he discharges the duty which society requires, and should be regarded as a good and useful citizen. I have nothing to accuse myself for on that head, for when my mind was intent upon deeds of the blackest character, or had actually accomplished them in secret, I assumed not only the morality of a true philosopher, but, to please the taste of the day, I was in appearance a pious and sincere Christian. I thus acted my part well, and would have run on a glorious career but that it has been cut short by this fatal duel with Swingsnap."

His dissolu

The wretched Gripe here ceased his narrative. tion was evidently at hand; his face became livid, a yellow froth covered his lips; he became delirious, attempted to do violence to those about him, and when tied down in the bed he roared and foamed like a person affected with hydrophobia, and at the end of one of those paroxysms, which continued for a day and a night, he breathed his last. It was found that the wounded part had become putrified, and full of large maggots, and such was the horrible effluvia emitted from his dead body, that it was with difficulty the undertakers could place it in a coffin. It was removed a few hours after life became extinct, and interred at night in the church of where a handsome marble monument has been erected to his memory, which gives the lie direct to his own dying confession.

Wormwood now became the confidential solicitor of Swingsnap, and expressed his deep delight at having his revenge against his old professional opponent so soon and so fully gratified.

Gripe was soon forgotten by all, except those who had been made the victims of his depravity and deceit. There were, to be sure, some vague rumours afloat with regard to the confession he had made implicating Swingsnap; but they, too, were forgotten, in proportion to the rapid advances in the world that were made by the young barrister, whose wealth and audacity soon gave him great influence. He abused all who were opposed to him in unmeasured terms of scurrility, and in a few months after the death of Gripe, he received a hostile message from the leading counsel opposed to him in a cause in the Exchequer, in which he had a brief from his friend Wormwood. He was punctual in attending to the call made upon him to give satisfaction, and at five in the morning he and his old second, and one or two friends, were seen upon the beach at Sandymount waiting for the opposite party, who did not come, and it was only when leaving the ground, after shivering there for an hour on a frosty morning, that an account was brought to him that his opponent had been seized with a fit of gout during the night, and of course was unable to attend. This was a fresh triumph, but a still more profitable one awaited him as regarded his professional career. The cause out of which the dispute arose had been

adjourned to that morning, and he and Wormwood hastened into town, were in the Exchequer when the court sat, ready to proceed with the cause, while there was no appearance on the part of the counsel on the opposite side. The rumour of the duel had spread through town the previous evening, and when Swingsnap was found in court urging on his case, and his opponent absent there was a rush by all the "hall men" to get in to have a peep at him, and there he was impressing on their lordships the necessity of proceeding in the matter, as further delay would be the ruin of his client. The absence of counsel, who did not think proper to ask for a postponement, or send any explanation to the court with regard to his non-attendance, was not deserving of indulgence, and he trusted their lordships would, for the sake even of precedent, allow him to proceed.

"He shot his man," whispered some of the gentlemen in the bar seats," and after doing his work he is here as unconcerned as if nothing happened."

Some conjectured, with more truth, that perhaps he frightened the life out of him, whilst the curiosity of all was stretched to the utmost to know what was really the fate of the poor counsellor.

The cause went on, and was decided in favour of the client of Swingsnap, although in stating it he manifested great ignorance of the principles of law, but his assurance and perseverance carried him through every difficulty.

Duels at that time between members of the bar and of the Irish house were looked upon as ordinary occurrences of the day, and the man who had the real courage to not accept an invitation to be shot at could not hold up his head in society, but he who actually sent a hostile message, and then, as the report ran, was seized with cramps, from terror of the prospect before him, dare hardly show his face, and was shunned like a plague; so that Swingsnap's challenger, although a man then of considerable business, was, poor fellow, completely snuffed out, and the government of the day, with whom he had some interest, were obliged to provide for him by giving him an appointment in the colonies.

Wormwood and Swingsnap had now to turn their attention to the best means of recovering the bags of gold that had been taken possession of by Gripe on the day that unfortunate Old Hawk was dragged off to the mad-house, but in this, as might be anticipated, they had some obstacles to contend with.

Wormwood, however, took the necessary proceedings, and, after considerable delays and difficulties, he, through the integrity of Gripe's apprentice, who counted over the money before his master's death, recovered it back for his client, minus the costs and funeral expenses, which should fairly be deducted from it. Swingsnap had now a clear road opened before him and nothing

to obstruct him; and whilst himself and his new solicitor are congratulating themselves upon their success, the reader must return to the cell of poor blind Tim in the lunatic side of Newgate, to which he had been considerately consigned by the care of the Mountrath Street magistrates and the agency of Gripe and his client.

