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Baillie, William, Captain, an amateur engraver of some note, was born in Ireland in 1736. He passed the early part of his life in the army, from which he retired with the rank of Captain of Cavalry. Thenceforward he devoted him self to the arts, and was for many years considered one of the most enlightened connoisseurs of his time. His best productions are those executed in the style of Rembrandt. Bryan's Dictionary gives a list of his principal plates.

Baldwin, Richard, D.D., was appointed Provost of Trinity College in 1717. Little is known concerning his early life, further than that he obtained a Scholarship at the College in 1686, and a Fellowship seven years later. For forty-one years he governed the institution, and upon his decease (aged 92, on 30th September 1758) he bequeathed to it his fortune -upwards of £80,000. A fine marble monument was erected to his memory in the Examination Hall. The will was disputed by his English relatives, but was decided in favour of the College, in 1820, after sixty-two years' litigation.

Balfe, Michael William, a musician and a composer, born at 10, Pitt-street, Dublin, 15th May 1808, was one of the first Irishmen of modern times whose talent as a composer has been widely acknowledged, and whose works have been performed throughout the Continent. When he was seven years of age, the master of a military band at Wexford, where his father was then residing, was attracted by his aptitude, and gave him lessons on the violin. After six months' tuition, Balfe wrote a polacca for his instructor's band. Receiving further tuition under O'Rourke in Dublin, he appeared as a violinist in a concert at the Exchange, in May 1816, and became a small celebrity as a composer, singer, and violinist. At sixteen his father died, and he removed to London, supporting himself by performing in the orchestra at Drury-lane, and continuing his musical studies. In 1825 a Russian Count, Mezzara, was so charmed with his talents and touched by his like ness to a deceased son, that he took Balfe to Italy at his own expense, to continue his studies. This lasted about a year, at the expiration of which he was thrown on his own resources. In 1828 he appeared as "Balfi," in Paris, in the Barbiere di Seviglia, and did himself much credit by some compositions. For the next seven years he continued his career in Italy - composing I Rivali and other operas, singing with Malibran at the Scala in Milan, and falling in love with, and marrying a German singer, Mdlle. Rosen. In the Spring of 1835, returning to London, he was soon established as a popular composer. " The Light of Other Days," from his Maid of Artois, was at one time among the most favourite songs in the language. His success may now be said to have been complete, and he delighted the public by the constant production of new works. In 1843, his best known opera, The Bohemian Girl, since arranged for performance in almost every European language, was brought out at Drury-lane. From 1845 to 1852 he occupied the post of conductor in Her Majesty's Theatre, London. In this last year he visited St. Petersburg, where he was feted, and made large sums of money. He then travelled to other parts of the Continent, and in 1856 returned to England and introduced his daughter as a singer at the Royal Italian Opera in London. Balfe wrote altogether about thirty operas. Perhaps Il Talismano is the best. The latter part of his life was spent at Rowney Abbey, Herts. There he died of congestion of the lungs, on the 20th October 1870, aged 62. He possessed "in a high degree the qualifications that make a natural musician, viz., quickness of ear, readiness of memory, executive faculty, almost unlimited and ceaseless fluency of invention, with a felicitous power of producing striking melodies;" but there was "a want of conscientiousness, which made him contented with the first idea that presented itself, regardless of dramatic truth, and considerate of momentary effect rather than artistic excellence." Balfe's second daughter, Victoria, after a short artistic career, married Sir John Crampton, British ambassador at St. Petersburg, and after procuring a divorce from him, the Duke de Frias, a Spanish nobleman.

Ball, Robert, LL.D., a naturalist, was born at Cove, now Queenstown, County of Cork, 1st April 1802. He early showed a predilection for natural history. On attaining his majority he took an active part in the public affairs of Youghal, where he then resided. He applied himself to medicine with the intention of adopting it as his profession, but was induced to relinquish it and enter the civil service in Dublin, where he held situations in various government departments until 1854, when he retired on a pension. Meanwhile he prosecuted his scientific investigations, and acquired a high reputation as a naturalist. From 1837 he occupied the post of Secretary to the Zoological Society, and soon afterwards became Treasurer of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1840 he was appointed director of the museum of Trinity College, to which he presented his valuable private collection. Dr. Ball filled honourable positions in most of the scientific societies of Dublin, besides receiving many honorary degrees, both home and foreign. His degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him, honoris causa, by the University in 1850. Dr. Ball was a man greatly esteemed and beloved. He died rather suddenly, 30th March 1857, aged 54.

Banim, John, a distinguished novelist and poet, was born in Kilkenny, 3rd April 1798-the second son of Michael Banim, a small shopkeeper. The lad was of a wondrously sensitive and loving disposition. After attending successively two dames' schools, he was, in his fifth year, sent to Mr. Buchanan's English school in Kilkenny, and in his tenth year to the Rev. Mr. Magrath, who kept what was then considered the best Catholic school in Ireland. He commenced writing at six years of age, when he composed a fairy tale; and at ten he wrote a romance and some poems ! An introduction to Moore further stimulated his literary ambition. In 1811 he was placed at Kilkenny College, where he developed such a taste for art that he determined to pursue it as a profession. After leaving the College he continued his studies at the schools of the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, for upwards of two years. When but eighteen he returned to Kilkenny, and commenced life as an artist: an engagement of marriage with one of his lady pupils, unhappily broken off, resulted in her death, and the temporary blighting of his prospects. In 1820, he settled in Dublin, and for a time earned a precarious livelihood by occasional literary work. In 1821 appeared his first poem, The Celts Paradise. This gained him the acquaintance of literary men; and with Shiel's countenance he brought out The Jest, and Damon and Pythias at Covent Garden Theatre, London. We next find him back in Kilkenny, composing, in conjunction with his elder brother Michael, that series of tales upon which their fame mainly rests - The Tales by the O'Hara Family. He shortly after married a Miss Ruth, and removed to London, where he encountered the usual difficulties of a young literary man in that great city. His first residence was 7, Amelia-place, Brompton, the house in which Curran died. In April 1825 appeared the first series of the O'Hara tales. They were immediately successful, and The Boyne Water and other works followed in rapid succession. He befriended Gerald Griffin in his trials and difficulties, became the intimate friend of John Sterling, and for a time appeared likely to attain a permanent position as a writer. More than one visit was made to Ireland for the purpose of conscientiously examining the localities referred to in his historical tales. In 1829 his prosperity was sadly dimmed by the death of a child, and his own and his wife's illness. Subscriptions, set on foot by the Press, enabled him to visit the Continent for a change. In 1835 he returned home a complete wreck. On his passage through Dublin, a benefit was accorded him at the Theatre Royal, whilst at Kilkenny he was received with almost regal honours. He settled in a small cottage outside the town, feelingly referred to in his works as "Windgap Cottage," where his quiet life was often enlivened by visits from Gerald Griffin and other friends. Walking was impossible to him, and he spent his time chiefly in a bath-chair in his little garden, or out driving in the vicinity of his residence. In 1837, through the kindness of the Earl of Carlisle, he received a pension of £150 per annum from the Civil List, with £40 for the education of his daughter, but his health never rallied, and the composition of the last joint work of the brothers, one of the Tales, is believed to have has tened his death, which occurred at Windgap Cottage, 1st August 1842. He was buried in St. John's graveyard, Kilkenny, aged 44.

Banim, Michael, brother of John, and the "Abel O'Hara" of the Tales by the O'Hara Family, was born in Kilkenny, in August 1796. He was not, as was his brother, a literary man by profession, but always had an occupation distinct from that of authorship. John Banim had laid aside the painter's palette soon after he had taken up his residence in London, whilst Michael continued to reside in their native Kilkenny, the writings of each being transmitted to the other for correction. In 1825 Michael's first work, Crohoore, was written. Amongst his other contributions to the Tales were The Mayor of Windgap, Father Connell, and The Croppy; and a study of much literary interest is to be found in comparing the style and spirit of these productions with those of the younger brother-such as John Doe, The Nowlans, and The Boyne Water. After John's death Michael wrote Clough Fionn, which appeared in The Dublin University Magazine in 1852, and The Town of the Cascades, published in 1864. He has himself stated the object with which The Tales by the O'Hara Family were written to have been, " To insinuate through fiction the causes of Irish discontent, and to insinuate also, that if crime were consequent on discontent it was no great wonder; the conclusion to be arrived at by the reader, not by insisting on it on the part of the author, but from sympathy with the criminals." For many years before his death, Michael Banim filled the office of Postmaster in his native city, of which he had been at one time elected Mayor. He died 30th August 1874, aged 78. Fortunately, the Royal Literary Fund came to the aid of narrow means before his death, and after his decease a pension to his widow was placed upon the Civil List by Mr. Disraeli. The following critique upon the writings of the Banims appeared in the Daily News a few days after Michael's death:- "The brothers Banim have always enjoyed a certain celebrity, a sort of succes d'estime, in Ireland, where the desire to have some great national novelist has very naturally made people eager to supply deficiencies, and gentle to criticise faults in Irishmen of talent who endeavour to win the title. We do not mean to disparage or to speak in patronising tone of the Banims. They had really some of the greater gifts of the storyteller. Many very powerful dramatic situations, and many vigorous, original, and thoroughly lifelike sketches of character are to be found in their stories. But they failed to force their way finally across the barrier which shut in provincialism of any kind, unless where the impulse of genius carries an author fairly over it. Tales by the O'Hara Family aimed distinctly at a national reputation, and they seemed at one time not to miss the mark by a great deal. . . The early repute of the Banim brothers was a good deal owing to a kind of impression engendered by the marvellous success of Sir Walter Scott. Because Scott's novels succeeded in bring ing Scottish history, legends, life and manners into public notice and into fashion, it seemed to be supposed that other parts of the Empire had a right to expect the same result if attention were likewise directed to them. The feeling prevailed in England just as much as elsewhere. People reminded each other of what delight they had had when Scott illustrated for them his country's life and history - 'Why should not some one do the same for Ireland?' Of course there was not the slightest reason why some one should not do this, provided only that some one had the genius."

Barber, Mary, one of Dean Swift's female coterie, was born in Dublin about 1712. She married a woollen-draper, and appears to have been an estimable character. She published a small volume of poems under the patronage of the Dean and Lord Orrery. Mrs. Barber died in 1757. There are numerous references to her in Swift's Life. When she went to London to have her poems published, an anonymous letter to Queen Caroline in her favour drew or led Swift into a serious scrape, as it was generally imputed to him. It is probable that it was really indited by Mrs. Barber herself, if not by some friend. The Dean eventually forgave the annoyance, and on more than one occasion presented her with the copyright of some of his short pieces.

Barker, Francis, M.D., a distinguished chemist and physician, was born in Waterford the latter part of the 18th century. He obtained his degree from the University of Dublin in 1793, and completed his medical education in Edinburgh, where he became intimate with Sir Walter Scott. Previous to the discovery of the voltaic battery, he suggested the identity of the nervous fluid with dynamical electricity. Returning to his native city, he practised for five years, and took part in the establishment of what has been said to be the first Irish fever hospital. Afterwards in Dublin, as a chemical lecturer, he became deservedly popular, and started the first medical journal in Ireland. In 1821, in conjunction with Dr. Cheyne, he published a treatise on Epidemic Fevers in Ireland, in two volumes; and in 1826 he edited the Dublin Pharmacopoeia. Until 1852 he continued Secretary of the Irish Board of Health. Judging by the omission of his name in Thorn's Directory for 1860, he probably died the previous year.

Barker, Robert, was born at Kells in 1739. He was the inventor and patentee of the now well known exhibitions called panoramas, first brought out by him in Edinburgh in 1788. He died 8th April 1806, and was buried at Lambeth. His son married a daughter of Admiral Bligh, and was, with his wife, living near Bath in 1851.

Barnewall, John, Lord Trimleston. His ancestors came over originally with Henry II. and received large grants of land in the County of Cork. On the first favourable opportunity the old proprietors, the O'Sullivans, rose and murdered the whole family save one young man, who was absent studying law in England. He ultimately returned and settled at Drimnagh, near Dublin. The subject of our sketch rose to high office in Ireland under Henry VIII. and received grants of land near Dunleer. In 1536, with Lord-Treasurer Brabazon, he made an incursion into Offaly, and drove back the O'Conor, who was then ravaging the Anglo-Irish settlements. The next year, commissioned by the Privy Council, he treated successfully with the O'Neill. He died 25th July, 1538. He was four times married.

