Sheil's description of his schoolmaster is a perfect picture of one of the representatives of the ancien régime. "I saw in him a little, slender, and gracefullyconstructed Abbé, with a sloping forehead, on which the few hairs that were left him were nicely arranged and well powdered and pomatomed. He had a gentle smile, full of suavity, which was made up of guile and of weakness, but which deserved the designation of aimable in the best sense of the word. His clothes were adapted to his symmetrical person, and his silk waistcoat and black silk stockings, with his small shoes buckled with silver, gave him altogether a glossy aspect. Notwithstanding his humble pursuits, he was designated by everybody as Monsieur le Prince.'

We cannot linger over the schoolboy days of Sheil, of which his "Recollections" have told so much, and in so interesting a manner. It is to be remarked, however, that as Sheil was surrounded by young Frenchmen, he acquired great facility in speaking their language fluently; so that when, in 1804, he was removed to Stoneyhurst College (on the Kensington school breaking up), he was a greater adept in French than in English. A schoolfellow at Stoneyhurst thus describes him: "His face was pale and meagre; his limbs lank; his hair starting upwards from his head like a brush; a sort of muscular action pervading his whole frame; his dress foreign; his talk broken English; and his voice a squeak. Add to this a pair of brilliant eyes, lighting up all the peculiarities of his figure, and you have before you the boy Sheil."

This singular "boy Sheil" spent three years at Stoneyhurst College, and as the Jesuits have always devoted much attention to composition, he there began to develop his acquaintance with the resources of the English language, of which he afterwards obtained such extraordinary command. In 1807, he entered Trinity College, and devoted himself to the study of classical authors, in preference to those who wrote on scientific subjects. At this period of his life he passed each vacation in his father's house at Bellevue, and it is recorded that his opening talents filled his parents with pride. The tendency of his mind, however, to dramatic notions was observed with

rooted wish to see his son prosper at the Bar, success which he deemed incompatible with the indulgence of a taste for the literature of the stage. We shall see that in after life dramatic authorship and forensic pursuits divided Sheil's attention, and that it was not till he abandoned the former walk that he made real progress in the latter.

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In 1809, while Sheil was passing through College, an unexpected blow fell upon him. The sunshine which had hitherto shone upon his path was clouded by an event which caused the sale of his father's property. It seems that the elder Sheil had invested a large sum of money in a mercantile house in Dublin, under what is known as the Anonymous Partnership Act of 1782, by means of which capitalists were enabled to limit their liability. By not attending to the requirements of the statute, Mr. Shiel forfeited his right to its protection; and, accordingly, when the house in question became bankrupt, he was involved in the debts. He had to part with Bellevue and remove to Dublin; and could not afford to pay any longer his son's university fees. kind and noble-hearted relative came forward (Dr. Foley, of Waterford), and rather than that the young collegian should be stopped in a career, in which it seemed probable he would win distinction, he offered to allow him 1007. a-year till he should be called to the bar. Mr. Sheil only accepted 807. ayear, as he considered that sum enough for his son's requirements. Sheil was thus enabled to pursue his college studies, and by constant attendance at the Historical Society, where he frequently spoke, he acquired a facility in addressing an audience, and laid the foundation of that oratorical power, the fame of which was afterwards so widely spread. His voice, however, was so shrill, his utterance so rapid, and his gesticulation so theatrical, that his talents failed to make the same impression that was caused by young men of less genius but more polished elocution.

The occa

Sheil's first appearance as a speaker in the stormy arena of public life was on the 9th February, 1811. sion was a meeting in Dublin, over which Lord Ffrench presided, and the resolution to which the youthful orator spoke was one to the effect that a deputa

time before entering Parliament contemplated the abandonment of the legal profession, it would seem that at one period his devoted attachment to dramatic composition was likely to have the same practical result, and it was the failure of "The Huguenot," his last play-which he considered his best through the fault of some of the secondrate actors, that caused him to devote all his great energies to the Bar and to political agitation, at that time closely linked with the legal profession. Sheil, however, did not abandon literary pursuits, but wrote a good deal for magazines and reviews. Several of the Sketches of the Irish Bar and Bench," in the New Monthly Magazine, were his, the rest being contributed by William Henry Curran, Esq., son of the great orator. In the Edinburgh Review, also, Sheil wrote several articles of considerable merit.

The beauties of Sheil's plays are so closely interwoven with the plot, that unless an entire scene were quoted, it would be difficult to convey an idea of his dramatic power. The Statue Scene in Evadne has always been considered most beautiful. A daughter clinging to the image of her father, and seeking even from the cold marble, protection against him to save whose life that father had died, and by her eloquence softening him who sought to do her wrong, is a fine emanation of poetic genius. There is a calm, melancholy beauty in the following lines, in which Vicentio contemplates Evadne, whom he untruly believes inconstant, and whom he is about to abandon. His regret that her beauty had survived her supposed falsehood to him gives rise to a conflict of feeling. It is, therefore, more in "sorrow than in anger," that he exclaims :

Let me peruse the face where loveliness
Stays, like the light after the Sun is set.
Sphered in the stillness of those heaven-blue eyes
The soul sits beautiful; the high white front
Smooth as the brow of Pallas, seems a temple
Sacred to holy thinking, and those lips
Wear the sweet smile of sleeping infancy,
They are so innocent. Ah, thou art still
The same soft creature, in whose lovely form
Virtue and beauty seemed as if they tried
Which should exceed the other.

