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804 Strictures on the Land Tax.-Account of John Wilfon. [Sept.

mented burdens, and maintain the farmer. Worfe than this, Government will not be benefited in proportion as the individual is aggrieved. Four fhillings in the pound reduces an income of 100l. to 80l.; therefore the proprietor must live upon sol. yearly; but, whilft he pays 201. of land-tax, the revenue really falls fhort in other refpects no lefs than nine tenths of this fum; for, if the individual had this 20l. to expend, he would benefit Government nine-tenths of that fum in the great variety of other taxes. This is an intricate, but im portant, point. To abridge himself in zol. a year, he must retrench his expences as to candles, foap, malt-liquor, wine, fpirituous liquors, tea, fugar, fervants, horfes, windows, and a variety of other articles. But with regard to equalizing the land-tax, by lowering it in fome counties, and raising it in others, this will in fact be causing an infinite difproportion at this day, becaufe the lands are moftly leafed already according to their prefent taxes refpectively. Therefore thofe, whose taxes Thall be abated, will have an indulgence they are not entitled to expect, fince they have made their bargains (as indeed the proprietors of thofe lands purchafed them) fubject to their prefent affeffments; and thofe, whofe taxes fhall be augmented, will undergo an unexpected burden, which they are unequal to, because they have taken leafes on aheir farms at full value according even to the prefent taxation. Befides this, the rich and fertile lands which shall be eafed by this fuppofed regulation, are of at leaft forty times the value (quantity and quality taken together) of the lands whofe tax is to be augmented; there fore the abatement will be to the aug mentation as 40 to 1; and this abatement will be principally within the fphere of greatest circulation; the aug mentation will fall moftly beyond that fphere, where the difficulty of acquiring money for the taxes of each fucceeding year will increase more and more continually, the annual draughts being too likely, nay too certain, to exceed the annual returns; a matter to be guarded against above all things, as infolvency and defpair will otherwife inevitably enfue; and who knows not the adage, una falus nullam fperare falutem? W.

Mr. URBAN, Kendal, Aug. 18.

A SHORT life of the fubject of the prefent effay may be found in

Pulteney's Hiftory of Botany in Eng land, vol. II. p. 264; where we are in formed, that the principal circumftances are borrowed from the British Topogra phy. As this account is far from being correct, it is prefumed that the following may be offered to the Gentleman's Magazine without farther apology.

Some Account of JOHN WILSON, Author of the Synophs of British Plants in Mr. Ray's Method.

JOHN WILSON, the first who attempted a fyftematic arrangement of the indigenous plants of Great Britain in the fleddal, near Kendal, in Weftmoreland, English language, was born in Longfome time in the year 1696. He was by amongst the few who, in every age, diftrade a fhoe-maker, and may be ranked tinguith themfelves from the mass of mankind by their fcientific and literary accomplishments without the advantages of a liberal education. The fuccefs of his firit calling does not appear to have been great, as perhaps he never followed. journeyman. However this may be, he it in a higher capacity than that of a exchanged it, for the more lucrative employment of a baker, foon enough to afford his family the common conveniencies of life; the profits of his new bufinefs fupporting him in circumftances which, though not affluent, were far fu perior to the abject poverty he is faid to have experienced by the author of the British Topography. This writer, amongst other miftakes undoubtedly occafioned by falfe information, has recorded an anecdote of him, which is the fabrication of one of thofe inventive geniuses who are more partial to a good tale than attentive to the truth. He acquaints us, that Wilfon was fo intent on the purfuic of his favourite ftudy, as once to be tempted to fell a cow, the fupport of his houfe, in order to procure the means of purchafing Morrifon's voluminous work ;. and that this abfurd defign would have certainly been put in execution, had not a neighbouring lady prefented him with the book, and by her generofity rescued the infatuated botanift from voluntary. ruin. The ftory is ftriking, but wants authenticity; and is abfolutely contradicted by authority that cannot be difputed. At the time when Wilfon ftu died botany, the knowledge of_fyftem was not to be obtained from English. books; and Ray's botanical writings, of whofe method he was a perfect master,. were all in Latin.. This circumstance

