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was a patent place, and of a description so unsuitable to his temper of mind, that he soon found it expedient to fulfil the duties of it by a deputy, with whom, in consideration of circumstances, he consented to divide the profits accruing from it, and which proved wholly unworthy of Mr. Moore's serious attention. "Though curiosity, therefore," says he, "was certainly not the motive of my voyage to Ameri yet it happened that the gratification of curiosity was the only advantage which I derived from it."—" Having remained about a week at New-York," he continues, "where I saw Madame the half repudiated wife of Jerôme Bonaparte, and felt a slight shock of an earthquake, the only things that particularly awakened my attention, I sailed again for Norfolk, where I proceeded on my tour northward through Williamsburgh, Richmond," &c. In October, 1804, he quitted America on his return to England in the Boston frigate, commanded by Capt. Douglass, whom he has highly eulogized for his attention during the voyage. In 1806 he published his remarks on the Manners and Society of America, in a work entitled Odes and Epistles. The preface to this little work has sufficiently established the talent of Mr. Moore as a prose writer.

The fate of Addison with his Countess Dowager holding out no encouragement for the ambitious love of Mr. Moore, he wisely and happily allowed his good taste to regulate his choice in a wife, and some years ago married Miss Dyke, a young lady of great personal beauty, most amiable disposition, and accomplished manners, in whose society he

passes much of his time in retirement near Bath, devoting himself chiefly to literary pursuits. His domestic happiness has fully satisfied his mind on the doubts raised in it by the celebrated proposition of the Love casuists, "An Formosa sit ducenda?"

Mr. Moore appears equally to have cultivated a taste for music as well as for poesy, and the late celebrated Dr. Burney was perfectly astonished at his talent, which he emphatically called "peculiarly his own." Nor has he neglected those more solid attainments which should ever distinguish the well bred gentleman, for he is an excellent general scholar, and particularly well read in the literature of the middle ages. His conversational powers are great, and his modest and unassuming manners have placed him in the highest rank of cultivated society. It is not our intention to enumerate here the various publications with which Mr. Moore has favoured the public, but shall content ourselves with noticing the most prominent, and in the foreground we would place Lalla Rookh, which if it had been his only production, would have carried his name down to posterity as one of the first bards of his time. We have been assured that the very liberal sum of three thousand guineas was given for the copyright, and from the great sale which it has experienced, the purchasers must have found it a lucrative speculation. Mr. Moore is now employing himself in editing Mr. Sheridan's works, to which will be prefixed, an essay on the genius and character of that great Statesman, to whose memory he paid a just tribute of respect immediately after his death in some beautiful lines which were print.

ed in the Morning Chronicle.* The materials of that humorous production, "The Fudge Family in Paris," were furnished by his visit to that city in the summer of 1817. In the preface of this work there is an indirect confession that "The Two Penny Post-Bag," and the Fudge Family have one and the same origin;

Εγω δ' ΟΜΩΡΟΖ αζας
Εδησαμην μητωπω.

As soon

We cannot conclude this brief sketch more appropriately, than by an account of the dinner given on occasion of the poet's visit to Ireland, which took place on the 8th June, 1818, at Morrison's Hotel in Dublin, and was graced by a large assemblage of the most distinguished literary and political characters. The Earl of Charlemont tookthe head of the table; Mr. Moore sat on his right hand, and Mr. Moore, sen. a venerable old gentleman, the father of our Irish bard, was on his left. as the cloth was removed, Non nobis Domine was sung by Messrs. Smith, Heymon, &c.; numerous loyal and patriotic toasts followed. The Earl of Charlemont then proposed the memory of the late Jamented Princess Charlotte, which was drank in solemn silence, after which Mr. Smith sung a sweet and plaintive song, written by himself in commemoration of her late Royal Highness. After a short interval, the Earl of Charlemont again rose, and with a suitable eulogium, proposed the health of the distinguished Irishman who had honoured the country with his presence. After the applause

See vol. v. page 136,

had subsided, Mr. Moore rose much affected, and spoke to the following effect:

"I feel this the very proudest moment of my whole life; to receive such a tribute from an assembly like this around me, composed of some of the warmest and manliest hearts that Ireland can boast, is indeed a triumph that goes to my very heart, and awakens there all that an Irishman ought to feel, whom Irishmen like you have selected for such a distinction.--Were my merits a hundred times beyond what the partiality of the noble chairman has invested me with, this moment, this golden moment in my life would far exceed them all. There are some among you, gentlemen, 1 whose friendship has been the 'strength and ornament, the dulce decus' of my existence, who however they differ from my public sentiments, have never allowed that transient ruffle on the surface to impede the progress of the deep tide of friendship beneath, men who feel that there is something more sacred than party, and whose noble natures in the worst of times, would come out of the conflict of public opinion, like pebbles out of the Ocean, but more smooth and more polished from its asperities by the very agitation in which they had been revolving. To see them beside me on a day like this, is pleasure that lies too deep for words. To the majority of you, gentlemen, I am unknown; but as your countryman, as one who has ventured to touch the chords of Ireland's Harp, and whose best fame is made out of the echoes of their sweetness; as one whose humble talents have been ever devoted, and with the blessing of God, ever shall

be devoted to the honour and advancement of his country's name; whose love for that country, even they who condemn his manner of shewing it, will at least allow to be sincere, and perhaps forgive its intemperance for its truth-setting him down as one who loved, 'not wisely, but too well.' To most of you, gentlemen, I say, I am but thus known. We have hitherto been strangers to each other; but may I not flatter myself that from this night a new era of communion begins between us? The giving and receiving of a tribute like this is the very hot-bed of the heart, forcing at once all its feeling into a fulness of fruit which it would take years of ordinary ripening to produce, and there is not a man of you who have pledged the cup of fellowship this night, with whom I would not claim the privilege of grasping by the hand, with all the cordiality of a long and well cemented fellowship. I could not say more if I were to speak for ages. With a heart full as this glass, I thank you for your kindness to me, and have the sincere gratification of drinking all your healths."

Lord Allen gave the memory of Mr. Curran,' on which a very modest, pathetic, and eloquent speech was delivered by his son, in a tone and manner that produced the most lively emotion throughout the room.

A gentleman afterwards sang a very lively and well written song, composed for the occasion. The subject was the poet's Election in Olympus, at which there were several candidates, such as Byron, Scott, Southey, &c.; but which ended in a due return of Thos. Moore, who had a great majority

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