HISTORICAL SKETCH 



xvii 



their perfume. Perhaps this is because they are the only 

 things which affect our senses precisely as they did in our 

 childhood. The sweetness of the Violet is always the same ; 

 and when you pluck a Eose and drink, as it were, its fragrance, 

 the refreshment is the same to the aged as to the young, 



' The red Rose is the red Rose still, and from the Lily's cup 

 An odour fragrant as at first, like frankincense, goes up.' 



— Mary Howitt. 



Lord Bacon, in his excellent essay ' On Gardens,' advised 

 that one portion be devoted to a kind of 'Natural Wildness,' 

 in which there should be ' thickets made only of Sweetbrier 

 and Honeysuckle, carpeted with Primroses, Violets, and AVild 

 Thyme, ^Wth some Pinks to make all sweet and sightly, and 

 with time found to enjoy their attractions to the full. It is 

 in such a way that a garden of fragrant flowers might be 

 formed, and we have many more at our service now than were 

 obtainable in Lord Bacon's time, for who is there among us 

 to-day, when they have the good fortune to escape on a 

 summer holiday from the crowded city, and find them- 

 selves in the heart of a delicious garden, has not a secret 

 conscience within them that the scene affords a glimpse of 

 a true paradise below, for there is found the most congenial 

 relaxation, the most restorative exercise, ever at hand. The 

 lover of bright hues, delicate and spicy aromas, there walks 

 in a fairyland of his own creation. The merchant, the " poli- 

 tician, the artisan all dream of the happiness of some future 

 day when they can find their palace or cottage of delight 

 in a garden, amidst bowering trees and fragrant flowers, 

 where the breeze blows softly, charged with fragrance, and 

 the dews fall to refresh and awaken sleeping odours. 



Poets from the earliest times have cherished a deep regard, 

 in their allusions to scented flowers, and to the beauties with 



h 



