March ii, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



109 



stands at the head of the grave, and additional inscriptions 

 record the names of John Brown and three of his brave sons, 

 who died for the cause of freedom. It was the wish of John 

 Brown that his name might thus be linked with that of his 

 grandfather, who was a soldier of the Revolution. But long 

 after this frail and ancient tablet has crumbled into dust, the 

 giant bowlder, with its classically beautiful inscription, will 

 commemorate the name and fame of the Friend of the 

 Oppressed. 



"To the late Colonel Francis L. Lee, of Boston, Massachu- 

 setts, of the Forty-fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volun- 

 teers, belongs the credit of establishing this imperishable 

 memorial. For many years Colonel Lee had spent the summer 

 months at his country home, 'Stony Sides,' on Lake Cham- 

 plain, near Westport, New York, only about thirty miles east 

 of North Elba, and had always entertained a high regard for 

 the noble qualities of Brown, even before his exploits in Kan- 

 sas had revealed to the world the stuff of which he was made. 

 The year following the close of the war, 1866, Colonel Lee 

 made a pilgrimage to North Elba, accompanied by some mem- 

 bers of his family and the Hon. George S. Hale, ot Boston, tak- 

 ing with him Mr. Andrew J. Daniels, ot Westport, a skillful mar- 

 ble-worker. To Mr. Daniels Colonel Lee intrusted the task of 

 cutting those large, deeply furrowed letters and figures in the 

 flinty rock." 



This cutting took many days, owing to the extreme hardness 

 of the rock in which the letters are cut. This same hardness 

 wdl protect the mighty bowlder from the hand of the vandal 

 relic-seeker for all time. I wish also to add my protest as a 

 native of Essex County against putting any artificial monument 

 over the grave of the rugged old man who lies buried among 

 the surroundings ot his own choice "with his face to the 

 south." If there is to be a monument built from the accumu- 

 lated funds spoken of in the letter, let it be at Harper's Ferry 

 or some other place where it will suit its surroundings, but not 

 on the old farm. _ . , lr T 



Chestnut Hill, Mass. Francis W. Lee. 



Recent Publications. 



A History of Garde?iing in Engla?id. By the Hon. Alicia 

 Amherst. London : Bernard Quaritch. 1895. • 



Miss Amherst's book is sure to be useful to any serious 

 student of the history and literature of English gardening, 

 and should also have a place in the library of every lover 

 of gardens who takes an interest in the growth and devel- 

 opment of an art which has a long past, since it started, 

 we are told, in Eden. The History of Gardening gives 

 evidence of long and careful preparation, and the author has 

 grouped her facts so skillfully and with such a keen sense 

 of historical perspective that the work is likely to become 

 a classic of the craft with which it deals. Externally the 

 book is attractive in its green cover, with the two quaint 

 men digging and planting in an impossible garden, the 

 sole decoration of which seems to consist in one or two 

 microscopic twigs. The illustrations are less satisfactory, 

 as in many cases the photogravure process has failed to 

 reproduce the differences in light and shade of the actual 

 scenes. The bibliography at the end is large and full, 

 but, although there are some advantages in the chrono- 

 logical arrangement over one that is alphabetical, the 

 latter is plainly more convenient. The short index of 

 names, however, furnishes a much needed help to one who 

 wishes to consult a given author. It would double the 

 working value of this list if in another edition a little more 

 information were given about the books on such points, 

 for example, as whether or not they are illustrated, what is 

 the best edition, etc. 



