86 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 8, 1860. 
to be surrounded by Italian arcades. On this becoming known, 1 
application was immediately made for the part so enclosed to be 
used by the Society as a Town Garden for shows and promenades. 
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort supported the applica¬ 
tion as President of the Society; and at a Meeting held at 
Buckingham Palace on the 27th June, the Prince announced to 
the Council that Her Majesty’s Commissioners were ready to 
grant a lease of 20 acres at Kensington Gore upon certain con- 
ditions, the more important of which were the following:—- 
The Commissioners to expend £50,000 upon a highly decorated ' 
Italian Arcade, and certain costly earthworks required as the 
foundation of a Garden, 
The Commissioners to claim no rent until the expenses of the ' 
Society—which include interest upon money borrowed—shall 
have been defrayed ; all income beyond such expenses to be 
apportioned in the manner following—that is to say, interest to 
be paid by the Society on the £50,000 borrowed by the Commis¬ 
sioners, and then, as rent, one moiety of any surplus that may 
have arisen during each year. 
The Commissioners to grant the Society a lease of the land for 
thirty-one years. 
The amount of annual expenditure, and the mode of general ma¬ 
nagement to be determined by a joint Committee consisting of Six 
Members, of whom Three shall be named by the Commissioners. ; 
The Society to lay out a sum equal to that of the Commis¬ 
sioners in the formation of the Garden, one feature of which 
would be a Conservatory or Winter Garden of considerable ex¬ 
tent ; and also to provide reasonable facilities for the admission 
of the public at a low price. 
The Council could not but feel that such an offer was deserv¬ 
ing the favourable consideration of the Society, and they were of 
opinion that the income to be expected from the place of such 
magnificence, in the finest situation near London, would justify 
the acceptance of the terms, if not in their integrity at least in 
some modified form. 
They also learned with the highest satisfaction that the Queen 
had been graciously pleased to signify Her Majesty’s intention to 
contribute to the fund that would have to bo raised for carrying 
out the works. The Prince Consort having, moreover, authorised 
the Council to state that His Royal Highness took the warmest 
interest in the arrangement, a general meeting of the Society was 
held on the 7th July in the Rooms of the Society of Arts, when 
certain tentative sketches for the Garden, and the propositions of 
Her Majesty’s Commissioners were submitted to the Fellows for 
approval. 
A large number of Fellows assembled on this occasion, the j 
Earl of Dueie, Y.P., taking the chair, when the correspondence 
with the Royal Commissioners was read, the general scheme of J 
the Garden described, and the manner in which the Council con- \ 
templated the possibility of raising the sum of £50,000 pointed j 
out. Jn the course of their report to the meeting the Council I 
showed how great were the advantages of the site proposed. The 
Garden would be in the immediate neighbourhood of Hyde Park 
and Kensington Gardens, and in the very centre of a new and 
rapidly rising town of first-class houses, which bids fair to be¬ 
come one of the most popular and fashionable districts in London. 
The shape and situation of the ground, which slopes gradually 
from the north to the south, admitted of the formation of succes¬ 
sive terraces on different levels, affording peculiar facilities for 
effective and ornamental treatment, and was well adapted for the 
display of sculpture ; while a fine Conservatory at the upper end, 
and a Colonnade extending round it, would afford a promenade 
of three-quarters of a mile in length, sheltered from heat and 
cold, w ind and wet. The Colonnade would also offer peculiar 
facilities for the display of Flowers and Fruit on occasions of bad 
weather, a misfortune which so frequently marred the Chiswick 
Fetes. 
As to the mode of raising £50,000 the Council believed that it 
might be effected by the issue of a certain number of Life Mem¬ 
berships ; but as the success of the undertaking would in some 
measure depend upon the vigour with which it was prosecuted, 
and it was of importance that the works should not be delayed if 
once determined on, it would be requisite to obtain the money 
immediately required for the progress of the works by the issue 
of debentures, bearing interest at five per cent., to be redeemed 
as the receipts from Life Memberships became available. Do¬ 
nations in aid of the undertaking would at the same time be 
thankfully accepted by the Council, and they would be prepared 
to extend to the donors of sums exceeding Twenty Guineas 
privileges similiar to those possessed by Members. 
After a long and animated discussion, it was finally resolved— 
“ That the Meeting generally approved of the plan of Gardens at Ken¬ 
sington Gore, and requested the Council to continue their negotiations 
with the Royal Commissioners, reporting as early as possible to the 
Fellows of the Society the final proposal of the Commissioners.” 
