The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-11-09 00:00:00

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THE BRITISH PRESS.

THE REV. R. C. MATURIN.

!FROM A comassroxnExT.l
There is always a th-s.eree of interest attached to the me-
mory of one who has been distinguished in the world, who
has gained a portion of that fume.
•• Without which whosoe'er consumes his days,
Lew►crh such vestige of himself on earth,
A+ smoke in air, or four upon the ware."
The pretnature death of Mr. Maturin has been a source of
deep regret, not•only to those whose personal intimacy en-
abled them to know and estimate his excellencies, but to
all who griree when they are reminded that genius is not
exempt from the common lot of mortality, an.l that the
greatest and the brightest mutt:, like the meanest, go down
to death. _ _

Perhaps there have not been many whose lives have
been more remarkably illustrative of the line of the poet—
" Great wits to madness nearly are alli. tl,--than the gifted
individual whose death we are lamenting. The eccentri-
city of Mr. Maturin formed a continued subject of specu-
lation to some, and of merriment to others. " Great
errors," said a learned writer, "are often connected with
elevated aentiments ; but to understated this, we must our-
selves possess greatness of med." Consequently, the pecu-
liarities of the man of genius were not unfrequmetly set
down as the effects of folly, affectation, or indiscretion.
Mr. Maturin was s ngu!ar in his dress, and hail gene-
rally the appearance either of the confirmed sloven or pro-
fesses! top. One day, his lelliiliene efts were in the extreme
of fashion—every gamete' was errangeil with the nicest
care—a speck on his cravat, or the disorder of a shoe-tye,
would have given him real torture; at another time there
was a strange contrast in hit outward man. He then wawa
brown coat (somewhat between a friwk and a surtout), that
had served him long, if it had not well ; a large rent, that
he wonted never have repairnl, remained near its extre-
mity ; his pantaloons were thread-bare, and his gaiters had
never their full complement of buttons ; his shoes ap-
peared as if unb7acicened for months, and his shoe-strings
invariably draggled in the mud ; his hat was old and rusty ;
and, to complete the picture, his linen was as though the
band of the laundress bad never touched it.

Many characteristic anecdotes arc related of him. Once,
when his wife bad lain-in, a friend sent to inquire for the
heilth of the family, Mr. Meturin upened the door and
rte. ived the message.—" Tell him who sent you," was Ids
reply, " that the angel mother is doing well ; the cherub
ba e is gone to heaven, and poor Maturin is as well as can
be expected." He was a complete devotee w daneing, and
in the frequent habit of giving parties, by day, shutting
I.is windows, lighting the candles, and indulging with his
fr:ends in his favourite amusement till night. I once
passed an evening with him, at the house of t famous
feta Mu of the Irish metropolis. Moore, Lady Morgan,
Slid, and many other ornaments of the country were of
the party. All eye and ear. I was enjoying " the feast of
reason, and the flow of soul," when Maturin accosted me

with " why do ,nu tiot dance?" "I do not know the
quadrills," " Not know the quadrills," said he,
and he appeared as rough astonished as if I bad said I
could not ri.sd " tL,n what do yon I:ve for ?" On every
occasion he earriel this peaches: to au extraordinary
extent.

---
As a clergyman, Mr. Maturio did not appear to kare
fallen—
•• Just in the niche hewn ordained to R 11.7

I have heard him-
more than once regret that his clerical
duties were not in unison with his taste. He certainly was
not " at home" in his profession, and wmald, in all pro-
bability, have died a curate if his years had reached
" thre.score and ten." His air and manner, in the read-
ing tle:11: and pulpit, 'me too degage, and did not suit the
character of a Christian Minister. Vet there was always

soutothing impres.ire about him—something which cleaty
showed he was no common man. He read the church

service in a most perfect manner, and his sermons were
beautifully written, and well delivered. They were always,
however, tinged with those peculiarities that distinguish
his other conpositions.
In private life Mr. Matnrin was moat exemplary—a
faithful husband, an aft;:ctionate father, a warm friend—
and an intimacy with him tiever,eft a blush upon the
cheek, a stain on the elmiacter, or a wound on the heart.
In this respect, at al! events, his example strengthened his
precepts. To the pier he was ever a benevolait, if he
could not be a boieticent biertil---and beside the sick
bed, he was always the Minister of Christ. Those
who enjoyed his swim, valued it for *.be information
and picasure they derived from it—and that brilliancy.
but wildness of imagination, so conspicuous in
writin'ts. shone equally in his conversation. Ile was re-
markably free from that irratibiii:y so common to authors,
and was ale, ays the first to encourage in literary youth,
those

