A DUBLIN BOARDING-HOUSE.

Sketch of the company and inmates-Lord MountmorrisLieut. Gam Johnson, R. N.-Sir John and Lady O'Flaherty -Mrs. Wheeler-Lady and Miss Barry-Memoir and character of Miss Barry, afterwards Mrs. Baldwin-Ruinous effects of a dramatic education exemplified-Lord Mountmorris's duel with the Honorable Francis Hely Hutchinson at Donnybrook-His Lordship wounded—Marquis of Ely, his second.

ON my return to Dublin from London, before I could suit myself with a residence to my satisfaction, I lodged at the house of Mr. Kyle, in Frederick-street, uncle to the present provost of Dublin University. Mrs. Kyle was a remarkably plain woman, of the most curious figure, being round as a ball; but she was as good as she was ordinary. This worthy creature, who was a gentlewoman by birth, had married Kyle, who, though of good family, had been a trooper. She had lived many years, as companion, with my grandmother, and in fact regarded me as if I had been her own child.

In her abode so many human curiosities were

collected, and so many anecdotes occurred, that, even at this distance of time, the recollection of it amuses me. Those who lodged in the house dined in company: the table was most plentifully served, and the party generally comprised from eight to ten select persons. I will endeavour to sketch the leading members of the society there at the period of which I speak; and first on the list I will place the late Lord Mountmorris, of celebrated memory. He was a very clever and well-informed, but eccentric man ;-one of the most ostentatious and at the same time parsimonious beings in the world. He considered himself by far the greatest orator and politician in Europe; and it was he who sent a florid speech, which he intended to have spoken in the Irish House of Lords, to the press :the debate on which it was to be spoken did not ensue; but his lordship having neglected to countermand the publication, his studied harangue appeared next day in the Dublin newspapers with all the supposititious cheerings, &c. duly interposed! I believe a similar faux pas has been committed by some English legislator.

His Lordship, at the period in question, was patronizing what is commonly ycleped a Led Captain-one Lieutenant Ham or Gam Johnson, of the Royal Navy, brother to the two judges, and the attorney, of whom I shall speak here

after. Without being absolutely disgusting, Lieut. Johnson was certainly the ugliest man in Christendom. It was said of him that he need never fire a shot, since his countenance was sufficient to frighten the bravest enemy. His bloated visage, deeply indented by that cruel ravager of all comeliness, the small-pox, was nearly as large as the body which supported it, and that was by no means diminutive. Yet the man was civil and mild, and had, withal, a much higher character as an officer than his Captain in the Artois frigate, Lord Charles Fitzgerald, who, it was at that time thought, preferred a sound nap to a hard battle.

Next in the company came Sir John O'Flaherty, Bart. and Lady O'Flaherty his sposa. He was a plain, agreeable country gentleman. Her Ladyship was to the full as plain, but not quite so agreeable. However, it was (as Mrs. Kyle said) respectable, at a boarding-house, to hear"Sir John O'Flaherty's health !"—and “Lady O'Flaherty's health !"-drunk or hobnobbed across the table. They formed, indeed, excellent make-weights to cram in between Lord Mountmorris and the canaille.

Lady Barry, widow of the late Sir Nathaniel Barry, Bart. and mother of Sir Edward, (who was also an occasional guest,) follows in my

catalogue, and was as valuable a curiosity as any of the set.

Mrs. Wheeler, the grandmother of Sir Richard Jonah Denny Wheeler Cuffe, gave up her whole attention to lap-dogs; and neither she nor the last-mentioned dowager were by any means averse to the fermented grape-though we never saw either of them "very far gone.

Lady Barry's only daughter, afterwards the unfortunate Mrs. Baldwin, was also of the party. Though this young female had not a beautiful face, it was yet peculiarly pleasing, and she certainly possessed one of the finest figures,-tall, and slender in its proportions, and exquisitely graceful,—I had ever seen. Her father, Sir Nathaniel Barry, many years the principal physician of Dublin, adored his daughter, and had spared no pains nor expense on her education. She profited by all the instruction she received, and was one of the most accomplished young women of her day.

But unfortunately he had introduced her to the practice of one very objectionable accomplishment, calculated rather to give unbounded latitude to, than check, the light and dangerous particles of a volatile and thoughtless disposition. He was himself enthusiastically fond of theatricals, and had fitted up a theatre in the

upper story of his own house.-There the youthful mind of his hitherto untainted daughter was first initiated into all the schemes, the passions, the arts and the deceptions of lovers and of libertines!—the close mimicry of which forms the very essence of dramatic perfection. At sixteen, with all the warmth of a sensitive constitution, she was taught to personify the vices, affect the passions, and assume the frivolities of her giddy sex!

Thus, through the folly or vanity of her father, she was led to represent by turns the flirt, the jilt, the silly wife, the capricious mistress and the frail maiden,-before her understanding had arrived at sufficient maturity, or his more serious instructions had made sufficient impression, to enable her to resist voluptuous sensations. She had not penetration enough (how could she have?) to perceive that a moral may be extracted from almost every crime, and that a bad example may sometimes be more preservative against error, (from exhibiting its ruinous consequences,) even than a good one. She was too young, and too unsteady, to make these subtle distinctions. She saw the world's pleasures dancing gaily before her, and pursued the vision-until her mimicry, at length, became nature, and her personification identity. After two or three years, during which this