274 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 3, 1865. 



valley of the Avon ; bnt that stream at places presents pre- 

 cipitous banks 1.50 or more feet in depth, while at other places 

 it meanders forth slowly amongst lovely meadows, its clear 

 stream spreading out into all the dimensions of the Thames at 

 Kew, or even wider, while its tributaries intersect the park in 

 other directions, leaving, nevertheless, a large breadth of table 

 hand stretching away to the northward of the mansion, on the 

 more distant part of which is planted a fine avenue. First of 

 all let us approach the mansion, and if we do so on this side 

 there is no need to trespass on the grass edging for want of 

 room on the gravel walk, for I believe it to be 48 feet wide, and 

 not a foot too mucli to correspond with the other noble features 

 of the place. I fear that I cannot give (in adequate descl-iption 

 of the mansion, which, like many others of its class, strikes the 

 looker-on more by its vastness, and the richness of its archi- 

 tectural decorations, than by any particular feature in its struc- 

 ture. It is a noble pile of the best style of architecture pre- 

 vailing in the end of the seventeenth century, and suggestive of 

 internal magnificence and comfort rather than of feudal tyranny, 

 as in the oldest class of baronial residences. The immensity 

 of its proportions, the character of the site, and the extent of 

 its appendages, all combine to produce that grandeur which 

 would justify the mansion being styled a palace, even had it 

 not a claim of ancient date to that title. 



Leaving historical associations for the present, I will confine 

 myself to stating that this noble residence is a building of 

 decorated Grecian arcliitocture, and of great extent, the central 

 front receding behind the wings, and the whole occupying a 

 sufficiently elevated position in the park to command an ex- 

 tensive range of country, witliout at tlie same time being un- 

 duly exposed. The Vale of the Clyde, terminating in that busy 

 hive of industry Glasgow, may be traced throughout most of its 

 length, and far beyond the brown peaks of some of the High- 

 land mountains come into view, while the softened and mi- 

 dulating character of the country in the opposite direction, 

 conveys an idea of rural comfort and progress which is not in 

 any way marred by the presence of factorj- chimneys. The 

 pleasant village, or rather town, of Hamilton, adjoining the 

 upper part of the park, improves rather than intrudes on 

 the general elTect. The mansion, as I have before obser\-ed, 

 occupying a sort of central position in a park of some 4000 acres 

 or moie, is, of course, sufficiently removed from everything 

 likely to obtrude on its privacy, at the same time the presence 

 of trees in sites judiciously chosen gives it a clothed appear- 

 ance without being encumbered with wood. Looking from the 

 mansion in a northerly direction, a handsome terrace and steps 

 lead to a gentle slope at some considerable distance, and pass- 

 ing along a gravel walk, 48 feet wide, we reach another walk 

 or road crossing this at right angles. From their |)oint of 

 intersection a vista or avenue follows the line of the broad 

 walk ; this avenue, which appeared to be at least 1000 yards 

 long, was level throughout, and of more ample width than 

 avenues usually are, I should say about 2.50 or 800 feet, and 

 there were two or three lines of trees on each side. I for- 

 got the object to which this avenue leads, Init its length and 

 ample breadth give it importance irrespective of external ob- 

 jects, and when seen from the mansion as a continuation of 

 the broad gravel walk it has a nol)le effect. 



The cross walk, which terminates the broad one alluded to, 

 points to the mausoleum, a wonderful pile, erected by the late 

 Duke at great cost, and which in its way has perhaps no equal 

 in the kingdom. Its external appearanc^e reminds one of 

 those magnificent temples erected by some eastern poten- 

 tate to the memory of a deceased relative, and I believe the 

 design is from some such source. It is solid, massive, and 

 grand, rather than enriched with architectural devices exter- 

 nally, and the mind is still further impressed with the sub- 

 limity of the interior by the echoes rising in successive rever- 

 berations to ihe apex of the cupola by wliich it is surmounted. 

 The floor of the main building is of various coloured marbles 

 worked into suitable designs, while underneath is the vault, 

 approached in a contrary direction, wherein are deposited the 

 remains of many of the noble house of Hamilton, who had 

 figured in the many changes which have occurred during the 

 last four or five centuries, including one or two members of 

 the house who met with violent deaths for their loyalty or 

 patriotism. Returning from such a scene, and passing some 

 good examples of sculpture fronting the portals of the de- 

 parted, we take a stroll to another part of the park, anxious to 

 see all its features before we settle down to the garden depart- 

 ment. — J. ROBSON. 



(To be continueil.) 



