The Happy Garden 



character. It is supposed that it originated by- 

 grafting the purple flowered Cytisus purpureas upon 

 the common laburnum, a graft hybrid being the 

 result. The same tree and even the same branches 

 bear racemes of both yellow and purple flowers, 

 and sometimes the colour is a dull purple, like 

 yellow mixed with purple. Old trees of these are 

 singularly quaint, and not without beauty." 



I must take my Robinson's word for it, for as 

 yet my youngling has refused to bloom. Possibly 

 it will be years before he will condescend to bear 

 a flower either of yellow or purple, or dull purple, 

 like purple mixed with yellow. 



At the end of the lake is the Philosopher's Seat, 

 a log standing under a weeping ash. Here the 

 Philosopher, knowing nothing of gardening and 

 gardener's tricks, will sit and ponder the marvels 

 of Nature that causes rivers to flow and lakes to 

 spread in a sandy desert. He will commend the 

 faith that causes the wilderness to blossom like the 

 rose, and deny the existence of everything but his 

 •own thoughts. Or, like Hegel, he will gaze up 

 through the branches of the ash and declare that 

 the stars are only a " gleaming rash on the sky " : 

 or, seeing two moons, one in the sky and one in the 

 lake (or pond) at his feet, he will ardently debate 

 as to which is the real moon, and which is the 



