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Mr Ellis was a native of Ireland, but had settled in London, where he died in 1776. In the early part of his life he engaged in merchandise, and subsequently was employed as agent for West Florida and Dominica. His foreign connexions were the means of furnishing him with rich supplies of curious specimens: and hence both botany and zoology were enriched by him with many discoveries, the most remarkable of which, as we have already mentioned, was that of the animal nature of corals and corallines.
It was to this gentleman that Linnæus recommended his favourite pupil Solander, who came to England in 1759, and who was held in great estimation on account of his politeness and extensive knowledge in natural history. Being engaged by Sir Joseph Banks he accompanied him on his voyage round the world, and on his return was domesticated under his roof as his secretary and librarian. He undertook to describe the objects which had been collected on the voyage; but the dissipation of London society, his other avocations, and the indolence which soon gained upon him, rendered his progress too slow for the expectations of the learned, and in 1782 he was carried off by apoplexy. He seems to have almost forgotten his venerable master, to whom he was under so many obligations, and even his aged mother, several of whose letters to him were found unopened after his death. He was, notwithstanding, a man of considerable merit, and more especially in that he proved the means of establishing the Linnæan doctrines in this country.
Mr Ellis, in return, had the satisfaction of introducing[Pg 349] to the correspondence of Linnæus the celebrated Dr Garden, who had settled at Charleston in South Carolina, where he practised medicine for nearly thirty years. He was a native of Scotland, and received his education at Aberdeen and Edinburgh. During the intervals of leisure which occasionally occurred in the practice of his profession, he directed his attention to the study of botany and zoology. When the differences between Great Britain and her American colonies arose, he took part with the former, and returned to Europe about the end of the war, with his wife and two daughters, leaving, however, a son, who submitted to the new government. He died of pulmonary consumption in 1791, in the sixty-second year of his age.
Dr Garden to Linnæus.
"Charleston, Nov. 30, 1758.
"Sir,—Three years ago I troubled you with a letter by way of Holland, of which I sent also a duplicate; but I fear they have both accidentally miscarried. From that period I have often thought of soliciting afresh your friendship and correspondence, but shame has deterred me. I am well aware that your time must be fully occupied with more valuable correspondents, and that I am likely to be more troublesome than useful, having nothing worthy to repay such an indulgence. I do, however, stand in great need of your advice and assistance in the prosecution of the most delightful of studies; and such is my conviction of the benevolence of your character, that I cannot refrain from writing you another letter. I earnestly beseech you to take this[Pg 350] in good part, and not to refuse me the favour of your friendship. Mr Ellis, in a recent letter, encourages me to believe that my correspondence may not be unwelcome to you, which, you may well suppose, has greatly delighted me; and it has induced me to hope you will pardon this intrusion. I learn from him that you have already written to me; and it has given me no small concern that your letter has never come to hand. I flattered myself, as long as I possibly could, with the prospect of its arrival; but I have now given up all hopes, and am only sensible of my loss and mortification.
"Had it not been for the repeated encouragement of Mr Ellis, I should scarcely ever have ventured to expect that my friendship and correspondence could engage your attention; nor can I now attribute your favour and kindness towards me to any other cause than, probably, to the too partial representations of this friend. I fear that his usual indulgence for me, of which I have had repeated instances, may have prompted him to say more in my recommendation than my abilities deserve, or than truth can justify.
"Of this I am very certain, that if you do deign to correspond with me, I can never repay such a favour as it deserves. Nevertheless, I am ready to receive and to obey your wishes and directions; and if this country should afford any thing worthy of your notice, I will, if you please, make descriptions, or send specimens, with all possible care. Your commands will indeed prove most welcome to me. I have only to request that you will inform me of every thing you want, and of the best methods of preserving and forwarding specimens. Every[Pg 351] opportunity that you may be so good as to afford me of serving you, I shall esteem an honour; and if at the same time you favour me with your advice, and allow me to drink at the fountain of pure botanical science from your abundant stores, I shall esteem it the highest honour, as well as gratification, that I can enjoy.
