CHRONICLE. 



437 



sicliness -whatever, tooth-ache only 

 excepted. Three weeks before his 

 death, he walked from his house to 

 Galway, and back the same day, 

 •which is 26 miles. He could, to the 

 last, read the smallest print without 

 the assistance of glasses, which he 

 never accustomed himself to, with 

 as much ease as a boy of sixteen. 

 It has been acknowledged by the 

 most intelligent men in his own 

 country, that, for his time, he was 

 a most experienced farmer, and 

 possessed the greatest genius for 

 agriciUture. It is upwards of 70 

 years since he first propagated, and 

 brought into general use, that bless- 

 ing to Ireland, the black potatoe. 

 He was married seven times, the 

 last time he was 93: by all his 

 wives he had forty-eight children, 

 and he could number his posterity 

 as follows : — 236 grand children ; 

 944 great grand children ; and ^5 

 great great grand children ; the 

 oldest of the latter is four years of 

 age ; and his own youngest son by 

 the last wife, is in his eighteenth 

 year. 



DECEMBER. 



1st. This evening the public at- 

 tention was excited to a most extra- 

 ordinary degree, by the appearance, 

 on the boards of Covent-Gardeu 

 theatre, of a youth scarcely thirteen, 

 in the arduous and energetic cha- 

 racter of Selim in Dr. Browne's 

 tragedy of fiarbarossa. — On no for- 

 mer occasion has there been a stron- 

 ger or more ardent desire manifested 

 by all ranks and descriptions of peo- 

 ple to gain admittance to the theatre. 

 The extraordinary reputation which 

 had followed Master Betty, or ra- 

 ther, " the young Roscius," (by 



which latter appellation he is now 

 more universally designated)through- 

 out a brilliant career of theatrical 

 exertions in the country, was the 

 harbinger of his appearance in the 

 metropolis. That a youth, at so 

 green an age, should perform some 

 of thcmost difficult characters in the 

 range of the British drama, not with 

 the mere endurance only, but with 

 the vehement applause of crowded 

 audiences, is a circumstance in it- 

 self so much above common credu- 

 lity, that we require the evidence of 

 our own senses to be satisfied of the 

 fact; and it may easily be supposed 

 that the public curiosity on the pre- 

 sent occasion w ould be excited to a 

 degree proportioned to the fame 

 which he had already acquired. 



So early as one o'clock in the day 

 many persons had taken their sta- 

 tions near the doors leading to the 

 pit, boxes, and galleries ; long be- 

 fore the usual hours of admission. — 

 The multitude stretched out in thick 

 close wedged, impenetrable columns, 

 to the extremity of the Piazzas, in 

 Covent-Garden, and quite across 

 Bow-street. Many who did not mean 

 to attempt getting int© the tlieatre, 

 lined the streets and windows, con- 

 templating, with sentiments of awe 

 and fearj this tremen<lous accumula- 

 tion of numbers. The proprietors 

 and managers, well aware of the 

 public anxiety and impatience, had 

 provided a select body of peace ofii- 

 cers in the inside of the theatre, 

 and had procured a strong detach- 

 ment of the guards outside, in case 

 it should be necessary, from the 

 pressure of the crowd and the nar- 

 rowness of the space, to secure 

 esress for those who might not have 

 gained admission, or who might be 

 taken ill, or otherwise injured, and 

 who could not without such assist. 

 F f 3 an.;:; 



