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was a profanation, which, in his high responsible station, as diocesan of the metropolis, it was his duty, if possible, to prevent; and accordingly with this view he separately addressed the following letter to three ladies of high rank in society, who, by opening their houses for these musical exhibitions, had contributed principally to their introduction.

luctant, acquiescence of the East India Company, the right of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the' Bishop of London to refuse their assent without assigning a reason, is fully established; and it is on this account that I leave the transaction on record, for the information of my successors in the see of London; it being a matter of the utmost importance to the interests of religion in our East India settlements." To this I am enabled to add, that since this opposition, which marks in a strong point of view the Bishop's firmness of mind, in a matter which nothing but spirit and energy could have accomplished, the Company have been much more careful in recommending clergymen of approved principles and morals, than they had formerly been. Some of the Directors in particular have paid, much to their honour, peculiar attention to this subject; and there 'can indeed be no question, that it is of the utmost moment, in a country like India, where there is no general ecclesiastical establishment, that the services of the church should at least be performed by men deeply inrers, and a large number of persons pressed with the dignity of their sacred function, and able and zealous in the discharge of its duties.

"In the winter of the year 1805, the Bishop, with that unceasing attention which he paid, in every thing, to the great concerns of religion, took considerable pains to suppress a custom, which he justly considered, in common with many others, as a most glaring violation of public decency, and which was evidently gaining ground in the fashionable world; namely, that of Sunday concerts at private houses by professional performers, at which large numbers were assembled, and much disturbance created on the evening of that sacred day. This

"Although I have not the honour of being personally known to your Ladyship, you will, I hope, allow me to take up a few moments of your time on a subject which appears to me of the highest importance to the interests of religion, more especially in this great metropolis, of which Providence has been pleased to constitute me the spiritual guardian and superintendant.

"Your Ladyship, if I am not misinformed, is one among other ladies of high rank and distinction in this town, who are in the habit of having concerts at their own houses on Sunday evenings, where there are hired professional perform

of fashion assemble together to partake of the entertainment. It is very possible your Ladyship may be of opinion, that there is no kind of impropriety in this sort of amusement on the evening of the Sunday, after the service of the day is over, and the sacred duties of it are fulfilled. But a little consideration will, I am persuaded, convince you that this is a very unfortunate mistake. This practice is a direct violation of the express injunction of God himself; it is an intringement of that rest, which in the fourth commandment we are enjoined to observe on the Sabbath; of that respite from toil and labour of every kind, which we are directed to give

to our servants, and our cattle, throughout the whole of this sacred day. Besides this, it evidently tends to efface, or at least to weaken greatly, those useful impressions which may have been made upon our minds, and upon those of our children and servants, in the offices of public worship, or in our private meditations and devotions; and it mingles too much of the gaieties and the pleasures of this world with those serious thoughts of another, which this day was peculiarly intended to excite and to cherish in our hearts.

"Allow me also to add, Madam, that the laws of this kingdom expressly prohibit all public diversions on the Lord's Day; and I entreat your Ladyship to consider, whether the Sunday evening concerts do not in every respect resemble a public diversion, except that they are given in a private house, instead of a theatre or an opera-house. This does not escape the observation of the lower orders of the people, who, when they see the crowded doors and splendid assemblies of the wealthy and the great on the Lord's Day, are apt to express (as I happen to know from good information) much dis-' satisfaction and much discontent at the grating difference.

"I am aware, that in Roman Catholic countries on the Continent, both public and private amusements are permitted on the Sunday evening. But your Ladyship will, I am sure, agree with me in thinking, that is not exactly the precedent which a Protestant country ought to follow. In fact, it is well known, - that for a long course of years the Church of England has Leen distinguished from the Church of Rome, not only by its doctrine, its discipline, and its purer mode of worship, but also by the decency, the

propriety, the solemnity, with which the Christian Sabbath has been usually observed. It is a distinction, Madam, which does us honour; which is altogether worthy of the first Protestant Church in the world; and it is of the very last importance that we should always preserve inviolate this glorious pre-eminence amongst the nations of Europe. It is my decided opinion, that on the due observance of the Lord's Day, according to the ancient and vener. able usage of our ancestors, depends. in a great measure the very existence of Christianity in this kingdom.

