to the general good. The public, too, having since had free 

 access to the gardens, under a few needful regulations, cannot 

 fail to have observed the many alterations and improvements 

 effected under the sanction of the above-mentioned Board, 

 and must feel desirous of some particulars respecting them. 

 It is with a view to satisfy this laudable curiosity, that the 

 following notice is now offered. 



This is not the place to enter into the full early history of 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, but a few statements are 

 necessary, selected from the best authorities. 



About the middle of the 17th century, the spot that now 

 forms the gardens of Kew, with the residence, called Kew 

 House, was the property of R. Bennett, Esq., whose daughter 

 and heir married Lord Capel. This nobleman was much 

 attached to the cultivation of plants, and is said to have intro- 

 duced several new fruits and trees at Kew, which he had 

 brought with him from France ; among them, " two Lentisks, 

 or Mastic-Trees" are recorded, for which he paid £40 (an 

 enormous sum two hundred years ago) to one Versprit, and 

 four white striped and variegated Hollies, costing him £5 a 

 tree. In Macky's Tour through England in 1724, mention is 

 made of the " fine seat and excellent gardens, said to produce 

 the best fruit in England, belonging to that great statesman 

 and gardener, Lord Capel." Kew House and Grounds then 

 passed into the hands of Mr. Molyneux, who was Secretary 

 to King George the Second (when Prince of Wales), and 

 who married Lady Elizabeth Capel. He was well known as a 

 man of literature and an astronomer, and with an instrument 

 of his own construction, in these very grounds, Dr. Bradley 

 made his valuable discoveries relating to the fixed stars, 

 to record which, an inscription was ordered, by the late King 

 William the Fourth, to be placed on the pedestal of the sun- 

 dial, erected on the identical spot where Dr. Bradley's telescope 

 had stood, upon the lawn, and opposite to the present palace. 



The Prince of Wales, who was son to George the Second, 

 and father of George the Third, admiring the situation, took 

 a long lease of Kew House from the Capel family, about the 

 year 1730, and formed the pleasure-grounds, containing 

 nearly one hundred and twenty acres, which were finished by 

 his widow Augusta, the Princess Dowager of Wales, who 

 had great delight in superintending the improvements, then 

 carried on upon a most extensive scale. " Originally, the 

 ground was one dead flat ; the soil sandy, and, in general, 

 barren, and destitute of either wood or water. With so many 



