The Sun.
London, England, 1805-07-16 00:00:00

TO

MR. EDITOR
. . . •
A Writer in a respeelable Morning l'riht, a few
days'ago, gave some Anecdotes of the late Maam(
Aluaray, Esq..a Gentleman whose memory. will be
held in respect as long,as talents and learning Main-
iain their due estimation in this. Country. The
Writer has made some mistakes in the biographic
4k6tch of Air. Munrity, though• certainly without
the least intention to lessen the .reputat.:on of that
Getitleman. I therefore
_beg leave to . trouble you
with a few, corie6tions, derived from a Icing .and
intimate acquaintance with the deceased.
Mr..,lNluttrnY's life as not `,‘ commenced in
humbleness," as the Author of the Anecdotes de-
clares, nor was Mr. AlußaWY:s, latlier " 6 ,imin of
slendObirirle:" Il was .8-person of considerable
commercial credit, *id. tjez. rly. allied to several very
respectable and opulent lihnilies of Ireland. .
MottplAy's father quitted Ireland in the infancy of
his son ARTHUR, OH account of the embarrassments
whicl attended a mercantile house in Spain, ill order
to investigate personally the state of its affairs, as its
failure might have .been considerably injurious to
himself. .11e.never was heard Of after his departure
from this. Country.

. Mr. ARTHUR MURPHY did not soon venture upon
the Stage after his arrival m this Ceuntry, and not
till he had become known as-an author by
,his pub-
lication of The Gray's-Inn Journal, and utile? works.
His Chambers in Lincoln's Inn. were not.Purchas'ed
for him by Lord HOLLAND, as the writer 'of the,
Anecdotes affirms, but by the fair. profits of his,
own literary efforts. After residing in these Chaim-
bers about twenty years, that kind of property
increased, so: much In . value, that he sold them for
much more than the original pnrchase-money, though
they were upon a leasehold tenure... His disagree-
ments with Mr. 'GARRICK did not arise, as stated,
:from the refusal of that Gentleman to pertbrm the
part of Zamti, in The Orphan of China, but from
his acceptance and subsequent rejeCtion of the Piece,
altogether. . •
The Writer of the Anecdotes mentions Mr.Mtrit-
pax's having " nobly relinquished. the objea of his
affection . (Miss &Lan.), rather than . bar her ad!.
vancement," alluding to some gallant overtures front
the late Duke of CUMBERLAND. 'The truth is,. Miss
ELLIOT had quitted.Mr. MURPHY long before: her
connexion with the Duke, though she always placed
the fullest confidence in his friendship,, and would
have left him all her property, if he had not re-
solutely refused it, and. induced her to bequeath it
to her own relatiOns---an aotion much more to his
honour than the relinquishment of the object of his
attbdion to the arms of another would have been, if
such a faCt had existed. It is not true that
.14
quarrels withGARRICK " continued almost,withont
intermission tothe demise of the BRITISH ROSCIUS :"
they were at last very good friends, and Mr. MM.
PUY was. always very warm in his eulogiums on the
theatrical excellence of that great ornament of the
British Stage. . •
'Mr. MURPHY did not keep his situation of Corm.'
.missioner of Bankrupts till his death., as is also stated,
but very honourably resigned it _as soon as he found
that he was incapable ofdischarging its duties, He
received a very handsome letter from the pre4ent
CHANCELLOR on the subjeai,:which he has probably
introduced in the manuscript Life which he has left
in the bands of his friend and executor Mr. JESSE
Foot., the Surgeon, whose manly' charaCter and
whose professional s&rvices to the deceased fully en-
titled him to this mark of confidence and regard.
The Translation of TACITUs vas not, as.the Wri-
ter of. the Anecdotes supposes, a work in which
Mr. MuR POT encountered inconveniences, for- he
performed.thetask entirely at his leisure, Making it
a point to do something 'towards it aittost every
day of his life ; so that lie Occupied many years in
the composition, though it
.certainly was attended
with some difficulties in the publication, on account
of his disputes with the Booksellers concerned in it.
All that the Author says respecting Mr. .Most-
pnY's zeal to forward a subscription in order to gild
the departing days of old rYIACKLIN is well-founded.
As the Writer of the Anecdotes evidently intended
to do honour to the, memory of Mr. Mue.env, he
Will doubtless be glad to. have any errors corre6ted,'
and the Public in general will of course receive with
pleasure whatever may tend to the credit of an
Author, whose works have so often afforded them
pleasure on the Stage, and whose pen was chiefly,
during a long life, employed in supporting the inte-
rests of Virtue and the British Constitution.
July 1, 1805. ,AMICUS.