Note 210 — Chapter XI

In 1713, Dr. Browne, Bishop of Cork, delivered a discourse to the clergy of his diocese, against drinking in remembrance of the dead, which he published in pamphlet form. This was followed by a second pamphlet, wherein he refuted charges that his critics had made, to the effect that he was actuated by a spirit of hostility to the memory of William III., it being well known that the Bishop was an extreme Tory, and he had laid particular stress on the prevalent custom of drinking to the ‘Immortal Memory of William III.’ This again excited considerable adverse criticism; and in 1716 Dr. Browne launched forth a somewhat exhaustive Discourse of Drinking Healths. But though he handles his theme very ably, the tract is no more than a concise epitome of the arguments and authorities used by the Puritan writers of the previous century. It has been stated that the bishop did not make many converts by his brochures: that, on the contrary, the custom of drinking to William’s ‘immortal memory’ increased, and that to the original form of the toast was tacked on a scurrilous expression indicative of the extreme contempt in which the author of the diatribes was held.[211]