rishioners with the money. With this intent he sent them to Dublin, to William Watson, the bookseller in Capelstreet, desiring him to dispose of them immediately; who, in compliance with his orders, advertised them for sale in the newspapers. But as buyers were tardy, and the wants of the poor very urgent, Mr. Watson bought them himself for 807. and instantly paid the money. Soon after the advertisement appeared in the newspapers, two ladies, who guessed at his reason for selling his books, sent him a 501. bill, requesting him to keep the books, and relieve his poor with the money. These ladies did not discover their names; but I am assured, that one of them was lady Barrymore, who gave 201. and the other a Miss Leslie, who gave 301. However, with expressions of gratitude he told them, he had dedicated his books to God, and he must sell them. Consequently, the contribution of the ladies, and the money he got for his books, were both applied to the relief of his poor. This was a sacrifice to duty of which no one can have an adequate idea, except a scholar, fond of reading, situated like Mr. Skelton, in a barren country, among illiterate people, with a number of agreeable books, the only companions of his many solitary hours.

Such were the exertions and extraordinary charities, of this exemplary clergyman, for the preservation of his poor parishioners. He was, indeed, like an angel sent down from heaven to visit them in their distress. A few such primitive apostolic Christians in this kingdom might almost be sufficient to avert the divine judgment, which God knows how soon may overtake us for our sins.

In the disposal of his charities, he made no distinction with respect to the religion of the persons, as the only claim they had to offer was poverty and want. Indeed he frequently declared, that during the several dearths in which he had the care of a parish, his charities were mostly conferred on Roman Catholics; for these, when they got a little money, spent it all profusely in drinking and carousing, without laying by a penny for any unforeseen accident, and consequently, in times of scarcity, would, many of them, have died of hunger, had they not been relieved. But Protestants of every description, being more economical, had

generally something saved, and of course, when a famine prevailed, stood in less need of assistance.

It is necessary to mention, that Mr. Watson sold a part of the books; those that remained, Mr. Skelton, when he could afford it, took from him at the price he sold them for, but insisted on paying interest for the sum they amounted to, for the time Mr. Watson had them in his possession.

He continued for a few years to lock the church door at intervals, while he examined the grown-up people in religion; but was at last forced to desist, as a woman fainted in the church, because she could not get out. However be did not on this account leave off examining them. It was a fashion with them to be going out and coming in, during the time of service, which obliged him at length to speak to them thus from the reading-desk, " remark the disturbers of God's worship." This rebuke partly cured them of the irregularity.

All his exertions were indeed scarce sufficient to keep his people in due order. Among their other bad practices, they used to steal timber from the adjoining woods. One man, who was notorious for this, he forced with much difficulty to swear to take no more in future. A hearer of his who, he was told, had taken a bundle of scollops and some timber out of Rapee-wood in the county of Fermanagh, kneeling one Sunday at the sacrament, had got the bread, and was just getting the wine, when looking in his face, he perceived who he was, and then stopped short, and said to him, "You have stolen a part of the Lord's sacrament, but you shall get no more." The man replied to him very sharply. However he was afterward reconciled to this man, and invited him to dine with him.

Doctor Clayton, the bishop of Clogher, was, it is well known, a strenuous opposer of the most essential doctrine of the orthodox faith. He declared his disbelief of some of the articles of our church to which he had solemnly subscribed; though he had no scruple of conscience to enjoy the ample revenue it afforded him. His lordship, it seems, was not content with the consciousness of having found out by his sagacity the right opinion himself, but, like some others of the same stamp, had a longing desire to make converts.

When he was putting down on paper his strange notions in his study, his lady used to come in, and say to him, "My lord, quit writing, or you'll lose your bishopric." But he would not be persuaded by her; the world was all wrong, he said, and he would strive to set it right. Accordingly, beside the Essay on Spirit, he published afterward some other pieces, in which he declared his sentiments too plainly on the subject of the Trinity. This gave occasion for an open attack on him in the House of Lords, when primate Stone made a very severe speech against him. The House resolving to deprive him of his bishopric, summoned him to appear before them. He then consulted a great lawyer on the subject, and asked him, if he thought he would lose his bishopric? "My lord," he answered, "I believe you will." "Sir;" he replied, "you have given me a stroke I shall never get the better of." His apprehensions were too true; for he was instantly seized with a disorder, and soon after died, in 1758.

