phisticated emotions of the mind make their appearance ; and hence, 

 apparently trifling or even ridiculous anecdotes often disclose 

 traits of character which, without such aids, would have escaped 

 detection. But now it is time to bring this biography to a close. 



Mr. Kirwan during the latter years of his life became rather 

 delicate in constitution, yet, in consequence of his extreme temper- 

 ance and regular habits, for the clock was his guide in all his 

 movements, he generally enjoyed good health. When he happened 

 to take cold, his remedy was to starve it out, as he called it, — in 

 very old age a dangerous experiment. On the last occasion of his 

 betaking himself to this mode of cure, abstinence from food induced 

 a disinclination to it; the functions of the stomach became dis- 

 ordered; indigestion followed, which is believed to have been 

 aggravated by some particular article of food which disagreed with 

 him ; through inanition he became excessively weak, his body was 

 emaciated, and his voice so feeble, that he could scarcely make 

 himself heard. It was now evident to his friends, that this emi- 

 nently gifted man was about to undergo the final catastrophe. He 

 understood his state, and saw with composure the approach of 

 death. His last moment was like the beginning of a quiet slum- 

 ber; his intellect was clear to the last. On the morning of the first 

 of June, 1812, between eight and nine o'clock, in the seventy- 

 ninth year of his age, he terminated an honourable and useful life, 

 during which he was blessed with fortune, distinguished by talents, 

 rendered illustrious by acquirements, and ennobled by virtues. His 

 latest breath was expired in propitiating the mercy of his Creator. 



This last-mentioned fact I learned at the time, from his faith- 

 ful amanuensis, Mr. Samuel Wharmby, Junior, w^ho was present at 

 the death scene, and heard the words pronounced at the awful mo- 

 ment when a human being dare not utter an exclamation which he 

 knew to be insincere. His dying words gave a peremptory contra- 

 diction to those who maligned his character with the stigma of 

 atheism. Originally a Roman Catholic, he became a Protestant, 

 and died an Unitarian; but the charge of atheism is a foul slander. 

 That the comprehensive mind of him who not only viewed creation 

 as a whole, but scrutinized the miraculous mechanism of its mi- 

 nutest parts, could come to any other conclusion than that the 



