolfe's sermons have also been published; and his biography has been written and published by another college friend of his, the Rev. and Venerable Archdeacon Russel, D.D., (of Clogher). This is a very interesting work, and affords ample information on the subject.
The Rev. JOHN RUSSEL, D.D., a native of Dublin, entered college in 1811, and in 1813, obtained a found- ation scholarship, and became a student in the Di- vinity School, then so much improved, and so ably con- ducted by the late Dean Graves. After graduating in Divinity, and taking orders, Mr. Russel got the rectory of St. Werburgh, Dublin, and some years later was promoted to the Archdeaconry of Clogher, (north of Ireland). Dr. Russel published —
The Life of the late Rev. Charles Wolfe, A.M., of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin; with several of his Sermons, and a collection of his published and unpublished poems, in 2 vols. 8vo. Dub. 1826.
The Right Hon. CHARLES KENDAL BUSHE, (the
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR. 50 L
late Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in Ireland,) was a fellow commoner here, and had a high repu- tation for various academic attainments. Mr. Bushe chose the profession of the bar, for which he was well qualified by nature and education ; he afterwards be- came a member of the Irish House of Commons, and strenuously opposed the Legislative Union, in speeches full of the most logical argument, conveyed in lan- guage of the most firm and elegant character. He successively occupied the offices of Solicitor-General and Attorney-General, and finally, that of Chief Jus- tice ; a dignified and most honourable situation, to which he was most admirably suited, for never did a more honest, humane, or intelligent judge sit in the seat of justice.
SECTION II.
" JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR, A.M., Barrister-at-law, &c.a, was a native of Dublin, born in 1795. He was descended on his father's side from Captain David M'Kinlay, of the Inniskillen dragoons, who led the ad- vance party, or ' forlorn hope,' of King William's army across the broad, deep, and rapid river at the me- morable battle of the Boyne. And on his mother's side from the distinguished chief, Lieut. General Sars- field, (Earl of Lucan, and Viscount Kilmalloc,) the
a The Author hegs it to be clearly understood, that the sketch here given of his late brother, is copied, and very considerably abbreviated, from a memoir of him published in 1842; and from the able pen of his old and greatly esteemed college friend, the Rev. Samuel O'Sulli- van, A.M., &c. That memoir was also copied and enlarged by the literary friend who edited the work entitled, " The writings of J. Sydney Taylor, A.M.," published by Gilpin, London, 1843, and compiled under the superintendence of a committee appointed at a public meeting, convened in London, to deliberate on measures to be proposed in respect to his memory. Of these ample materials the Author will use but a very small portion, just sufficient to give a clear idea of the character of a man who was so useful to society, and so greatly beloved and esteemed by his contemporaries — but his own feelings upon this trying subject shall not be obtruded upon his readers ; but it has been remarked as a curious circumstance in the history of man, that so humane and peace-loving a person as Sydney Taylor should have descended from such warlike chiefs, and be in sentiment of such opposite principles.
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR.
most faithful and intrepid of all the adherents of . King James II., and whose chivalrous devotion to the fallen monarch had won for him the respect even of his enemies.
" The surname of Taylor was assumed by his father, upon succeeding to the property of a maternal grand- father so named, aclergyman of the Established Church. John Sydney was soon sent to school, as his love of study and his relish for intellectual pleasures were very early manifested. He wa*s placed with Mr. Samuel White of Dublin, whose academy was remark- able for having sent forth some of the most dis- tinguished men in Ireland ; the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan, Thomas (Anacreon) Moore, &c. From Mr. White's, he entered the Dublin University in October, 1810, and selected for his tutor the Rev. Charles W. Wall, D.D., under whose able management, and his own assiduity, he soon made a commendable proficiency. In his junior sophister year (1812) he went in for scholarship. In this year the candidates were forty, and the vacant places only twelve, it was, therefore, not a little creditable to him to have obtained the second place, and that too upon eight best marks, or a best mark from each of his examiners. Yet the peculiar temperament of his mind inclined more to the walks of poesy than to the graver labours of the academic curriculum. The Chancellor's prizes, which are given for poetic composition, gave him a favourable opportunity for the exercise of his peculiar powers, and the Provost and Board adjudged him the pre- mium in both instances.
" Sydney Taylor had now a considerable university reputation : his attainments and abilities were gene- rally much respected, and for his worth and his merit, in that little circle who enjoyed his intimacy, he was greatly beloved. That it was not larger, arose from a fastidiousness of moral taste, which gave an appear- ance of reserve to his manners as regarded general acquaintances, and caused a quick rejection of the ap- proaches of those in whose characters his acute dis- cernment could detect any taint of depravity or germ
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR. 503
of baseness : of such characters he had an instinctive abhorrence. In those hours of relaxation, which were spent in the society of his chosen companions, he was as delightful an associate as could be found ; with wit at will, and stores of anecdote, and a fancy impreg- nated with all that was richest or rarest in literature, both ancient and modern, his mind might be likened to a salient jet d'eau of pregnant apophthegms, lively conceits, or sparkling allusions, always conveyed in a spirit of the kindliest humanity, and never verging into buffoonery or poisoned by ill-nature.
" There are some few who still survive, to whom the hours thus spent in innocent, exhilarating, and en- nobling converse, are amongst their most treasured recollections. After life seldom presents any thing so sweetly pure, as the joyous intercourse of ingenuous minds, of rich endowments and unsullied by the world, when they meet to unbend after the well-per- formed labours of a studious day : and where the moral qualities are on a level with the intellectual, and nothing will be tolerated that savours of the base or mean, the enjoyment is perhaps as unmixed and perfect as is compatible with the frailness of mortality. One there was, who is already known to fame, by the accident of a stray leaf from his journal finding its wray into the public journals, — we mean the author of the ' Ode upon the Burial of Sir John Moore.' To that beautiful poem we shall have occasion to return. Between its author, the late Rev. Charles Wolfe, and the lamented object of this memoir, an intimacy was then formed, which ripened gradually into mutual esteem, and ended in a lasting friendship. And often has the writer of this brief sketch listened to the un- prompted eulogies with which either spoke of the other when absent, and witnessed the glow of pleasure that never failed to irradiate the countenance of the one at any little achievement in science, or distinction in literature, which served to enhance the reputation of the other. Wolfe's poetical powers are now ac- knowledged to have been of no ordinary kind, and we cannot but have our human regrets that he was
004 JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR.
snatched so early from a world which he would have adorned. And he, were he living, would he the readiest to proclaim, that his friend's poetical genius was of no mean order, — such as would have achieved for him no common niche in the temple of fame, had he not, under a constraining sense of duty, dis- countenanced its cultivation.'*
The above extracts are sufficient to describe the moral and intellectual character of him who is the subject of this notice, and a few more will shew what the public services are which he performed, and which have placed his name so high amongst those whose lives have been successfully devoted to the cause of humanity, and the benefit of mankind ; and a brief sketch of the leading points in his public and pro- fessional career will close this short memoir.
" Having decided to adopt the bar as his profession, he became a member of the College Historical Society, in which he soon obtained considerable notice, and was selected for the arduous and honourable duty of closing the session of 1813 by a speech from the chair. This speech was extremely well received, was regarded as one of great promise by very competent judges, and the society caused it to be published, and bestowed their gold medal upon the youthful orator.
" He next opened the just but disused right of the foundation scholars to hold the Professorship of Oratory, (Erasmus Smith's,) which had for some time been kept among the senior fellows. To establish this claim, he had to appear before the visitors in full con- vocation, when he pleaded so well that the claim was allowed. He then became a candidate for the office, and with four other candidates, a senior fellow, (the late Dr. Nash,) a junior fellow, (the present Judge Crampton,) and two scholars, was subjected to a severe examination of three days, by the Provost and Board, who at the close of this contest, in which all the candidates had given in but Dr. Crampton and S. Taylor, decided in favour of the junior fellow."
" Sydney Taylor now entered the King's Inn, Dublin, and also became a student of the Middle Temple,
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR. 505
London, where he was called to the Bar in 1824, and commenced practice in the King's Bench, and on the Norfolk Circuit, in which Buckinghamshire is in- cluded, and to the Lord Lieutenant of that county (his Grace the late Duke of Buckingham) he was in- troduced by a letter from Lord Plunket, (then the Irish Attorney-General,) and through this means he also became known to the then Marquis of Chandos, (the present Duke of Buckingham,) whose warm friendship he retained to his last hour. He did not of course get rapidly into business among so many men of talent and seniority, and therefore he devoted some part of his time to writing the leading articles for the Morning Chronicle, which was then in the zenith of its reputation, under the proprietorship and management of the late James Perry, Esq. On the demise of that talented and honest editor and pro- prietor, that journal got, by purchase, into the hands of some paper makers, who installed a poor but con- ceited and very ignorant newsvender into Mr. Perry's seat as ostensible proprietor, with a man named Black as editor. The paper of course soon declined in circulation, and Sydney Taylor, now perceiving that educated men were neither required nor under- stood in this ill-assorted concern, accepted a similar engagement from Mr. Thwaites, proprietor of the Morning Herald •, and it is a curious fact, that the transfer of his talents soon had a visible effect upon the two journals, the Morning Herald increased in circulation daily, whilst the Morning Chronicle rapidly declined, until it ceased to produce any profit- able returns.
