THE ROSE GARDEN. 13 



cultivated far more extensively in France in former times than at present ; which 

 they arrive at from the statements made, by earlier authors, of the great quantities 

 which were used on particular occasions. I have sometimes thought it a matter 

 of surprise that the Rose should have taken the precedence of all other flowers in 

 France at an earlier period than here, especially when we consider it is our 

 national emblem, and that to the enterprise of English collectors Europe stands 

 indebted for many species which were sent from this country to France and else- 

 where. It was so with the Tea-scented, the Chinese Rose, the Banksiae, the 

 Microphylla, the Macartney, the Multiflora, and others. 



But it was fashion paved the way for its general reception in France. At the 

 commencement of the present century, the Empress Josephine acknowledged 

 it as her favourite, and caused varieties to be collected throughout Europe, and 

 brought to her garden at Malmaison. The late Mr. Kennedy was provided with 

 a passport to go and come as he pleased during the war, in order that he might 

 superintend the formation of that garden. The patronage of the Empress gave 

 an impetus to Rose-culture. Establishments were soon formed, solely for the pur- 

 pose, among the earliest of which were those of M. Descemet and M. Vibert, and 

 the taste spread throughout Europe. It has been said that the collection of the 

 former at St. Denis was destroyed by the English troops in 1815, but I believe 

 they were removed to a distant part on the approach of the allied troops. 



Monsieur Vibert, of whom we have just spoken, is one of the most celebrated 

 cultivators among the French. He founded his establishment in the vicinity of 

 Paris in 1815, at which time the only Moss Rose known in France was the red, 

 or common one. He removed, a few years since, to Angers, where the climate is 

 more favourable for the pursuance of that science to which he is entirely devoted. 

 To him we owe the existence of those old favourites, Fanny Bias, Celestine, Ipsi- 

 lanti, Aimee Vibert, Cynthie, d'Aguesseau, Matthieu Mole, Julie d'Etanges, 

 Nelly, Blanchefleur, Cleopatra, La Ville de Londres, and a host of striped and 

 spotted Roses. It is worthy of remark, that the latter, though much admired and 

 cultivated in France, have never gained any great popularity here. 



Among his more modern varieties, he enumerates Yolande d'Aragon, Princcsse 

 Clementine, Eugene Duboys Dessauzais, Pluto, Feu Brillante, Columelle, Eliza 

 Mercoeur, Comtesse Murinais, Alice Leroi, Semiramis, la Negresse, and nume- 

 rous others of which the merit is doubtful, or to which sufficient time has not been 

 given to prove their various properties. 



M. Laffay, another distinguished cultivator, owns a list of names no less worthy. 

 Who, even among modern Rose cultivators, is not familiar Math Archduc Charles, 

 Fabvier, Brennus, William Jesse, Coup D'Amour, Duke of Devonshire, Duke 

 of Cambridge, Victor Hugo ? In originating modern varieties, M. Laffay has 

 not been less successful. Madame Laffay, Coup d'Hebe, La Reine, Great 

 Western, Comtesse Duchatel, Dr. Marx, Lady Alice Peel, Comtesse Mole, 

 Duchess of Sutherland, Le Commandant Founder, Eugene Sue, La Superbe, 

 and others, of nearly equal merit, have been raised in his garden. His residence 

 (Div. I.) d 



