66 "MY LORD, Dublin, 1 Mar. 1802. My confinement, I fear, will continue longer than I expected; it retards several schemes,-amongst others, the inquiries about Shea. It was a great mistake that Meath was mentioned instead of Louth relative to Swift's picture; all my researches were about Meath, and I worried several friends, and thought them very stupid that they could give no intelligence; the county of Louth is the more likely place, for some of the Jacksons and Grattans were his early intimates, and of that county. "I am your Lordship's most humble servant, "ANDREW CALDWELL." "MY LORD, Dublin, 2 April, 1802. "I send you by this post Faulkner's Dublin Journal,' and you will observe they have liberally printed the account of the Giant's Causeway; and the notice of the Raffle, which might have been considered as an advertisement. I was advised to put it into the Dublin Journal, as that paper is the most read by the nobility and gentry and literary people, the other papers being chiefly for traders and men of business; the Evening Post is the paper that circulates most in the country, but that was unnecessary, as the account first appeared in the Belfast paper; I think it extremely well drawn up, and I am just going to shew it to Mr. Kirwan. The duplicate you sent I left at Walker's printing-house, and have no doubt it will be inserted in next month's Magazine; there is but one magazine printed here. "We all rejoice that the definitive treaty is concluded. I presume we shall be obliged to illuminate; it is a fine circumstance for the mercantile interest; they will now be at a certainty, and know how to manage their specula tions. "I beg my compliments to Dr. Percy, and I shall have the pleasure to write to him as soon as ever I can obtain any good hints on the subject that he wrote about. If we can procure an elegant design, and well engraved, it will be more gratifying to country gentlemen than a medal. There must be a tablet to insert the name, and some inscription to express the merits of the successful competitor. There may be two ways of treating the allegory; either according to ancient mythology, or to modern manners. I confess I should wish for something clever in the latter style; it would be more original and uncommon; the Greek and Roman divinities are actually become tiresome and hacknied. "The Provost has completed the agreement with Mynheers Fagel for the fine family library, 8000l. English; it is packing up and will soon be over. The Provost did nothing less than beat Buonaparte out of the field. There are more large-paper copies and splendid books of botany and natural history than in any other collection known. This will be very gratifying and amusing." Dublin, 24 April, 1802. "MY LORD, "I have applied to several artists for hints of the design that Dr. Percy wrote to me about, but as soon as they find that it is only their ideas on the subject that are desired, and that they are not to have the execution of any work, they all grow cool and negligent; I need not expect assistance from them; it is to no purpose to wait longer. I mean to consult my friend Mr. Mangin; he has such a collection of prints and books, that perhaps we may be able together to suggest something that Robinson may think he can turn to account. I shall write to Dr. Percy as soon as we can obtain any invention worth submitting to him. ANDREW CALDWELL." Dublin, 14th June, 1802. "MY LORD, "I yesterday met with the Prime Serjeant * at the College; he delivered to me the Malay Gospels. The Prime Serjeant desires to keep the Spanish books some time longer; he has found much amusement from them. The collating Lycophron is not accomplished yet. I have not seen the Provost for some time, and fear he has forgotten to inquire amongst the juniors for an accurate Grecian, but I shall remind him. "It was unlucky your being prevented attending the House of Lords; it is hard that I should be a sufferer. I once thought I should have the pleasure of meeting you in London, and now am disappointed in that, and also the hope of your coming here, which would have been a high * Edmund Stanley, esq. appointed Prime Serjeant July 1, 1801, was succeeded by Arthur Browne, esq. D.C.L Dec. 29, 1802. In 1807 Mr. Stanley was knighted on being appointed Recorder of Prince of Wales's Island; in 1815 was appointed one of the Judges at Madras; and retired in 1825. Sir Edmund Stanley died at Richmond April 28, 1843, aged 82. See Gent. Mag. new series, vol. XX. p. 206. gratification. I fear I shall not be able to visit the North this summer, being still troubled with the complaint in my ears. I am advised to try Harrogate; I have no objection, but that I have doubts about the efficacy of medicinal waters. "The basaltic columns found near Dromore are new and curious, and will still perplex the theorists. I never heard of any before at such a distance from the Causeway. These, with the originals from the county of Antrim, and the perfect specimen of the deers' horns and skeleton, furnish Dromore House with curiosities that will not be easily matched elsewhere: it is always with pain, however, that I hear of the Causeway being so frequently plundered. We have pieces here at the College and Dublin Society; much has been distributed amongst various Museums in Europe; and if this is to go on, the Causeway in a few years will be destroyed: it was impaired in several places when I saw it many years ago. I have no objection to taking samples of the prisms from the sides of the banks, or digging them out in the neighbourhood; they would show the figure and prove the circumstance as well as could be desired, but to deface the grand mass of columns next the