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Article MEMOIRS OF THE LATE . DR. PAUL HIFFERNAN. ← Page 7 of 10 →
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Memoirs Of The Late . Dr. Paul Hiffernan.
" Perhaps some curious would my person know ; " ^ I humbly answer , 'Tis but so and so ; ^ Not over tall-r-nor despicably low . J Black frowning brows my deep-sunk eyes o ' ershade , They were , I fear , for a physician made ; loresecing Nature gave this anti-grace , ' And mark'd me with a medical grimace ; ' ' In limbs proportioned—body somewhat gross , humour variousaffable
In — —morose ; The ladies servitor—in health a king ; Goqd-natur'd , peevish , gay , fantastic thing .- ; That , like friend Horace , grey before his time , Seek fame in loose-pac'd prose and fetter'd rhyme j Whose highest wish ' s a mere absurdity , JSfothing to do—and learnedl y idle be ; Like to myself to have a muse-bit friend , My vain chimeras to review and mend- ; The day to write—by night in fancy stray , So , like true poets , dream my life away . "
As a writer , Hiffernan , as ive before observed , had the materials ef scholarship , but from not always cultivating good company , and sacrificing occasionally too much to Bacchus , he did not properly avail himself of his stock qf learning ; he was far from being , however , a mere scholar ; he could deport himself in gqod company with very becoming decorum , and enliven the conversation with anecdote and observation
, which rendered him at times an agreeable companion . At other times , and particularl y when he was nearly intoxicated , he could be very coarse and vulgar , sparing no epithets of abuse , and indul ging himself in all the extravagancies of passion . Had he attended at an earlier age to take the proper advantages of his education and talents , there were many situations , probablyhe miht have been fit for ; for
, g instance , a schoolmaster , a physician , or a translator . In saying this , however , we must presuppose industry , sobriety , & c . ; but his conduct was such that he lef all his powers run to seed , and only roused them like the beasts of the forest , to hunt , for daily prey , which , like them , ' sometimes , we are afraid , he obtained either by stratagem or by fraud .
He had many peculiarities , which to those who knew him intimatel y formed the pleasantest part of his character . One was , and which we before remarked , the inviolable secrecy he observed about the place of his lodging . Many schemes used to be devised among liis friends to find tins out ; but his vigilance , whether drunk or sober , always prevented ' the discovery . How far he carried this whimsical idea may be
seen from the followirig anecdote : " . Being one night in a mixed company at Old Slaughter ' s coffee-house , among the rest was a Mr . Dossie , secretary to the late Duke of Northumberland , a man of a literary turn , but who . loved late hours at nig ht and late rising in the morning tp an excess . He had another habit more peculiar than the former , which was , that whoever he sat last with , he made it a point of seeing him home . Such a coincidence of characters as Hifferaan and he 'formed ,- could scarcel y fail of pro-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of The Late . Dr. Paul Hiffernan.
" Perhaps some curious would my person know ; " ^ I humbly answer , 'Tis but so and so ; ^ Not over tall-r-nor despicably low . J Black frowning brows my deep-sunk eyes o ' ershade , They were , I fear , for a physician made ; loresecing Nature gave this anti-grace , ' And mark'd me with a medical grimace ; ' ' In limbs proportioned—body somewhat gross , humour variousaffable
In — —morose ; The ladies servitor—in health a king ; Goqd-natur'd , peevish , gay , fantastic thing .- ; That , like friend Horace , grey before his time , Seek fame in loose-pac'd prose and fetter'd rhyme j Whose highest wish ' s a mere absurdity , JSfothing to do—and learnedl y idle be ; Like to myself to have a muse-bit friend , My vain chimeras to review and mend- ; The day to write—by night in fancy stray , So , like true poets , dream my life away . "
As a writer , Hiffernan , as ive before observed , had the materials ef scholarship , but from not always cultivating good company , and sacrificing occasionally too much to Bacchus , he did not properly avail himself of his stock qf learning ; he was far from being , however , a mere scholar ; he could deport himself in gqod company with very becoming decorum , and enliven the conversation with anecdote and observation
, which rendered him at times an agreeable companion . At other times , and particularl y when he was nearly intoxicated , he could be very coarse and vulgar , sparing no epithets of abuse , and indul ging himself in all the extravagancies of passion . Had he attended at an earlier age to take the proper advantages of his education and talents , there were many situations , probablyhe miht have been fit for ; for
, g instance , a schoolmaster , a physician , or a translator . In saying this , however , we must presuppose industry , sobriety , & c . ; but his conduct was such that he lef all his powers run to seed , and only roused them like the beasts of the forest , to hunt , for daily prey , which , like them , ' sometimes , we are afraid , he obtained either by stratagem or by fraud .
He had many peculiarities , which to those who knew him intimatel y formed the pleasantest part of his character . One was , and which we before remarked , the inviolable secrecy he observed about the place of his lodging . Many schemes used to be devised among liis friends to find tins out ; but his vigilance , whether drunk or sober , always prevented ' the discovery . How far he carried this whimsical idea may be
seen from the followirig anecdote : " . Being one night in a mixed company at Old Slaughter ' s coffee-house , among the rest was a Mr . Dossie , secretary to the late Duke of Northumberland , a man of a literary turn , but who . loved late hours at nig ht and late rising in the morning tp an excess . He had another habit more peculiar than the former , which was , that whoever he sat last with , he made it a point of seeing him home . Such a coincidence of characters as Hifferaan and he 'formed ,- could scarcel y fail of pro-