Barnewall, Nicholas, Viscount Kingsland, was born 15th April 1668. The family had been ennobled by King Charles I., 12th September 1645, for loyalty to his cause. Before Nicholas was of age he married a daughter of George, Count Hamilton, by his wife Frances Jennings, afterwards married to the Earl of Tyrconnel. In 1688 he entered King James's Irish army as captain in the Earl of Limerick's Dragoons. After the defeat of the Boyne he was moved to Limerick; and being in that city at the time of its surrender, was included in the articles and secured his estates. In the first Irish Parliament of William III. he took the oath of allegiance, but upon declining to subscribe the declaration according to the English Act, as contrary to his conscience, he was obliged to withdraw with the other Catholic lords. In February 1703, he joined with many Irish Catholics in an unavailing petition against the infraction of the Treaty of Limerick. He died 14th June 1725, and was buried at Lusk.

Baron, Bonaventure, a Franciscan writer, nephew to Luke Wadding, was born in Clonmel early in the 17th century. He lived for sixty years in Rome, where he died, old and blind, on 18th March 1696. He was buried at St. Isidore's College, in which he had been for some time Prelector of Divinity. Baron was noted for the purity of his Latin style. Ware enumerates fourteen books written by him in that language.

Barre, Isaac, the son of a Huguenot refugee, was born in Dublin in the first half of the 18th century. Educated at Trinity College, he took his degree in 1745; he entered the army, and rose to high rank, being Adjutant-General under Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. Afterwards, in Parliament, he distinguished himself by his opposition to the American Stamp Act. In 1776, he was made Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Privy Councillor, and subsequently held other offices of trust under Government. He died in 1802.

Barrett, Eaton Stannard, a writer of considerable merit, was born in Cork towards the end of the 18th century. Although he entered the Middle Temple, he does not appear to have followed the law, but rather to have embraced literature. He was a man of great private worth and attractive manners. Besides Lines on Woman, his best known work is The Heroine, a mock romance of wonderful liveliness and humour. He died in Glamorganshire, of decline, 20th March 1820. Several communications regarding his writings will be found in Notes and Queries, 1st and 2nd Series. His brother, Richard Barrett, editor of The Dublin Pilot, was a fellow-prisoner of O'Connell's, and died at Dalkey about 1855.

Barrett, George, an eminent landscape painter, born in Dublin in 1730. He was one of the originators and first members of the Royal Academy, and was in the latter part of his life, appointed master painter to Chelsea Hospital, through the influence of his friend Edmund Burke. He died at Paddington in 1784. "He was a chaste and faithful delineator of English landscape, which he viewed with the eye of an artist, and selected with the feeling of a man of taste. His colouring is excellent, and there is a freshness and dewy brightness in his verdure, which is only to be met with in English scenery, and which he has perfectly represented."

Barrett, John, D.D., son of a clergyman at Ballyroan. When but six years of age his father died, and his mother removed to Dublin. He entered Trinity College as a pensioner in 1767, obtained a scholarship in 1773, a fellowship in 1778, and was elected Vice-Provost in 1807. He was Professor of Oriental Languages. For the last fifty years of his life, he scarcely ever left the College-occupying a garret in the Library Square, allowing himself little light and no fire, but stealing down to the College kitchen to warm himself, where his presence was not acceptable to the servants, on account of his ragged and miserable appearance. He was of low stature, with a huge head and small feet, so that he looked like an equilateral triangle standing on its vertex. His habits were such as would perhaps effectually exclude him from decent society in the present day. "He spent his life in almost solitary seclusion, devoted to the two passions that absorbed him - reading, and the most penurious hoarding of money - the latter habit being probably induced by the extreme poverty of his early life; yet, with all this, he was a man of the strictest integrity, and was never known to commit a dishonourable action. With strong feelings, he indulged in cursing and swearing as a thoughtless habit; he was ever ready to do kind actions, provided he was not called on to give money, and though ignorant of everything that pertained to the most ordinary affairs of life, his mind was a perfect storehouse of strange knowledge, and his memory so tenacious that he could remember almost everything he had seen or read." His most important literary achievement was the discovery of an old palimpsest MS. of fragments of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Many stories are told of his uncouth ways and absence of mind concerning ordinary matters - of his being found absorbed in thought, attentively regarding an egg in his hand while his watch was boiling in the saucepan; of his wonder at finding that mutton was made from sheep; of the two holes in his door, a large one to let in his big cat, and a small one to let in his little cat; of his surprise at seeing a crow in the College Park, and his discovery, after some study among the classics, that it was " a corvus, by Jove." His principal works were concerning the Zodiac, an essay on the life of Swift, and comments on St. Matthew. In the first of these, he propounded the wildest and most fanciful theories. He died on 15 th November 1821, leaving most of his property for charitable purposes.

Barrett, John, R.N., a distinguished naval officer, born at Drogheda, promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1793, and afterwards to that of Post-Captain. He saw much service; and in 1810, returning in the Minotaur, 74, in charge of a convoy of one hundred sail from the Baltic, he perished with 490 out of a crew of 600, in consequence of the ignorance of the pilot. After the vessel struck, he said to an officer who evinced some undue eagerness to save himself: "Sir, true courage is better shown by coolness and composure; we all owe nature a debt, let us pay it like men of honour."

Barrington, Sir Jonah, was born 1760 or '67, the fourth of sixteen children of John Barrington of Knapton, near Abbeyleix, Queen's County. His pleasing presence, lively conversation, talents, and pushing activity, contributed largely to his advance in public life. He was called to the Bar, 1788, and two years afterwards, as Member for Tuam, he entered Parliament, where, he says, " I directed my earliest effort against Grattan and Curran, and on the first day of my rising, exhibited a specimen of what I may now call true arrogance." He was rewarded by Government for his arrogance, in 1793, by a sinecure in the Custom-house, worth £1,000 a-year, and a silk gown. He lost his seat in 1798; but sat for Banagher in 1799. He boldly voted against the Union, though it deprived him of his sinecure and stopped his further advancement. Nevertheless, most inconsistently, he acted as government procurer for bribing at least one member to vote for it. In 1803 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the city of Dublin in the Imperial Parliament, although Grattan, Curran, Ponsonby, and Plunket voted for him. The Government now thought he was worth buying again, and accordingly made him judge in the Admiralty Court, and knighted him. In 1809 he published, in five parts, the first volume of the Historic Memoirs of Ireland. It is thought that he was induced to delay the second volume-the Government shrinking from the exposure of their conduct in carrying the Union, and it was understood that to purchase his silence he was permitted to reside in France from about 1815, and act as judge by deputy. This foreign residence was, indeed, necessitated by embarrassments arising from his extravagant mode of living, and the dishonourable stratagems he often resorted to in business transactions. In 1827, he published two volumes of Personal Sketches of his own Time. In 1830, by an address from both Houses of Parliament, he was removed from the Bench, in consequence of well-proven misappropriation of public moneys. In 1833 appeared the third volume of Personal Sketches, and in the same year the delayed volume of his Historic Memoirs. This book was subsequently reproduced in a cheaper form as The Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation. His works are interesting, racy, and valuable - although his statements of fact cannot always be depended on-containing much of personal incident, related in a fascinating style. He died at Versailles, 8th April 1834.

Barry, Sir David, an eminent physician and physiologist, remarkable for his classical and mathematical acquirements. He was born in Roscommon, 12th March 1780; he completed his medical education at home, and entered the army as an Assistant-Surgeon. Having distinguished himself in the Peninsular War, he settled at Oporto as surgeon to the Portuguese forces. There he married Miss Whately, sister of the future Archbishop. Returning to England in 1820, he perfected himself by further study, and in 1826 published his researches relative to the absorption of poison, and the means of counteracting it by the application of cupping-glasses. He was employed by Government in several medical inquiries, both at home and abroad, and was one of the commissioners in the investigations that led to the Factory Acts. His work on hydrophobia and venomous bites is declared in Allibone " to be very important, and to display great ability." He died in London, of aneurism, 5th No vember 1835, aged 55.

Barry, James, a distinguished artist, was born in Cork, nt h October 1741. His father was captain of a coaster, and desired that his son should follow his calling; the lad consequently spent part of his youth at sea, displaying greater zeal in chalking sketches on the bulwarks than in learning to be a sailor. The love of art was a passion with him. On shore he worked incessantly - sitting up whole nights drawing and transcribing pictures from books, while his fancy was fed by the legends of saints and martyrs related to him by his Catholic mother-whose religion he embraced in preference to that of his Protestant father. In 1763, at the age of twenty-two, he made his way to Dublin, taking with him a number of historical paintings - amongst the rest, "AEneas escaping from Troy," a "Dead Christ," "Susanna and Elders," "Daniel in the Lion's Den," "Abraham's Sacrifice," and " Saint Patrick baptizing the King of Cashel." This last found a place in the exhibition of the Society of Arts at Shaw's-court, on the south side of Dame-street. It attracted great attention, and the artist was eagerly inquired for. "It is my picture," exclaimed young Barry, coming forward in his rough country clothes. "Yours?" "Yes, and I can paint a better." This painting was subsequently purchased for the House of Commons, Dublin, but was destroyed in the fire that occurred some years afterwards. The wonderful genius of these paintings attracted the attention of Edmund Burke, then in Dublin. He took Barry to England after he had been a few months in Dublin, and then sent him to Rome at his own expense. Barry writes to a friend at this period, " My hopes are grounded in a most unwearied, intense application; I every day centre more and more upon my art; I give myself wholly to it, and, except honour and conscience, am determined to renounce everything else." His temper was, however, irritable and imperious-a constant source of annoyance to himself and others. Both at Paris and Rome he became involved in art squabbles. Well would it have been for him if he had taken Burke's advice: " Believe me, my dear Barry, that the arms with which the ill dispositions of the world are to be combated, and the qualities by which it is to be reconciled to us, and we reconciled to it, are moderation, gentleness, and a little indulgence to others, and a great deal of distrust of ourselves, which are not qualities of a mean spirit, as some may probably think them, but virtues of a great and noble kind." While abroad he does not appear to have painted much, but rather to have spent his time in studying the great masterpieces. He drew from the antique by means of a patent delineator, not aiming to make academic drawings, but a sort of diagrams, to which he might at all times refer as a guide and authority. He appears to have been deficient in colouring. On his election as member of the Clementine Academy at Bologna, he presented to that institution his picture of "Philoctetes in the Isle of Lemnos." After five years' residence in Rome, he returned to England, burning to distinguish himself, and set to work at two pictures - " Venus rising from the Waves," and " Jupiter and Juno," which, like most of his paintings, were of a colossal size. The first proved worthy of his great reputation. He would in no degree adapt himself to the taste of the public, and his whole life was a struggle, through suffering and poverty, to uphold principles of art which he believed to be correct, quite careless of monetary success. His income was never more than £60 or £70 a-year, and he was often assisted by Burke, although at times Barry's petulance, arrogance, and pride suspended all personal intercourse between them. He joined Reynolds and other artists in offering to decorate St. Paul's cathedral with religious paintings gratuitously - an offer which, unfortunately, was not accepted. In 1775 he refuted continental strictures on British genius in his Inquiry into the Real and Imaginary Obstructions to the Acquisition of the Arts in England. For seven years-during which he supported himself by the occasional sale of drawings made chiefly in the evenings - he occupied himself in adorning gratuitously the walls of the Institution for the Encouragement of Arts, at the Adelphi, London, with six colossal paintings, and his most indisputable title to fame may rest on one of these - "The Victors at Olympia." When Canova was in London, he declared that had he known of the existence of such a work, he would have made the voyage to England solely for the purpose of seeing it. As the powers of his mind declined, his natural irritability increased. He became involved in disputes with the Royal Academy, which ended in his expulsion, in March 1799, from the Professorship of Painting, a post he had held since 1782. Subsequently the sum of £1,000 was subscribed, and an annuity was purchased, which, however, he did not live to enjoy. On the evening of 6th February 1806, he was seized with an attack of pleuritic fever, and died on the 22nd, aged 64. Sir Robert Peel generously advanced £200 for his funeral, and after the body had lain in state for a few days at the Adelphi, amid his great masterpieces, it was interred in St. Paul's, near to his friend Sir Joshua Reynolds. Barry was a staunch imperialist. The Act of Union especially excited his enthusiasm; and he wrote to Pitt suggesting an allegorical painting in honour of what he styled a " glorious achievement, and the hero by whom it was achieved. Surely there never was, nor could be a holy union more pregnant with felicity and blessings of every kind, and made up of more naturally cordial and coalescing materials, than that which you have thus happily effected." " The most prominent feature in Barry's character was his love for art, and for the acquisition of all knowledge connected with it." His language was coarse and unpolished, and his person slovenly. "Strangers would stare when they saw him in company, as if a beggar had been picked up and brought in. Yet his appearance was forgot the moment he began to discourse on any subject." An ardent Catholic, he formed one of the brilliant circle that gathered around Johnson and Burke. The former remarked of one of his paintings, " Whatever the hand may have done, the mind has done its part. There is a grasp of mind there which you will find nowhere else." Instances are given in H. Crabbe Robinson's Diary of his being subject at times to strong mental delusions. He published several works, all now collected in one series, and appended to his Life. Some notes on his portraits will be found in Notes and Queries, 4th Series. There is an interesting likeness in Walker's Magazine for 1806.

