JANUARY 277 



She obtained pensions from both services, and in 

 1759 married a man named Eyles ; her third 

 husband, whose existence is not, so far as I can 

 judge, known to historians, being the Richard Hab- 

 good recorded in our Registers. It is probable that 

 she survived him, as she died in 1792 an inmate of 

 Chelsea Hospital, where she was buried. 



Jan. 20. January is, or should be, the month 

 of flowers. There are few of the best winter- 

 blooming plants that cannot be had now in perfec- 

 tion, though, strangely enough, it is the time of 

 greatest leanness in most greenhouses. The fault 

 lies with the amateur who crowds his house with 

 things that bloom when flowers under glass are not 

 valuable. Something is due also to that mistaken 



o 



economy which prevents the small amount of 

 expenditure necessary for a January show mis- 

 taken, because the joy of coming into one's sitting- 

 rooms from a walk or drive in snow and sleet and 

 general discomfort, and finding them crammed with 

 yellow daffodils, is one hardly to be matched among 

 life's simpler pleasures. 



January is the time of fruition after the labours 

 of three previous seasons. It is also a period of 

 partial idleness, for though much planning may then 

 be done, actual work, except that of the moment, 

 is almost at a standstill. There are few seeds to 

 be sown, little propagating except of chrysanthe- 

 mums is advisable, and planting in general is at 

 a standstill. Enjoyment without labour and with- 

 out anxiety is so seldom within the grasp of the 

 mortal that so good an opportunity for it should 

 not be lightly flung aside. 



