Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 2.djvu/579

 STERNE. 575 plunged himself into i t , and was a s often taken out b y the temper o f him who stood weeping o n the bank for his safety, whom h e could not dissuade from leaping into i t . Thus these two men lived for some years last past, shun ning each other, but still preserving the most passionate concern for their mutual welfare. But when they met, they were a s unreserved a s boys, and talked o f the greatest affairs, upon which they saw where they differed, without pressing (what they knew impossible) t o convert each other.” JOHN STERNE, on STEARNE, A learned Irish physician, was born a t Abdraccan, i n the county o f Meath, i n the house o f his uncle, the cele brated Archbishop Usher, but then Bishop o f Meath. He was educated i n Dublin college, o f which h e became a fellow, but was ejected b y the usurping powers for his loyalty, and was reinstated a t the Restoration. He was M. D . and LL.D. and public professor o f the university. He was a very learned man, but more fond o f the study o f divinity than that o f his own profession, i n which h e pos sessed considerable knowledge. He died i n 1669, aged forty-six, and was buried i n the college chapel, where a monument was erected t o his memory. He published a few Latin tracts, a list o f which i s t o b e found i n Ware. Dr. Sterne's son, John, was educated b y him i n Trinity college, Dublin, and became successively vicar o f Trim, chancellor and dean o f St. Patrick's, bishop o f Dromore i n 1718, and o f Clogher i n 1717, and vice-chancellor o f the university o f Dublin. Being a single man, h e laid out im mense sums o n his episcopal palaces, and o n the college o f Dublin, where h e built the printing-house, and founded exhibitions. Most o f these were gifts i n his life-time, and a t his death (June 1745) h e bequeathed the bulk o f his fortune, about 30,000l. t o public institutions, principally o f the charitable kind. His only publications were, a “Concio a d Clerum,” and “Tractatus d e Visitatione