That Sydney Taylor's distinction as a member of this society must have been early and considerable, is clear from the fact that he was selected for the arduous and honourable duty of closing the session of 1813. His speech was regarded as one of very great promise; and very competent judges thought it worthy of high commendation-amongst them, the late Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Magee, who was felt in our college as every deserving man's friend, and who never was wanting in a cordial and generous appreciation of youthful talent, wherever it was to be found.

We extract a few passages from Mr. Sydney Taylor's address, as well for the purpose of showing the texture and polish of his mind at this period, as for the contrast which they will furnish to efforts made in later life, when his imagination had been schooled and disciplined into strict subordination to his reason:

"To lament my inability might be to reflect on your judgment; and at 'the same time, to be devoid of apprehension would be to misconceive 'your usual indulgence: however justly the task may have been allotted 'by the one, it is my chief support that it will not be unaccompanied by 'the other; but an appeal to your feelings must surely be unnecessary, on an occasion which their kindest influence has tended to create.

'You are now, gentlemen, about to retire from this residence of the 'Muses, to close the doors of this seminary of polite learning, this theatre ' of enlightened competition; to reflect upon the past, to meditate upon the 'future, and gather renovation from temporary repose. To me has your ' flattering patronage entrusted the honourable, but highly arduous task of displaying, for your admiration, the various beauties of your system; inculcating the advantages it necessarily affords; showing how its objects have promoted the glory and the happiness of man, and how magni'ficent their claims on the genius and youthful assiduity of the members of this society. And here permit me to congratulate your country on the ⚫ establishment, and successful progress of so splendid an institution; an • institution which, for diffusing the spirit of genuine refinement, for touching the various springs of emulative industry, and schooling the youthful mind, preparatory to its entry on the world, stands conspicuously 'alone-the admiration of strangers—the ornament of the university-the 'growth of Ireland-indebted for its origin to no royal munificence, to no

'general bounty; but emanating simply from the spirit of unpatronised 'exertion, of indigenous ability, towering brighter from every depression, ' and deriving permanent support from the establishment of a character, 'which is daily becoming incorporate with whatever of eloquence, wisdom, 'and glory, inherit the land.

'Do I deceive myself? or does your success justify me in imagining the 'annalist of future days, of happier times, when he thinks your country's C name worthy of enrolment in the records of the nations, and when, direct'ing his eye through a train of glories, he traces her emergence from the 'gloom of centuries-do I deceive myself in imagining, that when he com'pares her spirit with her indolence, her wisdom with her indiscretion-when ' he shall investigate the cause of her disenchantment from habitual obloquy ' and inaction, that he will follow the noblest of her citizens, her orators, ' and her statesmen, to one point of brilliant convergence, and pen in letters ' of undying commendation the name of the Historical Society?'

Having enlarged with all a poet's enthusiasm upon the various uses of history, he thus proceeds—

'History, then, properly understood, taken in the scope of its intention, is the great stimulant of genius, and its directress too; 'tis the mart of instruction that receives the tribute of knowledge from every shore, and 'diffuses it throughout the globe. 'Tis wisdom's temple-the oracle of ' earth, raised on an eminence that commands the world. But merely to ascertain events, to crowd the memory with incident, to acquire a ready 'application of date, and a clear and connected idea of mere connective ' arrangement,-this is not to know history; this is not to wear the attribute of her votary; and he who inquires into actions without deriving expe'rience, he who burthens his memory without improving his mind, does 'he not in some measure act like one who, entering the magnificent tem'ple of the East, could investigate the accuracy of its dimensions, admire 'the symmetry of its parts, the elegance of its embellishments, but-blind 'to the glory between the cherubim,-retire without worshipping its God? To the eye of curiosity history is a trifling acquirement; its study is a useless expenditure of time; for so futile a purpose the pain and ' research of the compiler is needless and unprofitable; the easier resources of fiction will be quite as amusing, as varied, and as intelligent; 'they will give you a story as remarkable, as wondrous a catastrophe, and wind you up to as high a pitch of anxious anticipation. But he who approaches the instructive volume to render its perusal truly advantage6 ous, according to his station and hopes in life, so will he mark the career ' of those whom history, under similar circumstances and relations, places ' within his view; how far they have succeeded, and why they have failed, -let this be the object of his attention; so from their errors shall he

