MEMOIR OF JOHN RAY, A. M. F. R. S. (With a Portrait.) THIS truly christian philosopher was the son of a blacksmith, at Black-Notley, near Braintree, in the county of Essex, and born there November 29, 1628. Though his ancestral name was Ray, for some reason or other, of which no account has been given, he continued to spell it Wray till the year 1670, when he resumed the original patronymic, and apprised his learned friend Dr. Martin Lister, of the change, in a Latin letter. The Doctor, however, was not altogether satisfied with the alteration, and observed in reply, "I was pleased with the derivation of your name whilst V was at it, it agreed so well with a virtue so eminent in you, and which, I am confident, you will never lay aside, however you please to alter the writing of your name. You well know what Vray in French means." He received his education at the free-school of Braintree, to which he thus alludes in a letter to Aubrey, "Tho' I do not pretend to have been of the first magnitude for wit or docility, yet I think I may without arro- | gance say, that in our paltry country school here at Braintree, Ego meis me minoribus condiscipulis ingenio pralexi; but perchance the advantage I had of my contemporaries, may rather be owing to my industry than natural parts; so that I should say, studio or industria excellui." His progress in learning, however, was such, that at the age of sixteen he was deemed qualified for the university; and accordingly, on the 28th of June, 1644, he was entered a member of Catherine-Hall, Cambridge, from whence, in 1646, he removed to TrinityCollege, for the sake of the sciences which were studied there. His tutor was the celebrated Greek professor, Dr. Duport, who used to boast that he had brought up two of the best scholars of the age, meaning John Ray and Isaac Barrow. Between these excellent persons a most cordial friendship No. 35.-VOL. III. [1821. was formed, which continued through life. In 1649, they became fellows of the College together; Mr. Ray having just before taken his bachelor's degree. In 1651, he commenced master of arts, and the same year he was chosen lecturer in Greek; two years afterwards he read the mathematical lecture; and in 1655, that upon humanity, or classical learning, a succession of appointments which fully evinced the high reputation he had acquired in the languages and sciences. In 1657, he was elected to the office of prælector primerius of his college; the next year he served that of junior dean, and twice afterwards he discharged the trust of steward. He had also a number of pupils, his attention to whom, and the other duties which devolved upon him in the college, weakened his constitution so much, that the physician urged the necessity of exercise and an occasional absence from the university. In compliance with this advice, he made many excursions, which led him to the study of botany, a science then in its infancy, and scarcely regarded at all, except for pharmaceutical purposes. His first tour of any length was in the summer of 1658, when he rode to Chester, and from thence into North Wales, where he visited Snowden, and returned to Cambridge by the way of Shrewsbury and Gloucester. In 1660, he published his “Catalogus Plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium," or, "A Catalogue of Plants growing near Cambridge." This was the first work of the kind that had appeared in England; and some years afterwards the author enlarged it by an account of plants found in other parts of the kingdom. Soon after this publication, Mr. Ray received both deacon's and priest's orders from the hands of that venerable prelate, Dr. Robert Sanderson, bishop of Lincoln; a circumstance which fully proves that he was an episcopalian, though, on the passing of the act of conformity in 1662, he vacated his fellowship, because he could not assent to the decla 4 E ration against the solemn league and covenant. He remained, however, a lay communicant of the church of England, though he constantly declined every offer of preferment; for which, among other reasons, his ardent pursuit of science may justly be assigned as a principal motive. 1164 nications were so well received, that the president and fellows returned him their thanks, with a request that he would continue his favours. During the year 1674, and part of the next, he was employed in preparing Mr. Willoughby's" Observations about Birds" for the press; which work, however, was not published till 1678. These two learned men and diligent observers, finding the history of nature very imperfect, formed the resolution, before their journey abroad, to reduce the several tribes of animals and vegetables into systematic order, with accurate descriptions of the several species. As the genius of Mr. Willoughby lay chiefly to the study of animated nature, he undertook the classification of the birds, beasts, fishes, and insects, while Mr. Ray devoted his chief attention to the vegetable world. Old Lady Willoughby dying, and Mr. Ray's pupils being removed from under his tuition, he left Middleton-Hall about 1676, and On leaving Trinity-College, Mr. Ray accompanied his friends Mr. Francis Willoughby, Mr. Philip Skippon, and Mr. Nathaniel Bacon, in a tour thro' Europe, which journey took up two years, and the particulars of it were published by Mr. Ray in the year 1673. In 1667, he became a fellow of the Royal Society, at the earnest entreaty of the members of that learned body, particularly Bishop Wilkins; at whose desire he translated into Latin his lordship's great work, entituled the "Real Character, or Philosophical Language;" but the version was never published. In 1672, died Mr. Willoughby, aged only thirty-seven, at Middleton-Hall, his seat in Warwick-retired with his wife to Sutton-Coldshire, "to the infinite and unspeak- field, about four miles from the former able loss and grief," says Mr. Ray, place; but soon after he went to reside "of myself, his friends, and all good at Falborne-hall, in Essex; and lastly, men." This gentleman had been fellow took up his abode in his native village collegian with Mr. Ray, and having a of Black Notley. The first fruit of his similar turn for the study of natural leisure and retirement here, was his history, the closest intimacy was "Methodus Plantarum Nova," pubformed between them; the sincerity lished in an octavo volume, in 1682. of which was manifested in Mr. Wil- The system of which he gave an outline loughby's bequeathing to his friend an in this compendium, was