MAT. 177 



deed, are not without their little jealousies, " pity it 

 is," when candour and kindness are forgotten on 

 account of some fancied neglect ; but mercenary mo- 

 tives being excluded, their animosities are not quite 

 so deadly as those of the gardeners merely the hum 

 of the hornet without its sting. The owners of beds 

 of tulips are very chary of them, and when in their 

 pride of bloom, they may be inspected with wonder 

 and even pleasure, as a proof of the powers of culture 

 directed to one point, though we may smile, perhaps, 

 at the extravagant value placed upon them. This has 

 been well remarked upon by a cynic of the last cen- 

 tury, whose observations appeared in " Tlie Tatler" 

 and they are not undeserving of quotation now. The 

 writer thus mentions his visit to the proprietor of a 

 tulip garden, and recording a whimsical incident, 

 which possibly may be a little exaggerated. 



" The owner told me that he valued the bed of 

 flowers which lay before us, and was not above twenty 

 yards in length and two in breadth, more than he 

 would the best hundred acres of land in England ; 

 and added that it would have been worth twice the 

 money it is, if a foolish cookmaid of his had not 

 almost ruined him, the last winter, by mistaking a 

 handful of tulip roots for an heap of onions, ' and by 

 that means (says he) made me a dish of porridge that 

 cost me above a thousand pounds sterling ! ' He then 

 showed me what he thought the finest of his tulips, 

 which I found received all their value from their 

 rarity and oddness, and put me in mind of your great 

 fortunes, which are not always the greatest beauties. 



" I have often looked upon it as a piece of hap- 

 piness, that I have never fallen into any of these 



