The Project Gutenberg eBook of On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening, by S Felton.

[45] In this volume is a letter written to Switzer, from his "ingenious friend Mr. Thomas Knowlton, Gardener to the Earl of Burlington, who, on account of his own industry, and the opportunity he has had of being educated under the late learned Dr. Sherrard, claims a very advanced place in the list of Botanists." This letter is dated Lansborough, July, 1728. I insert part of this letter:—"I hope, Sir, you will excuse the freedom I take in giving you my opinion, having always had a respect for your endeavours in Husbandry and Gardening, ever since you commenced an author. Your introduction to, and manner of handling those beloved subjects, (the sale of which I have endeavoured to promote) is in great esteem with me; being (as I think) the most useful of any that have been wrote on these useful subjects. If on any subject, you shall hereafter revise or write farther upon, any communication of mine will be useful or serviceable to you, I shall be very ready to do it. I heartily wish you success in whatever you undertake, as it tends to a publick good." Dr. Pulteney says of Knowlton, "His zeal for English Botany was uncommonly great, and recommended him successfully to the learned Botanists of this country. From Sir Hans Sloane, he received eminent civilities."

[46] few short notices occur of names formerly eminent in gardening:—"My late ingenious and laborious friend, Mr. Oram, Nurseryman, of Brompton-lane."

"That great virtuoso and encourager of gardening, Mr. Secretary Johnson, at Twickenham."

"Their beautiful aspects in pots, (the nonpareil) and the middle of a desert, has been the glory of one of the most generous encouragers of gardening this age has produced, I mean the Right Honourable the Lord Castlemain."

"The late noble and most publick spirited encourager of arts and sciences, especially gardening, his Grace the Duke of Montague, at Ditton."

"The Elrouge Nectarine is also a native of our own, the name being the reverse of Gourle, a famous Nurseryman at Hogsden, in King Charles the Second's time, by whom it was raised."

And speaking of the successful cultivation of vines in the open air, he refers to the garden of a Mr. Rigaud, near Swallow-street; and to another great cultivator of the vine, "of whose friendship I have proof, the Rev. Mr. Only, of Cottesmore, in Rutland, some time since deceased; one of the most curious lovers of gardening that this or any other age has produced." This gentleman, in 1765, published "An Account of the care taken in most civilized nations for the relief of the poor, more particularly in the time of scarcity and distress;" 4to. 1s. Davis. I believe the same gentleman also published, in 1765, a Treatise "Of the Price of Wheat."

[47] Lord Bacon says, "Because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air (where it comes and goes, like the warbling of musick) than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight, than to know what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air." The Prince de Ligne says,

Je ne veux point avoir l'orgueilleuse tulipe;
L'odorat en jardin est mon premier principe.

The translation of Spectacle de la Nature, a very pleasing work, observes that "Flowers are not only intended to beautify the earth with their shining colours, but the greatest part of them, in order to render the entertainment more exquisite, diffuse a fragrance that perfumes all the air around us; and it should seem as if they were solicitous to reserve their odours for the evening and morn, when walking is most agreeable; but their sweets are very faint during the heat of the day, when we visit them the least."

I must again trespass on the pages of the great Bacon, by briefly shewing the natural wildness he wishes to introduce into one part of his garden:—"thickets, made only of sweet-briar and honeysuckle, and some wild vine amongst, and the ground set with violets, strawberries, and primroses; for these are sweet, and prosper in the shade."

The dew or pearly drops that one sees in a morning on cowslips, remind one of what is said of Mignon:—"Ses ouvrages sont précieux par l'art avec le quel il représentoit les fleurs dans tout leur éclat, et les fruits avec toute leur fraicheur. La rosée et les goutes d'eau qu'elle répand sur les fleurs, sont si bien imitées dans ses tableaux, qu'on est tenté d'y porter la main." It is said also that in the works of Van-Huysum, "le velouté des fruits, l'éclat des fleurs, le transparent de la rosée, tout enchante dans les tableaux de ce peintre admirable." Sir U. Price observes of this latter painter, "that nature herself is hardly more soft and delicate in her most delicate productions, than the copies of them by Van-Huysum." Two flower pieces by this painter, sold at the Houghton sale for 1200l.