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makes it evident, that he acquired an acquaintance with the language of his author, capable of giving him a complete idea of the fubject. The means by which he arrived at this proficiency are not known at prefent; and though fuch an attempt, made by an illiterate man, may appear to be attended with infuperable difficulties to thofe who have enjoyed a regular education, yet the experiment has been frequently made, and has been almost as frequently fuccefsful. No one ought to be furprised with the apparent impoffibilities that perfeverance conftantly vanquishes, when properly fir mulated by the love of knowledge. The powers of industry are not to be deter mined by fpeculation; they are feen and underftood by their effects: it is this ta. lent alone that forms the bafis of genius, and diftinguishes a man of abilities from the rest of his kind.

It was no eafy undertaking to acquire the reputation of an expert and accurate botaniit before Linnæus's admirable method of difcriminating (pecies gave the fcience so effential an iniprovement.

The fubject of the prefent effay overcame the difficulties infeparable from the enterprize, and merited the character from his intimate acquaintance with the vegetable productions of the North of England. But there is good reafon to believe that he was not entirely felftaught; for, under the article Gentiana, he accidentally mentions his intercourfe en the fubject with Mr. Fitz-Roberts, who formerly refided in the neighbour hood of Kendal, and was known to Pettiver and Ray his name occurs in the Synopfs of the latter gentleman. The numerous places of growth, of the rarer plants added by Wilfon to thofe found in former catalogues, fhew how diligently he cultivated the practical part of boDany.

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It will appear a matter of furprife, to fuch as are ignorant of his manner of life, how a mechanick could fpare a very large portion of time from engagements which ought to engrofs the attention of men in low circumftances, for the fole purpose of devoting it to the curious but anproductive refearches of a naturalift. On this account it is proper to remark, that the bufinels of a baker was principally managed by his wife, and that a long indifpofition rendered him unfit for a fedentary employment. He was affted with a fevere asthma for many years, which, while it prevented him from pursuing his trade as a shoe-maker,

encouraged the cultivation of his favourite science, and he attended to it with all the ardour a fick man can experience. Fresh air, and moderate exercise, were the best palliatives of his cruel difeafe : thus he was tempted to amufe the lingering hours of fickness with frequent excurfions in the more favourable parts of the year, as oft as his health would permit; and, under the preffure of an unpropitious diforder, explored the marshes, and even the hills, of his native county, being often accompanied by fuch of his intimates as were partial to botany, or defirous of beholding those uncommon fcenes of Nature that can only be enjoyed in mountainous countries.

The fingularity of his converfation contributed not a little to the gratification of his curiofity; for he was a diligent obferver of manners and opinions, and delivered his fentiments with unreferved freedom. His difcourfe abounded with remarks, which were generally pertinent, and frequently original: many of his fententious expreffions are still remembered by his neighbours and contempora ries. One of thefe deferves recording, as it fhews that his knowledge of botany was not confined to the native productions of England. Being once in the county of Durham, he was introduced to a perfon who took much pleasure in the cultivation of rare plants. This man, judging of his abilities by his appearance, and perhaps expecting to increase his own reputation by an eafy victory over one he had heard commended fo much, challenged him to a trial of skill; and, in the courfe of it, treated his ftranger with a degree of difrefpect that provoked his refentment, and prompted him to give an inftance of his fuperiority. Accordingly, after naming most of the rarities contained in the garden, and referring to authors where they are defcribed, he in his turn plucked a wild herb, growing in a neglected spot, and prefented it to his opponent, who endea voured to get clear of the difficulty by pronouncing it a weed; but Wilfon immediately replied, a weed is a term of Art, not a production of Nature: adding, that the explanation proved his antagonist to be a gardener, not a botanist Thus the conteft ended.

Thefe qualities, fo uncommon in an unlettered man, procured him the notice of feveral perfons of tafte and fortune, whofe hofpitality enabled him to profe cute his refearches on an economical plan that suited his humble condition.