The author begins by a few words on the probable want 

 of gardens among the rough and warlike tribes which 

 inhabited Britain before the Roman conquest, but passes 

 on to the early Saxon times, when the monks, in their quiet 

 communities, cultivated herbs and simples, while protecting 

 learning and the refinements of life from the boisterousness 

 of the mediaeval world. An amusing part of the book is 

 that in which Miss Amherst treats of the expenses of 

 monastic gardening as shown in the pipe-rolls and chartu- 

 laries of the period, where one may see from the charge 

 "for labour of labourers in extracting 'mosse' from the 



cloister green, 6d.," that weeds grew and had to be pulled 

 up as much in the middle ages as they do now. The Hor- 

 tulanus, or Gardinarius, was an important person in the 

 Priory, since he had charge, not only of the garden, but of 

 the orchard, vineyard, moat and fish-ponds, and it was also 

 his duty to see that the church was decorated with suitable 

 flowers. 



As soon as England began to recover from the many 

 wars which kept people shut up in walled towns and in 

 castles, where want of space prevented any but the most 

 necessary cultivation, gardens multiplied, and an associa- 

 tion of gardeners became so powerful that they forced the 

 Mayor and Aldermen of London to recall an order which 

 had been issued forbidding them to hold a market in front 

 of the church of St. Austin. 



The literature of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries 

 is full of references to sweet-smelling flowers and green 

 lawns, while some of the illuminations in old manu- 

 scripts of that time are views in gardens where ladies 

 sit upon turf seats and weave "gerlonds" of roses or 

 periwinkles. Later, in Tudor times, when houses did 

 not need to be surrounded by high walls, and people 

 had time to think of something besides fighting others 

 and defending themselves, the pleasure-grounds began to 

 be more elaborate, and the topiary artist, who in later times 

 was to create such extraordinary objects in Yew, was called 

 in to pleach alleys and hedges. Galleries and mounts also 

 make their appearance, and flower-beds fenced with brightly 

 painted trellises. In short, one feels that here is the fresh 

 and fair beginning of the simple, hearty country life which 

 has continued to grow until the present time. Miss Am- 

 herst also shows that in the reign of Elizabeth gardening 

 did not lag behind the other gentle arts, since Bacon's 

 well-known essay was only one of the many treatises on 

 the subject which were written about that time. The gar- 

 den became a part of daily life, insomuch that the architect, 

 John Thorpe, designed the surroundings for his houses, 

 thinking the plan of the garden important enough to require 

 an artist for its proper and harmonious distribution. The 

 author also glances at the humbler kitchen-garden, where 

 the list of vegetables has constantly grown longer and 

 the methods of cultivation more technical. 



In the time of the Cavaliers and Roundheads the love of 

 gardening grew steadily in favor, both with the working 

 classes and the gentry, as shown by the well-known Royalist 

 names of John Evelyn, the author of Sylva, and Lord 

 Capel, whose famous garden was at Kew. Toward the 

 end of the seventeenth century the influence of the pom- 

 posity of Versailles was felt in England, since Le Notre is 

 said to have been ordered by Charles II. to make designs 

 for the elaborate alterations at Hampton Court, which were 

 afterward only partly carried out. It was natural when 

 William and Mary were on the throne that Dutch garden- 

 ing should become the fashion, and accordingly we see a 

 great remodeling of old places going on, largely under the 

 superintendence of Hollanders, who, doubtless, brought 

 with them the taste for cultivating Tulips, which became a 

 mania in their own country. 



Miss Amherst's sketch of the rise of landscape-gardening 

 is most interesting, since she shows how the reaction 

 against the excessive formality of the later gardens created 

 a style which, in its affected simplicity and naturalness, 

 grew to be quite as artificial as the one it had superseded. 

 The author also emphasizes the enormous amount of dam- 

 age done to fine old places by the "improvers," who cut 

 down avenues of grand old trees because they considered 

 them neither "pensive, picturesque, nor sublime." A 

 short account of the progress of horticulture in this century, 

 with a few appreciative remarks on some modern gardens, 

 closes this attractive book. Its mass of well-ordered and 

 well-digested information, with constant reference to origi- 

 nal authorities, gives it a genuine value, and it has the 

 charm of being written in an easy, flowing style which is 

 never dull. It is altogether the best existing treatise on the 

 subject, and it is not likely soon to be superseded. 