A lady, who usually had a correspondence with Mr. Skelton, in a letter she wrote him from Dublin, mentioned, among other transactions, the bishop's death, and the probable cause of it. In his answer he lamented the bishop's fate, and thought his gentle spirit could not bear the severity he experienced, but that it broke his heart. The world knows how strenuous an advocate he was for those religious opinions that are exactly contrary to his lordship's; but his gratitude for the benefice he had conferred on him made him feel so sensibly for his fate. This bishop, with all his heretical notions, was a useful man to the poor. Being a member of the linen board, he got a great many wheels and reels for the poor about Clogher, and thus kept the most of them employed. He also had the honour of giving Mr. Skelton his first living, which, if he pleased, he might have refused to his dignified solicitors.

In the see of Clogher, he was succeeded by Dr. Garnet, a prelate of great humility, and a friend to literature and religion. This bishop, though he had but one eye, could discover, as I am told, men of merit, as well as some people with two eyes. Sensible that Mr. Skelton was a man of worth and parts, he treated him with the respect such men deserve. A superior, who treats a man of learning and

abilities with coldness and indifference, shews he has no regard for literature.

About this time a pamphlet appeared in Dublin entitled "An appeal to the Common Sense of all Christian People." This being an artful defence of the Arian opinions, which the author insinuated were alone consistent with common sense, was written with so much cunning, and such a shew of candour, that it had a dangerous effect on many wellmeaning people. An answer was published to it in about half a year, consisting of above two hundred duodecimo pages, which was ascribed to Mr. Skelton. It is really a masterly performance, and exceeding in style and manner any of his former compositions, completely overturns, at least in my opinion, the author's objections, and proves the doctrine of the Trinity from the very texts he quotes against it. This piece is not contained in the five volumes of his works published in 1770. But as the appeal had sunk into obscurity, it was probably thought needless to republish the answer.

In the parish of Pettigo, about three miles from the little village, is Lough-Derg, so much famed over Europe for the holy exercises performed by the pious pilgrims that resort to it. From the 12th of May, till the latter end of August, the village is crowded with pilgrims, either going, or returning from that place; and the public houses of Pettigo get many a good sum from these spiritual visitants, who are sufficiently liberal in spending their money on whiskey. Mr. Skelton wrote a description of Lough-Derg, so remarkable for its surprising qualities, in a letter to the bishop of Clogher, which made its way into the newspapers without a name; but he afterward thought fit to claim it as his property, and publish it in his works. It is needless to be more particular about a place that has so often employed the pen of the curious.

A poor blind man, called Petty, who lost both his eyes by boxing, had a cabin just adjoining Lough-Derg, and usually got a halfpenny out of sixpence-halfpenny Irish given by every pilgrim, or stationer, for the boat which carried them over to the island. On a complaint made against him to the titular bishop and prior, his cabin was thrown down, and himself banished. When the bishop

came to Lough-Derg, Mr. Skelton invited him to dine with him, and got Petty restored, who continued there to the year 1786, when he died. A priest, who was also turned out, by his means got his place again. Such was his interest with the titular bishop.

In 1759, the bishop of Clogher, without any solicitation, removed him from Pettigo to Devenish, a living in the county of Fermanagh, near Enniskillen, worth about three hundred a year. Thus, by the kindness of the good bishop, he was brought once more into civilized society, after continuing ten years in that rugged part of Ireland, where his virtues and charities deserve to be long remembered.* When he was leaving Pettigo, he said to the poor, "Give me your blessing now before I go, and God's blessing be with you. When you are in great distress, come to me, and I'll strive to relieve you." He used to say, "I want nothing but as much as will keep a pair of horses and a servant."+

He was fond of a good horse, and generally had the best saddle horses that could be got, though he was remarkably awkward on horseback. For he turned out his toes, and took no hold with his knees, but balanced himself in the stirrups, like a man on slack-wire; so that when the horse began to trot, he jogged up and down like a taylor. A lady, who was riding along with him one day, near Pettigo, observed to him, that he turned out his toes too much, "0 yes," he said, "my education was inverted, for I was taught to ride by a dancing-master, and to dance by a riding-master." Horace himself informs us very candidly, that he rode awkwardly on his mule.

It has been mentioned, that old Mr. Leslie, his father, as he called him, who died while he had the living of Pettigo, recommended his grandchildren to him on his deathbed. He assured him he would be a father to them, and proved himself to be so, for, among his other virtues, he possessed, in a high degree, gratitude and veracity. A lady once asked him, if he had as reported, kept the Rev. Alexander Leslie, a grandson of this clergyman, while a schoolboy, at Monaghan school? He acknowledged to her he had

It must, however, be owned, in justice to the people of that country, that they seem at present very much improved in every particular.

↑ Jonas Good, the famous man, already mentioned, quitted his service on obtaining a farm at Pettigo, in which his widow and children lived after his decease.