stroyed by his imperious conduct. His violent expulsion of Dr. Hughes, a senior fellow, for some disrespectful expressions against him in his absence, strongly marks the character of the man. In his political opinions he could bear no opposition. He had an utter aversion to Dean Swift, because he was a tory, and used to say scornfully of him, that he was remarkable for nothing else, while in the college, except for making a good fire. He would not allow his college-woman, he said, to do it, but took that trouble on himself. Baldwin died, when he was above ninety, in 1758, having enjoyed the provostship forty-three years.

Skelton related the following story of his prowess. The students were formerly obliged by the statutes to go to Patrick's Cathedral every Sunday in Lent, which produced violent quarrels between them and the butchers of Patrick's market. At one of these conflicts, the provost ran out before them, and said, "Follow me, my lads, and I'll head you. I am appointed by your parents and friends to take care of you, and I'll fight for you till I die."-" He would have done so too," said Skelton, " for he was as brave as a lion." It was at length found necessary, on account of these quarrels, to pass an act of parliament dispensing with their attendance at St. Patrick's.

I have been so much taken up with his academic scuffles with Dr. Baldwin, that I inadvertently omitted a few of his juvenile exploits, which may, not improperly, be introduced here. Among his other accomplishments, he was a most excellent dancer; he could both dance gracefully, and dance long, two rare qualities united. During the college long-vacations, he amused himself with various exercises at Derriaghy, such as throwing the stone, the sledge, and the like. But long-bullets* was his favourite exercise, in which there was no match for him in the whole parish. Yet, though he excelled the generality of others in every exercise, he owned, he was beat shamefully by individuals in them all.

He went once during vacation on a visit to Mourne, and

Long-bullets is an exercise, wherein a metal ball of two or three pounds weight is thrown along a public road. He whose ball, in an equal number of throws, goes farthest beyond a fixed point, is victorious.

shewed there at a public meeting many feats of activity; running up turf-stacks, like a cat, without stopping till he came to the top, which amazed every one present. When

he saw them surprised at his agility, he challenged any of them to play long-bullets with him. They then produced, after some hesitation, a thin poor-looking body, who, they said, would play with him. Skelton viewed his puny antagonist with contempt. He looked down on him, as Goliah did on David. "Is it you," he said, "that are to play with me?"-"Yes," the man replied. "Well, well," he said," we'll soon settle this matter." Skelton then took the bullet, and made a huge throw quite confident of success. The little fellow, in his turn, took the bullet, and threw it about twice as far as Skelton, who stood in amazement. He declared he heard the bullet whizzing past him, as if it had been shot out of a cannon; he threw it with such force. Thus was he vanquished by the puny person whom he despised.

*

The summer, in which he commenced Bachelor of Arts, he spent, as usual, in the parish of Derriaghy, where he met with a terrible accident, which he considered ever after as an instance of the Divine judgment. He was then, as he informs us, twenty-one years of age, and since he was eight years old, had never once omitted, morning and evening, to offer up his prayers to God, until one morning two or three of his companions broke in on him while he was in bed, and carried him off with them to play long-bullets. While he was engaged in this sport, a three pound ball, thrown by one of his companions, hit a stone, and leaping back struck him above the left eye, and flattened the projecting part of his scull. Falling down apparently quite dead, he was carried to the house of a Mrs. Granger, a woman that knew a little of surgery, who stitched the wound in five different places, and kept him for some time at her own house. A small splinter of a bone came out of his scull, before he quite recovered. This hurt (with extreme abstinence, and large evacuations, necessary to prevent a fever), greatly shattered, he says, his excellent constitution. He had always a grateful sense of the care taken of him by Mrs. Granger, and made her several presents during her

* See "Hylema," 50; vol. v.

life. He sent her (in 1774) a web of fine linen, part of which he desired her to keep for her winding-sheet. She lived until she was a hundred and five. The omission of his prayers on the morning it happened, he supposed ever after to be the cause of this unhappy accident. So early was his mind impressed with a lively sense of religious duty..

Having conducted Mr. Skelton through the preparatory courses of school and college, I proceed to attend him in his progress after he entered into holy orders. When he recovered of the hurt which he received at long-bullets, he lived for a while with his brother in Dundalk, and took on himself the management of the school, which by his presence rose to high repute. However he stayed there only a short time, having obtained a nomination to the curacy of Newtown-Butler in the county of Fermanagh, from Dr. Madden, usually called Premium-Madden, as by his means premiums were first established at quarterly examinations in Trinity College, He was recommended to the doctor by Mr. Brook of Cole-Brook in the same county; and was ordained a deacon for this cure by Dr. Sterne, bishop of Clogher, in whose diocess it lay, about the year 1729. He fasted and prayed two days previous to his ordination, doubtful whether he should get himself ordained or be married. His being ordained for this cure might at that time prevent his marriage, as he was bound to become private tutor to the doctor's children, and reside in his family.