6

escape their embarrassment, from their virtues he shall attain their cele'brity, and prove it a blessing that he was bequeathed their experience. 'There let the votary of ambition peruse and tremble, when he beholds 'the noble-minded, the generous, the highly-cultivated prince,—who 'scorned to steal a victory, to abuse a fallen foe, or trust his for'titude with forbidden beauty-whom philosophy enlightened, poetry 'inspired, and whom the converse of the learned only could seduce from 'the labours of toilsome administration and heroic enterprise,-when he 'beholds him, by the indulgence of this baneful passion, struck, as it were, 'from the real orbit of his glory,-sent to flash in lawless eccentricity 'through the hemisphere of states,-withering in his course and cursed in 'his departure! There, too, the statesman will learn-however he may be ' endowed with talents, however the community may have enjoyed their 'services and exulted in their success-not to lean without apprehension 'on a nation's gratitude and a people's support. He will be taught to stand 'self-balanced and independent of all vicissitude of opinion, its favours and its repulse, when he beholds a Themistocles, whose wisdom beamed ' on the hour of his country's despair the glow of sudden invigoration and 'the light of immortal enterprise, and whose prowess scattered before the 'insulted independence of Athens the strength and magnificence of ‘gigantic aggression ;-when he beholds this man, while yet his applause 'circulates through every state of the Grecian confederacy,- while his 'honours seem to grow lasting and exuberant, alarmed at the voice of chilling suspicion, of envious malignity, that checks the admiring crowd, ' and gives a deadly pause to the bursts of admiration. Yes-sudden and 'capricious was the influence that struck the illustrious man, from whom 'sinking freedom caught a sword of fire, into the base, the profligate 'adorer of her sceptred foe,--that dashed the strength of Greece on the 'threshold of Artaxerxes. What chieftain, too, whom his country's voice 'may have called to redress her wrongs, and sent, with genius on his brow, ' and justice on his sword, to victory and revenge, after contemplating the 'fortunes and the fate of a Hannibal, would be tempted to fix the stability of 'his glory and the precincts of his conquests, before the final close of his ' military career? There he beholds a warrior, of native prowess unequalled, ' of experience early matured,—instigated by all the sensibilities of national 'suffering and hereditary hatred,—in the spirit of proud and unaccustomed 'genius flinging aside the petty encounters of indecisive warfare, and, full ' of unusual enterprise, rushing upon achievements that would verify the 'fabled exploits of an Alcides :-he sees him exploring regions heretofore 'terrific to the gaze of man, piercing the conflicts of the elements and the 'barriers of nature, till, with hostile banners displayed, he comes down ' upon Italy, he brings the war, and strikes as a god his enemies before 'him! But after striding over her armies, do her gates fly open at his

b

'approach? Is the work of vengeance consummated and Rome in flames ? 'Mark that shivering suppliant, solitary and unregarded,-who throws his 'manly forehead on the earth,-who watches the proud man's glance, and ' wears on his aged limbs the fetters of Asiatic degradation ;-there recog'nise the surmounter of Alps, the thunderbolt of battle, the glory of one half of the world, and the terror of the other!'

Such was Sydney Taylor in the Historical Society. That institution is now no more; and some of us who remember how it worked, in giving a tongue to eloquence, and a soul to poetry, and to historical studies a spirit of enlightened philosophical inquiry, may be pardoned for the deep regrets which we feel, that its admirable machinery no longer exists to afford to our academic youth at the present day similar advantages. For no society which could be formed without the walls, can possibly be a substitute for one which had grown through more than half a century under the shelter of academic bowers, and was associated with the names of the greatest men by whom Ireland was distinguished. There was a prestige about it that shed its influence upon all its members, imparting an ennobling consciousness that—to be enrolled upon its bookswas in itself a distinction of which they might feel not a little proud. And there was secured, from its position in the very heart of the University, a character of audience such as no where else could be found, and which must have exercised an important influence over the minds of the young men who were candidates for society honours, in forming their taste and improving their judgment. For not alone the aspirants for active public life, who looked forward to the bar or the senate as the scenes of their future exertions, constituted the auditory by whom the proceedings in our society were observed. The laborious fellowship man, whose faculties had been at their utmost strain, in following out the investigations of Newton or La Place, generally looked forward to Wednesday evening, as the time when he might profitably unbend from his studies,

and enjoy the delightful relaxation of listening to the wit, or the eloquence, or the poesy, which was sure to be found in the Historical Society.† How often have we seen Romney Robinson taking his seat upon our benches, and listening with a fervid and breathless attention to the first efforts of some young aspirant for oratorical reputation! How often have we seen the late Dr. Phelan there, enlivening by his wit, or directing by his counsel, the happy groups amongst whom he mingled! The fellows and the professors were frequent in their attendance, and the present provost, Dr. Sadleir, was among the most constant of those, who thus evinced the lively interest which they took in the well-being of the institution. In other societies, when the member has derived all the profit he can from them, he breaks his way out like a bird from the shell, that never evinces a disposition to return to the narrow enclosure in which it was formed; but in our society, it was the delight of the most successful of those who had profited by its advantages, to return among us after intervals of active public life, with a sentiment somewhat similar to that with which a long absent child returns to the home of a beloved parent.

The late John Henry North, whose forensic reputation was even then very high, still at intervals frequented the society, and found in the scene of his early distinction, the choicest recreation of his laborious life. More frequent in his attendance, because a constant resident in the university, was his contemporary, William Orr Hamilton. He was, indeed, an extraordinary man. His intellect was a rich and exhaustless mine of unwrought ore. Hercules Henry Greaves-Bingham

[The greater part of the above memoir was originally penned for this volume: but the author, who had been an intimate friend and fellow-student of Mr. Sydney Taylor, in Trinity College, Dublin, considered it advisable to let that portion appear also in the Dublin University Magazine. To this circumstance it is owing that these very interesting details were introduced in connexion with the Historical Society, which, though not strictly belonging to the biographical narrative, it has been deemed best to retain. ED.]