HISTORICAL GARDENS 325 



dried plants, now in the British Museum of Natural 

 History, and a library left by Dr. Dale in 1739, on con- 

 dition that " suitable and proper conveniences " were 

 made for them at the Physic Garden. They should be 

 there still, and the new buildings are eminently suited 

 for their reception ; and their use to students would be 

 very great, now that the Garden is well equipped for 

 supplying all the requirements for the modern teaching 

 of botany. 



Before quitting these gardens of historic interest, 

 there is one which must not be forgotten, although its 

 former charms have vanished, and it can no longer claim 

 such botanical curiosities as the Chelsea Physic Garden — 

 that is, the remains of John Evelyn's Garden of Sayes 

 Court. The Garden is now enjoyed by numbers in that 

 crowded district of Deptford, through the kindness of 

 Mr. Evelyn, the descendant of the famous diarist, John 

 Evelyn, who keeps it up as well as opens it to the public. 

 The Manor of Deptford was retained by the Crown in 

 James I.'s time, and Sayes Court was leased to Chris- 

 topher Browne, the grandfather of Sir Richard Browne, 

 whose only daughter and heiress John Evelyn married. 

 After his wife had succeeded to the property, and they 

 had lived there some years and made the Garden, John 

 Evelyn purchased the freehold land from Charles II. 

 The delight he took in his garden, how he exchanged 

 seeds and plants, imported rare specimens from abroad, 

 through his many friends, and grew them with success, 

 is well known. The ruthless way his treasures were 

 treated by Peter the Great was a sore trial to Evelyn. 

 The Czar amused himself, among other acts of van- 

 dalism, by being wheeled about the beds and hedges 

 in a wheelbarrow. The holly hedge, even, he partially 