" This engagement he continued for some years, be- cause Mr. Thwaites's opinions and his coincided on the great leading questions of the day ; and thus he had numerous opportunities of promoting those humane views which he entertained upon many sub- jects, and among the rest, upon the great question of our criminal jurisprudence, — the necessity of a reform in which the enlightened and philanthropic Romilly had with great force of reason and eloquence, long
506 JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR.
sought to impress upon the mind of Parliament ; and thus Sydney Taylor devoted the best energies of his mind and heart to objects, not of personal aggrandize- ment, but of public utility."
" The Morning Herald, therefore, took and kept the lead in the warfare which was waged against the Moloch .of the Statute Book during many eventful years, in which the arduous struggle was going on be- tween the advocates of exterminating laws, and those by whom they were considered a blot upon our common humanity ; — and Sydney Taylor it was, whose spirit breathed in the glowing appeals, and the cogent reasonings, by which the daily press, the great engine of opinion and improvement, co-operated with the distinguished public men, whose efforts in the House of Commons, great as they were, would other- wise have been comparatively powerless. That such was the case, may be seen from the following resolu- tion passed unanimously by a Committee of * The Society for Diffusing Information on the Subject of Capital Punishments,' at a Meeting held on Monday, November 30, 18&5."a
a His late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex was President of the Society in London, and the late Wm. Allen, Chairman of Com- mittee. Amongst the members were, the late excellent Lord Suf- tield, A. R. Barclay, Esq., Dr. Lushington, M.P., Sir Fowell Buxton, Bart., Joseph John Gurney, Esq., the venerable Thomas Clarkson, Esq., Leonard Horner, F.R.S., Basil Montagu, Esq., Rev. Arch- deacon Wrangham, D.D., Rev. F. Cunningham, A.M., Rev. J. F. Denharn, A.M., Edward Forster, F.R.S., Robert Forster, and Josiah Forster, Esqs., Rev. J. P. Smith, D.D., John T. Barry, F.R.S., John Sydney Taylor, A.M., Henry Waymouth, Richard Taylor, J. C. Nash, Esqs., &c., being about 30 members.
There was another Committee established in Dublin, composed of the most active and influential persons among the educated classes, amongst whom were, Dr. F. Sadlier, D.D., Provost of the Univer- sity of Dublin, the Rev. J. T. O'Brien, junior fellow, now Bishop of Os'sory, Robert Percival, M.D., Joseph Gabbet, Esq., A.M., W. L. Guiness, Esq., SirR. Harty, Bart., Rev. Dr. Singer, D.D., S.F.T.C.D., Thomas Pirn, Esq., Dr. Grattan, James Bessonet, Joseph Bewlev, and W. E. Major, Esqs., the Rev. H. Kingsmill, D.D., F.T.C.D*., Drs. Liston, Osborne, and Warburton, &c.
In Edinburgh, there was also a central committee for Scot- land, composed likewise of the professional and commercial classes chiefly, viz. : the Hon. H. David Erskine, Robert Kay Greville, LL.D., Professor Pillars, Henry Todd, W. S. Richard Huie, M.D.,
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR. 507
Resolved :—" That the articles on the Criminal Law which have appeared from time to time in the Morning Herald, are of a character to especially call for the grateful acknowledgment of this Committee, as having materially contributed to promote the recent amelioration of the penal code ; and that the Committee do forth- with cause a selection of those articles to be made, and published in a permanent form, in testimony of their value, and in further- ance of the great object of rendering the criminal law more efficient, by obtaining for it the support of reason and of en- lightened public opinion."
But it was not alone to the reform of the most san- guinary penal code in Europe, a code which would have disgraced the most barbarous nation on earth, that Sydney Taylor directed his arduous labours. He endeavoured to bring the attention of our statesmen to the necessity of adopting preventive measures, and especially of not promoting crime and misery by acts of vicious legislation. Look at his opposition to that nuisance called " The Beer Bill," which deluged the country with thousands of new tippling houses, " dens of dissipation, that realized his prediction of the con- sequent increase of crime."
The following epitome, inserted by the same author, and copied from one of Sydney Taylor's leading ar- ticles, will give a tolerable but not a complete descrip- tion of the number and importance of the subjects upon which he constantly exerted his talents.
He writes thus upon one occasion. "Our readers will bear us wit- ness that we have long laboured in the great work of social reform- ation, the improvement of our civil and criminal jurisprudence, the abolition of negro slavery, the extirpation from our laws and customs of the cruel, unjust, and impolitic imprisonment for debt, the eman- cipation of the white slaves of the factory system from the grind- ing bondage of a merciless cupidity, the amelioration of the labour- ing population, the extirpation of that great fraud, the slave ap- prenticeship system, the abolition of the revolting cruelty of mili-
John Hamilton, advocate, John Archibald Murray, advocate, W. Beilby, M.D., Alexander and Edward Cruikshank, Esqs., Rev. Robert Gor- don, D.D., J. S. Moore, advocate, John Gillies, M.D., Martin Barry, M.D., Chas. M. Christie, W. Trevelyan, and James Ogilvy, Esqs.,&c. The author having been Honorary Secretary to the Central So- ciety in London, during eleven years of its active and successful operations, can bear testimony to the untiring zeal, intelligence, and judicious perseverance, with which all these societies carried on their movements, and co-operated in the most cordial manner to regenerate and purge from its cruel, sanguinary, unprotective and imbecile cha- racter the criminal code of Great Britain.
508 JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR.
tary flogging, the suppression of the disgusting barbarity of prize fights, and the prevention of all abuses of power to the torment of man, or those animals which the CREATOR has given him to use not to torture, the promotion of the religious and moral education of the people in contradistinction to the infidel schemes for plant- ing the land with a godless population. These are some of the many questions connected with the moral and social well being of society, which sometimes, amid the din and uproar of contending factions, sometimes in the intervals of political contention, we have made the subjects of discussion, not wholly without advantage to the community."
"This, however, is a very imperfect enumeration of the topics which obtained Sydney Taylor's attention. His mind was one of no ordinary calibre, it was ca- pable of grasping great constitutional questions. The reader will find abundant proof of this, in the follow- ing pages a, and all was done without the eclat of that distinction which attends the exertions of public men conspicuous in the cause of humanity, and which are their own very sufficient reward ; done too at the ex- pense of toil that often encroached upon the hours which should have been given to needful repose, after the harassing and exhausting labours of the day. It was this, we believe, which laid the foundation of the complaint that but too soon put a period to his most useful life."
The excuse which the author has to offer for the length of these extracts, is to place in a clear light before his readers who may not have had any other opportunity of knowing it, the chief cause of Sydney Taylor's connexion with the public press, and the exact nature of his position with regard to that great organ of public opinion. To these he begs leave to add a few others more immediately connected with his professional life, and then hasten to close a task which still possesses for him a mournful fascination.
a The pages indicated do not belong to this work, they are numer- ous, and could not with any propriety be brought forward among these biographical sketches, more especially as our time now grows short, and we have several very able, and estimable members, gra- duates of the University, yet to notice. The volume in which those " pages" are printed is entitled " Selections from the Writings of J. Sydney Taylor, A.M., Barrister at Law," with a Sketch of his Life, published under the direction of a committee of Noblemen and gen- tlemen. By C. Gilpin, Bishopsgate Street, London, 1843.
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR. 509
"In 1823, Sydney Taylor, in conjunction with Lord Brougham, Dr. Birkbeck, J. Robinson, Esq., and other gentlemen, combined as a committee for the formation of the London Mechanics' Institution, the earliest establishment of that kind in England. In 1 82,5, a case was put into his hands to bring before the House of Lords. This was the claim of Michael James Robert Dillon to the Earldom of Roscommon ; it certainly came into his hands in a very entangled and mutilated condition, but having duly considered it, he was of opinion that it might be prosecuted with success.
" This important case, after three years of active exertion, during which his knowledge as a lawyer, and his skill and eloquence as an advocate, were sig- nalized, was, in 1828, determined by the House of Lords in favour of his client, the present Earl.
" Though his business was now steadily increasing, he did not the less continue to interest himself in favour of the great questions of humanity to which we have already adverted ; nor in these only, for with his pen and advice, he often aided projects of science, of literature, or of the arts, — so comprehensive was his mind. Various charitable institutions in the me- tropolis acknowledged the benefits of his advocacy, both at public meetings and in the press. And to him it is mainly owing, that many of the parish churches of the city of London, some of them models of architectural beauty, and possessing rare historical interest, were not, at one fell swoop, sacrificed to the low utilitarian views of modern Vandals, who mistook a sordid devotion to mammon for a spirit of en- lightened improvement.
" The Lady Chapel of St. Saviour's, South wark, was one of those marked out for demolition, with a view to enlarge the wharfingers' accommodations in its neigh- bourhood. This beautiful and unique specimen of the early English which succeeded the heavy Norman architecture in the 12th century, is well known to all who have a true taste for our native architecture. In consequence of Sydney Taylor's stimulating appeals,
510 JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR.
a strong interest was excited, and public meetings were held, at which he, with various eminent men, ex- pressed themselves so strongly indignant at the medi- tated destruction, that it checked the ardour of the destructives, and the edifice was not only preserved, but large subscriptions were raised for its repair and restoration. The hop-factors, however, carried the case before Parliament, and Sydney Taylor was called upon by the preservers to plead their cause against the destructives, and this he did so effectually, that the Parliamentary Committee gave an overwhelming vote in favour of his clients, and thus the beautiful Chapel was saved.
