192 FOTHERGILL'S BOTANIC GARDEN CHAP. 



and one of the best of the early botanists of America. 

 Like Bartram he made himself a botanic garden, situated 

 at what is now Marshallton, in Pennsylvania, building 

 there in 1773 a house which is still standing ; attached to 

 it was a small stove or hothouse for delicate plants, and 

 a little observatory for the study of astronomy. He 

 offered to collect plants for Fothergill about 1767, and 

 the latter in accepting the proposal gives him some sage 

 counsel. " Whilst I am putting thee upon these services," 

 he writes, " I must desire thee not to give to them so 

 much time, as either to lessen thy attention to the duties 

 of thy station here, or thy regard to the more essential 

 ones of another life. These pursuits are lawful, but may 

 not be to all expedient. Follow the example of wise 

 men," he adds, " seek their company, and then thou wilt 

 become such thyself, and an example to others." Thus 

 began a correspondence which lasted for about eight 

 years, until the war brought it to an end. Marshall sent 

 over by the ships many shrubs, plants and seeds which 

 enriched the garden at Upton. He sent too insects and 

 other specimens of animal life ; of these a snake was 

 seized by the Custom House officers, and a mocking-bird 

 perished in the passage. The birds' skins by Fothergill's 

 direction were to be filled with tow and tobacco dust, or 

 if the skins were large, with salt or pepper. Marshall 

 meanwhile received from his English patron sums of 

 money, some valuable books, a reflecting telescope, and 

 in 1770, through Dr. Franklin, a microscope and a ther- 

 mometer, the two latter costing 14 : 16 : 6. Fothergill's 

 last letter, dated August 1775, was written in the gathering 

 gloom of war. It bears no signature, and he leaves a 

 hiatus for the king's name. The tone is sad : through 

 " the infatuation of the times," he says, we shall " be 

 rendered a severe scourge to each other. . . . Many lives 

 will be lost, many fine fabrics demolished, the labour of 

 ages ruined." He refers to his own labours for peace, 

 related elsewhere in the present work : " What little lay 

 within my reach to do, I have endeavoured to do it 

 honestly ; but it is all in vain." 



