CAUSES OF FAILURE. 11 



asked me to give you a list of the best, and I did 

 so reluctantly, knowing that you had neither the 

 taste nor the energy to do them justice. As to 

 the outlay, the animal on which you have reck- 

 lessly placed yourself, and whose hocks are a dis- 

 grace to this park, cost you, I know, more than 

 eighty guineas ; and for a tithe of that sum, with- 

 out further supervision or effort, you expect a 

 beautiful Rose-garden. I rejoice to hear that the 

 curate beat you, just as that earnest boy on his 

 nimble pony is out-trotting at this moment your 

 expensive but tardy steed." 



Not a sotipfon of sympathy can I ever feel for 

 the discomfiture of those Rose-growers who trust 

 in riches. They see lovely blooms at the Rose- 

 shows (yea, the Duchess of Kensington said that 

 they were lovely) — selected, probably, from fifty 

 thousand trees, and the results of excellent culture, 

 untiring vigilance, and care — and they say : '* We 

 will have these Roses for our own forthwith, and 

 in abundance." They have only to put down the 

 names, give an order, and sign a cheque, to buy as 

 they buy chairs and tables. They go home and 

 tell their gardener that they have ordered a most 

 splendid collection of Rose-trees, and that they 

 quite expect him next summer to have the best 

 display in the county. From my heart I pity that 