" The splendid and matchless screen of York Minster was also mainly indebted to him for its pre- servation ; its sacrifice was resolved on by those who had been appointed as the re-edifiers of that noble structure, after the incendiary Martin's conflagration, but Sydney Taylor, William Etty, R.A., Messrs. Cot- tingham and James Savage, Architects, and other men of science and weight in society, ' banded to the rescue, and saved the sacred pile from further desecra- tion.'
" St. Alban's Abbey Church also, — another noble monument of the olden time, — he was likewise success- ful, with his friend L. N. Cottingham, Esq., in saving from the vulgar hands of some would-be despoilers, one of whom observed, that ' it would make a splendid ruin.' '
" Sydney Taylor was also invited to go into Par- liament for two independent boroughs in succession, after the Reform Bill was passed ; but to do this, he felt would be to abandon his profession, as he never could have brought himself to be the subservient tool of any ministry, or to forego, for any prospect of political advancement, his invincible feelings of inde- pendence."
The last great criminal case in which he was en- gaged, was that of Oxford for firing a pistol at Queen Victoria. Upon this occasion he stood opposed to the whole strength of the government bar, and managed
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR. 511
the case of his client with so much judgment, that the jury, after a most patient investigation of two days, re- turned at first, a verdict of acquittal ; but they were sent back by the judge to reconsider their verdict, and finally they returned one stating, " that the prisoner was insane at the time of firing the pistols, but that there was not evidence to prove that the pistols were loaded." The culprit was therefore sent as an inmate for life to the lunatics' hospital *.
" Sydney Taylor had always a strong partiality for
a This case was at first to Sydney Taylor one of considerable anxiety and sorrow, for as his mind was toned to the most perfect feelings of devoted loyalty to our gracious and innocent Queen, he was unable to conceive how it could be possible for any native subject of Great Britain or Ireland to imagine, and to carry into effect volunta- rily, such a rank piece of diabolism as that charged upon his client ! From reflecting deeply, however, on the subject, and from his great knowledge of human nature, chiefly acquired in courts of criminal jurisdiction, he soon discovered anomalous points in the machinery of the prosecution, which he at once probed into, and as he had sus- pected, he found that the accused had not acted from any impulse of his own, good or bad, but was merely the agent or tool of certain persons, none of whom had the most remote idea of injuring the sacred person of her Majesty, and whose agents took care that the miserable weapons used on that miserable occasion should be only half charged with powder, and that nothing but a mere scrap of paper wadding should cover this squib charge. Having got a clue to the real facts, he shaped the defence accordingly, and bv set- ting up the plea of insanity, saved the miscreant's life, who, had he been convicted, would most likely have suffered the penalty of the law, as other tools have experienced before now, unless his counsel had brought forward the facts, of which he had obtained some know- ledge, and which, had they been proved, would have placed other culprits before that bar of justice, from which the pretended madman had so well escaped. Sydney Taylor was decidedly of opinion, that no British born subject ever voluntarily attempted the life of any of our sovereigns ; as he was extremely well informed on that subject, he asserted that such tools were always hired to startle not to kill or injure the sovereign, but for political purposes; yet for these sordid and purely selfish motives, has the stigma of " regicide" been thrown most unwarrantably and disgracefully upon the British character, to which it does not in the remotest degree belong ; and he used to say (when ill) that he should like to be spared a little longer, that lie might give the world a clear and just knowledge of the real facts and actors in such base and degrading contrivances, which, however, he hoped would not again be called into political agency, as they were getting very stale, and might at length be discovered.
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR.
domestic life, and in 1827 ne was married to Miss Hull, niece of his late esteemed friend, James Perry, Esq., and also of the late Major-General William Hull, C.B. ; a lady in all respects of congenial tastes and disposition, and with whom he enjoyed the most perfect and uninterrupted domestic happiness, and whose active, unremitting, and affectionate attention to him during his long and painful illness could not be surpassed, and is well deserving of the highest ap- probation."
" Thus happily settled in life, with reputation con- stantly on the increase, and which was considerably promoted by the termination of Oxford's trial, Sydney Taylor might be said to have surmounted all the dif- ficulties which beset the junior barrister in the com- mencement of his career, and to be on the direct road to affluence and high distinction ; the number of those who consulted him, from a just reliance upon his knowledge and ability, and confided to his manage- ment the most complicated cases relating to property, was steadily increasing. It is to be feared that the severe attention all this exacted, was amongst the causes that prevented him from attending as he ought, to the daily admonitions he was now receiving of the progress of a malignant disease which ulti- mately proved fatal. Returning very unwell from the Spring Circuit, in 1841, he was attended by his friends Dr. Arnott and Mr. William Coulson, and after enduring great pain with a fortitude and resigna- tion worthy of his character and the faith which he professed, on the 10th of December, 1841, (in his 46th year,) he breathed his last, his confidence having been unshaken in that Saviour who had been his humble trust, and through whom alone he looked for life and immortality."
" A public meeting was convened by advertisement at Exeter Hall, London, and presided over by Sir John Chetwode, Bart., M.P., to consider the best tribute to his memory ; a meed of praise was be- stowed upon him by the eminent men of all parties. A subscription was then entered into, with a view to
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the publication of a selection of his writings in a per- manent form, and a Committee nominated to secure that object : the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Admiral Mangin, and W. Ewart, M.P., were of the number so appointed. Under the superintendence of the Committee the volume was compiled and pub- lished in 1843. At the same time another subscrip- tion was opened for the purpose of raising a public monument to his name, honourable alike to him and to those by whom it was promoted. This object has likewise been accomplished ; the monument is erected over his grave at Kensal Green, (on the Harrow Road,) near London. This work is a solid square pillar of grey granite, polished like a mirror, sur- mounted by a chaste classic urn of the same material, simple and elegant. The following inscription upon the stone, marks the estimate which was formed of his public worth and private virtues : —
TO
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR, A.M.,
TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN,
BARRISTER-AT-LAW OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, WHO DIED DECEMBER 10> 1841,
AGED 45,
THIS TOMB WAS ERECTED BY THE UNANIMOUS VOTE OF A PUBLIC MEETING HELD IN LONDON,
FEBRUARY 19, 1842, TO MARK HIS MAINTENANCE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL
LIBERTY AND CHRISTIAN MORALITY,
AND HIS SUCCESSFUL EXERTIONS IN ADVOCATING THE ABOLITION OF THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH.
Sydney Taylor's writings on great public questions, legal, moral, religious, scientific, and political, were immense in number. Two volumes of them were se* lected and published in 1 836-37, by the great Society for Procuring the Amelioration of the Criminal Laws: — " Anti Draco ; or Reasons for Abolishing the Punishment of Death in Cases of Forgery." The effect of these " Reasons " was extraordinary : at that time there were on the statute book 43 species of forgery punishable, and even punished yearly by the gallows ; but in about two years after this Essay was published, all these ensanguined edicts were purged
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from the statute book, and forgery has considerably declined, because convicted forgers are now severely, but adequately and certainly punished ; for, pre- viously, the punishment was a lottery, in which were many prizes to a blank ; but now, conviction on just evidence is certain, and condemnation to the chain gang assuredly follows. — " Speeches of Sir William Meredith, Earl Grey, Lord Grenville, Dr. Lushing- ton, and J. Sydney Taylor, A.M., on the Punishment of Death," May 30, 1831.—" A Comparative View of the Punishments annexed to Crime, in the United States of America, and in England." Lond. 1831. — It may here be noticed, that when the Society for Re- forming the Criminal Laws began its operations in 1828, there were no less than sixty capital offences upon the statute book of England, in accordance with which, numbers of men, women, and children, were annually exhibited in the agonizing throes of strangulation in front of the Old Bailey and other prisons ; more, it would seem, to amuse and barbarize, than to correct the bad passions or edify the lower orders, who crowded to these scenes of judicial slaughter. There are at present but four crimes punishable capitally by the laws of Britain ; they are all connected with homicide, yet it does not seem that this atrocious crime has been diminished by the gallows, whilst all those crimes from which that penalty has been removed, have very considerably decreased a. The melancholy duty of making the above extracts being now performed, the author feels himself obliged to apologize for the length to which he has extended this notice ; but he cannot hesitate to believe that the object he chiefly has in view throughout this work, will, when explained, be received as an excuse, and
a In France there are still six capital offences retained on the statute hook, and three of these are for political offences. In the United States of America there are five capital punishments yet re- tained; but in all probability only for a few years longer. The Americans certainly gave the tone of improvement to Europe in this important alteration ; let us hope in return for that benefit to convert them from their practice of negro slavery.
JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR, A.M. 516
exonerate him from any supposition of being actuated by a selfish motive. The great object intended in this publication being to give the people of England and of Ireland, additional reasons for regarding each other with feelings of the most complete friendship and cordiality — to show the good qualities of each, and the direction in which the full development of that desirable moral union may be carried into full ef- fect; a "consummation most devoutly to be wished," and which is certainly quite attainable by the ordinary operations of common sense, but which has been hither- to most grievously, and indeed, too successfully baffled by the contrivances of political necromancers, who un- questionably are actuated by as sordid and selfish motives as Katerfelto, or any poor conjuror who practises innocent deceptions for very bread.
