nations of Europe, although in a less degree by his own country- 

 men. He was annoyed at finding that his system of mineralogy 

 was rarely referred to by Irish authors, while they referred to 

 foreign systems in which his arrangements had been adopted, 

 although overlooked at home. This cause of complaint he felt 

 particularly in the instance of the book which represented the ar- 

 rangement of the University collection of minerals. Mr. Hardiman 

 remarks: "It has been pointedly observed, as a reflection on Ireland, 

 that the abilities of Mr. Kirwan were more appreciated, and that 

 his reputation was greater, in every country of Europe than in his 

 own." If so, the circumstance only proves the degeneracy of Irish 

 science at the time. To be less appreciated at home than elsewhere 

 is, however, not uncommon ; and to prove that it is not unnatural, 

 we have an authority that is not to be disputed. When acquire- 

 ments are of such a nature as to be but little understood in any 

 particular country, and are much more cultivated elsewhere, it is 

 to be expected that they will be valued only in proportion as they 

 are comprehended. And further, the person with whom we are 

 in constant habits of association and familiar intercourse generally 

 makes less impression, and calls forth less admiration, than the 

 same person would have done if viewed through the mysterious 

 media of time and distance. 



Mr. Kirwan was ardently attached to music, although he did 

 not perform on any instrument, and it is said that his unpublished, 

 and now lost, treatise on harmony, evinced profound knowledge 

 in its author. So devoted was he to Italian music, that his 

 daughters, who were accomplished practical musicians, were obliged 

 to avail themselves of his absence from home when they chose to 

 indulge in Irish or Scottish melodies. Notwithstanding this prefe- 

 rence, he assisted Mr. Edward Bunting in collecting the national 

 music of Ireland ; and, in the preface to the work entitled " Ancient 

 Music of Ireland," Mr. Bunting declares that " his principal acqui- 

 sitions were made in the province of Connaught, whither he was 

 invited by the celebrated Richard Kirwan the Philosopher, who 

 was of such influence in that part of the country, as procured the 

 Editor a ready opportunity of obtaining the tunes both from high 

 and low." 



