44 GARDENS PAST AND PRESENT 



ransacking South Africa, America and the Anti- 

 podes for flowering shrubs and bulbs. What won- 

 der if in those unbridled, troublesome times the 

 leading spirits of the day sought refuge from fac- 

 tious intrigues and strivings after place and power 

 to float, for a brief respite from time to time, in 

 the calm back-water of pursuits so gentle and sooth- 

 ing? Why should not the austere princess, nar- 

 row-minded and prejudiced as she was, lay aside 

 her hardness for a while in the interest of seeing 

 the new arrivals from abroad which were to make 

 for the far-fame of her collection ? Why should 

 not my Lord Bute forget his cares of state and his 

 consciousness of unpopularity in disbursing mag- 

 nificently for the advancement of his favourite 

 science of botany ? or the aged queen of sorrowful 

 memories find solace and calm in watching the 

 well-doing of the rare plants sent home from the 

 southern hemisphere, or in awaiting with interest 

 the unfolding of the quaint beaked flowers of the 

 orange Strelitzia named in her honour? There is 

 something infinitely pathetic as well as significant 

 in the fact that the chief actors on the stage of 

 life have, many a time, found the same healing 

 balsam growing unawares in the earthly paradise 

 of a garden that the cottar may nourish amidst the 

 few homely flowers by his cottage door. 



During the reign of George III., and for some 

 time later, Kew remained a favourite royal resi- 

 dence, and the gardens, which were private pro- 

 perty, were well kept up, and placed under the 

 care of competent superintendents. Those who are 

 acquainted with the beautiful and faithful illustra- 