Highly conducive to this truly Christian union of sentiment and esteem is the case just noticed; it is one completely in point, for it shews most clearly that the subject of that memoir was merely an educated native of Ireland, who, to avoid the politics of his country, settled in London. By his manners, talents, and con- duct, he made numerous very sincere and even power- ful friends in the land of his adoption ; and still better, these friends were gained without truckling to any party, or in the smallest degree compromising any principle. Well, he is removed from this world, and who are they who greatly deplore the loss of their friend ? Englishmen* I ay, and they publish his writings to benefit society, and to keep him in their remembrance, and they raise a solid and noble monu- ment to record his virtues to their descendants to the remotest time ! Here, then, we have a powerful de- monstration of that manly and truly Christian spirit of brotherly love which does sometimes, and always should and might exist, between the people of these two countries. There is a moral beauty, in this in- stance, that is inexpressibly sweet and encouraging to all who really have the complete union of the British
a Rear-Admiral Mangin, Christopher Moore, Esq., and some few others excepted.
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516 JOHN SYDNEY TAYLOR, A.M.
people at heart. These are the true patriots, the real friends of the political and commercial integrity of Great Britain, of its religion, laws, and monarchy ; and not those mechanical politicians who act upon that odious and miserable remnant of the darkest age of European despotism, divide et impera, a maxim so wicked, that it tramples upon the Divine precepts of the Gospel in the most awful manner, and sometimes tempts Divine vengeance to terminate its cruelties. In fact, it is time to lay aside such old fashioned and sinful absurdities, and to govern nations by the sober, just, and intelligible principles of reason, religion, and good sense. Whenever this rational system shall come into full operation in the British isles, the four great sections or races of men inhabiting therein, will soon be amalgamated into one compact and harmo- nious mass of enlightened freemen ; whose common sense and common interests will cause them to support the paternal government by which their religion, laws, persons and properties are respected; and there is great reason to believe that the remnant of that wretched Italian policy still tolerated with regard to Ireland, will speedily be repudiated, and sent to " the tomb of all the Capulets," never again to pollute the British soil.
The grateful demonstrations of sincere esteem and disinterested friendship, with regard to the subject of this memoir, were nobly responded to by " the Press " of Great Britain. Proprietors and Editors of every party and colour expressed in all the eloquence of deep felt regret, the loss of one whom they believed had been foremost to remove the stigma of a barbarous, sanguinary, uncertain and ineffective criminal code from the British name, to replace it by one certain and severe, but quite as effective for the suppression and punishment of crime as human laws probably can be, when characterized by a vigorous humanity. The Times, Morning Herald, Morning Post, Morning Chronicle, Standard, Globe, Sun, &c., amongst the London daily papers, with upwards of fifty weekly papers and county journals, the Reviews and Magazines bore ample testimony to the unflinching and power-
REV. J. WILSON, D.D. REV. J. T. O*BRIEN, D.D. 517
ful advocacy with which he laboured through a series of years in the sacred cause of justice and humanity, unawed hy power, and unenticed by favour from that stern but elevated path of duty which he had adopted. Most of these gentlemen, men of superior education, well knew that the fellow citizen whose loss they felt and deplored, was not a native of England ; but their cultivated minds scorned the base and heartless pre- judice which would degrade the intellectual character of Ireland, maintain a hostile feeling, and keep alive national jealousies between two nations, which, were it not for the evil machinations of men in power, would soon find out that each people had its noble and estimable qualities which the others must respect and esteem, and hence a real union, one of mind, heart, sentiment, and interest, would be cemented be- tween them, to the unspeakable advantage of the British empire. Such then has been the conduct of the truly enlightened conductors of the free Press of Britain; and the fine moral tone which it has excited in the public mind, will make statesmen cau- tious how they trifle with the laws of justice and hu- manity, so dear to the British people,
SECTION III.
We must now proceed to notice the remainder of the contributors to the literary character of this Uni- versity.
The Rev. JAMES WILSON, D.D,, obtained a fellow- ship in 1800, and in 1825 he resigned, on accepting the living of Clonfeacle, and died four years after. He published a very able and elaborate mathematical work, entitled " A New Differential Method ; or, Method of Differences." Lond. 1820.
The Rev. JAMES THOMAS O'BRIEN, D.D., obtained a foundation scholarship in 1813, and a junior fellow- ship in 1820 j and in 1833 was appointed Archbishop King's Lecturer in Divinity; in 1838 he was promoted to the deanery of Limerick, and in 1841 created Bi-
518 REV. M. O'SULLIVAN, D.D. REV. S. o'SULLIVAN.
shop of Ossory. This learned prelate and able theo- logian published —
A first class Volume of Ten Sermons on Justification by Faith, Dub. 1830. — Introductory Lectures on Divinity; delivered in Michaelmas Term, 1837. — A Charge delivered at his Primary Visitation of the Diocese, in 1842. This went quickly through three editions, Dub. 1842. This is an elaborate, well reasoned, and powerful composition; it is in opposition to the Puseyite schism- atics, and clearly points out the intimate connexion that exists between Puseyism and Popery. — Two Sermons on the Nature of Christ. — Several able Divinity Tracts, which treat more especially on the meaning of being justified by faith only, without the deeds of the law, and in opposition to the present Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Whately, who, it is believed, wishes to revive the Convoca- tion. Dub. 1843.
The Rev. MORTIMER O'SULLIVAN, D.D., (Master of the diocesan school of Ardmagh, &c.,) became a stu- dent here in 1811, and in 1813 obtained a foundation scholarship with great credit. He always distin- guished himself by superior answering at the Divinity examinations. He adopted the clerical profession from choice, and certainly with judgment, for few, if any, in these days, have maintained the true prin- ciples of our national church and constitution with more firmness and intelligent zeal, than this learned divine has done, both in the pulpit, for he was an ex- cellent preacher, and by his writings. Dr. O'Sulli- van's published works are: —
A Dissertation on the Apostacy, as predicted by St. Paul ; a very able work. — Captain Rock detected ; or, Guide to the Travels of an Irish Gentleman. This volume points out, from actual facts, the real sources and promoters of that nefarious system of agrarian outrage, then rife in Ireland, called Rockism; in which it would appear that poetry and sad reality were strangely yet closely re- lated.— College Recollections. — Romanism, and its Rules in Ire- land. One volume of this valuable work contains the speeches of the Rev. Robert M'Ghee; the other volume includes his own speeches, which are truly eloquent. — A Digest of the Evidence taken before the Parliamentary Committee, in 1824. One volume of this valuable historical record, is, as already stated, compiled by the late Rev. Wm. Phelan ; the second, by Dr. M. O'Sullivan. Dub. 1825-26.
The Rev. SAMUEL O'SULLIVAN, A.M., brother to the preceding, entered this University in 1812, and in 1814 obtained a high place at the scholarship exa- mination of his class. Like his talented brother.
REV. B. M'GHEE,N A.M. — REV. H. M'NEIL, A.M. 519
he got a good A.B. degree, and went into the church, for which he was well qualified hy nature and edu- cation. After some minor appointments, he was pro- moted to the chaplaincy of the Royal Hibernian Mili- tary School, near Dublin, in the gift of the Irish government. His published works are : —
A Treatise, entitled, On the Agency of Divine Providence. This able historical work points out, from the historical evidences of various ages, that the reformation in religion was, under Provi- dence, the true and evident cause of England's great and enter- prising spirit, her commercial riches, her naval and military great- ness, her civilization, general prosperity, superior intelligence, and vigour of mind above every nation hitherto recorded in the pages of history. — A Sermon on the Death of his Royal Highness, the late Duke of York. A very elegant, appropriate and eloquent composition. — A Memoir of the late John Sydney Taylor, A.M., &c. Dub. 1842.
The Rev. ROBERT M*GHEE, A.M., became a stu- dent here in 1806, and obtained an honourable posi- tion at scholarship examination. In 1808 he took holy orders, and became a very distinguished preacher, both in England and Ireland. Several of his speeches at public meetings are published in the Rev. Dr. M. O'Sullivan's work on " Romanism," &c., and others in a separate volume.
The Rev. HUGH M*NEIL, A.M./ after taking a very good degree here, applied himself assiduously to the study of Divinity : having obtained deacon's and priest's orders, he became a very popular preacher of the sound orthodox Protestant communion. His elo- quence in the pulpit was justly admired, both in Lon- don and Dublin, for the clear reasoning, chaste and classical yet energetic character, and sincerity of feel- ing, which they display. Mr. M'Neil was son-in-law to the late Dr. Wm. Magee, late Archbishop of Dub- lin, (having been married to Dr. Magee's second daughter,) and has been for some years a beneficed clergyman, and a most popular preacher in Liverpool. Many of his sermons, which are of a high class, have been published in England and Ireland.
The Rev. JOHN JEBB, D.D., was a distinguished student here, and obtained a scholarship in 1794.
520 GEN. SIR BRENT SPENCER, ETC,
Having closely attended the Divinity course, he adopted the clerical profession, and after some minor prefer- ments, was created Lord Bishop of Limerick and Aghadoe. Dr. Jebb was very popular as a preacher, and very exemplary as a Christian pastor. He pub- lished many Religious Tracts, and learned Essays on various subjects, besides several excellent Sermons.