GLEANINGS FROM HOCK AND FIELD 

 TOWARDS ROME— No. fl. 



It is a vei-y pleasant task to connect with a flowery link 

 ancient and modern Home — to remember that the " Lilies of 

 the field," about which I write, have suffered no change since 

 they came fresh and fair from tlie hands of the Creator — that 

 kings, consuls, emperors, and popes have alike felt their gentle 

 ministrations ; learning from them, if they were so minded, 

 the selfsame lessons of humility and purity — to know that 

 when this generation shall have passed away the same tiny 

 wayside flowers will lift up their heads in storm and sunshine 

 preaching the same lessons still. 



From the state of the few gardens I saw at Rome I should 

 say that horticulture, as a science, was little practised there. 

 Wishing for some local information about the plants I met 

 with, I asked if there was any professor of botany in Rome ? 

 I was answered, and I believe with truth, that there was not 

 one ! that I must wait till I arrived in Florence for any help 

 of that kind ; so I could do little more than gather anything 

 strange-looking to my English eyes, put it in my blotting-book, 

 and wait. My patience was rewarded at Florence, for, through 

 the kindness of a friend, I had my specimens named for me by 

 Professor Parlatore (m De CandoUe's system ; for those plants 

 which Professor Parlatore did not see I have availed myself of 

 other help as able as his own, but I needed no professor to 

 name for me the treasures that I most love amongst my little 

 Roman collection. I have about a dozen healthy jdants of 

 Adiantum eapillus-Veneris daily increasing in size and beauty, 

 and each time my eye falls upon them it sees an old crumbling 

 wall within the inner court of the church of St. Pudenziana, 

 and I am standing before it in a helpless manner, gazing on 

 the fair tresses of a Fern on which, it may be, eighteen hun- 

 dred years ago the eyes of St. Peter and St. Paul rested lovingly 

 as mine do. My gaze was a troubled one, for I was out hunt ng 

 for churches not flowers, and my trowel was left at home ; at 

 last I bethought me of a certain knife given me just before 

 leaving home as " the best Imife in England," and in a few 

 minutes two blades had been sacrificed, but not in vain, for I 

 secured a tolerable plunder, and the little Ferns grace my 

 fernery in forgiving beauty. While I was thus engaged, the 

 rest of my party had been jjeering into a well, covered with a 

 grating and full of bones, said to be the bones of Christian 

 martyrs, gathered together by the love of the Saint whose 

 name the church bears. 



There is no church in Rome that exceeds in interest that of 

 St. Pudenziana — tradition, history, and recent excavations 

 lend flieir aid to give it a charm in the eyes of Englishmen 

 as well as Romans, history coming to the aid of tradition 

 with dates and circumstantial evidence, and the excavations 

 stamping both witli the seal of truth. Tradition points out 

 this church as having been built .\.d. 145 by Pope Pius I. on 

 the site of the house occupied by the Senator Pudens, who 

 entertained St. Peter from A.n. 41 to 50. History speaks of 

 Nooatus and Timotheus, sons of Pudens, building baths on the 

 site of their father's house. St. Paul, writing from Rome a.d. Of) 

 (2 Tim. iv. 21), says, " Eulnilus greeteth thee, and Pudens, 

 and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren." Claudia was 

 the wife of Pudens, and tradition speaks of her as being the 

 daughter of the British chief Caraetacus. Histoiy again tells 

 us that about the year a.d. 51 the wife and daughter of Carae- 

 tacus were taken captive by the Romans, to whom the prince 

 himself was delivered up by tlie queen of the Brigantes ; we 

 read also that the unbroken sjiirit and noble demeanour of 

 Caraetacus when taken to Rome commanded the admiration of 

 the Emperor Claudius, who pardoned him. Modern excava- 

 tions are going on beneath the present church, and every turn 

 of the pick and spade brings something of interest to light. 



1st, The remains of a much earlier church than the upper 

 one, the peculiar structure of the masonry of the walls proving 

 the date pretty accurately. 



2nd, Below this ancient church the house of the Senator 

 Pudens — that is, a house of considerable pretensions, mth 

 inlaid marble floors, such as would be suitable to the rank of 

 Pudens in those grand days of old. 



3rd, Added to this house are to be seen the remains of noble 

 ha hs. 



The excavations have only been undertaken very lately, and 

 it was no easy matter to search out these things for ourselves ; 

 no earth had been allowed to be removed, and we had to 

 stumble over heaps of soil, with here and there a ghastly- 

 looking skull, and only the feeble light of our candle to prevent 



