ccasionally made a public exhibition of scarce plants; a study in which he was a great proficient. In the latter part of his life (having then taken the degree of M. D.) he retired to Eltham, in Kent, where he continued his favourite amusement, the cultivation of valuable and uncommon plants; a curious catalogue of which was published by James Dillenius, under the title of " Hortus Elthamensis, sive plantarum rariarum, quas in horto suo, Elthami, in Cantio, collegit vir ornatissimus & præstantissimus Jac. Sherard, M. D. Soc. Reg. & Coll. Med. Lond. soc. Gulielmi P. M, frater, deli neationes & descriptiones, quarum historia vel planè non, vel imperfectè a rei herbariæ scriptoribus tradita fuits auctore Jacobo Dillenio, M. D. London. 1732." In a letter to Sir Hans Sloane, in December, 1732, Dr. Sherard says, "I send herewith a copy of the Hortus Elthamensis, which Dr. Dillenius is now publishing. You will see that he has not studied to adorn either his book or my garden; his chief care having been to improve and advance the knowledge of botany." He died Feb, 12, 1737-8; and is said to have been worth 150,000l. A considerable part of his landed property was at Evington, in Leicestershire; where he was buried, and where a monument on the South side of the church preserves his memory, and that of his wife (Susan, daughter of Richard Lockwood, Esq.) who survived him. Arms: Argent, a chevron Gules between three torteaux; impaling a fess between three martlets Sable. Crest, out of a wreath a peacock's tail erect proper*. " M. S. Jacobi Sherard, M. D. Colleg. Medic. Lond. et Reg. Soc. Et, nequid ad oblectandos amicos deesset, Accesserunt illi in laudis cumulum et erga omnes comitas & benevolentia. These arms are repeated on au achievement; and there is another achievement, with Sherard, impaling, quarterly, 1. and 4, Lockwood; 2, and 3. Ermine, on a bend engrailed Sable, three plates. Query, whose arms are 2, and 3.? Obiit pridie id. Feb. A. D. MDCCXXXVII. Uxor Susanna, Richardi Lockwood, arm. filia, hoc monumentum mæstissima posuit His green-house at Eltham remains, on the North side of the town, in a garden which was occupied by the late Rev. Peter Pinnel, D. D. (vicar of Eltham and Shorne, and prebendary of Rochester); and a new edition of the 66 Hortus," with the Linnean names, was published at Leyden, in 1775. Among the Adversaria of Mr. James Petiver (Sloane MSS. 334. p. 279.) is an entertaining description of a botanical excursion, in August, 1714, by Mr. James Sherard and Mr. Petiver, from London to Riverhead, Sevenoaks, and Tunbridge Wells; and thence, “in a chaise with two horses, twenty-four miles (through such horrid and deep roads by Tilehurst and Woodhurst as no coach or chaise had ever passed) after many hard tugs to Brede;" afterwards to Hastings; Winchelsea (where they were entertained at the mayor's house, and, the place not affording any wine, regaled with excellent punch made by the mayoress, every bowl of which was better than the former one"); Rye, Lydd, New Romney, Sandgate Castle, Folkstone, ("a base rugged town, inhabited only by fishermen"); Dover, Waldeshare, Knowlton, Deal, Sandwich, Isle of Thanet, Canterbury, Feversham, the marshes near Shepey, Rochester, and Northfleet. Mr. Tyndall, an apothecary, joined their party on the road; and this little tour contains some curious topographical and botanical remarks. Among the same MSS. (4059.) are many of his letters to Sir Hans Sloane between the years 1704 and 1732. His elder brother, Dr. William Sherard, was fellow of All Souls college, Oxford; B. C. L. Dec. 11, 1683; D. C. L. June 19, 1694. In 1690 he was in the family of Sir Arthur Rawdon, at Moira, in Ireland; but was soliciting some establishment at Hampton Court. He was afterwards tutor to Charles, eldest son of Horatio, the first Visc. Townshend, during his foreign travels. In Sir Hans Sloane's "Catalogue of Plants" (MSS. 3343.) is a long list of "Seeds sent by Dr. Sherard, Dec. 30, 1699." And in MSS. 4059. are several of his letters, from Ireland, Leyden, the Hague, Venice, Rome, and Paris (chiefly on botanical subjects); and several, both on botany and Greek literature, from Smyrna. In 1700 he was futor to Henry, the second Duke of Beaufort, then only sixteen years old; and resided with his Grace at Badminton, in Gloucestershire; whence many of his letters to Sir Hans Sloane are dated, and where he complains that his time passed heavily. He found a resource, however, in his favourite study of botany; and says, Aug. 31, 1700, "I work for Mr. Ray every day; and, were it not for that diversion, I should not be able to stay here. I never yet met with any body that has so little turn for. learning (or any thing but horses, dogs, and sport) as his Grace; which sometimes makes me very uneasy. If I can rub out the time I promised, I do not despair of any sort of life, though it were to be a Carthusian." A third brother, Sampson Sherard, was then just ready to go to Virginia, to return the following summer, Dr. William Sherard was consul at Smyrna from 1704 to 1715; and in 1705 had visited the Seven Churches of Asia, and copied nearly a hundred inscriptions. He travelled again over Asia Minor in 1709; together with Dr. Picanini, and Dr. Lisle, afterwards Archdeacon of Carlisle, Warden of Wadham, and Bishop of St. Asaph; and collected a number of ancient inscriptions, deposited in Lord Oxford's library, where it remains in the British Museum (Harl. MSS, 7500.) It was published by Edmund Chishull, chaplain at Smyrna, from Mr. Bowyer's press, by subscription for one guinea (royal paper at two guineas). A larger volume, under the title of "Antiquitates Asiaticæ; pars altera, diversa diversarum urbium inscripta marmora complectens;" was intended to have been published by him for another guinea; and twelve pages were printed: but the author's death put a stop to the progress of the volume. The MS. of this volume, fairly transcribed for the press by professor Ward, came into Dr. Askew's hands, and was purchased at the sale of his MSS. March 11, 1785, by the Trustees of the British Museum, for 591. 