" Longings divine. srid 'spinners high,"
that lead to noble feelings and to great acts.
It is an old ta'e, and there is no necessity for again •
telling it—that of genius struggling with pecuniary diffi-
culties, and enduring those nutitherlesa disappointments
that " sink the heart of man." Such, however, was the
fate of Maturin, and a melancholy pic.ure might be dawn
of the mental ruTeringa of him, whose unceasing labours
could not give to his home those comforts which he felt it
wanted. When the world hears of the death of an indivi-
dual, it knows little of the carts and the sorrows that may
have pressed him down to the grave,—and the physician is
often called upon to administ.r to the body, when the
mind only is diseased. The possession of a curacy, pitiful
as it was, was a c:riainty that Mr. Maturin dared not re-
linquish, to try his fortune in the world, and he frequently
regretted his inability to visit the British metropolis, where
he knew that talent and industry are never without their
reward. The scriptural adage, that " a prophet bath no
honisur in his own country," is indeed verified in Ireland.
Her living worthies are little noticed by her; and it is a
fact, as trite as it is lamentable, that the productions of an
Irish author arc the works for which, in Ireland, there is
the least sale. The same colducas and neglect have been
manifested towards the memory of those of whom the na-
tion has been proud. The dust of her worthies has gene-
rally mingled with a distant soil ; the bones of Goldsmith,
of Sheridan. of Grattan, of Curran, rest not in click tx..-
tire land and di. re exists but little id it to remind the
gran: et that Irsland gave them birth, of to eaC:te. einula-
, !ion in the baS3II3S of her ri,rir generation. A plain mar-
, blc slat, marks she grave of Swift,—add, except a bust in
the Culle:,,e library, there is not a single tribute to his

The fast production that brought Mr. Maturin into
node-, was his Tragedy of Bertram; and perhaps has not
beat succettkd by a drama so eminently and descry:illy
successful. But his plays, as well is Ids novAA. somewhat
resemble an unaliacklA steed—wild and untrained, yet
beautiful in itself, and graceful in its motions. Ilia lan-
guage was fine and forci..le, and the power of hia itnagitta-
-1;011 wonderful. fie was altogether the creature of fancy;
it formed his eltinent —inn with nature he had n.) intimacy.
Ile never designed characters as they View, or as they
omit: to be—they were all of his own creation ; but, al-
though abounding in faulty, there was always an interest
about them, which few others could hays given to p.rium-
ages so unnatural or r,pulsive.

Diseov xv cr At VAN IN O.—The tt.ifer.Vety or the
effect.; of eh rtricity int aii i 11l als took place a: the time from
ennething like an accident. The wife of Calvatti, at that
time professor of anatomy in the 17itis:rsity of Bologn3,
beia a in a declining lute of health, etup!oyed as a re-
storative, according to the custom of the country, a soup
made of frogs. A number of tiles? anitna:s. Penis skinned
for the purpose of cooking. were It Mg. with that com-
fortable negligence etantoon to Loth French and Italians,
%Illicit allows theta without repuguanw to do every thin!
in every phte,, that at the rmmient most convenient, in
the profeisor's laNtratory, near an itt.!eltine, it
being probihly the imention of the Lidy to cook them
'7l iv. While the maehitie was in reion. an att..tidant
happent it to tretch will the point of the re.dp‘ I tbe croral
nee v•• of one of the frogs, that was fel far from the ptinte.•
co:Act t!.r. wheel t!, • P.:lik; were instantly thrown into stron.r
enovillidotts. 'Phis es,,e, rim Ait Was pat:mined in the !Ito-
eviler of the professor, but it WAS noticed by the lady,
tuns min+ struck be th.! app..aranee, and comittuttirstod is
to her htisha...l. lie tit',lo.t!ea the exie.t:titent. varied it in
differ( rt w4es, and txr;riv,.! awl the con% u;siona only I
tuck place when a spark was drawn fieni the prime
doctor, whale the verve Wl^. at the !ann. time touched tech
sv.hcance e. couthtetar