first applied annuity of sixty pounds a year, and by the author practically in the "Hisappointing him one of the executors of toria Plantarum," the first volume of his will, with the particular care of his which, in folio, appeared in 1686; the two sons. The eldest of these children second in 1687, and the third in 1704. not being four years old, Mr. Ray, as a This immense compilation is still held faithful trustee, undertook the instruc-in deserved esteem as a book of retion of him, as he did afterwards of his brother, composing for their use his "Nomenclator Classicus," which is uncommonly exact, especially in the names of natural objects. Francis, the eldest of these youths, dying before he was of age, the younger became Lord Middleton. The same year which deprived Mr. Ray of his dear friend Mr. Willoughby, also took away the great and good BishopWilkins. Being thus, as it were, left without society, Mr. Ray turned his thoughts to a matrimonial connection; and in 1673, he espoused the daughter of Mr. Oakeley, a country gentleman in Oxfordshire. By this lady he had four daughters, three of whom survived him. He now resumed his correspondence with the Royal Society, and his commu ference, but chiefly on account of the several valuable and expensive works which are condensed and inserted in it, as the " Hortus Malabaricus," and other rare collections, now hardly to be found even in public libraries. While thus diligent in arranging his own observations, Mr. Ray was not unmindful of the trust reposed in him by his friend. Having therefore favoured the world with the Ornithology of Mr. Willough by, he now prepared for the press, and published in 1685, that gentleman's 66 66 History of Fishes." In 1688, came out our author's "Fasciculus Stirpium Britannicarum"; and in 1690, the Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum." Of the last performance, Sir James Smith, the president of the Linnean Society, says, "that if the fame or the utility of Ray's great botanical works has, neither of them, been commensurate with the expectations that might have been formed, this Synopsis" amply supplied all such defects, and proved the great cornerstone of his reputation in this department of science." The best edition of the Synopsis is that which was edited by Dillenius, in two volumes octavo, 1724. No Flora that has since been published, equals that of Ray in his Synopsis. He carefully examined every plant which he has recorded in his work, and he even gathered most of them himself. He investigated their synonyms with the utmost accuracy; and had the clearness and precision of other observers equalled his, he would scarcely have committed a single error. It is rarely that he falls into a mistake respecting nature, though he unavoidably sometimes misapprehends the imperfect figures and descriptions which he was obliged to consult. These observations apply to the second edition, in which is a controversial Jetter from Rivinus to Ray, and the answers, with some remarks upon Tournefort, chiefly relating to the old division of plants into trees, shrubs, and herbs. 1166 the writers who followed his method, for neglecting one important subject in | natural history, that of the pairing of animals, and the care which they take of their progeny. This objection, however, is not just, for Ray has devoted no less than ten pages to the description of the very subject which he is charged with having omitted. The favourable reception which this book met with, encouraged the author to publish the year following, another entituled Three Physico - Theological Discourses, concerning the chaos, deluge, and dissolution of the world." In the preface to this curious volume, which is dedicated to Archbishop Tillotson, Mr. Ray makes an apology for publishing so much, and says, "I am not ignorant that men, as they are mutable, so they love change, and affect variety of authors as well as books. Satiety even of the best things is apt to creep upon us. He that writes much, let him write ever so well, shall experience, that his last books, though nothing inferior to his first, will not find equal acceptance. But for mine own part, though in general I may be thought to have written too much, yet it is but little that I have written relating to divinity. It were a good rule to be observed both by writer and reader, Not how much, but how well. He that cannot write well, had better spare his quo' major. "As other good things, so a good book, the bigger it is, the better it is:"-which holds as well of the number as magnitude of books." Mr. Ray having written so much upon natural science, now turned his thoughts to subjects more immediately connected with his theological profes-pains, and not write at all. Neither is sion. Accordingly, in 1691, he pub- he to be thought to write well, who lished his demonstration of the Exist- though he hath some good things thin ence and Providence of the Deity, set and dispersed, yet encounters and under the title of "The Wisdom of accloys the reader with a deal of useGod manifested in the Works of the less and impertinent stuff. On the Creation." The rudiments of this contrary, he that writes well, cannot treatise are laid in some lectures, read write too much. For as Phiny the in the chapel of Trinity College, and Younger saith well, Ut uliæ bona res, called Common Places. These lecita bonus liber eo melior est quisque, tures he reduced into the order of a systematic discourse, proving from the various operations of nature in the animal and vegetable creation, as also from the construction and motions of the heavenly bodies, that the universe, in all its parts, is under a superintending Providence. This excellent book went through a number of editions, the last of which is the eighth, in 1722; and it merits reprinting with some notes, being admirably suited to the capacities of ordinary readers. Dr. Derham adopted the plan of it in his "Boyle's Lectures," and so has Dr. Paley in his "Natural Theology;" but Lord Kaimes finds fault with Ray and The third edition of these discourses was published, with additions from the author's manuscripts, by Dr. Derham, in 1713, and the last appeared in 1732. Besides these religious works, Mr. Ray printed an excellent practical treatise, entituled " A Persuasive to a Holy Life ;" which volume is not so well known as it deserves to be. His other publications are:-1. A “ Collection of English Proverbs, with an addition of Hebrew and Foreign Proverbs; and a collection of English Lo |