The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07
conducted by his daughter. a Mrs. Hail,

hands the place lost its distinctive
character, and in 1893 the Genticman's
Mo0osine recorded the sale of the coll
lection for q little more than ESQ,
noting tremendously: "Such collections.
aided by those of Tradescant, Ash
mole and Thoresby, cherished the
Infancy of Science; and should not
be deprecated. as the playthings of
boy after he has arrived at man.
hood" An old resident recalls Don
Saltero's, under precedence of q Scotch
host, as a sort of neighborhood club
room. In 1867 the old house was re-
built for the purposes OF private resi-
dence, and now nothing remains OF
the original structure but its front,
somewhat touched up"
Somewhere near the eastern end OF
Cheyne Walk, from 1890 to 1880 or 90,
lived Mary Astell a literary lady and
a feminist no less ardent but much
more urbane than those OF to-day. In
1896 she published can Essay in De-
fence of the Female Sex; in which are
inserted the characters of Pedant.
a Squire. Beau, n Vertuoso, a Poet
aster, q City Critick, etc" In the next
following year she put forth her chief
work. "A Serious Proposal to the
Ladies for the advancement of their
true and greatest Interest; by a Lover
of the Sex" The proposal" was a
Religious Retirement, retreat from
the world to q community of women
under a mild and agreeable discipline
In which sewing and the innocent"
feminine arts we're to share with the
study Of philosophy. with teaching and
nursing, the attention OF the recluse
ladies'. Several ladies OF rank expressed
a readiness to support the scheme
financially and with their personal par
ticipation, and there was excitement
among ecclesiastics resentful OF this
encroachment upon their preserves:
their opposition prevented Its practical
realization. The LAY" attack was even
severer than the clerical. 1t was a
coarse age, and the wits OF town were
unmerciful and immoderate in their
licentious testing on the possibilities
OF the scheme. The Taller progressed
from mere mirth to scurrilous derision.
In. Reflections Upon Marriage" 100,
Miss Astell said,
woman has no mighty obligations to
the man who makes love to her: she has
no reason to be fond OF being a wife. or
to reckon II n piece Of preferrnent when
she is taken to be a mans upper servant
The femlnlsts Of to-day might well
adopt Mr.. Blunt's suggestion of a me-
mortal tablet In Old Chelsea Church, In
whose yard she lies without stone or
chiselled word to honor q pioneer who
braved the obloquy and ridicule Of an
age when both were pitilessly used, in
fighting the battle OF her sex, and de-
hA 80
emancipation OF her sisters"
That old churchyard holds also the
mortal remains OF another heroic
woman, Elizabeth Blackwell. died 1858.
Her story Is bound up with that of the
Physick Garden OF the Worshipful So
ciety Of Apothecarles; place OF q learn
ing since superseded but fragrant with
memories OF bygone days. Here grew
| rosemary, egrimony. throat wort, law
ender. sweet fennel. hyssop, flag. rue
and all the herbs of grace and healing:
and here botanical science and medical
lore labored patiently for the cure of
body aches and pains. Decoctions in
white wine and sherry sack, old NAL
aga. mum and mead, tent and old ale ;
syrups of cherrJ of violet ana marsh
mallow; oils OF lily and lavender, con-
serve OF roses. wines Of ounce, ''apri-
cock" damson. cowslip and elderberrv.
waters of wall nut" POPPY, dill. mace
and cardamom comflts: a poetic omar
macoppia, for an old fashioned cata-
logue Of diseases, "cholick" pains. hot
and costive habit" Kings evil and
"strein." Hitchcock" stitch. sp,.ers St.
| Anthonys fire, "husking cough" i'm
posthumes, surfeits, yapors. humors.
The society, formed in 1917 in re-
straint of "the ignorance and rashness
of presumptuous empires" leased lands
] at Chelsea in 1879, and the story of its
garden is a long record Of struggle de-
votion and achievement. After alter
! mating epochs of expansion and decav
| II almost persisted in 1853. when the
site was threatened by Industrial ,nva.
sion. the herbaria were removed to the
British Museum, the lectures STONED
the hothouses closed, the director dis
charged and the gardeners dismissed
but the crisis was successfully passed
movement for resuscitation was sue.
cessful and to-day, remodeiied on a
/ modern basis as TO organization and
administration. the ancient institution
continues In defiance Of the real estate
agent and the speculative builder.
Mr.. Blunt makes the story picturesque
with personalities. Alexander Black
well. student at Aberdeen, goes TO Lon
don in search of fortune and gets 80
near IL as to be "press corrector'' fov