In the pieces of Bos, a Flemish painter, the dew was represented so much like nature, as to deserve universal approbation.

Bernazzano painted strawberries on a wall so naturally, that, we are told, the plaster was torn down by the frequent pecking of peacocks.

Amidst these celebrated painters, these admiring judges of nature, let us not forget our never-dying Hogarth; his piercing eye even discovers itself in his letter to Mr. Ellis, the naturalist:—"As for your pretty little seed cups, or vases, they are a sweet confirmation of the pleasure nature seems to take in superadding an elegance of form to most of her works, wherever you find them. How poor and bungling are all the inventions of art!"

[48] The very numerous works of this indefatigable writer, embracing so many subjects, make one think he must have been as careful of his time, as the celebrated friend of the witty Boileau: the humane, benevolent, and dignified Chancellor Aguesseau, who finding that his wife always kept him waiting an hour after the dinner bell had rung, resolved to devote this time to writing a work on Jurisprudence. He put this project in execution, and in the course of time, produced a quarto work in four thick volumes.

[49] This chesnut tree is thus noticed in a newspaper of August, 1829:—"The celebrated chesnut tree, the property of Lord Ducie, at Tortworth, in the county of Gloucester, is the oldest, if not the largest tree in England, having this year attained the age of 1002 years, and being 52 feet in circumference, and yet retains so much vigour, that it bore nuts so lately as two years ago, from which young trees are now being raised."

[50] There is an 8vo. published in 1717, called the "Lady's Recreation," by Charles Evelyn, Esq. There are two letters subjoined, written to this author by the Rev. Mr. Lawrence. From page 103, 105, 129 and 141, one should think this was not the son of the famous Mr. Evelyn. I now find, that Mr. Lawrence, in the Preface to his Kalendar, inserted at the end of his fifth edition, assures the public, "that the book called the Lady's Recreation could not be published by my approbation, because it was never seen by me till it was in print; besides, I have reason to think it was an artifice of the booksellers to impose upon the world, under the borrowed name of Evelyn."

[51] This sermon was preached for several years by Dr. Colin Milne, by whom it was published in 1799, and afterwards by the Rev. Mr. Ellis, of Merchant Taylors' School. Mr. Ellis, in his History of Shoreditch, gives us much information as to this bequest; in which the handsome conduct of Mr. Denne, a former vicar, is not the least interesting. Mr. Nichols, in vol. iii. of his Literary Anecdotes, bears testimony to Dr. Denne's feeling towards the poor and distressed, and to his attachment to literary pursuits. Three of these Sermons are in the second volume of "Thirty Sermons on Moral and Religious Subjects, by the Rev. W. Jones;" 2 vols. 8vo. 1790, price 16s. There are other editions of Mr. Jones's Sermons, viz. Rev. W. Jones, of Nayland, his Theological, Philosophical, and Miscellaneous Works, with Life, 12 vols. 8vo. neat, 7l. 7s. 6d. 1801. Sermons by the late Rev. William Jones, of Nayland, Suffolk: Chaplain to the Right Rev. George Horne, Bishop of Norwich; 1 vol. 8vo. with Portrait of the Author, price 12s. Dove, St. John's Square, Printer, 1828. "Of this faithful servant of God, (the Rev. W. Jones) I can speak both from personal knowledge and from his writings. He was a man of quick penetration, of extensive learning, and the soundest piety; and he had, beyond any other man I ever knew, the talent of writing upon the deepest subjects to the plainest understandings."—Bishop Horsley's Charges. The Rev. Samuel Ayscough, of the British Museum, began, in 1790, to preach this annual sermon, and, I believe, continued it for fourteen years.

[52] Mr. Ellis, of Little Gaddesden, in his Practical Farmer, 8vo. 1732, thus speaks on this subject:—"What a charming sight is a large tree in blossom, and after that, when loaden with fruit, enough perhaps to make a hogshead of cyder or perry! A scene of beauty, hopes, and profit, and all! It may be on less than two feet diameter of ground. And above all, what matter of contemplation does it afford, when we let our thoughts descend to a single kernel of an apple or pear? And again, how heightened, on the beholding so great a bulk raised and preserved, by Omnipotent Power, from so small a body."

[53] The thought of planting the sides of public roads, was first suggested by the great Sully.