The following lines from "The Apostate," sound like one of Sheil's bursts of eloquent indignation at the refusal of Catholic Emancipation.

Hemeya-Tell me, what can we do?
Maleo-What men can do

Who groan beneath the lash of tyranny
And feel the strength of madness.

Thy voice would be a trumpet in the mountains

That from their snow-crowned tops and hollow vales Would echo back the blast of liberty.

When Moore was entertained in Dublin in 1818, it fell to Sheil and Maturin to return thanks for "The Dramatic Talent of Ireland." Sheil's speech was highly poetical. After expressing his happiness at the consciousness that all his plays had for their object the denunciation of intolerance, he proceeds to sketch some of the principal Irish poets. The following passage respecting Goldsmith and Moore is very beautiful--" In Goldsmith we find the pensiveness of the evening, but in Moore, with the pensiveness of the evening, we behold its illumination. Moore's thoughts are like those beautiful little birds, described by Campbell, gleaming in a Transatlantic sunset; or, like those birds, to use the poet's comparison, they seem atoms of the rainbow. To Moore we are indebted not only for his own delicious music but also for the immortal poetry to which he has wedded the melodies of Ireland; for with the magic of Prospero, he has given a more substantial, but still celestial form to the spirit of sound."

But we must return to Sheil's sterner pursuits. At the Bar his practice as a Nisi Prius advocate became tolerably good, but as Protestants alone could be king's counsel, several barristers who were his juniors passed to the Inner Bar, and thereby had the privilege of acting as leading counsel. It thus happened that often in a case which he would have presented to the jury in a speech replete with eloquence, he was obliged to sit silent, while some member of the favoured creed, wearing a silk gown, feebly told his client's wrong. There were, it is true, many gifted Pro testant barristers, such as Plunkett, Bushe, Sawrin, and Burrowes; but it is admitted that from the cause to which we have referred, Sheil, O'Connell, and others suffered a great deal. Hence it appears from forensic history, that though they were engaged in many cases (and O'Connell at last in almost every case outside Chancery), the Bar speeches of the Catholic lawyers were comparatively few. It was the same cause which made them such adepts at cross-examination, as that often falls to junior counsel.

Sheil had not much political standing

room till 1823; for in the only public arena for an Irish Catholic, his adhesion to the Veto separated him for a long time from O'Connell. He married a Miss O'Halloran in 1815, who died some years afterwards, leaving him one son. He mixed in society with Curran, Grattan, Phillips, and other leading men of the time, and most of his attention was occupied with dramatic authorship, and some professional practice. On one occasion, in 1819, he ridiculed O'Connell in a public letter, but the reply was so caustic, that Sheil's chance of popularity was lessened, and he returned to his desk. "I'll go and finish my tragedy," was his expression, on prudently closing the controversy.

The year 1823 was a most important epoch in the history of these countries, for it was then that, merging all their differences, the Catholics of Ireland resolved on uniting to obtain their civil rights. There had for some time been no political organisation in Ireland. George IV. had been well received, and had counselled peace, but the hopes which were entertained that he would recommend from the Throne the removal of the Catholic disabilities were doomed to disappointment. Then came the famine of 1822, during which the people of England generously came forward with personal subscriptions to a large amount. With an improved social aspect came the formation of the National Society, for the purpose of seeking to obtain religious freedom and equality, and this society soon became well known as the "Catholic Association." The defect of the former societies was, that they were placed on too narrow a basis. O'Connell suggested to Sheil-for they had become friends at the house of a mutual acquaintaince, the plan, by means of which he would seek to combine all classes for the attainment of the desired object, by enrolling them in a vast national body. In order to meet the requisite outlay, a fund called "Catholic Rent" was collected, and the association-though it had commenced with only a few members, who were with difficulty got together soon began to attract the notice of Great Britain and the anxious attention of Government. It fell to Sheil to prepare the first petition to Parliament from the Association. The exact point respecting which the petition sought relief was as to the admi

nistration of justice, and the eloquent writer of the petition pointed out with much force the hardship of the people, where the magistracy not only differed in religion from the poorer classes, but in many cases felt a marked antipathy for those of whom they ought to have been the natural protectors. Mr. Brougham presented the petition in the House of Commons, and moved that it should be referred to one of the Committees. Mr. Secretary Peel opposed the motion, and concluded a lengthened speech by characterising the petition as being in the " declamatory style of condemned tragedy." In Ireland, where it was known that Sheil wrote the petition, the point respecting the authorship excited considerable ridicule against the Associa tion; but that body continued to increase in numbers and importance until 1825, when an act was passed for its suppression until 1828. There were, however, some openings left in the act, which enabled the members of the Association to carry on the agitation, by merely making some technical alterations in their mode of conducting business.

