own estates from forfeiture. Thus, while his sons were sent to Holland, and his lady was obliged to remain in Ireland, Ormond continued abroad, and even there rendered many important services to the cause of fallen monarchy.

The first of the commissions entrusted to him in his banishment, was to withdraw the young Duke of Gloucester from the power of the Queen Mother, who was reported to have made use of some severities in order to induce that prince to become a convert to the Catholic faith. In this delicate task he succeeded, and was next employed to detach the Irish brigades in the service of Spain to the French crown. Having completed this object also, with promptitude, he was appointed to command these brigades, and in this capacity obtained the surrender of St. Ghilians, a fortified town near Brussels. In 1658 a more dangerous mission was confided to his prudence; for arriving secretly in England, with the view of acquiring certain intelligence of the strength of the royal party, he was put at the head of the conspiracy for Cromwell's deposition, which was mainly supported by Lord Fairfax, and Sir William Waller. How perfectly this plot was discovered to the Protector, is a matter of historical notoriety: Ormond was most hazardously persecuted by the government spies, and had good reason to congratulate himself upon the fortune of his escape to the continent. Ample notice might be now taken of the repeated negotiations which he conducted at the courts of France, Spain, and Holland, for the restoration of royalty; but as those undertakings were unsuccessful, so are their details uninteresting. The current of events brought that great end quietly to its issue by other labours than his; he was a passenger in the same ship that conveyed Charles back to his kingdom, and not only obtained an immediate restoration of his great property in the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, but was recompensed for his late sufferings, by an extensive grant of new estates.

The coronation was that solemnity by which Charles became formally invested with the rights and dignities of his ancestors, and he very appropriately made it the occasion of ratifying the distinctions of the faithful retinue who had shared his adversity. Amongst this number, Ormond was honoured with an Irish Dukedom, and nominated to officiate for the day with the rank

of Lord High Steward of England. 1662, he was once more elevated to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, and upon his arrival at the seat of government, found that country, which seems incurably fated for distractions and sufferings, still agitated in open warfare. This state of things, with some time and labour, he managed to compose, and then directed his attention to improvements, for the benefits of which, if ever the memory of a man deserved to be invoked with blessings, his must rise sacred; for, after encouraging the people to various laudable occupations in commerce and agiculture, he introduced, for the first time, to their notice, the growth of flax, and manufacture of linen; and in order to secure a fair trial, and a proper cultivation of the art, procured at his own expense the most skilful men from the Low Countries, and dispersed them over the country, to communicate their knowledge, and set a profitable example of industry, throughout the whole island. The eminent results of this policy it is unnecessary to enlarge upon, as it is at this day a national truth, that the manufacture of linen is the standard trade of Ireland, and that the districts in which it is most cultivated, are the wealthiest and most peaceable in the country.

From these honourable avocations Ormond was only diverted by the vicissitudes inseparable from a political life. His intimacy with the Earl of Clarendon involved him in much of the unfound_ ed odium which overpowered that great man; and when the Chancellor was banished, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was called over to London to render an account of government. A rigorous inquiry into his conduct was immediately instituted, but not a pivot was detected on which envy could turn itself. The machinations of his opponents, however, were laid with an intricacy, from which it was impossible to escape; and in 1669, he was ungratefully deprived of all his offices. Honours, however, were not to be withheld from a man of such independent merits, by the factitious disgrace attending upon the loss of place; and in the course of the following year, he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Scarce had this last preferment been well attained, when a more malignant plot had nearly cut short his distinctions; for the same Colonel Blood, who is notorious in the history of England, for his daring effort to steal the crown from the Tower, made a desperate attempt on his Grace's life. This

