vii RIVERSIDE LETTERS 57 



wonder whether the son of an enthusiastic 

 orchid-grower would feel in his old age 

 as much love and delight on meeting with 

 orchids that he had known in his father's 

 glasshouses as a child, as I do with my well- 

 remembered garden friends. I suppose he 

 might possibly ; but though I went into plenty 

 of conservatories and hothouses as a child, I 

 never entertain the same feeling for exotics 

 as I do for this Kerria, Japan Quince, and 

 all the other dear old hardy friends of my 

 youth. 



When we lived in Pine-Apple Place, there 

 were hayfields in front of our house ; so 

 pretty was the view from our parlour window 

 that Constable presented my father with a 

 round mirror, to hang opposite to the window 

 so as to reflect the green fields and hedge- 

 row elms. Hamilton Terrace was all grass 

 then, and Abercorn Place a mere country 

 lane, from the sides of which the wild Con- 

 volvuluses, that my father introduced into his 

 picture of Pcrdita were gathered. Cherries 



