129 



fashioned garden remains, and is pretty in its kind. 

 It is a sort of classic ground, having been admired 

 and frequented by Swift, and all the people of lite- 

 rature of that day. The Speaker proposes that 

 this should also be a garden for agricultural expe- 

 riments: I cannot say that I agree with him per- 

 fectly in this scheme. There was a similar project 

 undertaken by the Dublin Society several years 

 ago, and it turned out very unfortunately. They 

 brought over a gentleman from England, a Mr 

 Wynne Baker, rented a large farm for him, and 

 allowed him a salary of 300/. per annum. But 

 this did not satisfy him ; he was for ever bringing 

 in bills for contingencies, and carrying them by his 

 influence. He was a man of talents, agreeable 

 conversation, and convivial : an excellent farmer at 

 his desk and over the table, but execrable in the 

 field. When I first became a member of the So- 

 ciety, there was regularly a pitched battle twice 

 a-year between him and the real public-spirited 

 gentlemen ; but Baker always brought down a 

 crowd of jovial squires and members of parliament, 

 and outvoted us. A fever at last carried him off, 

 and relieved the Society ; and had he lived on, he 

 would long before this have swallowed up the Dub- 

 lin Society and their funds altogether. I confess, 

 after this experiment, I am dreadfully afraid of any- 

 thing like a renewal. 



I cannot help saying I am charmed with the ac- 

 curacy of the figures, and the clearness and ele- 

 gance of the descriptions in the English Botany : 

 nothing can be more complete. 



VOL. II. k 



