YOUNG. 645 reproach and detestation, the cruelties unlawfully exer cised upon great numbers of the peasantry and lower orders, without any form of trial, but on mere suspicion; and they gave the most strenuous opposition to the indem nity of certain of the magistrates and others, who had been wantonly active in this odious system. Notwithstanding the long and warm friendship which had subsisted between the chief baron and Mr. Curran, and the good natured simplicity in which he had fre quently submitted to be the subject of his friend's arch wit and playful pranks, always forgiven for the joke's sake, a misunderstanding unfortunately occurred between them, which was for years the source of mutual regret and disquiet”. We have hinted, that Baron Yelverton's elevation to the peerage was intended as a bonus to secure his future support for the measure of Union then in con templation. And when the proposition actually came forward for discussion in the years 1799 and 1800, Baron Yelverton, in direct opposition to the principles of his whole life, and the sentiments of all his friends and admirers at the bar, supported that measure, which to then can never cease to be a subject of regret. In December 1800, he was honoured with a further degree of elevation, as Viscount Avonmore, which he lived but a few years to enjoy. He died on the 19th of August, 1805, and was succeeded in his estate and title by his eldest son, William-Charles, the present and second Lord Avonmore. MATTHEW YOUNG, A very learned prelate, was descended from a respect able family in the county of Roscommon, and born in that county in 1750.
- The reader will find an interesting statement on this subject in the
life of Mr. Curran, pages 313 and 314, in the first volume of this work; which we deemed superfluous here to repeat.
