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TO SLEEP.

O Sleep, awhile thy power suspending,
Weigh not yet my eyelid down,

For Mem'ry, see! with eve attending,

Claims a moment for her own.

I know her by her robe of mourning,
I know her by her faded light;
When faithful with the gloom returning,
She comes to bid a sad good night.

Oh! let me hear, with bosom swelling,

While she sighs o'er time that's past;
Oh! let me weep, while she is telling

Of joys that pine, and pangs that last.
And now, O Sleep, while grief is streaming,
Let thy balm sweet peace restore,
While fearful Hope through tears is beaming,
Soothe to rest that wakes no more.

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THE GREEN SPOT THAT BLOOMS ON THE DESERT OF LIFE.

1.

O'ER the desert of life where you vainly pursu'd

Those phantoms of hope which their promise disown,

Have you e'er met some spirit divinely endu❜d,
That so kindly could say you don't suffer alone?
And however your fate may have smil'd or have frown'd,
Will she deign still to share as the friend and the wife?
Then make her the pulse of your heart, for you've found
The green spot that blooms o'er the desert of life.

2.

Does she love to recal the past moments so dear,
When the sweet pledge of faith was confidingly giv'n,
When the lip spoke the voice of affection sincere,

And the vow was exchang'd and recorded in heav'n?
Does she wish to rebind what already was bound,

And draw closer the claim of the friend and the wife? Then make her the pulse of your heart, for you've found The green spot that blooms o'er the desert of life.

Mr. Curran's parliamentary life is so interwoven with the history of his country, that on it I purpose to subjoin whatever may be most interesting. On principle he became early attached to the Whigs, and to them, through all the undulations of a very varied fortune, he adhered with constancy. His career was not so distinguished in the senate as in the courts of justice. His business in the hall, till the period at which it was interrupted by the occasion before related, was so extensive as to leave him little leisure for the cultivation of politics. His mind consequently was not furnished with all the deep erudition necessary to perfect the practical statesman; but to an intimate acquaintance with the laws and the constitution of his country, he added a great knowledge of all the obliquities of human character, and with the acquired stock of literature, and his facility of public speaking, he marched always in the first ranks of the opposition.

The fire of his genius, the caustic of his invective, his wit, which some one calls the wine of the intellect, and the detestation in which he held the slightest encroachment on the rights of the subject, were themes which he dwelt on with singular success. He connected himself with Mr. George Ponsonby, since Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, who at the time of Mr. Curran's junction was among the principal popular leaders in the opposition, and though Mr. Curran was solicited by the court, he refused to become one of the chief, law officers, and was ever considered by his party, and by his country, as an independent and an honest public man. On the coming in of the opposition he succeeded Sir Michael Smith as Master of the Rolls.. This office it is thought he accepted under feelings of much chagrin, as it was said, he conceived himself better qualified for the King's Bench or for the office of Attorney General. This disappointment and some minor arrangements in the under departments of the office, produced some interruption to the long friendship which had subsisted between him and Mr. Ponsonby, which is variously related; but Mr. Curran paid the last homage of respect to Mr. Ponsonby, and frequently visited him in his last hours. After a few years, he retired from the Rolls on a pension, with the reputation of being an upright judge.

Here he was succeeded by Sir William M Ma

hon, a gentleman of great experience whilst at the bar, of considerable learning in his profession, and whose assiduity to business, dispatch, and integrity, have eminently qualified him (yet a young man) to discharge with great advantage to the public the arduous duties of his high station.

At the bar Mr. Curran was a firm assertor of the rights with which he was intrusted: he was also kind and generous in drawing forth and encouraging talent. The first efforts of genius he thought, if frozen or dismayed, might be thrown back into despair; and he certainly not only assisted youth in its early advances, but frequently sustained it, when it wanted the props of his superior experience and knowledge. Never disdaining to take a suggestion, he was equally liberal to communicate one; nor am I apprised that he ever, in any one instance, oppressed the hope, or marred the prosperity of any one of his numerous competitors; or that he ever, from motives of personal interest, or resentment, stood in the way of any man's advancement, whispered down his reputation, or descended to combination,.compact, or solicitation. Those who knew him best assert, that they are quite certain he never did $0. In his profession he preserved an unsullied reputation for integrity, and was always considered to be among the proudest champions of its rights and privileges.

In those sad and perilous times which had befallen us in the rebellion of 1798, he defended many of the leaders with the utmost and most undaunted intrepidity; and in times so heated, he was frequently exposed to dangers; his words and actions were watched, and they certainly did not give him fresh odour at the Castle. It is said, that to Lord Kilwarden's friendship he was indebted for not being more than suspected, but never on any grounds but from the confidence and the secrets deposited with the advocate. His noble friend, however, placed his loyalty above imputation.

In defence of Oliver Bond, he attacked Reynolds, the informer, by whose evidence the prosecution was to be sustained, with all the vehemence and acerbity of invective. The cross-examination of this witness was conducted with the utmost ingenuity; and in Mr. Curran's bold and manly statement in behalf of his client, there will be found exquisite touches of the predominating genius of the advocate, and some of the most powerful appeals to the feelings. Of this man (Reynolds,) Mr. Curran has afterwards been heard to declare, that his heart was so indurated and gnarled, that it was not in the arm of man to drive a wedge into it; it required the edge of the sword, or the force of machinery, to rive it asunder.

The following is the speech of John Philpot

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