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My dear Friend, Allerton Hall, July 1G, 1803. 



At length I sit down to write you a letter, — lite- 

 rally, but not, I fear, metaphorically ', with the pen 

 of a Roscoe, — that very pen which has just been 

 correcting his manuscript Life of Leo X. 



I am here at his charming villa, six miles from 

 Liverpool, looking over Cheshire and the Mersey 

 to the Welsh hills. 



Our friend Hugh Davies travelled with Drake 

 and me in the mail to Chester ; our ride and voyage 

 thence were delightful *. 



My lectures are numerously and brilliantly at- 

 tended, and seem to stir up a great taste and ardour 

 for botany. The botanic garden promises well, 

 though in its infancy, except the stove, which is 

 well filled, and in the first order. The curator, Mr. 

 Shepherd, is the properest man I ever saw for the 

 purpose. I hope to procure him some useful cor- 

 respondents, one of which shall be our friend Watts 

 ofAshill. 



You are acquainted with Mr. Roscoe' s taste and 

 genius ; — his manners, temper, and character are 

 equal to them. I am surprised to find him so good 



* In a letter written about the same time (o his sister, Mrs 

 Martin, Sir James informs her " that he had been to dine with 

 Mr. Roscoe at his country house, quite retired, in a most beau- 

 tiful situation, with fine views over 



' Cheshire and Lancashire both, 1 



(Do you remember the old ballad of Childe Waters ?) Wales, 

 the Mersey, &c. I felt as if I were with Lorenzo de' Medici 

 at his villa; for of all the men I ever knew, Mr. Roscoe most 

 surpasses my expectations." 



