409 



composition which has rendered his writings uni- 

 versally popular, and has been the means of throw- 

 ing a charm over his botanical writings scarcely 

 known to the science before." 



A writer in the Philosophical Magazine * thus 

 concludes his Obituary : "In summing up the sci- 

 entific character of Sir James Edward Smith, it 

 may be comprised in a few words. As a naturalist 

 he contributed greatly to the advancement of the 

 science, and stood pre-eminent for judgement, ac- 

 curacy, candour, and industry. He was disposed 

 to pay due respect to the great authorities that 

 had preceded him, but without suffering his de- 

 ference for them to impede the exercise of his own 

 judgement. He was equally open to real improve- 

 ment, and opposed to the affectation of needless 

 innovation. He found the science of botany, when 

 he approached it, locked up in a dead language ; 

 — he set it free by transfusing into it his own. 

 He found it a severe study, fitted only for the re- 

 cluse ; — he left it of easy acquisition to all. In the 

 hands of his predecessors, with the exception of his 

 immortal master, it was dry, technical and scho- 

 lastic ; — in his, it was adorned with grace and ele- 

 gance, and might attract the poet as well as the 

 philosopher." 



* May 1828, Vol. iii. p. 397. 