[54] Mr. Weston, in his introduction to these Tracts, seems to have pleasure in recording the following anecdote of La Quintinye, from Harte's Essay. "The famous La Quintinie, director of the royal gardens in France, obtained from Louis XIV. an abbacy for his son, in one of the remote provinces; and going soon afterwards to make the abbot a visit, (who was not then settled in his apartments) he was entertained and lodged by a neighbouring gentleman with great friendliness and hospitality. La Quintinie, as was natural, soon examined the gardens of his host; he found the situation beautiful, and the soil excellent; but every thing was rude, savage, and neglected: nature had done much, art nothing. The guest, delighted with his friendly reception, took leave with regret, and some months after, sent one of the king's gardeners, and four under-gardeners, to the gentleman, with strict command to accept of no gratuity. They took possession of his little inclosure the moment they arrived, and having digged it many times over, they manured, replanted it, and left one of their number behind them, as a settled servant in the family. This young man was soon solicited to assist the neighbourhood, and filled their kitchen gardens and fruit gardens with the best productions of every kind, which are preserved and propagated to this very hour."

It is pleasing to enquire who Mons. de la Quintinye was. Perrault, in his Hommes Illustres, has given his Life, and Portrait. Dr. Gibson, in his Fruit Gardener, calls him "truly an original author;" and further pays him high compliments.

The Noveau Dict. Hist. thus speaks of him:—"Il vint à Paris se faire recevoir avocat. Une éloquence naturelle, cultivée avec soìn, le fit briller dans le Barreau, et lui consilà l'estime des premiers magistrais. Quoi qu'il eut peu de temps dont il pût disposer, il en trouvoit néanmoins suffisament pour satisfaire la passion qu'il avoit pour l'agriculture. Il augmenta ses connoissances sur le jardinage, dans un voyage qu'il fit en Italie. De retour à Paris, il se livra tout entier à l'agriculture, et fit un grand nombre d'experiences curieuses et utiles. Le grand Prince de Conde, qui aimoit l'agriculture, prenoit une extréme plaisir à s'entretenir avec lui; et Charles II. Roi d'Angleterre lui offrit une pension considérable pour l'attacher à la culture de ses Jardins, mais il refusa ses offres avantageuses par l'amour qu'il avoit pour sa patrie, et trouva en France les recompenses due à son mérite. On a de lui un excellent livre, intitulé 'Instructions pour les Jardins Fruitiers et Potagers, Paris, 1725, 2 tom. 4to.' et plusieurs Lettres sur la meme matiere." Switzer, in his History of Gardening, says, that in Mons. de la Quintinye's "Two Voyages into England, he gained considerable friendship with several lords with whom he kept correspondence by letters till his death, and these letters, says Perrault, are all printed at London." And he afterwards says, speaking of Lord Capel's garden at Kew, "the greatest advance made by him herein, was the bringing over several sorts of fruits from France; and this noble lord we may suppose to be one that held for many years a correspondence with Mons. de la Quintinye." Such letters on such correspondence if ever printed, must be worth perusal.

[55] Lamoignon de Malherbes (that excellent man) had naturalized a vast number of foreign trees, and at the age of eighty-four, saw every where, in France, (as Duleuze observes) plants of his own introduction.

The old Earl of Tweedale, in the reign of Charles II. and his immediate successor, planted more than six thousand acres, in Scotland, with fir trees. In a Tour through Scotland, in 1753, it mentions, that "The county of Aberdeen is noted for its timber, having in it upwards of five millions of fir trees, besides vast numbers of other kinds, planted within these seventy years, by the gentry at and about their seats."

Mr. Marshall, in his "Planting and Rural Ornament," states, that "In 1792, his Grace the Duke of Athol (we speak from the highest authority) was possessed of a thousand larch trees, then growing on his estates of Dunkeld and Blair only, of not less than two to four tons of timber each; and had, at that time, a million larches, of different sizes, rising rapidly on his estate."

The zeal for planting in Scotland, of late years, has been stimulated by the writings of James Anderson, and Lord Kames.

