Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 1.djvu/230

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219 BROWN. Dr. Brown's first wife was a Miss Waterhouse, sister of the chancellor of, the diocese, which office he afterwards confered on his second son Thomas. His last wife's maiden name was Swan, sister to Bellingham Swan, Esq. and afterwards married to Captain Barry, son of the celebrated Sir Edward Barry, who, beside being an eminent physi- cian, wrote the celebrated treatise "On the Wines of the Autients." าม The bishop's country residence was Riverstown, a pa- ternal estate near Cork, which he laid out with great elegaace, and where he lived with much hospitality. His town residence, called "The Bishop's Palace," bad little to value itself on as a building, besides its being roomy, and a goud situation: the library is a pretty good one, and one of the rooms is ornamented with a sèries of all the portraits of the Bishops of Cork since the Reformation. Amongst, these portraits, that of the celebrated Dr. William Lyon, promoted to this see by Queen Elizabeth in 1588, deserves particelar notice, from the following short bistory of the originalg Lyon, though a man of tolerable education, had taken an early liking to the sea service, and by degrees rose to . the command of a frigate, where he signalised himself so much under Sir Walter Raleigh, that Queen Elizabeth promised bim the first place in her power. Soon afier, the bishopric of Cork became vacant t and Lyon, relying on her promise, without finding in bimself any disqualifi» cations for the office, solicited her for the bishopric.n The queen, at first excused herself on account of the impro- priety of the request; but Lyon pressing ber on the words of her promise, which were without any exception, and which he relied on, the queeถ consented, and he was con secrated bishop of that see in the spring of 1583. He was bishop of this diocese near thirty-five years; and, during all that time, behaved bimself with great pro- priety asi a clergyman; and, being a man of spirit, and much attached to the Reformation, was very serviceable in