42 A BOOK ABOUT THE GARDEN. 



upon the best material, and \vith the most costly 

 tools." And the old man, seeing himself appreciated, 

 was prompt on his part to acknowledge the acquire- 

 ments of his new neighbour, to exchange information, 

 and to compare old things with new. I met him one 

 morning returning from the Hall gardens, and he 

 informed me that " Chiswick was a regular conjuror." 

 He had just seen him " tie out " a young Pimelea, 

 recently received from the nurseries, and he had made 

 it look worth a guinea ! " And the best of it was," 

 he went on to say, " that the fellow had no more 

 pride about him than a dahlia after a hard frost; " 

 and when he praised his handiwork, he only said, " I 

 wish you saw William May's ! " * 



And thus there arose between these two men, so 

 dissimilar in aspect, yet so congenial in mind, a sincere 

 regard and amity, which deepened into a most true 

 affection, when " the gardener's daughter," quite as 

 lovable as Mr Tennyson's, went over from the Castle 

 to the Hall, and precocious Chiswicks, as time went 

 on, began to drive miniature wheelbarrows between 

 Mr. Oldacre's legs. For the clergyman who made the 

 true lovers one was a true prophet when he said, " Thy 

 wife shall be the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine 

 house; " and whoever enters that pleasant home, once 

 called the Den of Despair, and sees the bright young 

 mother among her laughing little ones, beholds the 

 realization of those other gracious words, preceding 

 the words which I have quoted, " Oh, well is thee, 

 and happy shalt thou be ! " 



' Gardener to Mrs. Lawrence of Ealing Park, and the best 

 plantsman of his day. 



