Vestiges of Old Gardens. 1 7 



which once abounded even in London and 

 its immediate vicinity ; his pages are pro- 

 fessedly experimental and tentative ; and he 

 laments that even then it would have been 

 probably vain to acquire an accurate and 

 complete pictorial view of the horticultural 

 achievements and progress of -our ancestors. 

 The chief difficulty which Felton perceived 

 was the cost of properly executing such a 

 work but to that difficulty is now superadded, 

 in numerous instances, a second still more in- 

 superable the disappearance of the material, 

 the gardens themselves. 



Let us take an illustration from such a 

 place as Twickenham House, once the resi- 

 dence of Sir John Hawkins, at a more recent 

 time and until quite lately that of Dr. Dia- 

 mond, who loved to gather round him all 

 the men of taste and culture of his acquaint- 

 ance on Sundays. Every one who had the 

 entree was at liberty to come every week, 

 if he chose ; and the talk over and after 

 dinner, which was at half-past three, was of 

 old china, old books, old friends, and old 

 recollections. 



