322 
falsehoods үк were told to cover the theft occasioned а great deal of mbes o 
erning t ый habitation of plants introduced at that period. It was the 
arrow-minde of doctri e of Sir J. Banks that he could only Foy the King 
collection superior others by monopolizing its contents; and by doing so he 
rendered it hateful id eontemptible: whereas if he had pen sie and freely 
received , and made its contents easily accessi ible to those who were interested i ih 
asked whether I could speak to a Son son better acquainted with the plants, I was 
told that I could obtain no further information. The multitude of rare plants that 
; have flourished and perished there — I believe ies be very great. I owe no 
Ed to that tenint aue f e permission to walk drm sa i i 
ough the hous Im o Mr. ‘Salisbury the justice ТР say that he repeatedly 
maw. oath with ‘Si ir Joseph 1 Bank in vain on the ct. 
Theethical standpoint ona, animates this ti a somewhat 
odd for a Dean. And the strictures themselves are not on а much higher 
level. In the first ЕС Kew wasa private establishment, of the Sovereign 
it is true, but over which it is not obvious that the public generally 
had any definite righi: The attack on Sir че Banks is probably 
that the scientific esteem which Kew acquired was entirely due to Banks 
who, without any official position, and simply as a personal friend of the 
King’s, spent a scarcely calculable amount of time, pains, and money in 
making the Kew Botanical collections the first in the world at the time. 
Royal interest can, no doubt, effect a good deal, but it cannot be doubted 
that, without the scientific advice and encouragement which Banks 
rendered to the King, it would have been impossible for Kew to have 
attained the scientific eminence which it reached under the two 
Aiton’s. 
he anonymous writer (1838), probably Lindley, in the article 
* Garden" in the Penny Cyclopedia (vol. xi, p. 74), is scarcely less 
severe. 
“The chief English garden, containing a large collection of plants, i Fd of Kew, 
which is certainly the ric richest in the world in New Hollan d Plants, a which was 
e e 
introduced in considerable quantity. It contains a bad and ill-named or rather 
unnawed collection of hardy plants, and a good many small hot-houses and green- 
houses filled with rare plants; there is, moreover, an excellent kitchen-garden and 
forcing department. M n consequence of this — having had a mono — 
government support for above 30 years, it has bee: e channel wot in whic! 
enormous quantity of new plants have been m ee o Europe from all parts ot 
the world. For many years however it was unworthy of the nation, from the illiberal 
manner in which it was conducted, a system of атры ч е possession having been 
management has been introduced, and the collection is as essible as that 
f other nations." 
There can be no doubt, however, that these complaints and criticisms, 
whether justified by the circumstances of the ges or not, nen a ade 
effect on the es baie Ay Kew. They stimul ated a 
interest in its m a scientific менон дей ятуын 
brought about its рма iM its present scale. 
Dr. Linpiey’s REPORT. 
William IV. died in 1837, and in Med 1838 the Treasury 
pointed a committee ^ to inquire into rs sara wen. &c. of the Royal 
= Gardens.” ‘It consisted of С dm conjunction with two prac 
