Sir Henry, Lord Congleton**, second son of Sir John Parnell, chancellor of the Irish exchequer, was born June 3, 1776, educated at Eton and at Cambridge, and afterwards travelled on the Continent. He first appeared in public life in 1802, when he sat for a few months as member of Parliament for Portarlington; but after the dissolution of Parliament he was not again a member until 1806, when he was returned for Queen's County, which he represented until 1832. During this period he was distinguished as a liberal and consistent Whig. His speeches were among the best of that period. Five of them he corrected for publication:—1st, On the "Irish Currency," in 1809; 2nd, On "Tithes in Ireland," 1810; 3rd, "The Bullion Report," in 1811; 4th, On the "State of Ireland," in 1824; 5th, On "Unlawful Societies in Ireland," in 1825. He was also the author of several interesting treatises or pamphlets, among which may be mentioned one on Financial Reform, in 1830, and a Treatise on Roads, which appeared in 1833. In 1830 a motion brought forward by him led to the dissolution of the Wellington cabinet; and he was chairman of the Finance Committee of the House of Commons in 1828. On the accession of his party to power, he was appointed one of the government commission to inquire into the excise laws, and became secretary at war, but resigned his appointments in 1832. In 1833 Sir Henry Parnell was returned to Parliament for Dundee, and for the same place in 1835, and again in 1837. On the formation of the Melbourne cabinet in 1835, he was appointed to the conjoined offices of paymaster of the forces and treasurer of the navy and ordnance, which he filled until the dissolution of that ministry in 1841, when he was called to the Upper House by the title of Baron Congleton of Congleton in Cheshire. In 1842 Lord Congleton's health became impaired; and, in a fit of temporary insanity, he put a period to his existence on 8th June in that year.

Thomas, D.D.,** an elegant poet, was the son of an English landed proprietor who had emigrated to Ireland, and was born at Dublin in 1679. His progress through the several stages of his education was rapid. At the age of thirteen he entered the university of his native town; in 1700 he took the degree of M.A.; and in the same year, although under the canonical age, he was ordained a deacon. It was not, however, until after he had been appointed to the archdeaconry of Clogher, in 1705, that Parnell became known in the literary world. He then began to compose those poems which attracted attention by their easy versification, refined sentiment, and successful imitation of the manner of Pope. Escaping also from his solitary parsonage, he frequently visited London, to cultivate the friendship of the leading wits of both political parties. His generous heart, cultivated understanding, and social qualifications, made him a favourite with both Whigs and Tories. Addison and Steele admitted his papers into the Spectator and Guardian; and Pope, Gay, and Arbuthnot received him into the famous "Scriblerus Club." The closing years of the short career of Parnell were clouded with sorrow. The loss of his wife in 1712 inflicted a severe blow on his sensitive nature. His preferment, through the interest of Swift, to the vicarage of Finglass, in the diocese of Dublin, in 1716, did not relieve his melancholy. He became more and more averse to the solitude of home and the labours of the study, and more and more addicted to the excitement of London society and the oblivious influences of the bottle. These habits, it is said, undermined his constitution; and while returning to Ireland from a visit to the capital, he died at Chester in July 1718.

Parnell left behind him many compositions both in prose and verse. A selection from his poems, which has been frequently reprinted, was published after his death by Pope. Of these, The Rise of Woman, The Fairy Tale, The Night-piece on Death, and The Allegory on Man, deserve to be still remembered. But his most popular poem is The Hermia, a tale not more pleasing for its easy rhythm than for its novel plan and its picturesque incidents. A Life of Parnell, by Goldsmith, is published in Goldsmith's Works, in Murray's "British Classics."