Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/374

 MOO

buried in Bromham churchyard, within view of his cottage-home, and beside his beloved daughter Anastasia. Mrs. Moore was laid beside him, 4th September 1865, aged 68. ^^ She made an appropriate gift to the Koyal Irish Academy of his library, portrait, and view of Sloperton Cottage. The Encyclopaedia Britannica concludes an appreciative notice of Moore, with the words : " Her [Ireland] he served with all his soul and strength, uplifting her banner in the hour of darkest danger ; and with the names of Grattan and Cur- ran, as Irish patriots, that of Thomas Moore will be for ever associated." He was small in stature and slight, his eyes were bright and sparkling, his mouth delicately cut and expressive, his "slightly- tossed" nose confirming the fun that lurked on his countenance. Concerning his religious opinions and character, Lord John Eussell writes : " He was bred a Eoman Catholic, and in his mature years he published a work [Captaiii Rock] of some learning in defence of the chief arti- cles of the Eoman Catholic faith, yet he occasionally attended the Protestant Church ; he had his children baptized into that Church. . . Of two things all who knew him must have been persuaded : the one, his strong feelings of devotion, his aspirations, his longing for life and immor- tality, and his submission to the will of God ; the other, his love of his neighbour, his charity, his Samaritan kindness for the distressed, his goodwill to all men. In the last days of his life he frequently re- peated to his wife : ' Lean upon God, Bessy ; lean upon God.' That God is love was the summary of his belief ; that a man should love his neighbour as him- self, seems to have been the rule of his life. . . Never did he make his wife and family a pretext for political shabbi- ness ; nev^r did he imagine that to leave a disgraceo name as an inheritance to his children was his duty as a father. . . Mingling careful economy with an intense love of all the enjoyments of society, he managed, with the assistance of his excel- lent wife, who carried on for him the de- tail of his household, to struggle through all the petty annoyances attendant upon narrow means — to support his father, mo- ther, and sister, beside his own family, and at his death he left no debt behind him." The very high estimate of his lite- rary abilities entertained by Byron, Scott, Eussell, and his contemporaries generally, has scarcely stood the test of time; but there is little doubt that his Melodies, wedded as they are to such appropriate music, will continue to delight genera- 350

MOE

tions — melodies whose grace and tenderness were never more effectively rendered than when sung by himself. Lord John Russell, his literary executor, edited his Memoirs, in 8 vols, in 1853–'6. The first volume and half the second are occupied with an unfinished autobiography and a selection from his letters, the rest of the work chiefly with a slightly abridged diary, extending from August 1818 to October 1847. Allibone devotes five pages to an exhaustive critical enumeration of Moore's writings. His father died in 1825, and his mother in 1832: they lie buried with his sister in St. Kevin's churchyard, Dublin. A beautiful stained-glass window has been inserted in Bromham church, to the memory of his wife. An interesting communication on the present condition of Sloperton Cottage will be found in the Athenæum for 7th July 1877. A statue of Thomas Moore was erected in Dublin shortly after his decease, 15 16 34 36 124 244 245

More, Roger, a prominent leader in the early part of the War of 1641–'52, was descended from the O'Mores of Leix, and was born about the end of the 16th century. He passed some years of his youth in Spain, where doubtless much of his time was spent in the company of the numerous Irish refugees. He married a sister of Nicholas Barnewall, Viscount Kingsland, and resided at Ballynagh, in the King's County. In 1641 he joined Lord Maguire, Sir Felim O'Neill, and other representatives of the ancient fami- lies of Ireland, in organizing a general rising against English power, and against the oppression to which, as Catholics, they were subjected. The co-operation of the Irish soldiers in the Low Countries was counted upon : Cardinal Eichelieu promised aid in arms, ammunition, and money; and Owen Eoe O'Neill agreed to join from Spain at fourteen days' notice. Carte says that More was tempted to take up arms "by a desire of recovering his ancestral estates, which were in the hands of the English, and with the glory of asserting the freedom and liberty of his country. He was admirably qualified for this pur- pose, being endowed with all the talents and qualifications proper for persuasion ; he was one of the most handsome, comely, and proper persons of his time; of ex- cellent parts, good judgment, and great cunning ; affable and courteous in his behaviour, insinuating in his address, and agreeable in his conversation. He un- derstood human nature, and knew men perfectly well. . . He was a man of fair character, highly esteemed by all who knew him, and had so great a reputa-