Barry, John, Commodore, was born near Tacumshin, County of Wexford, in 1745. He went to sea at fourteen; the colony of Pennsylvania became his adopted country, and when twenty-five he had risen to be the commander of the Black Prince, one of the finest traders between Philadelphia and London. Early in the War of Independence, he was given a naval command by Congress, and was one of the first to fly the United States flag at sea. In 1777, he was publicly thanked by Washington for his naval services. It is stated that Lord Howe vainly endeavoured to tempt him from his allegiance by the offer of the command of a British ship-of-the-line. In 1778 and '79, he commanded the Relief, and was accorded the rank of Commodore. In 1781, he carried the United States' agent to France in his new vessel, the Alliance, and on his way back captured two British cruisers - the Atalanta and Trespasa, in an engagement in which he was badly wounded. Later on the same year, he had the honour of conveying Lafayette and Count Noailles to France. From the conclusion of the war until his death, he was constantly occupied in superintending the progress of the United States navy; indeed he has been called by some naval writers the father of the American navy. He died in September 1803, and was buried in Philadelphia.

Barry, Spranger, a distinguished actor, born in Skinner-row, Dublin, 20th November 1719. His father was a silversmith, and young Barry followed that business until he went on the stage at Smock-alley, about 1744. His success was decided; and in London he for a time divided the public favour with Garrick. In 1757 he built Crow-street theatre, and ruined himself; but afterwards, returning to London, he repaired his fortunes, and stood high with the public until his death in 1777, when he found a tomb in Westminster Abbey. He was remarkable for habits of magnificence and profuse hospitality, and for mean cleverness in putting off creditors. He is described as of a noble, commanding person; his actions were graceful; his features were regular, expressive, and rather handsome; his countenance was open, placid, and benevolent, but mobile, and easily wrought to expressions of haughtiness and contempt. Dibdin describes him as "an actor of most extraordinary merit, which was confined, however, to tragedy and serious parts in comedy. In some respects it is questionable whether he did not excel every actor on the stage. These were in scenes and situations full of tender woe and domestic softness, in which his voice, which was mellifluous to wonder, lent astonishing assistance . . but certainly, beyond these requisites, Barry's acting did not extend in any eminent degree." Leigh Hunt says: " Barry was one of the old artificial school, who made his way more by person than by genius."

Barter, Richard, M.D., a distinguished hydropathic physician, was born at Cooldaniel, County of Cork, in 1802. He entered on the duties of his profession as a dispensary physician at Inniscarra, where he was elected Honorary Secretary of the County of Cork Agricultural SoCiety, and contributed materially to improve the husbandry of the south of Ireland. About the year 1842, Cork was visited by Captain Claridge, an advocate of hydropathy. Dr. Barter had been for some time inclining towards the new system, he now advocated it, and despite the opposition of his professional brethren, devoted his talents and energy to its practice. He opened the now celebrated water-cure establishment at Blarney. It was mainly through his exertions that Turkish baths were introduced into the United Kingdom. He died at Blarney, 3rd October 1870.

Bathe, William, born in Dublin about 1564. He became a Catholic, and in 1596 went to Flanders, where he entered the Society of Jesus. Travelling in Italy and Spain, he was ultimately appointed Director of the Irish College in Salamanca. He wrote some treatises on music, and others on the study of Latin, the Mysteries of the Faith, etc. He died in Madrid, 17th June 1614.

Beaufort, Daniel Augustus, Rev., LL.D., son of a French Protestant refugee, was born at Barnet, 1st October 1739. As curate to his father, and afterwards as rector of Collon, County of Louth (to which living he was presented by his friend the Right Hon. John Foster), he distinguished himself in the foundation of Sunday schools, and in the preparation of elementary educational works. He is most worthy of note, however, on account of his Map and Memoir of Ireland - the latter published at considerable expense, under the encouragement of the Marquis of Buckingham, when Lord-Lieutenant. Lowndes describes his Memoir, as " An exceedingly valuable work, containing a succinct account of the civil and ecclesiastical state of Ireland, and an index of all the places which appear on the author's map." He was one of the founders of the Royal Irish Academy. He died May 1831, aged 91.

Beaufort, Sir Francis, K. C.B., Admiral, son of the preceding, was born at Navan in 1774. He entered the navy in 1787, and soon rose by his bravery and talent in the services on which he was engaged under Lord Howe and others, and was appointed Lieutenant in 1796. He greatly distinguished himself while Lieutenant of the Phaeton in 1800, by cutting out a Spanish vessel, the San Josef, from under the guns of a battery near Malaga. For this service he received a commander's commission. Disabled by wounds, and forced to remain at home from November 1803 to June 1804, he devoted his time, in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Richard L. Edgeworth, to the construction of a telegraph from Dublin to Galway. Gazetted anew, and after seeing more service in South America, off Spain, and in the Levant, he was paid off in 1812. Having given much attention to coast surveys, he received the appointment of Hydrographer to the Admiralty, and in 1846 attained the rank of Admiral. His second wife was a daughter, by a third marriage, of his brother-in-law, Mr. Edgeworth; he was consequently uncle and brother-in-law to Maria Edgeworth. He died at Brighton, 16th December 1857.

Bedell, William, Bishop of Kilmore, was born December 1571, at Black Notley in Essex, of an ancient and respectable family. Educated at Cambridge, he early showed a predilection for the ministry, and entered holy orders. He resided for eight years in Venice as chaplain to the English ambassador, Sir Henry Wotton. There he formed intimacies with Father Paulo and other scholars, with whom he examined and compared the Greek Testament; he also studied Hebrew with the chief of the Jewish synagogue. In common with other Englishmen, he at this time entertained expectations of converting the Venetians to Protestantism. On his return to England, he established himself at Bury St. Edmunds, and married the widow of the Recorder of that town. He had by her four children, two of whom died young. In 1615 he was presented with the rectory of Horningshearth, where he resided twelve years. The Provostship of Trinity College, Dublin, becoming vacant in 1627, the Fellows, acting under the advice of Archbishop Ussher, unanimously invited him to accept the post. After much consideration, he gave up his " competent living of above £100 a-year, in a good air and seat, with a very convenient house, near to my friends, a little parish, not exceeding the compass of my weak voice." Once installed, he set to work vigorously and conscientiously to discharge the duties of his office. In 1629 he was consecrated Bishop of Kilmore, when he found a deplorable state of things in the diocese. "He observed with much regret that the English had all along neglected the Irish, as a nation not only conquered but undisciplinable, and that the clergy had scarce considered them as part of their charge, but had left them wholly in the hands of their own priests, without taking any other care of them, but the making them pay their tithes." As a prime means of gaining the hearts of the people, he studied Irish, and secured the services of competent persons to translate the whole Bible into that language. He, himself, revised the whole, comparing it with the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, so as to correct the errors in the English. He had preparations made for printing the work at his own house-indeed he had already translated into Irish, and printed and circulated some sermons and homilies, and a catechism in English and Irish, when the War of 1641-'52 broke out. The respect he evinced for Catholics in his writings and discussions, now bore ample fruit in the regard with which he and the numerous fugitives who crowded his mansion and out-offices were treated by the Catholic leaders. He was joined by the Bishop of Elphin, and the free exercise of their religion and services was permitted to them, the elements for the Communion being even specially supplied. It is to be noted that while his memoirs speak feelingly of the personal sufferings and outrages which the English settlers had to endure in being driven off their plantations, there is nothing in his writings about the massacre so dwelt upon by historians. There is something affecting in the account of his now preaching to his flock from the words: "But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me, round about." He drew up for the insurgents their Remonstrance and Statement of Grievances for presentation to the Lords Justices. After about two months his sufferings increased. He and his sons, with others, were removed on 18th December to Loughoughter castle, a little tower in the midst of a lake, and his own house and library were spoiled by the insurgents. His biographer thus quaintly writes of the dispersion of his library: "And thus what enemies left friends took away . . the Bishop's books went every way but the right; and certain of his sermons were preached in Dublin, and heard there by some of Bishop Bedell's near relations, that had formerly heard them from his own mouth." A month afterwards the family was permitted to retire to the house of a friend near by. But the aged Bishop never recovered from his hardships, which broke down a constitution already weakened by age, and he died of typhus, 7th February 1642, keeping up his hopeful, loving spirit to the end. His last words were: "Be of good cheer, be of good cheer; whether we live or die we are the Lord's." Unusual honours were paid to his remains by the Irish commanders. A large military force attended his funeral, and fired a volley over his grave, crying, according to some accounts, " Requiescat in pace, ultimus Anglorum," while Father Farrely, a Catholic priest, was heard to exclaim: "O sit anima mea cum Bedello!" His writings exhibit him as a man of extraordinary sweetness and innocence of disposition and depth of character, far in advance of his time in many respects. Not considering the revenue of the Church as his own, and to prevent danger of scandal, he was careful to give to his two sons, who were clergymen, but small preferments of £80 and £60 a-piece. His appearance is thus described: "He was a tall and graceful person; there was something in his looks and carriage that discovered what was within, and created a veneration for him. He had an unaffected gravity in his deportment, and decent simplicity in his dress and apparel." Having an objection, both on grounds of decency and health, to interments in churches, he was, at his own desire, buried in a corner of the churchyard of Kilmore, beside his son, and his wife, whose death in 1638 had been a terrible grief to him. His grave is still to be seen, shaded by a sycamore, said to have been planted by his own hands. The new cathedral church of Kilmore, consecrated in 1860, was, according to the inscription thereon, erected to his memory.

Bell, Robert, a prolific writer, was born in Cork in 1800, and was educated at Trinity College. In Dublin he wrote for magazines and newspapers, composed a couple of plays, and assisted in resuscitating the College Historical Society. Removing to London, he met with ready employment as a journalist, having a fluent pen and genial manners. "For more than thirty years, Mr. Bell continued to lead the life of a busy literary man, contributing to various periodicals, sometimes editing one, and diversifying his journalistic labours by writing a history or biography, a play or a novel. . . None of his writings are likely to have more than an ephemeral existence, but they are favourable specimens of their class, and creditable to their author." Perhaps his best known works are his continuation of Southey's Lives of the British Admirals, and his Annotated Edition of the English Poets, in 29 volumes. He died 12th April 1867.

Bellamy, George Anne, an actress, born in Dublin, 23rd April 1731; illegitimate daughter of an Irish nobleman. The early part of her life was spent in a French convent. Having been renounced by her father, for keeping up an intimacy with her mother, she went on the stage at Covent Garden theatre, when but fourteen. After playing successfully in London, she re moved to Dublin, where she was recognized by her father's sister, and introduced to good society. Though she attained to a high position in her profession, her extravagant and dissolute habits eventually reduced her to poverty, and she died in great distress at Edinburgh, 15th February 1788, aged 56. She had a fine expressive face, an animated manner, and a voice full of sweetness and eminently touching. Garrick describes her as "very beautiful, with her blue eyes, and very fair. . . I often saw her splendid state sedan-chair, with superb silver-lace liveries, waiting for her at the door of Liffey-street Catholic chapel." Her Memoirs-a deplorable account of an ill-regulated life, devoid of general interest or value - are believed to have been written from her notes by Alexander Bicknell.

Belling, Sir Richard, was born at Belinstown, County of Dublin, in 1613. Having been educated in Ireland, he entered at Lincoln's Inn, and studied law for some years. While there he wrote a sixth book to the Arcadia of Sir Philip Sidney. He entered with enthusiasm into the War of 1641-'52, and rapidly rose to high rank in the army of the Confederates. He was defeated by Lord Broghill before the castle of Lismore; was a leading member of the Supreme Council of the Confederated Catholics at Kilkenny, and was sent as ambassador to the European princes. He induced the Pope to commission Rinuccini as Nuncio. Eventually he broke with the Old Irish party, joined the Marquis of Ormond, and was employed by that nobleman in several important negotiations He is mentioned by Clarendon as one of the Commissioners of Trust at the conference with the Catholic Bishops of 5th November 1650. Upon Cromwell's Irish successes, he retired to France, where he wrote Vindiciae Catholicorum Hibernice, and other works. After the Restoration, he returned home, and through Ormond's influence recovered possession of his estates. He died in Dublin, in September 1677, and was buried at Malahide. Lowndes says:- "Belling's account of the transactions in Ireland during the period of the rebellion is esteemed more worthy of credit than any written by the Romish party."

