A RUINED GARDEN. 37 



was a large margin of flower border, gay with 

 the most effective plants and annuals. At 

 one corner of the lawn a standard Magnolia' 

 grandiflora of great size held up its chaliced 

 blossoms ; at another a tulip-tree was laden 

 with hundreds of yellow flowers. Here a mag- 

 nificent Salisburia mocked the foliage of the 

 maiden-hair ; and here an old cedar swept the 

 grass with its huge pendent branches. But the 

 main breadth of each lawn was never destroyed, 

 and past them you might see the reaches of a 

 river, now in one aspect, and now in another. 

 Each view was different, and each was a fresh 

 enjoyment and surprise. 



A few years ago, and I revisited the place ; 

 the " improver " had been at work, and had been 

 good enough to open up the view. Shrubberies 

 had disappeared, and lawns had been thrown 

 together. The pretty peeps among the trees 

 were gone, the long vistas had become open 

 spaces, and you saw at a glance all that there 

 was to be seen. Of course the herbaceous 

 borders, which once contained numberless rare 



