56 



{Calendar/ (which was the fourth part of the preceding hook) 

 both at home, and in translations abroad. His ' Philoso- 

 phical Account of the Works of Nature,' 4to. 1721, was a 

 popular, instructive, and entertaining work, and continued 

 in repute several years. The same may be said of his 

 ' General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening,' 8vo. 2 vols. 

 1726; and of his ' Practical Discourses concerning the Four 

 Elements, as they relate to the Growth of Plants,' Svo. 17:27 . 

 His ' Dictionarium Botanicum,' 8vo. 1728, was, I believe, 

 the first attempt of the kind in England." On the whole 

 (says Dr. Pulteney) Bradley's writings, coinciding with the 

 growing taste for gardening, the introduction of exotics, and 

 improvements in husbandry, contributed to excite a more 

 philosophical view of these arts, and diffuse a general and 

 popular knowledge of them throughout the kingdom."* 



It is said also that in the works of Van-Huysum, " le veloute des fruits, 

 l'eclat des fleurs, le transparent de la rosee, tout enchante dans lea tableaux 

 de ce peintre admirable." Sir U. Price observes of this latter painter, "that 

 nature herself is hardly more soft and delicate in her most delicate produc- 

 tions, than the copies of them by Van-Huysum." Two flower pieces by this 

 painter, sold at the Houghton sale for 1 200/. 



In the pieces of Bos, a Flemish painter, the dew was represented so much 

 like nature, as to deserve universal approbation. 



Bernazzano painted strawberries on a wall so naturally, that, we are told, 

 the plaster was torn down by the frequent pecking of peacocks. 



Amidst these celebrated painters, these admiring judges of nature, let us 

 not forget our never-dying Hogarth; his piercing eye even discovers itself 

 in his letter to Mr. Ellis, the naturalist : — " As for your pretty little seed 

 cups, or vases, they are a sweet confirmation of the pleasure nature seems 

 to take in superadding an elegance of form to most of her works, wherever 

 you find them. How poor and bungling are all the inventions of art!" 



• The very numerous works of this indefatigable writer, embracing BO 

 many subjects, make one think he must have been as careful of his time, 

 as the celebrated friend of the witty Boiieau: the humane, benevolent, and 

 dignified Chancellor Aguesseau, who finding that his wife always kept him 

 waiting an hour after the dinner bell had rung, resolved to devote this time 

 to writing a work on Jurisprudence. He put this project in execution, and 

 in the course of time, produced a quarto work in four thick volume*. 



