INTRODUCTION xix 



Brouncker was the first President, Evelyn and Boyle 

 original Fellows, and Sprat, Bishop of Rochester 

 (Cowley's Biographer), the first Historian. Had the 

 Royal Society interpreted Science more liberally and 

 done its duty towards Letters as Evelyn desired and. 

 planned, the British Academy founded in 1904 would 

 not have been called upon to fill the vacuum it did in 

 regard to the literary and historical Sciences. 



Almost there would seem to be some subtle psycho- 

 logical nexus between the Garden Spirit and the Soul 

 of Universities and Academies the classic and sacred 

 Groves of Thought, Learning and " Impassioned 

 Contemplation" for its reawakening or Pal'mgenesia 

 in our own generation synchronises with much ferment 

 in regard to the needs and obligations of Universities 

 and other allied and endowed Corporations. And per- 

 haps it is well that when the Schoolmaster and Professor 

 are abroad the spirit and soul of Gardens should be 

 also alive and active. And everywhere it hovers around 

 us ! Whether it be manifested in the practical care 

 and culture of Gardens, and the revival of Garden 

 Aesthetic and Design, or take the purely lyrical form of 

 Henley's " Hawthorn and Lavender " : whether, like 

 Mr. Douglas Ainslie's lilting " Chinese Pleasaunce," 

 it recalls the far-off charm of the willow-pattern and 