MOUNTIFORD LONGFIELD, A.M. and LL.D., (Jurist,) graduated as a fellow commoner here, and was elected to a fellowship in 1825, appointed Pro- fessor of Political Economy in 1832, and Professor of Feudal and English Law in 1834. The lectures of this rising member of the legal profession, on Political Economy, on Absenteeism, and on the Poor Laws, are of the first order in political and moral philoso- phy, as connected with the science of Jurisprudence. Of these lectures, Mr. Senior (a most competent judge of these important matters) has fairly admitted that they have anticipated every discovery he ever made.
JAMES APJOHN, M.D., obtained a scholarship here in 1815, and soon after the termination of that privileged distinction, he was elected Professor of Chemistry to the Royal College of Surgeons ; which office he still occupies, to the advantage of science, with the approbation of that distinguished society. Dr. Apjohn has published several able tracts elucidat- ing the principles and pointing out the numerous re- cent improvements in this extensive science.
The Rev. JOHN HAWKESWORTH, A.M., graduated in the pensioner class, and was elected to a scholar- ship in 1813. This scholar distinguished himself in classics, and has published a very elegant edition of u The Select Satires of Juvenal," and other works. Dub, 1834.
Lieut,-Gen, (the late) Sir BRENT SPENCER, Bart,, a native of Dublin, graduated here, at the same time with his brother, who was afterwards an eminent bar- rister and King's Counsel. Sir Brent soon after graduating adopted the military profession as the one most congenial to his feelings, and devoted all his
PRIMATE LORD J. G. BERESFORD, D,D, 521
talents and energies, which were great, to the service of his country. After some years of active service in various climes, he accompanied the British army to Egypt, where he as usual distinguished himself by his courage, skill, and humanity. His capture of the strong fort of Rosetta, at the western mouth of the Nile, after Generals Wauchhope and Buchan had been defeated before it, was considered so great an advantage that it led to his immediate promotion from the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel to that of Major-Gene- ral. General Spencer was sent early to the Peninsula, where, both in Portugal and Spain, he maintained his well earned character, and was remarked for being as humane and generous as he was brave and intelli- gent. Ill health, from long foreign service, caused him to retire from the service, a year or two before the final triumph of the British arms over Napoleon and his legionaries. He died at his seat called The Lee, near Wendover, Bucks, in 1830, greatly regretted by all who had the honour and happiness of his acquaint- ance.
The Most Reverend Lord JOHN GEORGE BERES- FORD, D.D., Archbishop of Ardmagh, and Primate of all Ireland, graduated here with distinction, and having adopted from choice the profession of Divinity, gradually advanced in his promotion, with the appro- bation of his rivals and contemporaries, until the highest dignity in the true Church of Ireland was be- stowed upon His Grace, who most fortunately, at this crisis of innovation, does not appear to favour the re- vival of the old, absurd, and justly neglected cere- monials of Laud's time, which have so strong a taint of Romish theatrical display about them, and which have, as all redundant ceremonies connected with any religion must have, a direct tendency to divert the mind of the worshipper from the Creator to the crea- ture \ and give a pantomimic character to that holy object which ought to be completely separated from every taint and touch of man's profane contrivances.
We beg His Grace's pardon for mentioning the mu-
SIR M. SEYMOUR. HON. T. PACKENHAM.
nificence, as it may justly be called, with which he has acted in re-edifying the ancient and primatial ca- thedral of Ardmagh, which, at the time of His Grace's promotion to the primacy, was in a state that threat- ened the ruin of parts at no distant period. His lordship put his hand to the work of preservation and restoration : a subscription was commenced for that purpose, and the Primate gave £8,000 to commence with, a sum that we believe has since been doubled from the same generous hand. The renovation of this very ancient cathedral was confided to the skill and talents of L. N. Cottingham, Esq., the Architect, (of London,) who it appears completed the edifice quite to the satisfaction of all who were interested in its security and restoration, at an outlay of about £30,000. Our object in noticing these agreeable facts, is merely to aid the progress of similar instances of well doing, by producing so laudable and truly noble an example.
Rear Admiral (the late) Sir MICHAEL SEYMOUR, Bart., whose father, the Rev. John Seymour, A.M., obtained a scholarship here in 1747, was born in Bagot Street, Dublin. Young Seymour was matriculated here, as it was intended that he should take up a civil profession ; but his natural bias to the navy was too strong to be overcome, and he, fortunately, was al- lowed to follow his inclination ; and he soon became distinguished amongst the first rate men of his stand- ing, for the bravery and skill with which he success- fully encountered the enemy, in several hard fought engagements, which were conducive to the glory of the British navy.
The late Hon. THOMAS PACKENHAM, brother to the late Lord Longford, Vice-Admiral, &c., was also matriculated here, but preferred the naval service as congenial to his taste, and this officer was likewise distinguished in the service, in particular in Lord Howe's action, 1st June, in command of the Marl- borough 74.
LORD GORT. 523
The late Lieutenant-General VEREKER, afterwards Lord Gort, graduated here, and afterwards purchased a commission in the army. Several years later, this of- ficer was appointed to the colonelcy of the Limerick county militia, which he brought to so admirable a state of discipline, that they did great service in put- ting down the Irish rebellion of 1798. In September of that year, when the French General Humbert landed with his troops in the west of Ireland, and after he had defeated General Lake, at Castlebar, &c., and being joined by a body of Irish rebels, advanced to- wards the northern part of Ireland, where thqy ex- pected strong support, unexpectedly they fell in with Col. Vereker and the Limerick militia, in a good posi- tion right across their line of march. Humbert at- tacked them with his whole force, which they resisted for about two hours, when, ammunition getting scarce, the regiment fell back on Ballyshannon, of course with great loss of officers and men. But the French troops did not follow them ; they had got enough of it, and changed their first intention, to the despe- rate step of pushing south-east for Dublin, to which city they had approached within 50 miles, when they were brought to a check at Bally-na-Muck, by the main army, commanded in person by Marquis Corn- wallis, and after a fierce engagement of nearly three hours, the Ardmagh militia, led by Col. Acheson, (another Trinity College man,) charged them with the bayonet, and when within ten paces of their line the French beat the chamade, lowered the tricolor, and grounded their arms, having left their Irish allies to shift for themselves*. Thus terminated this sanguinary rebellion, after above four months of almost daily con- flicts ; but to the loyal and martial bearing of Colo- nels Vereker and Acheson, and their Irish militia, this speedy termination is mainly attributable.
a The author having been present on that occasion and under arms, though very young, can answer for the correctness of the facts stated ; the ill fated rebels were hung up on trees by dozens, and he was so shocked at this horrid sight, that he from that hour deter- mined to assist to the utmost in abolishing this horrid punishment ; and he has lived to see it done, in 19 cases out of 20.
G. N. WRIGHT. DR. JOHN ANSTER, ETC.
GEORGE NEWENHAM WRIGHT, A.M., graduated here in the pensioner class, and in 1817 obtained a scholarship. This gentleman has been a large con- tributor to literature. Amongst his published works are: —
A Greek Grammar and Exercises. — A Guide to the County of Wicklow. — A Guide to Wales.— Works of Bishop Berkley. Lond, 1836.
JOHN ANSTER, LL.D., a native of the south of Ire- land, graduated here, and obtained a scholarship in 1814, and was called to the bar in 1820. Dr. An- ster cultivated the German language and literature so much, that he is intimately conversant with some of the best works in that tongue, from which he has made various translations. His principal work in this way, is an edition of Faust, which has been reprinted. He is also the author of several poems which display considerable classical taste and poetic inspiration.
Captain MEADOWS TAYLOR, A.M., a descendant of that celebrated non-conformist divine, the Rev. John Taylor of Norwich, was born near Dublin, and graduated here ; he however preferred the military to the literary profession, and saw a good deal of service in various countries. He published —
The Confessions of a Thug. — Tippoo Sultaun, a Tale of the Mysore War.
The Rev. THOMAS LUBY, D.D., is a native of Clonmel, co. Tipper ary, who entered college in 1817, and in 1819 obtained a high place at scholarship, in 1831, was elected to a junior fellowship, and succes- sively to the offices of Assistant to the Professor of Divinity, University Preacher for the year, Censor and Junior Dean, Senior Assistant to Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics, Donegal Lecturer, and Examiner in Mathematics in the school of Civil En- gineers. Dr. Luby has written some standard college works, notwithstanding his numerous and important occupations. His published works are : —
An Introduction to Physical Astronomy, 8vo. Dub. 1828. —
CAPT. USSHER, R.N. REV. J. M'CAUL. ,525
A Compendium of Analytical Trigonometry, for the use of the junior classes of the Dublin University.— An Elementary Treatise on Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. — Dr. Luby has also pre- pared, and is now publishing, a fourth edition of Dr. Brinkley's Elements of Astronomy.
The late Captain USSHER, R.N., who was one of the descendants of the celebrated Archbishop Ussher, many of whom distinguished themselves in public life, was matriculated here, but did not continue long on the books of college; he preferred the exciting dangers and hopes of renown connected with studying on the ocean, to the comparative quietude of a college life, and from the day he entered upon duty in the navy, it was evident that nature had qualified him to excel in that service. By his personal merit he gained the regular steps in promotion, until he was made post captain, in which rank he also signalized him- self, by his untiring devotion to his country's ser- vice, and to all the nobler qualities of the true British sailor, he joined great kindness of heart and practical humanity. On the occasion of Napoleon's first abdi- cation, Captain Ussher, in the Undaunted ship of war, was appointed to take the fallen hero to exile at Elba. This duty he performed with his usual attention to stern duty, but so blended with kindly feeling and re- spectful conduct to this illustrious passenger, that on arriving at Elba, the ex-Emperor in expressing his sincere thanks for the treatment he had experienced, presented Captain Ussher with a golden snuff box richly set with brilliants, the intrinsic value of which was above 2,000 guineas.
