114 ON THE STUDY OF BOTANY. 



a liberality of feeling which did honour to the individual, and which 

 we could wish to see carried out into operation more extensively even 

 at the present day. Evelyn trod closely in the same steps. He pur- 

 chased a beautiful spot at Saye's Court, in Kent, and was one of the 

 first fellows, and of the council, of the Royal Society, on its first for- 

 mation in 1662. This age has been truly called the "golden," if we 

 consider the list of bright names which in all departments of science 

 and literature adorned it, and especially in botany and chemistry ; hor- 

 ticulture and floricultui'e began rapidly to rise from the empiricism in 

 which it had been involved. A spirit of research became prevalent, 

 foreign voyages, for profit as well as fame, were undertaken by Raleigh 

 and Cavendish ; and Raymond and Lancaster, and Spanish America and 

 the East Indies began to contribute the gems of their vegetable pro- 

 ductions to the collections of Europe ; rare plants of every description 

 were sought after, and some, such as the potato, tobacco, and tea, 

 became, from mere novelties, to be regarded either as the necessaries or 

 the luxuries of life. 



Much additional information had been obtained, and new varieties of 

 flowers introduced during tlie reign of Elizabeth, who was herself pas- 

 sionately fond of flowers; from tlie settlement of the Flemish worsted 

 manufacturers at Norwich in 1567, during the persecutions in their 

 country under Philip II. and the Duke of Alva — they brought with 

 them gilliflo^ers, Provence roses, and carnations ; tulips, and the 

 damask and musk roses, would appear from Gerarde to iiave been 

 known for some years, as he says, in 1596, a collector of tulips had 

 been so for twenty years, and had an immense variety. The Flemings, 

 it would also appear, established " shows," as there is mention of a 

 "florists' feast" at Norwich so early as 1637, when a play termed 

 " Rhodon and Iris " was performed. 



The fondness for flowers began now to spread itself far and wide — 

 it pervaded every rank, and the nobility of every county, and the 

 artisans of every manufacturing town in the kingdom are mentioned as 

 delighting in their cultivation. 



In Holland, where this passion began, it was carried to the greatest 

 excess, and degenerated at last into a series of gambling transactions, 

 which continued until the middle of the last century, when 200/. were 

 given for a hyacinth root, and the Semper Augustus tulip fetched 400/. 

 The most distinguished patron of gardening in this reign was the Lord 

 Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon, whose chief care and attention was be- 

 stoAved on the gardens attached to his beautiful mansion at Gorman- 

 bury. 



The company of gardeners was formed in the third year of James I. 

 who made them a corporate body, with a master, warden, and assist- 

 ants, and it was composed of the gardeners of London, and six miles 

 around it. The preamble to their charter states, it was granted on ac- 

 count of the disappointment caused by defective samples of seeds, &c., 

 being supplied to the public. They possessed very extensive powers 

 and privileges; no one being permitted to practice as a gardener unless 

 first approved by the company. Such days as these, when corporations 

 monopolized to themselves the advantages which all parties in a com- 

 munity whose industry entitles them to it ought to share, are fast 



