136 



GARDENS OLD AND 



so venerable an estate, 

 the trees are particularly 

 fine. Some of the elms 

 are notable, and there is 

 a noble avenue of those 

 trees. The evergreen 

 oaks are also greatly ad- 

 mireJ, and there is a good 

 tulip tree, while an old 

 red cedar (Juniperus 

 virginiana) is one of 

 the most interesting 

 specimens in England. 

 The whole country, how- 

 ever, is a sylvan paradise, 

 and Richmond Hill forms 

 a noble background to the 

 dear old place. 



It would be interest- 

 im>, indeed, if we could 

 know the history of such 

 a garden. Here and there 

 in old diaries the curious 

 may discover some few 

 references to it. Evelyn, 

 as we have seen, men- 

 tions orangeries asexisting 

 in his time, but perhaps, 

 as Mr. BlomfielJ suggests, 

 there were plantations, 

 hut the history of the 

 g.irden of Ham House is 

 reflected in its quaint 

 a r run tie me t and subtle 

 charm, and it is cert.i nly 

 delightli.il in the summ-r 

 evenings to linger in its 

 sweet pleasaunces, and 

 with the scent of the 

 flowers, to feel something of the fragrance of the eld. 



What Walpole wrote of Ham House is, in a great measure, 





Copyright. 



THE SUNDIAL IN FORECOURT. 



true of it still. " Close to 

 the Thames, in the centre 

 of rich and verJant beauty, 

 it is so blocked up and 

 barricaded with walls, 

 vast trees, and gates, 

 that you think yourself 

 an hundred miles off and 

 an hundred years b.ck." 

 That seclusion which was 

 a reproach in Walpole's 

 days has become a 

 delight in these. Who 

 would wish to see the 

 shadow of change pass 

 over the sequestered 

 charms of Ham ? Within 

 the house, too, there 

 has been little alteration 

 s nee its early times. 

 The splendid galler ed 

 hall, paved with black 

 and white marble, the 

 great staircase, the t.ipes- 

 tried Cabal Chamber, 

 afterwards called the 

 Queen's Audience 

 Chamber, the Blue and 

 Silver Room, the Duchess 

 of Lauderdale's suite 

 (with her armchair and 

 other articles of personal 

 use), the beautiful Draw- 

 ing Room, the Chapel, the 

 Long Gallery lined with 

 portraits, the famous 

 lapestry Room, and the 

 noble Library, have 

 scarcely been touched by 



the modern hand ; and it is from the windows of these historic 

 chambers that the glorious gardens are surveyed. 



"Country Life,' 



THE NORTH TERRACE. 



'Country Lift." 



