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near a month, and during one week it was with difficulty that five pérfons reftrained him by mere force from pulling out his own eyes. Upon the fubfiding of thefe tumours, he knew thofe about him, and appeared fo far to have recovered his understanding and temper, that there were hopes he might once more enjoy fociety. Thefe hopes, however, were but of fhort duration; for, a few days after, he funk into a flate of total infenfibility, lept much, and cou'd not, without great difficulty, be prevailed on to walk acrófs the room. This was the effect of another bodily disease, his brain being loaded with water. Mr. Stevens, an ingenious clergy. man of Dublin, pronounced this to be the cafe during his illness; and upon opering his body, it appeared that he was not mistaken. After the dean had continued filent a whole year, in this ftate of help lefs idiotifm, his housekeeper went into his room on the 30th of November in the morning, and told him, it was his birthday, and that bonfires and illuminations were preparing to celebrate it as ufual; to which he immediately replied, "It is all folly, they had better let it alone." Some other inftances of fhort intervals of fenfibility and reason, after his madness ended in ftupor, seem to prove, that his diforder, whatever it was, had not deftroyed, but only fufpended the powers of his mind. In 1744, he now and then called his fervant by name; and once at tempting to fpeak to him, but not being able to exprefs his meaning, he fhewed figns of much unealinefs, and at laft faid, "I am a fool." Once afterwards, as his fervant was taking away his watch, he faid, "bring it here;" and when the fame fervant was breaking a large hard coal, he faid, "That is a ftone, you blockhead.". From this time he was perfectly filent, till the latter end of October, 1745, and then died, without the leaft pang or convulfion, in the 78th year of his age.

His works, which are greatly admired, have been often printed, and in various forms; and from them it is eafy to collect his character: yet we fhall mention fome particulars relating to his converfation and private economy. He had à rule never to speak more than a minute at a time, and then wait for others to take up the converfation. He greatly excelled in punning, and used to fay, that none defpifed this talent, but those who were not poffeffed of it. He alfo excelled in telling a ftory, but in the latter part of his life ufed to tell them too often: he never dealt in the double entendre, or pro

faneness upon facred fubjects. He loved to have ladies in the company, because it preferved, he said, the delicacy of converfation. He kept his friends in fome degree of awe, yet was more open to admonition than to flattery. Though be appeared churlish and auftere to his fervants, yet he was in reality a moit kind and generous matter, and very charitable to the poor. In the mean time it must be owned, that there was not any great foftness or sympathy in his nature; although, perhaps, not quite so much mif. anthropy as appears in his writings: and all allow, that he grew covetous as he advanced in years. As an ecclefiaftic, be was fcrupulously exact in the exercife of his function, as well with regard to spiritual as temporal affairs. His manner was free from ceremony, but not ruftic; for he had a perfect knowledge of all the modes and variations of politeness, though he practised them in a manner peculiar to himself. He was naturally temperate, chatte, and frugal; and, being also highfpirited, and confidering wealth as the pledge of independence, it is not ftrange that his frugality fhould verge towards avarice.

As to his political principles, if his own account may be taken, he abhorred whig. gifm only in thofe, who made it confift in damning the church, reviling the clergy, abetting the diffenters, and speaking contemptuously of revealed religion. He always declared himseif against a popish fucceffor to the crown, whatever title be might have by proximity of blood; nor did he regard the right line upon any other account, than as it was established by law, and had much weight in the opinions of the people. That he was not at any time a bigot to party, nor indifcriminately transferred his refentments from principles to perfons, was fo evident by his conduct, that he was often rallied by the minifters, for never coming to them without a whig in his sleeve; and though he does not appear to have asked any thing for himself, yet he often preffed the earl of Oxford in favour of Mr. Addifon, Mr. Congreve, Mr. Rowe, and. Mr. Steele.He frequently conversed with all these, chufing his friends by their perfonal merit, without any regard to their political principles.

By his will, which is dated in May 1740, juft before he ceased to be a rea fonable being, he left about 1200l. in legacies, and the rest of his fortune, which amounted to about 11,000l. to erect and endow an hofpital for idiots and lunatics. He was buried in St. Patrick's cathedral,

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Miss Obr_n

Miss

The hibernian Orator.

