His attack on the Royal Society.
The real origin of Hill's attack on this learned society is somewhat obscure.
At the time of his death Chambers was engaged in the preparation of a supplement to his Cyclopaedia. The publishers then commissioned John Lewis Scott to prepare the work, but as Scott was soon afterwards appointed tutor to the royal princes it was entrusted to Hill. It is stated that the botanical articles were quite good, but that the more general parts were done with Hill's "characteristic carelessness and self-sufficiency." When the work was approaching completion the publishers considered that the title-page would look better if Hill had the right of adding F.R.S. after his name. He, in consequence, and, it is stated, contrary to the advice of Folkes, endeavoured to obtain the necessary qualification for candidature; but he was disliked to such an extent that he could not obtain the requisite number of signatures, three, for his certificate, notwithstanding the fact that the number of Fellows was about three hundred. This perhaps was hardly surprising since he had criticized his contemporary scientists very adversely, designating them by such terms as "butterfly hunters," "cockle shell merchants" and "medal scrapers." This reverse must have been a severe blow to his vanity, for there can be no doubt that his claims to the Fellowship, on scientific grounds, were as strong as any and stronger than those of most of the Fellows. And this Hill, who was by no means lacking in self-confidence, knew. His criticism of the Society culminated in his Review of the Works of the Royal Society of London (1751)[67], which was in appearance like that of the Transactions, and consisted of reviews of several papers with comments by Hill. The work was dedicated to Martin Folkes, the President, on whom he placed the responsibility for publication, for, wrote he in his dedication, "The Purport of the more considerable of them has been long since delivered to you in conversation; and if you had thought the Society deserved to escape the Censure that must attend this Method of laying them before the World, you might have prevented it, by making the necessary Use of them in private.
"Nor is this, Sir, the only Sense in which you have been the great Instrument of their Production; since it cannot but be acknowledged, that if any body, except your great Self, had been in the high Office you so worthily fill at present, the Occasions of many of the more remarkable of them could not have been received by the Body, under whose Countenance alone they claim their Places in this Work."
He then charges Folkes with unworthy conduct towards him, and, in brief, he considered that Folkes and Baker were his enemies. The reason for this, according to Hill, was as follows. An eminent French correspondent had taxed him, supposing him to be a Fellow, with "one of the errors of the Society"; Hill in reply wrote, "I have already set right the error you complain of; but you are to know, that I have the Honour not to be a Member of the Royal Society of London." Before he had sealed this letter he was called out of the room, and before he had returned a visitor, a Fellow of the Society, was shown into Hill's study and read the letter containing the above-quoted passage. Hence the friction. Hill denies that he ever became a candidate for election, and states that although he attended the meetings he would not become a member on account of the Society's method of performing that which they were founded to do.
These statements are not lacking in definition; with regard to the incident of the letter it is impossible to judge of the truth; but with regard to the main features of the controversy the present writer thinks it extremely probable that the account first given is substantially correct, notwithstanding the statement that Hill's explanation was never contradicted[68].
As regards the Review, Hill wrote that "he pretends to nothing but the knowing more than the Royal Society of London appears by its publications to know! and surely a Man may do that and yet be very ignorant!"
The intention of the Review was to point out to the Society its shortcomings, doubtless in order that it might reform itself.
There can be no doubt whatever that a candid critic was necessary, for some of the papers were absolute rubbish, so much so indeed that a scientific training does not appear necessary to detect their futility. To take a brief example; in one paper the author describes a method to make trees grow very large; the seeds are to be sown at the absolute moment of the entry of the sun into the vernal equinox, and then to transplant them at the moment when the moon is full.
Hill himself sometimes falls into error in his criticisms; thus he adversely comments on the truth of the power of cobwebs to catch thrushes[69].
At the beginning of Part vii of his Review, which treats of plants, he thrusts very deep. He says, "This is a Branch of Natural Knowledge, which, it will appear, that the Royal Society of London have looked so very deeply into, that their rejecting the Linnean System of Botany, when offered by its Author will no longer be wondered at."
