448- MURPHY. Norfolk circuit; but with little success; and, afterwards appeared occasionally as a pleader in London. The muse however, he confesses, “still had hold of him and occa sionally stole him away from ‘Coke upon Littleton.’” In h i s law pursuits h e continued t i l l 1787, when, t o his great astonishment, a junior t o him o n the Norfolk circuit, was appointed king's counsel. Disappointed a t this, h e sold his chambers i n Lincoln's Inn i n July 1788, and retired altogether from the bar. The intermediate time, however, had been filled u p b y the production o f his “Three Weeks after Marriage,” “Zenobia,” “The Grecian Daughter,” and other dramatic pieces, generally acted with great applause, and which are yet o n the stock list. After h e retired from the bar, h e bought a house a t Hammer smith, and there prepared various publications for the press; among which, i n 1786, was a n edition o f his works collectively, i n seven volumes, 8vo. I n 1792, h e appeared a s one o f the biographers o f Dr. Johnson, i n “An Essay o n his Life and Genius;” but this was a very careless sketch, copied almost verbatim from the account o f Sir John Hawkins's Life o f Johnson, i n the Monthly Review. I n the following year h e published a translation o f Tacitus, i n four volumes, 4to, dedicated t o the late Edmund Burke. To this work, which i s executed i n a masterly style, he added, “An Essay o n the Life and Genius o f Tacitus;” with historical supplements and frequent annotations and comments. Mr. Murphy continued t o write t o a n advanced age; and, i n 1798, h e published his “Arminius,” intended t o justify the war then carried o n against the ambition o f France, and which h e defended a s both just and neces sary. Some time previously, through his interest with Lord Loughborough, h e had obtained the office o f one o f the commissioners o f bankrupts, t o which, during the last three years o f his life, was added a pension o f 200l. a year. I n his latter days, after h e had published a “Life o f Garrick,” a very sensible decay o f mental powers became visible. He continued, however, t o b e occa sionally cheered and assisted b y a few friends until his 1 .
