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"An extremely clever and interesting review of Pineton de Chambrun's History of the Persecutions of the Protestants by the French King in the Principality of Orange appeared in the Journal des Débats of the 30th Nov. last. This article is dated from the British Museum (in the reading-room of which establishment it may very probably have been written), and signed William Jones. As I am the only person in the British Museum bearing the surname of Jones, the article has been attributed to me, in very courteous terms, by a correspondent of the "N. & Q." As I cannot claim the merit of being the writer, I beg to place this correction of MR. MACRAY's very natural mistake in your hands, to be used in such manner as you may think proper. "I have the honour to be, Sir, "Your very obedient servant, "J. WINTER JONES." F. G. S. (Colchester). We have forwarded to Dr. Diamond your request, and as soon as “light and leisure” permit, you shall receive some copies of the portrait. 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Among the characters introduced to the readers of "N. & Q.," under the name of prophets, there are few that deserve so distinguished a place as Mr. Francis Dobbs. Not only has he a claim to that title, in the derisive sense in which it is applied to all modern enthusiasts, but also on the higher grounds of political sagacity and practical wisdom. Some men have exhibited this double character successively, and at different periods of their lives; but none have displayed it in such happy union as Mr. Dobbs. Indeed, in that respect, he is perhaps one of the most striking instances on record of what is called the "duality of the human mind." 66 The information I am able to furnish respecting this remarkable man, is derived from a pamphlet, published by authority" (probably himself), by J. Jones, Dublin, 1800, and entitled, Memoirs of Francis Dobbs, Esq.; also Genuine Reports of his Speeches in Parliament on the Subject of an Union, and his Prediction of the Second Coming of the Messiah, with Extracts from his Poem on the Millennium. Mr. Dobbs was born on April 27, 1750; and was the younger son of the Rev. Richard Dobbs, who was the younger brother of Arthur Dobbs of Castle Dobbs, co. Antrim, formerly Governor of North Carolina. His ancestor, an officer in the army, came from England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and by a marriage with the greatgranddaughter of Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, got the estate of Castle Dobbs, with other estates in the co. Antrim. His great-grandfather was Mayor of Carrickfergus at the time King William landed, and was the first subject in Ireland that paid him allegiance. Mr. Dobbs devoted himself for some years to literary pursuits. In 1768 he purchased an ensigncy in the 63rd Regiment, in which he continued till 1773. Having sold his commission, he turned his attention to the study of the law, and was called to the bar. He then married Miss Stewart of Ballantroy, in the county of Antrim, the daughter of a gentleman of considerable property, niece of Sir Hugh Hill, and descended from the Bute family. He afterwards joined the Volunteers under Lord Charlemont, was appointed Major to the Southern Battalion, and acted as exercising officer at the great reviews held at Belfast in 1780, 1781, and 1782. He took an active part, in conjunction with Lord Charlemont, Mr. Grattan, Mr. Flood, and others, in the political agitation of that period; was the mover of an address to the King, approving of the proceedings of the Irish Parliament, and was a member of the deputation appointed to present it to his Majesty, on which occasion he refused the honour of a baronetcy. At a later period, the Earl of Charlemont brought him into the Irish Parliament; and it was while occupying a seat in that assembly, that he delivered the "Speeches" already referred to. Mr. Dobbs's Speech on the Legislative Union is one of the most remarkable ever pronounced then or since, on that fertile topic. He descants in forceful language on the evils, real or imaginary, likely to arise from that measure; and points out, with a striking minuteness of detail, some of the consequences which have actually resulted therefrom. Indeed, the repealers of a subsequent period did little more than borrow Mr. Dobbs's language; nor were they able, after thirty years' experience of the practical working of the Union, to add a single new grievance to the catalogue of those so eloquently expatiated upon by him in the year 1800. As, however, we have to deal with Mr. Dobbs chiefly as a religious prophet, I shall confine my extracts from his speeches to the illustration of his character in that capacity. The speech on the Legislative Union was delivered on February 5, 1800. On June 7 following (the Bill having been carried in the mean time), Mr. Dobbs pronounced in the Irish Parliament a speech in which he predicted the second coming of the Messiah. This speech, the most extraordinary that was ever made in a legislative assembly, presents a singular contrast to the sagacity which characterises his political performances. A few short extracts will show the change that had come over his prophetic vision: "Sir, from the conduct pursued by administration be in their power, it was not very difficult to foresee during this Session, and the means that were known to that this Bill must reach that chair. It was not very difficult to foresee that it should fall to your lot to pronounce the painful words, That this bill do pass.' Awful indeed would those words be to me, did I consider myself living in ordinary times: but feeling as I do that we are not living in ordinary times feeling as I do that we are living in the most momentous and eventful period of the world-feeling as I do that a new and better order of things is about to arise, and that Ireland, in that new order of things, is to be highly distinguished indeed — this bill hath no terrors for me. Sir, I did intend to have gone at some length into history, and the sacred predictions; but as I purpose, which I shall fully express my opinion as to the vast in a very few months, to give to the public a work in design of this terrestrial creation, I shall for the present confine myself to such passages as will support three positions: The first is, the certainty of the second advent of the Messiah; the next, the signs of the times of his coming, and the manner of it; and the last, that Ireland is to have the glorious pre-eminence of being the first kingdom that will receive him,” 66 |