560 SOUTHERN. It is but justice to add his answer:— “GENTLEMEN, “I thank you from my heart for this kind and affectionate address; the terms of which excite a feeling, to which no language of mine can do justice. To acquire and to deserve the esteem and approbation of that enlightened and liberal profession to which you belong, was the first am bition of my early life. To have obtained them, which your address assures me of, will be the pride and comfort of my declining age. It is now more than seven and thirty years since I had the honour to be en rolled as one of your respectable body, and during the whole of that long period, I never ceased, nor, while life and memory remain, shall I cease, to love, esteem, and admire the spirit, talents, and liberality of the Irish bar. “May they be perpetual,” i s , and t o the latest moments o f my ex istence, shall b e the fervent prayer of, GENTLEMeN, Your ever obliged, Faithful, and affectionate humble servant, MICHAEL SMITH.” Harcourt Street, 12th July, 1806, THOMAS SOUTHERN, A DRAMAtic writer o f some eminence, was born a t Dublin, i n 1659, and was admitted a student o f Trinity College, March 30, 1676. I n his eighteenth year h e left his native country, and removed t o the Middle Temple, London, when h e devoted his time t o the more amusing pursuits o f play-writing and poetry, and forsook the un congenial study o f the law. His “ Persian Prince; o r , Loyal Brother,” was introduced o n the stage i n 1682, a t a time when the Tory interest was triumphant, and the character o f the Loyal Brother was doubtless intended t o compliment James Duke o f York, who afterwards rewarded him. After his accession t o the throne, Southern went into the army, and served a s ensign i n Earl Ferrers’ regi ment, when the Duke o f Monmouth landed. This affair being over, he retired t o his studies, and wrote several plays, b y which h e i s supposed t o have gained considerable sums. I n the preface t o his tragedy called “The Spartan Dame,” h e acknowledges, that h e received from the book sellers a s a price for this play 150l. which was thought i n 1721, the time o f i t s being published, very extraordinary.
