CHARACTERS. 



269 



observntton, and sometimesenliven- 



ins: it with anecdotes and remarks, 



! either whimsical or judicious, His 



f only «'ant of resp.ct here was his 



being subject to nod a litlle after 



dinner, which sometimes proceeded 



to a sound nap, and was often the 



uise of soirje ridiculous embarrass- 



itnt, of which the following is an 

 )n?tance : 



Previous to the exhibition of the 



inedy of " 'Tis Well Its no 

 Worse" (sincecut down tothe farce 

 of " The Pannel") BickerstafFe in- 

 vited a few friends, of whom Hif- 

 fernan was one, to dine with him, 

 and hear him read his play. After 

 dinner the glass went chearfully 

 round for about half an hour, when 

 the author began, and read to the 

 end of the tirst act, the company 

 making such observations on it as it 

 suggested to their judgements. Hif- 

 fernan's only remark all this while 

 was, " Very well, by G — d ! very 

 well," till about the middle of the 

 second act, when he began to nod, 

 and in a little time afterwards, to 

 snore so loud, that the author could 

 scarce! V be heard. Bickerstatte felt 

 a little embarrassed, but, raising his 

 voice, went on. Hitfernan's tones, 

 however, increased, till at last 

 Goldsmith could hold no longer, but 

 cried out, '' Never mind the brute, 

 Bick ; go on — so he would have 

 «erv-ed Homer if he was here, and 

 reading his own works.'' 



Hiffernan, however, made his 

 best excuse the next day, and which 

 Gold.smith was ready enough to ad- 

 mit as such ; for when the Initer 

 asked hi:ii how he could behave in 

 that manner, theotiier coolly replied, 

 " Jtismy usual way — I ne\<-r can 

 resist sleeping al a pantomime." 



Thus end* the little histury of a 



man who had learning sufficient to 

 fiH many situations in life, and ta- 

 lents and observation, if joined but 

 to a common share of prudence and 

 industry, to make himself respect- 

 able and independent. All his bad 

 qualities seemed to grow out of his 

 indolence, and he acids another name 

 to the long list of martyrs who have 

 sacrificed to this destructive and de- 

 grading vice. Men of this stamp 

 act as if they considered themselves 

 as a '* kind of rent-charge upon 

 Providence,*' who is obliged to in- 

 vert the order of nafure in their fa- 

 vour, and provide for them at the 

 public expence. Repeated disap- 

 pointments, or the severe bites of 

 poverty, will not set them right ; 

 and as life must be supported (and 

 sometimes according to their extra- 

 vagant ideas of support), the means, 

 of course, must be unjustifiable. 



The following, as far as we have 

 been able to collect, is a cronologi- 

 cal list of Dr. Hiffernan's works : 



The Ticklers ; a set of periodical 

 papers, published in Dublin about 

 1/50. — The Tuner ; a set of peri- 

 odical papers, published in 1753. — 

 Miscellanies in Prose and Verse ; 

 Lond. 1754. — The Ladies Choicej 

 a dramatic pelitepiece, 1 Jdg. — The 

 Wishes of a Free People; a drama- 

 tic poem, 1761. — The New Hypo- 

 crates ; a farce, n. p. IT61.— -The 

 Earl of Warwick ; a tragedy, 1/(34. 

 — Dramatic Genius; in five books, 

 1770.— Philosophic Whim, 17/4. 

 — Heroine of the Cave; taken from 

 Jones's " Cave of Idra";.a trage- 

 dy, 175.5. 



Account of the town of Zurich, and 



of the dress avd manners of the in- 



halritautf ; 



