ing with his thumb to the opposite attorney, suggests the merits of the client, by a pantomimic reference to those of his representative; and with the same spirit of exquisite adaptation, plunges into the darkest abysses of black-letter erudition with Baron Pennefather, and provokes his Lordship into a citation from the Year-books (which excruciates the ears of Mr. Furlong) in Tipperary French. Mr. O'Loghlin is a native of Clare.* I had at first, and before I had made more minute inquiries, conjectured, from the omega in his name, that he must be lineally descended from some of the ancient monarchs of Ireland, or be at least collaterally connected with one of the Phenician dynasties. Upon investigation, however, I discovered that "the big O," the celebrated object of royal antipathy, was but a modern annexation; and that, as I have already intimated, Mr. O'Loghlin * The late Sir Michael O'Loghlin, it is scarcely too much to say, was one of the best judges that Ireland ever possessed. Able, acute, clear-headed, and thoroughly just, he towered above his fellows. He was born in October, 1789, and though he had immense practice at the bar, was excluded by his religion (he was a Catholic) from obtaining professional preferment as early as he deserved it. When the liberals came into power, after the granting of Emancipation, his talents obtained due recognition. He was made third Sergeant in 1831; second Sergeant in 1832; Solicitor-General in 1834; Attorney-General in 1835; and was made one of the Barons of the Exchequer in 1836being, I think, the first Catholic judge for one hundred and fifty years. On the Bench he maintained and, if possible, increased the reputation he had won at the bar. All parties and all creeds honored and respected the upright judge, and the urbane and accomplished gentleman. There was a general feeling of gratification, at the bar, and among the public, when, in 1837, he was raised to the dignity of Master of the Rolls. In this capacity, he showed the great grasp of his mind, for, though his bar-practice had chiefly been at common law, his decisions in equity were irrefragable. In 1838, he was created a Baronet. Sir Michael O'Loghlin died, September, 1842, aged fifty-three. The legal profession of Ireland, who knew his value, raised a large sum for the purpose of erecting a monument to perpetuate their sense of his worth. It has been erected, and consists of his statue, by M'Dowall (an Irish artist), which is appropriately placed in the Hall of the Four Courts, Dublin-the only other statue in that suitable situation being one of Justice, toward which it looks.—Sir Coleman O'Loghlin, educated at London University, and called to the Irish bar in 1840, is eldest son of the late Master of the Rolls, and has already obtained a high reputation. He was employed for the defence, in the State Trials of 1844 and 1848, and acquitted himself with great distinction.-M. HIS DANISH ANCESTOR. 117 is of a Danish origin. It has often been observed that the face of some remote progenitor reappears, after the lapse of centuries, in his progeny; and in walking through the halls of ancient families, it is surprising sometimes to see, in the little boy who whips his top beside you, a transcript of some old warrior who frowns in armor on the mouldering canvass above your head. There is preserved among the O'Loghlins a picture of their ancestor. He was a captain in the Danish navy. The likeness of this able cruiser off the Irish coast to the Counsellor is wonderful. He was a small, square, compact, and active little fellow, with great shrewdness and intelligence of expression. Domestic tradition has preserved some traits of his character, which show that the mind, as well as the face, can be preserved during ages of unimpaired transmission to the last. He was remarkable for his skill as a navigator. Not a pilot in all Denmark worked a ship better. He sent his light and quick-sailing galley through the most intricate quicksands. His coolness and self-possession never deserted him, and in the worst weather he was sure to get into port. He generally kept close to the shore, and seldom sailed upon desperate adventures. Remarkable for his talent in surprising the enemy, and stealing into their creeks and harbors, he would unexpectedly assail them, and carry some rich prize away. The descendant of this eminent cruiser works a cause upon the same principles as his ancestor commanded a ship. He holds the helm with a steady and skilful hand, and shifts his sails with the nicest adaptation to every veering circumstance that occurs in his course. Sometimes, indeed, he goes very close to the wind, but never misses stays. I scarcely ever saw him aground. He hits his adversary between wind and water, and, when he lies most secure, sails into his anchorage, boards, and cuts him out. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that he is in as great practice in the Hall as his forefather was upon the ocean, of whom it is recorded that he "Pursued o'er the high seas, his watery journey, FRANCIS BLACKBURNE. I AM one of those whose political information is derived from a perusal of "The Weekly Register," through the ample columns of which I disport myself upon Saturday evening, and refresh myself with news much older than the beverage with which I raise my spirit to the proper pitch of patriotism, in order to wash down the eloquence of the Catholic Association. While others busy themselves in political anticipations, and leave Time panting and toiling after them, I follow him at a distance, and am contented if, upon the eve of the Sabbath, I can collect enough of news to join in the discussions of divers Popish counsellors, who assemble at half past one o'clock to offer their devotions to "our Lady of Carmel," under the auspices of Mr. L'Estrange, in the avenues of Clarendonstreet Chapel. In this sacred spot, just after benediction, one may observe a certain convocation of politic lawyers with huge prayer-books, bound in green morocco, under their arms. After years of hebdomadal employment, the golden pages of these holy volumes look as bright and fresh as when they issued from the burnishing hands of the bookseller to Maynooth College, and bear evidence of the care which the pious * A newspaper of great influence in those days (1827) and for twenty years after. It sided with Mr. O'Connell through the great struggle for Emancipation, and the various efforts to obtain Repeal, by means of a Parliamentary enactment. When Mr. Duffy, in The Nation, and Mr. John Mitchel, in The United Irishman, advocated the bolder policy of force (argument having wholly failed) the Weekly Register, which was opposed to physical force, fell to the ground.