Page:A memoir of Lewis David von Schweinitz.djvu/20

Rh attachment to his country; and yet it was not from him that any modern traveller has learned the practice of vilifying every country through which he passes, much less, on returning home, that of bestowing on his own by way reparation, a double share of the same abuse.

After completing his theological studies, Mr. Schweinitz engaged as a teacher in the Academy at Niesky, and by this means, enlarging and strengthening his own acquisitions, realized the truth of the maxim, docendo discimus.

The presence of several valued friends engaged in the same pursuits, the cultivation of his favourite department of botany, a connexion with his cherished associates, Professor Albertini and Author:Henry Steinhauer, (from England,) and the opportunity of improving his taste for literature by various reading and frequent composition on the prominent subjects discussed in the literary journals of the day, all contributed to the improvement and happiness of Mr. Schweinitz, and rendered the arduous duties of his station a pleasure rather than a burthen. Scarcely any important topic in the wide field of science, escaped his notice, and especially did the constitution and management of the affairs of his social and religious fraternity, call forth from his pen many able and spirited articles.

From the commencement of his residence at this place, his botanical researches had been particularly directed to the Fungi, a department previously much neglected, and in 1805 the number of new genera and species discovered by himself and Albertini was so great as to warrant