173 A GRIC UL TURA L WRITERS. 



House, Kensington. He was a Fellow of the Roval Society, and in 1720 

 was elected Professor of Botany at Cambridge. It is not improbable 

 that he may have been educated for the medical profession, inasmuch 

 that he attempted to lecture on the Materia Medica, and that the Royal 

 Society ever had a favourable inclination to the cullers of simples. That 

 he should have been admitted to the Professorship at Cambridge, how- 

 ever, is surprising, as his unfitness for such an ol^ce was soon apparent, 

 and his ignorance of the learned languages rendered him out of place in 

 one of the principal seats of classical learning. When we look upon the 

 array of his works, and find in them that acuteness of observation and 

 superiority of attainment which are especially their characteristics, and 

 then reflect that his end was ignominious, and that even the place of his 

 grave is unknown, we feel the justice of this conclusion : The fruits of 

 his excellency remain, whilst all traces of their author and his short- 

 comings have perished. 



The historical parts of his \\orks may still be read with pleasure. 

 They abound with information collected from books and men of practical 

 intelligence, with whom he maintained an extensive correspondence : 

 otherwise, if we except some experiments which he instituted to prove 

 the circulation of the sap and the sexuality of plants, they contain little 

 but Avhat our more perfect knowledge has superseded. Little as the 

 original information is of which he was the author, vet he must be 

 regarded as one of the best friends of both agriculture and horticulture, 

 for his industry and talents were not mean, and, although unadorned by 

 deep learning, they ensured him a certain amount of respect from 

 posterity. The offence of Bradley was neither immoral nor criminal, 

 and a just charity may decide that the good he effected much over- 

 lialanced his delinquencies, as he must have laboured indefatigably, and, 

 however much his methods are deplored, was certainly a benefactor in 

 his day. The theoretical and scientific views which he had of vegetation 

 and the practical cultivation of the land — views which he endeavoured to 

 illustrate with experiments and knowledge obtained from the experienced 

 — contributed greatly to direct the attention, both of amateurs and 

 professionals, into the true path — " science with practice " — for 

 acquiring a correct knowledge of the art. His works ran through many 

 editions, and had a very wide circulation ; and, although the contents 

 of many of them were largely culled from earlier writers, they coincided 

 most opportunely with the increasing love of matters pertaining to 

 farming and gardening, and it is certain that they helped to improve 

 both. Richard Bradley died at Cambridge in November, 1732. 