Publish'd as the Act directs by T.WALKER No79 Dame Street .

inder a ftone of black marble, infcribed determines the fentence. Their fubjects

with the following Latin epitaph, written by himself:

"Hic depofitum eft corpus Jonathan Swift, S. T. P. Hujus ecclefiæ cathedralis decani, Ubi fæva indignatio ulterius cor lacerare nequit.

Abi, viator, et imitare,

Si poteris,

Strenuum pro virili libertatis vindicatorem. Obiit, &c."

(To be continued.) ̧

Hiftories of the Tete-a-Tete annexed: or, Memoirs of the Hibernian Orator and Mifs O'B-n.

OUR

UR readers need not be surprised at our introducing to them a gentleman of the kingdom of Ireland, as a hero worthy of the favour and partiality of the fair fex: the natives of that kingdom have been long diftinguished for their attachment to the ladies, who have, perhaps, more peculiarly distinguished themselves, than thofe of any other clime, as deferv. ing the partiality of the fair fex. The Hibernian Orator has a still greater claim to their attention, not only as a celebrated fpeaker in his legislative capacity, but as a real patriot upon every occafion, when the true interest of his country has been concerned.

Our hero is defcended from an ancient, though not a noble family his father was a barriller at law, and diftinguifhed himself more by his integrity to his clients than by his thining abilities; and upon his tomb ftone might with full as much propriéty, as upon that in Pancras churchyard, be infcribed, "Here lies one honeft lawyer." On his mother's fide, he feems to have inherited wit, fancy, and imagination fhe was fifter to a certain facetious dean, whofe company was conftantly folicited by lord Townshend, when he was lord lieutenant, and to whofe patronage, he, in a great degree, was indebted for his promotion.

The Hibernian Orator, when a fellowcommoner in the university of Dublin, peculiarly fignalized himself at the public examinations, where he conftantly obtained the premiums, though fome of the greatest geniuses of this age, and that country, were his competitors. Let this not be confidered as a trifling acquifition; for though, in fome univerfities, thefe examinations are mere matters of form, this is far from being the cafe of that of Dublin, where the moft rigid attention is paid to the candidate, and his merit alone

are not confined, as they extend to all the fciences, polity, and the belles lettres, of which our hero was equally mafter. In the early part of his life he proposed taking orders; but was diffuaded from this purfuit by his friends; and coming over to England, he entered a student of the Middle Temple.

We may reasonably suppose a young gentleman in the prime of life, with vivacity, tafte, and wit, could not be entirely infenfible to the attractions of the fair fex. At this time Kitty Fisher gave the ton to all the Thais's of rank and confequence, and the demi-reps of a more elevated ftyle, thought her a proper model of gufto and elegance. Moving in fuch a fphere, it was thought an honour, by all the beaux garçons of that period, to be enrolled amongst the lift of her admirers. It was jocularly faid, the was fupported by the fubfcriptions of the Jockey Club; this much is certain, the ran for many a plate, and never failed to make fare of the fweepstakes.

Qur hero was no fportfman, though he came from the fod; but no man played deeper in the lottery of gallantry, and confidering Kitty as the Groflot of comeatables, he purchased several chances, which were not then efteemed illegal, and he more than once drew the happy number. To fpeak literally, Kitty Fisher particularly diftinguished him, not fo much for an athletic form, to which he had no pretenfions, as his agreeable, facetious, and lively converfation.

He was in company with her at Marybone-Gardens, when Captain H-, brother to Lord B-, in a state of inebriation, made a cavalier addrefs to Kitty, which was properly refented. The Hibernian Orator was, in effect, her privy counsellor, whofe advice the confulted upon every important occafion, and who had oppor tunities of perufing fome of the most ridiculous billets-doux that ever were penned. As a fpecimen, we present the reader with the following, from a late noble lord, then high in office.

