HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 489 



ture. Collections of all the fine woods, and specimens of interesting 

 seeds, are also kept in glass cases duly labelled. 



Now that I have perhaps feebly given you a coup d'oeil of the 

 whole (omitting numberless leading features for want of time and 

 space), you must, in order to give the scene its highest interest, 

 imagine the grounds, say at 2 o'clock, filled with a thousand or 

 twelve hundred men, women and children, of all ages, well dress- 

 ed, orderly and neat, and examining all with interest and delight. 

 You see that they have access, not only to the open grounds, but 

 all the hot-houses, full of rare plants and flower-gardens, gay with 

 the most tempting materials for a nosegay. Yet, not a plant is 

 injured not the least harm is done to the rarest blossom. Sir 

 William assured me that when he first proposed to try the experi- 

 ment of throwing the whole collection open to the public, many 

 persons believed it would prove a fatal one ; that, in short, Anglo- 

 Saxons could not be trusted to run at large in public gardens, full 

 of rarities. It has, however, turned out quite the contrary, as he 

 wisely believed ; and I learned with pleasure (for the fact has a 

 bearing at home), that on days when there had been three thousand 

 persons in the garden at a time, the destruction did not amount to 

 the value of fourpence ! On the other hand, the benefits are not 

 only felt indirectly, in educating, refining, and elevating the people, 

 but directly in the application of knowledge to the arts of life. I 

 saw, for example, artists busy in the garden, who had come miles 

 to get an accurate drawing of some plant necessary to their studies ; 

 and artisans and manufacturers in the museum, who had been 

 attracted there solely to investigate some matter connected with 

 their business, in the productions of the loom or the workshop. 



In short, I left Kew with the feeling, that a national garden in 

 America might not only be a beautiful, but a most useful and popu- 

 lar establishment ; one not too dearly bought, even at the expense 

 bestowed annually upon Kew. 



THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. I spent a whole morn- 

 ing with Mr. Barry, the distinguished architect of the new houses 

 of Parliament, in examining every part in detail. It is a common 

 feeling that the age for such gigantic works in architecture as the 

 Gothic cathedrals, has gone by. Perhaps this may be the case. 



