xi LADY MAUD'S WALK 189 



wisdom without the trouble of acquiring it. 

 As a matter of fact the only thing I have 

 read in the volume since I have been here 

 is the essay on gardens. It now lies open 

 on the grass beside me at this passage : 

 " The Green hath two pleasures. The one 

 because nothing is more pleasant to the eye 

 than green grass kept finely shorn ; the other, 

 because it will give you a fair alley in the 

 midst, by which you may go in front upon 

 a stately hedge, which is to enclose the 

 garden." 



Bacon had a fine feeling for grass, and I 

 think he would have commended Lady 

 Maud's Walk, which is some thirty-five 

 yards of green velvet, separated from the 

 river by the ancient wall, and from the 

 world by a stately hedge of yew. It is 

 really wonderful grass, close set with scarce 

 a base weed in it. It reminds me of the 

 Oxford gardener and the five-pound note. 

 An American gentleman who was much 

 struck with the lawns of one of the colleges 

 drew the head-gardener aside and promised 

 him a five-pound note if he would divulge 

 the secret of lawn-making. The gardener 

 agreed to the bargain, took the five-pound 



