Sir Hans Sloane

Originally published in volume 13, Thick-Skinned Quadrupeds.

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Whatever may have been the influence of Sir Hans Sloane on the progress of Natural History in his day, (and we believe it to have been considerable,) to the present generation he is most advantageously known as the founder of the British Museum; it may not, therefore, be uninteresting, before relating his personal history, to give some account of the private museums that were in existence previous to his time, especially as some of them merged into his own splendid collection, which ultimately became the property of the public.

The first attempt at forming a Museum in Britain, was made early in the seventeenth century, by John Tradescant, a native of Holland, who is supposed to have arrived in this country during the reign of Elizabeth, and afterwards to have been in the service of the Lord Treasurer Salisbury, and Lord Wooton. He travelled into various parts of Europe, and, in 1620, was on board of a vessel forming pari of a fleet sent against the Algerines. Availing himself of that opportunity of pursuing his favourite studies, he collected plants from Barbary and the Mediterranean Islands, and a few years after we find him settled at Lambeth, where he founded a celebrated Botanic Garden; and, in 1629, obtained the title of Gardener to the King, (Charles I.) Here he established his museum, which was the wonder of the age, and was known as Tradescant’s Ark. It was much frequented by the principal nobility, who contributed specimens; and among the names of these his “benefactors,” as he terms them, appear those of the King and Queen, Archbishop Laud, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, &c.

At what period he died, we are not informed, though it is conjectured about 1652; he was certainly dead in 1656, when his son published a catalogue of the contents of his “Ark,” under the following title: “Musæum Tradescantianum; or a Collection of Rarities Preserved at South Lambeth, near London.” He arranges “the materialls” under

two sorts; one Naturall, of which some are more familiarity known and named amongst us, as divers sorts of birds, four-footed beasts, and fishes, to whom I have given usual English names. Others are less familiar; and, as yet, unfitted with apt English terms, as the shell-creatures, insects, minerals, outlandish-fruits, and the like, which are part of the Materia Medica (encroachers upon that faculty may try how they can crack such shells.) The other sort is Artificials, as utensills, householdstuffe, habits, instruments of warre used by several nations, rare curiosities of art, See. These are also expressed in English, (saving the coynes, which would vary but little if translated,) for the ready satisfying whomsoever may desire a view thereof. The catalogue of my garden I have also added in the conclusion, (and given the names of the plants both in Latin and English,) that nothing may be wanting which at present comes within view, and might be expected from, your ready friend, John Tradescant.

The work, which is now exceedingly rare, contains engraved portraits by Hollar, of the father and son. Under the father’s head is the following inscription:—

Johannes Tradescantus Pater, rerum selectarum insignem supellectilem in Reconditorio Lambethiano, prope Londinum, etiamnum visendam primus instituit ac locupletavit.

Under that of the son are these lines,

Johannes Tradescantus Filius, genii ingeniique paterni verus heres, relictum sibi rerum undique congestarum thesaurum, ipse plurimum adauxit et in Museo Lambethiano amicis visendum exhibet.

In a very short time after this, the family became extinct, for the son who inherited the museum died in 1662. He, by a deed of gift, dated December 16, 1659, had bestowed the collection on Elias Ashmole, who lodged in his house, and had obtained great celebrity by the publication of his “Theatrum Chymicum Britannicum.” Mrs Tradescant, however, the donor’s widow, contested Ashmole’s right to the Museum, which obliged him to prefer a bill in Chancery against her; and it was not till 1674, that, pursuant to a decree of the court, she delivered up the property.

Ashmole materially increased the collection in various departments, but more particularly in coins, medals, and manuscripts. In October, 1677, he offered to give the whole to the University of Oxford, provided they would erect a building fit to receive them, to which proposition the University willingly assented. On Thursday, May 15, 1678, the first stone of the Ashmolean Museum was laid; and being finished in March, 1682, the collection was transferred there, and the articles arranged by Dr Plot. On the 21st of May following, the building was opened for public inspection, and was visited by the Duke of York, (afterwards James II.) with his Duchess, and the Princess Anne, (afterwards Queen of England.) It may be proper to mention, that among the remnants of Tradescant’s collection still preserved, there are the bill and foot of the Dodo, (Didus ineptus, Lin.¹) a bird no longer in existence.

It was first seen by the Dutch when they landed on the Isle of France, at that time uninhabited, immediately after the discovery of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope. It was of a large size and singular form; its wings short, like those of an Ostrich, and wholly incapable of sustaining its heavy body even for a short flight. In its general appearance it differed from the Ostrich, Cassowary, or any known bird.²

Mr Lyell says,

The death of a species is so remarkable an event in Natural History, that it deserves commemoration; and it is with no small interest that we learn from the archives of the University of Oxford, the exact day and year when the remains of the last specimen of the Dodo, which had been permitted to rot in the Ashmolean Museum, were cast away. The relics, we are told, were “a Museo subducta, annuente Vice-cancellario aliisque curatoribus, ad ea lustranda convocatis die Januarii, 8vo, 1755.”

That the specimen was entire in Tradescant’s time we have proof, as it is enumerated among his “Whole Birds,” in the following terms:³—

Dodar, from the Island Mauritius; it is not able to fly, being so big.⁴

And as illustrating the history of another species, that is now almost extirpated from this country, may be mentioned his notice of the Bustard, (Otis tarda,)

as big as a Turkey, usually taken by grayhounds on Newmarket heath.

To Tradescant succeeded two other celebrated collectors of natural curiosities,—William Courten, Esq. and Mr James Petiver. The former was the grandson of a wealthy merchant, whom James I. created a baronet, and was born in the parish of Fenchurch, in London, March 28, 1642. His father having become insolvent the following year, he quitted the kingdom, and died at Florence in 1655. The son appears to have received a good education notwithstanding, and early in life was sent to complete his studies abroad; and at Montpelier is supposed to have first met with Sir Hans Sloane, with whom he soon formed an intimacy that ripened into a friendship, which continued, without interruption, to the end of his life. Soon after he came of age, he returned to London for the purpose of recovering the remainder of his father’s and grandfather’s fortunes from the hands of a Mr Carew, who had obtained letters of administration to the estates of the Courten family; but, after some time, he compromised the case, and,

by a bond, surrendered all claims to the administration, for valuable considerations not specified; adding, that whatever he had received from the wrecks of the fortune of his father, was ex dono et gratia, and not ex jure. He even relinquished his family name of Courten, and assumed that of William Charlton, and publicly announced his intention of quitting England, and living in a strange land.⁵

He is supposed to have remained abroad many years, and it must have been during this interval that he became acquainted with Sloane. In 1669, he began to collect coins and medals. To what extent his curiosities increased may be seen from the following notices of his museum, gleaned from the contemporary Diaries of Evelyn and Thoresby.

December 16, 1686, I carried the Countesse of Sunderland to see the rarities of one Mr Charlton, in the Middle Temple, who shew’d us such a collection as I had never seen in all my travels abroad, either of private gentlemen or princes. It consisted of miniatures, drawings, shells, insects, medals, natural things, animals, (of which divers, I think one hundred, were kept in glasses of spirits of wine,) minerals, precious stones, vessels, curiosities in amber, christal, agate, &c. all being very perfect and rare in their kind, especially his books of birds, fish, flowers, and shells, drawn and miniatured to the life. He told us that one book stood him in £300; it was painted by that excellent workman whom the late Gaston, Duke of Orleans, employed. This gentleman’s whole collection, gathered by himself travelling over most parts of Europe, is estimated at £8000. He appears to be a modest and obliging person.⁶

March 11, 1690, I went again to see Mr Charlton’s curiosities, both of art and nature, and his full and rare collection of medals, which, taken altogether, in all kinds, is doubtless one of the most perfect assemblage of rarities that can be any where seen. I much admired the contortions of the thea root, which was so perplexed, large, and intricate, and, withal, hard as box, that it was wonderful to consider.⁷

November 30, 1691, I again saw Mr Charlton’s collection of spiders, birds, scorpions, and other serpents, &c.⁸

Thoresby thus mentions it under the date of May 24, 1695.

Walked to Mr Charlton’s chambers at the Temple, who very courteously shewed me his museum, which is, perhaps, the most noble collection of natural and artificial curiosities, of ancient and modern coins and medals, that any private person in the world enjoys; it is said to have cost him £7000 or £8000 sterling; there is, I think, the greatest variety of insects and animals, corals, shells, petrifactions, &c. that ever I beheld. But I spent the greatest part of my time amongst the coins; for though the British and Saxon be not very extraordinary, yet his silver coins of the emperors and consuls is very noble. He has also a costly collection of medals of eminent persons in church and state, domestic and foreign reformers. But before I was half satisfied, an unfortunate visit from the Countess of Pembroke, and other ladios from court, prevented farther queries, &c.⁹

Obadiah Walker’s treatise on “Greek and Roman History, illustrated by coins and medals,”¹⁰ is dedicated to “William Charlton of the Middle Temple, Esq.” in which he says,

your eminency in this study, and your plentiful and (not without great skill and difficulty! well chosen treasure, both for this and other parts of Natural History, and your unparalleled readiness to further and assist all ingenious lovers of this most copious and gentle study, do justly challenge a more universal and public testimony of your singular worth and eminent goodness.

He died at Kensington Gravel Pits, March 26, 1702, aged sixty, and was buried in the churchyard of that parish, having bequeathed his museum to Sir Hans Sloane.

