Biography 



his father's side he was descended from 

 James Forbes, F.R.S. (1749-1819), of 

 Stanmore, who was a well-known student 

 in Indian botany. This hereditary taste 

 in botany was strengthened by his own 

 deep study, and by his occasional holidays 

 in Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, and the 

 Pyrenees. 



Among his friends and acquaintances 

 he was known as a man of unblemished 

 character and pure life ; an intense lover 

 of truth, wherever he could find it, and 

 a hater of shams and falsehoods of every 

 sort; a warm friend, especially to the 

 poor, to whom he was most liberal, even 

 with limited means, and a labourer among 

 them, teaching the boys, and sparing no 

 labour to help them in leading good lives ; 

 a deeply religious man, to whom his re- 

 ligion was a part of his life, and a very 

 strong Nonconformist. 



As an author he did not leave as 

 much behind him as his friends, who 

 knew his high literary ability, would 

 have wished. He wrote some magazine 

 articles and many religious tracts, and 

 one article in the British Quarterly on 