Mr.

805

Anecdotes of Mr. Wilfon;-and of the Tillies.

Mr. Ifaac Thompson, an eminent land-furveyor, refident at Newcattle upon-Tyne, may be reckoned his fleadieft patron, and warmest encourager; for he frequently accompanied this gentleman, when travailing in the line of his profellion, under the character of an affistant, an employment that left him at full liberty to examine the vegetable productions of the different places vifited by them. But it is difficult to determine, at prefent, what experience he gained from his connexion with Mr. Thomp fon; and the author of the prefent effay has fcarcely any other means of discovering what were his opportunities of attending to the places of growth of the rarer plants, befides his own work the Synopfis, where the obfervations are in a great meafure confined to Weftmoreland and Northumber and. Perhaps this was done to accommodate his friends, who were numerous in thofe counties, and for whofe use the book was chiefly intended; however, it appears from the volume itfelf, that he was not entirely unacquainted with the South of England. This work was published in the year 1744; it comprehends that part of Rav's method that treats of the more perfect herbs, beginning at the fourth genus, or clafs, and ending with the twenty-fixth. He promifes, in the preface, to compleat the performance at a future period, provided his first attempt fhould meet with a favourable reception from the publick; but did not live to fulfil his promife, being prevented by indifpofition from finishing a fecond volume, which was intended to contain the Fungi, Molles, Graffes, and Trees.

He died July 15, 1751, after lingering through the last three or four years of life in a ftate of debility that rendered him unfit for any undertaking of the kind. Some papers left by him on the fubject palled into the hands of Mr. Slack, printer at Newcaftle-upon-Tyne, but were never published. Among thefe were foine drawings, but it is not cer tain whether they were reprefentations of rare plants, or figures intended to illuf. trate the technical part of the fcience. The writings of Linnæus became popular in England a thort time after his death, and very foon fupplanted all preceding fЯems; otherwile the character of Wilfon had been better known to his countrymen at prefent. His Synoplis is certainly an improvement on that of Ray; for, befides fome correction in the arrangement, many trivial obfervations

[Sept

are left out of it, to make room for generic and fpecific deferiptions, the most effential parts of a botanical manual.He did not increafe the catalogue of Britifh plants much, only adding two to Ray's number, as diftinét fpecies, the Allium febœnopprafum, and the Valeriana rubra; but he was the first who intro duced the Gircea alpina to the notice of the English botanift, as a variety of Chutitiana, growing near Sedberg, in Yorkfhire;

Mr. URBAN, Winkfield, Wilts, Aug. 18. IN your Magazine for April laft, p. 312, Antiquarius Secundus promifes to tranfmit to you any biographical remains he may procure of Tilly, Efq. of Pentilly Caftle. That Tilly, I apprehend, was Sir James Tillie, Knt. whofe anceflors were inhabitants of this parish, and of whom he has thought fit to preferve the remembrance by a plain flab of blue marble, fixed in the South wall of the church, near the Weft end, with an infcription, of which the following is a copy:

Trect d Anno Dom. 1687,

by Sir JAMES TILLIE, Knt. to the Memory of his Anceftours, who in this Parith lived vertuously, and died pioufly, and lie interred under the two oppofite Tomb-stores, viz. under the nearest Stone, John Tillie the elder, and Mary his Wife, and feverall of their Children;

and under the remoteft Stone, John Tillie the younger, and Sufanna his Wife, and feverall of their Children.

The defcendants of Sir James have yet an eftate here, which is faid to have been purchafed by that gentleman from an attachiment to the original refidence of his ancestors. There was till lately a houfe upon it, which bore evident marks of that fingularity of character which difcovered itfelf upon other occafions.

There is, in the Regifter Book of the parish for the year 1658, an entry of the baptifm of two daughters of John Tillie and Sufannah his wife, who were probably the father and mother alfo of the abovementioned gentleman. But there is no memorial of the family after the Refloration; and as, from the year 1676, the burials were entered in a feparate book, which is now loft, there is no res cord of the interment of thofe indivi duals who might then be furviving.