The Rev. JOHN M*CAUL, A.M., born in the north of Ireland, graduated here, and obtained a very high place at scholarship examination. Soon after commencing Master of Arts, he was appointed principal of the col- lege of Upper Canada, at Toronto. This reverend gentleman's classical acquirements are considerable, as may be easily comprehended by the perusal of the following editions by him, of classic authors : —
Horatius Textum recognovit, notisque aliorum turn suis in- struxit. — Remarks on the Classical Course taught in Trinity Col-
526 CAPT. W. HAMILTON, R.N., ETC.
lege, Dublin, 8vo. — Metres of the Greek Tragedians explained and illustrated. — Horatian Metres, 2nd edition. Dub. 1838.
Captain WILLIAM ROWAN HAMILTON, R.N., was matriculated here, but like Ussher and others he pre- ferred " a home upon the mountain wave," and soon left Alma Mater for a wider range of excitements. He served with credit in various climates, and became a post captain just before the close of the war, and was sent in the Havannah frigate, as one of the escort to convey Napoleon to St. Helena. On that voyage Captain Hamilton's conduct to the exiled Emperor was so respectful, that Napoleon made him a valuable present of his portrait in miniature set in diamonds of considerable value. At Navarino, Captain Hamil- ton commanded the Cambrian frigate, and by the fire of that ship, silenced some of the land batteries. An in- jury received in his leg during the attack of Rosetta, in Egypt, laid the foundation of a complaint which ter- minated his existence in the prime of life.
The Rev. MAURICE M'KAY, A.M., also from the north of Ireland, obtained a scholarship here in 1824, and turned his attention chiefly to the literature of classic antiquity. He has published —
The Select Orations of Cicero, from the text of Orellius, with Notes. — Another edition of the same work from the same text. Dub. 1830.
The Rev. CHARLES STANFORD, A.M., graduated here, and obtained a scholarship in 1825, and has since published —
Xenophon, Anabasis, Libri III. priores, Graece with English Notes. This work has been published for the entrance course at Trin. Coll. Dub. — Plato's Apology, Crito et Phaedo, from the text of Bekker, with the version of Ficinus, and Notes. — Plutarchi Vita Lycurgus et Numse cum notis, 8vo. — Ovid's Fasti, &c.
JAMES PRENDEVILLE, of the county Mayo, graduated here, and obtained a scholarship in 1825. This gen- tleman is an excellent classical scholar, and has pub- lished—
An edition of Livy. Lond. 1830. — A Life of John Milton, with Notes, &c. Lond. 1836.
SIR W. R. HAMILTON. MAJOR J. TAYLOR, ETC. 527
JAMES M'CULLOGH, LL.D., graduated here in 1827, and obtained a junior fellowship in 1832, and was appointed Professor of Mathematics, on Erasmus Smith's foundation, in 1835. Dr. M'Cul- logh holds a high rank in mathematical learning, and has published an immense number of original papers^ in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, and the London and Philosophical Magazine.
Sir WILLIAM ROWAN HAMILTON, Astronomer Royal of Ireland, already mentioned in the sketch of the Observatory, has also published in the foregoing and other scientific works a great number of very able Essays on subjects of superior science.
WILLIAM DRURY, A.M., graduated here, and ob- tained a very good place at scholarship in 1829, and turned his attention to the ancient classic authors, and has already published —
Herodotus, Book I., with critical and historical Notes. — Thucy- dides, Book I., with critical and historical Notes.
Major JOHN TAYLOR, of the Royal Artillery, a native of the co. Meath, Ireland, was matriculated in this University, but he remained only a short time devoted to peaceful studies ; a military life suited his taste much more than a college one, therefore he ac- cepted a commission in the Royal Artillery, and soon was sent on foreign service, whence his marked atten- tion to the arduous duties of his profession, chiefly in Spain and Portugal, gained him the respect of his brave companions in arms, and the favourable notice of their commanders. Promotion must go on by se- niority in the artillery service, therefore he slowly gained the rank of major, one certainly of high con- sideration in this distinguished branch of the service. After having been exposed for many years to all the casualties of his profession, he happened to be with his division at Woolwich, where he was taken ill, and died in a few minutes, in 1842.
WILLIAM FITZGERALD, A.M., graduated here, and obtained a scholarship in 1833; he was also aDownes's
328 DR. J. C. TAYLOR. LIEUT.-GEN. R. TAYLOR.
and a Hebrew prize man. He has written and pub- blished a Treatise on Logomachy. Dub. 1842.
ISAAC BUTT, A.M., graduated here, and gained a foundation scholarship in 1832, and was appointed Dr. Whately's Professor of Political Economy, for the usual period. Professor Butt has since published a translation of Ovid's Fasti, with copious Notes, &c.
WILLIAM O'BRIEN (the late), A.M., was distin- guished here for his good answering at scholarship. He wrote and published —
An Essay on the Ancient Round Towers of Ireland. — Also the Ancient Rhythmical Art recovered ; or, a new method of explain- ing the metrical structure of the Greek Tragic Chorus. Dub.
1839.
JOHN COOKE TAYLOR, LL.D., M.R.I.A., and also of the Asiatic Society, was a graduate of this Uni- versity, where he was a premium man in classics, and not inattentive to the scientific parts of the college course. Dr. Taylor's historical information is very extensive and accurate, as his works abundantly prove. Vide his History of Rome, &c., &c.
Lieut-General the Hon. ROBERT TAYLOR, gra- duated here previous to entering the army, where he was distinguished during the late war as an excellent cavalry officer.
PERCIVAL BARTON LORD, M.D., son of the Rev. John Lord, a native of co. Cork, was educated here and obtained several classical honours. He after- wards studied in the medical school, and finally was appointed a surgeon in the India Company's service, in which he proved himself an active, intelligent, and brave man, and a general favourite with the army, to which he rendered great services during the un- happy campaign in Affghanistan, and in action en- deavouring to rally the native cavalry, which was fly- ing before the enemy, he fell covered with wounds, to the extreme regret of all who knew him. He wrote
DR. MAGINN. SHERIDAN KNOWLES. 529
much and in a very lively pleasing style. His pub- lished works are : —
Popular Physiology. — Algiers and Barbary, &c.— And some clever Essays on Consumption, which have been republished in the Medical Journals on the Continent and in America.
WILLIAM MAGINN, LL.D., was born in the city of Cork, and entered this University at a very early age. He entered under Dr. Kyle, afterwards Provost, and subsequently Bishop of Cork. He passed through the classes with distinction, gained prizes, and dis- played a great versatility of genius, and the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him in his 24th •year. He wrote a great deal for Black wood's Maga- zine at his first coming forward as a writer, afterwards for Eraser's Magazine, the Literary Souvenir, the Standard, Age, and various other daily or periodical works. The best and most of the articles in Miss Landon's Scrap Book, were the unacknowleged pro- ductions of his pen. Wit and humour he possessed and expressed abundantly, both in his conversation and writings ; and it is a matter of great and lasting regret, that he did not direct his righly endowed mind to objects more permanent and more worthy of the in- tellectual powers with which a gracious Providence had endowed him. He died in his 48th year.
JAMES HAYNES, A.M., a native of Tipperary, dis- tinguished himself here as a classical scholar. He wrote several pieces for the stage, which were very successful, including —
The regular tragedy entitled Mary Stuart. — Conscience, or the Bridal Night. — Durazzo. — Also, The Sabbath Muse.
SHERIDAN KNOWLES, A.M., born in Cork city, was also a student of much promise here, and afterwards was elected to the Professorship of Oratory in the University of Glasgow. This gentleman's dramatic works are well known, and possess considerable merit, particularly his Virginius (a Tragedy), and William Tell, &c. *
Dr. EDWARD HILL, M.D., graduated here in the pensioner class, and was an elegant classical student.
M M
530 SIR JOHN DOYLE. REV. J. WILLES.
He obtained a scholarship in 1768, and afterwards was appointed to the Regius Professorship of Physic* He wrote some clever Treatises on Medicine, and published some of his college lectures. He also com- piled a very elegant and classical edition of Milton's works in one volume, having quite dispensed with the other six volumes of heavy and useless commentaries in Todd's edition, and which quite overlay Milton with the dull speculations of Bentley and others. Dr. Hill clearly showing that the bad spelling and other errors which gradually increased after Milton's death, are not to be found in his original (1st and 2nd) editions, but are the errors of careless and ignorant transcribers, . and mere errors of the press from incompetent editing: and it is upon this hasty foundation that six fresh volumes have been printed to explain Milton's ideas and meaning, but have only rendered the original text confused, which is " clear as the noon-tide beam " in the original. Bentley and Todd's commentaries upon this immortal bard are about as useful and successful as Baron Swedenborg's Commentaries on the Bible, which are three times as large as that Sacred Volume, and tend to make it quite unintelligible. Dr. Hill brought his beautiful MS. volume to London, and offered it for a very moderate sum to the late Mr. Murray and other publishers, but none of them had the good taste to take up the subject.
