36 PIONEERS OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 



and sends him seeds of garden vegetables at various times ; 

 and when the Revolution had stopped Bartram's sending seeds 

 to England for sale, Franklin offers to sell them for him in 

 France. 



Among the testimonials to his botanical achievements that 

 Bartram received was a gold medal, weighing 487 grains, from 

 a society in Edinburgh, founded in 1764, for obtaining seeds 

 of useful trees and shrubs from other countries. This medal 

 is inscribed, " To Mr. John Bartram, from a Society of Gentle- 

 men at Edinburgh, 1772"; and on the reverse, " MERENTI," in 

 a wreath. The medal is figured in Darlington's Memorials, 

 and when that book was published was in the possession of a 

 Mrs. Jones, a descendant of the botanist. April 26, 1769, the 

 Royal Academy of Sciences, of Stockholm, on the proposal of 

 Professor Bergius, elected Bartram to membership. Another 

 honour that he received from the same country was a letter 

 from Queen Ulrica, and with this may be mentioned the opinion 

 passed upon him by Linnaeus, who called Bartram the greatest 

 natural botanist in the world. Bartram was one of the original 

 members of the American Philosophical Society, and con- 

 tributed many papers to its Transactions. 



The closing years of John Bartram's life were the opening 

 years of the Revolution. He was living when independence 

 'Was declared in the neighbouring city of Philadelphia, but died 

 the following year, September 22, 1777, at the age of seventy- 

 eight. A granddaughter, who remembered him distinctly, 

 has stated that he was exceedingly agitated by the approach 

 of the British army after the battle of Brandywine, and that 

 his days were probably shortened in consequence. The royal 

 troops had been ravaging the country, and he was apprehen- 

 sive lest they should lay waste his darling garden. 



His son William describes him as " a man of modest and 

 gentle manners, frank, cheerful, and of great good nature; a 

 lover of justice, truth, and charity. . . . During the whole 

 course of his life there was not a single instance of his engag- 

 ing in a litigious contest with any of his neighbours or others. 

 He zealously testified against slavery, and, that his philan- 

 thropic precepts on this subject might have their due weight 

 and force, he gave liberty to a most valuable male slave, then 

 in the prime of his life, who had been bred up in the family 

 almost from infancy." He was of an active temperament, and 



