No. 33.

Or, The Chieftain's Weekly Gazette.

PRIVATE MEMOIRS OF
CAPTAIN ROCK.

CHAPTER XXV.

TIM O'LEARY'S MISFORTUNES.

therefore, applied to; and, as length the assizes drew near, and usual, he promised success at a very the old stocking was no longer a trilling expense. Subpoenas were Fortunatus's purse-for it held to be served-and these cost some-nothing. Clonmel is not a place thing. Briefs were to be drawn where people can live on the air; WHILE my companions and my-up-and this could not be done and, as Mrs. Leary had to remain self continued our unsettled mode without money. Five pounds thus in town for some days, she was of life, poor Tim O'Leary con- followed five pounds, until Mrs. obliged to sell a new milch cow to tinued an inmate of Clonmel gaol. O'Leary had parted with fifty of meet the necessary expences. The subsequent misfortunes of this her yellow guineas. She thought industrious man will show the now that her husband was safe peculiar advantages of a resident but she was mistaken. Counsel aristocracy. was still to be feed.

able to cope with them, I think we
should have three counsellors at
least for the defence.'

6 Certainly,' replied Mrs.
O'Leary, delighted with the inte.
rest Mr. Corcoran took in the
affair.

When Tim was so cruelly drag- "We must have Curran,' says atged from his home and family, on torney Corcoran, and one or two suspicion of having fired at Major more. The crown lawyers will all White, he possessed a cool hun-be against us; and, in order to be dred' which, for security, was enveloped in an old stocking, and deposited in the thatch of his house. This was a secret to which his wife only was privy; and, when Tim's eharacter was so unexpectedly endangered, the good woman had no hesitation in drawing on this 'savings' for the purpose of establishing his defence. Long before the assizes it was currently reported that White was prepared with such a chain of circumstantial evi. dence, as would transport poor Tim; for Lord Ellenborough's act, which makes malicious firing criminal, was not then in force. My father, who was generally consulted by the neighbours when under any difficulty, recommended Mrs. O'Leary to fee lawyers. He knew that an alibi could be readily established; but then this line of defence is always dangerous, and seldom successful. An able counsellor is much better than an unenlightened witness; for that conspiracy must be well hatched in deed, which an artful cross-examination will not develope.

Tim's friends re-echoed the counsel of old Captain Rock; for, nothing can exceed the confidence of the Irish peasantry in the skill of a lawyer. An attorney was,

'Well then,' said the attorney, I must have thirty guineas more.' Mrs. O'Leary was staggeredbut what was she to do? To refuse Mr. Corcoran was at once to offend him, and endanger her husband: she several times pleaded poverty and the hardship of her case. The attorney affected to feel for her; and lamented that feeing counsel was so expensive. Once more he assured her that his own charges would be trifling, and thus contrived to extract the thirty guineas from Tim's old stocking. In addition to the attorney, Mrs. O'Leary had other cormorants to satisfy; her hand, as she used to say herself, was never out of her pocket; and, whenever she visited her husband, she had numberless gaolers and turnkeys to fee ere she could obtain admission.* At

*The reader is requested to keep in mind, that this was forty years ago; when a Protestant government contrived to make terrestrial purgatories of Irish gaols. They are no longer what they were.

On the day of trial I contrived to be present in court. The clothes of an old man were a sufficient disguise; for, even Tim himself, as he looked around, could not recognise me. I leaned up against the dock, and was never less disposed to reverence the laws, than when I heard the clerk of the crown read the long indictment which ́attributed so much crime and baseness to a man whom I knew to be innocent. My feelings were peculiarly painful: O'Leary might be found guilty; and, if transported, to me, in some measure, his misfortunes were attributable. The first witness identified Tim as the man who fired the shot; and I had nearly lost all hopes of justice, when Curran stood up to cross-examine the fellow who swore so positively. It was the first time I had an opportunity of seeing an advocate whose defence, a few years before, of a Catholic priest, had procured him so much well merited popularity. His appearance had nothing dignified in it: his dress was what might be called shabby; and his countenance, with the exception of his eye, was most repulsive. These defects, however, were overlooked and forgotten, when you listened to him for a few minutes; and, on this occasion, it was impossible not to admire the

ments.

clo.

temptible creatures think quence. He dwelt on the situa tion of her father-hinted at his probable death if he was not removed from prison-and called upon her, if she valued his life and the good of her family, to fly into the arms of an ardent tover, who would enrich her parents, and make a lady of herself. Lucy handed me the letter, and desired that I would answer it. I did sobut in a way of my own. I collected a few friends, and one evenMrs.ing, while the major was entertaining some bon vivants, I entered the parlour-read aloud his amorous epistle-and then made him eat the paper on which it was written. Having done this, I and my companions departed.

