re statesman grew older,
it was considered wise to remove him to Dublin for better instruction,
and he was placed at a school in Smithfield kept by a Mr. James
Fitzgerald; but, fortunately for his strength of body and mind, the
reputation of an academy in the lovely valley of Ballitore, founded in
the midst of a colony of Quakers, by a member of that most benevolent
and intelligent society--the well-known Abraham Shackleton--was
spreading far and wide; and there the three young Burkes were sent in
1741, Edmund being then twelve years old.

He was considered not so much brilliant, as of steady application. Here,
too, he was remarkable for quick comprehension, and great strength of
memory; indications which drew forth at first the commendation, and as
his powers unfolded, the warm regard of his master; under whose paternal
care the improvement of his health kept pace with that of his intellect,
and the grateful pupil never forgot his obligations: a truly noble mind
is prone to exaggerate kindnesses received, and never detracts from
their value; it is only the low and the narrow-minded who underrate the
benefits they have been blessed with at any period of their lives.

In 1743 he entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a pensioner. He gained
fair honors during his residence there, but, like Johnson, Swift,
Goldsmith, and other eminent men, he did not distinguish himself so as
to lead to any speculation as to his after greatness, although his
elders said he was more anxious to acquire knowledge than to display
it;--a valuable testimony. His domestic life was so pure, his
friendships were so firm, his habits so completely those of a well-bred,
well-born IRISH GENTLEMAN--mingling, as only Irish gentlemen can do, the
suavity of the French with the dignity of English manners--that there is
little to write about, or speculate upon, beyond his public words and
deeds.

Like most young men of his time, his first oratory was exercised at a
club, and his first efforts as a politician were made in 1749, previous
to his quitting the Dublin University, in some letters against Mr. Henry
Brooke, the author of "Gustavus Vasa." His determination was the bar,
and his entry at the Middle Temple bears date April 23, 1747. His
youthful impressions of England and its capital are recorded in graceful
language in his letters to those friends whom he never lost, but by
death; one passage is as applicable to the present as to the past. "I
don't find