s/7:r///:.y s\vii/.i:r. 179 



rci^ard for a gootl man rhan tlu-v liaxc tor a do-;- l)o\- ; at b*. st ho 

 must hr suhicit lo the ill-t real niciit ot any rfii^iiini^ parasite, or those 

 that get their lixiiig by tale bearing, and often by something worse." 

 A situation whitli rencU-red its holder Hable to sneh (h-gradation would 

 onlv be held by those worthy of no bettiT treatment. " We see some of 

 them in good places, too." says Switzer, " who never open a book, nor 

 ean the\- either read, s])ell, or ])ronounee rightly the names of the ver\- 

 plants and herbs the\- e\i-r\ moment haxc in \ie\\ ." Andd this state of 

 rural affairs, Switzer eanu- forw^ard as a reformer, and he met. as w e 

 shall see presently, with the usual fate of reformers — contumely, 

 misrepresentation, and persecution. 



Stephen Switzer \vas a general gardener and seedsm.in of the reigns 

 of Anne and (leorge I. lie was a native of llam])shire, and his famiK 

 descendants still linger in the county, some in humble life, and the 

 memorials of others may be seen in the churciiyard of Ilvde i)arish, in 

 Winchester. 



He acquired his knowledge of the art under the great masters 

 of the day, London and Wise, ^vho had a great nursery garden where 

 Brompton Cemetery now stands, having been, as he states in the title 

 page of his " Icnographia Rustica," for several years their servant. He 

 completed his apprenticeship at the close of the seventeenth century. 

 In 1706 he was employed under London in laying out the grounds of 

 Blenheim. 



When Mr. London was superintendent of the Royal gardens at St. 

 James's, Switzer was employed in the capacity of kitchen gardener. 

 In 1724 he was in the service of the Earl of Orrery. He appears at one 

 time to have been in some capacity servant to Lord Brooke, to Lord 

 liathurst, and also to Lord W\ Russel, who suffered in 16S3. ( )f this 

 true nobleman he thus speaks : 



1 must not pass over the character of one of the best of masters. I mean the Right 

 Honourable the Lord William Russel, son of the then Karl of Bedford. I shall not 

 pretend to touch upon the matter of his unhappy fall, that being set in a true liglit by 

 other hands; it shall suffice me to say as I had it from a near and dear relation, that 

 by the loss of that zealous as.scrter of the liberties of his country, besides those and 

 the more natural properties of a tender husband and father, the world was deprived 

 of one of the best of masters and encouragers of arts and sciences which that age 

 produced, for, being possessed of a plentiful fortune b\' the marriage of his virtuou*^ 

 lady, he made Stratlon, about se\en miles from Winchester, his seat. The grounds at 

 Southampton House were also of his making. 



(jardeners and foresters in his time were accustomed to ply about 

 Westminster Hall and tlu; Koyal Exchange, offering tret^s, seeds, tS:c., for 

 sale. In the lirst-named place, having commenced business as a 

 nurseryman and seedsman, he kept a stand for the sale of his 

 productions, bearing the sign of the i-"lower i^ot, close by the entrance to 



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