"When we look around us in this immense capital, and observe how every day of the week, and almost every hour of the day, is occupied with one scene of gaiety or other, one would imagine there could be no very pressing necessity for intrenching on the repose of the Sabbath; one would think, that six days out of the seven would be sufficient for the purposes of amusement, and that one day of rest and tranquillity in the week would be to all persons a welcome Sabbath, a desirable pause, a relief from the incessant toil of diversion and of pleasure.

"But let me not, Madam, be misunderstood. I am no friend to a pharisaical or puritanical observance of the Lord's Day. I do not contend, that it should be either to the poor, or to the rich, or to any other human being whatever, a day of gloom and melancholy, a day of superstitious rigour, a day of absolute exclusion from all society. No, it is on the contrary a festival, a joyful festival, to which we ought always to look forward with delight, and enjoy with a thankful and a grateful heart. It is only to those amusements, which partake of the nature and complexion of public di

versions

versions on the Lord's Day, that I object; to large assemblies, for instance, and large concerts consisting of hired performers, where numerous parties are collected together, occasioning a great concourse of ser vants in one place, employing them at a time when they have a right to ease and rest, and producing much of that noise and tumult in the public streets, which are so opposite to the peaceful tranquillity that should prevail on that day-a day which the Almighty himself has distin, guished with a peculiar mark of sanctity, and which he claims as his own. It is against these open infractions of the Lord's Day that I think it my duty to remonstrate. But in hearing sacred music on the Sunday evening, confined to a small domestic circle of relations and friends, without any hired perform ers, I am so far from seeing any impropriety, that it appears to me a relaxation well suited to the nature of a Christian Sabbath, perfectly congenial to the spirit of our religion, and calculated to raise our minds to heavenly thoughts, and sublime and holy contemplations.

to your friends to relinquish) a prae: tice, which you probably took up from mere want of attention to the subject, and from not being aware of the mischievous consequences resulting from it.

Should you come to this deter, mination, I have no hesitation in saying, that you will add greatly to that respect, which is so justly due to your high rank and station, you will do a most essential service to the holy religion we profess; and you will store up a reflection in your own mind, which will afford you the most substantial comfort and support, at a moment, when all the splendour and gaiety of the world will fade before your eyes, and vanish into nothing."

"Upon this admirable letter it would be superfluous to make a single comment. So much rational yet fervent piety; so much earnestness in the cause of virtue; so much anxiety to promote the best interests of man, could hardly plead in yain; and it did not. He received assurances, that the practice, of which he complained, should, if not immediately, at all events the follow

"Your Ladyship will, I hope, do me the justice to believe, that, in ad-ing year, be discontinued: and I dressing these lines to you, I meant not to intrude myself needlessly on your potice, much less to give you the slightest offence; but merely to discharge a very important duty resulting from that most responsible situation, in which it has pleased God to place me. And I cannot help flattering myself, that when your Ladyship reflects a little on the arguments I have offered to your -consideration, you will see reason to relinquish (and even recommend it

feel persuaded, that a promise thus solemnly made, and hitherto observed, will not be forgotten. "Though dead, he yet speaketh:" and it is in the hope, that the sentiments he expressed on this occasion may still operate as a powerful check on the licentiousness of public manners, and be the means of fixing, on the minds of many, serious and religious impressions, that I have thought it my duty to leave his letter on record."

MEMOIRS

MEMOIRS OF ARTHUR MURPHY, ESQ. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.

"R

[FROM MR. FOOTE'S LIFE OF MR. MURPHY.]

ICHARD MURPHY, amerchant in the city of Dublin, was this writer's father, by Jane French, who was married to him in 1723. She was one of the daughters of Arthur French, of Clooniquin, in the county of Roscommon, and of Tyrone, in the county of Galway; her offspring were two daughters, who died young, and three sons, James, Arthur, and Richard. The last died in his infancy; James was born at my father's house on George's Quay, in the city of Dublin, September 1725; of the present writer, a memorandum in his mother's Prayer Book says, he was born on the 27th of December 1727, at Clooniquin, then the house of her eldest brother Arthur French. Richard Murphy his father sailed in one of his own trading vessels for Philadelphia the 24th June 1729, but it was an unfortunate voyage: the ship was lost, as there was reason to suppose, in a violent storm, and neither the master, nor any of the ship's company, was ever heard of, From that time Mrs. Murphy continued in the house on George's Quay, which was bui't by her husband, and there bestowed all her attention on her two surviving sons, James and Arthur, till in December 1735, by the advice of her brother Jeffrey French, of Argyle-Buildings, London, she sold all her property in Dublin, and removed with her young family to the metropolis.

