friends into its ranks in Ireland. This was the celebrated Henry Flood—one of the men of whom she boasts; but who appears to have been deficient in the temper or tact necessary to attain the very highest success in political life.
Born in 1732 previous to the marriage ceremony, he was the son of Warden Flood, afterwards Lord Chief Justice of the Irish King’s Bench, and the first native who obtained that honour. The accident of birth did not mar his fortunes. From Trinity College, he removed to Christ Church, Oxford, under Dr. Markham, afterwards Archbishop of York; became from an idler a man of study; delighted in translating Greek orators and poets; and at length was said to read Greek as fluently as English. He als wrote good verses; a few fellow-students deemed his genius marred by entry at the Middle Temple; but summons to Ireland meant him to represent his native county in Parliament, or if that failed, the borough of Callan. Fond of the drama, he commenced at Farmley, his father’s seat, near Kilkenny, a course of private theatricals which have since become more celebrated; married Lady Frances Beresford, with a fortune of ten thousand pounds; and by the deaths of a brother, sister, and of his father who died in 1764, inherited a fortune of five thousand pounds per annum.
Such an outset in life left no opening for the lures of the Irish Secretary. He chose his seat upon the Opposition benches, assumed a lead upon all Irish topics; and acting with moderation, his patriotic reputation rose with his fame as an orator. Inconsistencies
