HOW TO SHOW THE ROSE. 265 



a single flower. I have tried with these Roses 

 many experiments, in pots and out, al fresco^ 

 under glass, under canvas (movable), on their own 

 roots, on the Manetti, and on the Brier. Wher- 

 ever you have a vacant mural space, or a warm 

 border, I again recommend that Tea Roses be 

 planted on the Brier from seed or cutting, as being 

 their best ally and friend. Timid brethren fore- 

 v/arned me, when I first planted them al fresco, 

 that the winter would kill every bud, and timid 

 brethren tittered merrily when a frost of abnor- 

 mal vigor destroyed nearly half of my first ad- 

 venturers. I persevered, of course. If one half 

 withstood an unusual severity, I might rely in ordi- 

 nary seasons upon complete success. Defeat, 

 moreover, and the derision of my friends, evoked 

 a noble rage, a more determined energy. In my 

 youth I heard a professor remark at Oxford (he 

 styled himself professor and teacher of the noble 

 art of self-defence, but the condition of his nose 

 was more suggestive to me of one who was taking 

 lessons) that " he never could fight until he'd 

 napped a clinker." Then 



" His grief was but his grandeur in disguise, 

 And discontent his immortahty." 



So felt I, and so fought and conquered ; and I 