Benen or Benignus, Saint, one of St. Patrick's most beloved disciples - his successor in the see of Armagh; a man eminent for piety and virtue. He was baptized by St. Patrick in 433, and instructed by him in the rudiments of learning and religion. He was specially commissioned to visit Kerry, and some parts of Clare which St. Patrick was not able to reach in person. According to the most probable computation, he succeeded to the see of Armagh in 465, where he is said to have died and to have been buried in 468. His festival is 9th November.

Beranger, Gabriel, an artist descended of Huguenot parents, was born in Rotterdam, and in 1750, when about twenty-one years old, came to Ireland. He kept an artist's warehouse at 5, South Great George's-street, Dublin, from 1766 to 1779. His business did not succeed, and General Vallancey procured him a situation in the Exchequer Office. In his old age a fortune was bequeathed him by a relative. He died 18th February 1817. He left some interesting itineraries about the neighbourhood of Dublin, and his antiquarian sketches have preserved the appearance of many buildings now no longer standing, notably the round tower of St. Michael le Pole, in Ship-street, Dublin, demolished in 1799. Sir William Wilde states that Beranger was a flower painter of much taste.

Beresford, John, Right Hon., an Irish statesman, was born at his father's house in Dublin, 14th March 1738. He was the second son of Marcus, Earl of Tyrone, whose ancestors first settled in Ireland in 1574. Tristram Beresford arrived in James I.'s reign as manager for the London Company of Planters in Ulster. His mother was Baroness Le Poer, heiress and representative of a long line of barons, descending in direct male succession from Roger Le Poer, a knight who accompanied Strongbow to Ireland. From Kilkenny School John Beresford proceeded to Trinity College, where he graduated A.B. in 1757. He then entered at the Middle Temple, studied law for nearly three years, and was called to the Bar in 1760. In April 1761 he was returned Member for the County of Waterford, which constituency he continued to represent uninterruptedly till his death - for forty-four years. He applied himself with great assiduity to the discharge of his parliamentary duties, and soon became a power in the House. In 1768 he was sworn on the Privy Council, and in 1770 was appointed a Commissioner of Revenue. Eventually he succeeded to the post of First Commissioner, and it was under his administration, and much at his instance, that the new Custom House in Dublin was built, between 1781 and 1791, that near Essex-bridge proving quite unsuitable for the increasing trade of the port of Dublin. It was also largely through his exertions that the widening and extending of the Dublin quays, and the opening up of Sackville and other streets were accomplished. His political position was strengthened in the year 1774 by his taking as his second wife Barbara Montgomery, a celebrated beauty, sister to Lady Mountjoy, and to the Marchioness of Townshend. During the administrations of the Duke of Portland and Lord Temple (1782 to 1783) he confined himself to routine duties; but on the arrival of the Duke of Rutland, to whom Mr. Pitt had entrusted the government of Ireland, he threw his whole energies into political affairs. Holding opinions diametrically opposed to Grattan and the national party on almost all questions, he strenuously supported Orde's Trade Propositions, and sided with Mr. Pitt in the matter of the Regency. The almost overwhelming power and influence which the Beresfords attained in the government of Ireland was signally put to the test in 1795, when Lord Fitzwilliam came over, 4th January, as Lord-Lieutenant, to inaugurate a policy of concession both on religious and political questions. He took Grattan and the leaders of the liberal party into his councils, and Mr. Beresford was immediately dismissed from his various offices, although still left in the enjoyment of his salary. Lord Fitzwilliam afterwards gave the following reasons for this step: "When, on my arrival here, I found all those apprehensions of his dangerous power . . were fully justified, when he was filling a situation greater than that of the Lord-Lieutenant himself, and when I clearly saw that if I had connected myself with him, it would have been connecting myself with a person labouring under heavy suspicions, and subjecting my government to all the opprobrium and unpopularity attendant upon his maladministration - what was then my choice? . . I decided at once not to cloud the dawn of my administration by leaving in such power and authority so much imputed malversation; but in doing this, I determined, whilst I determined to curtail him of his power, and to show to the nation that he did not belong to my administration, to let him remain in point of income as well to the full as he had ever been. I did not touch, and he knew that I did not intend to touch, a hair of the head of any of his family or friends, and they are still left in the full enjoyment of more emoluments than ever was accumulated in any country upon any one family." Mr. Beresford immediately proceeded to London, where his influence with the Ministry was so great that within a few weeks Lord Fitzwilliam was recalled. The illness of Mrs. Beresford, who expired near London on 19th May, deferred until 28th June a hostile meeting with Lord Fitzwilliam, provoked by strictures made by the latter in letters to Lord Carlisle. The duel was interrupted by a peace officer. Mr. Beresford, in a letter to a friend about this time, gives the following account of the sequel: "Lord Fitzwilliam then turned to me and said, 'Now, Mr. Beresford, that we have been prevented from finishing this business in the manner I wished, I have no scruple to make an apology,' which he did, and hoped it would be satisfactory to me. . . He then hoped that I would give him my hand, which I did, and he said, 'Now, thank God, there is a complete end to my Irish administration.'" Next month Mr. Beresford returned to Dublin, and was restored to all his offices. In the events that soon followed-the Rebellion and the Union-he sided with Lords Castlereagh and Clare; and few contributed more than he to the successful carrying-through of the Union, or had more to do with the fiscal arrangements consequent thereupon. It was a bitter mortification to him that his son John O. Beresford threw up a good government appointment, and voted against the measure. Before many years were over, however, - in November 1804 - in a letter to a friend, we find him deploring many of the results of the change. He entered the Imperial Parliament for Waterford. In 1802 he was, at his own request, relieved from official duties; and the three remaining years of his life were spent between his London residence, and Walworth, his seat in the County of Londonderry. He was all through life devoted to gardening and agriculture. He died after a short illness, on 5th November 1805, aged 67. A portion of his correspondence, edited by a grandson, and published in two volumes in 1854, is replete with valuable information on current events, and remarks upon public characters. His brother became Marquis of Waterford in 1789, and his grand-nephew, the 3rd Marquis, killed out hunting in 1859, was a nobleman of great sporting notoriety. The influence of the Beresfords is further shown by the fact that among his descendants, within fifty years after his decease, may be counted an archbishop, a bishop, a governor of a colony, a colonial secretary, an M.P., a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, a knight of the Legion of Honour, a privy-councillor, and several officers of rank; while he had one brother an earl, another an archbishop and a baron; one nephew an archbishop and primate, and another a lieutenant-general.

Beresford, Lord John George, Archbishop of Armagh, nephew of preceding, son of the first Marquis of Waterford, was born at Tyrone House, Dublin, 22nd November 1773. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he entered the Church, and his preferment was rapid - Bishop of Cork and Ross, 1805; translated to Raphoe, 1807; Clogher, 1819;. to the archbishopric of Dublin, 1820; and to Armagh in 1822. Although his published works were confined to four sermons, he was a distinguished prelate, and devoted the best energies of his life to the service of his Church. He restored the Cathedral of Armagh, and Trinity College is indebted to him for the erection of the beautiful campanile in the Library-square. He died 19th July 1862, aged 88, and was succeeded in the primacy by his cousin, Marcus G. Beresford, Bishop of Kilmore.

