February 12. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
299 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M W 
Dj D 
FEBRUARY 12—18, 1852. 
! Weatherwear London in 1851. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day 0 
Year 
Barometer, 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in In. 
12 Th 
30.152 — 30.040 
46—27 
W. 
06 
23 a. 7 
6 a. 5 
0 
50 
€ 
14 
32 
43 
13 F 
Green Woodpecker cries. 
30.074 — 30.002 
47—34 
s.w. 
— 
21 
8 
2 
7 
23 
14 
31 
44 
14 S 
Valentine. 
30.235 — 30.170 
46—27 
E. 
— 
19 
10 
! 3 
21 
24 
14 
29 
45 
15 Sun 
Sexagesima Sunday. 
30.351 — 30.270 
48—18 
s. 
— 
17 
12 
4 
27 
25 
14 
27 
4(3 
16 M 
Rooks build. 
30.261 —30.166 
45—17 
S.E. 
— 
15 
13 
5 
25 
26 
14 
24 
47 
17 Tu 
Partridges pair. 
30.112—30.061 
47—34 
S.W. 
— 
14 
15 
6 
12 
27 
14 
20 
48 
18 W 
30.015 — 29.965 
57-47 
S.W. 
— 
12 
17 
6 
49 
28 
14 
16 
49 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera¬ 
tures of these days are 45.9° and 32° respectively. The greatest heat, 5/°, occurredon the 17 th in 1847 > and the lowest cold, 18° on the 18th 
in 1845. During the period 111 days were fine, and on 64 rain fell. 
I 
Whenever we liear it said of any one—“ He is an en¬ 
thusiast,” we are always prepared to hear of a character not 
only capable of excellence, hut adapted for etfecting bene¬ 
ficial changes. We picture to ourselves a form of which 
Ciesar would have said—“Would he were fatter,” for en¬ 
thusiasts usually have “ a lean and hungry look, and think 
too much.” To such men as these we owe all improvements 
in the arts and sciences, whilst the “ sleek-headed men, and 
such as sleep o’ nights,” usually are contented with the en¬ 
joyment of things as they are, and remain well-satisfied if 
that sleep is unbroken, and that head never bedewed with 
perspiration. Without enthusiasm, a man may be a very 
worthy, enduring, personage, but he will never be a great 
character; he will escape many mistakes and disappoint¬ 
ments, but he will also miss much that is useful, and still 
more of bright and solid satisfaction, die will never rush 
out naked, like Archimedes, crying—“ I have found it—I 
have found it!” but on the other hand, he never makes a 
discovery so important as to excuse him for being forgetful 
of his shirt. 
Among the wildest of enthusiasts in our days, would be 
classed the private gentleman who not only proposed, but 
set to work to raise ten thousand pounds for a charitable 
object, by the sale of plants ! Yet such a man in the last 
century was the Reverend William Hanbury, and, what 
will surprise some of our readers more, he went very far 
towards accomplishing his object. 
Mr. Hanbury, when twenty-six years of age, in 1751, 
finding the collections of seeds and plants which he could 
then obtain from nurserymen were very limited, resolved to 
establish a nursery in his parish of Church Langton, in 
Leicestershire, not with any intention to appropriate the 
profits to himself, but to raise LTO,fiOO, and to devote this to 
the improvement of the church, and the establishment of 
various charities. 
Objects so praiseworthy, one might anticipate could have 
met with no enemies ; yet, true it is, that two maiden ladies 
resident in the parish to be benefited, adopted every 
measure within their power to frustrate Mr. Hanbury’s 
beneficent design. They succeeded so far as to retard it 
two years ; for having, with the consent of the parishioners, 
planted twenty thousand trees on a piece of copyhold land, 
on which they had a right ol' common, these two ladies, 
withdrawing their approval, had the fence broken down, and 
annuals entitled to pasture turned in at a time of the year 
when t he trees were incapable of removal, and were conse¬ 
quently destroyed. The names of these two ladies deserve 
to be commemorated—they were Mrs. Pickering, and Mrs. 
Byrd. 