It is pleasing to transcribe the following paragraph from a newspaper of the year 1819:—"Sir Watkin Williams Wynn has planted, within the last five years, on the mountainous lands in the vicinity of Llangollen, situated from 1200 to 1400 feet above the level of the sea, 80,000 oaks, 63,000 Spanish chesnuts, 102,000 spruce firs, 110,000 Scotch firs, 90,000 larches, 30,000 wych elms, 35,000 mountain elms, 80,000 ash, and 40,000 sycamores, all of which are, at this time, in a healthy and thriving condition." It is impossible, on this subject, to avoid paying a grateful respect to the memory of that bright ornament of our church, and literature, the late Dr. Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, whose extensive plantations, near Ambleside, have long since enriched that part. The late Richard Crawshay (surpassed by no being during the whole course of his very long life, for either integrity or generosity) assured the present writer, that during an early period of Dr. Watson's planting, he offered him, on the security of his note of hand only, and to be repaid at his own entire convenience, ten thousand pounds, and that he (with grateful thanks to Mr. Crawshay) refused it.

[56] How widely different has the liberal and classic mind of Dr. Alison viewed the rich pages of Mr. Whateley, in his deep and learned Essays on Taste, first published nearly twenty years after Mr. Whateley's decease. One regrets that there is no Portrait of Mr. Whateley. Of Dr. Alison, there is a masterly one by Sir Henry Raeburn, admirably engraved by W. Walker, of Edinburgh, in 1823. Perhaps it is one of the finest Portraits of the present day. One is happy to perceive marks of health expressed in his intellectually striking countenance.

[57] In Biographical Anecdotes, 3 vols. 8vo. appears a correspondence in London, with Dr. Franklin, and William Whateley, and Joseph Whateley, in 1774. This relates to a duel with Mr. Temple, by a brother of Thomas Whateley. In some of the Lives of Dr. Franklin, it appears, that inflammatory and ill-judged letters were written by George Hutchinson, and others, to Thomas Whateley, Esq. private Secretary to Lord Grenville, respecting some disturbances in America, concerning Lord Grenville's Stamp Act. On the death of Thomas, these letters were placed in the hands of Dr. Franklin, whose duty, as agent to the colony, caused him to transmit them to Boston. A quarrel arose between William Whateley and Mr. Temple, as to which of them gave up those letters, and a duel was fought. Dr. Franklin immediately cleared both those gentlemen from all imputation. Of the celebrated interview in the council chamber, between Mr. Wedderburn and Dr. Franklin, an account is given by Dr. Priestley, in vol. xv. page 1. of the Monthly Magazine, and which candid account entirely acquits Dr. Franklin from having deserved the rancorous political acrimony of Mr. Wedderburn, whose intemperate language is fully related in some of the Lives of Dr. Franklin, and in his Life, published and sold by G. Nicholson, Stourport, 12mo. price 9d. and which also includes Dr. Priestley's account.

Lord Chatham spoke of Franklin in the highest strain of panegyric, when adverting, in the year 1777, to his dissuasive arguments against the American war.

William Whateley was administrator of the goods and chattels of his brother Thomas, who, of course, died without a will.

In vol. ii. of Seward's Biog. Lit. and Political Tracts, the nineteenth chapter consists of his account of two Political Tracts, by Thomas Whateley, Esq. and he thus concludes this chapter:—"Mr. Whateley also wrote a tract on laying out pleasure grounds." In vol. iii. is an account of the quarrel and duel with Mr. Temple and one of the brothers. It appears that Thomas Whateley died in June, 1772, and left two brothers, William and Joseph. Thomas is called "Mr. Secretary Whately."

Debrett published "Scarce Tracts," in 4 vols. 8vo. In vol. i. is one called "The Budget," by D. Hartley, Esq. This same volume contains a reply to this, viz. "Remarks on the Budget, by Thomas Whateley, Esq. Secretary to the Treasury." There is also in vol. ii. another tract by Thomas Whateley, Esq. entitled "Considerations on the Trade and Finances of the Kingdom." These two pamphlets, upon subjects so very different from the alluring one on landscape gardening, and his unfinished one on Shakspeare, convinces us, what a powerful writer he would have been, had his life been longer spared.

[58] The reader will be amply gratified by perusing page 158 of the late Sir U. Price's well known Letter to Mr. Repton, as well as Mr. Morris's Observations on Water, as regards Ornamental Scenery; inserted in the Gardener's Magazine for May, 1827. Mr. Whateley's distinction between a river, a rivulet, and a rill, form, perhaps, five of the most seductive pages of his book. Our own Shakspeare's imagery on this subject, should not be overlooked:—

The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know'st, being stopp'd, impatiently doth rage;
But when his fair course is not hindered,
He makes sweet music with the enamelled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage:
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.