-M. STEPHEN WOLFE AND WOLFE TONE. 119 votaries of Themis have taken not to profane them with too frequent an application of their forensic fingers. But this is parenthetically observed-I was going on to say, that I merely prepared myself upon Saturday evening to talk over the memory of Lord Wellesley with Mr. Farrel; the lamentable increase of crime upon the Munster circuit with Mr. Wolfe; sacerdotal riots at Birr, and the validity of excommunication with Mr. Cruise; and the recollections of Wolfe Tonet with Mr. Sheil. Such being my indifference to political events, it not unfrequently happens that a great incident takes place of which I do not hear until after its more immediate effects upon the public mind have subsided-until after Mr. O'Connell has ordered a gown of Irish silk in the Liberty; Mr. Sergeant Lefroy has sought the consolations of religion. * Stephen Wolfe, a good lawyer and a liberal man, obtained neither notice nor preferment from the anti-liberal Governments preceding the grant of Emancipation. In 1834, he was made third Sergeant: Solicitor-General in 1836, Attorney-General in 1837, and Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1838, on the death of Joy. Mr. Wolfe earnestly pressed the Government to appoint Mr. Pennefather, as fittest for this post, and that he (Wolfe) should merely take the puisne judgeship to be vacated by the promotion of Pennefather. But the Government, whose politics differed very much from those of Mr. Pennefather, declared that, under no circumstances, would they consider his claims; whereupon Mr. Wolfe was appointed Chief Baron. He died, June, 1840.-M. + Theobold Wolfe Tone, actual founder of the "Society of United Irishmen," was born in 1763; called to the bar in due course; published a pamphlet against British mis-government in 1790; and founded the above society in 1793. From that time, "Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum," Tone devoted himself to negotiations with the French Government to send men and arms to win back "Ireland for the Irish." One such expedition, under General Hoche, actually sailed, but a hurricane dispersed the fleet (consisting of 17 sail of the line, 13 frigates, &c., with 14,000 soldiers, and 40,000 stand of arms, besides artillery) before it could reach Bantry Bay, in the south of Ireland, and the French Government declined sending another large expedition. A petty armament was despatched, but beaten in a contest with an overpowering British fleet. Tone, who had fought bravely, was captured, tried by a Court Martial, and sentenced to be hanged, which he evaded by suicide. On the publication of Tone's autobiography, seven-and-twenty years after his death, Sheil attempted "to point a [political] moral" from it, in one of his Catholic Association Speeches, and was prosecuted for it by Mr. Plunket, then Attorney-General, but never brought to trial.— M. in the College chapel, and Mr. Sergeant Blackburne, the subject of the present article, has bitten his nails to the roots for having, in a moment of weakness, yielded to the solicitations of Master Ellis, and allowed himself to be debauched so far from his characteristic prudence as to sign the anti-Catholic petition. I have mentioned this habit of mine in order to account for my surprise at the strange appearance which was exhibited not very long ago by the Hall of the Four Courts, when I was struck by the sudden change of aspect and of manner which several individuals had, in the course of a few hours, undergone. Had I been acquainted with the news which had that morning arrived in Dublin, I should not have wondered at the transformation of the loyal portion of the bar; but I should have been prepared for something extraordinary, for, in my way to the Hall, I observed Mr. Secretary O'Gorman coming down Mass-lane, and just as he turned the corner, Mr. Peter Fitzgibbon Henchey (although Mr. Saurin and the Chancellor happened at the moment to be passing!) gave a look of unqualified recognition to the great plenipotentiary, which was returned with an air of official affability which became so eminent a functionary as Mr. O'Gorman. The appearance of the latter gentleman, indeed, was sufficient to intimate that some momentous incident had taken place. Upon occasions of great importance, Mr. O'Gorman puts on a pair of white silk stockings, striped with black, such as he observed to be worn by Lord Grey, when the Secretary attended the Catholic Deputation.* The hosiery of the ultrapatriot Earl struck the fancy of Mr. O'Gorman, and ever since, upon great occasions, I have observed a fac-simile of his Lordship's stockings distended upon the herculean symmetries of the Irish orator; and it must be owned that, being a little spattered, and not much the better for the wear, they are not a little emblematic of some part of Lord Grey's recent * The descent upon England, of O'Connell, Sheil, and others forming "The Catholic Deputation," in the spring of 1825, is the subject of one of the following Sketches-certainly inferior to none in personal, as well as in political interest. O'Gorman was secretary to the Irish Catholics.-M. |