Letter from Edward Sabine to Joseph [Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]
Information
Title - Letter from Edward Sabine to Joseph [Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London]
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/2/Z1/27
Date - 3 Sep 1822
Scope & content - Written from Maranham [Maranhao, Brazil]
They arrived in Maranham on 26 Aug, and will sail for Trinidad on 6 Sep; Don [George Don] is not satisfied by the length of their stay, but they have made a friend for the Society in the consul, Robert Hesketh [British consul in Maranham], who will make up for whatever Don is unable to do; Hesketh is a friend of the Moores [unidentified]; Hesketh should become a corresponding member, as he is 'young, active, steady and zealous' and likely to remain in Brazil; this appointment should be accompanied by a letter of thanks for the assistance he has rendered Don at great pains and expense; Hesketh is going to send a box of live plants from Para [Brazil], where he has a brother, as well as a box of bulbs from here and another from Para; he will also send collections of rare birds and animals from time to time; Hesketh has presented Joseph with a vulture, as well as a rare eagle of an interesting species, both alive; he hopes they will make it home alive, especially the eagle, which should be drawn; Hesketh will be a liberal and attentive correspondent; his address is Messrs Butler, Brothers, Old South Sea House, Broad Street [London]; communication from Maranham is mostly with Liverpool; Joseph should write immediately in thanks for the birds, and chances are that Hesketh will send him a collection at once; Don has recovered and seems happier amongst the midshipmen than he was previously - they objected to having him in the mess but Captain Clavering [Douglas Charles Clavering, captain of HMS Pheasant] overruled them; Edward lives 'in perpetual anxiety to remove the prejudices which [Don's] ungracious and selfish manners create everywhere against him'; Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] is keeping up tolerably but is still recovering, yet has above 30 species preserved from here; their live plants are as well as when they came on board, and Don proposes sending them home from Trinidad to avoid the cold weather, on which point Edward will consult Lockhart [David Lockhart, gardener for the British governor of Trinidad]; Clavering proposes travelling to Charleston and New York [United States of America] instead of Bermuda and the Azores [Portugal], which Edward likes, but they must consult the admiral at Jamaica; they will not be home until the middle of July; he encloses a copy of a letter he has written to Davy [Humphry Davy, chemist and inventor, president of the Royal Society] [for the copy of the letter from Edward Sabine to Humphry Davy, 26 Aug 1822, see RHS/Col/2/Z1/26]; he presumes the pendulum part of his plan for a second northern trip will take place, even if the exploring part is declined; he is anxious that there is no delay between experiments, it must be done next year or not at all, and he asks Joseph to press this point; his plan is that Clavering will command a ship such as the Hecla [in which Sabine travelled on William Parry's 1819 expedition] which has been reinforced for the environment, with 18 months' provisions; they will sail to northern Scotland with Joseph on board in March, accompanied by a friend of Clavering's, Mr Smith [James Smith, Scottish merchant and antiquarian], who has a beautiful yacht and will convey Joseph to any part of the Scottish or English coast he may wish to land after; they will then sail to Hammerfest in Norway, where Joseph and Mr Smith may also go if they desire, but no further; in May they will travel to the east coast of Spitsbergen [Svalbard, Norway] and spend three weeks on the ice; they will then travel to east Greenland, get close to the land and proceed northward, and land the pendulums if they stop - if not, they will proceed with caution until 25 Aug, when they will leave to spend September in Iceland, and return home in October; he thinks Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society] may be able to improve his plan, and is trusting the negotiation to Joseph, who is to call on Davy to ascertain the possibility of applying to the Commission of Longitude [Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, or Board of Longitude, a British government body formed to encourage solving the problem of finding longitude at sea] on account of the pendulum; if Davy agrees, he is to see Barrow and ascertain if anything can be done by the Admiralty in the way of discovery; after speaking with both, Joseph will know how best to proceed in setting up the voyage; he is anxious to reach Trinidad and receive letters from England; he has seen newspapers up until the end of June but apart from the death of Sir Englefield [Henry Englefield, astronomer] and the marriage of Frederick Franks [Franks, captain in the British Royal Navy, married in 1822 Emily Sebright, who died later that year; Franks later married her sister, Frederica Ann Sebright] he has heard no private news; as far as he can ascertain from the proceedings in parliament, the Grenville Party [also known as Grenville Whigs or Grenvillites, a political faction in Westminster] (except Lord Grenville himself) 'have lost themselves with the country entirely'; the news from home is 'a tedious repetition of the old story'; he hears that Winter [unidentified] is first commissioner[?] and thinks he deserves it; Joseph should not hesitate to write to Heskett to ask for whatever he desires from Brazil, and add short and practical direction; at Maranham he will draw £10 for Don, who has taken on board 15 palms; he cannot hope that Smith will be well enough to accompany him to the north, which will be a great loss, as he works very hard in birds and surprises Edward with his fondness for the pursuit. Written from Maranham [Maranhao, Brazil]
