192 .1 HISTORY OF CARDKMSC l.\ KXGL.WD. 



vineyard planted." This curious cuttinf,^ through the hill still 

 exists, besides other traces of the old work, and a very fine yew 

 hedge. Again, he shows himself to be the advocate of a holly 

 hedge, in the following extract from his Diary : — " 25 Sept. 1672, 

 I din'd at Lord John Berkeleys ... it was in his new house or 

 rather palace. . . For the rest, the fore court is noble, so are 

 the stables, and above all the gardens, which are incomparable 

 by reason of the inequality of the ground, and a pretty piscina. 

 The holly hedges on the terrace I advised the planting of." 

 Berkeley House, which was burnt to the ground, stood on the 

 site of what is now Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, and Lansdowne 

 House. 



Evelyn himself tried to procure new seeds and plants from 

 abroad, and also to make those trees he advocated in his Silva 

 more plentiful ; for many of them such as the Plane and Horse- 

 chestnut were still uncommon in this country, and others, the 

 Larch, Tulip tree and Cedar among the number were scarcely 

 obtainable. The following letter written by him to Samuel Pepys, 

 in 1686, show the active interest he took in the work.* 



Letter from John Evelyn to Sainuel Pepys, dated from Sa\s 

 Court, ist September, 1686, addressed 



For Mr. Secretary Pepys, &c., 



At the Admiralty in 



Yorke buildings. 

 Sr, 



When I had last the honor to see & to dine w'^ you, there 

 was a Captaine (multorum mores hominum qui vidit et urbes) 

 who going to comand some forces in New-England, was so 

 generous, as to offer me his assistance, in procuring for me, 

 anything which I thought curious, & rare among the plants of 

 those Countries. The Ingenuity, & extraordinary Industie of 

 the Gent : by what I both learn'd from the Character you gave 

 of him, & what I myselfe could observe in so short a time; 

 together with your interest in him ; makes me not willing to 



* MS. in the possession of I.ady Amherst, of Hackney. 



