286 CHAPTER 21. 
it may fairly be prefumed, that he fatisfied 
himfelf with moderate acquifition. What 
was true of the whole, may by fair analogy 
be applicable to a particular branch of it. 
He had doubtlefs that portion of knowledge 
in the materia me die a of plants, which may 
be confidered as adequate to the ufual de^ 
mand. 
But, that Cowley, in his retirement, 
iliould obtain an exteniive and critical know- 
ledge of botanv> as it flood as a fcience, 
even in his day, could not be expecled His 
fervid genius could fcarcely ftoop to that 
patient inveftigation of nature, by which 
alone it could be acquired. Neither do the 
text, nor the notes, manifeft fufficient proof 
of his intimate acquaintance with thofe au- 
thors of true fame, among the moderns, 
through whofe affiftance the want of that 
information might, in fome meafure, have 
been fupplied. 
Neverthelefs, as, in the language of Dr. 
Johnson, Botany, in the mind of Cow- 
LEY, turned into poetry,'' to thofe who 
are alike enamoured with the charms of 
both, the poems of Cowley muft yield 
delight ^ 