This resolution having been passed, a letter was placed in the 
bands of the noble Chairman from Colonel the Honourable Sir 
C. B. Phipps, Her Majesty’s private Treasurer, containing the 
following important communication :— 
“Buckingham Palace, July 7, 1859. 
“ My Lord, —X have received the commands of Her Majesty the Queen, 
and of Ilis Royal Highness the Prince Consort, to inform you that in the 
event of the plan being carried out for the establishment of the Garden of 
the Horticultural Society of London upon the estate at South Kensington, 
belonging to the Royal Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851, it is the 
intention of Her Majesty and of His Royal Highness to make donations 
towards the execution of this undertaking of one thousand pounds (£1000), 
and five hundred pounds (£500) respectively. It is also the intention of 
Her Majesty, should it he in accordance with the rules of the Society, that 
parents or guardians should purchase Life Memberships for children or 
persons not yet of age, to place the name of His Royal Highness the Prince 
of Wales and the younger Princes and l’rincesses upon the list of Life Mem¬ 
bers. I have further the pleasure of informing your Lordship that I am au¬ 
thorised by Her Royal Highness the Piincess Frederick 'William of Prussia, 
Princess Royal of England, to announce the intention of Her Royal 
Highness to become likewise a Life Member.—I have the honour to be, 
my Lord, your Lordship’s most obedient humble servant, 
“ The Earl of Duoie, &c,, &c. “ C. B. PIIIPPS.” 
Immediately afterwards, Mr. Dilke announced that His Ro^al 
Highness had further commanded him to say, that should tire 
Meeting decide on raising money by debentures, the Prince 
would take debentures to the amount of £1000. 
It is almost needless to add, that tins most interesting in¬ 
telligence was received by the Society with feelings of the deepest 
gratitude. 
The Council having renewed their correspondence with the 
Royal Commissioners for the purpose of obtaining a reconsidera¬ 
tion of the points which, in the opinion of the Meeting, demanded 
some alteration, a second general Meeting assembled on the 20th 
July. The Council then explained what progress had been made 
in the negotiations. The Commissioners had agreed to add to 
the arrangements with the Society stipulations to the following 
effect:—Upon the Society giving two years’ notice previous to 
the expiration of the lease the lease to be renewed for a further 
poriod of thirty-one years upon the same condition as to rent, 
&c., as already proposed. The Commissioners, however, to 
reserve to themselves a power to decline to renew the lease, in 
which case they would take upon themselves the responsibility 
of any debentures that might be outstanding at the expiration of 
thirty-one years, to any extent not exceeding a maximum of 
£20,000. But the Commissioners required the Society to devote 
in each year not less than fifty per cent, of their surplus balance 
to paying off outstanding debentures. And in the event of tlie 
Society being unable for any five consecutive years to pay interest 
ou the £50,000 to be borrowed by the Commissioners, then the 
Commissioners to have the right of re-entry without any pay¬ 
ment of compensation. 
On this occasion the two following resolutions closed the 
debate:— 
“ That this Meeting approves of the steps already taken by the Council, 
authorises the negotiations with the Royal Commissioners to be continued, 
and empowers the Council to proceed to raise the sum required for the 
construction of a Garden at Kensington Gore, and if the money shall he 
obtained to complete the arrangements.” 
“ That the Council he instructed not to accept the clause about re-entry 
in case of failing to pay interest for five years, and that in the event of the 
Commissioners cancelling the lease, an equilable adjustment of mutual in¬ 
terests be made.” 
Armed with this authority, the Council have unremittingly 
pressed forward their negotiations with the Commissioners, and 
although the terms of agreement are not finally settled, yet the 
Council can now state that they have arrived very nearly at a 
conclusion, which, in their opinion, will be found to secure a 
satisfactory as well as “equitable adjustment of mutual interests.” 
The support which the Council have received in their attempt 
to raise the £50,000 required has been of the most gratifying 
nature, and shows with what interest the public looks upon the 
attempt to bring Horticulture to the very gates of the metropolis. 
The Donations announced amount to the sum of £1974. 
Six hundred and one new Fellows have joined the Society 
since the beginning of the year. 
The sum of £39,900 has been offered the Council on the 
security of the Society’s debentures; and, in addition, application 
has been made for £8000 more, since the debenture list was 
closed. The names of the new applicants are placed in a reserved 