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Let it not, however, be imagined that our hero's time was totally ingroffed in the fervice of Kitty Fifher; for, befides his connections in a higher line of female gallantry, in which might be reckoned Lady H, Mrs. A-s, &c. his thoughts were chiefly employed in the purfuit of his ftudies in jurifprudence, in which he fhortly made a very great progrefs, as his pleadings at the Irifh bar may evince.

The late confpicuous figure he has made as a fenator, is fo well known, that it were needlefs to dwell upon it: fuffice it to fay, that the effential fervices he has done his country has juftly entitled him to the great honours that have been conferred upon him. The numerous addreffes he received from counties, boroughs, and corporations, would fufficiently pro-, claim his uncommon zeal for the honour and profperity of Ireland, if even the gentlemen of the bar had not refolved to erect a statue to perpetuate his memory, which he modeftly declined; or if the parliament, taking his fervices into confideration, had not voted, as they have actually done, fifty thousand pounds, to purchase a heufe and lands for him and his heirs for ever.

This outline of the character of fo exalted a patriot would ftrike every intelli gent reader, without the fubjoined portrait, taken from the painting of a celebrated mafier. Nevertheless, during his abfence from Ireland, his fame has been

attacked as well in the capacity of a politician as a patriot, but

Envy doth merit, like its fhade purfue; And, as a thadow, proves the fubitance true.

Every man is not born a Chatham; few men have the fame opportunities, even fuppofing them poffeffed of them, to difplay fuch exalted talents; but it is in almoft every man's power, especially if he be a fenator, to approve himself a good citizen. Such has been the line of conduct our hero has chalked out for him felf, and invariably pursued.

It is generally believed that our hero has been offered an Irish peerage; and it is equally confidently reported, that he refufed it, faying," he could be of more "real service to his country as a com"moner, than the D- of L- as the "firft lord in Ireland." His ambition feems entirely concentered in being good, not being great: he looks with contempt on coronets and ermine, unless they derive a lustre and confequence from the object they crown and mantle. He has often been heard to say,

Merit in rags, I would efteem; And tho' in purple-still a villain deen. neceffary prelude to his prefent attach This sketch of our hero's public life i ment, which, as faithful biographers, w; ¦ fhall now enter upon.

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is a young lady of rank and fortune, who Mifs O'B-n, the heroine of these pages, has figured at the Caftle, and been di cles of Dublin. Her father was a mer tinguished in all the gay and elegant cir chant of opulence at Cork, and carried rupture with America. Since that period on an extenfive trade before the prefent he retired from bufinefs, and repaired to the capital, to enjoy a life of convivial of ambitious princes, or more ambition ferenity, undisturbed by the machination minifters. He glided down the vale di life with philofophic tranquility, and left his only daughter in possession of, at least, ten thousand pounds.

vince the reader, without adverting to This circumstance alone might con the elegance of her perfon, or her mental accomplishments, that he had many futors; but her ideas foared above common candidates for her hand. Mifs O'B-n's deas of mere fenfuality. She rofe fupe refined fentiments difcarded all grofs irior to common prejudices, and among thefe the confidered all facerdotal cere

monies.

With thefe philofophic notions, warthy of a Plato, or a Socrates, the rejected many offers that women in a fuperior rank of life, would have thought perfedly eligible. She fought for the man after her own heart, whose sentiments and ideas were congenial with those the cherished.-Parfons, lawyers, and martinets, were by turns difmiffed. Coronets fell at her feet, and were defpifed. She trampled upon imaginary honours, the bubbles of a name.

The Hibernian Orator met the Sparkler, for fo we may call her, after Addison't baptifm upon a fimilar occafion, at a pe riod that the had just discharged a captain of dragoons for being too great a femalemartinet, broke a commodore for going beyond her inftructions, and stript a dean's gown over his ears for preaching religion over-much. Their first interview was whimsical, though interefting; the con verfation turned upon matrimony and adultery; the first created a decifive fmile, the latter was truly laughable. "Indeed,

Mifs, faid he, you are the first female "I ever met with fo ingenuous; you "deferve fomething better than a huf

band, because you contemn the parade "of not fidelity but infidelity-permit me,

madam,

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