villain had formerly been imprisoned by the Duke in Ireland, upon the detection of a reckless conspiracy, by which he intended to seize on the castle of Dublin; but escaping from gaol, before a trial could take place, he repaired to London, and moved about with impudent confidence, secure in the profligate patronage of the Duke of Buckingham. Hardened in crime, and thirsting for revenge, he now conceived the project of making away with the Duke of Ormond to Tyburn, and there hanging him from the common gallows. Accordingly, by taking his post with some mounted ruffians in St. James Square, one night in the month of December, 1670, he awaited the Duke's return home from a public entertainment, which had been given in the city, to the Prince of Orange. As soon as the carriage drew up before his residence, Ormond was seized, pinioned, and lashed behind a horseman, who immediately rode off with him at a rapid pace. The party had reached Oxford-street, when the Duke, after repeated struggles, succeeded in throwing both himself and the rider to the ground: assistance, fortunately, reached him before he could be replaced, and he gained his home uninjured. The King at first expressed a passionate resentment against the perpetrators of so violent an act, but being afterwards supplicated by Buckingham to favour Blood, he sent the Earl of Arlington to Ormond, with a request that the insult might be pardoned. Ormond's reply was courtier-like, and sensible; -"If the King," said he, "can forgive Blood for an attempt to steal his crown, I may easily forgive him for an attempt on my life: I shall observe his Majesty's pleasure, without enquiring into his reasons."

Seven years now passed away, and Ormond was never employed, and seldom consulted; though his high character and unimpeachable conduct retained him not unfrequently about the person of his indifferent sovereign. At length the grievances of the Irish broke out with such violence, that in 1677, the Court was compelled to resort to him as the only man in the nation who was at all likely to tranquillize the country. He was accordingly honoured with an unexpected visit from the King, and by him pressed to assume, for the fourth time, the high rank of Lord Lieutenant. Unmindful of personal feelings, when a public duty supervened, and conscious of the impolitical nature of the measures lately resorted to in Ireland, he undertook the responsibility, and

proceeded without hesitation to Dublin. By dint of great pains, and considerable prudence, he maintained the authority of his station in a higher degree than he last received it; but his designs were thwarted, his resources were inadequate, and the superiority of England was highly precarious.

At length Charles the II. died, and his brother James succeeded to the crown: Ormond proclaimed the new monarch at his seat of government, and then resigned his office. Being now stricken with years, and surfeited with politics, he retired to his seat at Kingston Hall, in Dorsetshire, and, after lingering under repeated attacks of the gout for two years, expired at the age of seventy-eight, in July, 1688. His body was removed with becoming solemnity to Westminster Abbey, and honourably interred beneath a vault under the entrance to Henry the Seventh's chapel, which is still distinguished by the title of the Ormond vault. James Butler, Duke of Ormond, has deservedly received an admirable character from all historians. He was a man of grave, rather than shining talents; possessing sound opinions, and great practical knowledge. It has been truly observed, that for fine honour as a courtier, and pure integrity as a statesman, no one of his cotemporaries can be compared with him. The constancy with which he adhered to the cause of Charles, not only through all the oppressive hardships of banishment, but also through the bitter mortifications of party vicissitudes, and ministerial defeats, establishes an example of firm loyalty, such as it were not easy to match in history. He was an ardent friend to the prerogative of the crown; but, at the same time, a staunch advocate for the unbiassed administration of the law. The moderation of his conduct, and the excellence of his views in the government of Ireland, far exceeded any displayed by his predeHad the judicious measures which he recommended for that unfortunate island been pursued, either during his lifetime, or after his death, it is almost indescribable what misery might have been avoided, and what prosperity secured.

cessors.

734

PASCAL DE PAOLI.

In the great south aisle of Westminster Abbey is a handsome bust and tablet, executed by Flaxman, to the memory of this once popular general. The bust has been much praised for the resemblance it is said to bear to the deceased; and the inscription, which seems to have been penned by an English courtier, and is not rigidly true in all its statements, presents itself to the eye in the following order :

D. O. M.

To the Memory of
PASQUALE DE PAOLI,

One of the most eminent and most illustrious characters
Of the age in which he lived.

He was born at Rostino, in Corsica, April the 5th, 1725, was universally chosen, at the age of thirty, supreme head of that

Island,

and died in this Metropolis, February the 5th, 1807,
aged 82 years.

The earlier and better part of his life he devoted to
The cause of Liberty;

Nobly maintaining it against the usurpation
of Genoese and French tyranny:

by his many and splendid achievements,
his useful and benevolent institutions,

his patriotic and public zeal manifested upon every occasion. He, amongst the few who have merited so glorious a title,

most justly deserves to be hailed

The Father of his Country.