They arrived in Maranham on 26 Aug, and will sail for Trinidad on 6 Sep; Don [George Don] is not satisfied by the length of their stay, but they have made a friend for the Society in the consul, Robert Hesketh [British consul in Maranham], who will make up for whatever Don is unable to do; Hesketh is a friend of the Moores [unidentified]; Hesketh should become a corresponding member, as he is 'young, active, steady and zealous' and likely to remain in Brazil; this appointment should be accompanied by a letter of thanks for the assistance he has rendered Don at great pains and expense; Hesketh is going to send a box of live plants from Para [Brazil], where he has a brother, as well as a box of bulbs from here and another from Para; he will also send collections of rare birds and animals from time to time; Hesketh has presented Joseph with a vulture, as well as a rare eagle of an interesting species, both alive; he hopes they will make it home alive, especially the eagle, which should be drawn; Hesketh will be a liberal and attentive correspondent; his address is Messrs Butler, Brothers, Old South Sea House, Broad Street [London]; communication from Maranham is mostly with Liverpool; Joseph should write immediately in thanks for the birds, and chances are that Hesketh will send him a collection at once; Don has recovered and seems happier amongst the midshipmen than he was previously - they objected to having him in the mess but Captain Clavering [Douglas Charles Clavering, captain of HMS Pheasant] overruled them; Edward lives 'in perpetual anxiety to remove the prejudices which [Don's] ungracious and selfish manners create everywhere against him'; Smith [John Smith, Edward Sabine's assistant] is keeping up tolerably but is still recovering, yet has above 30 species preserved from here; their live plants are as well as when they came on board, and Don proposes sending them home from Trinidad to avoid the cold weather, on which point Edward will consult Lockhart [David Lockhart, gardener for the British governor of Trinidad]; Clavering proposes travelling to Charleston and New York [United States of America] instead of Bermuda and the Azores [Portugal], which Edward likes, but they must consult the admiral at Jamaica; they will not be home until the middle of July; he encloses a copy of a letter he has written to Davy [Humphry Davy, chemist and inventor, president of the Royal Society] [for the copy of the letter from Edward Sabine to Humphry Davy, 26 Aug 1822, see RHS/Col/2/Z1/26]; he presumes the pendulum part of his plan for a second northern trip will take place, even if the exploring part is declined; he is anxious that there is no delay between experiments, it must be done next year or not at all, and he asks Joseph to press this point; his plan is that Clavering will command a ship such as the Hecla [in which Sabine travelled on William Parry's 1819 expedition] which has been reinforced for the environment, with 18 months' provisions; they will sail to northern Scotland with Joseph on board in March, accompanied by a friend of Clavering's, Mr Smith [James Smith, Scottish merchant and antiquarian], who has a beautiful yacht and will convey Joseph to any part of the Scottish or English coast he may wish to land after; they will then sail to Hammerfest in Norway, where Joseph and Mr Smith may also go if they desire, but no further; in May they will travel to the east coast of Spitsbergen [Svalbard, Norway] and spend three weeks on the ice; they will then travel to east Greenland, get close to the land and proceed northward, and land the pendulums if they stop - if not, they will proceed with caution until 25 Aug, when they will leave to spend September in Iceland, and return home in October; he thinks Barrow [John Barrow, second secretary to the Admiralty, fellow of the Royal Society] may be able to improve his plan, and is trusting the negotiation to Joseph, who is to call on Davy to ascertain the possibility of applying to the Commission of Longitude [Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, or Board of Longitude, a British government body formed to encourage solving the problem of finding longitude at sea] on account of the pendulum; if Davy agrees, he is to see Barrow and ascertain if anything can be done by the Admiralty in the way of discovery; after speaking with both, Joseph will know how best to proceed in setting up the voyage; he is anxious to reach Trinidad and receive letters from England; he has seen newspapers up until the end of June but apart from the death of Sir Englefield [Henry Englefield, astronomer] and the marriage of Frederick Franks [Franks, captain in the British Royal Navy, married in 1822 Emily Sebright, who died later that year; Franks later married her sister, Frederica Ann Sebright] he has heard no private news; as far as he can ascertain from the proceedings in parliament, the Grenville Party [also known as Grenville Whigs or Grenvillites, a political faction in Westminster] (except Lord Grenville himself) 'have lost themselves with the country entirely'; the news from home is 'a tedious repetition of the old story'; he hears that Winter [unidentified] is first commissioner[?] and thinks he deserves it; Joseph should not hesitate to write to Heskett to ask for whatever he desires from Brazil, and add short and practical direction; at Maranham he will draw £10 for Don, who has taken on board 15 palms; he cannot hope that Smith will be well enough to accompany him to the north, which will be a great loss, as he works very hard in birds and surprises Edward with his fondness for the pursuit
Extent - 3 page letter (1 sheet)
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - John J. Timothy Jeal
Credit Line - Courtesy John J. Timothy Jeal / RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)