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Dr. RICHARDSON* to his SON at Leyden.

"For Mr. RICHARDSON, at Mr.Van Roger's, a Merchant, in Leyden. "DEAR DICK, North Bierley, Oct. 25, 1730. "I received yours from Rotterdam, and am glad to hear that you got wel thither after so tediouse and tempestiouse a voyage. After you left that place, I received a very obliging letter from Mr. Hudigh, who makes an excuse that he could not attend you to Leyden, but recomended you to a friend to provide lodgings for you, where I am glad to hear that you are so much placed to your likeing. I am well pleased that the Plants were acceptable to Dr. Boerhaave. I hope I may meet with an oppertunity at the spring for sending some more of our English Plants, and alsoe to supply the los of some of those which you caryed, which is to be feared the winter wil take of; being sent so late. The Doctor is very obliging in allowing you the liberty of his garden; you may, perhaps, have an oppertunity of showing him that imperfect list of my garden, which was don for your instruction, and not so correct as to appear before so great a man. He may, perhaps, desire some of our British Plants mentioned in it, which I shall very readily oblige him with, or any thing I have; be pleased to give him my service, and thankes for his obliging letter. In Mr. Hudigh's, he tells me that he paid you to the value of 50l. and sent a bill upon me to Cosin Sam Whaley for the said sum, which Cosin Whaley brought hither a few days before 1 received yours. I was a litle stund at the largenes of the sum, which I answered to him with some difficulty, being not apprised of so great a charge; but I hope you wil make good use of it, and alsoe of your time while you stay in Holland, where you wil meet with greater oppertunitys for your improvement in Physick then in any other place; and when you have occasion to receive more money of Mr. Hudigh and Mr. Farrand, I desire you would give me a litle more notice; for you must be sensible that large summs are not easily answered here, there being at present a great many demands upon me from other quarters; but, if you husband your money and time to the best advantage, you shall want no incouragement that I can give you. I did not give you any list of bookes that I wanted from Holland; only of those I now have, that you might not procure the same again: and for the bookes that I have not in Physick, you wil be informed there which are the most useful that you wil have occasion for. On the reverse you wil find a list of bookes, chiefly in Natural History, which you may purchase

* In these Letters of Dr. Richardson to his Son the orthography is preserved, to shew the indifference with which even the most learned Scholars regarded their vernacular language. Bentley and Warburton were in this respect nearly as careless.

Richard Richardson, Esq.; of whom see before, p. 240.

at your leasure, when you can pick them up cheape, for I have no present occasion for any of them. My Lady Kaye, and litle master, and sister Peggy, came hither yesterday, to stay a few days with us. Sir John is in Craven, and wil be at Bradford on our general day. All friends are well; you have the service of this family, and your Mother's blessing, and alsoe of your affectionate Father, RIC. RICHARDSON.

"Our joynt service to Mr. Denton, who you do not name.”

Sunday night.

"DEAR BROTHER, "It was a great pleasure to me to hear of your safe arrival in Holland after so troublesome a passage. Am glad you are settled so much to your satisfaction, as I am, which I think was pretty much oweing to your good assistance. I believe Sir John wo'd be exceeding glad to have a letter from you; and hope it will not be long before you'l give him that pleasure. I beg you will present my service to Mr. Denton, and accept the same from your very affectionate Sister, and humble servant, D. KAYE*." Sunday night.

"DEAR BROTHER,

"I could not forbear telling you what great concern I was in till I had the satisfaction of hearing you got safe to Rotterdam, and from thence to Leyden, where I wish you all the pleasure and advantage you can desire. I shall think the time very long till I see you again; so that, if I happen to have an ofer (espesaly a good one), I hope you will excuse me if I don't stay to be your Housekeepert; for don't doubt but you may have a much better for life, when ever it is your inclinations.