Before Tim was discharged, how- Court followed. The amount of crer, additional fees were to be the tithe was awarded, of course; paid; and, on his arrival at home and, instead of the disputed ten that day, he was minus an hundred pounds, poor Tim had to pay just guineas and a new milch cow. fifty. Ruin now stared him in the Considerable as this sum was to a face: his cattle were driven to man who held only thirty acres of pound-sold by auction after being land, it weighed not an instant half starved-and bought by against the happiness he felt on Cousins himself, for one-fourth of being restored to his family. Lucy their value. Unsubdued by miswas at home to receive her father; fortune, O'Leary was beginning to and, when I thought the first trans- recover from these calamities, when ports at meeting were over, I made attorney Corcoran sent in his bill my appearance. I always thought for forty pounds! This was that mankind were predisposed to quite unexpected; for be happy on this evening we mu- O'Leary thought that she had tually agreed to forget the past, satisfied the lawyer long since.and think of nothing but the pre- Here, however, were items in sent. Several neighbours called in abundance for her money; and to welcome O'Leary home, and we who could dispute a lawyer's bill all spent a night, which I still re- of costs? There was nothing to member, for its heartfelt enjoy-be done but promise of payment. Tim gave his bond; and, in two months, he was lodged in gaol in default of payment. Our humane laws at this time let the unfortunate debtor rot in prison; and poor O'Leary-now deprived of the means of making money-had little hopes of ever being liberated. A year's rent was now coming due, and but little prospect of his being able to pay it. The major, however, had not been pressing for the money; and Tim was not a little surprised to receive a visit from his agent. The purport of it, however, was not of a nature to console a troubled spirit. Ilis laudlord required the prostitution of his child as the price of forbearance; and, poor and heart-broken as Tim was, he spurned the proposal with a virtuous indignation. The agitation and anxiety which followed brought on illness; and, in a few days, symptoms of the dreaded gaol-fever made its appearance.

Tim was one of those men who are industrious from habit. Scarcely had he spent a day at home when he renewed his agricultural em. ployments; and few men in the country ploughed and sowed to better purpose. His harvest this year was a most promising one; and, while it waved in all the luxuriance of ripening yellow, Molony, the tithe-proctor, and his son, made their appearance. As usual, they walked round each field for the purpose of appraising the crop, previous to settling the amount which fell to parson Cousins, who had now settled in the country. Tim had one guinea left, and that one he slipped into Molony's hand; a wink of promise was his only receipt; and he indulged in the hope that his tithe this season would not exceed that of former years; he was mistaken. On attending at a vestry in a few weeks after, he was surprised to find that his tithe was doubled! He remonstrated, and was told to pag it in kind. To this he consented; but omitted to serve the proper notice, consequently, every tenth sheaf and tenth potatoe which he laid by for the parson, perished on the ground. A citation to the Bishop's

The sufferings of a human being, instead of exciting pity or regret in the breast of White, seemed only to stimulate his hellish endeavours of triumphing over the virtue of a pious and innocent girl. He wrote Lucy a letter filled with all the fulsome nonsense which such con.

The ridicule which this transaction brought on the major forced him to quit the country for a short time; and, before his return, poor Tim O'Leary had breathed his last in Clonmel gaol.

LANDED PROPERTY IN IRELAND. (Continued from No. 31.)

QUEEN'S COUNTY.

This county contains some large estates, one of which belongs to Lord De Vesci, who possesses 13,000 acres, including 3000 of bog. The whole of this land is let on determinable leases, and at present would let, according to the lowest valuation, for 15,000l. per annum. Sir Charles Coote, an ab. sentee, has 12,000l. per annum. The Duchess of Chandos, 80001. but it consists in the fee of a large income from land which is let for ever, and produces annually 48,000l. Lord Ossory has 10,000. Lord Ashbrook, Lord Stanhope, Mr. Parnel, Mr. Henry Strange, Lord Castlecoote, and Lord Portarlington, have all good estates in this county: Mr. Strange possesses one of 5,000%. per annum, the leases of which are nearly expired; the premises are small, consisting most. ly of from ten to thirty acres: Mr. Wellesley Pole has a large estate,

book I shall be satisfied." With very large estates. The greatest some proprietors a contract of this individual proprietor is the Duke of kind may be perfectly secure; but Devonshire, a part of whose land the experience of the world suf- I had an opportunity of inspecting, ficiently shows that it is but a very having crossed it in going from frail tenure, and particularly at a Youghal towards Dungarvon; but period when, according to the I much regret that a regard to truth words of an ingenious writer, "the obliges me to say, in the words of appetite for property becomes head-the poet: "The desolated prospect strong, and must be gratified at the expence of justice and honour."

