174 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



acquainted with Irisli botany, and the obituary notice in Gent. 

 Mag. Ixxviii. 746 (which gives the year of his death as 1732) says 

 that his Hbrary was "particularly rich in botany." As I find no 

 reference to him in any of the books which deal with the Irish 

 flora, and as Smith's Memoir and CorrcsiJondence is not generally 

 accessible, it may be worth while to summarize the botanical 

 information which Caldwell's letters afford. These, with " a few 

 other Letters relative to Ireland," occupy Chapter IX, pp. 123-166 

 of vol. ii of the work. They do not however represent the whole 

 of the letters which have been preserved ; many others are in 

 Smith's Correspondence at the Linnean Society, and I have 

 drawn upon these as well as on the published material. In the 

 course of my investigations I have found that the letters as 

 printed do not always exactly accord with the originals : there are 

 omissions, and in at least one instance — that on p. 133, dated 

 Ap. 5, 1796 — two letters are combined. 



In his introductory remarks. Smith says that he "had first 

 the pleasure of being made acquainted with [Caldwell] in the 

 year 1799 " ; but this can hardly have been the case, as Caldwell, 

 writing to Smith Nov. 17, 1795, refers to " the landscape you 

 showed me in the neighbourhood of Norwich." In 1799, how- 

 ever, he again stayed with Smith, and was to have paid a further 

 visit in 1804, but was prevented from doing so. The two men 

 seem to have been sincerely attached to one another ; Smith pays 

 a high tribute to Caldwell's character and accomplishments, 

 describing him as " of the mildest aspect and highly polished 

 manners : a tinge of melancholy cast a shade over his dignified 

 deportment, which at once engaged the affections on his side, and 

 broke every barrier of formality and reserve." 



It does not appear that Caldwell, who, having been for five 

 years at the Temple, returned to Dublin and was called to the 

 bar in 1760, distinguished himself in his profession, though he 

 held the post of Solicitor to the Customs in that city. "Inheriting 

 a sufficient estate, he made little effort to succeed in the profession 

 of law, devoting most of his time to the cultivation of his literary 

 and artistic tastes,'"'' and at his residence in Eutland Square 

 brought together a considerable library and a fine collection of 

 prints and drawings. 



The first of the printed letters is dated Sept. 13, 1793, but in 

 the Smith Correspondence are two of the preceding year. In the 

 first of these (13 April) he thanks Smith for books, and says " I 

 am but a beginner in Botany, though very fond of plants." In 

 the second (16 June) he regrets that botany " makes no progress " 

 in Dublin : " the only person tolerably informed on the subject is 

 Dr. Wade ; he is now giving a course of lectures, but meets with 

 little encouragement. He has had many difficulties to struggle 

 through, having had no opportunity of instruction or support in 

 this place, and is therefore entirely self-taught." He talks of a 

 projected garden ; in the next letter (13 Sept.) he informs Smith 

 that " a garden for indigenous botany, under the patronage of the 

 * Diet. Nat. Biogr. I. c. 