"I am your very affectionate Sister, MARGARET RICHARDSON." "P. S. I have only roome to tell you how much I am, and ever shall be, your most sincere well-wisher, H. M. C. " "DEAR DICK, Kildwick, May 18, 1731. "I received both your letters, the first a few days after I wrote to you. We were all heare glad to hear of your good health, and that you received the bookes safe. I received a letter not long agoe from Sir Hans Sloane, who very kindly inquired after you. He made me a present of five or six scarce bookes (which I received last weeke); among the rest is Fab. Columna`s Phytobasanos,' which he tels me he has endeaverd to procure for me some years bypast, but could not meet with it til the last weeke. Dr. Chambers had sent me one not long before; as it is a valuable as well as scarce booke, I am glad that I have a duplicate of it. I have now all that that great man has writ,

"Sir Hans is so very obliging as to desire me to send him another list of the scarce bookes I want in Natural History (having already been a very great benefactor to my library), which I designe to do in a litle time. I find in 'Car. Clusius's Translation

Mother of the Rev. Sir Richard Kaye, Bart. See p. 248. + This Lady died, unmarried, in 1764. See p. 249.

I Henrietta-Maria Currer, born in 1694-5; died at York, unmarried, and was buried at Kildwick.

of

of Bellonius's Observations in Greece, &c. out of French into Latin,' and printed at the end of his booke of Exoticks, a list of all Bellonius's workes he ever printed; amongst the rest several that I never heard of before; viz. De Insectis, De Serpentibus, De Agriculturâ, et Comentaria in Diascoridem.' His booke De Aquatilibus' I would have you to buy; and if a perfect coppy is not to be met with, afterwards we may get the printed part transcribed, and the figures designed. I have not yet got from Dr. Chambers the remaining part of the French Transactions, but expect them dayly. In your Library at Leyden (formerly belonging to the famouse Vossius) you wil find Rawulfius's Collection of Plants he made in his Travels through Turkey, upon Mount Libanus, &c. His Itenerary was writ in High Dutch, and not long agoe translated into English, to which Mr. Ray added two or three Cataloges of Plants.

"My garden now seems on a sudaine very beautyfull, every thing being very much grown since the warme weather came in. Dr. Chambers has ingaged me to dry for him a considerable number of Plants in the garden, which I observe to do as they appear. If I get time, and keepe wel as I now am, I wil have a revewe of the garden, and add to the Catalogue what I have not as yet taken notice of, and number them, especially the Perennals.

"Mr. Brewer has taken part of my Cosin Pollard's house and the garden, and has removed already the greatest part of his Plants, &c. thither.

"Mr. Wilkinson has broaken his arme from a fall from his horse a few days agoe: I sent to inquire after him, and I hear he is like to do wel.

"Sir John Kaye is stilat London, but is exspected here very shortly. Your sister Haret and poor Tom* are stil at the Grange; they came to dine at Bierley on Thursday last with Mr. Yarbrough and his lady, who were so kind as to stay a weeke with us; and I came hither yesterday to attend them.

" I yesterday put up a box of Plants for Professor Van Royen, and sent them to Hull, with my request to Dr. Chambers to forward them to Holland by the first oppertunity. Be pleased to give my service to the Professor, and in my next to you wil write to him. The Plants in the box are numbered according to the list on the reverse. If I find that these come to you safe, I hope I shall be able to send the Professor the greatest part of the rest he desires at another oppertunity.

"You have mine and mother's blessing; Jack+ and Peg's service, along with the service of Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough, and of this family. I shall be glad to oblige Mr. Gronovius with any thing from hence. Our service to Mr. Denton.

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"Your affectionate Father,

* The Doctor's youngest son. See p. 248.

+ The Doctor's sixth son, see p. 244.

RIC. RICHARDSON."

"DEAR

"DEAR DICK, North Bierley, Sept. 20, 1731. "You wil perhaps now thinke the time long since you heard from your friends in Yorkshire. I deferred writing to you longer than I designed, in hopes to have heard some good account of the box you sent; but, as long as the wind continues Westerly, I can scarce expect to see it here. Upon the receipt of your last letter, I wrote to Dr. Chambers, to give him notice of the box, and desired him to forward it hither; but I have since heard nothing from him, though I sent him above 60 specimens of Plants which he desired from hence; and I knowe that he has some bookes for me that I have subscribed for, as Burman's edition of ' Rei Venaticæ Scriptores,' and a volume or two of the French Philosophical Transactions, and some others, which I know he wil send with your box. If it be kept dry, wherever it is, the damage wil not be great; if the roots come hither any time this month, they wil not be too late for planting, and I hope the bookes wil not suffer much if kept in a dry place.