Mr Petiver was a wealthy apothecary, who resided in Aldersgate street, in London, “a person,” says Sloane, “sufficiently known by his understanding in Natural History all over the world!” He distributed printed lists and directions among captains and surgeons of ships, bound to foreign parts; and by these means procured a very extensive and valuable collection, of which he published short catalogues at successive dates, as his curiosities increased. The first commences in 1695, and is entitled “Musei Peteveriani, Centuria Prima, Rariora Naturæ continens, viz. Animalia, Fossilia, Plantas, ex variis Mundi Plagis advecta, Ordine digesta, et Nominibus Propriis Signata.” These were continued to the number of ten centuries, the last being published in 1703, and of course describing one thousand articles; the greater part, however, are plants. He also enumerates his “generous benefactors,” and to the list appends the following amusing

P.S. I hope the generous example of these curious persons will excite and encourage others, who travel to or reside in foreign parts, to do the like for me; especially, since the preserving of all animals, vegetables, and fossils, is so easily performed according to my printed directions, which I am ready and free to give to all such as will be so kind to make collections for me, and, as I have elsewhere hinted, the most common as well as rare,—i. e. whatever they meet with, either of plants, shells, insects, fossils, &c.—will be highly acceptable to me, and shall, on all occasions, be gratefully acknowledged by your most obliged and humble servant, James Petiver.

He died, April 20, 1718, and his museum was purchased by Sir Hans Sloane for L.4000,—an immense sum for that period, when the value of money was so much greater than at present.

Having thus traced the first of these collections till it was rendered of general utility by being placed at the service of the public, and the other two into the possession of the individual who so laudably adopted the same plan in their final disposal, we now offer a brief notice of the life of the generous testator.

Alexander Sloane, a native of Scotland, was at the head of that colony of his countrymen which James I. settled in the north of Ireland. He became collector of taxes for the county of Down, and after the restoration of Charles II. commissioner of Array; he died at Killileigh, in that county, in 1666, where, on the 16th of April, 1660, his seventh and youngest son, Hans, was born.¹¹ Being naturally of a delicate constitution, which excluded him from the usual boisterous pursuits of youth, he appears to have had recourse to the study of nature at a very early age; and having determined on following the medical profession, entered on the necessary studies with diligence and ardour. But at the age of sixteen, these were unfortunately interrupted by a spitting of blood, with which he then became afflicted. This confined him to his chamber for three years. By a rigid course of temperance, abstaining entirely from wine and other fermented liquors, he succeeded in conquering the disease, and his own prudence induced him to continue ever after in a great degree to adhere to the same strict regimen. It was his favourite maxim,

that sobriety, temperance, and moderation, are the best preservatives that nature has vouchsafed to mankind;

and he himself was certainly a proof of its efficacy, as by attention to this maxim, his own life far exceeded the allotted period of man’s ordinary existence.

Upon his recovery, he resorted to London for the purpose of attending his professional studies. The Botanic Garden at Chelsea had at that time very recently been established by the Company of Apothecaries.¹² Here he became an indefatigable student, attending also lectures on chemistry, anatomy, and physic. At this period, he formed an acquaintance with the two eminent philosophers, Boyle and Ray, with whom he ever after lived on the most friendly terms. After four years of severe application in London, for his farther improvement he determined to visit the Continent; and in company with two fellow students, one of whom was Mr (afterwards Sir Tancred) Robinson, crossed over to Dieppe, and from thence to Paris, where he attended the botanical lectures of the celebrated Tournefort, and those of Du Verney for anatomy; at the conclusion of which, he visited Montpelier, taking with him letters of recommendation from Tournefort to Monsieur Chirac, then chancellor and professor of that University; by which means, he obtained introductions to all the learned of that neighbourhood. Being delighted with the attentions he received from Monsieur Magnol, the professor of botany, whose herbarizing excursions in the neighbourhood he always attended, he parted from his two companions, who continued their travels in Italy, while he remained for a twelve-month collecting plants; and then, pursuing the same occupation as he travelled through Languedoc, he returned to Paris by way of Thoulouse and Bourdeaux. After a short residence in the metropolis, he set out for England in the latter end of 1684, with an intent to settle and follow his profession, having, it is believed, taken his degree of M.D. at Montpelier.

Soon after his return to London, he became acquainted with the celebrated Dr Sydenham, in whose family he became domesticated, and was by him introduced to professional practice. On the 26th November, 1684, he was proposed by Dr Martin Lister, as a candidate for the Royal Society, of which he was elected a member on the 21st of January following. From this time, he became a regular attendant on and frequent contributor to the society; so that, in July the same year, he was a competitor for the office of their assistant secretary, but Dr Halley was the successful candidate, being elected by a majority of sixteen, the numbers being twenty-five and nine. On the 12th of April, 1687, he was chosen a Fellow of the College of Physicians.

Flattering as were his prospects at home at this period, he did not hesitate to accept an appointment abroad, which promised to afford him the means of enlarging his knowledge of Natural History and Medicine. The Duke of Albemarle having been appointed governor of Jamaica, applied to his physician, Doctor Barwick, to recommend him a proper person to accompany him to the colony in a professional capacity, who consulted Sloane on the occasion. This appeared to the latter too tempting an opportunity for self-improvement to neglect, and having asked a short time to consider the matter, offered himself, and was accepted. In a letter to Ray, Sloane thus mentions the subject:

I have talked a long while of going to Jamaica with the Duke of Albemarle as his physician; which, if I do, next to the serving his grace and family in my profession, my business is to see what I can meet withal that’s extraordinary in nature in these places. I hope to be able to send you some observations from thence, God Almighty granting life and strength to do what I design,¹³

to which Ray replies,

If you go to Jamaica, I pray you a safe and prosperous voyage. We expect great things from you, no less than the resolving all our doubts about the names we meet with of plants in that part of America, as the Dildoe, Mammee, Mangrove, Manchinello, Avellanse purgatrices, the Sower-sop and Custard apple.¹⁴ Of most of which, though I am pretty well informed and satisfied by Dr Robinson, yet I shall be glad to be either confirmed, or better informed by so knowing and curious an observer as yourself. I should be glad to know what manner of fruit the Mandioca bears; for, whatever some have written, that it is not without, I am confident. You may also please to observe, whether there be any species of plants common to America and Europe, and whether Ambergrise be the juice of any sort of metal or aloe dropt into the sea,¹⁵ as Trapham would have it. What kind of Arundo it is, the same author calls the Dumb-cane; as also what his animal seeds may be. The shining barks of trees which he mentions deserves observation, because I find nothing of them in other writers, &c.¹⁶

With these instructions he prepared for his voyage; and at length, on Monday, September 12, 1687, he went on board his Majesty’s ship, Assistance, forty-four guns, commanded by Captain Lawrence Wright, then lying at Spithead. They weighed anchor the same afternoon, and reached Madeira on Friday, 21st October. He says,

Considering that this island had not been very anciently inhabited, being but discovered in the fourteenth century, and that common fame relates all the inhabitants hereof to be criminals banished hither, I expected to have found a great deal of barbarity and rudeness here, and nothing else; but on going ashore, I was very much disappointed, for I have not seen any where more accomplished gentlemen than here, having all the civility one could desire.

His medical skill was in great demand during the ten days he remained here; but on Sunday they quitted the island, and two days after, he notices that they

first took dolphins with fis-gigs, or sharp arrow-headed or bearded irons, fitted with poles of about ten feet long, lead for the more convenient striking them, and a rope or line tied to them to hold the fis-gig, which is shot at them by the strength of the hand, when they come within reach of those waiting for them, usually on some of the yardarms, backhead, or poop; in which fishing, the great matter seems to be, to allow for the refraction of the water. They were laid in wait for, not only so, but likewise with lines and hooks, which were hung out, baited with rags, in the shape of flying fish, and so adjusted as to hang, sometimes to touch the water, at others not, according to the waves, thereby imitating the flying-fish, which the dolphins pursue with great greediness. Dolphins are reckoned the swiftest swimmers that are, their bodies being contrived for that purpose. There is as much pleasure in seeing them pursue the flying fish as in hunting or hawking; the flying-fish getting out of the water, where the dolphins cannot pursue them.

They cooked one they had caught, which, Sloane observes,

was dry, though pretty good victuals, and well tasted; the nearer the head the more it is prized: although,

he humorously adds,

I am apt to think, that if this fish, so much commended by sailors, were ashore in a market where other fish were to be had, it would not be counted so great a delicacy.

On the 25th November, they reached Barbadoes, where they were hospitably entertained by Sir Edwin Steed, the governor. Sloane says,

For my own part, I liked so well the dessert after dinner, which consisted of shaddocks, guavas, pines, mangrove-grapes, and other unknown fruits in Europe, that I thought all my fatigues well bestowed when I came to have such a pleasant prospect.

He enjoyed these luxuries for ten days, when they again put to sea, and passed St Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadaloupe, Montserrat, and once more landed at Nevis, on Friday, December 9th, but quitted it again on the 11th, and in five hours reached St Christophers, at that time occupied by both French and English, the former being in possession of the extremities, and our countrymen of the centre. The governor

treated his Grace the Duke of Albemarle; and the French governor, hearing of his coming ashore, sent him a compliment by an officer.

From thence they proceeded by St Eustache, Saba, Santa Cruz, Mona, Altabella,

famous for turtles, where are a great many eggs laid by them in the sand, which are there hatched,

and Hispaniola; and, finally, on the 19th December, they came into Port Royal Harbour.