[59] The benevolent mind of the marquis shines even in his concluding chapter; for he there wishes "to bring us back to a true taste for beautiful nature—to more humane and salutary regulations of the country—to produce the moral landscapes which delight the mind. His view of the good mother, seeing her children playing round her at their cottage, near the common, thus "endearing her home, and making even the air she breathed more delightful to her, make these sort of commons, to me, the most delightful of English gardens. The dwellings of the happy and peaceful husbandmen would soon rise up in the midst of compact farms. Can there exist a more delightful habitation for man, than a neat farm-house in the centre of a pleasing landscape? There avoiding disease and lassitude, useless expence, the waste of land in large and dismal parks, and above all, by preventing misery, and promoting happiness, we shall indeed have gained the prize of having united the agreeable with the useful. Perhaps, when every folly is exhausted, there will come a time, in which men will be so far enlightened as to prefer the real pleasures of nature to vanity and chimera."

[60] Perhaps it may gratify those who seek for health, by their attachment to gardens, to note the age that some of our English horticulturists have attained to:—Parkinson died at about 78; Tradescant, the father, died an old man; Switzer, about 80; Sir Thomas Browne died at 77; Evelyn, at 86; Dr. Beale, at 80; Jacob Bobart, at 85; Collinson, at 75; a son of Dr. Lawrence (equally fond of gardens as his father) at 86; Bishop Compton, at 81; Bridgman, at an advanced age; Knowlton, gardener to Lord Burlington, at 90; Miller, at 80; James Lee, at an advanced age; Lord Kames, at 86; Abercrombie, at 80; the Rev. Mr. Gilpin, at 80; Duncan, a gardener, upwards of 90; Hunter, who published Sylva, at 86; Speechley, at 86; Horace Walpole, at 80; Mr. Bates, the celebrated and ancient horticulturist of High Wickham, who died there in December, 1819, at the great age of 89; Marshall, at an advanced age; Sir Jos. Banks, at 77; Joseph Cradock, at 85; James Dickson, at 89; Dr. Andrew Duncan, at 83; and Sir U. Price, at 83. Mr. Loudon, at page 1063 of his Encyclop. inform us, that a market garden, and nursery, near Parson's Green, had been, for upwards of two centuries, occupied by a family of the name of Rench; that one of them (who instituted the first annual exhibition of flowers) died at the age of ninety-nine years, having had thirty-three children; and that his son (mentioned by Collinson, as famous for forest trees) introduced the moss-rose, planted the elm trees now growing in the Bird-cage Walk, St. James's Park, from trees reared in his own nursery, married two wives, had thirty-five children, and died in 1783, in the same room in which he was born, at the age of a hundred and one years. Reflecting on the great age of some of the above, reminds me of what a "Journal Encyclopédique" said of Lestiboudois, another horticulturist and botanist, who died at Lille, at the age of ninety, and who (for even almost in our ashes live their wonted fires) gave lectures in the very last year of his life. "When he had (says an ancient friend of his) but few hours more to live, he ordered snow-drops, violets, and crocuses, to be brought to his bed, and compared them with the figures in Tournefort. His whole existence had been consecrated to the good of the public, and to the alleviation of misery; thus he looked forward to his dissolution with a tranquillity of soul that can only result from a life of rectitude; he never acquired a fortune; and left no other inheritance to his children, but integrity and virtue."

[61] About eighty years previous to Hyll's Treatise on Bees, Rucellai, an Italian of distinction, who aspired to a cardinal's hat, and who laboured with zeal and taste (I am copying from De Sismondi's View of the Literature of the South of Europe) to render Italian poetry classical, or a pure imitation of the ancients, published his most celebrated poem on Bees. "It receives (says De Sismondi) a particular interest from the real fondness which Rucellai seems to have entertained for these creatures. There is something so sincere in his respect for their virgin purity, and in his admiration of the order of their government, that he inspires us with real interest for them. All his descriptions are full of life and truth."