Lieut.-Gen. Sir JOHN DOYLE graduated here with great credit, both as a scientific and classical student, and gained a scholarship in 1773- He, however, entered the army, and soon after was private secretary to the late King George IV. when Prince of Wales. General Doyle's military life was one of much enter- prise, especially in Flanders and Egypt, and he ranked amongst the ablest officers of his time. He was also an author, and published some Political Essays and Military Papers, which are very clever.
The Rev. JAMES WILLES was a fellow commoner here, and had a strong tendency to metaphysics. He obtained a living near Lismore, and has written a
CONCLUSION. ,531
great deal on that science. He has also been for some time engaged upon a biographical work of some extent, but only including the eminent men of Ire- land.
GEORGE B. WHEELER, A.M., was a pensioner here, and obtained a foundation scholarship in 1832. The principal work he has published is —
Pindarus Carmina ex recens, et cum notis Heynii, Boekhii, Dissenii et Walker, adnotavit systematis metricis -variisque sub- sidiis instruxit, G. B. Wheeler, A.B., &c.
CONCLUSION.
The author now finds by a note from the pub- lisher, that as this work is to be published before the 31st instant, he must close, however reluctantly, these biographical notices, as a matter of absolute necessity. He is therefore obliged to leave un- noticed many eminent persons, who have either gra- duated, or been at least matriculated in this Uni- versity, and therefore have been more or less con- nected with it in an educational sense ; it will, there- fore, only be possible to give merely the names of those gentlemen, viz: — Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Stopford ; Lieut.-Col. Blacker ; Rev. Cesar Otway ; Rear- Admirals Sir Josias, Rowley and C. R. Mangin ; Rev. W. Archer Butler ; Sir Henry Marsh, Bart. ; Robert James Graves, M.D.; Edward Litton, LL.D. ; George A. Grierson, LL.D. ; Rev. James Wilson, D.D. ; Lieut.-Col. Chesney, R.E. ; H. B. Addison, Esq., A.B. ; Professor Whitley Stokes, M.D. ; T. Wyse, M.P. ; R. Sheil, M.P."; Professor Thomas Taylor, M.D. ; the late Chief Justice Lord Downes ; the present distinguished officer Lieut.-Gen. Lord Downes ; Sir Harding Gifford, Bart, (the late) Chief Justice of Ceylon ; Lord Chief Justices Right Hon. E. Penefather and Dogherty ; Judge Crampton ; Judges Right Hons. Perrin, Blackburne, R. Moore, R. Torrens, Day, Burrowes, Jebb, Ball, Jackson ; Lord Chief Barons the Right Hon. Maziere, Brady,
M M 2
CONCLUSION.
Richards, and Lefroy. In the other Courts, Joseph Radcliffe, LL.D. ; Joseph Stock, LL.D. ; Right Hon. R. Keatinge, LL.D. ; Right Hon. T. B. C. Smith, M.P., Attorney- General ; R. W. Green, Soli- citor-General; the late Sir M. O'Loughlin, Bart., &c., &c. We now must give over, or a much greater list of names connected with this University could be added, who have done the State and the British Empire "some service," in public and in private life, whether known and acknowledged or not; and though very many of the gifted men whose names are here recorded, have been removed to that region " where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest," yet they have left successors worthy of them, and upon whom their mantles have fallen. The sound principles of religion, law, and order, of human science and of hu- manity taught by them, have brought forth fruit in abundance, which constantly increases, and only re- quires the same prudent and equitable management under which such immense good has been achieved for the general benefit of the British empire — to pro- duce still greater, and more numerous advantages, in accordance with that important object ; for the Irish as a people, we speak of the whole nation, are remarkably and constitutionally fond of learning, as we are now treating that term : with those who do really study the character of that race, it is an historical truism. They have a peculiar zest, an eagerness for acquiring knowledge, and feel a rational pride in the possession of mental enlightenment. Here, then, we have the first principle of civilization, an ardent and sincere love to ac- quire new, useful, and beautiful ideas in abundance, and to make them practically beneficial to society. Very well. But how has it happened that this aptitude for, and strong desire towards learning, should not have pro- duced a population much farther advanced in civiliza- tion than the great mass of the Irish people appear to be? Why from two simple but very efficient causes, namely, Romanism, and a bad system of government. The first is their misfortune, not their fault ; for the Eng- lish government could have brought the whole of the
CONCLUSION. 533
small population in Ireland, at the time of the Re- formation, over to the Reformed Church ; but they did not choose to take that rational step; it served po*- litical purposes to let them remain as they were : this, no doubt, displayed the " wisdom of the serpent." Then, as to the habitual bad system of government, it is artfully defended on the assumed ground, that Ire- land, i. e. that nation is " a perfect anomaly in poli- tics." This is partly true, but "the cause" of this is, that the English government in that country is a much greater anomaly. In fact, we defy any one to under- stand it, except the official gentlemen who give the orders, counter orders, and continual contradictions which are thus manufactured, and by which that un- happy land is tortured, and kept below its proper standard of civilization. The truth, therefore, simply is this, that if the English government in Ireland were not an excessive anomaly, Ireland would not be anoma- lous in the slightest degree; it is merely cause and effect. But neither the people of England, nor its sovereigns, are parties to this state of things. Delusions are, per- haps we ought to say have been, practised on both, as we have already shown, to an enormous extent, and these deceptions have prevented the fine sympathies of the Monarchs, and of the great body of the British peo- ple, from interfering and putting a period to this anoma- lous state of things, as one unworthy of British states- men, and of the British people. It is a great mis- fortune to the British nation, that the Irish people* should have been for centuries so grossly libelled, and
a The terms, " Irish people," or " Irish nation," are collectively used here, because the Protestants and Dissenters, equally with the Romanists, are all included in that opprobrious term, "anomalous," applied demi-officially to Ireland's entire population.
The author was in the House of Lords one night, more than twenty years ago, when a member of that house said, in speaking on some Irish bill, that " Ireland could only be governed by the bayonet." Yet this gross calumny flung upon a whole nation, containing nearly 8,000,000 of people; this language, equally remote from truth, good taste, and the dictates of humanity ; did not excite much surprise among their Lordships, so prejudiced did they seem against the character of that ill governed country. Is such a person as that calumniator fit 'to legislate for Ireland, or to advise a British Sovereign ?
CONCLUSION.
of course, misunderstood by the people of England ; for had not such artifices been employed, no two na- tions would have worked and harmonized better to- gether, and they would long ere this time have been truly united by mutual interest and mutual esteem, be- cause each people possesses fine moral and intellectual qualities, and if left to the mere guidance of their own good sense, would not, and indeed, could not, look upon each other with any feelings but those of cor- diality, respect, and good fellowship. For in truth, the Irish people are very like the rest of mankind; and if justice were impartially administered among them, party feeling nipped in the bud, instead of being nur- tured and promoted as it hitherto has been, and absen- teeism discouraged, Ireland would be as easily governed as any part of England or Scotland. Complete and entire civilization would then very soon develope the genuine character of that people, disencumbered of the loads of slander by which it is overlaid, and the English government would no longer be disgraced in the eyes of Europe by its harsh, unsteady, and unjust conduct towards that country.
To assist in bringing about a consummation like this, is the bounden duty of every loyal subject of the realm; but to do so effectually, we must begin by probing this political ulcer deeply, to show its malignant con- dition : the truth must be told, however unpalatable it may be to those concerned, and then, but not before, a proper remedy may be applied. It is merely this feeling of duty which actuates the author on the pre- sent occasion; he has not any party feeling, or personal interest in the matter, being quite as independent of the people of Ireland, and of its University, as he is of the Treasury at Whitehall, or as they are of him ; his purpose is to enlighten the people of England, as to the real state of the Irish question, and in doing so, it may be that some of the terms used may sound harshly, but to those who are rightly cognizant of the facts, it will be evident that he has written very leni- ently. To offend wantonly he could not; to do so in- advertently would cause him great regret. But in such
CONCLUSION. 535
important cases as this, the truth must not be post- poned to suit any one's convenience; more especially must this be the case, when an author approaches the border of that unfathomable ravine which no traveller recrosses, and must, therefore, expect soon to render up an account of his stewardship.
With regard to the changes in this University, said to be contemplated by the present government, reports are, as usual, contradictory, and even alarming to the lovers of peace, of law, and order; as if another Fronde was to be let off in Ireland, now that the old one, the Burletta of " Repeal" approaches its last act. It is extensively hoped that such will not be the case ; we should expect much better things from the Premier a, who being himself highly educated, must feel a degree of delicacy, if not of repugnance, to make any radical changes in the constitution of an University which has done its duty so nobly, to the advancement of learning and loyalty; and these changes too, merely, as it would seem, to please a few agitators, who cannot at present find any other employment, arid may get some jobs by a confusion of this sort. That unflinching loyalty, for which this University has ever been re- markable, would be a strong reason pour ces Messieurs Frondeurs to strike it a malicious blow under the arm of the Premier. These innovators must be closely watch- ed, and their garbled statements met by honest counter- statements prepared for parliament, and for the people of England ; for all proper means must be adopted to prevent this splendid seat of learning from being im- paired in its character, and its usefulness diminished
a This eminent statesman has advanced the interest of the arts of painting and sculpture in their highest classes, (History and Poetry,) more in two years, 1842-43, than they had been promoted for the two previous centuries, except by King George III. Should the same respected personage put down completely the agitations in Ire- land, alike disgraceful to that country and to British statesmanship, he will confer blessings upon, and be blessed by millions living, and others yet unborn ; and will, by a grateful posterity, be justly placed in the first rank of those British statesmen and lawgivers, who have ever promoted the honour, happiness, and true glory of this great empire.