Berkeley, George, Bishop of Cloyne, was born at Dysert Castle, on the river Nore, two miles below Thomastown, 12th March 1683-'4; he received his early education at Kilkenny School, and entered Trinity College, 21st March 1699-1700. Soon after his entrance into the College, which was his residence during the thirteen years that followed, Berkeley came to be regarded as either the greatest genius or the greatest dunce in the place. Those slightly acquainted with him took him for a fool; while his intimates thought him a prodigy of learning and goodness of heart. He pursued his studies with extraordinary ardour, "full of simplicity and enthusiasm." He was elected scholar in 1702; a B.A. in 1704; and took his master's degree in 1707. Farther on in the same year - in June - he was admitted to a fellowship. Early in 1705, in conjunction with some of his college friends, he formed a society " to promote investigations in the new philosophy of Boyle, Newton, and Locke." His Common-place Book affords us an insight into the current of his thoughts at this time. His biographer (Mr. Fraser, from whose work all the extracts in this notice are made) says: "The prevailing tendency of the whole is to the banishment of scholasticism from philosophy, as well as all talk about things which cannot be resolved into living experience of concrete matter of fact, called by him idea or sensation. He is everywhere eager to simplify things, and make knowledge practical, to bring men back to facts, and to expel empty abstractions from philosophy, as the bane of religion and morality, not less than of physical science. There is also a disposition towards the intellectual independence which rebels against the bondage of words, and an enthusiastic straightforwardness of character, apt to be regarded as eccentricity by the multitude - but with a desire to conciliate too. What he writes, plainly flows from himself, if ever any writing did flow from the mind of the writer. . . Berkeley's mind everywhere labours under the inspiration of a new thought. . . When we compare one expression of it with another, we find that it implies neither more nor less than this-a conception of the impossibility of anything existing in the universe that is independent of perception and volition; that is not either percipient and voluntary, or perceived and willed. This is Berkeley's dualism. He vacillates in the abstract expression of it, but it generally approaches this. All so-called existence that cannot be resolved to this, is, he is beginning to see, only 'abstract idea' and therefore absurd - to be swept away as sophistry and illusion. . . It is the same principle which in mathematics, with a dim conception of it, he found to press hard against incommensurability and infinite divisibility. At times he is in awe of its tremendous consequences, and of the shock which these may occasion when it is proclaimed to a learned world which had long tried to feed itself upon abstractions. But he is resolved, nevertheless, to employ it for purging science and sustaining faith." Berkeley first appeared in print in 1707, when he published two tracts - both written in Latin - one an attempt to demonstrate arithmetic without Euclid or algebra; the other, Thoughts on some Questions in Mathematics. His Essay towards a New Theory of Vision appeared two years later. The outcome of this essay appears to be: " What, before we reflected, we had supposed to be a seeing of real things, is not seeing really extended things at all, but only seeing something that is constantly connected with their extension; what is vulgarly called seeing them is in fact reading about them; when we are every day using our eyes, we are virtually interpreting a book." Berkeley's great work, The Principles of Human Knowledge, in which his theories are still further developed, appeared in 1710. " This book is a systematic assault upon scholastic abstractions, especially upon abstract or unperceived matter, space, and time. It assumes that these are the main causes of confusion and difficulty in the sciences, and of materialistic atheism." Berkeley " is the most extraordinary instance of original reflective precocity on record." On 1st February 1709 he was ordained a deacon. One of his discourses, preached in the College Chapel, on Passive Obedience, left room for casuistry about individual duty in revolutionary times, and seriously impeded his advancement in after life, by laying him open to the charge of Jacobitism. He was nominated Sub-Lecturer and Junior-Dean in 1710, and held the post of tutor until 1724. His emoluments did not exceed £40 a-year-equivalent to some four times that amount at the present day. On a Sunday in April 1713 Berkeley appeared at the court of Queen Anne, in the company of Swift; and we soon find him making his way amongst the great men of the time, writing for The Guardian, and spending his days with Steele and Addison. " Does my cousin answer your expectations?" asked Lord Berkeley of Bishop Atterbury; who, lifting up his hands in astonishment, replied: " So much understanding, so much innocence, and such humility, I did not think had been the portion of any but angels, till I saw this gentleman." At Swift's recommendation, in November 1713, he was appointed chaplain and secretary to the Sicilian legation; and he started at once with Lord Peterborough for Sicily. This was the first of a series of long visits to the Continent. His journals and letters of this time are preserved-replete with careful observations upon men and things, relieved with much sprightliness and humour. As yet the taste for Alpine scenery had not been developed in the human breast. He speaks of Savoy as " a perpetual chain of rocks and mountains, almost impassable for ice and snow. And yet I rode post through it, and came off with only four falls, from which I received no other damage than breaking my sword, my watch, and my snuff-box." On his return to England in 1720, his gentle nature was shocked and astounded at the excitement concerning the South Sea scheme, and his feelings found vent in An Essay towards preventing the Ruin of Great Britain. His conviction, therein expressed, that the civilization of the Old World was effete, had a considerable influence on his after life. The conclusions he arrived at were, that if society was to be saved at all it must be by the persons who composed it becoming individually industrious, frugal, public-spirited, and religious. In August 1721, he returned to Dublin as chaplain to the Duke of Grafton,- Lord-Lieutenant. He was still Junior Fellow in Trinity, leave having been freely granted him, through court influence, for his long absences, during one of which the degree of D.D. had been conferred upon him. The deanery of Dromore and other appointments were now given to him. In May 1723, Esther Van Homrigh (Swift's " Vanessa ") died, and left Berkeley, to his astonishment, £4,000, nearly half her property. She had altered her will after her quarrel with Swift in 1720. Her knowledge of Berkeley must have been chiefly by reputation; for although he had been living close to her for nearly two years, it is stated that he had not seen her once. Next year he was installed Dean of Deny, then one of the richest preferments in the Irish Church. What was the amazement of all his friends, when within six months he went to London, declaring his heart ready to break if his deanery were not taken from him. He had conceived the idea that it was his duty to emigrate, and establish a college in Bermuda for the civilization of America - the glories of Europe were past, the hopes of the future rested in the New World. He immediately published Proposals embodying his plans; he pictured the inhabitants as " a contented, plain, innocent sort of people;" the country, " a land of blue skies, rich fruits, coral strands." His lines on the Prospects of Planting Arts and Learning in America, contain one that may be said to be immortal:- Westward the course of empire wings its way. After some years' labour, and exertions to inspire others with his enthusiasm, he procured a charter for a college; about £5,000 was promised in private subscriptions; Sir R. Walpole, on an address of the Commons, promised £20,000 more, and Berkeley threw the whole of his own private means into the undertaking, besides relinquishing all his lucrative preferments. Now for a time he lived privately in the outskirts of Dublin, and in August 1728 married Anne Foster, daughter of the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. " All that one can now discover of Mrs. Berkeley makes her worthy of her husband. She shared his fortunes when he was about to engage in one of the most romantic moral movements of modern times, and when, in love with an ideal academic life in the Bermudas, he was prepared to surrender preferment and social position at home, in order to devote the remainder of his life to the great continent of the west." The following month they sailed from Gravesend in a 250-ton vessel he had chartered. Besides his wife and another lady, he was accompanied by some friends, who, imbued with his enthusiasm, had given up all to assist him in his philanthropic scheme. The passage was a long one, of four months. It was not until the 23rd January 1729 that they cast anchor at Newport, Rhode Island. A few months after his arrival he bought a farm of ninety-six acres in a sequestered spot on Rhode Island, built a commodious house, which he called Whitehall, purchased slaves, and settled down to a life of retirement. It is said that he brought a very extensive library with him. The money for the undertaking, promised by Government, was not forthcoming, and visions of college and his possible influence over the destinies of America appear to have gradually faded away. He built his house in a valley, de claring: " To enjoy what is to be seen from the hill, I must visit it only occasionally; if the prospect were constantly in view, it would lose its charm." His residence of nearly three years in Rhode Island was perhaps the happiest portion of his life. More than one child was born to him there. At length, when it was evident that there was no chance of the government grant, he returned home, leaving his farm to Yale College, as an endowment for the encouragement of Greek and Latin scholarship. His house on Rhode Island still stands. He sailed from Boston in October or November 1731: at any rate, he re-appeared in London in 1732. "Thus ended the romantic episode of Rhode Island, which warms the heart and touches the imagination more, perhaps, than any event in Berkeley's life. Of all who have ever landed on the American shore, none were animated by a purer and more self-sacrificing spirit. It is for this, more than for his speculative thought, that he is now remembered in New England. The cosmopolitan Berkeley has left curiously few local impressions at any of the places where he lived, perhaps more in Rhode Island than anywhere else. The island still acknowledges that, by his visit, it has been touched with the halo of a great and sacred reputation." At no period of his life did he contribute more copiously to literature than during the two years following his return. The largest of his works, Alciphron, appeared in March 1732, and engaged popular attention sooner than any of its predecessors. For a time he resided in London; his letters to his friend Prior in 1733, evince an inclination towards Dublin-indeed, at one time Prior appears to have engaged a house on Arbour-hill for him. In January 1734 Berkeley was appointed Bishop of Cloyne, and in May he was consecrated in St. Paul's Church, Dublin. Shortly afterwards, with his wife and two infant boys, he set out for the diocese where he was to spend the next eighteen years of his career. His retired life at Cloyne appears to have been, on the whole, sedentary, while he conscientiously discharged the affairs of his diocese, and occasionally occupied his seat in the House of Lords in Dublin. The social condition of Ireland attracted much of his attention, as may be judged from his admirable Querist. " After the lapse of nearly a century and a-half, the student of society and the statesman may here find maxims which legislation has not yet outgrown. It is only now that we are fairly resolving, 'whether a scheme for the welfare of the Irish nation should not take in the whole inhabitants; and whether it be not a vain attempt to project the flourishing of our Protestant gentry, exclusive of the bulk of the natives.'" His benevolence to the poor in the dark days of famine and disease, then so prevalent, was boundless. In 1744 he came prominently forward as an advocate of tar-water as a universal specific. He published a tract on the subject, and set up an apparatus in his palace for its manufacture. " He satisfied himself that tar contained an extraordinary proportion of the vital element of the universe; and that water was the menstruum by which this element might be drawn off, and conveyed into vegetable and animal organisms. . . He exulted in the view of a discovery by which the physical maladies of this mortal life might all be mitigated, if not subdued." He even published a poem in praise of his panacea. His efforts to restrain his fellow-countrymen from joining in the Scottish insurrection in 1745, recommended him for further advancement; and through the influence of Lord Chesterfield the primacy, on falling vacant, was offered to him. However, he resolutely declined to accept the office, saying that he had all he desired, and that further emoluments could not bring him increased happiness: " For my part," he says, " I could not see (all things considered) the glory of wearing the name of primate in these days, or of getting so much money; a thing every tradesman in London may get if he pleases. I should not choose to be Primate in pity to my children; and for doing good to the world, imagine I may upon the whole do as much in a lower station." Devotion to the happiness and elevation of his children was, in truth, one of his guiding motives. An Italian music master lived in the house, and the concerts given in the palace during the winters were a delight to the whole neighbourhood. In 1752 he decided to resign his bishopric, and indulge a long-cherished desire of spending his latter years in retirement at Oxford, not alone to enjoy the many social and literary advantages of a university town, but to reside near his son George, who matriculated in Christ Church in June of that year. Accordingly, he wrote to the Secretary-of-State, offering to resign his bishopric absolutely. This singular proposal excited the curiosity of King George II; who, upon learning by whom it was made, declared that Berkeley should die a bishop in spite of himself; but that he might live where he pleased. He removed to Oxford in August 1752, the passage to England being so exhausting that he was obliged to be carried in a horse litter from Bristol. According to tradition his new abode was in Holywellstreet, near the cloisters of Magdalen. He did not long enjoy the change. " On the evening of Sunday, the 14th of January 1753," writes his biographer, "Berkeley was resting on a couch, in his house in Holy well-street, surrounded by his family. His wife had been reading aloud to the little family party the lesson in the Burial Service, taken from the 15th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and he had been making remarks upon that sublime passage. His daughter soon after went to offer him some tea. She found him, as it seemed, asleep, but his body was already cold; for it was the last sleep - the mystery of death; and the world of the senses had suddenly ceased to be a medium of intercourse between his spirit and those who remained." He was buried in the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford. Bishop Berkeley is described as having been of ordinary height, handsomely made-the face full and round, of a fair complexion. His expression was one of thoughtfulness and simplicity, not without traces of the refined humour that appears in his writings-animated by a mild, pious, persistent enthusiasm. "He was naturally strong and active, and remarkable for erect, manly grace; but the robust body was latterly reduced by sedentary habits and much study." The Bishop was, at the date of his decease, aged 68. His widow survived him thirty-three years, and died 27th May 1786, in her 86th year. A son and daughter were living at the time of his death. The former, George, born in London in 1733, became a divine of some eminence.

Berkenshaw, John, an Irish musician; he resided in Dublin, in the family of the Earl of Kildare, until the War of 1641-'52 drove him to England. He lived in London after the Restoration, published works on the study of music, taught the violin, and gave singing lessons. "Burney represents him as a charlatan, who was far indeed from possessing the musical qualifications he laid claim to." The dates of his birth and decease are unknown. Under date 24th February 1661-'2, Pepys mentions him: " Long with Mr. Berkenshaw in the morning at my musique practice, finishing my song of 'Gaze not on Swans,' in two parts, which pleases me well; and did give him £5 for this month or five weeks, that he hath taught me; which is a great deal of money, and troubled me to part with it."

Bermingham, Sir John, Earl of Louth. He inherited large estates from his ancestors, who came over with Strongbow. In 1318 he was appointed general of the Anglo-Irish forces raised to check the advance of Edward Bruce. The memorable battle that ensued, and which resulted in the death of Bruce at the hands of John de Maupas, an Anglo-Irish knight, and the overthrow of his army, was fought at Faughart, near Dundalk, 14th October 1318. Sir John sent Bruce's head to Edward II., and was for his services created Earl of Louth, and granted estates at Ardee. Next year we find him marching into Connaught against the O'Conors and MacKellys. In 1321 he was appointed Lord-Justice, and in 1322 conducted a force of 300 men-at-arms, 1,000 hobellars, and 6,000 foot into England, to aid the King against the Scots. In 1325 he founded a Franciscan friary at Monasteroris (so called from his Irish name, MacFeorais.) On 10th June 1329 he fell, with 200 of his kindred and retainers, at Braganstown, County of Louth, in a feud with the Gernons, Verdons, and others of the ancient Anglo-Irish families of Louth. He was incomparably the ablest Anglo-Irish leader of his day.

Betagh, Rev . Dr., a distinguished Catholic clergyman, was born about 1737. After being educated abroad, and residing both at Paris and Metz as a professor for many years, he returned to Ireland and was appointed parish priest of SS. Michael and John's, Dublin, and Vicar-General of the diocese. He made many and great efforts for the good of his people, establish ing a free evening school for about 330 boys, and otherwise advancing education. He died, greatly beloved, 16th February 1811, aged 74; and his remains were followed to their resting place in St. Michan's churchyard by a multitude of mourners.

Betham, Sir William, an antiquarian and genealogist, born at Stradbrook in Suffolk, 22nd May 1779. He began life as a printer, and came to Ireland in 1805, where he distinguished himself in genealogy, a taste derived from his father; he was knighted in 1812, and next year succeeded Sir Chichester Fortescue as Ulster King at Arms. He devoted himself with indefatigable industry to his favourite study, collecting an immense mass of materials, and partially reducing to order, and making available, the collections in the Birmingham Tower and the Remembrancer's Office. He published several works of a somewhat speculative character connected with the study of Irish antiquities, and contributed largely to the leading literary societies of which he was a member. His greatest MS. work was his index to the names of all persons mentioned in the wills at the Prerogative Office in Dublin. It consists of forty large folio volumes, begun in 1807, and not completed before 1828, during a great part of which period he devoted to it from eight to ten hours a-day. His "philological Deductions were not generally deemed satisfactory; and it may be regretted that these speculative studies withdrew his attention from those more tangible questions affecting our political and constitutional history, of which he had made himself a master, and for the illustration of which he had formed such ample collections." The acceptance of Mr. Petrie's work on the Round Towers by the Royal Irish Academy did not meet with his approval, and was said to be the cause of his withdrawal for many years from that institution. He died at Stradbrook, Blackrock, County of Dublin, 26th October 1853, aged 74.

Bianconi, Charles, was born 26th September 1785, at Tregolo, in the Duchy of Milan, Italy, where his father is said to have owned a small silk factory. In 1802 he came to Ireland as apprentice to an Italian print-seller, who was in business in Temple-bar, Dublin. In this capacity Bianconi travelled on foot throughout Ireland, peddling his master's stock. In 1806, when out of his time, he found himself in possession of about £50, and established himself as a print-seller, first at Tipperary, then in Waterford, and afterwards in Clonmel. In the prosecution of his business he was led to reflect upon the then difficulties of travelling throughout Ireland, and his practical mind saw an opening for a profitable speculation - the establishment of cars between the principal towns. He commenced in 1815, by a one-horse vehicle between Clonmel and Cahir. This proved remunerative; and the termination of the war enabling him to purchase horses cheaply, it was not many years before he had one hundred cars of various sizes traversing Ireland, performing daily 3,800 miles, at an average charge of 1 1/4d. per mile for each passenger. When the railway system threw him off the main lines, his enterprise and intelligence opened up new fields; and by 1858 he had even extended his operations. In August 1831, he obtained letters of naturalization in Ireland, filled the office of Mayor of Clonmel, and was appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant. While amassing a large fortune, his "Bianconi cars" conferred inestimable advantages upon Ireland. He died 22nd September 1875, having all but completed his 90th year. He has borne the following testimony to the character of the Irish people: " My conveyances, many of them carrying very important mails, have been travelling during all hours of the day and night, often in lonely and unfrequented places; and during the long period of forty years that my establishment is now in existence, the slightest injury has never been done by the people to my property, or that entrusted to my care."

