KEW AND COVENT? GARDEN. 



345 



auspices of George III., who was a 

 zealous and munificent patron of 

 the object, and aided by the exei'- 

 tions of that distinguished natural- 

 ist, Sir Joseph Banks, it speedily 

 acquired importance and celebrity. 

 The Gardens were successively en- 

 riched with the contributions of 

 Sir Joseph himself, who accom- 

 panied Captain Cooke when he cir- 

 cumnavigated the globe, by those 

 of Captain Flinders and Mr. Robert 

 Brown, and travellers and collectors 

 in Australia, Brazil, the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and other foreign 

 countries. During the reigns of 

 George IV. and William IV. the 

 Gardens were allowed to languish ; 

 and the conviction was pressed 

 upon the public mind, about the 

 commencement of the present reign, 

 that the institution should either be 

 abandoned altogether, or rendered 

 commensurate with the advance of 

 science, and placed upon a footing 

 worthy of a great national institu- 

 tion. In the year 1840, her Majesty 

 Queen Victoria, in the most liberal 

 spirit, relinquished her title to the 

 garden and pleasure-grounds, which 

 were accordingly transferred to the 

 care of the commissioners of Woods 

 and Forests, to be by them applied 

 to the public benefit. In the course 

 of improvement which was now re- 

 solved upon, the first important 

 step was the appointment to the 

 office of director of Sir Wm. Jack- 

 son Hooker, then Professor o: 

 Botany in the University of Glas- 

 gow. Under the fostering care o" 

 the commissioners, and the en 

 lightened zeal of the director, tin 

 Gardens have already become un 

 rivalled as a school of horticultun 

 and botany, more especially since 

 the foundation of the Museum o 

 Practical or Economical Botany 

 to commence which Sir Willi.-m 

 Hooker generously devoted his own 

 valuable collections. The grea 

 Palm-house is without a para! It > 

 in the world. The extent of ground 



appropriated to scientific purposes 

 s 75 acres, to which are added the 

 ileasure-grounds and arboretum, 

 onsisting of 17G acres of wood and 

 awn. The gates of the Botanic 

 Garden are thrown freely open to 

 he public every day of the week. 

 An institution so well adapted 

 ;o gratify the prevailing taste of 

 the Londoners, could not fail to 

 grow in popularity. Their passion 

 or flowers is proverbial, and dur- 

 ing the season the market-gar- 

 deners drive a profitable business 

 in ministering to it. One is led to 

 wonder where all the roses andf 

 posies he sees in the streets can. 

 possibly come from ; till some fine 

 summer morning he wends his way 

 to Covent Garden market, the cen- 

 tre from which both Flora and 

 Pomona dispense their daily boun- 

 ties over the ample domain of Cock- 

 neydom. The vast quantities of 

 flowers and fruits brought in from 

 the country during the night, ex- 

 posed for sale, and scattered far 

 and wide amongst the retailers, 

 while the city ia sound asleep, is 

 one of the curious sights of the 

 metropolis, but one seldom wit- 

 nessed by those who prefer " hear- 

 ing the chimes at midnight," with 

 Master Shallow, to enjoying lh^ 

 "sight so touching in its m. 

 described by the meditative Woxds- 

 worth, as he took his station, at 

 early dawn, on Westminster Bridge, 

 and saw 



" Tlio City, like n garment, wear 



The beauty of tlio morning; silent, 

 liarc, 



Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and 

 temples, lio 



Open unto the fields, and to tho sky ; 



All blight and glittering in tlio smoke- 

 less air. 



Never did sun more beautifully steep 



In his first splendour, valley, rock, or 

 hill; 



Ne'er saw I, ncvrr felt, a calm so deep ! 



The river glideth at his own sweet will, 



Dear Heaven I the very houses seem 

 asleep, 



And all that mighty heart is lying still !" 



