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resource, he origiuated aud organized those courts of arbitration which O'Connell en- deavoured to substitute for the legal tribu- nals of the country. He was prosecuted in 1844 for alleged seditious language, and suffered imprisonment with O'Connell. After O'Connell's death Dr. Gray continu- ed to take a prominent part in Irish poli- tics and in local affairs. It was to his energy and determination, as a member of the Dublin Corporation, that the citi- zens of Dublin owe their present ex- cellent Vartry water supply. His capa- city for business and his mechanical skill were never more clearly shown than in carrying this undertaking to a successful issue in the face of determined opposition from a large party of his fellow-citizens. On the opening of the works, 30th June 1863, he was knighted by the Earl of Carlisle, Lord-Lieutenant. At the general election of 1865 Sir John was returned for Kilkenny, a seat which he held until his death. He took a prominent and effective part in the passage of the Church and Land Bills, and supported the Home Rule movement. He died at Bath, 9th April 1875, ^sd 59> f*^d ^13 remains were honoured with a public funeral at Glasnevin. His fellow-citizens almost immediately set about the erection of a monument in appreciation of his many services to his country, and of the splendid supply of pure water which he secured for Dublin, Sir John Gray was a Protestant. The Alhenceum said at the period of his death: "Sir John Gray was, among his compatriots, a remarkable, and in many respects a singular man. Without the rigidity or sectarianism of Ulster Anglo- Saxonism, he possessed in an eminent degree the logical and self-reliant charac- teristics of the race. Without the eloquence or wit which distinguished so many of the more Celtic and southern of his competitors for fame, he possessed all their versatility of temperament and readiness of expres- sion. Ardently attached to scientific in- quiry, many of his leisure hours were devoted to chemical and mechanical pur- suits, and his rare versatility in arithmeti- cal calculation gave him gi-eat advantages in council and debate. His decease at the comparatively early age of sixty years is, we believe, ascribed in a great degree to his unresting love of work, and the ear- nestness with which he entered into all he put his hand to do." His paper, the Freeman^s Jourmxil, which he raised by his talents to be the most powerful organ of public opinion in Ireland, he left to the management of his son, Mr. Edmund D. Gray, 's ^33
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Greatrakes, Valentine, the " Touch Doctor," was born at Affane, County of Waterford, 14th February 1628. In 1649 he held a commission in Lord Broghill's regiment, and at the Eestoration he was made C^erk of the Peace for the County of Cork. At thirty-four he began to develop those powers of curing scrofula aud other diseases for which he was afterwards famous. His stables, barns, and outhouses were at times full of invalids whom his powers attracted, not only from distant parts of Ireland, but from England. At one time an effort was made in the bishop's court of Lismore to interdict these prac- tices as savouring of necromancy. At the desire of Charles II. he was invited to London, where he became a wonder to many and a subject of ridicule to others. Some of his notable cures were certified by the Royal Society, and he was lionized and entertained in many parts of England. A writer describes him as a man of good life and benevolent principles, "seeming by his faith and by his charitableness to include some grains of the golden age, and to be a relic of those times when piety aud miracles were sincere. . . AH he did was only to stroke the patients with his hands, by which all old pains, gout, rheu- matism, and convulsions, were removed from part to part to the extremities of the body, after which they entirely ceased, which caused him to be called the stroker — of which he had the testimonials of the most curious men in the nation, both phy- sicians and divines." "S Eventually his powers fell into disrepute. He was living in 1681 ; the date of his death is not men- tioned. Some of his descendants were stated to be still living in the County of Waterford in 1833. Sources of further information concerning Greatrakes are in- dicated in Notes and Queries, 2nd and 3rd Series. "^ "5 ^54 339
Gregory, George, D.D., a divine and man of science, son of a Wexford clergy- man, was born 14th April 1754. When he was but twelve years old his father died, and his mother removed to Liverpool. He studied in Edinburgh, and in 1776 was ap- pointed to a curacy in Liverpool, where he became a fearless opponent of the slave- trade. He afterwards enjoyed ecclesiasti- cal preferments in the south of England ; and in 1804, by the interest of Mr. Adding- ton, was presented to) the valuable living of West Ham, in Essex, in consequence of political support afforded by him in the pages of the Neio Annual Register, of which he was editor. He was a voluminous writer. Ryan says " his works display a minute and profound acquaintance with the arts
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