The Merry Past 



About 1836 a less sympathetic character of pro- 

 nounced eccentricity excited much surprise and curi- 

 osity in the Emerald Isle. This was a rich old 

 bachelor of Jewish extraction, who took up his abode 

 in a large mansion in Queen's County. 



He lived in almost total seclusion, and in all his 

 household expenses observed stern economy. The 

 neighbouring gentry in vain offered him the ad- 

 vantage of their society. He would neither give nor 

 take dinners, nor join in the usual amusements of 

 the country. He did not patronise foxhounds, had 

 little affection for beagles, and entertained a positive 

 antipathy to greyhounds ; nevertheless, he was a 

 sportsman, and kept a pack of dogs, but they were all 

 bull-dogs — enormous monsters, which he imported 

 in a caravan, and kept barred up in iron cages like 

 the wild beasts in a menagerie. His main delight 

 consisted in feeding these beautiful pets with meat 

 well cooked and carefully separated from the bones, 

 lest any injury should befall their teeth. He also 

 kept a numerous establishment of game-cocks, be- 

 twixt which and the sweet creatures in the kennel 

 all his parental cares and affections were divided. 

 This genius was reputed to be worth half a million of 

 money. 



The eighteenth century was essentially an age 

 which produced much originality and eccentricity 

 of character in every grade of life, an especial in- 

 stance of which was Pope the usurer, who died in 

 the Fleet Prison in 1794, where he had been incar- 

 cerated over eleven years. He was originally a tanner 



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