The Regifter Book, referred to above, commences during the Ufurpation, in

the

́the year 1654; and it may not be unacceptable to the curious to be informed, that on the inner fide of the cover is the following entry, which, though canceled after the Reftoration, remains perfectly legible: "Be it remembered, that, the nineteenth day of July, 1654, I John Afhe, Efq. one of the Juftices of the Peace of the county of Wilts, did alowe of George Saunders to be Regifter of the p'ifhs of Winkfield, in the faid county, he being first elected by the p'fhioners of the laid p'ifhe; and he was by me fworne faithfully to execute the faid office, according to the act of Parliament in that cafe made and provided. Wit nefs my hand, the day and year abovef'd, John Áfhe."

Whether George Saunders was the officiating minifter does not appear. How ever, he made his entries of baptifms, marriages, and burials, with great accuracy, and continued in office till the year 1660 and it is but juftice to add, that the fame accuracy was preferved by three fucceeding rectors, and part of the incumbency of a fourth, till the year 3751. E. S.

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The Lord knows whither in a chaife and one;" and therefore may not overlook matters which more rapid travellers difregard. Formerly, one King governed the whole Nation; now, the whole Nation govern the one King or rather, each city, town, bourg, or hamlet, governs itself. Be that as it may! After fpending four months in the finest, though not the jweetest, house in Calais, lately inhabited by the feu Duchefs de what d'ye call ber, I determined to fee bow men's heads grow upon their boulders in the capital. If, therefore, a Diary of my journey thither prove worthy of a corner in your Magazine, mine is at your fervice; and perhaps I may find matter of more importance, when I arrive in a city, always an extraordinary one, but now the most interefting of any city in Europe.

On the 10th of Auguft, 1791, (being the day which placed my head among the fons of men, feventy-two years ago,) [ fet out for Boulogne, and arrived at the British Hotel in that city; where I found the beft inn, and the most uncouth Dame Angloife of a landlady, I ever beheld in all my Wanderings, and had nothing tɔ remark thither but the beauty of the country, and the wonderful difference between the country and city air of Calais. And though Madame mon Hoteffe gave me but a cool reception, the made me ample amends in a bot fupper and a bottle of good Burgundy, not forgetting to charge it in her bill the next morning, when I fet ou', on the grand chemin, for Montreuil, where my landlady (à la Cour de France), by way of variety. gave us a good fupper, and a bottle of common wine, value fix-pence, at the reafonable price of three livres. The next day, on our way hither, we were charmed with the beautiful country, and the numerous and jocund peasants, on both fides the 1oad, gathering-in their plentiful harveft. But the heat was fo violent, that I wifhed to find refreshment and rest at Nouvrop, a ħttle hamlet a poft and a half from this city; but I was informed, that that poor hamlet afforded no reception for travellers. The Poftmafter, however, who looked more like our Palmer than a villager, civilly invited us to partake of a good fallad, his beef à-la-mode, and the best artichokes I ever tafted in my life; and a lady of fashion, who is building a houfe in the fame village, furnifled us with our defert, withour enquiring whether we were National ATemblyifts or Ariftocraticks, for I bear no infignia; it is contrary to the law dans ce pays-ci to wear badges of dif tinction, the National Affemb'y having decreed, that merit and talents alone are to create diftinction between MAN and MAN; that every man may write, print, and publish, whatever he pleafes, and ferve God in that manner which appears most fuitable to his way of thinking.When I quitted my polite Poft-matter, he asked me at what inn I intended to flop at Abbeville? I defired him to recommend one to me,-and that I had formerly ufed the Bull's Head; but he informed me, that his daughter kept the Poft houfe, and that I should meet with good beds, and every thing elle comme il faut, with her. I did fo:-so much fo, that I have determined to spend a week with the faileft, the civilett, and the bestbeloved publican, I ever met with in

France

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The Wanderer's Diary through France.

France; and to whofe houfe I earneftly recommend travellers of all nations, and particularly my own.

