1827.] The Newspaper Press of Ireland. 339 



her no other legacy than an orphaned and unprovided daughter. The 

 corporation of Dublin, of which Lucas was the guiding spirit, perpetuated 

 the recollection of the man by a statue raised to his memory in the Royal 

 Exchange (" inane munus'}-, but his daughter they left to starve, though 

 they " pressed proudly to the funeral array" of the lather. From Dr. Lucas 

 the Freeman's Journal fell into the hands of a person named Higgins, but 

 better known in Ireland by the appellation of the 44 sham 'Squire." Of this 

 singular individual some account may not be amiss. Higgins was the son 

 of the most illustrious shoe-black of his time ; whose " cirage," in the 

 immediate vicinity of the University and Parliament House, oftentimes 

 reflected a lustre on the members of both. The occupation of our young 

 hero while yet in his teens was two-fold. When no pump invitedhis peer- 

 less polish, he became, like Shakspeare, a holder of horses ; and I have 

 been told by an ancient member of the Imperial Parliament (who has 

 lately gone to reside at Boulogne, and who is no longer member for Gal- 

 way), that he excited an inconceivable interest among the equestrian 

 members of both houses. But Higgins was much too shrewd a person to 

 continue long in this degrading avocation ; and he gladly accepted the 

 proposal of a certain notorious attorney, who was smitten with the 

 boy's smartness, to become an inmate of his office. While in this employ, 

 Higgins recommended himself to the good graces of his master by the per- 

 formance of the most menial offices. Our solicitor, though by no means 

 scrupulous as to the length of a bill of costs, was, nevertheless, a rigid 

 Catholic ; and much of the property of that rising class of religionists 

 passed through his hands. Presently, Higgins was a devotee ; and it is 

 even recorded that he became the most relentless mass-goer of his day. 

 The priests poured forth his praises, and the laity took them on trust. 

 Such, however, is the odour of a good reputation, that it was whispered 

 Higgins was rich, because the clergy said he deserved to be so; and all 

 the " stout grocers" and " strong merchants" vouchsafed him their daugh- 

 ters to wive. From one of this class he selected a companion; but she 

 soon became the victim of his ill-treatment, and, fortunately for herself, 

 was hurried to a premature grave. With this lady's fortune he purchased 

 the Freeman's Journal, and soon after became a person of some conse- 

 quence. 



From Higgins, the Freeman came into the hands of Mr. Philip Whit- 

 field Harvey, its late proprietor, who rendered it one of the most (if not 

 the most) popular papers in Dublin. This journal was, from 1806 till 1812 

 or 1813, what the Morning Chronicle was in London during the lifetime 

 of the late Mr. Perry. It was exclusively the Whig organ moderate in 

 its tone, but firm in its principles. During the viceroyalty of the Duke of 

 Richmond, the sittings of the Catholic Board, and the prosecution of the 

 Catholic delegates under the Convention Act, the Freeman was distin- 

 guished by the earliest intelligence, the most copious reports, and the most 

 consistent and constitutional articles. Even now it must be admitted 

 that the journal alluded to is the most popular of the Irish morning papers. 

 Although its leading articles display no depth of political research, or dis- 

 close no views new to the political economist, yet the absence of all poli- 

 tical and religious animosity, its perfect tolerance, and freedom from per- 

 sonality, secure to it the support of all that is moderate among the Catholics 

 and respectable among the Protestants. The Freeman is a mesne between 

 the Evening Mail and the Morning Register. It abhors the Protestantism 

 of the one, and rejects the Popery of the other. It is not the journal of 



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