In this Part he is particularly severe upon Baker, and, in reading it, one is forced to the conclusion that although adverse criticism was warranted, there was a good deal of personal feeling behind it.
This attack on the Royal Society appears to have been much resented, and Hill's credit consequently was much damaged, for it was considered that Folkes and Baker had befriended him in his earlier days. With regard to Folkes it has been seen that Hill considered that he was doing a public duty; and with regard to Baker, Hill suffered under a real or imaginary grievance which, assuming Baker had helped him in the past, cancelled all obligations due from him to Baker. If this be not so then Hill, in addition to his other faults, was lacking in gratitude. With regard to this point his anonymous biographer[70] wrote that "we have nowhere learnt that ingratitude had the smallest share in the composition of the character of Sir John Hill."
The attack, however, was not altogether fruitless, as Disraeli[71] remarks, "Yet Sir John Hill, this despised man, after all the fertile absurdities of his literary life, performed more for the improvement of the Philosophical Transactions, and was the cause of diffusing a more general taste for the science of botany, than any other contemporary."
It is hardly necessary to remark that Hill was never elected to the Royal Society.
Thus by his methods of criticism Hill brought to an end a period of highly remunerative literary work; it was therefore necessary for him to seek other pastures. He returned, in part, to the practice of medicine in the shape of herbalist, preparing remedies from various plants such as valerian, water-dock and centaury; also he wrote on the virtues of these and other plants. The source from which he obtained his plants was in the first instance the Chelsea Physic Garden, but it is stated that he was eventually forbidden its use owing to his depredations; later he grew the requisite plants in his own garden which was situated where now is Lancaster Gate. There was a good deal of common sense in his remedies; thus in his Virtues of British Herbs he remarks that "He who seeks the herb for its cure, will find it half effected by the walk."
By the sale of his medicines and of his pamphlets relating to medicinal plants, some of which ran through many editions, he made large sums of money.
Before passing on to a consideration of Hill's botanical work brief comment may be made on his literary activities other than those already alluded to. It has already been mentioned that much of his output represented mere hack work, so that it is not surprising to learn, in view of the large amount of work he did, that a certain proportion of it was careless and slovenly, and shewed marked signs of undue haste in production, with the result that his reputation suffered. One work, entitled Letters from the Inspector to a Lady with the genuine Answers (1752), is an amorous correspondence not remarkable for its reticence of statement; it reminds one of a similar, but more proper, correspondence, which had a vogue a few years ago.
Hill did not always write for gain, thus Thoughts concerning God and Nature (1755) shews him in a different light. This was written from conscientious and religious motives in answer to a book written by Henry St John Viscount Bolingbroke, and was published at a loss, for the number printed, even if all were sold, would not have paid the expenses of production.
His dramatic pieces were of a mediocre nature, and with regard to his novels and other works Baker[72] states that "In some parts of his novels incidents are not disagreeably related, but most of them are nothing more than narratives of private intrigues, containing, throughout, the grossest calumnies, and aiming at the blackening and undermining the private characters of many respectable and amiable personages. In his essays, which are by much the best of his writings, there is, in general, a liveliness of imagination, and a prettiness in the manner of extending perhaps some very trivial thought; which, at the first coup-d'œil, is pleasing enough, and may, with many, be mistaken for it; but, on a nearer examination, the imagined sterling will be found to dwindle down into mere French plate."
In addition to his literary work Hill found time to undertake official duties. In 1760 he was gardener at Kensington Palace, a post which brought him in an income of £2000 per annum[73]; also he was Justice of the Peace for Westminster. According to Mrs Hill[74] he was nominated Superintendent of the Royal Gardens, Kew, and as such he is described on his portrait; his nomination, however, does not appear to have been confirmed, for Thiselton-Dyer[75] states that there is no evidence of his ever having occupied such a position. Hill also advised, at the request of the Earl of Bute, the governors of various islands regarding their cultivation, for which work he received no remuneration[76].