to the late Mr. David Douglas. 385 



to the curators of the botanic gardens at Edinburgh and Glasgow, and to nur- 

 sery and seedsmen in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth, and Dundee. — 

 Nov. 23. 1833." 



We received a printed paper, of which the above is a copy, on June 3., too 

 late, of course, to be noticed, even on the wrapper of this Magazine for June. 

 By the private letter which accompanied it, signed by the secretary of the 

 committee, Mr. Archibald Gorrie, we are informed that all notices of subscrip- 

 tions are expected to be returned to the treasurer, Mr. TurnbuU, by the 1st 

 of July, the day on which this Magazine will see the light. We deeply regret 

 this, because we are sure there are many British gardeners who would have 

 felt a melancholy satisfaction in testifying their sense of the eminent services 

 rendered to botany and gardening, by Mr. Douglas, We should hope that it 

 will not be too late to subscribe after the 1st of July, and even to the 1st of 

 September or October ; and we would recommend all gardeners to do so, 

 through their nurserymen or seedsmen, all of whom have a communication, 

 either directly or indirectly, with Mr. Turnbull, the seedsman at Perth. We 

 much regret that the printed paper above quoted, which is dated Nov. 23. 

 1835, was not sent" to us sooner ; as, had it been so, we trust we should have 

 been able to have rendered more effective service to the cause, than we shall 

 now be able to do; unless the time for receiving subscriptions shall be pro- 

 tracted for five or six months, so as to make the intentions of the Perth com- 

 mittee known, not only to gardeners and amateurs in Britain, but to those of 

 the continents of Europe and North America, many of whom, we feel confident, 

 would subscribe on such an occasion. 



With these views we wrote to Mr. Gorrie, suggesting the advantage that 

 would result from extending the time; and, since the above paragraph was 

 printed, we have received,just in time for publication, though in the last hour, 

 and when we were obliged to send a very hurried notice to press, a letter from 

 Mr. Gorrie, from which we are happy to learn that the committee have 

 agreed to allow the subscription to stand open for an indefinite period. 



We are exceedingly glad of this, for two reasons : first, because it will 

 afford an opportunity to gardeners, in every part of the world, to evince their 

 sympathy with that amiable man, and enthusiastic traveller and botanist, Mr. 

 David Douglas ; and, secondly, because we do hope the friends to gardening 

 and science will come forward in such a manner as to enable the committee 

 to realise an idea that has been suggested by Mr. Gorrie, though he will, per- 

 haps, be offended at us for having stated it publicly. We allude to the grand 

 and magnificent project " of purchasing a piece of ground sufficient to hold 

 all the trees and plants introduced b}' Douglas ; enclosing it, planting it, or a 

 part of it, with these trees and shrubs ; and building a house on it, which, 

 together with the whole demesne, should be settled on his heirs at law for 

 ever." Of all the plans that we have ever heard proposed for commemorating 

 the memory of a man, this is at once the grandest and the most rational ; and 

 we could almost envy our esteemed friend who made the proposal the happi- 

 ness of having been the author of it. We know of nothing that can be com- 

 pared to it but the giving of Blenheim to Marlborough by the nation ; and next 

 to the idea of bestowing such a gift on the descendants of a meritorious indi- 

 vidual by the concurrent voices of a whole nation, is, surely, that of giving it by 

 the joint contribution of the whole class to which the individual to be com- 

 memorated belonged. This, the plan of taking only small subscriptions from 

 Mr. Douglas's fellow-gardeners appears well calculated to effect. We think, 

 also, that a sufficient piece of land should be added to the house to maintain 

 the representative of the family for the time being as a market-gardener, 

 florist, or small nurseryman ; the object being, as in the case of the Duke of 

 Marlborough, to form a lasting memorial, that should contain circumstances 

 in itself which will prevent the cause of its being instituted from being for- 

 gotten. We have no wish to make a comparison between the services rendered 

 to his country, to civilisation, or, in one word, to society, by a great and suc- 

 cessful warrior, and an enthusiastic and successful naturalist or botanical 

 collector. The real truth is, that the services of the one are, or may be, just 