[62] Ben Jonson, in his Discourses, gives the following eulogy on this illustrious author:—"No member of his speech but consisted of his own graces. His hearers could not cough or look aside from him without loss. He commanded where he spoke, and had his judges angry and pleased at his devotion: no man had their affections more in his power; the fear of every man that heard him was, lest he should make an end." Mr. Loudon, when treating on the study of plants, observes, that "This wonderful philosopher explored and developed the true foundations of human knowledge, with a sagacity and penetration unparalleled in the history of mankind." What Clement VIII. applied to the eight books of Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, may well apply to the writings of Bacon:—"there is no learning that this man hath not searched into. His books will get reverence by age, for there is in them such seeds of eternity, that they will continue till the last fire shall devour all learning." Monsieur Thomas, in his Eulogy of Descartes, says, "Bacon explored every path of human knowledge, he sat in judgment on past ages, and anticipated those that were to come." The reader will be gratified by inspecting the second volume of Mr. Malone's publication of Aubrey's Letters, in the Bodleian Library, as well as the richly decorated and entertaining Beauties of England and Wales, and Pennant's Tour from Chester to London, for some curious notices of the ancient mansion, garden, and orchard, at Gorhambury.

[63] The reader will be amply gratified by Mr. Johnson's review of the general state of horticulture at this period, in his History of English Gardening, and with the zeal with which he records the attachment of James I. and Charles, to this science; and where, in a subsequent chapter, he glances on the progress of our Botany, and proudly twines round the brows of the modest, but immortal, Ray, a most deserved and generous wreath.

[64] I subjoin a few extracts from the first book of his English Husbandman, 4to. 1635:—"A garden is so profitable, necessary, and such an ornament and grace to every house and housekeeper, that the dwelling-place is lame and maimed if it want that goodly limbe, and beauty. I do not wonder either at the worke of art, or nature, when I behold in a goodly, rich and fertill soyle, a garden adorned with all the delights and delicacies which are within man's understanding, because the naturall goodnesse of the earth (which not enduring to bee idle) will bring forth whatsoever is cast into her; but when I behold upon a barren, dry, and dejected earth, such as the Peake-hills, where a man may behold snow all summer, or on the East-mores, whose best herbage is nothing but mosse, and iron-stone, in such a place, I say, to behold a delicate, rich, and fruitful garden, it shewes great worthinesse in the owner, and infinite art and industry in the workeman, and makes mee both admire and love the begetters of such excellencies."

And again,—"For the situation of the garden-plot for pleasure, you shall understand, that it must ever bee placed so neare unto the dwelling-house as it is possible, both because the eye of the owner may be a guard and support from inconveniences, as all that the especial roomes and prospects of the house may be adorned, perfumed, and inriched with the delicate proportions, odoriferous smells, and wholesome airs which shall ascend and vaporate from the same."

He then gives a variety of cuts of knots and mazes, and labyrinths, of which he observes, that "many other adornations and beautifyings there are, which belong to the setting forth of a curious garden, but for as much as none are more rare or more esteemed than these I have set down, being the best ornaments of the best gardens of this kingdome, I think them tastes sufficient for every husbandman or other of better quality, which delighteth in the beauty, and well trimming of his ground." He thus remarks:—"as in the composition of a delicate woman, the grace of her cheeke is the mixture of red and white, the wonder of her eye blacke and white, and the beauty of her hand blew and white, any of which is not said to be beautifull if it consist of single or simple colours; and so in these walkes or alleyes the all greene, nor the all yellow cannot be said to bee most beautifull, but the greene and yellow, (that is to say, the untroade grasse, and the well knit gravell) being equally mixt, give the eye both luster and delight beyond all comparison."

His description of the following flower is singular: "The Crowne Emperiall, is, of all flowers, both forraigne and home-bred, the delicatest, and strangest: it hath the true shape of an imperiall crowne, and will be of divers colours, according to the art of the gardener. In the middest of the flower you shall see a round pearle stand, in proportion, colour, and orientnesse, like a true naturall pearle, only it is of a soft liquid substance: this pearle, if you shake the flower never so violently, will not fall off, neyther if you let it continue never so long, will it eyther encrease or diminish in the bignesse, but remaineth all one: yet if with your finger you take and wipe it away, in less than an hour after you shall have another arise in the same place, and of the same bignesse. This pearle, if you taste it upon your tongue, is pleasant, and sweet like honey: this flower when the sunne ariseth, you shall see it looke directly to the east, with the stalk bent lowe thereunto, and as the sunne ariseth higher and higher, so the flower will likewise ascend, and when the sunne is come into the meridian or noone poynt, which is directly over it, then will it stand upright upon the stalke, and looke directly upward, and as the sunne declineth, so will it likewise decline, and at the sunne setting looke directly to the west only."

