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private transactions, to nations as well as to individuals; that they will see the folly, the wickedness and the impolicy of dragooning and domineering over a people, so necessary to their glory, even to their existence as a nation and that ages of coercion and tyranny will be followed by a system of justice and generosity. If half the partiality that has been shown to the Scotch highlanders for the last fifty years, had been extended to the Irish catholics, they would, at this day, have been the most loyal portion of the British empire. "But contumely and reproach are grievous, and a wounded spirit, who can bear?—Discord ariseth out of evil government, and oppression maketh men mad.”

Those who are inclined to know more of IRISH affairs, may consult Musgrave, a court hireling, Gordon, a church clergyman, and Hay, a catholie gentleman. Plowden's history, from its size, 3 vols. 4to. must contain the most particular and detailed accounts; but those who wish to know the true grounds of the subject in a few pages, will read a pamphlet entitled, "An Inquiry into the Causes of the Popular Discontents in Ireland." In this brief but luminous publication, the author clearly describes the causes of these discontents, and then points out the remedies that should be applied, and would be applied by such men as Bishop Watson, Mr. Fox, &c.

The reader, however, will keep in mind, that no man in the British domi nions dare publish all that can and ought to be made known concerning the history of Ireland. We are told that the ways of providence are dark and mysterious: "puzzled in mazes, and perplexed with errors," man, feeble man, cannot fathom these mysteries-but we know, that its judgments sometimes fall heavily on nations as well as on individuals. As the condition of Ireland seems to be fixed and bound by an inexorable destiny, and if it be true, "that whatever is, is right," the sooner the Irish people drink of the waters of Lethe the better, and wisely consign all bitter but unavailing remembrances to oblivion.

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

OF

MR. CURRAN.

Vetera extollimus, recentium incuriosi.

IT is a very general opinion, that the study of law is adverse to genius; that a lively imagination cannot be tied to profes sional pursuits; and that wit cannot be possessed but to the exclusion of industry.

Among the many examples which might be adduced to prove the falsity of this conceit, Mr. CURRAN is not the least striking.

No man has acquired higher reputation for those powers which delight and captivate the fancy, that touch the springs of passion, elicit tears from sensibility, or extort from gravity itself the burst of laughter—yet have the exertions of this gentleman raised him from the humblest walk of life, if not to the first place, certainly to the first rank, at the Irish bar. He has not, indeed, attained high official situations, or risen to those honours which are oftener the reward of judicious politics, than of professional ability; but he has acquired that which is a much stronger proof of talent, the uncontested title of being the first advocate in his country.

Mr. Curran is now above fifty years of age. He was born in the county of Cork, of parents who were undistinguished by wealth or situation; who had neither a fortune by which

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they could enable their son to live independently, nor connections by which they could advance him in a learned profession. They were, however, capable of giving him the rudiments of a liberal education; and that seems to be the only advantage which he derived from his family.

Having qualified himself for the university, he entered in the only character in which his circumstances enabled him to appear, that of a sizer in the college of Dublin; a situation of which the emoluments are very trivial, while the marks of inferiority which distinguish it from that of the other students are of the most mortifying kind. The sizers have, indeed, their tuition free of expense; but they are obliged to keep the rolls of their tutors, and attend to the weekly distribution of the fines and punishments of the pupils. They have their commons gratis, but they dine only on the fragments of the fellows' table, and are compellable to discharge several menial offices in the dining-hall !

In this situation Mr. Curran passed the first year at the university nor did he appear, in point of pecuniary circumstances, to stand at the head of even that humble class. It is a fact, that the man who possessed powers that could mould the heart, charm the imagination, and guide the judgment of a court or a senate, was often destitute of a whole coat!

At the usual time (two years after entrance) he obtained a scholarship, by which, and by the emoluments arising from some petty offices generally bestowed on scholars, he emerged from the distress in which he had hitherto been involved. The remainder of his college life is not marked by any peculiar incidents; he obtained the usual honours with which the policy of the university rewards industry and talents, and he is said to have made some progress in reading the laborious course which is prescribed for fellowship candidates : but, whether disgusted with the drudgery, or deterred by the magnitude of the undertaking, he soon desisted from college pursuits, and turned his attention to the bar.

Previously to his becoming a student in the inns court,

London, Mr. Curran married a lady of his own country. This match appears to have been founded in inclination, for she did not bring him a fortune to compensate the inconveniences unavoidably attending so premature a connection. Of the means by which he supported himself and wife during his studies in England, and afterwards to defray the expense of his call to the bar, nothing certain is known; it is natural to suppose, with talents like his, that in such a place as London, It would not be very difficult to procure a livelihood by his literary exertions. But whatever might have been the mode by which his finances were supplied, it is certain, that when he first came to the bar, he was in great poverty. He then resided in Kevin-street, Dublin, a place only occupied by the lowest class of people, and which, in point of gentility, is on a level with the least reputable part of Westminster.

Mrs. Curran had now brought him a child; and being una. ble to indulge in the practice so common in great cities, of sending the children out to be nursed, she was obliged to undergo the labour of discharging at once the duties of nurse, cook and housewife!

About this time Mr. Curran became a member of a convi vial society, originally formed by young lawyers, called the Monks of the Screw-they were poor, but merry; the object of their meetings was to forget, in what is called "good fellowship," the cares and crosses of life. The devotion of these monks, however, was promoted by a humbler liquor than the juice of the grape, and their temple was nothing more than an upper room in a Kevin-street ale-house! Poor as such a society must have been, the circumstances of Mr. Curran were so humble, that they were bettered by his connection even with it. As the club affected to be select, it became at length necessary, that they should have an apartment to themselves; they therefore engaged one at a certain rent, and Mr. Curran was complimented with the use of it, for the residence of himself and family, except only during those evenings when the club met. He must have been poor indeed, who lodged in such a mansion!

Mr. Curran, however, was not the only man of talents, who, at that time, belonged to this society, and who arose to eminence. The present chief baron of the Irish exchequer, Lord Yelverton, the early and intimate friend of Mr. Curran, was one of its original members. Though more fortunate in his political pursuits, the connection formed and cemented between them in their early years has continued through every vicissitude of succeeding life.

That learning and talents are often enabled to raise themselves into notice, without the fortunate coöperation of extrinsic circumstances, is an observation which has been often exemplified in every profession; but perhaps, more frequently in the law than in any other. Our young barrister, with all his capabilities, however, remained entirely unnoticed at The attention of the public was at length turned towards him in rather a singular way.

the bar.

He had been engaged as agent by one of the candidates at a contested election, and, in the course of the poll, it became necessary for him to make objections to a vote preferred by the adverse party, which he did in that strong sarcastic mannor for which he is so remarkable. His antagonist, a man of overbearing manners, felt the pungency of the barrister's wit, and not recognising merit under a shabby coat, and rather a mean appearance, he applied to him some very gross epithets. With more spirit than discretion, Mr. Curran leaped from his seat, seized him by the collar, and would have struck him, but for the interposition of the bystanders; but he disclosed his mind and character in some very pithy sentences. The gentleman not only acknowledged his mistake, but generously granted him his friendship, and was of essential service to his future pursuits in the line of his profession.

From this period Mr. Curran began to rise rapidly. Withîn less than six months, he quitted his gratuitous lodgings in Kevin-street, and removed nearer to a more reputable part of the town. Mrs. Curran no longer dishonoured her lord's

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