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Solicitor-General of James II.; in later times by Maxwell, in his "Wild Sports of the West," and by Lever in some of his most delightful tales. Mr. Gregory soon became conspicuous for his devotion to field sports, and, however strange it may appear, it was alleged against him on the hustings in 1842, that as a sporting country gentleman he was better fitted for the saddle and the gun than for the benches of St. Stephens.

At the general election, in the year 1841, Messrs. West and Grogan were returned for the city of Dublin, in the Conservative interest, after a severe contest with Messrs. O'Connell and Hutton. Mr. West was one of the ornaments of the Irish Bar, and would have been one of the ornaments of the Irish Bench had he been spared to his profession and his country. A malignant typhus fever cut him off in the following year. Two candidates for the vacant seat at once presented themselves to the constituency: Lord Morpeth, in the Liberal, and Mr. Gregory, in the Conservative interest. Mr. Gregory was descended from a Conservative family; he had imbibed Conservative principles from bis childhood. His grandfather was the devoted friend of Sir Robert Peel, and he now stood-it was natural he should so stand-on the Conservative platform. He was proposed by Sir John Kingston James, and seconded by Mr. George Ogle-Moore.

In his speech from the hustings he ably advocated the principles of his party, but he did not wound the susceptibilities of his antagonists; and though it was, as we believe, his maiden speech, yet, it won the applause of many friends.

Mr. O'Connell had tried to identify Mr. Gregory, who had addressed his supporters in Fishamble Street Theatre, with a cry that was raised there of "To Hell with the Pope." Mr. Gregory warmly repudiated the insinuation. He said

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"It has been gravely and deliberately asserted that my voice had lately mingled in a cry of To hell with the Pope and Popery.' I cannot bring myself to think that a man occupying the high position of Lord Mayor of Dublin could have ever uttered these words, knowing them to be false. I know well that he did not, but I tell him that he has been grossly and wilfully misinformed. Were these the last words I ever were to utter I should declare as solemnly as I do now, that never did my voice mingle in such a cry, that I never heard such an expression, and that were I present, and such words made use of before me, I should manifest nothing but the most unqualified disgust. I have passed too many happy and peaceful days in the Eternal City, I have too much respect for any prince or governor, I have too much reverence for the grey hairs of an aged and venerable man, how wide soever we may be sundered by differences of religion, ever to participate in such a cry. But, as I said before, this is no apology to soften the rancour of political animosity. I care little for their words, but as a mark of respect to many Roman Catholic friends, excellent and upright men, who may

derive their notions of my words from a profligate and partial press, I owe the explanation. God forbid that my voice ever should be raised in louder accents than those of expostulation; God forbid that my hand ever should be extended except to meet theirs in the grasp of friendship. I owe this explanation not to Roman Catholics alone, but I owe it to many Protestants whose character I esteem, whose opinion I respect."

Mr. O'Connell was so pleased with the indignation of Mr. Gregory's protest, that he leaned across to him at the conclusion of the nomination, and said, "Your speech has gratified me so much that if you will only whisper the little word 'Repeal' in my ears, I will be the first at the hustings to vote for you." From that day to the day of his death, Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Gregory were warm friends. Mr. O'Connell used frequently in the House of Commons to beckon to the young Conservative member to come over and sit by him, which he often did, much to the indignation of the old Tories, and used to say to him, "If you could only see yourself in a glass, my dear boy-how much better you look when sitting by my side than over the way-I am sure you would never go back to those fellows."

When Sir Robert Peel proposed his famous measure for the Repeal of the Corn Laws, Mr. Gregory strongly supported it on the second reading. He argued that a rise in the price of grain, rather than a fall, was likely to be the result of the increased spread of business which Free Trade would bring with it, and he specially dwelt on the fact that Ireland was far more fitted for the rearing of cattle than for the production of grain, and that the profits of the farmer would be far greater from sheep and cattle breeding than from tillage. Apprehensions of the consequences of Free Trade were rife in Ireland, and deep resentment was felt towards Sir R. Peel and his followers, owing to the change of policy. The result was, that though his colleague Mr. Grogan was returned at the next election by a large majority, Mr. Gregory was rejected.

The day after Mr. Gregory's speech on the Corn Laws, Sir Robert Peel offered him the Irish Lordship of the Treasury, with the whole conduct of the Irish business in the House of Commons, in consequence of the then Irish Secretary, Lord Lincoln (afterwards Duke of Newcastle), and the Irish law officers not having seats in the House. He declined this tempting and flattering offer, however, partly from feeling that he had not sufficient experience to contend successfully against O'Connell and the tail he commanded, but chiefly because he thought that his acceptance of office immediately after he had given in his adhesion to the policy of Sir Robert Peel might be open to misconstruction. He had, however, manifested his conversion to Free Trade principles a year previously, when he paired off in favour of the free admission of Australian corn-a measure brought in by the Opposition. His doing so excited some condemnatory comments among his political friends.

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