Editing Hugh M'Neile (section)

== Early adulthood ==
While a student, and preparing for a career in the law, M‘Neile loved the theatre even more than the fashionable society in which he moved.<ref>Much of this section is based upon the article "The Rev. Hugh M‘Neile, A.M." in '' Dublin University Magazine'' of April 1847.</ref> He attended the theatre in Dublin, London and Bath as often as he could. In those days, [[Sarah Siddons]], her brother [[John Philip Kemble|John]], and [[Eliza O'Neill]] (later Lady Wrixon-Becher) – all favourites of M‘Neile – were at their peak; and his later platform and pulpit performances drew very heavily on their example.<ref>"… [and] it might also be considered whether much of that grace and elegance of enunciation and manner for which he has always been remarkable, may not be owing to impressions unconsciously stamped upon a plastic mind, by the contemplation of those brilliant models…" p.463.</ref>

When M‘Neile was 20, his father's unmarried brother, Lieutenant-General Daniel M’Neile (1754–1826), returned to Ireland following distinguished service with the East India Company. His uncle, who settled in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], delighted in M’Neile's company, and his uncle virtually adopted him; and, it seemed, he was the [[heir presumptive]] to his uncle's considerable fortune.<ref>McNeile (1911), p.265.</ref> His uncle, whose wealth and influence would have easily have procured M‘Neile a seat in parliament, and who understood that success at the bar would be a stepping-stone for the talented lad into a productive political career, encouraged him to pursue a legal career. He took his A.B. in 1815, and continued his legal studies.

Most of his time between 1815 and 1819 was spent with his uncle in Bath. In 1816 he and his uncle travelled extensively on the continent, enjoying the social advantages of his uncle's influence.<ref>There is no doubt, so soon after the victory of the [[Battle of Waterloo]] (18 June 1815), the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Restoration of Louis XVIII]] (28 June 1815), and the [[Napoleon#Exile on Saint Helena|permanent exiling of Napoleon Bonaparte to the island of St. Helena]] (16 October 1815), "[that] on the continent… the name of an English general was sure to meet with… more than an ordinary degree of respect and attention" (''Dublin University Magazine'', 1847, p.464).</ref> In the process, M’Neile spent time with mixing with influential people, such as [[Germaine de Staël|Madame de Staël (1766–1817)]] and [[Lord Byron|Lord Byron (1788–1824)]].

In the middle of 1816, while staying with his uncle in a Swiss village inn, M’Neile fell very seriously ill. His life was saved by the medical intervention of [[Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Henry Brougham (1778–1868)]], a stranger to M’Neile at the time, who had called at the inn for refreshment (or a change of horses). Upon his return to England, a changed M’Neile began reading the Bible daily and, around 1819, he experienced a conversion to Christianity within the Evangelical Anglican tradition. To his uncle's dismay, he hinted that he might give away law and politics and dedicate his life to the church. According to most accounts, when he finally announced that he was embracing church ministry as a profession, his greatly disappointed uncle "disinherited" him.<ref>For example, see McNeile (1911), p.265.</ref>