Dr Sloane had, during the voyage, availed himself of every opportunity of examining the natural productions of the different islands at which he touched. In botany, more particularly, he made great collections, and anticipated a rich harvest, now that he had reached Jamaica, when an unexpected event blighted all his prospects in this quarter. The Duke of Albemarle died almost as soon as he had landed; and the Duchess, naturally anxious to return to England, only awaited instructions from the Court at home, in reply to her notification of the Duke’s decease. During the necessary interval, the doctor assiduously exerted himself, and visited all parts of the island. He recorded in a journal a description of every natural curiosity; he collected about eight hundred plants, and employed an artist to make drawings of the birds, fishes, insects, shells, and fruits. Some of his observations, selected at random, will probably amuse readers of the present day.

I was somewhat surprised to see serpents, rats, and lizards, sold for food, and that to understanding people, and of a very good and nice palate; but what of all those things was most unusual, and to my great admiration, was the great esteem was set on a sort of cossi or timber-worms, called cotton tree worms by the Negroes or Indians.

The two following stories are much akin to the marvellous relations we frequently meet with in the American newspapers.

There was an alligator that used to do abundance of mischief to the people’s cattle in the neighbourhood, having his regular course to look for prey. One of the inhabitants there, as I was told, tied a long cord to his bedstead, and to the other end of the cord fastened a piece of wood and a dog, so that the alligator, swallowing the dog and piece of wood, the latter came cross his throat as it was designed, and after pulling his bedstead to the window, and awakening the person in bed, he was caught. Alligators love dogs extremely, but prey also on cattle. This alligator was nineteen feet long.

I once went to visit Mr Rowe, a sick person, at St Jago de la Vega, in Jamaica, in a morning, and found him more than ordinarily discomposed; for that the ants, by eating in the night some of the joints of his bedstead, his bed of a sudden had fallen to the ground.

Mr Knapp, in his elegant and highly interesting “Journal of a Naturalist,”¹⁷ has remarked how slowly the potato was received into England as an article of food, and that it was entirely confined to the use of the lower classes for many years.¹⁸ An observation of Sloane’s (writing so late as 1707, be it observed) may be adduced in confirmation of this fact. In speaking of the great variety of food mankind is sustained by, he says,¹⁹

Many live on the Irish patatas, a sort of Solarium, on which, I have heard, they live in the mines of Potosi, and in Ireland;

and in his Account of Jamaica Plants,²⁰ he describes the potato in the following terms:

The root is tuberous; for shape and bigness very uncertain; but being for the most part oblong, as big as a hen’s egg; from a swelled middle tapering to both extremes; yellow and sweet within; when roasted, tasting like a boiled chestnut, and having many fibrils by which it draws its nourishment. The stalks are green, a little covered, and creeping for many feet in length along the surface of the earth, and putting forth leaves and flowers at every inch’s distance, &c.

In four months after planting, they are ready to be gathered, the ground being filled with them, and if they continue therein any longer, they are eaten by worms.

But to resume the narrative. Having remained only fifteen months in the island, Dr Sloane reembarked in the Assistance frigate, on the 16th March, 1689, and reached England on the 29th May. During the interval of his absence from this country, the Revolution had occurred, of which he appears to have received the first tidings within a few leagues of Plymouth. He relates,

I was sent, in an armed boat, to get certain knowledge of the situation of public affairs, and to give a speedy account of it to the Fleet, who were to stand off of that port, till they were assured of their safety or danger. We had sight first of a boat, which was fishing some leagues from the land, whose master did what he could to fly from us; but, coming up with him, asking what news, and where the king was, he asked,—what king we meant, for that King William was well at Whitehall, and King James in France.

He had attempted to bring home some living reptiles, but without success. The following is his account of the failure of his endeavours:—

Though I foresaw the difficulties, yet I had an intention to try to bring with me from Jamaica some uncommon creatures alive, such as a large yellow snake, seven feet long; a guana, or great lizard; a crocodile, &c.; and I had the snake tamed by an Indian, whom it would follow as a dog would bis master; and after it was delivered to me, I kept it in a large earthen jar, such as are for keeping the best water for the commanders of ships during their voyages, covering its mouth with two boards, and laying weights upon them. I had it fed every day by the garbage of fowl, &c. put into the jar from the kitchen. Thus it lived for some time, when, being weary of its confinement, it shoved asunder the two boards on the mouth of the jar, and got up to the top of a large house, wherein lay footmen and other domestics of her grace the Duchess of Albemarle, who, being afraid to lie down in such company, shot my snake dead.²¹ It seemed, before this disaster, to be very well pleased with its situation, being in a part of the house which was filled with rats, which are the most pleasing food for these sort of serpents. It is upon this account that the European nations inhabiting the countries producing sugar, do not molest these creatures, because they destroy the rats, (which came originally from ships cast away on the coast, &c.) which multiply strangely there, and do infinite mischief to the sugar canes, not only by eating them, but spoiling the juice of those they gnaw.

The guana used to feed on calabash pulp, and lived very well on board of the yacht, till one day, when it was running along the gunnel of the vessel, a seaman frighted it, and it leaped overboard and was drowned.

The Crocodile, or Alligator, I kept in a tub of salt water towards the forecastle, and fed it with the same sort of food as the snake, but it died on the 15th of May. Thus I lost, by this time of the voyage, all my live creatures; and so it happens to most people, who lose their strange live animals for want of proper air, food, or shelter.

Immediately on his arrival, he settled as a physician. The collections he had brought home with him excited the curiosity and admiration of the learned, and contributed to his public fame. Dr Pulteney says,²²

Several circumstances, concurred respecting the voyage of Dr Sloane to Jamaica, which rendered it peculiarly successful to Natural History. He was the first man of learning whom the love of science alone had led from England to that distant part of the globe, and consequently the field was wholly open to him. He was already well acquainted with the discoveries of the age: he had an enthusiasm for his object, and was at an age when both activity of body and vivacity of mind concur to vanquish difficulties.

His reputation was now so great that, on the 30th November, 1693, he was elected secretary of the Royal Society; and, in accordance with his active character and ardent zeal for the interests of science, he immediately revived the publication of the “Philosophical Transactions,” which had been interrupted from the year 1687. He continued in this office till 1712, when he was succeeded by Dr Halley, who, we have seen, had been the successful competitor with Sloane for the office of assistant secretary in the year 1685, and who, subsequent to the voyage of the latter to Jamaica, had also crossed the Atlantic to visit the British settlements in America for astronomical purposes, returning in September, 1700.

Dr Sloane’s professional fame now rapidly extended. In October, 1694, he was chosen physician to Christ’s Hospital; and his circumstances appear to have been in so flourishing a condition as to justify his refusal to receive the emoluments of that office; but, because he would not offer a precedent that might be injurious to his successors, he punctually took the money, but constantly applied it to the relief of those belonging to the Hospital who were in greatest need. This appointment he filled till 1730, when age and infirmities obliged him to resign. As it is as a naturalist and patron of science he is connected with this work, we shall merely enumerate his professional appointments and honours, which were very numerous; and it is sufficient to mention, that, in the College of Physicians, he warmly promoted the plan of a Dispensary for the sick poor, which met with so much opposition from the apothecaries, and which gave rise to Dr Garth’s well known satire.

Although the Doctor does not appear to have been in her Majesty’s household,²³ we are told that he was frequently consulted by Queen Anne, and that, in her last illness, she was blooded by him; but, soon after the accession of George I. he was created a baronet,²⁴ being the first English physician on whom an hereditary title of honour had been conferred, and was appointed physician general to the army, which office he enjoyed till 1727, when George II. made him his own physician. He had, in 1719, been elected President of the College of Physicians, which high honour he continued to hold till 1735, when he resigned.

During the intervals of relaxation from a life so laborious as that of an eminent London physician, Dr Sloane arranged his Collections and Observations, formed while in the West Indies, and, preparatory to his great work, printed, in 1696, 8vo. his Catalogue of Jamaica plants, with the following title: “Catalogus Plantarum quae in Insula Jamaica, sponte proveniunt, vel vulgo coluntur, cum earundem synonimis et locis natalibus, Adjectis aliis quibusdamquae in Insulis Madeira, Barbadoes, Nevis, et Sancti Christopheri nascuntur; ceu Prodromi Historia Naturalis Jamaica, pars prima.” This he dedicated to the Royal Society and College of Physicians. Dr Pulteney says,

This volume intrinsically valuable as it is, may yet be considered as only the nomenclature or systematic index to his subsequent work. The arrangement of the subject (and which was strictly followed in the History) is nearly that of Mr Ray; vegetables being thrown into twenty-five large natural classes or families. Among botanists of that time, generical characters had not attained any remarkable precision; and Sloane, like Plukenet, was little farther anxious than to refer his new plants to some genus already established, without a minute attention to the parts of fructification, farther than as they formed part of the character drawn from habit; yet, with this defect, the figures and descriptions of Sloane proved sufficiently accurate to enable his successors to refer almost all his species to the appropriate places in the system of the present day.

Eleven years after, appeared the first volume of his “Natural History of Jamaica.” This is a splendid folio, entitled “A Voyage to the Islands Madeira, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers, and Jamaica, with the Natural History of the Herbs and Trees, Four-footed beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, &c. of the last of these islands, to which is prefixed an Introduction, wherein is an Account of the Inhabitants, Air, Waters, Diseases, Trade, &c. of that place, with some Relations concerning the neighbouring continent and islands of America. Illustrated with the Figures of the Things described, which have not been heretofore engraved. By Hans Sloane, M.D. Fellow of the College of Physicians, and Secretary of the Royal Society, Vol. I. ‘Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased,’ Dan. xii. 4. London: printed by B.M. for the Author, 1707.”

