MEMOIRS AND LETTERS, &c.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH OF RICHARD SHACKLETON-SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS PARENTS-CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDANT ON RICHARD SHACKLETON'S YOUTH-HIS MARRIAGE -EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS-DECEASE OF HIS WIFE.

RICHARD SHACKLETON was born in Ballitore, on the 9th of the Tenth Month, 1726. His grandfather, whose name he bore, was a native of Yorkshire, where he married, in the year 1683, Sarah Briggs. Of their six children, Abraham, born in 1696, was the youngest. His mother died when he was six years of age, his father two years afterwards. Though deprived so early of religious parents, the impression made on him, by their careful education, was not in vain. He used frequently to mention the tender concern of his pious father, who, following him to his bed-side, was wont, on leaving him to his repose, awfully to recommend him to seek the Divine blessing. And that blessing did remarkably attend him during the course of his life; for whilst as yet very young, and exposed to manifold dangers, he was enabled to preserve the tenderness and innocence which constitute the happiness of childhood; and often, retiring from his companions, he mused in solitude on the love of his Maker. In his youth he underwent great exercise and conflicts; but persevering in the strait path of duty, and yielding obedience to the Divine monitor, through every stage of life the same protection was extended, as the same watchful care to seek after it was maintained.

His bodily frame not being robust, after having made trial of other means of gaining a livelihood, he resigned them, and cultivated his natural taste for literature. Though he was twenty years. of age when he began to learn the Latin language, yet, with genius and application united, he speedily became a good classical scholar, and even wrote pure and elegant Latin. His acquirements, his

B

diligence, and still more his character, induced some of the most respectable families of the Society of Friends in Ireland, (of which religious body he was himself a member,) to encourage him to come into this country, and undertake the tuition of their children. He first engaged in the employment of a private teacher; and in great simplicity of heart, and awful fear, discharged his important trust, greatly to the satisfaction of his employers. Having, before his removal, been a teacher in the school of David Hall, of Skipton, in Yorkshire, he there became acquainted with Margaret Wilkinson, first cousin to David Hall, an inmate in his family, and daughter of Richard Wilkinson, of Knowlbank, in Yorkshire. She was pleasing in person and manners, cheerful, of a sweet temper, and endowed with good sense; but what attracted and confirmed Abraham Shackleton's affection to her, was the excellence of her humble and pious spirit. He loved her with a true love, and, in a few years, returned to England, solicited, and obtained her hand. Those Friends who had had trial of his abilities as a private teacher, and who saw the advantages accruing to the youth, from such an example as his, were glad to find he had determined to settle in Ireland, and to open a boarding-school. They, probably, suggested the idea to him, for he was of a diffident disposition. Ballitore seemed to be a suitable place for this purpose, a retired village in the county of Kildare, twenty-eight miles south of Dublin, the river Griese, a pleasant stream, running through the valley in which the village stands, and contributing to its salubrity. It was a situation, also, which gratified Abraham Shackleton's inclination for the country, and his love of agriculture and planting. Hither, then, he brought his beloved Margaret. Here they passed their peaceful, pious lives; here shone the steady lustre of their bright example; and here they laid down their heads in a good old age. But their virtues left behind a sweet odour, when their places knew them no more; and their memories are handed down with respect and love, from one generation to another.

The boarding-school was opened on the 1st of the Third Month, 1726, and succeeded beyond the humble hopes of its conductors; so that not only those of their own Society, and of the middle rank, but many persons of considerable note, and of various denominations, placed their children under their care; several of whom afterwards filled conspicuous stations in life; and many not only retained a grateful and affectionate respect for the memory of their preceptor, but good-will and regard for the Society of Friends on his account; remembering his extraordinary diligence and care in their tuition,

his fatherly oversight of them, and also the living lesson of uprightness, temperance, gravity and humility, which he taught by his example. And there is ground to believe, that the principles of the people called Quakers were better understood, and that many illiberal prejudices against them were removed, by means of Ballitore School.

