Thus died, on July 8, 1817, at his house in Curzon Street, Mayfair, London, the Right Hon. George Ponsonby, the ostensible leader of the opposition against the present ministry.— Like the great Earl of Chatham, he perished at his post, having been struck with a mortal disorder, while occupying his wellknown seat in St. Stephen's Chapel. But the seizure did not take place, as in the case of that great patriot, while actually speaking, for he was then listening with his accustomed patience to the detail of a subject, in which he took no part. As a lawyer, while a simple barrister, he was deemed respectable in point of talents, rather than deep in technical knowledge; indeed his early attachment to the sports of the field, added to his political pursuits at a latter period, precluded that continuity of research, and those laborious investigations which are necessary to celebrity: law is a jealous mistress, and will not admit of a rival. He possessed all the qualities, however and a sufficiency of professional knowledge to render him a good Chancellor; yet time was not given to acquire a name for himself, or perform any thing essential for his country, in that capacity. As a political leader in Ireland, he achieved the two great objects of his early ambition, which were to render a Viceroy, who seems to have exhibited somewhat of personal hostility against him, unpopulár; and to drive the rival house of Beresford from office. In England he was less fortunate, for he never could make any sensible impression on his political enemies, and had the mortification to behold a new set of principles broached, which aimed at the destruction of the influence of that distinguished portion of the aristocracy over whose interests he for a time had presided, to their entire satisfaction. In this capacity, he was praised by both sides of the house, for his dignity, candour, and decorum; but above all for his moderation. There were others, however, who wished for a bolder leader. Some of his adherents were pleased to call his moderation, tameness; and when the Minister was attacked on the old subject of patronage, rotten boroughs, &c. Mr. Ponsonby was blamed by them for having covered, instead of cutting off the retreat of the enemy. But they did not reflect, that this subject acted as a two-edged sword, and that the foe could not have been conquered at this precise moment without wounding his best and dearest friends by the same fatal stroke. As a statesman, Mr. Ponsonby opposed the war with France and the union with Ireland, and it has never been doubted that his opinions on both occasions were honourable, conscientious, and disinterested. He was also one of that Committee which unanimously approved of the report that led to the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Bill, but in respect to that measure, he afterwards thought proper to retract his vote, and change his opinion. Mr. Ponsonby's eloquence participated of his character. His address was neat, gentle, and elegant. His language and manners, courtly and polished. He never was assiduous to cultivate the good-will, or applause of the multitude, and therefore never spoke, while in England, from a love of popularity. His good taste, precluded declamation; his oratory, accordingly, partook rather of the simple than the flowery; and altho he avoided a figurative diction, he yet arrived at his object by a circuitous, rather than a direct course. Neatness and simplicity constitute the great features of his parliamentary speeches; his language was plain and perspicuous; and he avoided those rhetorical flourishes which make no lasting impression. He was thus accounted rather solid than brilliant. Gifted with a strong understanding, he commanded respect for all he uttered; his attack was masterly and scientific, rather than bold and daring; but he chiefly excelled in a reply, on which occasion, an extensive and retentive memory, proved of eminent service. He loved to speak last, and on that occasion constantly and invariably exhibited his power and his art, in successfully refuting and exposing the arguments of his adversaries. He never took notes; and yet never missed any opening, in the arguments of an opponent; whatever was false he exposed, whatever futile, he ridiculed; and if he did not always obtain victory he generally deserved it. Long practice had given him a certain tact, or high degree of technical knowledge, never to be attained without it; and his great experience proved serviceable to his party, during many a warm debate. It has been already hinted, that on one memorable occasion he provided a bridge for a retreating enemy; but it ought not to be omitted, that he also frequently pointed out a secure asylum for his friends, by hovering on the ranks of an adverse army, and covering the retreat of his own, when he found it engaged too far, for the common safety. In respect to his Parliamentary seats, Mr. Ponsonby was first returned for a borough, over which his family was supposed to possess some controul. In the Imperial Parliament, he for a time represented Tavistock, having succeeded Lord Howick, on his becoming Earl Grey, in consequence of the demise of his father. In 1807, he was returned for the county of Cork, and previously to obtaining the Chancellorship he had been knight of the shire for the county of Wicklow, which he indeed represented at the time of his demise. The corpse of Mr. Ponsonby was interred on July 12, in a private manner, without ceremony or ostentation, at Kensington, near London, beside the remains of his brother the first Lord Ponsonby. He has not left any male issue; his only daughter, Martha, is the wife of the Hon. Francis-Aldborough Prettie, second son of Lord Dunally, and knight of the shire for the county of Tipperary. 221 No. XI. EYLES IRWIN, Esq. M. R. I. A. THIS gentleman having been born at Calcutta, about the year 1748, is consequently a native of the East, and his life, talents, and character, all tend to prove that virtue and abilities are not to be exactly measured by degrees of longitude and latitude, as some philosophers have pretended. His father, a native of Ireland, lived for many years, and actually died at last in the service of the East India Company, leaving several children behind him. Of these Eyles had the good fortune to be sent to England for his education; and was accordingly brought up at the school of the late Dr. Rose, of Chiswick; a venerable gentleman, who at that period, possessed a high reputation both for his learning and talents. In 1767, when about eighteen or nineteen years of age, young Irwin became a candidate for employment in the same service as his late father; and he was accordingly nominated in due time, to a respectable situation at Madras, as a civilian. About this period, Lord Pigot, with whose melancholy catastrophe every one connected with the East is acquainted, happened to be Governor; and Mr. Irwin, who was patronised by him, of course took part with that much injured nobleman, who was dispossessed of his power and imprisoned by that very military force which ought to have supported him. In consequence of his exertions on this occasion, he was soon after suspended by those who had usurped the government; and it is sufficiently obvious that suspension, under such circumstances, is but another name for ruin! Inflamed with indignation, and determined to make an immediate appeal to his employers in Leadenhall-street, while he transmitted his complaints, by the usual means, to the Court of Directors, he himself determined to take a new, or at least a very unusual route to Europe. On this romantic, but dangerous occasion, he was also charged with a secret dispatch from his friend the Ex-Governor. Accordingly, having embarked in 1777, at Madras, with several Englishmen, he landed at Mocha, after a tedious passage of eight weeks. On the 16th of April, they sailed for the port of Suez: but on the 7th of May, were obliged to anchor at Yambo, on the coast of Arabia, where no European vessel had ever before entered. Here they were treated with the utmost cruelty and injustice, by the old Vizier, the Vicegerent of the Sheriff of Mecca, who had invited them to land; by him they were made prisoners, and confined in a tower, above which was a haram, where the ladies belonging to the Shaik were secluded. During this period of difficulty and danger, when death itself appeared at one time inevitable, the subject of this memoir was accustomed to repeat the following passage from "Thomson's Seasons:" "Should fate command me to the farthest verge In the void waste as in the city full; And where He vital breathes, there must be joy. When ev❜n at last, the solemn hour shall come, At length, by means of a secret intercourse with some of the English at Mecca, the Sheriff of which was a black youth under twenty years of age; in addition to a bribe of a diamond ring, a shawl, and a piece of gold stuff to his deputy at Yambo, such of the gentlemen as were destined for Europe, actually |