and Suburban Gardens. 337 



joyments of the generality of mankind, would be, to grant from those parts of 

 his estates which lay along the public road, narrow strips of land, which might 

 be partially planted, or otherwise rendered available to public ornament and 

 enjoyment. As the minds of proprietors become enlarged, and as public 

 spirit and benevolence take the place of selfishness and exclusiveness, we are 

 persuaded that acts of this kind will become frequent both in town and 

 country. Why should not a wealthy man, who possessed a cluster of houses 

 in a crowded part of London leave them to be taken down when their leases 

 expired, and the surface kept as an open grass plot for ever ? Why should 

 not patriotic noblemen, all over the country, set back their park walls fifty or 

 a hundred feet or yards, and leave the intervening space as a shady public 

 walk ? Why should not wealthy proprietors, who have no immediate heirs, 

 leave now and then a park or villa near a large town, as a legacy to that town, 

 to be kept for ever as a public garden ? We are persuaded that many persons 

 only require ideas of this kind to be suggested to them. Whether the current 

 of a man's feelings takes a generous or an ungenerous direction is often a 

 matter of accident; but not so the result, as to his own happiness. 



Wimbledon House, Mrs. Marryatt May 28. This residence, consisting of 



an excellent mansion, and grounds to the extent of nearly 100 acres, first became 

 celebrated about half a century ago, when it was the property of Bond Hop- 

 kins, Esq., a wealthy banker. It was afterwards purchased and enlarged by 

 the late Joseph Marryat, Esq.; and it was greatly improved by that gentle- 

 man. It is now in the possession of his widow, who continues to spare no 

 expense in enriching and adorning the place, and more particularly in pro- 

 curing the rarest and most beautiful plants. 



On passing through the house to the back front, the first thing that strikes 

 the stranger is a magnificent panoramic view, consisting of the park scenery, 

 including many large beech trees, some old oaks, a few cedars of Lebanon, 

 many very fine evergreen oaks, some pines and firs, and a beautiful piece of 

 water in the foreground. The stranger, after this striking view, turns to the 

 left to the flower-garden, or to the right along a shrubbery walk of upwards 

 of a mile in length, which makes a tour of the place, and shows off both the 

 exterior and the interior scenery to the greatest advantage. We took the di- 

 rection of this walk on June 7. 1828, and, passing through a grove of ever- 

 green oaks of large size (some of them with trunks 2£ ft. in diameter), we left 

 on the right a rural fruit-garden, planted with the summer fruits, such as the 

 gooseberry, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, &c, to be gathered by young people 

 and consumed on the spot, as in the cherry-garden at Hylands. (III. 385.) 

 Adjoining the evergreen oaks were a large cork tree, a very fine iigustrum 

 lucidum, common and Portugal laurels, a fine red cedar, a Rhododendron pon- 

 ticum 97ft. in circumference, large silver firs, and some singular masses of ivy.* 

 Farther along the walk, we have a distant view of Westminster Abbey and 

 St. Paul's, with Lord Spencer's park, including a beautiful sheet of water, in 

 the foreground, and the Thames, from a seat under an immense beech tree, 

 one branch of which, partly pendulous, measures 75 ft. long. Quitting the 

 long route which leads through a rustic gate on a slight eminence, we arrived 

 at a very spacious, ivy-covered summer-house, furnished with a large table 

 and matted seats, and capable of accommodating a party of twenty. This 



* A small but interesting garden, stored with British plants, and conducted 

 solely by Miss Marryat, now (June 4. 1834) exists to the right of these, and 

 at the end of the rural fruit-garden. In a little dell, between the silver firs, 

 where, from the shade, the grass had scarcely lived, and where water, after 

 heavy rains, collects, the gardener has so enlarged a small clump of rhododen- 

 drons which he found existing there, as to cause it to fill, in good part, this 

 dell ; and it is delightful to see the vigour, and the health, and the beauty, in 

 their flowers, though these are now declining, which these plants display. 

 Mr. Redding has raised many seedling rhododendrons, and, like others, finds 

 considerable variety in the flowers of the seedlings. — J, D. 



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