OF JOHN 8ARTRAM. 39 



" He seemed to have been designed for the study and contem- 

 plation of nature, and the culture of philosophy. Although he was 

 bred a farmer, or husbandman, as a means of procuring a sub- 

 sistence, he pursued his avocations as a philosopher, being ever 

 attentive to the works and operations of Nature. While engaged 

 in ploughing his fields, and mowing his meadows, his inquisitive 

 eye and mind were frequently exercised in the contemplation of 

 vegetables; the beauty and harmony displayed in their mechanism; 

 the admirable system of order which the great Author of the 

 universe has established throughout their various tribes, and the 

 equally wonderful powers of their generation, the progress of their 

 growth, and the various stages of their maturity and perfection. 



" He was, perhaps, the first Anglo-American who conceived the 

 idea of establishing a Botanic Garden for the reception and 

 cultivation of the various vegetables, natives of the country, as 

 well as of exotics ; and of travelling for the discovery and acquisi- 

 tion of them. He purchased a convenient piece of ground on the 

 margin of the Schuylkill, at the distance of about three miles from 

 Philadelphia ; a happy situation, possessing every soil and expo- 

 sure, adapted to the various nature of vegetables. Here he built, 

 with his own hands, a large and comfortable house of hewn stone, 

 and laid out a garden containing about five acres of ground.* 



" He began his travels at his own expense. His various excur- 

 sions rewarded his labours with the possession of a great variety 

 of new, beautiful, and useful trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. 

 His garden, at length, attracting the visits and notice of many 

 virtuous and ingenious persons, he was encouraged to persist in his 

 labours. 



" Not yet content with having thus begun the establishment of 

 this school of science and philosophy, in the blooming fields of 

 Flora, he sought farther means for its perfection and importance, 

 by communicating his discoveries and collections to the curious in 

 Europe, and elsewhere, for the benefit of science, commerce, and 

 the useful arts. 



" Having arranged his various collections and observations in 

 natural history, one of his particular friends [Joseph Breintnall, 



* The ground on which the Botanic Garden is laid out, was purchased at sheriff's 

 sale. The deed poll Owen Owen, Sheriff, to John Baetram bears date Septem- 

 ber 30th, 1728. The garden was probably commenced soon afterwards. 



The year in which the dwelling-house was erected, may be gathered from 

 an inscription on a stone in the wall, viz., "John * Ann Bartram, 1731." 



