Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 2.djvu/496

 492 PONSON BY. vigour of h i s miud. But h i s intellect was clear and com prehensive a s ever. During a subsequent debate i n the House o f Commons, h e was seized with a paralytic affec tion, which, after a few days, proved fatal, o n the 8th o f July, 1817, a t his house i n Curzon-street, May-fair; and his remains were deposited, without ostentation o r cere mony, a t Kensington, near London, beside those o f his brother, Lord Imokilly. He left n o surviving male issue; and his only daughter, Martha, was married t o the Honour able Francis Aldborough Prittie, second son o f Lord Dunally, and knight o f the shire for the county o f Tipperary. WILLIAM-BRABAZON PONSONBY, Bason o f Imokilly, the elder brother o f George Pon sonby, and o f course the hereditary possessor o f the family estate. He was many years a n independent mem ber o f the Irish Parliament, and uniformly attached t o the same political principles and connexions a s his brother. He was also a leading member o f the Whig Club; and was one o f the deputation selected b y the House o f Commons for conveying the addresses o f both Houses t o his then Royal Highness the Prince o f Wales, beseeching him t o assume the regency o f Ireland, during the incapacity o f his royal father, untrainmelled b y any restrictive conditions. His ample hereditary fortune rendered i t unnecessary for him t o cultivate eloquence like his brother, t o whose professional views i t was indispensable. He well knew that rank, wealth, and respectability, gave ample weight with any party t o the support o r opposition o f a member o f Parliament; and that i n point o f effect, the name o f a parliamentary ventriloquist, (to use the language o f Mr. Curran,) and his simple monosyllable, aye o r no, told a s powerfully o n a division a s the eloquence o f a Demosthenes could have done, when each party came into the house determined o n the vote they should give, and thus pre concerted the catastrophe o f a debate, like the denouement