SAMUEL DALE AND THE DALE FAMILY. 55
Vet, in 1736 and 1737, the nephew was in correspondence
with the uncle, to whom he sent plants, though they appear
to have been poor fragmentary specimens and very badly
"cured."33 Probably he was a young man who lacked strength
of character in some way, though of high intellectual attain-
ments.
Several letters from him to Birch, partly in Latin and partly
in French, written between 17th November 1732 and 19th
December 1736 (the latter being the last of the series), are
extremely newsy and entertaining:—He had (he says) no
cause to regret having emigrated; his prospects were
excellent; he was on terms of intimacy with the Governor
and officials; his wife had died soon after he had landed,
but he was engaged to be married again—to one of the
most eligible young ladies in the Province34; he hopes in
the spring to remit funds to pay his debts; he con-
templates writing a History of the Province; he is not yet
reconciled to his father, but hopes to become so in time; he was
looked upon in the Province as a very learned man; he had
begun a new study—that of the Law—having been appointed
by the Governor and Council as both a Judge of the Supreme
Court and a Justice of the Peace for the Province; he had written
a prologue for the opening play at the new theatre at Charles
Town; he tells of the great shortage of currency in the Province,
rendering it extremely difficult to remit money home; he des-
scribed the elegance of costume affected by the Colonists, adding
"I have grown a greater beau than I ever expected to have
made"; he was succeeding in his profession beyond his ex-
pectations; and so on.
On 24th May 1737, Dr. Dale very unfortunately lost his
second wife, to whom he had been married a short time only.
She had borne him three children, none of whom lived beyond
infancy:35 Eighteen months later, on 26th November 1738, he took
a third wife—Anne, daughter of William Smith and Elizabeth
(Schencking) his wife.36 She survived some four years only,
33 See letters from Samuel Dale to Birch, in Sloane MSS.—ff. 13, 19, and 25. We learn, too,
(fo. 15), that in 1736, when the third edition of Samuel Dale's Pharmacologia appeared, the
nephew had written to know if he could translate it out of Latin into English.
34 She was Mary, daughter of Col. Miles Brewton, to whom Dale was married 28th March 1733,
at St. Philip's Church, Charlestown (see the Parish Register; also S.C. Hist. and Geneal. Mag.,
ii., p. 139). To her, in December 1733, Col. Brewton conveyed a house and lot in Church Street,
Charlestown (see S. Carolina Gazette).
35 She died in childbirth and was buried with her child "in one coffin," at St. Philip's Church,
Charlestown, on 25th May 1737.
36 See S.C. Hist. and Geneal Mag., iv. p. 24 et seq.