Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/490

 SAU

moved from the field of battle. " Patrick Sarsfield," says a writer cited by Mr. D' Alton, " may be quoted as a type of loyalty and patriotic devotion. In his pub- lic actions, firm and consistent ; in his pri- vate character, amiable and unblemished ; attached, by religious conviction and hereditary reverence for the right divine of kings, to the falling house of Stuart, he drew a sharp sword in the cause of the monarch he had been brought up to believe his lawful sovereign, and voluntarily fol- lowed him into exile, when he could wield it no longer." A contemporary portrait, exhibited in Dublin in 1872, depicts his countenance as round, fresh, and pleasant, with tender, deep blue eyes. His widow married the Duke of Berwick in 1695. His only son, James, who died unmarried in Flanders, fought under his illustrious step- father, and for his bravery at the taking of Barcelona, was decorated and provided for by Philip V. Sarsfield's daughter mar- ried Baron de Neuburg, styled King of Corsica, s^ 'ss 1971 215 223 318

Sauriu, William, an eminent lawyer, was born in the north of Ireland in 1757. His father, a Presbyterian minister, was the son of a Huguenot refugee, said to have been a relative of the celebrated French preacher of the same name. Wil- liam was educated at the University of Dublin, and was called to the Bar in 1 780. His progress was slow ; for thirteen years he remained almost unknown ; but at length, more by plodding industry and high principle than brilliant talents, he achieved success, and in 1798 was at the head of his profession in Ireland. With indignant ardour he threw himself into the agitation against the proposal for the Union. He called the Bar together, and upon his motion a resolution was passed by a large miajority, protesting against the merging of the country in the imperial amalgamation. He was elected a member of the House of Commons for Blessington, and spoke twice in opposition to the measui'e he so deprecated — in the debate of the 5th February 1800, and more at length and effectively on the 21st of the same month. Mr. Shell says : " His more splendid allies rushed among the ranks of their adversaries, and dealt their sweeping invective about them ; while Saurin, in an iron and somewhat rusty armour, and wielding more massive and ponderous weapons, stood like a sturdy sentinel before the gates of the constitution. Simple and elementary po- sitions were enforced by him with a strenuous conviction of their truth. He denied the right of the legislature to 466

SAV

alienate its sacred trust. He insisted that it would amount to a forfeiture of that estate which was derived from, and held under, the people, in whom the reversion must perpetually remain ; that they were bound to consult the will of the majority of the nation, and that the will of that majority was the foundation of all law." For at least twenty-three years after the passing of the Act of Union he never set foot upon English soil. In 1 807 he was ap- pointed Attorney-General, and he may be said to have governed Ireland for fifteen years. In the Castle cabinet he was almost supreme ; his authority being the more readily submitted to, as it was exercised without being openly displayed. He in- stituted prosecutions against the Catholic Board ; popular excitement was the re- sult; and "reciprocal animosity was en- gendered out of mutual recrimination." From being one of the most popular men in Ireland, he grew to be an object of national aversion ; and this was not with- out exercising a deteriorating influence upon his character. In 1822, on some official changes, he was ofiered, and in a fit of vexation refused, the place of Chief Justice of the King's Bench, whereupon he returned to his old position at the Bar. His contemporary. Shell, already quoted, thus describes him : " His eye is black and wily, and glitters under the mass of a rugged and shaggy eyebrow. There is a certain sweetness in its glance. . . His forehead is thoughtful ; but it is neither bold nor lofty : it is furrowed by long study and recent care. . . His features are broad and deeply founded :. . they are not finished with delicacy and point. . . A lover of usage, and an enemy of innovation ; one who can bear adversity well, and prosperity still better : some- thing of a republican by nature, but fashioned by circumstances into a Tory ; honourable, but not chivalrous ; afiection- ate, but not tender." Mr. Saurin married a sister of the Marquis of Thomond. He died at his residence in Stephen's-green, Dublin, nth February 1839, aged 82. ^ 304 Savage, Marmion W., an author, was born in Ireland early in the i8th cen- tury. He took his B.A. degree at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1824, and for many years filled a responsible government office in Dublin. He was the author of several novels that enjoyed considerable popular- ity, the first of which. The Falcon Family or Young Ireland, was published anony- mously in 1 845. This was followed by The Bachelor of the Albany (1847) and My Uncle the Curate (1849), both anonymous. His fourth novel, Reuben Medlicott (1852), was