360 Obituary. 



Art. XV. Obituary. 

 Died on the 20th April, Mr. William Gibson, many years head gar- 

 dener to Henry Peters, Esq , of Betchworth Castle, near Dorking, Surrey. 

 This worthy man fell by his own hands, while labouring under temporary 

 mental derangement, brought on by a cause which deserves to be men- 

 tioned, as affording a lesson to gardeners, and all of us, not to be over 

 ambitious of money, nor too eager to step out of our regular path in pursuit 

 of it. Mr. Gibson had saved some property, and embarked it in the coal- 

 trade, and recently not only lost it all, but involved some of his friends ; or 

 he supposed that this was the case, for we have since heard that it was not 

 so. This idea preyed upon his mind to such a degree that he was unable to 

 bear it. He sent word to his master that he could no longer remain in 

 his service ; and the messenger, on his return, found him prostrate on the 

 floor of his cottage, with a pistol in his hand. " The feelings of the coro- 

 ner's jury were strongly excited by the production of Mr. Peters's letter, 

 which contained expressions not only in every way calculated to soothe 

 the mind of the deceased under his calamity, but to assure him, in terms 

 of marked feeling, of his master's future kindness and protection." — 

 {County Chron.) 



JOHN FORBES, A.L.S. 



On the Tablet erected to the Memory of Mr. Forbes, in Chiswick 



Church-yard, is the following inscription: — 

 To the Memory of Mr. John Forbes, A. L.S., a botanical collector in the 

 service of the Horticultural Society of London, who died at Senna, on the 

 Zambazee river, in Eastern Africa, in the month of August, 1825, in the 

 23d year of his age. This tablet is erected by the Council of the Society, 

 in testimony of their entire approbation of his conduct while in their 

 service, and of their deep regret at the untimely fate of a naturalist of so 

 much enterprise and promise. 