It is dedicated to Queen Anne in the following terms:—

To Her Most Excellent Majesty,
The Queen,
This
Natural History of Jamaica,
one of
The Largest and Most Considerable
of
Her Majesty’s Plantations
in
America,
is, with all Humility, Dedicated,
by
Her Majesty’s Most Dutiful and
Most Obedient Subject,
Hans Sloane.

The introduction, consisting of one hundred and fifty-four pages, contains a general account of the West Indies, their discovery, climate, rivers, soil, productions, trade, and diseases, and more particularly those of Jamaica; then follows an account of his voyage in forty-eight pages, and the remainder of the book, occupying two hundred and sixty-four pages, is taken up with an account of the plants, of which he makes the following arrangement.

Chapter

1. Of submarine plants. Under which head he includes Corals, &c.
2. Of mushrooms, mosses, &c.
3. Of ferns, or capillary plants.
4. Of herbs with grassie leaves.
5. Of herbs with less perfect or staminious flowers.
6. Of herbs with monopetalous flowers.
7. Of verticillated plants.
8. Of herbs that are leguminous, or have a papilionaceous flower.
9. Of herbs whose flowers are composed of two or three petala or leaves.
10. Of herbs whose flowers are composed of four petala or leaves.
11. Of Vasculiferous Herbs with pentapetalous flowers.
12. Of herbs which are of the kindred of umbelliferous plants.
13. Of plants that are rough leaved, culled Asperifolia.
14. Of herbs commonly accounted to have many naked seeds.
15. Of herbs that are bacciferous or pomiferous.
16. Of herbs with bulbous roots, those of their inured, and of herbs with flowers, that have six or more petala or coloured leaves.
17. Of herbs whose flowers are composed of several flowers.

To the introduction are attached eleven plates of shells, crabs, &c. and a map, and to the body of the work one hundred and thirty-four plates of plants, they are all double folio, mounted on guards in the centre, and are executed by Michael Vandergutcht, in the best style of that period, and are a proof of the wealth and munificence of the author.

It was not till 1725 that Sir Hans had leisure to put the second volume to press, though the greater part of the plates for it were engraved at the time the former appeared; having, says he,

a multiplicity of business in the practice of physic, which I esteem one of my first cares, and must be minded if the lives of persons be regarded with due attention to the several symptoms and changes of their diseases.

He acknowledges the favours he had received from the king in the following dedication to George I.

To His Most Excellent Majesty,
The King;
This Second Volume of the
Natural History of Jamaica,
one of
The Largest and most Considerable
of
His Majesty’s Plantations
in
America,
is, with all Humility Dedicated,
As a Testimony of his Duty and Gratitude
for the Many Great Blessings
Which he with others Enjoy,
Under His Majesty’s Wise Government
and Powerful Protection;
and for Several Particular Instances
of His Majesty’s Favours Conferred on
His Majesty’s Most Obedient,
Most Dutiful,
and Most Faithful
Subject and Servant,
Hans Sloan.

There is an introduction of eighteen pages in vindication of those parts of the catalogue which had been attacked by Plukenet²⁵ in his Mantissa. He then resumes his Natural History, which, with the index, occupies four hundred and ninety-nine pages, commencing with the trees of Jamaica. We shall exhibit an analysis of this volume.

Chapter

1. Of trees which bear their flowers and fruit separated.
2. Of trees bearing dry fruits which are not siliquose.
3. Of trees that have papilionaceous flowers, and are siliquose.
4. Of trees which bear berries, and arc; umbilicated or caliculated.
5. Of trees which bear berries, that are neither umbilicated or calculated.
6. Of pruniferous trees, or such as bear plumbs.
7. Of pomiferous trees, or such as bear apples.
8. Of woods, fruits, rosins, &c.

On this chapter he makes the following observation:—

The several things described in this division, are such as I know very imperfectly,—only so far as they are made use of in Jamaica to the purposes hereafter recited. I am apt to suspect that some of them may be before taken notice of, and that I have not known them to be the vegetables put to those uses here mentioned.

This chapter concludes the First Book, or botanical division of the work.

The Second Book commences with the account of Insects, which he prefaces with this just remark,—

The power, wisdom, and providence of God Almighty, the Creator and Preserver of all things, appear no where more than in the smallest animals called insects, which are provided with such senses as are necessary to bring them, through their several changes, to perfection: and notwithstanding their little bodies, and many enemies in every state, they are enabled to live, thrive, and propagate their kind, so that, since we have any exact history of them, none seem to be lost.

He arranges them under the following division:

Chapter

1. Of such as suffer no change in their forms, and have no feet.
2. Of insects which are commonly believed to suffer no change in their forms, and have six or more feet.
3. Of libellae, perlae, or adderbolts, wild bugs, locusts, and crickets.
4. Of beetles.
5. Of erucæ, aureliæ, or coffins, butterflies, and phalenæ, or moths.
6. Of insects with membranaceous wings, as ants, bees, wasps, flies, and gnats.

The Third Book treats of Testaceous Animals, and is thus divided:

Chapter

1. Of land and river shells.
2. Of patellæ or limpets.
3. Of tubuli vermium.
4. Of conchae veneris.
5. Of nerits.
6. Of sea snails and trochi.
7. Of buccinæ whose spiræ are short.
8. Of buccinæ whose spiræ are longer and smooth.
9. Of buccinæ whose spiræ are long and muricated.
10. Of the coverings for the mouths of some unknown shells.
11. Of bivalve shells, and first of the pinna and spondyls.
12. Of scallops and cockles.
13. Of oysters, muscles, and pholades.
14. Of tellinæ and chamæ.
15. Of multivalves.
16. Of echini marini, sea urchins or sea eggs.

Book the Fourth contains “Crustaceous Animals, Sea-stars, and Blubber.” It is divided into three chapters, one for each head.

Book the Fifth, embraces the “Fishes of Jamaica,” and is prefaced with this apology:

My being six miles every way from the sea, the heat of the air making fishes soon putrify here, and my other affairs, have made my observations of this kind very imperfect.

This is his arrangement.

Chapter

1. Of long cartilaginous, and plain flat fish.
2. Of the eel.
3. Of fishes with rounder or contracted bodies.
4. Of fishes which are smooth and have one fin on their backs.
5. Of fishes which are smooth and have two fins on their backs.
6. Of fishes which are prickly and have one fin on their backs.
7. Of fishes which are prickly and have two fins on their backs.

The Sixth Book is devoted to the “Birds of Jamaica.” He remarks,

It is a common opinion, that the hot parts of the world abound most with birds of fine coloured feathers, and that they want those who sing. The first of which is true, and the latter false, for there are many sweet singing birds to be found here, and those of as pleasant notes as any in Europe.

He makes but three chapters or divisions of them.

First, Of land birds. Second, Of birds which wade or frequent watering places; and Third, Of water fowl, or such as are web-footed and swim.

The Seventh Book is also divided into three chapters.

1. Of the larger quadrupeds, that are whole and cloven footed.
2. Of quadrupeds which are oviparous, or lay eggs.
3. Of serpents.

The Eighth and last Book treats “Of the stones, earths, sands, minerals,” &c.

There are one hundred and thirty-nine plates to this volume, consisting of plants, insects, shells, fish, and birds; the two volumes containing two hundred and eighty-five plates, besides the map.

Dr Pulteney says,

To the curious botanist, it will be observable, that out of eight hundred vegetables described in these volumes, above one hundred are ferns; and that of the others, more than two hundred and fifty species are of the arborescent kind. Subsequent voyagers have established it as a fact, that in the warmer and intertropical regions, this latter class constitutes, in a general way, the third part of the vegetable productions of nature. Abundantly the reverse of this takes place in temperate and cold climates.

In these volumes, Sir Hans has introduced all his quotations at length, from the books of travels mentioned in the “Catalogue,” to illustrate the various uses of each vegetable. They exhibit a proof of the author’s veracity, which I conceive it is difficult to parallel in any other work.

The voyage of Dr Sloane was productive of much subsequent benefit to science, by exciting an emulation both in Britain and on the Continent. Sir Arthur Rawdon, upon viewing his splendid collection, sent James Herbert, a skilful gardener, to Jamaica, who returned with a ship almost laden with plants, in a vegetating state, and with a great number of dried specimens. Of the latter, Sloane had all such as were new, before he published his first volume. Many of the living plants succeeded in the garden of Sir Arthur, at Moyra, in Ireland; and many were distributed into the garden of the Bishop of London, at Fulham, Dr Uvedales at Enfield, the Chelsea garden, and especially that of her Grace the Duchess of Beaufort, at Badminton, in Gloucestershire; the botanic gardens of Amsterdam, Leyden, Leipsic, and Upsal, shared these varieties. Tournefort sent Dr Gundelscheimer, his associate in his oriental journey, into England, to view Sloane’s plants, and this gave occasion to Plumier’s expedition into the Caribbee Islands.²⁶

Sir Hans Sloane was ever ready to promote the interests of science, by his purse and his exertions. He advanced £700 to the College of Physicians, which ne allowed to be paid off by instalments; and in 1721, he made the same society a present of £100. The same year, (having become lord of the manor of Chelsea, by purchase, in 1712,) he gave to the Company of Apothecaries the freehold of their botanical garden there, upon the sole condition, that they should present yearly to the Royal Society, fifty new plants, grown in the garden, till the number should amount to 2000, and pay a quit rent of £5 per annum, which was cheerfully accepted; and the number, of course, was completed in the year 1761, but the practice was continued till 1773, at which time 2550 were completed. Catalogues of them were published annually in the Philosophical Transactions. Sir Hans also contributed largely towards the expenses of the hot-houses and other necessary erections. In testimony of their respect for him, the Company, in 1733, erected in the centre of the garden, a marble statue executed by Rysbrach, representing him in a full bottomed wig and doctor’s gown. On the pedestal is a Latin inscription, commemorating his donation, and the design and advantage of it.²⁷ Upon the death of Sir Isaac Newton, in 1727, Sir Hans was elected President of the Royal Society, having previously served the office of Vice-President. To this Society he had ever liberally contributed; besides a hundred guineas, he presented them with a bust of King Charles the Second, and is said to have been instrumental in procuring Sir Godfrey Copley’s benefaction of a medal; and when, at the age of eighty, he begged to retire from so arduous an honour, in 1740, the Society entreated his permission, as a mark of respect for his eminent services, that they might continue his name on the list of their council as long as he should live.

