xliii 



and he deserved the praise due to those who pursue a liberal profes- 

 sion^ in a liberal spirit and who form a link between practice and 

 science. 



P. H. P. S. 



Sir Edward Sabine was the fifth son and ninth child of Mr. Joseph 

 Sabine, of Tewin, Herts. The Sabines were originally of Norman 

 extraction, and were settled in Kent, at Patricksbourne, until the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century, when Joseph Sa.bine migrated 

 to Kilmolin, co. Wicklow ; several of his descendants are buried at 

 Powerscourt, in the same county. At one time there was a baronetcy 

 in the family, for John Sabine, of Eyre, in the parish of Gravenhurst, 

 in Bedfordshire, was created a baronet March 2, 1670. He left no 

 male issue, hence the title became extinct. At an earlier period, in 

 1649, one of the name, an Alderman Sabine, left a sum of money for 

 charitable purposes to the city of Canterbury. 



Sir Edward's great grandfather, Joseph Sabine, had served with 

 great distinction in Marlborough's campaigns, and was rewarded with 

 the Governorship of Gibraltar, where he died in 1739. He purchased 

 in 1715 the property of Tewin (sold in 1810). A great uncle was 

 killed at the battle of Fontenoy. 



Sir Edward was born in Great Britain Street, Dublin, October 14, 

 1788, and his mother, Sarah, daughter of Rowland Hunt, Esq., of 

 Boreatton Park, Salop, died within a month of his birth. The child 

 was taken by his father and sisters to the care of a Mrs. Davies, of 

 Bath, a warm friend of his mother's. 



Of his brothers, two made their mark in life. The second, John, 

 was a captain in the 25th Foot, and apparently a good accountant, for 

 he was complimented by the Horse Guards in 1800 for the way in 

 which he had managed the accounts of the regiment. The eldest 

 brother, Joseph, who died in 1837, was a distinguished Fellow of the 

 Society. He was the first secretary to the Horticultural Society, as 

 we learn from the notice of his works, ' Abstracts of the Papers,' 

 vol. iv, p. 15. 



At the age of 14, Edward Sabine went to school at Marlow, and 

 being the quickest among all the boys he was called up by the mathe- 

 matical masters to be examined in order to form the course of 

 instruction at the school. 



In January, 1803, he went to Woolwich, where he remained only 

 one month in each class, and obtained his first commission at the 

 early age of fifteen years and two months, in December, 1803, after a 

 little over ten months as a cadet. So urgent was the occasion that 

 the professors and masters were called on to forego their usual 

 vacation to forward the public service. 



His subsequent commissions were dated as follows : — Captain,, 