"This writer did not remain long in London: his mother's sister, Mrs. Plunkett, wife of Arthur Plunkett, of Castle Plunkett, in the county of Roscommon, being at that time set1811.

tled at Boulogne with her family, she desired by letter that her nephew Arthur should be sent to her. Accordingly, the young adventurer, early in the year 1736, was embarked, and soon arrived at his aunt's house, which was large and commodious, in the lower town, near the church. Her family was large; no less than five sons and four daughters, who hehaved with the greatest affection to young Arthur; till, in the beginning of 1738, Mrs. Plunkett was ordered by her pl:ysicians to the south of France, for the recovery of her health. On that occasión she sent her sons to their father, who was then in London, and placed her daughters in a convenient situation at Montreal. Young Murphy, then turned of ten years old, was sent to the English college at St. Omer's, and in that seminary he remained six years.

"In February 1734, he was of course placed in the lowest school, under the Rev. Mr. Stanley; and under him went through the second school in regular succession, till being at the head of rhetoric, and the first boy in the college, he was dismissed to London in 1744, being then seventeen years old.

"From the middle of the second year in great figures, young Murphy obtained the first place; and except three times maintained his ground throughout five successive years. One thing in particular he cannot help recording of himself: in the middle of the year in poetry, the young scholar stood a public examination of the Eneid by heart. The Jesuits were arranged in order, F

and

and several gentlemen from the town were invited. The Rector of the college examined his young pupil, and never once found him at fault: at the end of half an hour, the Rector took a pen to write Murphy's eulogium. It should have been premised, that all the scholars went by assumed names; Murphy changed his to Arthur French. The words of the Rector were, "Gallus nomine, Gallus es, qui simul ac alas expandis, cæteros supervolitas." This at the time filled me with exultation; and even now is remembered by me with a degree of pleasure. I cannot quit this head, without say ing, that I often look back with delight to my six vears' residence in the college of St. Omer's. During that time I knew no object of attention but Greek and Latin; and I have ever thought, and still think it, the happiest period of my life.

"In July 1744, I arrived at my mother's in York Buildings. My eldest brother James soon came home from his morning walk, and embraced me with great affection. In a day or two after, my uncle Jeffery French, then Member of Parliament for Milbourn Port, came to see me. He talked with me for some time about indifferent things; and then, repeating a line from Virgil, asked me if I could construe it? I told him I had the whole Æneid by heart. He made me repeat ten or a dozen lines, and then said, "If I have fifty acres of land to plough, and can only get two labouring men to work at two acres per day, how many days will it take to do the whole?" .6 Sirl" said I, staring at him; "Can't you answer that question?" said he; "Then I would not give a farthing for all you know. Get Cocker's Arithmetic; you may buy it for a shilling at any stall; and mind me, young man, did you ever hear mass

while you was abroad?" "Sir, I did,like the rest of the boys." "Then, mark my words; let me never hear that you go to mass again; it is a mean, beggarly, blackguard religion." He then rose, stepped into his chariot, and drove away. My mother desired me not to mind his violent advice; but my brother, who was educated at Westminster school, spoke strongly in support of my uncle's opinion, and he never gave ap the point till he succeeded to his utmost wish.

"James soon after went to the Temple to study the law, and this writer remained with his mother in York Buildings, till the month of August 1747: he was then sent by his uncle to the house of Edmund Harold, an eminent merchant in Cork, and there remained a clerk in the counting-house till April 1749; having first attended at Mr. Webster's academy near the Mews, where he was taught to cast accompts, and instructed in the Italian method of book-keeping. On his uncle's arrival in Dublin, he ordered his ne phew to meet him at Headford, in the county of Galway, the seat of Lord St. George, but at that time occupied by Arthur French, of Tyrone, nephew to Jeffery French. Nor can I pass by the city of Cork without acknowledging the civilities I received from the eminent mer. chants there. A more hospitable, pelite, and generous people, it has not been my lot ever to have known.

I reached Headford; and, in a few days after my arrival, Jeffery French came there, with his intimate friend Mr. Dodwell, of Golden Square, a gentleman of great taste and eminence in literature. In about ten or twelve days they both set off for Dublin, while I had directions to remain in the country, till such time as my uncle should write to me. In

August

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