536 CONCLUSION.
under any pretext. In fact, this University is the great link which has kept the two countries united during the last two centuries, and it has also been the bulwark of the Reformed Religion in Ireland ; but these are probably the causes of that malice by which it is now secretly assailed by the innovators. Yet, we have great hopes that the enlightened Prime Minister of England, who deservedly possesses the respect of all parties, will not allow himself to be made the implement of certain disciples of the crackbrained Loyola, and slaves of the Codex Expurgatorius*, to act an ungene- rous and unjust part towards a University to which Eng- land owes a heavy debt of gratitude, for the tens of thou- sands of loyal and right well educated men which it has prepared for the public service, or to adorn and im- prove private life. These are the points whereon a great question like this should be tried, and not by the crude and restless crotchets of malignant speculators, its ancient enemies. It will not be suffered, we believe, that this Ark of the Covenant, which has kept the two countries united, shall be insulted by sacrilegious hands at this enlightened period. It has had awfully severe trials of that sort already, and the hands were withered which touched it profanely b. It has, indeed,
a Should that mind degrading and man debasing Romish edict ever be introduced at our Universities, what havoc it will make in their libraries! At Dublin, no less than 120,000 volumes must go to the oven out of 130,000!!!
b The historic muse does, however, sometimes take the liberty (an unpardonable one, no doubt) of executing aburning vengeance upon the memories of tyrants and oppressors of mankind, whether civil or mili- tary. It is therefore recorded that Lord Strafford and Archbishop Laud were the first who stretched out their hands, armed with arbitrary power, to alter and deteriorate the original charter, framed as it was by the truly great statesmen of that epoch, and bestowed by that greatest of England's sovereigns, Queen Elizabeth. Well, no one envies those in- novators their fate. Not dismayed by this, the Cromwellian reformers carried their tyranny here to an enormous pitch ; yet some of these men, " armed with a little brief authority," and who " played such fantastic tricks," were afterwards carted to execution; and their chief, if not hanged, was at least interred at Tyburn ! That bigot, James II., as we have shown, let his vengeance fall upon this Col- lege in the most unjust and cruel manner, yet he and his human Baalzebub, Talbot Tyrconnel, fled like recreants before the courage of those whom they had plundered and oppressed, to die in exile, un-
CONCLUSION. 537
been always an object of the envy, hatred, and malice of both Romanists and republican tyrants, because of its loyalty to the Protestant succession ; and when man assaulted, and heaven forsook the monarchy and majesty of England, the University of Dublin held firmly to its duty, and was, for a time, trampled upon most cruelly by the Regicide Parliament of England, because it would not succumb to that motley band of deliberative assassins. The next oppressor, James "the Bigot," was infuriated against this loyal Pro- testant corporation, and, as we have seen, wreaked all his malice, and that of his Jesuits, upon its de- voted head. Yet, a gracious Providence has always brought it unscathed through the fiery furnace of the fiercest rapine and oppression, whether these iniqui- ties were visited upon it by the narrow-minded votaries of Rome, or by the ensanguined hands of a military despot : for though it was allowed to remain prostrate for a season, the time came when it was also permitted to triumph over its enemies, who were also the enemies of true religion, of the throne, and constitution of Great Britain. But its triumphs over the iron rod of Romish or regicide despotism, were not as " those of the warrior, with the noise of chariots, and garments rolled in blood !" No, theirs was the triumph of rea- son, religion, and loyalty, peacefully re-inthroned in that classic temple from which, for a season, they had been expelled by dark bigotry, and military savage- ness. But although restored to their locality, they had, as it were, to recommence de novo, with the frag- ments of their stock of materials which had escaped the notice, or were valueless in the eyes of the rapacious soldiery. This, certainly, was a most difficult task,
honoured, and unlamented. Of this Lord Tyrconnel, we find the following short description in history:— Col. Richard Talbot was born of an ancient family in the county of Dublin. He was com- monly known and designated about the court of Charles II. as "Lying Dick Talbot;" and yet it was this man whom James II. created Earl, and then Duke of Tyrconnel, and advanced to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland — Vide Kings State of Ireland, p. 112, and Harris's Writers of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 112.
The late Lord Castlereagh's exploits with respect to this University have already been noticed.
538 CONCLUSION.
and one slow in its operation, from the want of ade- quate means, so that the evil consequences of those visitations continued for a long time to retard the pro- gress of learning, and did in fact arrest the advance of improvement from A.D. 1641 to 1691. Yet so disinge- nuous, we had almost said dishonest, are those peripate- tic philosophers of innovation, who are going up and down to create prejudices against this University, that they suppress all these important facts> or colour them so artificially, that they no longer resemble the genuine statements of these unhappy transactions ; therefore those parties who may have to legislate on this very se- rious question, should not take any thing hawked about in that way, on trust, but should exercise their own dili- gence in searching for the truth, and their own discre- tion in its application. And were the subject dealt with in this good sense fashion, truth and justice would have fair play, and the question would be decided beneficially for the nation. And such it is hoped and expected will be the case, for the true interests of learning ; a cause which never should be compromised by any suggestions of party feeling; and if military chiefs and members of the Church of Rome would have the good sense and proper delicacy not to meddle with a question of high education, on which neither of these classes is, by habits or instruction, capable of affording any valuable or useful information, much time would be saved, and the question much better understood than if the crude verbosity of time speakers, ambitious of journal notoriety, should be inflicted upon the public, as occasionally it does happen. It may be proper to mention here, that the observations just now made, are by no means intended offensively, but to point out, for the advantage of all parties, the shortest and best mode of settling the question ; for military chiefs of high reputation are often the first, and always the worst class of persons to meddle with the civil affairs, the rights, privileges and education of any people3, but more especially those of a free
a " There is no use in citing privileges to men who wear swords." — Pyrrhus's savage reply to the people of Tarentum,.-#tflfe Plutarch.
CONCLUSION. 539
nation. Their profession being a pure and, as it must be, a severe despotism, which they adopt from choice so early in life that their mental education is therefore too limited to be called "learning ;" and this scanty stock is not likely to be increased by the habits of a military life, which, when entered into with the true spirit of a soldier, is a very arduous one, and leaves very little time to cultivate mere intellectual know- ledge. But this is not, neither can it be, matter of re- proach to the members of that honourable profession ; that would be as absurd as to blame fellows of colleges
o
for not having, with all their knowledge, the power of moving a battalion through all (or any) of its evolu- tions. But a fair quantum of military renown ought to satisfy a man of good sense, for in that quarter he is invulnerable. But leaving this vantage ground, to meddle with the civil affairs of a free people, which affairs his superiority in his own profession prevents him from understanding or valuing very highly, he is apt to make sad and serious blunders, and to do great mischief, although unintentionally ; but ignor- ance of civil rights, in a free nation, is not pardon- able in a statesman. This interloping is as great an absurdity as it would be for a bishop to undertake the command of an army. People, as well as things, should be kept in their own places, and this homely practice of our ancestors kept affairs in better order than the departure from them has done, at a time when we boast of " the march of intellect."
With respect to the objection as to gentlemen, members of the Church of Rome, interfering in the management of a question involving the chartered rights and privileges of a Protestant University, it is obvious that they are not the parties from whom im- partiality would be expected, and no true gentleman will ever place himself, or allow any one to place him in a situation, where his conduct, however fair, would not be considered impartial ; besides, unfortunately for them, their range of book knowledge is confined within the very narrow limits of the Codex Expurga-
540 CONCLUSION.
torius*, which interdicts the reading of every educa- tional or theological work, which has not taken part with the Church of Rome.
Another great point in this question is, that our gracious sovereign should be made thoroughly ac- quainted with the nature of the question regarding this University, which redounds so greatly to the honour of her Majesty's truly great predecessor. Na- turally, our beloved sovereign cannot feel any preju- dices against an institution so remarkable for its unshaken loyalty to the British throne ; and we can- not conceive that any one would be so hopelessly wicked as to attempt to create any unfavourable im- pression of it in the royal mind. Our gracious sove- reign has, perhaps, some idea that her Irish subjects are too turbulent to be honoured with the royal pre- sence. But her majesty's ministers should remove so unfounded a prejudice, (if it exist,) and advise a royal progress to that country; for certain we are, that such a mark of kindness and condescension would restore every thing there to harmony and good humour. And the smiles of a British Queen, with the power of en- chantment would bind in an irresistible spell, and for ever, the Typhon of vulgar party feuds, and stay their inhuman consequences. This could a Royal Personage effect speedily, with Divine assistance, and this would indeed be a true passport to terrestrial happiness and everlasting glory. And we must remember the great moral lesson of Bossuetb, that " History is, so to say, the monitor of princes; degraded by death, they enter the dark portals of the tomb, where, no longer sur- rounded by flatterers, they await in awful silence the irrevocable judgment of an impartial posterity."
a Should this high pressure screw upon the human intellect come into fashion in England, as some appear to think it will, nine tenths of the printers and booksellers of Great Britain may give up their trade and look for some other mode of living, and the ovens and baths would have for many years, a plentiful supply of heretical literature.
b Oration funebre, sur la Princesse Marie d'Orleans.
(.;. Woodfalland Son, Printers, Angel Court, 5- kinner Street, London.
Date Due
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