As we are neither writing the history of Ireland, nor (which was indeed the same thing at the period we treat of) the history of the Association, but only of such prominent matters as were personally interwoven with Sheil's career, we must hurry over a good deal of ground which presents points of much interest. Throughout the entire course of the agitation, Sheil held the second place before the country, and his fiery rhetoric often drew forth more enthusiastic applause than even O'Connell could elicit. His knowledge of French was also brought into requisition, and he wrote several articles in that language for L'Etoile, a journal published in Paris. Legal evidence on this point, however, could not be obtained, as a gentleman, named Hughes, a well-known member of the press, refused to prove the notes of the speech in which he admitted the authorship.

When the Duke of York died at the close of 1826-Sheil delivered one of his most beautiful speeches, but we must premise a few words. The Duke had, unfortunately, in the House of Lords, declared with an oath that should he reach the throne (and he was heir presumptive), he would never con

sent to Catholic emancipation. This declaration created a strong feeling of indignation against the Duke amongst the Catholics, and at a public dinner Sheil spoke of the Duke of York's supposed insanity in a manner which gave great offence to the Royal Family, and had the effect of excluding him from office till the death of William IV. Sheil often, in the most manly manner, expressed regret for this after-dinner gibe at infirmity, and took the opportunity of the Duke's death to deliver a speech in which he expressed the hope that all animosity against the dead enemy of Catholic freedom would cease. As a specimen of Sheil's serious style, we present it to the reader :

The pomp of death will for a few nights fill the gilded apartments in which the body of the Duke will lie in state. The artist will endeavour to avert that decay to which even princes are doomed, and embalm him with odours which may resist the cadaverous scent for a-while He will be laid in a winding-sheet, fringed with silver and with gold-he will be enclosed in rich and spicy wood, and his illustrious descent and withered hopes will be inscribed upon his glittering coffin. The bell of St. Paul will toll-London, rich, luxurious, Babylonic London, will start at the recollection that even Kings must die. The day of his solemn obsequies will arrive the gorgeous procession will go forth in its funeral glory; the ancient chapel of Windsor Castle will be thrown open, and its gothic aisle will be thronged with the array of Royalty the emblazoned windows will be illuminated the notes of holy melody will arise the beautiful service of the dead will be repeated by the heads of the Church, of which he will be the cold and senseless champion-the vaults of the dead will be unclosed-the nobles and the ladies, and the high priests of the land will look down into those deep depositories of the pride, and the vanity, and the ambition of the world. They will behold the heir to the greatest empire of the world taking possession, not of that palace which was raised at such enormous and unavailing cost, but of that house which lasts till doomsday.' The coffin will go sadly and slowly down; they will hear it as its ponderous mass strikes on the remains of its Royal kindred; the chant will be resumed-a moment's awful

pause will take place-the marble vault of which one but the Archangel shall disturb the slumbers will be closed-the songs of death will cease-the procession will wind through the aisles again and restore them to their loneliness. The torches will fade in the open daylightthe multitude of the great, who will have attended the ceremony, will gradually disperse; they will roll again in their gilded chariots into the din and tumult of the great metropolis; the business and all the frivolities of life will be resumed, and the heir to three kingdoms will be in a week forgotten. We, too, will forget; but before we forget, let us forgive."

A prosecution was commenced against Sheil about this time for a speech on the "Memoirs of Wolfe Tone," then recently published. Sheil, in speaking at the Association of this work, pointed out some passages as a lesson to Government against repeating the disregard of popular feeling, such as was displayed in 1794-5-6, with the awful results in 1798. This was taken as a threat, and Sheil was prosecuted; but when Lord Liverpool died (27th February, 1827), and Canning became Prime Minister, the prosecution was abandoned. order to give Canning time to make such arrangements as might lead to the settlement of the Catholic question, the agitation was suspended for a while, it being known that the Prime Minister was personally in favour of concession. But the death of that distinguished statesman soon put an end to these hopes, and the Association resumed its labours.

In

The Duke of Wellington having, after the short-lived Goderich Adminis tration, succeeded to power in January, 1828, on principles hostile to the granting of the Catholic claims, the Association resolved to oppose the supporters of his Administration; and in the following summer they carried this resolution into execution at the Clare election, where they returned O'Connell (for a Catholic could be elected, though it was decided that he could not sit), against Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, after one of the most memorable contests on record. Sheil was most active at the election, of which he has left a very graphic account. The reader is aware that the Catholic question was settled soon afterwards, and the Association was dissolved, on the motion of Sheil,