Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen (Volume 6); From the Earliest Times to the Present Period, Arranged in Chronological Order, and

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1847. Excerpt: ... &&avk lienUal BOKN 1767--DIED 1843. The end of the last century, though far behind the present time in public intelligence and in the advancement of real knowledge, was yet as far beyond it in that loftier cultivation of the heart and reason among the higher classes, which constituted the finished gentleman, the accomplished man of letters, or the powerful orator. Not, indeed, that this pre-eminence was generally diffused among the wealthier classes, but while there existed among the lowest ranks a perfect barbarism, and among the rural gentry a rude and uncultivated condition as to habits of life and general attainment, there was among the higher aristocracy, the university, the bar, and the parliamentary leading men, a sedulous cultivation of elegant literature, of the refinements and graces of language, of the popular methods of address, as well as of the exercise of the whole art of forensic eloquence, such as has not since been remotely approached; nor, considering the changes which have since taken place in knowledge and manners, is likely to be again attained. In England, our illustrious countryman, Burke, had, with all his unrivalled power, raised his testimony against Indian oppression or domestic improvidence, and warned his country and mankind against the rising storms of French revolution-- Shook the arsenal and fulmin'd over Greece--followed by the brilliant and celebrated men of either party, whose names are still so familiar. In Ireland, Grattan and his powerful contemporaries were only less famous, because they had a narrower stage, and less elevated parts to play. Emanating from this splendid competition of men of the highest gifts, there were in different circles of society bright expansions of intellectual light, of greater or less co...