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 many political pamphlets occupying his attention. In August 1766, he again came to Ireland, and delighted his old friends at Ballitore by a visit, of which Mrs. Leadbeater gives a vivid account in The Annals of Ballitore. He went to see his sister, Mrs. French, at Loughrea, where also were his mother and his brother Richard. An instance of his goodness of heart is here related. He was found by Mr. French and other friends one day in the midst of a crowd of children gathered round a showman, making a bargain with the proprietor for the admission of the entire group. They proposed to join him in the expense: "No," he insisted, "this must be my own pleasure. I shall perhaps never again have the opportunity of making, at so small a cost, so many human beings happy." The same disposition had been already shown, but on a more serious occasion, in London. Returning from Parliament late one night he was accosted by an unfortunate, who, when he replied to her solicitations with good advice, implored his assistance to rescue her from a life of shame and misery, and told a story that bore the stamp of truth. They reached his own door. "Are you willing," said he," to give up your present life of sin? " He was answered with a fervour that bore evidence of sincerity; he took her into his house; and it is stated that by his care and that of Mrs. Burke, she was restored to society, A portion of his time in Ireland was devoted to the study of its language and antiquities. Of the former he knew enough to make some trifling translations; and about five years afterwards communicated to his friend, Dr. Leland, then writing his History of Ireland, two volumes of valuable old Irish MSS., he had discovered in London. Materials for a work on the Penal Laws were collected and partially arranged while in Ireland. He also visited his friends in the County of Cork, where a leasehold interest his brother Garret had bequeathed him, afterwards involved him in considerable trouble. Sir Joseph Napier, in his Lecture upon Burke, has completely vindicated his character from aspersions cast upon him in connexion with this transaction. On 16th January 1767, the freedom of the City of Dublin was presented, "in consideration of his distinguished abilities so frequently exerted for the advantage of Ireland in Parliament." He did not return to London until the meeting of Parliament in November. On the 24th he assailed the new ministry of the Duke of Grafton in an effective speech. In March 1768, Parliament was dissolved; and in May following Mr. Burke again took his seat for "Wendover. At this period, he writes to his friend Richard Shackleton: " I have made a push with all I could collect of my own and the aid of my friends, to cast a little root in this country. I have purchased a house [Beaconsfield] with an estate of about 600 acres of land in Buckinghamshire, twenty-four miles from London, where I now am. It is a place exceedingly pleasant, and I propose (God willing) to become a farmer in good earnest. You who are classical will not be displeased to hear that it was formerly the seat of Waller the poet, whose house, or part of it, makes at present the farm-house within a hundred yards of me." He incurred a liability of £20,000 for Beaconsfield—paying £6,000 in cash (out of his savings and a considerable bequest from his brother Garret); while £14,000, raised by two mortgages, remained outstanding until the sale of the property by Mrs. Burke in 18 12. Besides the £20,000, there appear to have been incumbrances and charges to the extent of £6,633 that were paid off by Burke himself in 1769. Again, in connexion with this purchase, it has been endeavoured to blacken Burke's character; and again the same pen entirely clears him. Sir Joseph Napier endorses the sentiment of another writer: "Believe me, if there be an obscure point in the life or conduct of Edmund Burke, the moment the explanation arrives it will be found to redound to his honour." In 1769 he published an able pamphlet that before long ran to five editions. Observations on a late Publication entitled the Present State of the Nation. A month now seldom passed without his giving to the world some important political manifesto, while the debates from 1768 to 1771 exhibit him as taking an active part in the discussion of every important question. His position continued that of an independent supporter of the opposition, then in an apparently hopeless minority. It is probable that he spoke too often and unreservedly; but, as Johnson remarked, "no one could say he did not speak well." In 1771 he was appointed Agent for New York, in recognition of his labours in Parliament on behalf of the American colonies. This brought a welcome addition of £700 per annum to his income. In 1772 he supported Colonel Burgoyne's motion for a select committee on East Indian affairs. In the summer of this year, and again in 1773, he visited France, where the state of society filled him at once with disgust and alarm. The session of 1772-'3 was much occupied with the affairs of the East India Company. During 1774 the attention of Parliament was imperatively directed to the 45