From the moment of his committal he appeared to exhibit the most pious resignation to his fate, and if any thing at times disturbed his repose it was his anxious solicitude to know what had become of his old master. When the intelligence of his death reached him, he seemed to think that there was no hope for him on this side of the grave, and, in a few months afterwards, he died, attended by a minister of his religion, and with the most perfect assurance of a happy eternity. His friends had his remains interred in the little church-yard on the right hand side of the road between Rockbrook and the mountain of Killikee, some three or four miles beyond Rathfarnham, and it may be truly said that the grave never closed over the remains of a more virtuous, simple-hearted, faithful, and affectionate servant. In several years after his death, the extraordinary incidents connected with himself and his master reached the ears of the late Mrs. Oakley, of Oakley House, near whose demesne the little church-yard is situated; and she caused a handsome stone to be cut and placed over his grave, on which is the following inscription: "This monument was erected by Mrs. Oakley, to mark the spot which contains the ashes of Timothy M'Dermott, whose fidelity and affection to his master, the late deserve to be

commemorated."

Many who have heard the incidents connected with the fate of poor Tim and his master, have often paid a visit to his grave, sighed for the sorrows he had suffered, and prayed that his merits and his virtues might meet their reward in another world.

CHAPTER IX.

A LONG HIATUS IN THE FAMILY MEMOIRS-DISCOVERY OF THE SON OF KATE-HIS EVENTFUL STORY.

YEARS rolled on after the death of Old Hawk and the other principal actors in the tragic scenes which the first part of these memoirs present to the reader. Nothing was heard of the heir, whom the confession of Gripe represented as being still in existence; and those who remembered any thing of the disasters of the Fogarty family and the miserable end of old Norberry, believed that the story of Gripe, which at the time of his death had been generally circulated, was not founded on fact, and that Swingsnap, or Swing, as he was commonly called, was in the enjoyment of wealth legitimately his own; that his old uncle had in point of fact died mad; and this supposition was strengthened by some traditionary tales of a madman of that name who figured in the time of Cromwell, and who was the ancestor of the Norberry family. The fate of the Fogartys was forgotten by all but the amiable Mrs. Cavanagh and her family, who for many years were in the habit of going on Sundays to their grave in the Hospital Fields, there to breathe a sigh and shed a tear at the remembrance of their unmerited sorrows, and offer up a prayer that they might enjoy felicity in a happy and eternal home far beyond the reach of tyranny, oppression, and deceit.

In the mean time Swingsnap was most successful in his practice at the bar, not by talents and application to his profession, but by ready wit, bullying, and downright assurance. He was married to the daughter of Wormwood, with whom he got a large fortune, which, added to the property acquired by the death of his uncle, made him one of the most wealthy men at the Irish bar. He was a reputed "fire eater," and got a great deal of business from clients, under the impression that the counsel opposed to him were afraid that when foiled in law or argument, he would offer them some insult that would make it imperative on them to meet him in deadly combat. He was, besides, taken great notice of by the government, who were in want of daring and audacious men to assist them in carrying their measures through parliament, in which he obtained a seat, having been first made attorney-general. All who knew him wondered at his good fortune, and those who envied and hated him were afraid to give utterance to their opinions.

It is always a most promising incident in the beginning of the career of an aspiring public man to kill his antagonist in a duel.

K

Gripe, though a coward, was accounted one of the best pistol shots then in Dublin; and the man who not only had the courage to meet him, but the unerring aim to shoot him, was looked up to as a perfect Achilles. Besides, he had always expressed the utmost disregard for life, and on one occasion accepted the challenge of a master tailor with whom he had a dispute about a suit of clothes, but when poor Snip went to the ground, he became sick, and was unable to fight.

Swingsnap was therefore dreaded by many of the bar, and was often allowed to bully and abuse his antagonists with impunity. The Irish people, who always admire a man of prowess and courage, brought him their business until he got beyond their reach by having been made attorney-general. Whilst he held that office, he added much to his already great wealth, for he directed and conducted more prosecutions at the suit of the crown within three or four years than any of his predecessors had done in treble the time. We shall leave him thus pursuing a prosperous career, whilst we turn to another part of the globe, where the reader will meet with an old acquaintance.

Amongst a batch of recruits sent out from England to the East Indies in the year 18-, was a lad named Robert Norberry, of delicate and very prepossessing appearance, who, during the voyage, won the esteem and excited the curiosity of the officer who had charge of the party. They landed safe at Bombay, and proceeded up the country to Bangalore, where the regiment was stationed, of which the reader's old friend O'Kelly, by that time a veteran in the service, was major. The morning after their arrival, and when upon drill, the gallant officer walked up the ranks to inspect the European recruits that had been sent out to him, and when he came to Robert, he stopped and exclaimed, "This young man's face has a strong resemblance to one deeply fixed in my memory: his appearance has in an instant called up within my mind the recollection of events which now seem to me like a troubled dream long past. My lad, what is your name? from whence do you come ?"

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My name is Robert," said the young recruit; "I believe Robert Norberry, but of that I am not sure: I had friends of the name of Walpole in the county Wicklow in Ireland, who are dead: I had been called after them for some time, but I have reason to believe that they were not related to me in the most remote degree, and that my name is Norberry."

"This is mysterious," said O'Kelly; "your history must be minutely inquired into ;" and as he spoke, he gazed with earnestness on the outlines of as handsome a face as could belong to a youth of twenty-one. "Norberry! Norberry! you are the son of my first love-of Kate Fogarty."

The officer who accompanied the recruits from Europe was