CHAPTER XII 
HISTORICAL GARDENS 
History is philosophy teaching hy examples. 
-—Bolingbroke. 
LTHOUGH their number has sadly 
diminished of late years, London 
still has a few spaces remaining 
which may be classed as gardens. 
Often they are merely green 
patches of a formal type, which 
are better suited to the present 
climate than attempts at flowers; 
but a few regular gardens still exist, bringing dreams 
of a former period. In St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, the 
oldest of all such institutions, the square, with a hand¬ 
some fountain in the centre, is more what one expects 
to find in Italy than in Smithfield. It is this sort of 
surprise that makes the charm of London, and renders 
a wander through its mazes so attractive. What a 
contrast the walk of a few minutes can bring in the 
heart of London ! but of all these changes none is 
more impressive than the hush of the Charterhouse 
after the rush of Aldermanbury or the noise of Clerken- 
well. There is still lingering there the touch of the 
old monastery; a breath of a bygone age seems to 
pervade the courtyards and gateways, and something in 
289 T 