17s. Mr. Gough has another transcript, which he bought at the same sale. In 1709, Dr. Sherard informed Sir Hans Sloane, that he had laid out about 3001. in medals, and was daily collecting what he could from all parts of the empire. In another letter, March 7, 1714-5, he says, "I have copied a great number of Greek inscriptions, which are put into the hands of Mr. Chishull, of Walthamstow, in order to be published. I had also got a large collection of medals; but last summer, whilst I was at my country-house, about six hundred of them were stolen; which I shall never recover." In a subsequent letter, without date, he adds, "I have good reason for quitting a study of so much expence and fatigue; and think I may fairly claim my quietus, after having for above twenty-five years been the drudge of all the gardens in Europe, and communicated to my friends more growing seeds than all the rest of their correspondents. I have prosecuted a study of much more use to the public for some years; and have not been unsuccessful in it, as will appear if I live to return; if not, my Jabour will not be wholly lost." In August, 1726, he gave 500l. towards enlarging the conservatory at the physic-garden, at Oxford; with a number of curious plants, and a botanic library of books. He died August 11, 1728; and was buried at Eltham (it is believed without an epitaph). By his last will, he "left 30001. to be laid out for the maintenance of a botanyprofessor of the physic-garden; all his books of botany and natural history; also his drawings, paintings, and dried plants, particularly his Herbarium and Pinax, to be deposited in the library of the physic-garden; and appointed James Dillenius the next botany-professor." (Gutch's History of Oxford, vol. II. p. 899.) His library and curiosities, with a considerable legacy, he gave to St. John's college, Oxford. Amongst Sir Hans Sloane's books (4017.) is a large volume, called, "Delineationes Plantarum Americanarum, auctore Carolo Plumier," made up from Dr. Sherard's duplicates, 1796, Oct. M. GREEN, LVIII. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of ADOLPHUS THIS illustrious scholar was a native of Flanders, who, passing through many honourable employments with great usefulness to his country, and the highest fame of his abiJities and integrity, died at London, upon an embassy to Queen Elizabeth, and was buried in St. Paul's, a little more than two centuries ago. He appears to have been an ornament and delight of the age in which he lived-second to none in literary accomplishments, and possessing one of the * Q. to what does this allude? most amiable and benevolent of hearts. For, his maxim, improving on that of the Grecian sage*, was to be et amico frater et hosti; and grief for the loss of a son was supposed to be the cause of his death in his sixty-fourth year!-a period of life at which there are but few, it is sai, whose affections are not considerably impaired by so long an acquaintance with Time; who is certainly, for that long acquaintance we are so fond of with him, very apt, upon some account or other, to make us all pay dearly; and for which greedy disposition he has, by a shrewd Greek, been tauntingly intituled, "the skilful artist, making every thing weaker that he takes in hand+!" This ornament and delight of his kind, the Flemish sage, is thus spoken of by one of his likenesses and contemporaries, the most respectable Thuanus: "Nostris addetur Adolphus Metkerkius, patritius Brugensis, vir literis egregie instructus; qui cum per eas inclarescere cœpisset, æstu motuum, qui Belgium concusserunt, abreptus, totam vitam legationibus obeundis ac negotiis tractandis ordinum consiliarius consumpsit; ac tandem apud Elizabetham Angliæ reginam orator, hoc anno, 1591, Londini obiit, cum climactericum suum mensibus sex superesset, moerore ex Nicolai filii admodum strenui ducis ad Daventriam interfecti nuntio, ut creditum est, contracto." Lib. C. Freherus, in his "Theatrum Virorum Eruditione clarorum," professing to take his account, as well as from Thuanus, "ex Athenis Belgicis Fr. Swertii," says of Mekerchus, "Legationes, ordinum Belgicarum provinciarum nomine, apud varios principes maximâ fide summâque cum laude totam vitam obivit." Then, after relating, from Thuanus, the circumstance of his death, he adds,-" Sepultus in templo D. Pauli. Scripsit et edidit elegantem libellum de veteri et rectâ linguæ Græcæ pronuntiatione. Huic adjectus est, ephemeris syllabica dierum fastorum ecclesiæ Romanæ. Poemata varia. Moschi et Bionis Idyllia scholiis illustrata. Theocriti Syracusani epigrammata veste Latinâ donata. De tumultibus bellicis MS. apud hæredes." "Kindness should be shewn to all men, to enemies as well as friends; that the latter may continue, and the former be made, to love us. † Ο γαρ χρόνος μ' εκαμψε τεκίων ως σοφος ! CLEOBULUS. CRATES. It has, besides, been said, that, "en vivant, et en voyant les hommes, il faut que le cœur se brise ou se bronze." |