The South Australian Naturalist. 31 



Sir Samuel Bentham, the father of George, was, during his 

 Jifetime, equally eiuiuejit. JJe was a man of action, and early 

 won distinction as a naval architect. At the age of twenty-two, 

 he entered the service of Catherine II., that powerful ruler who 

 so skilfully guided the destinies of Russia, and yet whose own 

 life was in some ways so undignified. Bentham built for his 

 royal mistress a flotilla of gunboats near the shores of the Black 

 Sea, and on its waters met and won a signal victory over the 

 Turkish fleet. Later he was given the command of a Russian 

 regiment in Eastern Siberia, and used the opportunity to pene- 

 trate to the northern frontier of China. On the death of the 

 Empress, Bentham returned to England and received the high 

 appointment of Inspector-General of Naval Works. In this 

 position his name was anathema to contractors who attempted 

 to rob the Government. In 1796 he married Miss Fordyce, a lady 

 of great ability and energy. She was the daughter of a skilful 

 physician, who left his native Scotland to collect guineas from 

 wealthy patients living in London. He became an F.R.S. 



George Bentham was the second son of his parents. He early 

 gave signs of possessing a capacious intellect, with a strong 

 bent towards linguistic studies. Sir Samuel took with him his 

 famil}^ to Russia, vrhither he had been sent on a mission in the 

 interests of the British Government. During this period George 

 learnt to speak Russian like a native. On their return, the 

 family spent some months in Sweden, where George learnt the 

 language. He became a polished French scholar, and was 

 familiar with German. When he grew to manhood he was able 

 to read botanical works in fourteen languages. He never 

 attended a school or a university, all his instruction being given 

 at home by private tutors. Such a system of training was ])rob- 

 ably the cause of what casual observers considered his aloofness 

 of manner when in company; but it was really an excessive 

 shyness, which was not noticed when in the company of familiar 

 friends. 



In 1814, at the close of the great war. Sir Samuel and bis 

 family went to live in the south of France, where he had pur- 

 chased an estate, which was to be their home for the next 

 thirteen years. Here George met many brilliant people. In 

 1820 John Stuart Mill, then aged fourteen, spent nearly a year 

 with the Benthams, and astounded them Avith his immense store 

 of learning. George read a copy of A. D. de Candolle's "Frem-h 

 Flora," and was fascinated by a table it contained for identify- 

 ing i)lants. He learnt the table by heart and practised its 

 method on everj^ plant he came across until he had mastered the 