Of his numerous charities it is difficult to give an idea. He was a governor of most of the London hospitals, a liberal benefactor to them during his life, and left them considerable legacies at his death. To the poor he was uniformly a considerate and attentive friend, assisting them with money, and prescribing for them in sickness, even after he had retired from public life to his house at Chelsea. To foreigners he was extremely courteous; and kept an open table once a-week for his learned friends, particularly the Members of the Royal Society.

But it is his Museum with which we have more to do. From a very early period, he appears to have commenced forming it. His collections during his West Indian voyage were the nucleus. The earliest notice of it occurs in Evelyn’s Diary, who, under the date of April 16, 1691, mentions,—

I went to see Dr Sloane’s curiosities, being a universal collection of the natural productions of Jamaica, consisting of plants, fruits, corals, minerals, stones, earth, shells, animals, insects, &c. selected with great judgment; several folios of dried plants, and one which had about eighty several sorts of ferns, and another of grapes; the Jamaica pepper, in branch, leaves, flower, fruit, &c. This collection, with his journal and other philosophical discourses and observations, is indeed very copious and extraordinary, sufficient to furnish a history of that island, to which I encouraged him.

It received its first, and perhaps principal increase, however, in 1702, upon the death of his friend Mr Courten, who, we have seen, bequeathed his extensive and valuable museum to Sir Hans, upon condition of his paying certain legacies specified in his last will. What was the precise state or value of this accession, we have no means of knowing,²⁸ as there exists no separate catalogue of its contents. The Biographical Dictionary, indeed, informs us, that there are MS. catalogues which,

swelled with short histories and accounts of their contents, amount in all to thirty-eight volumes in folio, and eight volumes in quarto.²⁹

But these catalogues were stated, at the time of Sloane’s death, to be those of the whole museum as then existing; and we know that, from many other sources, Sir Hans obtained augmentations; and the account he himself gives of it after the purchase of Petiver’s collections, compared with that published immediately after his death, will shew that it was constantly increasing.

Apologizing in 1725 for the delay in publishing the second volume of his Natural History of Jamaica, he says—

The putting into some kind of order my curiosities, numbering them and entering their names, and accounts received with them, in books, which was necessary in order to their preservation and uses, hath taken me up some of the time I have had to spare from the exercise of my profession; and because some people have represented me careless and negligent in not giving this second volume sooner, I think it proper, in my own justification, to acquaint the reader, that I have entered into books, and numbered these natural and artificial things following.

The numbers in the first columns are those he there gives; those in the second column, are from the list as transmitted to the British Museum after his death.

From the above comparative statement of its treasures in the years 1725 and 1753, it will easily be perceived that Sir Hans Sloane himself most materially increased every department of this magnificent collection. In January, 1741, he commenced removing them, together with his library, from his house in Bloomsbury, to that at Chelsea; and having entirely completed the transfer by May following, he retired thither to enjoy the remainder of his life among his books and scientific treasures, and the society of the learned. Here, in 1748, he was honoured with a visit from their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, the father and mother of King George III. of which the following account was given at the time, which affords additional particulars of the state and arrangements of the museum.

Dr Mortimer, Secretary to the Royal Society, conducted the prince and princess into the room where Sir Hans was seated, being ancient and infirm. The prince took a chair, and sat down by the good old gentleman for some time, when he expressed the great esteem and value he had for him personally, and how much the learned world was obliged to him, for his having collected such a vast variety of curious books, and such immense treasures of the valuable and instructive productions of nature and art. Sir Hans’s house formed a square of about one hundred feet on each side, enclosing a court, and three front rooms had tables set along the middle, which were spread over with cases filled with all sorts of precious stones, in their natural beds or state, as they are found in the earth, except the first, that contained stones formed in animals, which are so many diseases of the creature that bears them; as the most beautiful pearls, which are but warts in the shell-fish, the bezoar, concretions in the stomach, and stones generated in the kidney and bladder, of which man wofully knows the effects; but the earth, in her bosom, generates the verdant emerald, the purple amethyst, the golden topaz, the azure sapphire, the crimson garnet, the scarlet ruby, the brilliant diamond, the glowing opal, and all the painted varieties with which Flora herself might wish to be decked; here the most magnificent vessels of cornelian, onyx, sardonyx, and jasper, delighted the eye, and raised the mind to praise the great Creator of all things.

When their royal highnesses had viewed one room, and entered another, the scene was shifted; for when they returned, the same tables were covered for a second course, with all sorts of jewels, polished and set after the modern fashion, or with gems carved or engraved, the stately and instructive remains of antiquity. For the third course, the tables were spread with gold and silver ore, with the most precious and remarkable ornaments used in the habits of men from Siberia to the Cape of Good Hope, from Japan to Peru, and with both ancient and modern coins, and medals in gold and silver, the lasting monuments of historical facts; as those of a Prusias, king of Bythinia, who betrayed his allies; of an Alexander, who, mad with ambition, overran and invaded his neighbours; of a Caesar, who enslaved his country, to satisfy his own pride; of a Titus, the delight of mankind; of a Pope Gregory the XIII. recording, on a silver medal, his blind zeal for religion, in perpetuating thereon the massacre of the Protestants in France, as did Charles IX. the then reigning king in that country. Here might be seen the coins of a king of England, crowned at Paris, a medal representing France and Spain striving which should pay their obeisance to Britannia; others shewing the effect of popular rage when overmuch oppressed by their rulers, as in the case of the De Wits in Holland, the deliverance of Britain by the arrival of William, the glorious exploits of a Marlborough, and the happy sway of the present royal family.

The gallery, one hundred and ten feet in length, presented a most surprising prospect. The most beautiful corals, crystals, and figured stones, the most brilliant butterflies and other insects, shells painted with as great variety, as the precious stones, and feathers of birds vying with gems. Here the remains of the world, before the Deluge, excited the awful idea of that catastrophe; and are so many evident testimonies to the truth of Moses’s history.

Then a noble vista presented itself through several rooms filled with books, and many hundred volumes of dried plants; a room full of choice and valuable manuscripts; the noble present sent by the French King to Sir Hans, being prints of his collection of paintings, medals, statues, palaces, &c. in twenty-five large atlas volumes, besides other valuable things, too numerous to mention here.

Below stairs, some rooms were filled with curious remains of antiquities, from Egypt, Greece, Etruria, Rome, Britain, and even America; others with large animals preserved in the skin; the great saloon lined on every side with bottles filled with spirits, containing various animals. The halls were adorned with the horns of various creatures, as of the double horned rhinoceros of Africa, and deers’ horns from Ireland, nine feet wide, and with weapons of different countries; among which it appears, that the Mangalese, and not our most Christian neighboours, the French, had the honour of inventing that butcherly weapon, the bayonet. Fifty volumes in folio would scarcely suffice to contain a detail of this immense museum, consisting of above two hundred thousand articles.

Their royal highnesses were not wanting in expressions of their satisfaction at seeing a collection which surpassed all the notions or ideas they had formed of it, from even the most favourable accounts. On this occasion the prince shewed his great reading and happy memory; for in such a multiplicity and such a variety of the productions of nature and art, upon any thing being shewn to him that he had not seen before, he was ready in recollecting having read of it; and upon viewing the ancient and modern medals, he made so many judicious remarks, that he appeared to be a perfect master of history and chronology. He expressed the great pleasure it gave him to see so magnificent a collection in England, esteeming it an ornament to the nation; and expressed his fixed sentiment, how much it must conduce to the benefit of learning, and how great an honour will redound to Britain, to have such a grand repository established for public use to the latest posterity.³⁰

Amidst these tranquil occupations, he attained an age far beyond the period assigned by the Psalmist to those very few “who, by reason of their strength,” exceed, though “in labour and sorrow,” man’s allotted portion of existence, and this, without these painful concomitants, even to the ninetieth year of his age. From that time, however, he became sensible of a gradual decay, and his friend, George Edwards, the naturalist, has left us the following interesting but distressing narrative of his latter days.

