sincerely esteemed him, and, till his death put an end to our correspondence, preserved a constant interchange of friendly sentiments, and at times of visits, when either he came to England, or I passed over to Ireland.

And here, in justice to myself, I must take credit for a disinterestedness which never could be betrayed into the acceptance of any thing, however covered or contrived (and many were the devices then ingeniously practised upon me) which delicacy could possibly interpret as a gratuity, whether tendered as an acknowledgment for favours past, or as an inducement for services to come. As I went to Ireland so I returned from it, perfectly clean-handed, not having profited my small fortune in the value of a single shilling, except from the fair income of my office arising from the established fees upon wool-licences, which netted, as well as I can recollect, about 3001. per annum, and did not clear my extraordinary expences.

Towards the close of the session the Lord Lieutenant took occasion one morning, when I waited upon him with his private accounts, to express his satisfaction in my services, adding that he wished to mark his particular ap

probation of me by obtaining for me the rank of baronet : a title, he observed, very fit in his opinion for me to hold, as my father would in all probability be a bishop, and had a competent estate, which would descend to me. I confess it was not the sort of favour I expected, and struck me as a gaudy insubstantial offer, which as a mere addition to my name without any to my circumstances, was, (as my friend Isted afterwards described it) a mere mouthful of moonshine. I received the tender notwithstanding with all due respect, and only desired time to turn it in my thoughts. I was now the father of three children, for I had a daughter born in the castle, and when I found my father and my whole family adverse to the proposal, I signified to Lord Halifax my wish to decline the honour he had been pleased to offer to me: I certainly did not make my court to him by this refusal, and vanity, if I had listened to it, would in this instance have taught me better policy, but to err on the side of moderation and humility is an error, that ought not to be repented of; though I have reason to think from ensuing circumstances, that it contributed to weaken

an interest, which so many engines were at work to extinguish. In fact I plainly saw it was not for me to expect any lasting tenure in the share I then possessed of favour, unless I kept it up by sacrifices I was determined not to make; in short I had not that worldly wisdom, which could prevail with me to pay my homage in that quarter, from which my patron derived his ruin, and purchase by disgraceful attentions a continuance of that claim to his protection and regard, which I had earned by long and faithful services for ten years past, (the third part of my life) without intermission, and for the longer half of that time without consideration or reward.

As sure as ever my history brings me to the mention of that fatal step, which took me out of the path I was in, and turned me from the prosecution of those peaceful studies, to which I was so cordially devoted, and which were leading me to a profession, wherein some that went before me had distinguished themselves with such credit, so sure am I to feel at my heart a pang, that wounds me with regret and self-reproach for having yielded to a delusion at the inexperienced age of nineteen, since

which I have seen more than half a century go by, every day of which has only served to strengthen more and more the full conviction of my error.

Hamilton, who in the English parliament got the nick-name of Single-speech, spoke well, but not often, in the Irish House of Commons. He had a promptitude of thought, and a rapid flow of well-conceived matter, with many other requisites, that only seemed waiting for opportunities to establish his reputation as an orator. He had a striking countenance, a graceful carriage, great self-possession and personal courage: he was not easily put out of his way by any of those unaccommodating repugnances, that men of weaker nerves or more tender consciences might have stumbled at, or been checked by; he could mask the passions, that were natural to him, and assume those, that did not belong to him: he was indefatigable, meditative, mysterious; his opinions were the result of long labour and much reflection, but he had the art of setting them forth as if they were the starts of ready genius and a quick perception: he had as much seeming steadiness as a partisan could

stand in need of, and all the real flexibility, that could suit his purpose, or advance his interest. He would fain have retained his connexion with Edmund Burke, and associated him to his politics, for he well knew the value of his talents, but in that object he was soon disappointed the genius of Burke was of too high a cast to endure debasement.

The bishopric of Elphin became vacant, and was offered to Doctor Crane, who, though moderately beneficed in England, withstood the temptation of that valuable mitre, and disinterestedly declined it. This was a decisive instance of the purity as well as moderation of his mind, for had he not disdained all ideas of negociation in church preferments, he might have accepted the see of Elphin, and traded with it in England, as others have done both before and since his time. He was not a man of this sort; he returned to his prebendal house at Westminster in the little Cloysters, and some years before his death resided in his parsonage house at Sutton, a living given him by Sir Roger Burgoyne, near to which I had a house, from which I paid him frequent visits, and with unspeakable concern saw that excellent man