His mention of another flower is attractive:—"Now for your Wall Gilliflower, it delighteth in hard rubbish, limy, and stony grounds, whence it commeth they covet most to grow upon walls, pavements, and such like barraine places. It may be sowen in any moneth or season, for it is a seed of that hardness, that it makes no difference betwixt winter and summer, but will flourish in both equally, and beareth his flowers all the yeere, whence it comes that the husbandman preserves it most in his bee-garden, for it is wondrous sweet, and affordeth much honey. It would be sowen in very small quantity, for after it hath once taken roote, it will naturally of itself overspread much ground, and hardly ever after be rooted out. It is of itselfe of so exceeding a strong, and sweet smell, that it cannot be forced to take any other, and therefore is ever preserved in its owne nature."

[65] Mr. Loudon, in his Encycl. of Gardening, fondly reviews the taste for flowers which pervaded most ranks during the time of Elizabeth, and Evelyn.

The Spectacle de la Nature, of which we have a translation in 1740, has a richly diffuse chapter on flowers. I here transcribe a small part thereof:—

Prior. "The beauty of flowers never fails to inspire us with joy; and when we have sufficiently examined the fairest, we are sensible they are only proper to refresh the sight; and, indeed, the prospect they afford is so touching, and we experience their power to be so effectual, that the generality of those arts which are ambitious to please, seem most successful when they borrow their assistance. Sculpture imitates them in its softest ornaments; architecture bestows the embellishments of leaves and festoons on those columns and fronts, which would otherwise be too naked. The richest embroideries are little more than foliage and flowers; the most magnificent silks are almost covered with these charming forms, and are thought beautiful, in proportion as they resemble the lively tinge of natural flowers.

"These have always been the symbols, or representations of joy; they were formerly the inseparable ornaments of feasts, and are still introduced with applause, toward the close of our entertainments, when they are brought in with the fruit, to enliven the festival that begins to languish. And they are so peculiarly adapted to scenes of pleasure, that they are always considered as inconsistent with mourning. Decency, informed by nature, never admits them into those places where tears and affliction are predominant.

Countess. "The festivals in the country are never celebrated without garlands, and the entertainments of the polite are ushered in by a flower. If the winter denies them that gratification, they have recourse to art. A young bride, in all the magnificence of her nuptial array, would imagine she wanted a necessary part of her ornaments, if she did not improve them with a sprig of flowers. A queen, amidst the greatest solemnities, though she is covered with the jewels of the crown, has an inclination to this rural ornament; she is not satisfied with mere grandeur and majesty, but is desirous of assuming an air of softness and gaiety, by the mediation of flowers.

Prior. "Religion itself, with all its simplicity and abstraction, and amidst the abhorrence it professes to theatrical pomp, which rather tends to dissipate the heart, than to inspire it with a due reverence for sacred mysteries, and a sensibility of human wants, permits some of its festivals to be celebrated with boughs, and chaplets of flowers."

[66] In his Diary is the following entry:—"1658, 27 Jan. After six fits of an ague, died my son Richard, five years and three days old onely, but, at that tender age, a prodigy for witt and understanding; for beauty of body, a very angel; for endowment of mind, of incredible and rare hopes. He was all life, all prettinesse. What shall I say of his frequent pathetical ejaculations uttered of himselfe: Sweete Jesus, save me, deliver me, pardon my sins, let thine angels receive me! So early knowledge, so much piety and perfection! Such a child I never saw! for such a child I blesse God in whose bosome he is!"

Nanteuil's portrait is prefixed to his Sylva, 1664; and a fine copy of the same, by Bartolozzi, is prefixed to Hunter's Sylva. Worlidge engraved a fine portrait of him, prefixed to his Sculptura. Gaywood engraved his portrait for the translation of Lucretius. In Walpole's Anecdotes is his portrait, by Bannerman.

