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remarks and additions; and in his great collections for the topographical history of the counties around him.

But the work, on which he spent most time, was a History of the Sheriffs throughout England, built upon that of Dr. Fuller in his Worthies, and "enlarged," as he says, "not a little, by beginning at the Conquest, and bringing the lists down to the present times, distinguishing each Sheriff all the way by his proper title of honour, seat, and coat-armour, and adding the history of the chief families and persons, with such a mixture of their pedigree and descent, as seems proper to attend the whole, and particularly to observe in whom, and when, any such families came to a conclusion, and in what others their honours, fortunes, &c. became settled by their heirs-female, and so as to carry this latter part through, (though this part to be only mentioned in brief) to the present possessors of them." These MSS. are supposed to have been destroyed after his death. That event happened in consequence of bathing, immediately after which he expired in the shop of a friend at Peterborough. Gent. Mag. Vol. 66, pp. 637, 913.

6. MR. AITON, Botanist.

Mr. Aiton, whose name is, known to literature by his HORTUS KEWENSIS, was born in 1731 at a small village near Hamilton in Scotland. Having been brought up to Horticulture, he came in 1754 to England, and soon after attracted the notice of Mr. Philip Miller, the author of the "Gardener's Dictionary," and superintendant of the Physic Garden at Chelsea. Here he improved his skill in botany, which

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led to his being appointed by the Princess Dowager of Wales, and his present Majesty, to form and arrange a botanic garden at Kew, in 1759.

He had now an opportunity of displaying his singular talents. In 34 years he collected and cultivated nearly 6000 plants; the greatest number ever arranged in any one garden in the world.

In 1783 he was appointed to the more lucrative superintendance of the pleasure and kitchen garden at Kew; while he had leave to retain his former place.

The publication of the HORTUS KEWENSIS in 1789 did him great honour. The richness of the catalogue, the memoirs of the introduction of the several plants into the English gardens, and the scientific execution of every part of it, caused the whole large impression to be sold off in two years.

He died 1 Feb. 1793, æt. 62; and Sir Joseph Banks, and other eminent men, who had been his friends in life, attended him to the grave. His private character was excellent, Gent. Mag. Vol. 63, p. 389.

7. DR. HENRY FELTON.

Henry Felton, son of John, and grandson of Timothy Felton, of Felton in Northumberland, was born in London, 3 Feb, 1679, and educated at Oxford, where he became A.M. 1702, and B. D. 179. He was domestic chaplain at Belvoir Castle, Co. Rutland, where he continued to act under three successive Dukes of Rutland; and addressed to the third of them, whilst Lord Roos, his celebrated "Dissertation on reading the Classics, and forming a just style," by which he still continues to be known. He also published eight

sermons

sermons at Lady Moyer's Lecture, 1738; and several single sermons.

In 1711 he was presented to the rectory of Whitwell in Derbyshire; took the degree of D.D. 1712, and in 722 was admitted Principal of Edmund Hall, Oxf. In 1736 he was presented to the valuable living of Berwick in Elmet, Yorkshire; where he died I March, 1739, æt. 61. Gent. Mag. Vol. 63, p. 507.

8. REV. RICHARD PAGET.

The Rev. Richard Paget, of East-Cranmore, Co. Som. second son of Richard Paget, Esq. of that place, and Probationer-Fellow of Magdalen Coll. Ox. died 9 Dec. 1794, aged 28. "He was a young man of as amiable manners, as good abilities; amongst the small circle of his friends, his unassuming disposition, his easy manners, his various information, and even his little peculiarities, were sure to afford pleasure He was a man of refined taste, of much critical knowledge in the fine arts, a lover" (and it may truly be added a master)" of antiquarian knowledge, and sincerely attached to the church of England. He long laboured under the ravages of a consumption, which cut him off in the prime of life." He was a very able correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine, in which his contributions may be known by his initials, R. P. Gent. Mag. Vol. 64, p. 1157, 65. p. 99.

*

9. REV. DR. W. HAMILTON.

This very ingenious and learned divine and magistrate, Rector of Fanet in the county of Donegal, int

See also more particulars, ibid. p. 382.

Ireland,

Ireland, was most cruelly murdered by the rebels at the house of the Rev. Dr. Waller, at Sharon, in that county, 2 March, 1797. There is no doubt that he fell a sacrifice to his exertions for suppressing that spirit of insurrection, which had prevailed for some time in other parts of Ulster, and had of late broke out in the district where he resided.

As a scholar he had great claims to distinction and respect. From the time of his election to a Fellowship of Trinity College, Dublin, he had devoted his studies, with equal application and success, to the cultivation of Natural History and Philosophy.. His "Letters on the coast of the County of Antrim," very early attracted the notice of philosophers, as containing an ingenious and masterly review of the opinions. concerning the origin and production of basaltic strata. His next publication was "An Account of Experiments for determining the Temperature of the Earth's Surface in Ireland," printed in the Transactions of the R. I. A. for 1788.

His removal soon after to a college living, and the numerous avocations which followed it, interrupted his philosophical studies: but he found leisure to publish "Letters on the French Revolution," intended to instruct the middle and lower ranks of his countrymen. His last production was a Memoir on the Climate of Ireland, which did not appear before his death.

His active and benevolent spirit was incessantly employed in the service of his friends and his country; and his death was considered a public calamity. See Gent. Mag. Vol. 67, p. 180.

10. REV.

10. REV. JOHN ARMSTRONG.

The Rev. John Armstrong was born of humbe parents at Leith, in Scotland, about June 1771, and was educated at the high school and college of Edinburgh, where he took the degree of A. M. He was then distinguished for his love of the Belles Lettres, and particularly poetry; and published a volume of "Juvenile Poems" at the age of 18. In this he inserted an "Essay on the best means of punishing and preventing Crimes," which in January 1789, had gained the gold prize medal, given by the Edinburgh Pantheon Society, for the best specimen of prose compo

sition.

In 1790 he came to London to pursue the career of literature in that extensive metropolis; and to procure a subsistence engaged as a writer in one of the daily Newspapers; and became a Reporter of Debates, in which he is said to have taken the speeches of Mr. Pitt with uncommon skill and talent. But he still retained his taste for poetry, and published in 1791 a collection of" Sonnets from Shakspeare," under the signature of ALBERT.

He became also a preacher in some of the most respectable dissenting pulpits. But the fatigues of his mind and body were too much for a slender constitution; and he died of a decline, on 21 July, 1797, about a month after he had completed his 26th year. Gent. Mag. Vol. 67, p. 731.

11. DR. THOMAS MORELL.

Thomas Morell, A.B. 1726; A M. 1730; S.T.P. 1743, was born at Eton, where his mother kept a

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