On my way hither I could not but remark, that magpies and wheat-ears * were the only game I met with on the road-fide; not a fingle partridge, quail, or hare, have I feen, though harvest time, fince I left Calais. But my pretty landlady, Madame Melart, has promifed to thew me a partridge at half paft three; and then, Mr. Urban, I will drink hers and your health, in a glafs of the very prettiest Burgundy, at one pilling a bottle, I ever tatted: and, when you drink your Old Port, don't forget your Old Correfpondent,

THE WANDERER.

THE beautiful fituation of Abbeville, the good fruit, the violent heat, and the tranquillity of the town, induced me to reft near a week in it. To my great furprife, I found a manufactory of fearlet cloth, which coft me forty-two livres a French yard, nearly two Louis d'ors. Here I met with one of the late Mr. Welley's flock, who in England painted his pious teacher's portrait to often, that it enabled him to become a fraudulent bankrupt in London, and now to be the coach-painter of Abbeville.

In paffing through the city of Amiens, I began to fufpect that General Bouillé, and his Pays-Bas army, had preceded me; for, though the ftones were not difplaced, fcarcely faw a houfe that had a whole pane of glafs in the windows, till I found they were fo fhattered by a vioJent thunder-clap a few days before; and at Clermont a ftill greater flaughter among the trees of General Condé, where they are laid at by whole battalions. But his tenants at Chantilly are as merry as Greeks; for they boaft that they have had one-third MORE GRAIN this harveft, than on any former year, owing to the destruction of the game, which I can readily believe; for from Calais to Paris I faw but four partridges, and three of them were upon the table. I forgot to mention, that, when I laft paffed Abbe

* GAME, to be fure, are pretty objects en the road; but game at the poor peafant's

back, or in his foup, without fear of the gal lies, is a pleasant reflexion. But if game is fcarce, fruit is plenty; as you may conclude, when I tell you, that the finest apricots I ever tafled are a farthing apiece, and peaches a penny.

The Poft-houfe is the airiest and largest uberge in Abbeville.

[Sept.

ville, my poft boy took a fudden turn, to avoid disturbing the red-hot embers (which were still blushing for their deadly deed) that had burned alive two young men, who had in their cups behaved indecently when the proceflion of a Saint paffed by This was about twenty. three years ago. Such horrid deeds, thank Gop, will never be feen again in this now FREE KINGDOM. On entering the capital, the eve of St. Louis, I was fo bewildered with the noise of drums, bells, and crowds of armed bourgeois, that I did not perceive a blackguard, who had the impudence to steal one of my piftols from the holster in my charger, till I arrived at the Hotel Modène, remarkable only for being the re, fidence of Poor Yorick in former days, and of bugs in the prefent. If the National Affembly would but decree, among other falutary laws, one relative to great and little boufe cleanliness, it would add much to their honour. To-day, St. Louis, I paffed by the palace and prifon of the King, and faw only tents and centinels before his windows, instead of all his fubjects' free admifion to prefent their bouquets, as ufual, on their Sove reign's name-day. I could not but drop a figh, till I recollected how many fighs had been dropped in the Baftille, for ages paft, unpitied; however, I may, I think, truly fay, I came in at the death, I mean the death of the new-established conflitution: for, if fome refolutions paffed, which were agitated on the 24th inftant, and I hear they did, they have undone all their former doings; and there cannot be a doubt but the King will accept the conftitution, and be foon at liberty, to repair his own. Here I met with your and my old friend, Dr. W--r, and the animated and ingenious Mifs W--s. The former is re turning home, having taken it into bis bead, that STOURHEAD is a pretier place than Paris; and the latter is just fet off for Rouen.

Little did I think, when I paffed Bell garde, on the heights of the Pyrenees, fif teen years ago, and the French guard asked me, with a tone of infolence, of what country I was? that I fhould live to fee the day, that I could ask them the fame quef tions as they put to me.-I replied, "I was a native of Hotentot," "Otentot! Oten

Previous to their execution, I think their tongues had been torn out; but fee M. Voltaire on that fad fubject. ct

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