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ENDORSED.

"Written by my blessed grand-niece, Isabella Louisa Fairlie, on Saturday night, the 28th of January, 1843. She expired on the 31st, at twenty minutes before eight in the evening, resigning her pure spirit without a groan or struggle. M. B.”

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"Old man, thou art poor, and thy house of clay
Must soon fall to ruin: Oh, hast thou, say,
No friend who will cheer thy gloom?"
"Oh yes, gentle maid. I've a pow'rful friend,
His patient affection will never end,

It will last beyond the tomb."

"Then why does he never thy cottage cheer?
Old man,
I have never seen him here,

Does he give thee fire or food?"

"Oh, lady, my friend is any constant guest;
He counsels, upholds me, and gives me rest;
He's long-suffering, gentle, good.

"If I eat his food I shall never die,
It will nourish me eternally;

And in his blest abode

A place is prepared for me, and I long
To join the blissful and ransom'd throng,
Who surround the throne of God."

"Old man, it now is made plain to me,
What ever has been a mystery;

The cheerful look amidst pain.

I'll call on this friend, I will seek the Lord"—
"Do, lady, and trust thy Redeemer's word,—
That none shall seek in vain.”

L. F., May 12, 1842.

Mrs. Fairlie died at Cheveley, near Newmarket, in April, 1843, after a protracted illness. She survived her beautiful and interesting child little more than two months. That sweet child had gone before her angelic mother, to a fitting home on high, the 31st of January, 1843.

No. III.

COPY OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF LADY BLESSINGTON WITH CAPTAIN MAURICE FARMER.

Obtained by R. R. MADDEN from MR. LEGGE, Parish Clerk and Registrar of Marriages in Clonmel, the 8th August, 1854.

1804. MARRIAGE solemnized at the PARISH CHURCH, in the PARISH OF CLONMEL, in the COUNTY OF TIPPERARY.

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Married in the Parish Church, according to the Rites and Ceremonies

of the United Church of England and Ireland, by licence, by me,

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No. IV.

CAPTAIN MAURICE FARMER.

REFERENCE has been made in the Introduction, to a letter published in a Dublin newspaper by a brother of Captain Farmer, denying certain statements made in a Memoir of Lady Blessington respecting Captain Maurice St. Leger Farmer. In fairness to the friends of that gentleman, I feel myself bound to insert the letter at length, without any omissions whatsoever; although, without calling in question in the slightest degree the veracity of the writer, I must observe, there are several statements in that communication, of opinions which are entirely at variance with my impressions of facts, and some, I may add, at variance with the impressions of a gentleman who was present at the marriage of Captain Farmer with Miss Power. It is very natural for the brother of that gentleman, actuated as he must be by feelings of fraternal regard and affection, to form favourable opinions of one so nearly connected with him, and to entertain unfavourable sentiments regarding one whose relatives have publicly expressed sentiments which cannot be otherwise than disagreeable, and, in his opinion, unjust to the memory of his relative.

But in all matters of this unfortunate kind, it is not from the immediate friends of the persons who have been disunited, that we ought to expect a fair and full statement of both sides of the question at issue-one that would do equal justice to each party, to the views of each, and the merits of the case on either side.

I feel once more bound to state my conviction that the following statement is not one which answers the expectations I have just referred to; and that if I felt myself at liberty to appeal to the recollections of two very distinguished per

sonages who were present at that marriage, and well acquainted with the parties-one of those persons now Commander-in-Chief of the British army, and the other lately commander of the forces in Ireland-that conviction would be confirmed.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING PACKET.

"SIR,

"I will gratefully feel your kindness, if you will give, in your paper, insertion to the accompanying reply to Miss Power's misstatements, in her opening review of Lady Blessington's life, as connected with my brother, the late Captain Farmer, 47th Foot, her first husband.

66 SIR,

"WALTER FARMER,

"3, Heytesbury Street,

"Lately of Poplar Hall,

"Ballitore, county of Kildare."

"I have seen in your paper of the 11th instant, a statement, taken from a Memoir of the Countess of Blessington, contributed in the Preface to Country Quarters,' by her niece, Miss Power, in which, to exculpate sundry matters in the conduct of her Ladyship, gross misrepresentations are made respecting her first husband, Captain Farmer. As the brother of that gentleman, I hope I may be allowed to state my contradictions, as follows, and that you will kindly give them equal publicity :—

"So far as my brother and Captain Murray having both paid their addresses to the lady, I believe to be true; but that she preferred my brother is an undoubted fact, inasmuch as that it was in every sense a love-match between them, no settlement being made or promised by my brother or his family; for my father, having seven other sons, considered that in the purchase of all his steps he had received his share, but the lady's father promised his daughter a fortune of £1000, a shilling of which was never paid; but, counting on it, the young couple contracted debts, and Captain Farmer, finding his inability to meet them, was obliged to sell his commission to pay said debts. He subsequently accepted a commission in the East India Company's

service, and wished his wife to accompany him there, which she declined doing. With a view, however, to her independence and happiness in his absence, he divided with her the surplus amount remaining after paying his debts-namely, £1000, that is, £500 each. Having been my brother's schoolfellow and constant companion, I can assert that, as boy or man, he never showed any symptoms of insanity up to this period; and such I can prove by many parties still alive, and particularly through the very respectable members of the Society of Friends, living in and around Ballitore, in the county of Kildare, his native place, where my father resided. That such a statement might have been made by Captain Murray may be true, though certainly without having had any effect on the lady or her parents, for he at all times evinced great hostility to my brother; and immediately after my brother sold out of the army, having met each other at Blackrock, near Dublin, warm words ensued, which caused Captain Murray, who was in uniform, to draw his sword. My brother, having a stick, quickly disarmed him, and broke the sword; the result was a duel with pistols, when Captain Murray was seriously wounded. A considerable time afterwards, my brother went to India, and Mrs. Farmer came to Ballitore. From the reports current as to her misconduct, of which Captain Farmer, from his absence, could not be aware, my father would not see her, and objected to my doing so. called upon her notwithstanding, when she told me she had letters from my brother, pressing her to go out to India, as he had made comfortable provision for her; but she declined to do so, fearing the climate might disagree with her constitution— thus by her own words disproving the charge now brought up, that their separation was caused by his insanity. I would rather not refer to her conduct from that period, nor do I think the memoir either should go farther; but

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It is a notorious fact that her conduct, coupled with the effects of a coup de soleil while in India, often induced my brother, when he went into company, to exceed, as was then too much the custom, and to such was his death to be attributed. His host, on this occasion, an old brother officer, having unfortunately locked the door on his company in their then state of mind, my

Sic in original published letter.

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