Bickerstaff, Isaac, was born in Ireland about the year 1735. He was one of the pages of Lord Chesterfield when Lord-Lieutenant. He afterwards became an officer in the marines, in which service he continued until forced to quit under very discreditable circumstances. He is known as the author of Love in a Village, Maid of the Mill, and about twenty other light comedies and musical pieces, produced under Garrick's management-of which some yet retain possession of the stage. Charles Dibdin composed the music to many of these pieces. His last was produced in 1787. Bickerstaff died abroad in old age and reduced circumstances. His "pieces present a combination of excellencies seldom found in conjunction."

Binns, John, a distinguished journalist, was born in Dublin, 22nd December 1772. He received a good education, became a United-Irishman, and suffered two years' imprisonment. Soon after his release, in 1801, he emigrated, with his brother Ben jamin, to Baltimore. In March 1802, he commenced at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, the Republican Argus, which gave him great influence with the Democratic party. From 1807 to 1829 he conducted, at Philadelphia, the Democratic Press - the leading paper in the state, until 1824, when it opposed the election of Jackson. Besides other works, he published in 1854 an autobiography. He died at Philadelphia, 16th June 1860, aged 87.

Black, Joseph, M.D., an eminent chemist and physician, was born, of Belfast parents, at Bordeaux in 1728. He received his preliminary education at Belfast, whence he proceeded to the University of Glasgow, to acquire a knowledge of medicine and the collateral sciences. In 1754 he took the degree of M.D., and delivered as his inaugural thesis an inquiry into the nature and operation of various lithontriptics. This address passed through several editions, and procured for him much reputation. " The researches relating to fixed air and carbonic acid gas may fairly be esteemed as having led to the discoveries of Cavendish, Priestley, Lavoisier, and others of the pneumatic school, the importance of which is now justly admitted." Upon the removal of his distinguished preceptor, Dr. Cullen, to Edinburgh, in 1756, Dr. Black was, at Dr. Cullen's earnest desire, appointed his successor as Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry. As early as 1756 he commenced the investigation into the nature and properties of heat, which occupied him many years. " Black discovered and developed the general law that connects and explains the phenomena of the production of heat and cold, which occur in the combination, liquefaction, and evaporation of bodies, several of which it must, however, be admitted, had been previously attended to by Dr. Cullen. The doctrine of latent heat, to the discovery of which Dr. Black's claims are indisputable, was applied to the explanation of numerous natural phenomena, and he was assisted in his experiments by two of his pupils, afterwards well known in the scientific world-James Watt and Dr. Irvine. Mr. Watt always professed to have been indebted to the instruction and information received from Dr. Black for the improvements that he made in the steam engine." In 1766 Dr. Cullen was advanced to the chair of Medicine in Edinburgh, and Dr. Black succeeded to his professorship of chemistry in the same University. His style as a lecturer was unsurpassed-combining elegant simplicity with clearness and precision. Numbers were through his lectures attracted to the study of chemistry. His scientific attainments, gentle and pleasing manners, and cultivated tastes, gathered round him a circle of intimates such as James Watt, James Hutton, David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Dr. Cullen, and Sir G. Clerk. He was a member of many learned societies in Great Britain and upon the Continent. Dr. Black died suddenly, 26th November 1799, aged 70. He was discovered sitting before his usual frugal meal of bread, prunes, and milk-his death had been so calm that the mug of milk set down upon his knee remained unspilled. A bachelor, he had by will divided his large fortune equally amongst his relatives. His Lectures on Chemistry were edited by his friend Professor Robinson, in 1803. Within a short period they went through three editions in German. The President of the British Association at Glasgow, in 1876, in his address says: " It is now conceded that Black laid the foundation of modern chemistry." The British Quarterly Review writes: " Considered as a philosopher, Black ranks amongst the highest of those who have wrought out great theories. Induction was the only method by which he sought to discover truth."

Blackburne, Francis, Lord-Chancellor of Ireland, was born at Footstown, County of Meath, 11th November 1782. He distinguished himself at Trinity College, was called to the Bar in 1805, appointed Sergeant in 1826, Attorney-General in 1830, Chief-Justice in 1846, and Chancellor in 1852. It was he who counselled the Government to put down by proclamation the Repeal monster meetings; and one of his aphorisms was, "England can never destroy the Irish Church, because, if she does, she will sever the Union." He presided at most of the political trials in 1848. He was a staunch Conservative, and never recovered the acceptance of his almost compelled resignation of office by Lord Derby in March 1867-regarding it as " a harsh and cruel return for his abnegation of self, and for the sacrifices which he had so cheerfully made." He declined a baronetcy; and died shortly afterwards, 17th September 1867, aged 84, at his residence, Rathfarnham Castle, near Dublin. He was buried at Mount-Jerome. As a lawyer, his character stood deservedly high; while in his private life he was greatly beloved.

Blakeley, Johnston, Captain U.S.N., was born at Seaford, County of Down, October 1781. His parents emigrated to North Carolina; and before long he was left an orphan. Educated by a friend, he entered the U. S. Navy in 1800 as a midshipman; and by July 1813, had risen to be a Master-Commander. In the Wasp, on 28th June 1814, he captured, after a severe engagement, H. B. M. ship, Reindeer. The latter vessel made three desperate and unsuccessful efforts to board, in the last of which her commander was slain. For this exploit, Congress voted Commander Blakeley a gold medal. On 21st September 1814, he captured and sent into Savannah the brig Atalanta. This was the last direct intelligence ever received of him. The Wasp being heavily armed and sparred, and deep-waisted, probably foundered in a gale. About the time of his death he was gazetted a captain. His only child, a daughter, was educated at the expense of North Carolina.

Blakeney, Sir Edward, Lieutenant-General, G.C.B., son of W. Blakeney, Member for Athenry before the Union, was born in 1778. He entered the army when but sixteen, as cornet in a dragoon regiment, and saw much active service in Holland, Nova Scotia, the West Indies, at Copenhagen, and elsewhere. During the Peninsular War, he took part in the battle of Busaco, in the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and in the battles of Albuera, Vittoria, and the Pyrenees. In 1814 he was employed in the expedition against New Orleans. He acted as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland from 1832 to 1855, during which time he was a Privy-Councillor. He was appointed governor of Chelsea Hospital in 1856, and became a Field-Marshal in 1862. He died 2nd August 1868, aged about 90. 241 Blakeney, Lord William, a distinguished general, was born at Mountblake ney, County of Limerick, in 1672. He entered the army, and although admitted to be an officer of great merit, his professional advancement was long retarded. In 1745, his skilful and courageous defence of Stirling Castle against Prince Charles won general applause. Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Minorca, he bravely but unsuccessfully defended it against an overwhelming French force under Marshal Richelieu, in April 1756. He had previously in vain notified the British Minis try of the defenceless state of the island. It was for ill-success in relieving Blakeney that Admiral Byng was shot next year. On his return to England, he was ennobled by George II. for his heroic conduct of the defence. He died in 1761, aged about

Blessington, Marguerite, Countess, second daughter of Edmund Power, a country gentleman of decayed fortune, was born at Knockbrit, County of Tipperary, 1st September 1789. Through her mother she was descended from the Sheehys - a family that had suffered much from the Penal Laws in the previous generation. Her beauty was remarkable, and she exhibited great precocity of intellect and feeling. When she was six years of age, the family removed to Clonmel; and at fifteen she was induced, against her inclinations, to marry Captain Farmer, of the 47th Regiment. His violent temper and cruelty forced her to leave him in about three months. After living for a time with her parents, she settled in London with one of her brothers, in 1816. The following year her husband was killed in a drunken frolic in the Fleet Prison (where he was confined for debt), and in 1818 she married the Earl of Blessington. For several years they travelled on the Continent, where she appears to have studied and cultivated her tastes for art and literature. The results of her observations were afterwards given to the world in two books-The Idler in Italy and The Idler in France. In 1829 her husband died; she returned to London next year, and established herself in Leamore-place, May Fair. Here, and afterwards at Kensington, she gave the most costly entertainments, and her house became the centre of a brilliant coterie of the witty and learned, attracted by her charming and fascinating manners. In 1832 appeared her Journal of Conversations with Lord Byron-one of the most popular books of the day. In the course of the ensuing eight years she wrote some twelve novels. Count d'Orsay, the sculptor, the husband of her step-daughter, from whom he was separated, came to live with her, and contributed not a little to the expenses of her establishment. She could not reduce her style of living, and finally, in 1849, was obliged secretly to remove to Paris with the Count. Upon her jointure of £2,000 a-year she set about furnishing a house in the Champs-Elysees, where she hoped again to gather round her a literary circle; but she died of apoplexy a few days after entering it, on 4th June 1849, aged 59. She was buried in a mausoleum designed by Count d'Orsay, near the village of Chamboury; there the remains of the Count were placed three years afterwards. Two inscriptions, one by Barry Cornwall, and another in Latin, by W. S. Landor, are on her tomb. The Countess is thus described by N. P. Willis: " Her features are regular, and her mouth, the most expressive of them, has a ripe freshness and freedom of play peculiar to the Irish physiognomy, and expressive of the most unsuspicious good humour: add to all this a voice merry and sad by turns, but always musical, and manners of the most unpretending elegance, yet even more remarkable for their winning kindness, and you have the most prominent traits of one of the most lovely and fascinating women I have ever met." Besides the books she published, she contributed to the Daily News and other papers. Knight says that the majority of her novels and tales are of little literary worth, and none, perhaps, are likely to have a very long vitality;" and Leigh Hunt's London Journal says that " the charm of her title, her indisputable taste in the fine arts, and above all, her beauty . . have contributed to raise her present position of polite letters beyond the general merit of her works."

Blood, Thomas, Colonel, an adventurer, was born about 1628. His father, an ironmaster, resided at Sarney in Meath, where, as well as at Glenmalure, County of Wicklow, he had been granted lands by Charles I. Blood was in England at the close of Charles' reign, but returning to Ireland, became a lieutenant in the Parliamentary army. After the Restoration, the Act of Settlement rendered him and many others of the Parliamentary officers discontented, and in 1663 he became leader of a conspiracy for surprising Dublin Castle and seizing the Duke of Ormond, then Lord-Lieutenant. The plot was discovered when on the eve of execution. His brother-in-law suffered death as an accomplice, while he escaped to Antrim, concealing his identity under different disguises. After various adventures in Ireland and on the Continent he settled in England, passing as a physician under the name of Ayliffe. He fought with the Covenanters at the Pentland Hills in November 1666; and afterwards passed himself off for a Quaker. He now, probably at the instigation of the Duke of Buckingham, entered upon a scheme to seize and perhaps murder his old enemy, the Duke of Ormond. On the night of 6th December 1670, with five accomplices, he waylaid the Duke in the streets of London, and carried him off. Fortunately the populace were roused, and the Duke was rescued; but although £1,000 reward was offered for the apprehension of the perpetrators of the outrage, Blood's share in the transaction was not discovered until some years afterwards. His next design was to purloin the English regalia. Disguised as a clergyman, he made the acquaintance of Edwards the custodian at the Tower. When by repeated visits he had gained his confidence, he appeared one day with two associates, under the plea of wishing to see the regalia. On being admitted, they threw a cloak over the head of Edwards and gagged him. Blood carried away the crown, and his two companions the globe and sceptre: they were apprehended and brought to trial. Charles II. attended at the examination, and Blood by lying, flattery, cajolery, and threats of the vengeance of associates, so worked on the King, that he was not only pardoned but granted a pension of £500 a-year, and generally received into such favour at court that the whole affair became a public scandal. Afterwards he fell into trouble by making scandalous imputations on the character of the Duke of Buckingham: before his trial could come on, he died at his house in Westminster, 24th August 1680, aged about 52.