It is useless to follow these two lady-furies through their 
various efforts to annoy Mr. Hanbury, but it is an exlii- 
lirating fact that he pressed forward firmly and success¬ 
fully, and in 1705, from the profits of the nursery, built 
an organ, put up three new bells, and erected a gallery 
in the church, besides having a surplus of AT500. With 
this, and other additions, he purposed to found a college, 
and other beneficial endowments, but death came upon 
him before he could realize his intentions. He died on 
the 28th of February, 1778, in his bill’d year, and liis 
remains are deposited in a mausoleum built by himself, 
the inside’ of which, by his own direction, is of the best 
stucco, and a bright yellow. The coffin is covered with 
black velvet, and ornamented with silver furniture, which 
are to be repaired as often as they become tarnished. On a 
compartment opposite the door is placed the bust of the 
founder, and under it these w’ords : “ I will not suffer mine 
eyes to sleep, nor the temples of my head to take rest, until 
I have found out a place for the temple of the Lord.”—Ps. 
cxxxii. 45. On the other side, over the door, is written, 
“ Thou, 0 Lord, hast heard my desires, and hast given an 
heritage unto those wdio fear thy name.”—Ps. lxi. 5. These 
compartments are black, and the letters are gold. The 
inside of the mausoleum is to be kept perfectly clean, and 
the door set open every morning, excepting in hazy, misty, 
or rainy weather, in summer by five in the morning till 
seven in the evening; decreasing in proportion till the 
winter quarter, when from ten till three in the afternoon j 
may be found sufficient airing. And a cell is to be built for j 
a woman of irreproachable character, who is to be allowed | 
2s. (id. a week to keep it in proper order. The trustees of j 
the Hanbury charity are enjoined to the due observance of j 
the above regulations. 
“ With a firmness of mind equal to the benevolence of I 
his heart,” says Mr. Gough, “ Mr. Hanbury seemed, in the j 
course of about 29 years, to have brought to the utmost j 
degree of maturity and stability human affairs are capable j 
of, this singular undertaking, of raising from a plantation of 
all the various trees, plants, Ac., the world produces, a 
yearly fund of near .€10,000, sufficient to relieve the dis¬ 
tressed, instruct the ignorant, adorn the parish, and benefit 
this and the neighbouring county of Rutland, as long as 
integrity and public spirit subsist in Britain, or dare to defy 
singularity and censure. This generous design claims a 
place here on a double account. We antiquaries have great 
obligations to this liberal founder, w r ho has appropriated a 
part of this fund to the compiling and publishing a History 
of every County of England, by a Professor appointed on ! 
purpose.” 
To aid in raising the fund he desired, he began publishing 1 
in 1760, in sixpenny numbers, A complete body of Planting 
and Gardening. It filled 150 numbers, w r as completed in 
1773, and remains in two large folio volumes a monument 
of the author’s industry. Those who wish for fuller details 
of his struggles and labours to effect his object, will find 
them in another work, published by him in 17G7, entitled, 
A History of the rise and progress of the Charitable Founda¬ 
tions at Church Langton. Nor is the undertaking without 
its laureat, for we have now a volume before us from thq 
pen of a gentleman, rendered insignificant by his name of 
JVofy, in which volume is a poem entitled Church Langton , ! 
where, dwelling on Mr. Hanbury’s plan, he says ;— 
“ No churchman dignified, no prelate high, 
Proposed the scheme, or aided its supply, 
No heir of fortune, no distinguished man 
Of rank or birth gave sanction to the plan. 
If dissipation, with all follies fraught, 
Hath not extinguish’d ev’ry finer thought. 
Start, grandeur! start and blush ! when thou art told 
A truth the muse with pleasure must unfold. 
A generous Rector, a mere plain Divine, 
Alone, unaided, form’d the vast design, 
K’en at a time when headstrong passions rule, 
And oft degrade the wisest to a fool. 
Yet here did youthful genius start aside, 
Nor wanted dull experience for a guide ; 
Rare proof that genius of itself can climb 
The steep of art without the help of time.” 
No. CLXXVI., Vol. Vllf 