sea is deplorable. I wish you could get Dr. Richardson to resist this abuse, and stir up the county to set a just value on the rarity they possess, and prevent injurious dilapidations. "On looking over the new edition of Swift, there is a letter from him about the shirts that were made a present to him by Miss Richardson; it is a pity her pretty letter, which your Lordship has in your collections, had not also been printed. I was right in what I mentioned to you; she was sister to Mr. Richardson of Summerseat, who was uncle to Dr. Richardson, and a correspondent of Swift's; I dare say the Doctor can inform you of many particulars. This edition of Swift is greatly deficient in historical and explanatory notes; they are now much wanted, and consequently much humour, meaning, and sarcasm is lost and unintelligible. "Why did not Robinson send his picture of the Funeral to the Exhibition? it would have been a great help the Exhibition, I am sorry to say, was but a poor one. It is too much for this place to attempt it every year; once in two years might probably answer. "The London Exhibition, I am told, was the best that has been for many years. A new artist has started up, one Turner; he had before exhibited stained drawings, he now paints landscapes in oil; beats Loutherbourg and every other artist all to nothing. A painter of my acquaintance, and a good judge, declares his pencil is magic; that it is worth every landscape painter's while to make a pilgrimage to see and study his works. Loutherbourg, that he used to think of so highly, appears now mediocre. "ANDREW CALDWELL." 66 "MY LORD, Dublin, 7th July, 1802. "I take the opportunity of Mr. Brush's intention of setting out for Dromore in a day or two, of employing him to carry the Malay Testament: that rare and curious article should not be trusted to any common conveyance. "I have read the Life of Goldsmith,' and was much amused with it; most of the works I had read as they came out, so they could not be new to me. A line in the 'Traveller' required a note of explanation,- Luke's iron crownt and Damien's bed of steel." The Essay on Literature' I had never seen or heard of before; it is a slight performance, I suppose on a pressing occasion; some passages are striking and brilliantly expressed, but on the whole there are more words than matter. "The white beaver is a curious instance of the inaccuracy of report; it is neither more nor less than the true ermine; it was shot near Mallow about the 20th of last January, and presented by Lord Doneraile to General Vallancey. The General takes it to be a white weasel, which is a variety that sometimes happens with respect to that animal. I looked into Buffon to-day; he observes, 'The weasel sometimes becomes white, but the tail yellowish brown, and never black;' this at the Society has the tail black, like all the ermines I have ever seen, and agrees perfectly with the engraved figure in Buffon; it is also rather larger than our common weasel; it was probably a pet, strayed from the sailors of some northern vessel. Mallow is thirteen miles from the nearest place * This eminent ornament to the Royal Academy still survives, 1847. In the "Respublica Hungaria," there is an account of a rebellion for which " George," not "Luke" Zech was punished by his head being encircled with a red-hot iron crown.-Damien was a French fanatic, who attempted to assassinate Louis XV. and was put to death by the rack, figuratively called "a bed of steel." See Gent. Mag. LXXXVI. 11. 484. It is not the weasel, but the stoat. The weasel never turns white.-J. M. such a vessel could come to; but that is no surprising distance for such a nimble animal. "I heard of the paragraph in the Dublin Journal about the botanic library, but have not seen it. I own I cannot see the propriety of exiling it to Glassnevin; it would then be absolutely confined to the sole use of my friend Dr. Wade. It could rarely happen that any person would go one or two miles to consult the books of such a library, but here in town it is convenient for all students and curious gentlemen, and they can have access without fatigue or trouble. The Professor, though he lectures at Glassnevin, may surely prepare himself in the library in town. I hope to set out for Harrogate in eight days from this. "ANDREW CALDWELL." "MY LORD, Dublin, Tuesday, July 27, 1802. "I hope to sail for Parkgate the day after to-morrow. I would much rather pay my compliments at Dromore House, but my medical friends insist on a trial of Harrogate. I have been twice unfortunate about Dr. Anderson; missed him last summer, and now this one. I had proposed much pleasure in conversing with him about many of the Scotch men of genius. I doubt I should have appeared unreasonably inquisitive. "I do not think I have lost much summer as yet: this month has not produced one entire fair day. I have continued my parlour fire every evening, by way of having a lively companion along with my book. A. CALDWELL." "MY LORD, Harrogate, Saturday, Oct. 9, 1802. "Your approbation of the paper relative to the plans of the Parliament House is highly gratifying. Your Lordship is the only person to whom I wished it to be communicated in confidence, and for several reasons I could be anxious that the name of the writer should be secret. It was intended chiefly to assist the candidates at a distance in observing the difficulties to be encountered, and pointing out various irregularities. If it shall be found useful in that respect, the writer's utmost aim will be accomplished. Mr. Colvill inclosed to me your Lordship's letter to him. I am sensible of the honour of your Lordship's partiality, but the Paper would have been |