The Sun.
London, England, 1805-06-19 00:00:00

2411771UR-MUI?PiIY, F 4

THIS ornament of British Literature
closed. his days •yckerday afternoon, -..at.,.flisapart.
!bents in Brampton:row, hnightsbridge. .apart*
born in Ireland, and descended- fronya very respetst
able family in that count 1.1 was sent very early,
in life to the,College 'of jit. Onic:rts; *beret he re.;
xnaineAi till his eighteenth veYze, and was at the head
of ttie-Latin Class when.ht. quitted the School, He:was
'indeed an excellent Latin.Schol:.ir, and veity Well ac=
qUainted with the Gretik Lognage, when he. re:•
turned to his native,(ouatry. Soon after his return'.
to Ireland he ..was sent into this' Country and
placed under the Rrotetaion of a near relatiott, a per.;
son high in .the mercantile world.. It *as intended .
by this relation, that Mr.. Mull PH should engage in
Commercial pursuits, but Lii.erature and the Stage
soon drew WS attention,, and 'wholly .absorbed his
mind.

He had a brother who went, to the Westindiel.
very soon after Mr. Molt PUY 6:110 to liffgland; and
the latter became securityAo the amount alive hun-
dred pounds for the formere.who Unfortunately fell
a victim to the climate, just as lie had the prospeft
of acquiring a considerable success of
Mr, MURPHY'S first Tragedy, .Orphan of Onti,
enabled him' to get rid of the pectofiary °Kgalien
above-mentioned, and her paid the money immedi,
ately: from the profits a Play; with no other
regret on the occasion than what arose from Oie loss
of an excellent brother. , • -
Mr. MURPHY's mother lived to a very adynneat
ageeand never was there , a more dutiful and 'affec--;
Collate son. Indeed he never had fortitude, after
her death, to look'overany letters or papers:belong-,
ing to her, as ,they would reminded lrim too
sensibly of the loss of so good a parent, as he often
declared that she had uniformly been.
Mr. IVlutirin was tempted to venture upon thea-
trical boards, teed made seYeral attempts to-acquire
reputation as an A6tor ; but though he always die
played judgment, he Wanted, those splendid powers
which are essential to the acquisition of fame and:.
fortune in that arduous walk of life: He was, how,
ever, wholly undeserving of the bratal attack on his
talents as an A Ctor, which thrurecuiLL direEted
agaiiist l,itct, chiefly from motives of party pre-
judice. Mr. Muaru anS cred the scurrilities of
that energetic, but coarse and furious Bard, in a
very humouroits Ode addressed ;to :the Naiads. of
Fleet Ditch, and in. a very spirited Poem, en-
titled Expostulation, 'in which. he • modestly, but,
firmly, vindicated his' iterary charterer again St. all
the assaults of his various opponents.: Mr. Must
pirr, however, withdrew trout the _Stage; and
employed himself, in the study of the Law ; he made
two attempts ,to become a Member of the Temple,
and of Grays Inn, but was rejeaed on the illiberal.
plea that he had been upon the Stage,- He found
more. elevated sentiments in the Members of Lin-'
coin's Inn, end from thence ~ obtained admission to
the Bar. The Dramatic Muse, however,: so much
engaged his attentien, that the -LaW. was always a
secondary consideration.
In the
,ceurse of, his life he sent twenty,Pieces to
the Stage, most of which were snceessfids and scene=
ral of which. will certainly retain an astpblished rank
among what are called Siock-piieei, of .I.he Theatre.
It should have been observed that he first started
into the Literary World with a series of . &says in
the inanner of tile Speaator, entitled The Gray s-
Inn.journal, which displayed great observatien and
knowledge Of life 'for so yotmg author; tee ac,
cording to his. own account, he was blietwity-one
when, as he used to say he had the imendence to
write a PeriodicAl Paper .during the time. thatt JOilt4-
i sox was publishing Li.; Thoel4l".". ,
Atone period of his life. Mr. Aluateuy came for-
ward as a poltical welter, thoue.:li without putting
hi's name to his, produCtiotee The workS.of this kind
which Were known to have been the issue- of his
pen, were The Test and The Ahaitor, by which he
powerfully supported the operations of Governinetit
at that time ; and censequently exposed himself to
all the virulence of party defamation. He hats sliewn
his taste and elegance as a scholar, by a Latin Vet-.
sion ef lhe Tetn,lge of fame, and of GmAy s ,celei) rat ed
Elegy, as well as other dmired Englisli.Poerns4 and
a inaterly translation 'of the we of l'Ae,'lTyS.
Mr. Mu lint Y had many squabbles with several
contemporary Wits ; but though he never 'quietly
received a blow, lit w,Li I.leXer the. first to
.gi•fe
one. • 'Wo!cannot sum up, his. charkeaer better, than
,in the following \voids, .written to iii friend Air.
Ji.SSE '1F.{4927,, ' who prolonged his lime by -ra7.
.lieving him, some years.ago, from an. illness of the
. Most alarming kind, whom he 4...1.5 appointed his
ExOeutsor, and to whom he has entrusted all his7M,l-
- : •
tieliVed in the closest friendship with the ;Pelt
polished authors and greatest lawyers of Jilf tithe
. his knowledge of the Classics, wasPrefound ; hii
translations of the liernan historians eillai:=red his
fame ;' hLs dram.atic produClions were interior to
, uorne of the tune in which he tlenrished. The peti
of the poet was particelarly adorned by the refired
taste of the critic: Fin was author of The GreCion
Daughter, All in the liiiong; the Way to Keep 'Him;‘
The Oiphm cifekina, Time Cifizen,' and nianyother
esteeined dramatic produetions. The Moderation
ochis ambition, and the modesty of his nature, in-
dined his genius to court the refinement of hisstudy
in preferente to this purSuits of an active life. AS
a man of high .talehts and a warm heart, he lived
honoured ; and, as a very-devout Christian, he was
long resigned to the will of his' Creator.- In the,
'words he was often heard to repeat from Porn
italletuiltt tip misrin, half by mercflecAY.
. To welcoineedeaoii and iAllnly