the son of his master, a friendship which only terminated with death.  We have happily the most ample details of Burke’s school-days in the Annals of Ballitore, a work of more than ordinary interest written by Mrs. Leadbeater, the daughter of Burke’s special friend.  His native talent was soon developed under the care of his excellent master, and there can be little doubt that the tolerant ideas of his after life were learned, or at least cultivated, at the Quaker school.

One instance of the early development of his talent for humour, and another of his keen sense of injustice, must find record here.  The entrance of the judges to the county town of Athy was a spectacle which had naturally special attraction for the boys.  All were permitted to go, but on condition that each of the senior pupils should write a description of what he had seen in Latin verse.  Burke’s task was soon accomplished—­not so that of another hapless youth, whose ideas and Latinity were probably on a par.  When he had implored the help of his more gifted companion, Edmund determined at least that he should contribute an idea for his theme, but for all reply as to what he had noticed in particular on the festal occasion, he only answered, “A fat piper in a brown coat.”  However Burke’s ideas of “the sublime” may have predominated, his idea of the ludicrous was at this time uppermost; and in a few moments a poem was composed, the first line of which only has been preserved—­

    “Piper erat fattus, qui brownum tegmen habebat.”

“He loved humour,” writes Mrs. Leadbeater,[561] “and my father was very witty.  The two friends sharpened their intellect and sported their wit till peals of laughter in the schoolroom often caused the reverend and grave master to implore them, with suppressed smiles, to desist, or he should have to turn them out, as their example might be followed, where folly and uproar would take the place of humour and wisdom.”

His hatred of oppression and injustice was also manifested about this time.  A poor man was compelled to pull down his cabin, because the surveyor of roads considered that it stood too near the highway.  The boy watched him performing his melancholy task, and declared that, if he were in authority, such scenes should never be enacted.  How well he kept his word, and how true he was in manhood to the good and holy impulses of his youth, his future career amply manifests.

Burke entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1744; Goldsmith entered college the following year, and Flood was a fellow-commoner; but these distinguished men knew little of each other in early life, and none of them were in any way remarkable during their academic career.  In 1753 Burke arrived in London, and occupied himself in legal studies and the pursuit of literature.  His colloquial gifts and his attractive manner won all hearts, while his mental superiority commanded the respect of the learned.  Even Johnson, who