THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT, ESQ. 33 



more appropriate, and at the same time more acceptable to 

 those whom it was intended to encourage, than a similar profile 

 of Mr. Knight. The die of the Knightian medal was accordingly 

 executed, together with the two others, by Mr. Wyon, and was 

 first distributed to those to whom it had been awarded in the 

 course of the year 1837. At a meeting of the Society held on 

 the 4th of May, 1836, it was resolved, " That the first impres- 

 sion of the Society's new large medal be struck in gold, and 

 presented to Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., for the signal 

 services he has rendered to horticulture by his physiological 

 researches." This resolution having been transmitted to Mr. 

 Knight, he signified his acceptation of it in the following letter, 

 characterised by that liberality, which he showed in all his 

 transactions with the Society : 



"May 6, 1836. 



"My DEAR SIR, 



" I feel highly honoured and flattered by the wishes of the 

 members of the Horticultural Society of London, that the first 

 impression of their new gold medal should be presented to me, 

 and I shall receive it with very great pleasure, provided I be 

 permitted to subscribe a sum equivalent to its cost, to be 

 employed in liquidation of the debt of the Society, but not upon 

 any other conditions. 



" I remain, &c., 



"T. A. KNIGHT. 

 " George Bentham, Esq., Secretary." 



From the preceding details, relating to the establishment and 

 progress of a Society so intimately connected for many years 

 with Mr. Knight, we now resume the thread of the narrative in 

 noticing his pursuits and occupations in the country. 



In the spring of 1809, Mr. Andrew Knight and his family 

 quitted Elton and removed to Downton Castle, which Mr. Payne 

 Knight had given up to his brother, having built himself a 

 cottage in the grounds, in which he passed his mornings during 

 the summer and autumn months ; the rest of the year he spent 



D 



