436 Anecdotes of the late Mr. Kirwan. [June, 



fined their inroads to the Roman empire, and never found their 

 way to Ireland, a country as yet unconquered and very little 

 known. 



Speaking of fashions, he assured me that he had known a man 

 imprisoned for wearing a plaid, and a few years afterwards saw 

 a Lord Lieutenant wear it. 



Additional Notice of Mr. Kirwan. Communicated by a 



Correspondent. 



Kirwan was originally intended for a profession (I believe 

 medicine), and sent to be educated by the Jesuits at St. Omers. 

 He used to speak highly of them, of the pains they took, and 

 the ingenuity they exercised, in directing the studies of their 

 pupils ; and he told the following anecdote of himself. He had 

 acquired from some ridiculous cause (I believe because a French 

 tailor had disappointed him of a coat) a great dislike to the 

 language, and said he never would learn it ; he would read books 

 in other languages, and apply to other objects of study, but he 

 was determined never to learn French. His masters indulged 

 him, they gave him books in English, Latin, German, &c. and 

 some time after, when they found that he had become deeply 

 interested in chemistry, they took away from him all books 

 connected with that science in eveiy other language ; and he was 

 obliged to learn French in order to enable him to prosecute his 

 favourite pursuit. 



On the death of his brother he succeeded to the family estate; 

 tie then left St. Omers, and abandoned all thoughts of a profes- 

 sion. You are, I dare say, aware, that the latter years of his 

 life were devoted almost exclusively to theology, and that his 

 opinions, on points of doctrine, were as varied and as fanciful as 

 can be imagined. He courted the society of divines of various 

 religious opinions, and such boasted of having Kirwan for a 

 convert, it is said, however, that as he lived " Preux Cheva- 

 lier " he died " Ferme Catholique," adding another instance to 

 the many of the powerful effects of that religion, on minds even 

 of a high order, and accustomed to the investigations of 

 science. You know the variety of his knowledge, and the power 

 he possessed of diversifying his conversation. I heard that 

 Miss Owenson (now Lady M.) visited him very frequently during 

 the latter years of his life, and that even in the midst of his theo- 

 logical pursuits, he was always ready to canvass the merits of a 

 romance, or discuss the chemical composition of a new cosmetic, 

 and that the latter very frequently formed the subject of their 

 conversations. 