"Almost every one of your works is already in my hands, and I trust I have thence greatly improved my knowledge of botany. Mr Ellis informs me of your being about printing a new edition of your Systema Naturæ and Genera Plantarum, both which I have ordered to be sent me as soon as they appear. From the riches and erudition of what you have already published, your whole mind being devoted to this one pursuit, I am at no loss to anticipate the still greater degree of information, elegance, and perfection, of your future performances. Nothing, indeed, more excites my wishes, as a certain source of pleasure and improvement, than to be more deeply conversant with your writings; that I may not only profit by your genius, but, at the same time, have the information of the most eminent and approved writers in botany always ready at hand.
"I am disgusted with the coarse and malicious style in which some carping and slanderous critics have attacked these works of yours, the delight and ornament of botanical science. But such men are objects of pity rather than anger. Their blind inclination to find fault leads them so far into the mazes of absurdity, that they censure what ought to afford them nothing but instruction. Their futile reasonings, indeed, fall harmless to the ground, like the dart of Priam from the shield of Pyrrhus.[Pg 352] The works they abuse shine brighter the more strictly they are scrutinized, and will certainly be read with delight by men in every age who are best qualified to appreciate their value. Your censors, when duly weighed themselves, seem to have acquired what they know by application rather than by any great powers of mind; and they make but a poor figure, with all that they can find to say, when they enter into a controversy with a man whose learning has received its last polish from genius. Nor are you, my excellent friend, unsupported in the contest; for you are surrounded by all who have entered on the same studies at the impulse of genius, or under the auspices of Minerva, and whose industry has gradually improved, sharpened, and given the last finish to the powers of their understanding. These stand ready armed for the battle in your defence. They will easily put to flight the herd of plodding labourers; for nature can certainly do much more without learning, than learning without nature.
"If your adversaries and detractors had candidly pointed out the disputable, inconvenient, or faulty parts of your system, for your better consideration and revision, I have no doubt that they would now have found in you a friend and patron, instead of an enemy and conqueror. But they were excited by an envious malignity, and a depraved appetite for controversy, to write without judgment or genius, and to blame without candour or liberality. Not that I pretend to say, that your system is already brought to the supreme point of perfection. That would indeed be a foolish assertion, which your better judgment would at once reject as mere[Pg 353] flattery. But to give due praise to supreme merit in botanical science, and to recommend, as they deserve, your most ingenious and most useful writings, is a duty incumbent on me, as well as on all who are not destitute of every spark of gratitude, for the immense services which your labour and ingenuity have rendered to the whole world. Nor are you, sir, so little able to appreciate your own merits, as not to be perfectly conscious that the attacks alluded to originate in envy, rather than the commendations you receive, in flattery. Compliments out of the question, we certainly ought to give every one his due.
"But it is time to conclude. I venture to enclose for your opinion the characters of a very handsome plant, which seems to me a new genus. I am very anxious that it should bear the name of my much-valued friend, Mr Ellis; and if, upon mature examination, you should judge it to be new, I wish you would correct my description wherever it may be necessary, and publish it in the new edition of your Genera Plantarum, under the name of Ellisia. This plant grows about the bases of the Apalachian Mountains, rising annually from its old roots to the height of about twelve feet, ornamented with whorls of leaves, at the distance of eighteen inches from each other.
"It only remains for me, sir, to beg your pardon for this intrusion. I am well aware how many important labours you have on your hands, and you probably have many more in prospect. Grant me only your friendly assistance in my ardent prosecution of the study of nature; and may you at the same time go on advancing in reputation and success![Pg 354] and after you have given your works to the public, may you long enjoy the honours which your abilities have acquired!
"May God grant you a long life, to investigate the secrets of nature, as well as to improve the powers of your mind in their contemplation! and may your valuable exertions benefit the literary world as long as you live!—Such is my sincere prayer. Farewell!"
