of Miss Currer, or from that of Sir Hans Sloane in the British Museum, or of Hearne in the Bodleian Library. For the extracts from the last of these, I am indebted to the kindness of my friend, Mr. Jacobson, the Vice-Principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford.

The Richardson Correspondence fills twelve folio volumes, and would, if printed, probably form eight of the same bulk as the present. I had two objects in view, when first I solicited the loan of it from Miss Currer. I thought it might possibly throw light upon the early history of Sir Joseph Banks, whose Life I have for some time been engaged in writing; and I also conjectured that it might afford me assistance in another of my favourite projects, a new and enlarged edition of Dr. Pulteney's Sketches of Botany in England. In the former of these hopes I found myself entirely disappointed: so long a period had elapsed from the close of the life of Dr. Richardson to the commencement of the scientific career of Sir Joseph Banks, that their pursuits did not possess any point of union. Indeed, as far as Natural Science is concerned, a further separation, and one greater than might have been expected from the mere lapse of time, had been made between them by the introduction of the Linnæan System, which, just rising into notice in 1740, had, before 1766, so widely extended and so firmly rooted itself, as to have altogether supplanted its predecessors.

In my other object I should not have experienced a similar disappointment. The information to be derived from

these Letters, and from the correspondence of Sloane and Sherard3, could not fail to be highly valuable to any one engaged in a similar pursuit. But I felt that I should not do justice to the memory of Dr. Richardson by such a

3 The letters addressed to Sir Hans Sloane fill no fewer than thirty-four volumes; and among his one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three correspondents are to be found the names of the greater number of those most eminent for literature and science in their day. These are enumerated by Ayscough, in his Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the British Museum, 11. p. 765–787, where also are given the dates of the letters from each. Sherard's correspondence occupies only four volumes; nor are the individuals by any means of equally great importance; but it may still be interesting to many persons to know who they were; and I therefore subjoin the following list, extracted from the beginning of the fourth volume. I ought, however, to add, that the list is far from complete; as the names of Olaus Celsius, Clifford, Dr. Covel, Dillenius, and Gronovius are omitted; and probably a more accurate examination would add materially to the number of

limitation. I had not proceeded far in the examination of his papers, before it was evident to me, that, regarded collectively, they were of themselves sufficient to answer two other and more important purposes-to furnish materials for the Biography of the individual to whom they are addressed, and to supply such a fund of knowledge towards the annals of Natural History, during the period they embrace, as merited a more honourable distinction than the being embodied in another work, of which, from its nature, they could be made to form but an inconsiderable part.

With regard to Dr. Richardson himself, the whole of the information previously collected respecting him will be

found in the following Memoir of his Family, drawn up by the pen of a member of that family, Mrs. Dorothy Richardson. This Memoir, which was originally published in the Illustrations of Literature, is here reprinted in an abridged form; for, looking only to a single individual, I felt that whatever did not more immediately refer to him, might, with propriety, be omitted. In the extracts from his correspondence, I have likewise been much guided by the same feeling; not, I hope, to the exclusion of any letter in itself otherwise interesting, but certainly to the admission of a few, whose only value is that of throwing light upon his pursuits, his character, or his associates. It was a consideration. of this nature which led me to give a place to the very long letter, filled with an account of the plants of Snowdon,4

4 I very much hesitated whether I ought not, for the same reason, to have inserted another letter of equal length, upon the subject of the plant which produces the Ipecacuanha; but I finally determined to reject this latter; because, however it may tend to prove Dr. Richardson's knowledge and spirit of research, the observations contained in it have been shewn by subsequent discoveries to be erroneous, whereas the accuracy of the other has been but the more confirmed. I lately met with an unexpected proof to this effect, in a letter from Mr. Lloyd of Wygfair, to Sir Joseph Banks, dated November, 28th, 1790, from which the following is an extract : My friend, Griffith, has spent some time this autumn at Llanberris, and traversed every part with Brewer's journal in his hand. He has found every plant mentioned by the old Botanists in the very places of their habitat, and consequently has recovered the names of places that had been changed since their time, or entirely lost, or forgot."

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and to those from the Earl of Derby and Lord Petre, as well as to several from the humble and unlettered Knowlton. The admission of this latter to the list of his correspondents, bears testimony to the consideration entertained by Dr. Richardson for talents, industry, and good character, in whatever situation of life they may be found, and must thus be allowed to be honourable to his judgment and his heart. Indeed, I have been desirous of exhibiting a picture of the man himself, in all his relations with the public, as shewn in his abilities, his energy, his industry, his usefulness, his liberality, his facility in obtaining friends, and his steadiness in preserving them. For every one of these qualities, (and happily no indications of a contrary tendency appear in these letters,) Miss Currer will here have the satisfaction of finding the most unequivocal proof that her ancestor was distinguished. He was at once an able and an amiable man; one who was blest by the Almighty with the possession of many talents, and who was still more blest that he was gifted with a disposition to turn them to a profitable account.

That Dr. Richardson has not hitherto received the praise he may be supposed to have deserved, is to be ascribed to the simple fact, that mankind in general, in forming their estimate of individuals, and particularly in awarding them posthumous fame, act very much,-if I may be allowed, as a Banker, to borrow a simile from my own shop,-upon the principle of a Bill of Exchange, in which the concluding