Amongst the scholars of Abraham Shackleton, one of the most distinguished for early attainments in literature, was Edmund Burke, who, with Garrett and Richard, his brothers, was placed under his care, in the year 1741. Edmund, being then about eleven years of age, manifested uncommon genius, with qualities which shelter that "painful pre-eminence" from those envious blasts, which annoy even when they cannot injure; for he was unassuming, affable, and modest. He and Richard Shackleton, the son of Abraham, pursued their studies together. The minds of both were strongly bent to literary acquirements; both were endowed with a classical taste, solid judgment, and keen perceptions; and with similar dispositions, cheerful, affectionate and benevolent. Between these kindred minds a friendship was formed, which continued through life, notwithstanding the different spheres in which they moved. When they met afterwards, Edmund Burke delighted to converse with the friend of his youth, on subjects that recalled their juvenile days. In private life, he was distinguished by the practice of the domestic and social virtues, and by exemplary moral conduct. His manners and conversation were engaging and instructive; clothed with a simplicity which softened the brilliancy of his talents, and made him even more beloved than admired.

t

Michael Kearney was another of Abraham Shackleton's pupils, a native of Dublin; a person of acknowledged worth and learning, and as remarkable for his modesty as for his acquirements. At the age of eighty, he gave proof, by a few lines addressed to one of the family, of the permanency of that friendship, which, springing from the soil of innocent and cultivated minds, produces blossoms and "A renewal,' fruits, to gladden the heart in youth and in age. says he, however slight, of a correspondence with Ballitore, excited a most affecting pulsation in my heart: it attracted my attention to old times, when I was accustomed to receive letters from your father, to whom I am indebted for much instruction in what is laudable and excellent." Speaking of the pleasure with which he read a description of Ballitore, in verse, he adds, "It bestowed on me a momentary youth. I recollected the haunts of my boyhood with inexpressible pleasure, and retraced events that had occurred

on every spot. The cowslips of the Mill-field were not forgotten, and many instructive conversations with your father started into my mind." It was not the recollection of hours spent with his friend in idleness, folly, or mischievous frolics, which was presented to his memory; but through the long retrospect of much more than half a century, this venerable man could pleasantly contemplate their past studies and recreations. The cultivation of taste and science is favourable to the preservation of purity in conduct and sentiment; and though there are lamentable instances of fine talents being laid waste, and, instead of raising a goodly and useful structure, affording, by their ruin, a shelter to the beasts of prey and birds of night; yet the generality of the dissipated and profligate, appear to be those who have neglected or despised the improvement of their own abilities, and endeavoured to depreciate those intellectual powers and accomplishments, which they were either unwilling or unable to comprehend; who, in the words of Gay,

"O'erlook with scorn all virtuous arts;

For vice is fitted to their parts."

When Richard Shackleton was but five years old, his heart experienced the touches of Divine love; and he sometimes withdrew to a retired spot, where he poured out his soul in prayer, and was permitted to approach Him who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me." Often did he look back upon this time, and the scene of these early aspirations, which seemed hallowed in his view. It was a precious period of his life when he was led to enter into covenant with his Maker-when he walked out alone with his Bible, and poured out his prayers and his tears, being favoured with that heavenly feeling which surpasses every other enjoyment; and this tenderness continued, with very little interruption, to operate on his mind till the sixteenth year of his age.

On his arriving at this critical period of life, the levity incident to youth, and his own natural vivacity, drew him, in degree, from that watchfulness enjoined by the highest authority, and on which our safety and happiness depend; and though preserved within the bounds of morality, the religious sensibility experienced in early life was weakened. This lapse, though it had been long recovered, he regretted, when about to close his exemplary life. He was very diligent in seeking after improvement in literary knowledge; and, while yet a child, was able to assist his father. For this purpose he spent some time in Dublin, attending lectures at the college, and learning the Hebrew language. The pious care exercised over him, when absent from his parents, will appear by the following extracts