On the night after he was ordained, he and the rest of the young deacons slept in the bishop's house, and one of them lay in the same bed with him. In the morning another of them came to them while they were in bed with a rod in his hand, and began a lashing them in sport. At last, Skelton leaping up, took him by the neck, and threw him down stairs. The bishop heard the noise, and came running to see what had happened. Skelton told him, the young deacon was so flushed with being ordained that he could not behave quietly, but must lash him, and he was forced to shew him the shortest way down stairs. The bishop owned, as he was insolent, that he could not blame him. When he was ordained a priest, he and the rest of the candidates were examined by this same bishop and

his assistant a whole week in Latin, for they would not allow them, all the time of this curious trial, to speak a word of English.

The following story of a bishop's examining a young man for orders I heard him often tell, and once in particular when Dr. Thomas Campbell was in company, who, I dare say, recollects it even now. He happened to come to the bishop's house too late to be examined by the archdeacon with the other candidates. However his lordship said to the young man, "as I have a regard for you, I'll examine you myself." Accordingly he brought him up to his study, which was lined with books, and made him sit down at a table that was covered with huge folios and quartos. Immediately his lordship sat down opposite to him, and thus, as Skelton said, hostilities commenced. His lordship's first question was, "Pray, Sir, how old is this world we live in?" The young man answered he could not tell. "A very sensible answer," his lordship gravely replied, " for the Septuagint says one thing, the Hebrew another, the Valmud another, the Targum another; in fact, no two of them are agreed among themselves about the age of the world, and therefore your answer is the most sensible imaginable." He then asked him again, "How old is the new world?" The young man said, naturally enough, he did not understand the question. "I mean," his lordship said, "how long is it since America was discovered?" The candidate then answered at a guess, it was so long, but happened to be wrong by fifty years. "Very well, very well," replied his lordship, "you are within fifty years of it, which is no great distance, upon my word: this is enough." Thus the examination concluded; parturiunt montes. When his lordship came down to the rest of the candidates, he said to them, "Gentlemen, I had some notion of making each of you write a little piece of composition, as is usual on such occasions; but I have thought better of it now, and in place of it, I'll only ask you to listen to a piece of advice, I'll give you after dinner, relating to your behaviour as clergymen, which will be more useful to you, and more pleasing to me, than any nonsense you could write." His lordship then, after dinner, according to his promise, gave them this advice. "You may think," he said, "that good preaching will

make you agreeable to your people: but here I must tell you, you are quite mistaken; it is not for this they'll like you; but I'll teach you a method of gaining all their favours. Look out for some humorous jest book, and pick out all the droll stories you meet with in it, and get them by heart. Then, if you be able, make up some new ones of your own with all the circumstances of time and place, and the like; indeed, if I had leisure, I could tell you a few of my own making, which might serve you on occasions. Take care also to recollect, if possible, every witty thing you hear in company, and fix it in your memory. Thus equipped, you will be well qualified to do the duties of your parish. For when you go to christenings, marriages, or wakes, you may easily entertain every one present by your witty jokes and droll stories, with which, you know, your head will be full; so that your company will be sought for, over the whole parish. With respect to your conduct in church (his lordship continued), I have a word or two to say to you, if you happen to make a blunder in reading prayers or preaching, don't stop to rectify it; but go boldly on; for 'tis ten to one, if a single person in the whole church be listening to a word you say; but if you stop, and go back on the word, and begin to hum and haw, the hearers will immediately prick up their ears, and whisper to one another, Ah! the curate's out, the curate's out: and thus you'll be exposed to ridicule."

The living possessed by Dr. Madden is called Drummully, worth at that time about 4007. a year; but the church, of which Mr. Skelton served the cure, is adjacent to the village of Newtown-Butler. When the living of Drummully fell vacant, the doctor was a colonel of militia, and was then in Dublin dressed in scarlet. The right of presenting to this benefice being divided between the doctor's family, and some other; his family had presented on the last vacancy, and of course the other had a right to present now. His family, however, offered to give up all right of presentation in future, if they were allowed to present on this occasion; which was agreed to, and thus the doctor got the living.

The doctor, beside his living, had a very good estate; but as he was entirely devoted to books, or acts of charity