1831.] The Silent Sister. 599 



such an organ. At first it was a pleasant entertainment ; but when the 

 extravagance lost the zest of novelty, the surpliced auditory grew thin- 

 ner and thinner every returning Sabbath. The careless tired of cough- 

 ing ; the serious thought it better to read the book of Genesis in thez'r 

 chambers, than risk the alternative of slumbering in the house of God, 



or waking to cosmogony and Dr. K y. 



The next lance that was broken in the quarrel of Alma Mater, was in 

 the Lists of Periodical Literature. We spare them the mention of the 

 connoisseur. The Dublin Philosophical Journal issued " ex cedibus aca- 

 demicis." An article " On the 'Emotion of Pity" appeared from the pen 



of Dr. L . The fate of the publication was sealed. It lingered, 



however, three agonizing months ; the dissertation on pity proceeding 

 from number to number, with the awful words " to be continued" ever 

 bringing up the rear. The fourth or fifth number we do not exactly 

 remember which Concluded the Doctor's subject, and by an odd coin- 

 cidence, was the last of the Magazine. No inquest, we believe, was held 

 upon the defunct publication ; but had such a procedure been instituted, 

 the verdict would unquestionably have been as follows : ce Died of an 



article on the Emotion of Pity, from the hand of the Rev. Dr. L . 



But we can commend as well as censure. Distinguished instances 

 there are, where individuals, from indisposition to take the usual methods 

 of gaining pupils, or from other causes, have much of their time on their 

 hands, and have employed it in a manner that has never attracted the 

 notice it deserves. Mr. H te, the translator and annotator of the 

 " Mecanique Celeste" and " Systeme du Monde" (the former the greatest 

 scientific work that has appeared since the " Principia,"^) is no less emi- 

 nent for his mathematical knowledge, than estimable for his amiable and 

 independent character. He would hold a higher plaee in public estima- 

 tion but for the system we have endeavoured to expose. It has been the 

 sad effect of that system to reduce to so low a point the character of 

 Dublin College, that no work of talent is ever expected from its members. 

 They might attain the altitude of Newton or 'La Place before any scien- 

 tific body in Europe would vouchsafe a glance at their productions. 

 With similar pleasure we notice Mr. O f B n, a gentleman who has re- 

 cently evinced an eloquence and ability in the pulpit, which promise to 

 wipe off the disgrace which the discourses on Cosmogony left upon the 



college chapel. But this is only one of the claims which Mr. O'B n 



has on our commendation. His acquirements are extensive both in ele- 

 gant literature and solid information. The time, which some of his con- 

 temporaries spend in intriguing for pupils, he dedicates to less lucrative 

 but more useful and honourable pursuits ; and he has never been charged 

 with occupying even the intervals of academic business with foppery or 

 faction. He is is said to have no relish for either ; and the proof of his 

 distaste is the carefulness with which he shuns the company of their 

 votaries. His chambers are the resort of a respectable, enlightened, and 

 therefore very limited acquaintance. Whatever literature has not yet 

 taken wing from Ireland courts his society and enjoys his friendship ; 

 but if you look for the rider on the " break" the declaimer of the club, 

 or the dangler of the box-lobby, you will not find them in his circle. 

 This accomplished individual has to struggle through the obscurity that 

 hangs over his college ; but he will find it a more arduous task to emerge 

 from the shadow which his excessive modesty flings over his talents. If 

 ever he shall " suffer himself to be admired 1 ' by more than half-a-dozen 