Sir Hans Sloane employed me for a great number of years in drawing miniature figures of animals, &c. after nature, in water colours, to increase his very great collection of fine drawings by other hands; which drawings are now all fixed in the British Museum, for the help and information of those in future generations, that may be curious or studious in natural history. Sir Hans in the decline of life left London, and retired to his manor-house at Chelsea, where he resided about fourteen years before he died. After his retirement to Chelsea, he requested it as a favour to him, (though I embraced his request as an honour done to myself,) that I would visit him every week, in order to divert him, for an hour or two, with the common news of the town, and with any thing particular that should happen amongst his acquaintances of the Royal Society, and other ingenious gentlemen, many of whom I was weekly conversant with; and I seldom missed drinking coffee with him on a Saturday, during the whole time of his retirement at Chelsea. He was so infirm, as to be wholly confined to his house, except sometimes, though rarely, taking a little air in his garden in a wheeled chair; and this confinement made him very desirous to see any of his old acquaintance to amuse him. During this latter part of his life, he was frequently petitioned for charity by some decayed branches of families of eminent men, late of his acquaintance, who were famous for their learned works, &c. which petitions he always received, and considered with attention; and provided they were not found fraudulent, they were always answered by his charitable donations. He has often desired that I would inquire into the merits of such petitions; and if found satisfactory, he commissioned me to convey his bounty to the distressed. The last time I saw him, I was greatly surprised and concerned to find so good a man in the agonies of death. This was on the tenth day of January, 1753, at four o’clock in the afternoon. He died on the eleventh, at four in the morning, being aged ninety-three years. I continued with him later than any one of his relatives, but was obliged to retire — his last agonies being beyond what I could bear; though under his pain and weakness of body, he seemed to retain a great firmness of mind, and resignation to the will of God.³¹

Sir Hans had married, in 1695, Elizabeth, daughter of Alderman Langley, of London. She died in 1724, and was buried at Chelsea, where, on the 18th of January, 1753, her husband’s body was deposited in the same vault with her. A monument was erected to their memory, consisting of a pedestal, surmounted by a portico, which is supported by four pillars, under which is an urn, entwined with serpents, emblematical of his profession, with the following inscription:—

In memory of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. President of the Royal Society and of the College of Physicians, who died in the year of our Lord 1753, the ninety-second year of his age, without the least pain of body, and with a conscious serenity of mind ended a virtuous and beneficent life. This monument was erected by his two daughters, Elizabeth Cadogan and Sarah Stanley.

On the north side of the monument is a memorial of Lady Sloane.³²

In conformity with the custom of the time, a funeral sermon was preached by Dr Zachary Pearce, at that time Bishop of Bangor, but who had been expressly forbidden by the deceased to give way to the gross flatteries so prevalent on such occasions, Sloane very properly accounting it a degree of profanation to debase with the praises of human excellencies that pulpit which should be devoted to display to men the attributes of the Deity, and to instruct them in his laws.

Two daughters only survived Sir Hans Sloane, a son and a daughter having died in their infancy, Sarah, the eldest, was married to George Stanley, Esq. of Poulton, in Hampshire,³³ and Elizabeth married Lord Cadogan. Unwilling to deprive these ladies of so large a portion of his fortune, and yet reluctant to have his museum divided after his death, and equally reluctant to deprive his country of the benefit of so valuable a collection, Sir Hans, by his last will, bequeathed this magnificent result of the exertions of his whole life to the nation, on condition that Parliament should reimburse his family to the extent of £20,000, a sum, though large, said to be

not more than the intrinsic value of the gold and silver medals, ores, and precious stones in it

and he himself states in his will, that the first cost to him had been at least £50,000. In consequence of this, immediately after his death,

above forty of the trustees, appointed by the will to take charge of his museum, met the Lord Cadogan, and the other executors, at the manor-house, Chelsea. His lordship produced the will, and acquainted the trustees with the codicils, containing the dispositions for continuing his collection together at Chelsea, and for giving a small part of its value to his family; and, for that purpose, to make an offer of the said museum to the King or to the Parliament of England, for £20,000, to be paid to the family; and if the same was accepted, and continued at Chelsea, to give the manor-house and lands at Chelsea, with the museum as it is now disposed, which would save the expense and hazard of removing the same; and to be kept open at proper hours for the access of the studious and curious. Then Mr Sloane acquainted the trustees, that, the executors being apprehensive of danger, the medals of gold, silver, and some curious copper coins, and the precious stones, such as pearls, rubies, emeralds, &c. and the vases of gems, &c. had been removed, for safety, to the Bank of England; and that two of the executors had seen them all packed up. The Earl of Macclesfield having been desired by the trustees to take the chair, the will and codicils were read. An account, also, of the nature and value of the museum, and an abstract of the articles it contained, was read by Mr James Empson, who had taken care of the museum for many years past, and was then appointed secretary to the trustees. Sir George Lyttleton then moved, and Mr West seconded, that a memorial should be presented to his Majesty relating to this matter; and a committee was appointed to draw up the same.³⁴

The result was, that Parliament immediately closed with the offer; and, in 1753, an act was passed, entitled,

An Act for the purchase of the Museum or Collection of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart, and of the Harleian collection of MSS. and for procuring one general repository for the better reception and more convenient use of the said collection, and of the Cottonian library in addition thereto.

By this act, the sum of £ 100,000 was ordered to be raised by a lottery, and certain great officers of state, together with private individuals as representatives of the families of the principal contributors, and others, were incorporated by the name of “Trustees for the British Museum.”³⁵

The first act of these trustees was to provide a proper building for the reception of the collections confided to their care; and, after various proposals, they at length fixed upon the mansion built, about the year 1680, by Ralph, first Duke of Montague, who, being at that time ambassador at Paris, sent over French artists for erecting and adorning the edifice he had in contemplation. This palace, together with its gardens and appurtenances, occupying in the whole an area of seven acres and twenty perches of land, was ceded by the representatives of the Montague family for the moderate sum of £10,000. The necessary repairs (which, the house having stood long empty, proved very expensive) were immediately proceeded upon; and the proper bookcases and cabinets having been completed, and the collections removed thither, the museum was at length opened for study and public inspection, January 15, 1759. The sum actually netted by the profits of the lottery under the Act of Parliament, was £95,194, 18s. 2d. which was expended in the following manner:—

From that time to the present, it has been gradually extended and increased by donations, bequests, and purchases—but to trace the progress of this increase belongs not to this work. It has very recently been newly arranged and considerably improved in every respect;³⁶ and a very copious and interesting account of its present state may be obtained from the twenty-eighth edition of the “Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum,” published in 1834.

We have already alluded to Sir Hans Sloane’s contributions to the Philosophical Transactions. We shall enumerate the titles of those papers connected with zoology.

An account of the bird called the Condor of Peru, from the relation of Captain Strong, who had met with one on the coast of Chili, which measured sixteen feet from tip to tip of the wings. Vol. 18.

An account of the Fossil Tongue of a Pastinaca Marina, (Raia Pastinaca, Lin.) dug up in Maryland; with a comparison of it with the recent tongues of the Thornback. Illustrated with many figures. Vol. 19.

An account of a pair of very extraordinary large horns, found in a cellar at Wapping; with figures. Dr Hook suspected they were the horns of an animal described by Nieuhoff under the name of Sukotyro, as it is called by the Chinese. Sir Hans conjectures, they might belong to the Taurus Carnivorus of Agacharchides; of which he traces the history through the writings of the ancients; but thinks it very uncertain whether this is the same animal with the Sukotyro. Vol. 34.

An account of such specimens of Elephants’ Teeth and Bones as are reposited in the museum of Sir Hans Sloane, with figures, vol. 35. Introductory to

Remarks on divers accounts of Teeth and Bones, found under ground, vol. 35.

Conjectures on the fascinating power attributed to the Rattle Snake, vol. 38.

Accounts of the pretended Serpent Stone, called Pietra de Cobra de Cabelos, and of the Pietra de Mombezzo, or the Rhinoceros Bezoars; with the figure of a Rhinoceros with a double horn, vol. 46.

Besides these, there are many papers on botanical and medical subjects, contained in the 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 40, 41, and 44th volumes, and, in the 49th, a very curious account of the introduction of Innoculation for Small Pox into England.

Sir Hans Sloane was also the cause of Dr Leonhart Rauwolf’s “Journey into the Eastern Countries” being translated into English, of which he writes thus to Ray:

I have perused most part of Rauwolf’s Voyage; which, being only extant in high Dutch, and that understood by very few, I thought would do very well in English, and so borrowed it from the Royal Society; and Captain Hatton, being desirous of it likewise, we put it into the hands of Mr Staphorst, who has done it, as you see, I think, pretty clear—though the making it good language and the notes are left wholly to you. Some passages are not to be well translated, because of different customs and proverbs; but I think, so far as the Natural History is concerned, it may be understood.³⁷

Accordingly, the book translated by Nicholas Staphorst, and improved by Ray, was published in the second volume of the work known by the title of “Ray’s Travels,” and reached a second edition in 1738.

Among the friends of Sir Hans, may be mentioned the names of Sydenham, Boyle, Evelyn, Ray, Lister, Edwards, and indeed all the aristocracy of talent in existence during his life. To have commanded the esteem and respect of such men, would reflect honour on any one. We have seen the affectionate memorial of him penned by Edwards, many years after his death; and Ray, while on his deathbed, addressed him in the following terms, being the last lines he ever wrote; “and which bear,” says Dr Derham, “the marks of a dying hand in every letter.”

Dear Sir,— The best of friends; these are to take a final leave of you as to this world. I look upon myself as a dying man. God requite your kindness expressed any ways towards me an hundred fold. Bless you with a confluence of all good things in this world, and eternal life and happiness hereafter. Grant us an happy meeting in heaven. I am, Sir, eternally yours,

John Ray.

