106 KEW GARDENS 



specimens intended for the royal gardens at 

 Paris were captured by our cruisers, he several 

 times used his influence to have them sent on 

 intact, a scientific courtesy that repaid the 

 orders of the French Government to treat 

 Cook's vessels as neutral, when war with 

 England broke out during his last expedition. 

 Banks, indeed, a wealthy man who sought no 

 salaried post, appears to have been practically 

 the scientific authority of Kew Gardens in his 

 lifetime, well deserving the royal confidence, 

 though he came in for his share of caricaturing 

 as a Court favourite. His picture, and those of 

 other noted botanists, are treasured in the Kew 

 Museums, where the mere literary man will 

 often be put to shame to find how many names 

 he never heard, live not forgotten among the 

 votaries of a special study. 



Under Aiton the second, Kew Gardens 

 began to fall off, lying as they did in the shade 

 of royal neglect. George IV. began by showing 

 some interest in them, which soon withered 

 away. They were opened to "all well-dressed 

 strangers" on Sundays in summer, the Botanic 

 Garden being accessible at other times to those 

 who took an interest in it ; but the empty 



