Lord Petre's large plantations at Thorndon were the 

 admiration of all. He showed great art, writes Collinson, 

 in displaying his American plants ; the hues of green 

 darker and lighter, bluish and yellow were well blended, 

 the silver barks and white-backed leaves gleamed amongst 

 them, and the whole were picturesquely disposed in 

 thickets and clumps, with a border of flowering shrubs. 

 In a great stove-house the cereus and passion flower were 

 allowed to climb to a height of 30 feet, " the most 

 extraordinary sight in the world." When this young 

 nobleman and accomplished man of science was carried 

 off by smallpox in his thirtieth year in 1742, Collinson 

 felt the loss as that of a brother : he had " the presence 

 of a prince," he writes, inspiring both love and awe, 

 and sweetness of temper was linked with his versatile 

 talents. 1 



With the second Duke of Richmond also Collinson's 

 relations were intimate and delightful. He visited the 

 duke often, and many American trees found a place in 

 the ducal parks. One of the duke's letters in 1748 ends : 

 " Adieu, my dear Peter, this cruel weather, putts me 

 quite out of patience, butt in frost, or snow, wett weather, 

 or fine, I am, honest Peter, sincerely thyne, Richmond." 

 After his death in 1750, the third duke, a famous Whig 

 statesman and reformer, became also the " sincere and 

 hearty friend " of the Quaker botanist. Lord Lincoln 

 was taking to his garden : the duke noted it eagerly : 

 you and I, he tells Collinson, must go and dine with him, 

 and encourage him in this laudable pursuit. The duke 

 profited by Collinson's advice in laying out his large 

 plantations. Collinson bought for him in 1761 for the 

 sum of 79 one thousand five-year-old cedars of Lebanon, 

 as well as a further supply in the next year. These trees 

 have long been the glory of Goodwood, and to-day 103 of 



1 Lord Petre introduced the Camellia amongst other plants to Britain. 

 A series of letters is extant addressed by his widow to Collinson. She depends 

 much on his aid in disposing of plants and trees ; makes him a present of a pig, 

 and asks for stuffs for a new coat for her little son. It was she who sent 

 the seed for the pear tree which still stands in Bartram's garden. See also 

 J. Britten, " The Eighth Lord Petre," in Dublin Review, vol. 155, p. 307. 