Black Notley, Jan. 7, 1704.

Postscript,—When you happen to write to my singular friend, Dr Hotten, I pray tell him I received his most obliging and affectionate letter, for which I return thanks, and acquaint him that I was not able to answer it; or——

Dr Derham adds, “his strength failing, as I perceive by his writing, (which was scarce legible in this postscript,) he was forced to break off abruptly.”

In person, Sir Hans Sloane was tall and well made; in his manners, easy, polite, and engaging; sprightly in his conversation, and obliging to all. Natural History has always been considered a pursuit favourable to the cultivation of religion and pure morality. To “lead through Nature, up to Nature’s God,” may be a hackneyed sentiment, but that very fact proves the connection; it has, however, unfortunately not been uniformly the case, and among the few memoirs we have already submitted to the reader, we have had instances that

Our wayward intellect, the more we learn
Of nature, overlooks her Author more;
From instrumental causes, proud to draw
Conclusions retrograde, and mad mistake.

But the life of Sir Hans Sloane exemplifies the very reverse of this: it is one we dwell on with pleasure, and record with pride; it proves that

——Philosophy, baptized
In the pure fountain of eternal love,
Has eyes indeed; and, seeing all she sees
As meant to indicate a God to man,
Gives him his praise, and forfeits not her own.

To fear God and keep his commandments, and to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,

seems to have been his habitual practice throughout his long protracted existence. We have seen him born with a natural delicacy of constitution, which nothing, it is probable, but rigid temperance and self-denial could have sustained, yet cheerfully submitting to these restraints, while cultivating the abilities his Maker had bestowed upon him; we have seen him carry with him the good wishes and recommendations of his instructors, while pursuing his education in foreign countries; and, finally, brought into active life at home, under the auspices of men of high talent and reputation, whose kindness and judgment the result fully justified. His middle age was passed in active benevolence, alleviating “the evils that flesh is heir to,” among all classes, from the sovereign on the throne, to the casual and dependant inmate of an hospital, receiving honours from the one, and blessings from the other; a generous promoter of every institution calculated to enlarge the mental powers of man or relieve his bodily infirmities; and, at length resigning his soul into the hands of the God who gave it with humility and resignation, and with admirable consistency so rarely practised, leaving directions that no sycophantic eulogy should be pronounced over his remains; but that the occasion should be improved by those salutary reflections which such a spectacle was calculated to excite. Never were the vanity of all earthly blessings, the fragility of all earthly possessions, however connected with science, literature, and all that we are accustomed to consider as indicative of mental superiority,—never were the futility of such things alone more strikingly illustrated than in the present instance,

seeing that wise men also die and perish together, as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches to others.

Blessed are they who, like Sir Hans Sloane, rate such pursuits at their real value, as preparatory to a higher state of existence, and who, like him, “having provided for their own,” bestow their superfluities on the improvement of their fellow men. Such men are the “salt of the earth.”

As a Naturalist, it is true we cannot place him in the highest rank; but as the patron of Natural History, the encourager of science, the promoter of every charitable work, he obtained the unanimous applause of his contemporaries, and deserves the grateful esteem and respect of posterity. As the founder of the British Museum, he merits the admiration of every one to whom the national progress in literature, science, and art is dear. If we rightly appreciate the advantages of an institution, calculated to foster a taste for those pursuits that elevate man above sensual appetites and sordid gain,—an institution, intended to assist the author, the artist, and the philosopher, in their several studies,—an institution which, on the most liberal scale, is open to all who, from an enlightened curiosity, may wish to inspect, or for particular purposes to consult it,—if such an institution is valued in an age distinguished by its efforts to educate all classes, it is to Sir Hans Sloane the merit of it is due, — to him is owing not merely the respect of all who, like ourselves, are engaged in the promotion of the delightful study of Natural History, but the gratitude of the nation at large.

Appendix

Will of Sir Hans Sloane³⁸

I, Sir Hans Sloane, of the parish of St George, in Bloomsbury, in the county of Middlesex, doctor in physic and baronet, being in health of body and mind, (thanks be to God,) but having before me, more than most men, the great uncertainty of life: and having, by the blessing of God, acquired a considerable real and personal estate, requiring some law in the disposition of them, do make this my last will and testament.

In the first place, I do very willingly resign my soul unto my almighty, merciful, and wise Creator, whenever it shall please him to remove me out of this troublesome life; not doubting the forgiveness of what failings or transgressions, either of omission or commission, through passions, inadvertencies, or otherwise, I may have been guilty of, and thereby offended God or man; firmly hoping for a better life hereafter; having earnestly besought God, in this dark and ignorant state, to direct my belief and actions according to his will, and endeavoured to inform my conscience, (as much as my necessary affairs and civil duties would give me leave,) and to conform my actions to it, and in doubtful cases striving to make this my rule, to do to others as l thought I should desire to be done to me in like circumstances.

I will that my body shall be buried in a decent manner, in the church-yard, at Chelsea, about noon, or at a convenient time of the day. And I will that there be invited to my funeral all such persons as I shall leave in a list by me signed; or if no such list be left, then such persons as my executors shall know to have been my most intimate friends and acquaintances. And that they shall have rings of twenty shillings value given to each of them.

Whereas, from my youth, I have been a great observer and admirer of the wonderful power, wisdom, and contrivance of the Almighty God, appearing in the works of his creation, and have gathered together many things in my own travels or voyages, or had them from others, especially my ever honoured late friend, William Courteen, Esq. who spent the greatest part of his life and estate in collecting such things in and from most parts of the earth, which he left me at his death, subject to several debts and legacies, which have been long since satisfied and paid, and his collections kept entire. And whereas I have made great additions of late years, as well to my books, both printed and manuscript, as to my collections of natural and artificial curiosities, precious stones, books of dried samples of plants, miniatures, drawings, prints, medals, and the like; with some paintings concerning them, now placed in my house and gardens; amounting in the whole to a very great sum of money, reckoning them at first cost to be at least fifty thousand pounds. Now, desiring very much that these things, tending many ways to the manifestation of the glory of God, the confutation of atheism and its consequences, the use and improvement of physic, and other arts and sciences, and benefit of mankind, may remain together and not be separated, and that chiefly in and about the city of London, where I have acquired most of my estates, and where they may, by the great confluence of people, be of most use. Now, I do give and devise the same unto Charles Lord Cadogan, my nephew William Sloane, Esq. and the Rev. Dr Sloane Elsmere, rector of Chelsea, whom I do make executors of this my last will and testament. Nevertheless, such my bequest and gift to them is upon this special trust and confidence, that they shall, as soon as may be, after my decease, sell and dispose of the same, to be settled for the public uses aforesaid, at the rate of twenty thousand pounds of lawful money of Great Britain. And my will and desire is, that his Grace the Duke of Richmond, the Lord Cadogan, Sir Robert Walpole, Sir Paul Methuen, Mr Edgecomb, or any other proper persons 1 have the honour to be known to, who understand matters of this nature, and may have access to his most excellent Majesty, King George the Second, and are willing to promote so public a good, may be humbly desired to offer them to his Majesty, at the rate above mentioned, for the purposes aforesaid. But if his Majesty shall not think fit to accept of the same within six months after such overture made, then my will is, that they be offered, at the same price, to the President, Council, and Fellows of the Royal Society of London, for improving natural knowledge; and upon their refusal, to the Chancellor and Scholars of the University of Oxford; and upon their refusal, then successively to be offered to the College of Physicians at Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, that at Petersburg, Berlin, and Madrid, who have done me the honour to make me one of their members. And my will is that every one of them shall have one month’s time, to be accounted from the time of the respective offer made to them; which offer or intention of mine may be signified to all, or any of them, for the acceptance of such offer, soon after my death. And in case none of the persons or public bodies aforesaid shall think it to buy them at the price of twenty thousand pounds, then my will is, that my said executors do sell or dispose of them, either entirely to any person or body of men, or in parcels by auction, printed catalogues of them being timely dispersed; and that, in selling or disposing of them, and their catalogues or observations upon them, they take the advice of such persons as are skilled in natural knowledge, medals, &c. allowing him or them what my executors and they think reasonable for their care and trouble in perusing and correcting my catalogues, which have been taken generally in great haste; I will, that the money arising by such sale be disposed of by my executors as hereafter is appointed and directed.

He then devises all that his Manor of Chelsea, with its rights, members, and appurtenances, and also all his lands, messuages, tenements, and hereditaments, in Chelsea, or elsewhere; and all other his estates of inheritance and personal whatsoever, together with the residue of his personal estate, to his aforesaid executors, upon the trusts following:—

One third part of the said manor, and of all his messuages, &c. to the use of his eldest daughter, Mrs Stanley, and her assigns, and after her decease to her two daughters and their lawful issue, share and share alike, provided that the said daughters marry with the consent of their mother, or their guardian; and if not, then such share to go to the other sister. The other two-thirds of the manor, &c. to his youngest daughter Lady Cadogan, and to her heirs.

In case either of his daughters die without issue, then the share of her so dying, to the survivor and her heirs; and in default of such issue of both his daughters, then the whole of the said Manor, &c. to his nephew, William Sloane, Esq. and his heirs; in default of such issue, to his niece, Lady Fowler, and her heirs, or to his Sister, Mrs Elsmere, and her heirs, successively.

