Mr. Kaye to Mr. R. Richardson. Continuation of his Tour in Switzerland; with a Swiss bill of fare. Rev. John Watson to Mr. R. Richardson. List of, and remarks on, the recently-elected Members of the London Mr. B. Bartlett to Mr. R. Richardson. Introducing Mr. Hudson, author of the Flora Anglica. I AM glad to hear of your designed journey, and wish you good success in it. I have writ on the other side a catalogue of what I recom mend most to your care: several of them I have, but 1 This is the first of a long series of letters from Dr. Sherard, preserved in the Richardson Correspondence. Of these letters, comparatively few are embodied in this selection; but the whole, seventy-five in number, will be found in the first volume of Nichols Literary Anecdotes, pp. 339-403.-Sherard was born at Bushby, in Leicestershire, in 1659, and received his early education in Merchant Taylors' school, after which he was a student of St. John's College, Oxford, where he entered in 1677, and graduated as Bachelor of Laws, in 1683. Having taken his degree, he was elected Fellow of the College, subsequently to which, he accompanied Lord Viscount Townshend and Wriothesly, grandson of the first Duke of Bedford, in two successive tours on the continent. On his return home, he communicated to B not good specimens: if you meet with any thing new (some grasses I have seen at Mr. Newton's, not mentioned by Mr. Ray, gathered at Ingleborough), be pleased to add them to the rest. Mr. Ray's Synopsis came out yesterday. On Monday morning I will send you a copy, that you may take it along with you. I have a fine collection of Double Auriculas and several Pri Ray a list of plants found on the Jura and other places near Geneva, the publication of which stamped his character as a botanist. From that time to 1703, he appears to have applied zealously to this science, making journies into different parts of England and Ireland, and cultivating the correspondence of Tournefort, Boerhaave, Hermann, and others among the most eminent naturalists of the day. In the last-mentioned year, he went to Smyrna, as British Consul, and from that appointment derived the name of Consul Sherard, by which he is generally known. During his residence in Asia, he not only laboured most diligently towards the formation of his immense herbarium, but is also said to have begun the celebrated Pinax, which was the great work of his life, and to which repeated allusions are made in these letters. In 1718, he returned to England, and soon after had the degree of Doctor of Laws conferred upon him by the University of Oxford. The remainder of his days was spent in comparative retirement; for, though he had amassed a considerable fortune in Smyrna, he lived in the greatest privacy in London, immersed in the study of natural history. Still, however, he indulged in occasional continental tours, sedulously maintained his correspondence with foreign botanists, found exceeding delight in his brother's garden at Eltham, and was foremost in his patronage of Catesby and More, and of every project which he thought likely to contribute to the progress of natural science. In this point of view, England is particularly indebted to him for bringing Dillenius among us, and for the foundation of the Botanic Garden and Professorship at Oxford, concerning all which full details will be found in the subsequent pages of this volume. |