Blount, Sir Charles, Lord Mountjoy, and Earl of Devonshire, second son of the 6th Lord Mountjoy, was born in England in 1563. He studied at the Middle Temple, and when about twenty, was introduced at court, and gained Elizabeth's favour. He entered Parliament, served with Sir Philip Sidney in the Low Countries, and was knighted. Advanced from one honour to another, he aroused the animosity of Essex, and a duel ensued between them, in which Essex was badly wounded. From this date, strange to say, they became fast friends. In 1594, on the death of his elder brother, he succeeded to the title of Mountjoy, and an inheritance of under £100 a-year, on which we are told " he lived plentifully, and in a fine way and garb." In 1599, after the failure of the Earl of Essex, and in opposition to his own wishes, the Queen insisted upon his assuming the government of Ireland. On his arrival, 24th February 1599-1600, the Anglo-Irish power was at a low ebb. He immediately took the field with 2,102 foot and 279 horse, and soon reduced the country to a state of comparative peace, chiefly through the abilities of Sir George Carew, President of Munster. For these successes he received several flattering letters from the Queen. In 1601 Lord Essex was committed to the Tower on a charge of high treason. Mountjoy was certainly implicated in his plans; however the Queen could not afford to quarrel with him, and he escaped the storm that overwhelmed Essex, although he was refused leave to return to England. If he had obtained it, " he meant nothing else," according to his secretary, Fynes Moryson, "but rather . . was purposed with his friends to sail into France, they having privately fitted themselves with money and necessaries thereunto." In the Autumn of 1601, Don John d'Aguila landed at Kinsale with 4,000 Spaniards, to co-operate with O'Neill. Mountjoy and Carew immediately invested Kinsale. The weather was miserable, and the sufferings of the troops were intense. O'Neill and O'Donnell, with the Spaniards of Castlehaven, concentrated for the relief of d'Aguila. A battle ensued on the night of the 23rd December, in which Mountjoy not only defeated the Irish princes with heavy loss, but compelled d'Aguila immediately to capitulate. O'Neill retired into Ulster, and in the spring of 1602 Mountjoy organized a final expedition against him. The country was in the most miserable condition from constant warfare: the roads are said to have been strewn with thousands of the bodies of those who had perished by famine. Yet the war lingered on for another year, and it was not until 30th March 1603, that terms were arranged at Mellifont between O'Neill and Mountjoy. It is probable that O'Neill would not then have submitted had he known, what Mountjoy knew, that Queen Elizabeth was dead. Returning to England, Mountjoy was received at court with favour, by James I., sworn one of the Privy Council, created Earl of Devonshire, and granted about £400 a-year, besides extensive estates in Ireland. He died 3rd April 1605, aged about 42, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. He is thus described by Moryson: " He was of stature tall, and of very comely proportion, his skin faire, with little haire on his body, which haire was of colour blackish (or inclining to blacke) and thinne on his head, where he wore it short, except a locke under his left eare, which he nourished the time of this [Irish] warre, and being woven up, hid it in his necke, under his ruffe. . . His forehead was broad and high, his eyes great, black, and lovely, . . and his countenance cheerful. . . He was undoubtedly valiant and wise."

Bolton, Sir Richard, born in Staffordshire, in Elizabeth's reign. He rose rapidly in the law, received the honor of knighthood, and having, in 1621, published an edition of Irish Statutes, and specially turned his attention to Irish legal matters, was appointed Chief-Baron of the Exchequer, and afterwards, in 1639, Lord-Chancellor of Ireland. During the reign of Charles I. the Irish Court of Chancery was in full work - 726 decrees being enrolled, and the Chancellor's salary receiving an addition of £500 a-year; while the Irish Bench were directed to take upon them "together with the coif, the very same form and fashion of robes, habits, and other ornaments as are used here by our judges in England." As a friend of Strafford, Bolton was with several others impeached of high treason by the Irish House of Commons. The proceedings were eventually quashed, and it is thought that this impeachment was to prevent his attending Stratford's trial and giving evidence for him. Amid the conflict of the civil wars he continued patiently and perseveringly penning his Justice of the Peace for Ireland, and other law works. It is probable that he died in England in 1650, whither he had retired during Cromwell's government.

Bond, Oliver, a prominent United-Irishman, was born in Ulster about 1762. He commenced business as a wholesale woollen draper in Pill-lane, Dublin, and in in 1786 removed to the house now 9 Lower Bridge-street. Five years afterwards he married the daughter of Henry Jackson, ironfounder, a leading member of the United-Irishmen. He soon rose to be one of the most opulent and respectable merchants in Dublin. He entered enthusiastically into Irish politics. On 1st March 1793, he, together with the Hon. Simon Butler, was committed to Newgate, and fined £500, for reflections on the House of Lords. On their liberation in August they were presented with congratulatory addresses. In 1797 we find him exceedingly active in administering the oath, and enrolling and arming men. The meetings of the Leinster Directory were usually held at his house. There, on 19th February 1798, the famous resolution was passed: " We will pay no attention to any measure which the Parliament of this kingdom may adopt, to divert the public mind from the grand object we have in view; as nothing short of the entire and complete regeneration of our country can satisfy us." Through the treachery of Reynolds, Bond's house was surrounded by military on the morning of the 12th March 1798, and fourteen members of the Leinster Directory were seized. Bond was tried and convicted on 24th July. He was defended by Curran and Ponsonby. It was mainly to prevent the execution of so beloved and venerated a man that Thomas Addis Emmet and other state prisoners entered into the compact with government, which will be found detailed in Emmet's life. He survived the commutation but five weeks, dying suddenly in prison of apoplexy, 6th of September 1798, aged 36. He was interred in St. Michan's graveyard, Dublin. His large (property was not confiscated; and his widow and family removed to the United States. Mrs. Bond died in Baltimore, 15th September 1843.

Bonnell, James, Accountant-General of Ireland, son of Samuel Bonnell, an English merchant, was born at Genoa, 14th November 1653. Two years after his birth, his father was appointed Accountant-General of Ireland, with reversion of the office to his son. His father died in 1664. The youth's education, which had been commenced at Trim, was completed at Cambridge University. He displayed a spirit of wonderful sweetness and piety; and none the less did he prosecute his studies with indefatigable diligence. For some time he acted as tutor, travelling with his charge in France and Holland. In 1684 he returned to Ireland, and took his employment of Accountant-General into his own hands, which had been since his father's death managed by others for his benefit. The toils of office were peculiarly irksome to him, and nothing but a sense of duty prevented him from throwing them off, and occupying himself with devotions and religious meditations. When upon the rumours of war in December 1688, multitudes hurried away to England, he stood firm at his post, regarding the sufferings of himself and fellow Protestants as a just chastisement for their many shortcomings in the past. His joy after the victory of the Boyne was abated by news from England of the death of his mother to whom he was tenderly attached. In 1693 he married a daughter of Sir Albert Cunningham. His desire to enter the Church was frustrated by ill health. He died in Dublin, 28th April 1699, aged 45, of a malignant fever, and his remains were interred in St. John's Church. See Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, for a rare poem by Swift upon Bonnell's life.

Borlace, Edmund, (son of Sir John Borlace, Master of the Ordnance, and one of the Lords-Justices criticized so severely by Clarendon) was born in Dublin, and is stated to have been educated at Trinity College. He took his degree of medicine at Leyden in 1650, and settled in Chester, where he practised with success until his death in 1682. Amongst other well known works, he published, in 1680, The History of the Execrable Irish Rebellion of 1641, a work that tended much to perpetuate the exaggerations concerning the War of 1641-'52. The opinion that he plagiarized from Clarendon is endorsed by Ware.

Boulter, Hugh, Archbishop of Armagh, was born in London in 1671. Educated at Oxford, he became chaplain to George I., Bishop of Bristol in 1719, and Archbishop of Armagh in 1724. His position was more political than ecclesiastical, and he was a stroug upholder of the English interest. Writing to Lord Townsend, he says: " But whatever my post is here, the only thing that can make it agreeable to me, who would have been very well content with a less station in my own country, is if I may be enabled to serve His Majesty and my country here, which it will be impossible for me to do according to my wishes if the English interest be not thoroughly supported from the other side." With these sentiments he had but a sore time of it, between Swift,Wood's halfpence, and a rather fractious Commons. The plan of Government purchasing off opposition did not meet his views; and the quantities of goods smuggled from the Isle of Man. and consequent loss of revenue, were a great concern to him-"The only remedy we talk of here for this evil is, if His Majesty were to buy the island of the Earl of Derby." During the nineteen years of his primacy, the real weight of the government policy with regard to Ireland rested on him. He died in London, September 1742, aged about 71, leaving upwards of £30,000 for the purchase of glebes for the Irish clergy, and the augmentation and improvement of small benefices. His efforts to found schools for the conversion of Catho lics did not come to much. " I can assure you," be wrote to the Bishop of London, " the Papists are here so numerous that it highly concerns us in point of interest, as well as out of concern for the salvation of those poor creatures, who are our fellow-subjects, to try all possible means to bring them and theirs over to the knowledge of the true religion; and one of the most likely methods we can think of is, if possible, instructing and converting the young generation; for instead of converting those that are adult, we are daily losing several of our meaner people, who go off to Popery. . The ignorance and obstinacy of the adult Papists is such that there is not much hope of converting them."

Bourke, Miles, sat as Viscount Mayo in the Parliament of 1634, and when the War of i64i-'52 commenced, was appointed governor of Mayo; however he soon went over to the side of the Confederates, and joined the Catholic Church. He did his best to lessen the acerbities of the war, and is said to have retired from the Council in 1644. He died in 1649; and three years later his son and successor in the title was tried by the Commonwealth Commissioners at Galway, for complicity in the rebellion, condemned and shot by their order, and his estates (50,000 acres) were forfeited; these latter were afterwards restored to the family.

Bourke, Richard, the husband of Grace O'Malley, was in Queen Elizabeth's reign the head of the Bourkes of Galway; he sided with the English in their expeditions, and held his lands under renewed gift from the Crown. In 1576 he is thus described by Sir Henry Sidney, who knighted him: " I found him very sensible; though wanting in the English tongue, yet understanding the Latin; a lover of quiet and civility." He died in 1605.

Bourke, Richard Southwell, Earl of Mayo, was born in Dublin, 21st February 1822. The Bourkes of the County of Kildare, whom he represented, were connected by ties of family and property with the county since the War of 1641-'52, when their ancestor, having held a captaincy of horse under the Marquis of Ormond, settled at Kill. The Earl was educated at Trinity College, taking his degree of B.A. in 1844: LL.D. was subsequently conferred upon him. He travelled in Russia in 1845, and published his experiences in a work entitled St. Petersburg and Moscow. In 1849, on the death of his uncle, and his father becoming Earl of Mayo, the honorary title of Lord Naas devolved upon himself. During more than twenty years he sat in Parliament - for Kildare from 1847 to l852; Coleraine, 1852 to 1857; and Cockermouth, 1857 to 1867 - when, upon the death of his father on 12th August, he became Earl of Mayo. He was an earnest and consistent Conservative, and as such held the post of Chief-Secretary for Ireland in each of the three Derby administrations-March to December 1852, February 1858 to June 1859, June 1866 to 1868. In 1868 he was appointed Governor-General of India, and Knight of St. Patrick. During the Fenian disturbances he had displayed signal ability and statesmanship; nevertheless his suitability for the post of Governor-General was doubted by many. He belied all sinister anticipations, proving one of the ablest administrators that ever ruled India. In the prime of middle life, and possessed of vigorous health, he evinced great activity of body as well as mind, and was constantly on the alert visiting the portions of his viceroyalty that required inspection. In 1872, he went to the penal settlement at the Andaman Islands, concerning which there had been reports of abuses and maladministration. Returning to embark in the dusk of the evening of the 8th February, he was assassinated by a convict named Shere Ali, who declared that " he had no accomplices, that it was his fate, and that he had committed the act by the order of God." He had long threatened that he would take the life of some distinguished European in revenge for having been imprisoned for murdering a man in a " blood-feud." The Viceroy was only able to totter against a truck, and say faintly to his secretary, " They've hit me, Burne," before he expired. The assassin was executed at Calcutta on the 20th of the same month. There was something very noble in the message Lady Mayo and her family sent him before execution: "God forgive you, as we do." Lord Mayo's remains were brought back to Ireland, were received in military state in Dublin, and were deposited in the family mausoleum near Naas. Lord Mayo had all but attained his 50th year. A man of genial manners, he was very popular amongst his associates. He was an enthusiastic sportsman, as well in Ireland as in the fiercer and more dangerous sports of India. A public subscription to perpetuate his memory was applied towards the erection of a family mansion. His biography is extremely interesting, and enters fully into his Indian administration. We find the following tribute to his character: " No soldier went over the plan of an expedition or the map of a line of defences with the Viceroy without discovering, as he rode home from Government House, that he had got valuable practical hints. No diplomatist brought him a draft treaty without feeling certain that any fault in scope would be hit, and any deficiency in foresight remedied. Each head of a department found that Lord Mayo had personally weighed his proposals, and had discovered for himself where they were sound and where they were wanting. The whole body of secretaries, men whose function in life it is never to give way to enthusiasm, would have toiled their souls out for him. It was impossible to work near him without loving him: he had a tender considerateness, and a noble trustfulness, and a genial strength, which plucked allegiance from the hearts of men."