At the same time that I thus leave to my daughters, relations, and friends what I have, I earnestly recommend to them the practice of moral and religious duties, as being of greater use to them than any thing I can leave them, not only in the life to come, but even in this, by helping them through the difficulties of it, by more inward quiet, satisfaction and better health than otherwise, and Avith the esteem and respect of their friends and acquaintance.

Item. I desire his Grace the Duke of Richmond to accept such live and rare animals as I may have at the time of my decease.

I. Sir Hans Sloane, of Chelsea, in the county of Middlesex, Bart, do make this codicil to be annext to my last will and testament, as follows:— Whereas I have, in and by my will, given some directions about the sale and disposition of my museum, herein more particularly mentioned, now I do hereby revoke my will, as far as relates thereto; and I do direct and appoint, concerning the same, in the following manner:— Having had from my youth a strong inclination to the study of plants, and all other productions of nature; and having, through the course of many years, with great labour and expense, gathered together whatever could be procured, either in our own or foreign countries, that was rare and curious; and being fully convinced that nothing tends more to raise our ideas of the power, wisdom, goodness, providence, and other perfections of the Deity, or more to the comfort and wellbeing of his creatures, than the enlargement of our knowledge in the works of nature, I do will and desire, that, for the promoting of these noble ends, the glory of God and good of man, my collection in all its branches may be, if possible, kept and preserved together whole and entire, in my manor house, in the parish of Chelsea, situate near the Physic Garden, given by me to the Company of Apothecaries, for the same purposes; and having great reliance and confidence that the Right Honourable, Honourable, and other persons hereafter named, will be influenced by the same principles, and faithfully and conscientiously discharge the trust hereby reposed in them, I do give, devise, and bequeath, unto the Right Honourable Charles Sloane Cadogan; Hans Stanley, Esq.; William Sloane, Esq.; the Rev. Sloane Elsmere, D.D.; and the Rector of Chelsea for the time being, and certain other persons herein named; all my museum at, in, or about my manor house, at Chelsea, aforesaid, which consists of too great a variety to be particularly described. But I mean all my library of books, drawings, manuscripts, prints, medals, and coins; ancient and modern antiquities; seals and cameos, intaglios and precious stones, agates, and jaspers; vessels of agate, jasper, or crystal; mathematical instruments, drawings, and pictures; and all other things in my museum, which are more particularly described and numbered, with short histories or accounts of them, with proper references in certain catalogues by me made, containing 38 vols. in folio, and 8 vols. in quarto, except such framed pictures as are not marked with the word “collection.” To have and to hold, to them and their successors, or assigns, for ever; to the intent only that the same, and every part and parcel of my museum, may he vested in the Right Honourable, and Honourable, and other persons, upon the trusts, and for the uses and purposes, and subject to the several limitations and directions hereafter particularly specified. And for the rendering this my intention more effectual, that the collection may be preserved and continued entire in its utmost perfection and regularity; and being assured that nothing will conduce more to this purpose, than placing the same under the direction and care of learned, experienced, and judicious persons, who are above all low and mean views, I do earnestly desire, that the King, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, His Royal Highness William Duke of Cumberland, the Archbishop of Canterbury, &c. will condescend so far as to act, and be visiters of my museum: and I do hereby, with their leave, nominate and appoint them visiters, with full power and authority for any five, or more of them, to enter my said collection, or museum, at any time, to peruse, supervise, and examine the same, and the management thereof, and to visit, correct, and reform, from time to time, as there may be occasion, either jointly with the trustees or separately, upon application to them for that purpose, or otherwise, all abuses, defects, neglects or mismanagements, that may happen to arise therein or touching or concerning the person or persons, officer or officers, that are or shall be appointed to attend the same; and my will is, and 1 do hereby request and desire, that the said trustees, or any seven or more of them, do make their humble application to his Majesty, or to Parliament, at the next session after my decease, as shall be thought most proper, to pay the sum of £20,000 unto my executors, or the survivors of them, within twelve months after my decease, in consideration of the collection, or museum, it not being, as I apprehend or believe, a fourth of their real or intrinsic value; and also to obtain such sufficient and effectual means, powers, and authorities, for vesting in the trustees all and every part of my collection or museum before mentioned, in all its branches; and also my capital manor house, with such gardens and out-houses as shall thereunto belong, and be used by me at the time of my decease, in which it is my desire the same shall be kept and preserved. And, also, the water of or belonging to my manor of Chelsea, coming from Kensington, subject to furnishing or supplying the Lord Bishop of Winchester’s house. And, also, all that the advowson, presentation, or right of patronage of the church of Chelsea; to the end the same premises may be absolutely vested in the trustees for the preserving and continuing my collection or museum, in such manner as they shall think most likely to answer the public benefit by me intended; and also obtain a sufficient fund or provision for maintaining and taking care of my collection and premises, and for repairing and supporting my manor house, water works, and premises, to be vested in the trustees for ever; and I do hereby farther direct and appoint that my executors do, upon payment of the sum of £20,000, deliver, or cause to be delivered unto the trustees, or any seven or more of them, for and in the name of all of them, in the presence of the visiters, or any five or more of them, as w ell as the possession of my manor house and gardens at Chelsea; as also my museum aforementioned and described, and every part thereof, in all its branches, w hole and entire, as the same shall be found in my manor house, according to the said catalogues, and together with the several volumes of catalogues thereunto belonging; and, farther, my will is, and I do hereby also direct and appoint, that, in case his Majesty, or the Parliament, do accept the offer, and do pay the sum of £20,000 unto my executors, or the survivors of them, that then my executors do, within six months after such payment as aforementioned, and obtaining proper powers for effectually vesting in the trustees all my collection, and my capital house and gardens, with their appurtenances, water, and advowson, presentation, or right of patronage of the church of Chelsea, together with my heir or heirs at law, and all other proper parties, do, and shall join in and execute such acts, deeds, and conveyances, as shall be thought requisite and necessary for the more perfect and absolute vesting, conveying, and assuring the premises, in and to the trustees, and their assigns and successors for ever, for the uses, intents, and purposes herein mentioned. And my will is, and I do hereby empower, that the trustees, or any seven of them, or more of them, do, and shall, in convenient time, after payment of the sum of £20,000 unto my executors, or the survivors of them, meet together, as often as shall he thought fit, and there make and establish, to be afterwards ratified and approved by the visiters hereby appointed, or any five or more of them, such rules and ordinances, and to make and appoint such officers and servants for the attending, managing, preserving, and containing of my museum and premises for ever, with such salaries, payments, or allowances, to them respectively, as shall seem necessary. And farther, my will is, and I do hereby order and direct, that, in case any difference or dispute shall happen to arise by or between the trustees touching the premises, which cannot be adjusted or settled among themselves; then, and in such case, and as often as the same shall happen, the visiters hereby appointed, or any five, or more of them, shall, and are hereby authorized and empowered to hear and determine, in the most summary way, such difference or dispute, whose order or determination shall be final. And it is also my will and desire, that all such other powers and authorities may be added or vested, as well in the intended trustees, as in the visiters hereby appointed, as shall by the legislature be thought most proper and convenient for the better management, order, and care of my collection and premises. And farther, it is my will, and I do hereby declare and direct, that the advowson, presentation, and right of patronage of the church of Chelsea, shall be filled up from time to time, as often as the same shall become vacant, by such person or persons as the trustees hereby appointed, or the major part of them, shall nominate and appoint. And 1 do hereby declare, and it is my desire and intention, that my museum, or collection, be preserved and kept in my manor house, at Chelsea, aforesaid, by the said trustees and visiters, and that the same may be from time to time visited and seen by all persons desirous of seeing and viewing the same, under such statutes, directions, rules, and orders, as shall be made from time to time by the trustees, or any seven or more of them, to be afterwards ratified by the visiters, or any five or more of them, that the same may be rendered as useful as possible, as well towards the satisfying the desire of the curious, as for the improvement of knowledge, and information of all persons; and, for this purpose, I have hereby reposed a sincere trust and confidence in my Right Honourable, Honourable, and other trustees and visiters hereby appointed. In case the £20,000 should not be obtained as aforesaid, then the collection to be offered at the same rate to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Petersburg, the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, and the Royal Academy of Sciences at Madrid, successively. And if not disposed of as above mentioned, the executors then to sell or dispose of the same in the most advantageous manner; and the said manor house, advowson, &c. shall go to and belong to such person or persons, and in such manner as the rest of his said manors, lands, and tenements are devised to.

Dated July 10. 1749.

By another codicil, dated July 21, 1750, he bequeaths to his nephew, William Sloane, Esq. all his manor lands, &c. in Chelsea, in trust for Lady Cadogan, during her life; to his grandson, William Cadogan, Esq. for his life; and then to his great grandson, Charles Henry Cadogan, and his heirs, on condition of paying to Mrs Stanley £9000 over and above all that may be due to her at the time of his death.

And by another codicil, dated April 14, 1751, he revokes what he has given to Mrs Stanley, and bequeaths instead, all the residue of his personal estate that shall remain after payment of his debts, &c., and he appoints Mr James Empson one of his executors, and to have the care of the museum, as long as it shall remain unsold, with £100 per annum, over and above what he had already given him.

A farther codicil, dated September 22, 1751, revokes the former will and codicils, as far as they are inconsistent herewith, and bequeaths one moiety of the manor, &c. of Chelsea, unto Mrs Stanley, and her heirs, for ever; and the other moiety of the said manor, &e. to Lady Cadogan, and her heirs.