MOORE'S LIFE OF SHERIDAN.*

sings

THE names of Sheridan and Moore are calculated to awaken in the breast of Irishmen, feelings of delight and national vanity. The one loved his country, though the waywardness of his life prevented him from exercising his great talents sufficiently in her cause; but the genius of the other is all our own. Moore loves Ireland, and Irishmen love Moore. Whether he writes poetic-prose, or the wild song of his dear native plains,' Ireland is the themeeither confessed or implied. In the "Life of Sheridan,' he does not forget his country; for when time serves he avails himself of the opportunity to say a word in her favour, or hit hard at her enemies. I have observed this with pleasure in the cursory view I have been able to give this attractive volume; but I am sorry that I cannot do more this week than make a few extracts.

MRS. SHERIDAN.

"ANECDOTES.

age, on the point of marriage with culation of the poison, had not in-
Mr. Long, an old gentleman of dustry enough left to supply the
considerable fortune in Wiltshire, antidote. Throughout his whole
who proved the reality of his attach- life, indeed, he but too consistently
ment to her in a way which few young acted upon the principles which the
lovers would be romantic enough first Lord Holland used playfully
to imitate. On her secretly repre- to impress upon his son :- Never
senting to him that she never could do to-day what you can possibly
be happy as his wife, he generous-put off till to-morrow, nor ever do,
ly took upon himself the whole yourself, what you can get any one
blame of breaking off the alliance, clse to do for you."
and even indemnified the father,
who was proceeding to bring the
transaction into court, by settling
30007. upon his daughter. Mr.
Sheridan, who owed to this liberal
conduct not only the possession of
the woman he loved, but the means
of supporting her during the first
years of their marriage, spoke in-
variably of Mr. Long, who lived to
a very advanced age, with all the
kindness and respect which such a
disinterested character merited.'

INDOLENCE.

But

Richardson was remarkable for his love of disputation; and Tickell, when hard pressed by him in argument, used often, as a last resource, to assume the voice and manner of Mr. Fox, which he had the power of mimicking so exactly, that Richardson confessed he sometimes stood awed and silenced by the resemblance.

This disputatious humour of Richardson was once turned to account by Sheridan in a very charac"A curious instance of the indo- teristic manner. Having had a lence and procrastinating habits of hackney coach in his employ for Sheridan used to be related by five or six hours, and not being Woodfall, as having occurred about provided with the means of paying this time. A statement of his con- it, he happened to espy Richardson duct in the duels having appeared in the street, and proposed to take in one of the Bath papers, so false him in the coach some part of his and calumnious as to require an im- way. The offer being accepted, mediate answer, he called upon Sheridan lost no time in starting a Woodfall to request that his paper subject of conversation, on which might be the medium of it. he knew his companion was sure to wishing, as he said, that the public become argumentative and anishould have the whole matter fairly mated. Having, by well-managed before them, he thought it right contradiction, brought him to the that the offensive statement should proper pitch of excitement, he affirst be inserted, and in a day or fected to grow impatient and angry two after be followed by his an- himself, and saying that he could swer, which would thus come with not think of staying in the same more relevancy and effect. In coach with a person that would use compliance with his wish, Wood. such language," pulled the checkfall lost not a moment in transcrib-string, and desired the coachman to let him out. Richardson, wholly occupied with the argument, and regarding the retreat of his opponent as an acknowledgment of defeat, still pressed his point, and even hollowed more last words" through the coach window after home, left the poor disputant reSheridan, who, walking quietly sponsible for the heavy fare of the coach.'

Her personal charms, the exquisiteness of her musical talents, and the full light of publicity which her profession threw upon both, naturally attracted round her a erowd of admirers, to whom the sympathy of a common pursuit soon kindled into rivalry, till she became at length an object of yanity as well as of love. Her extreme youth, too, for she was little more than sixteen when Sheridan first met her,-must have removed, even from the minds of the most fastidious and delicate, that repugnance they might justly have felt to her profession, if she had lived much longer under its tarnishing influence, or lost, by frequenting the calumnious article into his exhibitions before the public, that columns-not doubting, of course, fine gloss of feminine modesty, for that the refutation of it would be whose absence not all the talents furnished with still greater cagerand accomplishments of the whole ness. Day after day, however, sex can atone. elapsed, and notwithstanding frequent applications on the one side, line of the answer was ever sent by and promises on the other, not a Sheridan,-who, having expended aЛ his activity in assisting the cir

