492 LETTERS PROM ENGLAND. 



central feature to a wide park, that rises into hills and flows into 

 graceful swells behind the house, aild fill it with herds of deer and 

 groups of fine cattle, and you have a general idea of the sylvan fea- 

 tures of Wimpole. 



But it is not yet complete. Behind the house, and separaited 

 from the park by a terrace walk, is a parterre flower-gatden, lying 

 directly under the windows of the drawing-rooms. Like all Eng- 

 lish flower-gardens, it is set in velvet lawn— each bed oomposed of 

 a single species— the most brilliant and the most perpetual bloom- 

 ers that can be found. Something in the soil or culture here seems 

 admirably adapted to perfect them, too ; for nowhere have I seen 

 the beds so closely covered with foliage, and so thickly sprinkled 

 with bloom. Some of them are made of two new varieties of scar- 

 let geraniums, with variegated leaves, that have precisely the efieet 

 of a mottled pattern in worsted embroidery. ' 



Beyond this lie the pleasure-grounds, — picturesque; winding 

 walks, leading a long way, admirably planted With groups »and 

 masses of the finest evergreens and deciduous trees. Here is a weep- 

 ing ash, the branches of which fall over an arbor in the form of half 

 a globe, fifty feet in diameter ; and a Portugal laurel, the trunk of 

 which measures three feet in circumference. A fine American black- 

 walnut tree was pointed out to me as something rare in England. 

 And the underwood is made- up of rich helts and masses of rhodo- 

 dendrons and Enghsh laurels. 



I must beg you to tell my lady friends at home, that many of 

 thorn would be quite ashamed were they' in England, at their igno- 

 rance of gardening, and their want of interest in country life. Here, 

 for instance, I have been walking for several hours to-day through 

 these beautiful grounds With the Countess of H., who, though a 

 most accomplished person in all other matters, has a knowledge Of 

 every thing relating to rural life, that would be incomprehensible^ to 

 most American ladies. Every improvement or embellishment is 

 planned under her special direction. Every plant and its culture 

 are familiar to her ; and there is no shrinking at barn-yards: — no 

 affected fear of cows — no ignorance of the dairy and poultry-yard. 

 On the contrary, one is delighted with the genuine enthusiasm and' 

 knowledge that the highest class (and indeed all classes) show in 