[67] In "A Picturesque Promenade round Dorking," are selected many interesting particulars of Mr. Evelyn.

[68] Essex lost his head for having said that Elizabeth grew old and cankered, and that her mind was as crooked as her carcase. Perhaps the beauty of Mary galled Elizabeth.

The Quarterly Review of July, 1828, thus remarks:—"When Elizabeth's wrinkles waxed many, it is reported that an unfortunate master of the Mint incurred disgrace, by a too faithful shilling; the die was broken, and only one mutilated impression is now in existence. Her maids of honour took the hint, and were thenceforth careful that no fragment of a looking glass should remain in any room of the palace. In fact, the lion-hearted lady had not heart to look herself in the face for the last twenty years of her life."

It seems that Elizabeth was fond of executions. She loved Essex, of all men, best; and yet the same axe which murdered Anne Bulleyn, was used to revenge herself on him. The bloody task took three strokes, which so enraged the multitude, (who loved Essex) that they would have torn the executioner to pieces, had not the soldiers prevented them. Mr. Hutton, in his "Journey to London," observes, that "their vengeance ought to have been directed against the person who caused him to use it." What her reflections were on these two bloody acts when on her death-bed, we scarcely know. A modern writer on horticulture, nearly concludes a very pleasing work, by enumerating (with slight historical notices) the several plants cultivated in our gardens. He thus concludes his account of one:—"Queen Elizabeth, in her last illness, eat little but Succory Pottage." Mr. Loudon says it is used "as a fodder for cattle." The French call it Chicoree sauvage. Her taste must have been something like her heart. Poor Mary eat no supper the night previous to her last illness. Had it been possible for Elizabeth to have read those pages of Robertson, which paint the long succession of calamities which befel Mary, and the insolence and brutality she received from Darnley, and which so eloquently plead for her frailties, perhaps even these pages would not have softened her bloody disposition, which she seems to have inherited from that insolent monster, her father. "Mary's sufferings (says this enchanting historian) exceed, both in degree and duration, those tragical distresses which fancy has feigned, to excite sorrow and commiseration; and while we survey them, we are apt altogether to forget her frailties; we think of her faults with less indignation, and approve of our tears as if they were shed for a person who had attained much nearer to pure virtue. With regard to the queen's person, all contemporary authors agree in ascribing to Mary the utmost beauty of countenance, and elegance of shape, of which the human form is capable. Her hair was black, though, according to the fashion of that age, she frequently borrowed locks, and of different colours. Her eyes were a dark grey; her complexion was exquisitely fine, and her hands and arms remarkably delicate, both as to shape and colour. Her stature was of an height that rose to the majestic. She danced, she walked, and she rode with equal grace. She sung, and played upon the lute with uncommon skill."

[69] I will merely give this brief extract as one out of many of great force and beauty, from his Salmonia:—"If we look with wonder upon the great remains of human works, such as the columns of Palmyra, broken in the midst of the desert, the temples of Pæstum, beautiful in the decay of twenty centuries, or the mutilated fragments of Greek sculpture in the Acropolis of Athens, or in our own Museum, as proofs of the genius of artists, and power and riches of nations now past away, with how much deeper feeling of admiration must we consider those grand monuments of nature, which mark the revolutions of the globe; continents broken into islands; one land produced, another destroyed; the bottom of the ocean become a fertile soil; whole races of animals extinct; and the bones and exuviæ of one class covered with the remains of another, and upon the graves of past generations—the marble or rocky tomb, as it were, of a former animated world—new generations rising, and order and harmony established, and a system of life and beauty produced, as it were, out of chaos and death; proving the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, of the GREAT CAUSE OF ALL BEING!" I must trespass on my reader, by again quoting from Salmonia:—"I envy no quality of the mind or intellect in others; not genius, power, wit, or fancy; but if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing; for it makes life a discipline of goodness—creates new hopes, when all earthly hopes vanish; and throws over the decay, the destruction of existence, the most gorgeous of lights; awakens life even in death, and from corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity: makes an instrument of torture and of shame the ladder of ascent to Paradise; and, far above all combinations of earthly hopes, calls up the most delightful visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens of the blest, the security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and the sceptic view only gloom, decay, annihilation, and despair!"