*

'She had been, even at this early She had been, even at this early

Memoirs of the Life of the Right Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. By Thomas Moore. Longman and Co. London, 1825

among whom was Mr. Sheridan's

'On one occasion, Sheridan having covered the floor of a dark pas-wealthy neighbour, Mr. C. sage, leading from the drawing- "Some months afterwards, howroom, with all the plates and dishes ever, Mr. O'B- perceived that of the house, ranged closely toge- the family of Mr. C, with ther, provoked his unconscious whom he had previously been intiplay-fellow to pursue him into the mate, treated him with marked midst of them. Having left a path coldness; and, on his expressing for his own escape, he passed some innocent wonder at the cir through easily, but Tickell, falling cumstance, was at length informed, at full length into the ambuscade, to his dismay, by General Burwas very much cut in several places. goyne, that the sermon which SheThe next day Lord John Towns-ridan had written for him was, hend, on paying a visit to the bed- throughout, a personal attack upon side of Tickell, found him covered Mr. C, who had at that time with patches, and indignantly vowrendered himself very unpopular in ing vengeance against Sheridan for the neighbourhood by some harsh this unjustifiable trick. In the conduct to the poor, and to whom midst of his anger, however, he every one in the church, except could not help exclaiming, with the the unconscious preacher, applied true feeling of an amateur of this almost every sentence of the sersort of mischief, "But how amaz- mon.' ingly well done it was !"

|

'It is said, that as he sat at the Piazza Coffee-house, during the fire, [Drury Lane Theatre, ] taking some refreshment, a friend of his having remarked on the philosophic calmness with which he bore his misfortune, Sheridan answered," A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside.'

The following is a letter to one
of his Stafford electors :-

'Cavendish Square, Sunday night.
'Dear King John,

The Rev. Mr. O'B~~ (afterwards bishop of →) having arrived to dinner at Sheridan's country-house near Osterley, where, as usual, a gay party was collected, (consisting of General Burgoyne, Mrs. Crewe, Tickell, &c.) it was proposed that on the next day (Sunday) the Rev. Gentleman should, on gaining the consent of the resident clergyman, give a specimen of his talents as a preacher in the vil lage church. On his objecting that he was not provided with a sermon, his host offered to write one for I shall be in Stafford in the him, if he would consent to preach course of next week, and if your it; and the offer being accepted, majesty does not renew our old alSheridan left the company early,liance I shall never again have faith and did not return for the remain. in any potentate on earth. der of the evening. The following morning Mr. O'B. found the manuscript by his bed-side, tied together neatly (as he described it) with riband-the subject of the discourse being the "Abuse of Riches." Having read it over and corrected some theological errors, (such as "it is easier for a camel, as Moses says," &c ) he delivered the sermon in his most impressive style, much to the delight of his own party, and to the satisfaction, as he unexpectedly flattered himself, of all the rest of the congregation,

Yours very sincerely,
R. B. SHERIDAN.'

'Mr. John K.'

Among his habits, it may not be uninteresting to know that his hours of composition, as long as he continued to be an author, were at night, and that he required a profusion of lights around him while he wrote. Wine, too, was one of his favourite helps to inspiration;

"If the thought (he would say) is slow to come, a glass of good wine encourages it, and, when it does come, a glass of good wine rewards it."

Next week I shall give an analytical review and copious extracts from this interesting volume.

ABSENTEEISM.

THE Dublin and London Ma. gazine' for the present month, con. tains an able article on this subject in answer to Mr. George Ensor. I recommend it to the perusal of my readers because I think it settles the question, as far as Ireland is concerned. The writer considers the subject in two different lights first, as absenteeism affects manufactures; secondly, as it affects agriculture. Respecting manufactures he proves, that if every one of the Irish absentees were residing in Dublin, they would, neverthe less, consume English manufactures: for, as he justly observes, the operatives of Leeds, Manchester, &c. could send their commoditics much sooner to the Irish than to the English metropolis. Besides the absence of proprietors from Ireland cannot discourage Irish manufactures, for this plain reason -the Irish manufacturers have now much better customers. If they can make cloth, silk goods, &c. &c. as cheap and as valuable as their neighbours, there is nothing to prevent them from having the whole people of the British empire for purchasers. This is certainly much better encouragement than the residence of a few noblemen, whose presence or absence cannot possi

His best bon-mots are in the memory of every one. Among those less known, perhaps, is his answer to General T-, relative to some difference of opinion between them on the war in Spain: "Well, T-, are you still on your high horse ?"—" bf I was on a horse before, I am upon an ele-bly affect Irish manufactures; for phant now."-" No, T―, you were upon an ass before, and now you are upon a mule."

the expence of conveying cloth to England would not average more than half a farthing a yard. Let