"His sarcastic sallies and pungent wit, made him many enemies… He was, however, himself aware that he was frequently betrayed into too great severity towards literary and political opponents… If inferior to Macaulay in brilliancy, he was, as a debater in Parliament and the administrator of a public office, decidedly his superior. It is not to be endured that malevolence should run into dogmatism, and that the authority of Lord Macaulay should be evoked, in order to support false and railing accusations against the private life of a writer, who for fifty years rendered important services to letters and literary men." 88* This praise must be qualified by the admission that at times he used opportunities as a reviewer to cast base and unfounded imputations on the characters of noble and pure-minded persons, who held opinions differing from his own. He even gloried in his efforts to " tomahawk," as he termed it. Miss Martineau and her works in the Quarterly Review. 88* 233
Croker, Thomas Crofton, author, the only child of Major Croker, was born in Buckingham-square, Cork, 15th January 1798. In 1813, he was apprenticed to a merchant in Cork, but managed to nurture the archaeological tastes he had early acquired. He contributed sketches to local exhibitions, and wrote occasionally for a local periodical. On his father's death in 1818 he went to London, where he obtained an appointment at the Admiralty through the influence of John W. Croker, a friend but no relative. In 1821 he visited Ireland, and formed the plan of a work, published in 1824—Researches in the South of Ireland. The success of his next work, Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, published anonymously in 1825, was so marked that he wrote a second series, illustrated by Maclise, which met with as favourable a reception. Both works have been translated into German and French. These and other books, such as his valuable Memoir of General Holt, Popular Songs of Ireland, and various tales, established his reputation as a writer, and especially as an accurate collector of Irish fairy and legendary lore. He retired from Government service in 1850 on a pension of £580, and died at 3 Gloucester-road, Old Brompton, London, on 8th August 1854, aged 56. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery. He was described by Sir W. Scott, as "little as a dwarf, keen-eyed as a hawk, and of easy, prepossessing manners, something like Tom Moore." His Fairy Tales are enriched with notes, showing the points of similarity between Irish legends and those of other countries. 16 89 116(34) 125*
Crolly, William, Archbishop of Armagh, was born at Ballykilbeg, in the County of Down, 8th June 1780. He was educated at a grammar-school kept by Dr. Nelson, a Unitarian, and Mr. Doran, a Catholic. Mr. Doran at one time taught his class in prison, where he was confined for his revolutionary principles. In 1801 he entered Maynooth, was ordained a priest in 1806, and for six years he continued a professor in the college. In 1812 he was appointed parish priest of Belfast, a position requiring tact and discretion on account of the prejudices against Catholicism so general in the capital of Ulster. Within the first seven years of his ministry he is stated to have received as many as one thousand converts into his Church. In 1825 he was consecrated Bishop of Down and Connor, and was able to extend to the entire diocese that zeal and vigilance he had theretofore devoted to Belfast. In 1835 he was elevated to the archiepiscopal see of Armagh. The favour with which he regarded the National system of Education, and the prospective Queen's Colleges, was a cause of great regret to many of his co-religionists. Archbishop Crolly died at Drogheda, 6th April 1849, aged 68, and was buried in the Catholic Cathedral of Armagh. His biographer says of him: "The late Primate was certainly a thoroughly tolerant man, but at the same time a genuine Catholic, who devoted himself heart and soul to the advancement of his own church." His biography contains numerous racy anecdotes illustrative of the times in which he lived. 90
Croly, George, Rev., LL.D., poet, dramatic author, novelist, and divine, was born in Dublin in 1780. Having received his education in Trinity College, he went to London, and became distinguished in the world of letters. Besides theological and polemical works, his writings extended over a wide field of literary labour. His Salathiel, and other works of fiction, enjoyed considerable popularity in their day. Throughout life he was a staunch Tory, and rendered material service to his party by contributions to Blackwood and other periodicals. He died suddenly, 24th November 1860, aged 80. His remains were interred in the church of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, London, of which he had for many years been rector. Allibone, who styles him "one of the most voluminous writers of the day," enumerates thirty of his works. The Athenœum
105
