92 JOHN HILL 



to the practice of medicine in the shape of herbalist, preparing 

 remedies from various plants such as valerian, water-dock and 

 centaury ; also he wrote on the virtues of these and other plants. 

 The source from which he obtained his plants was in the first 

 instance the Chelsea Physic Garden, but it is stated that he was 

 eventually forbidden its use owing to his depredations ; later he 

 grew the requisite plants in his own garden which was situated 

 where now is Lancaster Gate. There was a good deal of common 

 sense in his remedies ; thus in his Virtues of British Herbs he 

 remarks that " He who seeks the herb for its cure, will find it 

 half effected by the walk." 



By the sale of his medicines and of his pamphlets relating to 

 medicinal plants, some of which ran through many editions, he 

 made large sums of money. 



Before passing on to a consideration of Hill's botanical work 

 brief comment may be made on his literary activities other than 

 those already alluded to. It has already been mentioned that 

 much of his output represented mere hack work, so that it is not 

 surprising to learn, in view of the large amount of work he did, 

 that a certain proportion of it was careless and slovenly, and 

 shewed marked signs of undue haste in production, with the 

 result that his reputation suffered. One work, entitled Letters 

 from the Inspector to a Lady with the genuine Answers (1752), 

 is an amorous correspondence not remarkable for its reticence of 

 statement ; it reminds one of a similar, but more proper, corre- 

 spondence, which had a vogue a few years ago. 



Hill did not always write for gain, thus Thoughts concerning 

 God and Nature (1755) shews him in a different light. This was 

 written from conscientious and religious motives in answer to a 

 book written by Henry St John Viscount Bolingbroke, and was 

 published at a loss, for the number printed, even if all were sold, 

 would not have paid the expenses of production. 



His dramatic pieces were of a mediocre nature, and with 

 regard to his novels and other works Baker ^ states that " In 

 some parts of his novels incidents are not disagreeably related, 

 but most of them are nothing more than narratives of private 

 intrigues, containing, throughout, the grossest calumnies, and 



^ Biographica Di-amatica. 



