Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 1.djvu/218

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BROOKE night, in Dublin, being prohibited on account of political allusions. This produced "The last Speech of John Good, alias Jack the Giant Queller; a satirical effusion, mixed with political allegory, and a profusion of quota- tions against Tyrants and Tyranny." In 1749, his tragedy of the "Earl of Essex" was performed at Dublin, and afterwards at Drury Lane, with much success, as it was at that time preferred to those before written on the same subject. At what period his other dramatic pieces were written or performed is uncertain; these were "The Con- tending Brothers;" " The Female Officer;" and "The Marriage Contract," comedies: "The Impostor," a tra- gedy; and " Cymbeline," an alteration from Shakspeare. “ Montezuma," although printed among his works, is said 207 to be the production of another In 176e he pablished a pamphlet, entitled The Trial of the Roman Catholics" in which he generously en- deavoured to prove the justice and propriety of removing the restraints on that class of the community; and in his zeal to remove the prejudices entertained against them, to prove it might be done with safety, he was led to assert that the history of the "Irish Massacre, in 1641," is no- thing but an old wife's fable. Its success did not answer his expectations; and, wearied at length with fruitless efforts to arouse the slumbering genius of his country, dis- appointed, and disgusted, he withdrew to his paternal seat, and there, in the society of the Muses, and the peaceful bosom of domestic love, consoled himself for lost advan- tages and deceitful hopes. An affectionate and only bro- ther, with a wife and family almost as numerous as his own, accompanied his retirement; and there for many years they lived together with uninterrapted harmony-dis- cord never entered their habitation, it was a little para- dise-the abode of peace and love. " The Fool of Quality; or, the History of the Earl of Moreland," appeared in 1766; a novel which excited much attention in England; and, certainly, a work replete