rank and talent. A gentleman by birth, education, manners, and 

 property, he maintained a position in society which placed him on 

 a footing of equality with the most exalted in rank or the most 

 profound in acquirements. He corresponded with all the savans of 

 Europe ; and such was the estimation in which he was held, as we 

 are informed by Lord Cloncurry, that " even during the hottest 

 period of the war, his letters were suffered to pass free from all 

 parts of Europe." His conversazioni were often visited by the 

 foreign ambassadors, and were the fashionable resort of foreigners 

 who visited London at the termination of the war; and to such, 

 Mr. Kirwan's knowledge of the continental languages rendered the 

 meetings more interesting. The Empress Catherine the Second of 

 Kussia was pleased to transmit to him her portrait, as a token of 

 the high estimation in which she held him, — a gift equally honour- 

 able to the donor and the receiver. In the preface to his Geological 

 Essay, he designated her " Catherine the Great — the immortal Be- 

 nefactress of Mankind." 



Previously to the termination of the American war, Mr. Kirwan 

 made an effort to procure from the county of Galway his valuable 

 library. His books were dispatched from Galway, September 5, 

 1780, in a vessel belonging to that port. In a few days this vessel 

 was met by an American privateer, and, singularly enough, it hap- 

 pened that the name of the captain was Thomas Kirwan, and that 

 he was descended from the family of Cregg. He allowed the do- 

 mestics of his illustrious relative to proceed on their voyage to 

 London, but the library was too rich a prize to be saved through 

 deference to a name ; the captain evinced his good taste and ad- 

 miration of the collection by carrying it off to America. 



About the year 1787, Mr. Kirwan's health becoming delicate, 

 he was compelled to relinquish the splendid life he led in London, 

 a life equally delightful to himself and all who associated with him. 

 During that year he returned to Dublin, and soon after took the 

 house No. 6, Cavendish-row, where he continued all the rest of his 

 life. He there resumed his literary and scientific career. He be- 

 came a member of the Royal Irish Academy, then in its infancy ; 

 and it is almost needless to add, that its Transactions soon became 

 the depository of the valuable results of his labours. These com- 



