1830.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



101 



among the highest of his contemporaries in 

 works of fiction. It displayed an intensity 

 of feeling, and a knowledge of human na- 

 ture far above his years, and became so ge- 

 nerally read and admired, and so much 

 talked of in the highest circles, that it in- 

 duced him to proceed in the same path ; 

 and Blount's Manuscripts, published by 

 Knight, and Tales of Passion, lately publish- 

 ed by Colburn, were other productions of his 

 pen in the same walk of literary composi- 

 tion. The tendency of these works has 

 been objected to by some fastidious critics, 

 although their power over the feelings of 

 the reader has been acknowledged by all i 

 but in any impartial analysis of the whole of 

 the writings of Mr. St. Leger, they will be 

 found quite as honourable to the moral qua- 

 lities of his mind,, as they are creditable to 

 his genius. He never wrote but with the 

 view of correcting error, or of doing some 

 good to society. If scenes are depicted too 

 vividly, it was owing to the intensity of feel- 

 ing with which he wrote ; he never became 

 a hacknied author ; he never wrote merely 

 technically ; he felt his subject before it en- 

 grossed his pen ; and to these reflections 

 and reminiscences are to be imputed all the 

 penchant and energy of his own feelings. 

 Although he wrote with a facility equalled 

 by few of his contemporaries, he was never 

 idle ; inactivity was never a characteristic of 

 his genius, which was ever on the alert, and 

 always at work. During this period he 

 wrote almost constantly for the most respec- 

 table periodicals of the day ; and at the same 

 time pursued his professional studies with a 

 perseverance that, added to the peculiar ta- 

 lent he possessed of speaking, would ulti- 

 mately have ensured his standing at the bar, 

 to which he was called as a member of the 

 Inner Temple, in the year 1827. 



In his circuit he was making considerable 

 progress, and, had he been spared, there is 

 every probability that he would have at- 

 tained that eminence in his profession which 

 his early talents indicated. This, however, 

 with all other prospects, were cut short by 

 his premature death. In June last he was 

 seized with a fit of epilepsy, produced, it is 

 supposed, by a too constant exertion of 

 mind ; from this he partly recovered ; but 

 relapse succeeding relapse, so wore down his 

 constitution, that, strong as it was, it sunk 

 at last under his repeated attacks, and he 

 died on the 20th of November, at the early 

 age of thirty, in the house of some friends, 

 who had long been warmly attached to him 

 for the many excellent qualities he possessed. 

 Thus died Barry St. Leger, who a few 

 previous months appeared possessed of 

 strength and constitution, that seemed to 

 ensure a long life ; and of qualities of intel- 

 lect and mind that would have made that 

 life a distinguished one. He was cut off 

 amidst a number of projects, which, if ac- 

 complished, would have placed him very 

 high in the literary annals of our country. 

 He had long determined to write no more 



works of mere fiction ; but to devote him- 

 self to historical composition. At the time 

 of his death he had nearly completed and 

 printed a work, founded upon the old chro- 

 niclers, which we trust will be still given to 

 the world. He had projected a History of 

 the Wars in Spain, and of the Reformation 

 in France ; both of them very interesting 

 branches of general history ; and had made 

 some progress in the first, a specimen of 

 which had been submitted to the Society for 

 the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. These, 

 with other works, had occupied a great por- 

 tion of his time in the year previous to his 

 death ; and it is to be feared were so mucli 

 thought upon even during his last illness, 

 as to impede his recovery. His mind was 

 too active for his friends to keep it in that 

 passive state so necessary to his convales- 

 cence. As a writer, Mr. St. Leger displayed 

 great in tenseness of feeling, and a deep know- 

 ledge of the secret workings of human na- 

 ture. His descriptions were vivid, and pic- 

 tures of passion powerful. His Gilbert 

 Earle, and his tale of the Bohemians, rank 

 among the best efforts in this department of 

 literature. As a man he was estimable ; 

 and, as a companion and friend, the delight 

 of all who enjoyed his intimacy. His con- 

 versation was always fluent, and generally 

 brilliant ; and a remarkably strong, as well as 

 a peculiarly discriminating memory, enabled 

 him so to illustrate it by anecdote and by 

 quotation, that there were few who had en- 

 joyed his society once, that did not covet a 

 continuance of his acquaintance. In Barry 

 St. Leger, his family have lost an affection- 

 ate brother, his friends a delightful compa- 

 nion, and the world a man whose talent 

 might have added much more to the literary 

 store of his country, than his short career 

 has permitted. 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR MILES 

 NIGHTINGALL, K. B. C. &C. 



Few officers have been engaged in a 

 greater variety of active and important ser- 

 vice than the late Sir Miles Nightingall. 

 He entered the army on the 4th of April, 

 17$7? as an ensign in the 52d regiment of 

 foot, and proceeded immediately to India. 

 On the 12th of November, 1788, he was 

 promoted to a lieutenancy in the same corps. 

 Remaining in India, he was employed in 

 the army under the late Sir William Mea- 

 dows, in the campaign of 1790, and was 

 present with the grenadiers of the 52d regi- 

 ment, at the assault of Dendegul. 



Immediately after that affair, he was ap- 

 pointed Major of brigade to the King's 

 troops ; and, in that capacity, attached to 

 the first brigade, he was engaged at the siege 

 of Puliganacherry. In the campaigns of 

 1791 and 1792, under Lord Cornwallis, he 

 was present at the siege and assault of the 

 town and fortress of Bangalore ; at the siege 

 and storming of the stronghill fort of Severn- 

 droog ; in the general action with Tippoo 

 Saib, near Seringapatam, on the 15th of 



