six oP SPADES. log 



President has smiled his praise ; there our rockery, 

 our " Switzerland," as we call it, in honour of those 

 exquisite Alpine plants ; and close to Switzerland (let 

 Pinnock protest as he may), "America" (I made 

 America myself last autumn with six cart-loads of 

 peaty soil), with its Andromedas, azaleas, kalmias, 

 and rhododendrons, bordered with the ericas, roseate 

 and white, and with that delicious spice-scented 

 Daphne cneorum ! Here and there, as you foliow our 

 tortuous walks, are beds, with evergreens and flowering 

 shrubs in the centre, and perennial and herbaceous 

 flowers around, the latter covering them to the grass, 

 save where, in some few exceptions, you see a vacant 

 space of some two or three feet in width, devoted in 

 the spring and summer months to the plants known 

 as " bedding-outers." There, under my study- 

 window, which has all the morning sun, the violets 

 bloom half the year ; and there, opposite, close to the 

 yews, and under the shade of melancholy boughs, the 

 lilies of the valley scent the vernal air. 



There remain two small inclosures which we have not 

 yet explored. In the first one of these, which we call 

 our garden of memories, we have, on the right as you 

 enter, a border of shrubs and flowers, of which every 

 one was given to us by some dear relation or friend 

 (you will find that the Souvenir d'un ami rose has 

 been a frequent choice), and many placed there by 

 the hands which gave. Each has a special history, 

 and brings its welcome thoughts ; each whispers in 

 the ear that word, which you may see, carved in 

 Hebrew letters, on the stone before you, with forget- 

 me-nots around its base, Mizpah "The Lord watch 