Bowden, John, Rev., a distinguished Protestant divine, was born in Ireland, in January 1751. He settled in America, 1770. studied divinity, was ordained in England, and in 1774 became a minister in Trinity Church, New York. There he officiated some years; afterwards, in other places in the United States, and the West Indies. From 1801 to 1817 he was Professor of Moral Philosophy in Columbia College. He was the author of Portrait of Calvinism, and other theological works. He died at Ballstown, New York, 31st July 1817, aged 66.

Bowles, William, a naturalist, was born in Ireland, and died in Spain in 1780. He was the author of several works on the natural history and productions of that country. Buckle speaks of him as having endeavoured to arouse in Spain an interest in mineralogy. A genus of Peruvian plants has been named after him.

Boyd, Henry, Rev., a minor poet and writer, vicar of Rathfriland, and chaplain to the Earl of Charleville. Besides some poems, his best known work is a translation into English verse of Dante's Divina Commedia (3 vols. 1802). He died at Ballintemple, near Newry, 17th September 1832.

Boyd, Hugh (or Macaulay), an author, was the son of a gentleman in the County of Antrim, and is said to have been educated at Trinity College for the Bar. His habits were unsteady and extravagant, so that, although he married a rich wife, and obtained an appointment in India under Lord Macartney, he disappointed all expectations. His miscellaneous works were published in 1798-1800, with a view to proving his identity with Junius, a claim indeed almost his only warrant for notice, and one that has long been set aside. He conducted in Ireland, in 1772, a political paper called the Freeholder. He died at Madras in 1794.

Boyle, Richard, Earl of Cork, was born at Canterbury, 3rd October 1566. His family had been settled in Herefordshire for many generations. On leaving Cambridge he entered the Middle Temple; but losing both his parents, his resources were insufficient for his maintenance during the usual course of study, and he was led to offer his services to Sir R. Manwood, Chief-Baron of the Exchequer. Ireland was then a desirable field for young adventurers of push, daring, and ability. Hither he came in his twenty second year, landing 23rd June 1588. " When I arrived in Dublin all my wealth was then £27 3s. in money, and two tokens, which my mother had formerly given me, viz.: a diamond ring, which I ever have since, and still do wear, and a bracelet of gold, worth about £10; a taffety doublet cut with and upon taffety; a pair of black velvet breeches, laced; a new Milan fustian suit laced and cut upon taffety; two cloaks; competent linen and necessaries; with my rapier and dagger." Procuring employment in drawing up memorials, conveyances, and public documents, he acquired an insight into affairs, and was enabled rapidly to turn over his small capital; while his acquaintance with government officials gave him an opportunity of purchasing at nominal prices some of the vast confiscated estates of the Irish chieftains. In 1595 he married a Limerick heiress, who, dying within a short time, left him a considerable sum in cash and £500 per annum in landed property. He lived with economy, and was enabled to purchase so much territory that the envy of several influential persons was aroused. They alleged that his investments on the coast were with the view of co-operating with the Spaniards or other invaders, and indeed that he was supplied with funds by the King of Spain. About to proceed to London to clear him self of these charges, the war in Munster broke out, his estates were ravaged, and he returned to his studies at the Temple. When on the point of revisiting Ireland in the suite of the Earl of Essex, Sir Henry Wallop and others renewed the charges against him; his papers were seized and he was retained in prison some months. At length an examination before the Privy Council took place, the Queen being present. Boyle not only cleared himself, but turned the tables on Sir H. Wallop, and in his own words, Elizabeth " arising from council, gave orders not only for my present enlargement, but also discharging all my charges and fees during my restraint, gave me her royal hand to kiss, which I did heartily, humbly thanking God for that great deliverance." He was now appointed Clerk of the Munster Council, purchased the Pilgrim from Sir Walter Raleigh, freighted her with arms and stores, sailed to Ireland, and assisted at the siege of Carrigfoyle Castle; " and," as he says, " this was the second rise that God gave my fortunes." After the reduction of Kinsale, 24th December 1601, he was employed to carry the news to Elizabeth; he accomplished the journey from Cork to London in the short space of forty hours, and was graciously received by the Queen, with whom he had an audience in her bed-chamber at seven in the morning: whereupon his biographer remarks: " If we reflect upon the hours our ministers keep at present [1755] we shall be the less surprised to find that our affairs are not managed altogether so successfully as in the days of Queen Elizabeth." His affairs continued most prosperous; he bought Sir W. Raleigh's estates of 12,000 acres for a small sum, and on the conclusion of peace set vigorously to settle them with English immigrants, and to build towns and forts. On 25 th July 1603, he married his second wife, Miss Fenton, daughter of Sir J. Fenton, Master of the Rolls. On this occasion, at Mary's Abbey, he was knighted by Sir George Carew. He speaks of this marriage as " the crown of all my blessings." He was created a Privy-Councillor (1606), Lord Boyle, Baron of Yonghal (1616), Viscount Dungarvan and Earl of Cork (1620), in 1629 he was Lord-Justice, in conjunction with his son-in-law, Viscount Loftus; he was Lord-Treasurer in 1631. His mansion in Dublin, on the site of the present City Hall, gave the name to Cork-hill. He selected as his family motto: "God's providence is my inheritance." There was a violent antipathy between Lord Strafford and Lord Cork, said to have had its origin in Stratford's objection to the original position of the unsightly Boyle monument, still to be seen in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Lord Cork appeared as a witness against Strafford at his trial in London. When the war broke out in 1641, he fortified Lismore, and placed it under command of his son, Lord Broghill. The town of Bandon, built, walled, and fortified by himself, at a cost of,£14,000, he left under his son Lord Kynalmeaky; while assisted by another son, Lord Dungarvan, a troop of cavalry, and two hundred tenants, he undertook the defence of Youghal, then threatened by the Irish forces, who held the surrounding country. The details of his actions in the war have not come down to us. His son Kynalmeaky was killed in the battle of Liscarroll, 2nd September 1642. The same autumn, the Earl of Cork was empowered to hold sessions at Cork for the trial of 1,100 men charged with high treason. Even after the heavy losses in the war, his estates continued the most valuable in the kingdom. Cromwell remarked that " if there had been an Earl of Cork in every province, it would have been impossible for the Irish to have raised a rebellion." He died 15th September 1643, aged j6, at Youghal, and was buried in his own chapel in the parish church. His second wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, and by whom he had fifteen children, died in 1630.

Boyle, Roger, Lord Broghill, Earl of Orrery, third son of the Earl of Cork, was born at Lismore, 26th April 1621. After two years of study at Trinity College, he was sent, when seventeen, to travel on the Continent with his brother, Lord Kynalmeaky. On his return, he commanded a troop in the expedition against the Scotch, under the Earl of Northumberland. In 1640 he married a daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, and arrived with her at Lismore the very day hostilities broke out in Ireland. He fortified his father's house, and distinguished himself against the Confederates in several engagements. At the battle of Liscarroll he was taken prisoner, but was soon rescued. He opposed the cessation of arms in 1643, and in 1644 joined Lord Inchiquin and others in a letter to the King, praying that no peace should be concluded with the Irish. They had such an unsatisfactory answer from the King, on whom his lordship waited at Oxford, that he and Lord Inchiquin put themselves under the protection of the Parliament. He now acted under Lord Inchiquin at Castle-Lyons, Youghal, and elsewhere, and in 1646 took Lord Muskerry's castle of Blarney. After the execution of Charles I., he retired to his estate in Somersetshire, and was about departing for the Continent to plot for the restoration of the Stuarts, when Cromwell called on him, showed him copies of his foreign correspondence, proving that his designs were known, and offered him the choice of imprisonment or service under the Commonwealth. He accepted the latter, repaired to Ireland, and met Cromwell near Waterford, late in 1649, with 1,500 men whom he had raised. Lord Broghill's chaplain thus describes the meeting: " He drew up his party and made an halt till Cromwell had done so too: while his party cried up, 'A Broghill! a Broghill,' Crom- well's party cried up, `A Cromwell! a Cromwell!' My lord rid up to Cromwell and Ireton, then the head of the army, and after having saluted one another, my lord returned to his party, and made them cry up, `A Cromwell!' and with much ado, Cromwell made his party cry up, 'A Broghill!' and so they joined." He assisted at the siege of Clonmel, which capitulated on honourable terms, O'Neill having secretly withdrawn the garrison. Carrigdrohid Castle he frightened into surrender by drawing up to the siege numbers of trunks of trees, which the beleagured imagined were heavy artillery. He also assisted at the siege of Limerick under Ireton, especially distinguishing himself in an engagement with Lord Muskerry, and upon the conclusion of the war, was one of the commissioners who carried out Cromwell's system of confiscation and expatriation in Ireland. Mr. Prendergast speaks of "Lord Broghill, whose name, like that of Sir C. Coote, seems ever the prelude of woe to the Irish." Afterwards in England he continued to be one of Cromwell's most trusted friends and advisers. He was for a time governor in Scotland, and was one of Richard Cromwell's council. Finding the latter an incompetent ruler, he favoured the restoration of Charles II. Returning to Ireland, and working in concert with Coote, he seized Youghal, Clonmel, Carlow, Limerick, Drogheda, Galway, and Athlone for the King, and helped to end the rule of the Parliament in Ireland. After the Restoration he was made Earl of Orrery, Lord-Justice, and President of Munster. His latter years were spent between his Presidency and London. In 1661 he built a mansion at Charleville, changing the name of the town, in honour of Charles II., from the "heathenish one of Rathgogan." There he kept his Presidency court in "great splendour." " He made up controversies betwixt neighbours, and healed up wounds betwixt friends, with a dexterity not to be paralleled. He used the most cunning stratagems to bring about peace and quietness. He was a lion in courage and a lamb in meekness, so that he became the cement of the whole country where he lived, and constantly exercised those excellent parts, and that quick apprehension, with which he was endowed, to the benefit and happiness of mankind. His advice was constantly sought by the King and Queen; yet did he not escape impeachment, from which he was, however, acquitted. Upon this occasion, he rejoined to a friend who remarked with what difficulty he ascended the stairs of the Court of Requests: " Yes, sir, my feet are week; but if my heels will serve to carry me up, I promise you my head shall bring me safe down again." He left England finally in August 1676, and "spent the remainder of his life principally in contemplation, reading the Scriptures and other serious studies, partly at Castle-martyr and partly at Charleville." He died " after great and dreadful strugglings with his distemper," gout, 16th October 1679, aged 58, and was buried in the church of Youghal, where there is a monument to him. He left two sons and five daughters. Lord Broghill was the author of numerous plays and poems. He is described as " of a middle size, well-shaped and comely; his eyes had the life and quickness in them which is usually the sign of great and uncommon parts. His wit rendered his conversation highly entertainingand amusing." He is stated to have written a volume of memoirs, which was either lost or suppressed. Horace Walpole declared him to have been " a man who never made a bad figure except as an author." About seventeen works from his pen are enumerated by Ware. His correspondence with the Duke of Ormond is full of interest.

Boyle, Robert, one of the greatest natural philosophers of his age, and one of the founders of the Royal Society, was the seventh son and fourteenth child of the Earl of Cork, and was born at Lismore, 25th January 1627. He learned to speak Latin and French while a child, and was only eight years old when he was sent to Eton. There he studied about three years, and was next placed as private pupil with the rector of Stalbridge in Dorsetshire, where his father had just taken up his residence. In 1638, after a visit to London, he travelled in France, accompanied by a French tutor, and studied above a year at Geneva. In the autumn of 1641, he visited Switzerland and Italy, and spent the winter at Florence. There he studied the works of Galileo, who died near Florence during his residence. On reaching home in 1644, he learned the death of his father, who had left him the manor of Stalbridge, and estates in Ireland. These latter he occasionally visited during his after life. Next year he became a member of a society of scientific men, the germ of the Royal Society, who in consequence of the agitation of the times used to hold their meetings with as much privacy as possible - first in London, afterwards in Oxford. In 1646 he settled at Stalbridge; and thenceforward devoted himself to scientific research and