"I am glad to hear that the box of Plants I sent the Professor came to you in so good order. Dr. Chambers gave me an account that the box stayd but two days at Hull before it was shiped of, which was very fortunate, for such speedy passages do not often happen; what has miscaryed in the passage, or since, I wil endeavoure to make good to the Professor at the Spring upon notice, to whome I desire my best service.-I have this season received several presents of beautyfull flowers, a box of roots of Iris Susiana I. Calcedonica from Mr. Ward, with whom it flowers and increases abundantly; it is a beautyfull flower, and very scarce in this country. With them he also sent me severall sorts of Ranunculus. From Campsall I had a box of Tulips, which are said to be the best in Yorkeshire; and from Mr. Blackburn of Orford.in Lancashire a large stock of Anemonies.-All friends at the Grange are wel. Our Kildwick friends are now with theire relations about Doncaster, &c. You have mine and your mother's blessing, and service of friends. Yours affectionately, R. RICHARDSON.". "DEAR DICK, North Bierley, Oct. 23, 1731.

"I have not the entire workes of Olaus Wormius, though I have seen severall of them in Auction Catalogues. His Museum I have, and alsoe a later edition of it, with conciderable additions by Oliger. Jacobæus; also his 'Monumenta Danica:' this and all the rest of his workes relate either to the recovery of the Runick character (in which he has been very succesfull), which before his time was entirely neglected; or else to the Antiquities of Denmark and other Northern nations. Fewe of his bookes wil ever be reprinted; you may perhaps meet with some of them before you leave Holland, which is the only place to pick up scarce bookes.

"I have had presents from several friends, in order to tempt me again to be a Florist ; viz. Anemonies, Ranunculus, Tulips, and a great stock of Iris Calcedonica, a beautyfull and scarce Plant in this country. You wil see great varieties of Iris bulbosa major and minor in Holland the next summer; of the first sort I have still a

pretty

pretty good collection, but of the latter I have very few left, though I bave formerly had above twenty varieties. These by Tournefort are called Xiphyon, though I thinke he had as good have retained the old name of Iris, which is known to all, then have trumpt up a new Greek name, which to me seems les proper. In the spring I doubt not but you wil some time looke into the Flowermarket, where you wil be diverted with all the varieties of the season, and amongst the rest meet with plenty of the Snowdrop I have described to you. /

"I lately received a letter from your Brother; they both complain of losses amongst theire Greens by the severity of the frost. I hope I have hitherto escaped pretty wel, and may be in a condition to supply Professor Van Rowen with most of the Plants he had from hence, if he desire them. The Oriental Hyacinths you sent me, with the rest of the roots from Holland, seem to be in a flourishing state; but very few of the great number of Frittilaries appear. The single Snowdrop, the double one, and the summer one, are above ground, but the Leucoium bulbosum majus tribus petalis majoribus et albis, I fear, is gon, which is the only one I want. Hyacinthus flore carneo, I fear, is lost. I am in hopes to recover the six sorts of Cyclamen vernum flore odorato, though they are very poor. The Cyclamen Anemones radice flore purpureo minore odorato is quite lost.

My Brother Currer's children are here, very healthfull and good. I have at last purchased Dean house for you, but with some difficulty, and too dear. My wife had lately an account that her aunt Ward was dead, and had left her a small legacy.

"All our friends here and at the Grange are wel, and at Kildwicke. Mr. Rookes of Dewsbury is here. You have mine and your mother's blessing. Sister Harret Currer and Peggy are much at your service. Your affectionate Father, Ric. RICHARDSON." "DEAR DICK, North Bierley, April 1, 1732. "Your letter of March the 18th came to me some time agoe; and a fewe days since I received a letter from Stockton, which gave me an account that you had received 50l. of Mr. Whaley, &c. for which Cosin Ferrand desired a London bill, which I procured, and sent to her immediately after. I have heard nothing from Mr. Thorpe since my last to you: but the young gentleman being of age only the 25th of this month, I expect to hear from him shortly. There is nothing done in relation to the sale of the farms in Barkisland. J. Fielding has made me an offer of purchasing that which he has given me so much trouble about; but I do not expect he wil come up to my price, and I do not designe that he shall have it one farthing cheaper than a stranger. "Dr. Chambers sent me the Seeds from Hull about a weeke agoe, for which I am obliged to Professor Van Royen, and had quarters ready for them, so that I lost no time, but sew them immediately. He sent with them a very obliging letter, and a list of such Plants and Seeds that he wanted for the Physick-garden, and alsoe desired specimens of several of our English Plants. I

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