formly succeeded in the demonstration of the most difficult problems; these alone, he would condescend to encounter.His operation, by "approximation," is not only new of itself; but it exhibits a more rapid mode of calculation than former discovery. In short, he aspired to, and ought doubtless to be deemed an inventor, in that science, to which he had consecrated his earliest, and his best days.

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Such was the general deference paid to a rare union of talents and misfortunes in his person, that his friends not only voluntarily contributed to alleviate his wants, but also concurred unanimously in assigning him that military rank, which, but for his wayward fortune, coupled with a variety of strange, unexpected, and singular occurrences, would have been long since conferred on him. Accordingly, he was generally known and addressed by the appellation of " Colonel ;" and it must be fairly owned, that if science such as his be justly appreciated, he would have wielded the baton of a general, both with credit to himself, and his country.

EX-LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, AND KNIGHT OF THE SHIRE FOR THE COUNTY OF WICKLOW, IN THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

MANY difficulties must necessarily occur in respect to a genealogy that boasts of seven or eight centuries of antiquity; that affects to unravel the clue of descent amidst the proscriptions and miseries of civil war; or boldly refers to the annals of a foreign country, both for authenticity, and illustration. Notwithstanding these trifling perplexities, which have not been at all diminished by the interested complacency of modern heralds; the Ponsonbys are supposed to have come originally from Picardy. As that province is at this present moment one of the poorest districts of France, and at no time was ever remarkable for its wealth or fertility, it is but little wonder that it furnished many adventurers who were eager to share in the glory and the spoils held out by the Norman expedition

to England. One of the family, is said to have accompanied Duke William to this country; and after the decisive battle, which conferred the crown on that enterprising chief, he was of course provided for among the rest of his followers. Accordingly, the manor of Ponsonby, at Hale, in Cumberland, which fell to his lot, gave both "a local habitation and a name" to himself and his descendants. One of these, Sir John Ponsonby, either being of an adventurous spirit, like his ancestor, or preferring the rich lands of Ireland, to the bleak valleys and barren mountains of the north, accompanied the Protector's army thither, and like many others of his protestant countrymen, carved out a rich succession for himself, from among the estates of the Irish Catholics, a multitude of whom at this period, were punished with confiscation, or proscribed under the names of "notorious delinquents," "rebels," "freebooters," &c. and their estates disposed of, among what are still termed in that country," the Cromwellians." Some years since, the rental possessed by this family, in the sister isle, was estimated at 30,000l. per annum, and it has doubtless encreased greatly since that period.

Such a mass of property, in a country so situate, superadded to character, talents, and favourable opportunities, could not fail to confer honour as well as riches. Accordingly two peerages*, the Speakership + of the Irish House of Commons, followed some years after by the Chancellorship, and an alliance with the Ducal Houses of Devonshire, and St. Albans, as well as the noble ones of Spencer, Grey, Westmorland, Shannon, Kilworth, Loftus, and Mountmorris, have all contributed to render this a rich, powerful, and distinguished family.

Mr. Ponsonby, the subject of the present narrative, was born on the 5th of March, 1755. He was the third son of the Honourable John Ponsonby, brother to the late, and uncle to the present Earl, of Besborough, by Lady Elizabeth Cavendish,

* Besborough and Imokilly.

+ The Honourable John Ponsonby, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, was elected in 1760; in 1769, he was succeeded by Edmund Sexton Pery, Esq.

daughter of William, third, and great aunt to the present, Duke of Devonshire.

Of the father, it may be here necessary to make some mention. Having been bred to the bar, he succeeded Mr. Boyle in the chair of the Irish House of Commons, at a period when that office, however honourable, could not be called lucrative; for we find the sum of 500l. only, voted to the Speaker "to enable him to maintain the state and dignity of his office." The fees, however, amounted to an equal sum; and an augmentation took place, in 1761, so as to make the whole 2000l.; which was doubled in 1765.

Soon after the accession of George III. we find the name of the elder Mr. Ponsonby among those of the "Lords Justices;" he was nominated to that station no fewer than six times. This gentleman had the boldness to refuse to certify a money-bill from the Privy Council, a circumstance that rendered him extremely popular, as this mode was even then deemed by some, to be unconstitutional, and was afterwards abrogated.

On the demise of Lord Shannon, his son and heir who had married the Speaker's daughter, joined his father-in-law, and the Ponsonbys; and such was the extent of their joint influence, that they not only overcame the rival house of Beresford, but in some measure counterbalanced the royal prerogative itself, powerful as it then was in Ireland. He resigned his seat as Speaker in 1769, during the vice-royalty of Lord Townsend; for an address having been voted by the Commons of Ireland to that nobleman, contrary to his decided opinion, he requested leave of the House, to withdraw from the chair, that he might not be under the necessity of acting inconsistently with his own avowed sentiments, by carrying up, and reading a vote of approbation to that nobleman, against which he had argued strenuously in a committee. Notwithstanding this, the Ex-Speaker was said at one time, to have enjoyed "the patronage of all Ireland;" this doubtless savours of exaggeration; but it is not too much to affirm, that

he possessed, and for a long time exercised a greater degree of influence than any commoner, nay, than any peer had ever done before his time, in the government of the sister kingdom.

His younger son, Mr. George Ponsonby, of whom we are now to treat, after receiving the first rudiments of his education, under the paternal roof, was put to a public school, where he obtained a considerable stock of classical learning. He then repaired to the University of Cambridge, and as he neither possessed the prospect of a peerage, nor a great estate, he was not dazzled by coronets, or distracted by the hopes of future magnificence, from the pursuit of knowledge. The same circumstances, rendered a profession absolutely necessary. Actuated by an honourable ambition, he therefore entered himself of one of the Inns of Court, as this was deemed the readiest and shortest road to preferment. Nor was he mistaken in the sequel, as all the honours attendant on the most successful career, were at length fairly won and enjoyed by him.

In the year 1780, Mr. Ponsonby received what is termed a "call" to the Irish bar, but he did not for some time distinguish himself either in the Four Courts at Dublin, or during the assizes. He at this period, seems to have turned his mind chiefly to pursuits seemingly incompatible: politics, and hunting. Yet, he thus early, not only contrived to have a seat, but also in good time to be a leader in parliament. Mr. Ponsonby, however, did not altogether neglect his professional interests, for when the Duke of Portland was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1782, we find him obtaining a silk gown. He was soon after nominated, first counsel to the commissioners of the revenue, an office which was then deemed of considerable importance, both in an honorary, and pecuniary point of view, the salary and emoluments being estimated at 1200l. per annum. As many important prosecutions were undertaken by this board, a barrister of no more than two or three years standing, must assuredly have possessed considerable talents, as well as some little practical knowledge, before