rendered the barren waste verdant, and had planted some of the loftiest hills in Westmoreland with trees of all kinds, both evergreen and deciduous. In 1813, his health began to decline in a very rapid manner; but although his mental faculties remained unimpaired, his Lordship, remembering the admonition of Gil Blas, and the conduct of the Archbishop of Toledo, carefully abstained from all literary compositions whatever. At length he expired on the 4th of July, 1816, in the 79th year of his age; leaving the manuscript of this work behind him for publication, all of which, but eleven lines, appears to have been either written or approved of by himself. No. V. MEMOIRS OF THE LEGAL, LITERARY, AND POLITICAL LIFE - By WILLIAM THE author, the place of whose nativity is plainly designated by his name, very justly and feelingly laments, "that of a country so renowned for a continued succession of illustrious men, fewer monuments are preserved in Ireland than in any other nation. History has scarcely condescended "adds he” to give them a place. The traits which have outlived its great actors are scanty, scattered, and meagre: the patriotism of literature, which elevates the character of a people, has devoted little of its labours to this department. "What records have we of those who flourished for the last fifty years, the most memorable period of our history? Where then, in what archives are deposited the monuments of our illustrious dead? Where, but in Lodge's Peerage, are to be found any traces of Anthony Malone, of Lord Perry, or of our late Demosthenes, Lord Avonmore? Where are their works, their words, and their actions preserved? In fugitive pieces of the day, or in the perishable and perishing journal of a blue-paper report: they are nearly gone. A Flood, with all his Pindaric fire; a Burgh, whose tongue was persuasion; and the long roll of great names, are nearly now no more. 'Omnes hi ignotis periere mortibus.' "Have Mr. Grattan, Mr. Plunket, Mr. Saurin, Mr. Bushe, no concern in their immortality? Is there one eminent man in Scotland whose history is not blazoned forth, from a Hume to a Burns? What a rich harvest have they not reaped from the toil of that affecting ploughman! In Scotland they have hoarded every thing, whilst our abundant materials are neglected, like the fruits which blossom, ripen, and decay on the bosom of that generous soil which produces them in such exuberance and profusion." We learn from Mr. O'Regan, that Mr. Curran was of an English stock; that one of his progenitors had come from Cumberland, and was induced to settle in Ireland, under the protection of the family of Allworths, who acquired large estates near Newmarket, on the fall of the Desmonds. His paternal ancestors were called Curwen, and his mother's name was Philpot; the latter descended from an ancient and still respectable Irish family. Like the author of the article in the present volume*, Mr. O'Regan informs us, that his father was in a very humble station; and that he himself was entirely indebted to his own talents for his rise in life. He ranks him very high indeed in the scale of genius and of acquirements; and although we are not disposed to dispute his testimony, yet some there are who may prove more sparing of their praise. The limits of our work will only allow of the following short extract: "The humour of Horace is always agreeable; but Mr. Curran has much more wit, and, as a satirist, is equally pleasant. As severe as Juvenal, he is at once the comic and the tragic satirist; and when he comes to lash vice, his sentiments are manly and elevated. In cross-examining an old clergyman whose evasions of truth were disgraceful to him, he closed with this question: Doctor, when you last put your spectacles in the Bible, give me leave to ask you, did you close it on the passage which says, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour ?" * See A Memoir of the Life of the Right Hon. John Philpot Curran. No. VI. MEMOIRS OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE OF THE RIGHT HON. R. B. SHERIDAN, WITH A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF HIS FAMILY AND CONNECTIONS. BY JOHN WATKINS, LL.D., 2d Edition, 2 Vols. THE first volume of this work has already been noticed, (See vol. i. p. 567). The present commences with an account of the lamented illness of His Majesty; the impatience of the opposition, and the recall of Mr. Fox, their champion, from the continent, where he was employed in revisiting Italy, and recalling to his memory, the early scenes of his youthful travels. Mr. Sheridan, on this occasion, assumed a very conspicuous part: "he represented Mr. Pitt as acting in a spirit of personal enmity to the Prince; and he concluded a desultory speech full of point and invective, with asking whether any person would advise his Royal Highness to say, "I accept the regency under the limitations you propose, which I think are improper, and which I hope parliament will annul?" The convalescence of the King put an end to all further discussion on this delicate business; but the subject of these memoirs now engaged in a singular contest with Mr. Rolle, and nearly about the same time, exhibited an extraordinary instance both of his learning and memory, by correcting a Greek passage quoted by Lord Belgrave. Soon after this, we find Mr. Sheridan once more entering into certain financial disputes with Mr. Pitt, relative to the state of the public revenue, in the course of which, the former contended against the possibility of lessening the national debt, without a considerable increase of the annual income, or a great reduction of the annual expenses. He, however, thought proper to protest against a new measure proposed by the pre mier, which had for its object, to subject the manufacture of tobacco to the excise laws. He, at the same time, objected to an additional tax on newspapers. So great, indeed, was Mr. Sheridan's fame, at the present moment, as a parliamentary orator, that, although not a native of Scotland, he was now selected to present numerous petitions for the reform of the royal burghs. On the commencement of the French Revolution, the member for Stafford made an unqualified declaration, relative to the right of that and every nation to reform its own constitution. This produced a dispute with Mr. Burke, and a consequent separation in politics and friendship between these two extraordinary men. The particulars are here fully stated. After recounting a variety of public occurrences in which Mr. Sheridan was engaged, Dr. Watkins proceeds to take a review of his private affairs at this moment. Drury-Lane was now in such a dilapidated condition, that it was necessary to pull down this old theatre. A new building on a grand and extensive scale, was soon after erected, and heavy expenses incurred by the want of foresight." This event was followed by the loss of Mrs. Sheridan, by whom he had two children, a son who has died lately, and a daughter, who was cut off "in a state of infancy, while under the fostering care of Mrs. Canning, the esteemed friend of her departed parent, and the mother of the celebrated orator and statesman." دو "In her person, Mrs. Sheridan," we are told, "was a model of perfect symmetry; her form light and airy, yet graceful and dignified; with features cast in nature's finest mould, and uncommonly expressive, when brightened up in conversation, or in singing; though, at other times, there was a languishing sweetness spread over her fine oval countenance, which appeared to indicate either personal care, or internal decay." On returning again to politics, we find the member for Stafford engaging in fresh disputes with Mr. Pitt relative to the public revenues; opposing the armament against Russia; reprobating the new system of police for Westminster ; taking an active part in conjunction with the society, called the "the Friends of the |