tourist before alluded to remarking of Mr. | languished; and though William IV. caused the Molineux' fine seat and gardens at Kew, that handsome stone building, called, par excellence, they were said to contain the first fruit in The Conservatory, to be removed hither from England collected by his wife's father, Lord Buckingham Palace in 1836, neither the reign of Capel. Thus, to the gentle tastes of this un- the "Sailor King," or of the monarch who prehappy nobleman we are probably indebted for ceded him, were auspicious to botanical science. the present site of these public gardens, and the That of Victoria, however, opened a new era nucleus of their formation; and one loves to in the history of Kew, and by one of those happy fancy the shadow Evelyn has left of him, gazing impulses that has marked her reign, a survey of from one sweet spot or another upon the pro- the gardens was ordered, to decide whether they gress of his favourite art. "He was," says this should be abolished, or, as the nation required, pleasant diarist, "such a person as became the placed on a different footing, and made available son of that worthy hero, his father, the Lord for the public good. Capel,* of an agreeable stature, slender in body, with a comely countenance, mixed with gravity and sweetness. He delighted in his library, and would spend his vacant hours in viewing of records and learning the mathematics. These were his diversions, together with recreating himself in his fine gardens and pleasant groves, which," he adds, "were of his own planting."

Of such gentle natures could we also imagine the Prince and Princess of Wales, who, liking the situation of Kew House and Gardens, took a long lease of them from the Capel family, and, when forbidden the Court, compensated themselves with such pleasures as had delighted the poor Earl, and especially devoted themselves to the improving and enlarging of these gardens and pleasure-grounds.

The latter were not completed when the Prince of Wales died; but the Dowager Princess finished them, and originated the addition of an exotic department.

Whereabouts, we wonder, stood the two mastic trees, and four white, striped, and variegated hollies, which it is formally recorded Lord Capel planted? And do any of the fine foreign trees contributed by Archibald Duke of Argyle, whom Horace Walpole calls the "tree-monger,' still survive? Lord Bute was another benefactor to these gardens, and Lord Melcombe in his Diary mentions his having worked in the walk at Kew. It was only natural that George III. should feel a strong attachment to the place in which his parents had so long resided, and where so many of his own youthful days had been passed; and, accordingly, throughout his long life Kew continued to be the favourite suburban residence of the Royal Family.

Here came Miss Burney's "Sweet Queen," and the "Beautiful Princesses," to gaze upon the curious "Banksias," and the gorgeous flower of the Strelitzia regina (so called in honour of her Majesty), which the discoveries of Captain Cook and the botanical researches of Sir Joseph Banks, and other travellers of the period, had enriched the conservatories with.

But the demise of the King, which was quickly followed by that of its most earnest advocate and supporter, Sir Joseph Banks, soon told upon the condition of the gardens, and Kew declined much more rapidly than it had risen into notice. The plants died for want of accommodation, the collectors grew lukewarm, contributions,

• Beheaded in the time of the Commonwealth.

lovers of all fair flowers in especial, this latter Happily for the people generally, and for the requisition was carried out, and in 1841 Kew, from a regal appanage, became converted into national property, the benefit of which is not merely confined to the recreation and refining of the people-gracious and healthful as these influences are-but is of the utmost importance to the progress of science in its varied branches, and the development of the horticultural and agricultural resources of our own and other countries, whose productions we are from time to time enabled to acclimatize, or, where our own are concerned, to disseminate.

of a Botanic Garden in a collection of plants for Kew not only comprehends the primary object the study and progress of botanical science, and specimens of such as are used in medicine, commerce, agriculture, &c.; but it bears the im press of the refined taste of its lordly and princely owners, and affords, on a first visit, one of the most delicious surprises imaginable to those who have gone thither with the usual type delightful, as we pass through the gates (at the of such places set up in their imagination. How period of the year hospitably open from two o'clock till eight), to lose the notion of formal gravelpaths, and straight compartments, in the charming vista of lawn, and arboretum, flower-beds, glowing with floral dyes, and groups of trees thology occasionally fabled to have been conbeautiful as the transposed images, which myverted into them; leading on to the tropic region of this paradise-the semi-crystal Palm House

of Decimus Burton.

If we turn into the Conservatory on the righthand as we enter, we shall be rewarded by a fine collection of Australian plants, the efflorescence of which, especially of the Banksias and Dryandras, is very curious, the terminal flowers of the former looking like an exposition of bottlebrushes of various hues. We saw, amongst the Proteacæ of the Cape, some of which are in this house, one with whitish leaves and con⚫ torted branches, tossed about, at the ends of which hung a strange amber-hued blossom, like a tuft of coarse thrums. Amongst the smaller plants we noticed the Harbrothamus elegans, with brown stems, light green leaves, and terminal bunches of crimson flowers depending from its drooping branches, and neighboured by the single blossoms of the Sollya venearis, not much larger than common flax, and of the

H

Further on, the grey floss-like flowers of Ageratum mexicanum iningle their silver light with bright-coloured petunias; and beyond lies a bed of Verbena Heloise, with white ivy-leaved geraniums trailing amongst its puce-coloured flowers, and seeming to blossom in mere idleness.

Here is a space glittering with the purple corollas of Venus's looking-glass, which we remember to have seen almost covering a stubblefield at the back of the Bois Neuilly, near Picquigny, Amiens-and in gorgeous contrast with it the flaunting amber ones of Caurantica superbe.

deepest and brightest blue. Here the Athe-gonium, and neighboured by the speckled nasia trifurcata sported its flowers like bunches cups of Nemophila, with the brown disk and of golden buttons; beside the velvet corollas of golden rays of the dwarf single marigold thrivazure salvia, to which the snow-white tufted ing amongst them. blossom of Hakea ruscifolia whispered (they were so near) Australian memories. But lovelier even than the flowers, are the graceful forms and varied shades of the rare and delicate pines, which at the close of autumn find shelter in the Orangery hard by. Here the Araucaria excelsa, or "Norfolk Island pine," charming, as if created for the primal Paradise, though growing now in scenes which, since man's expulsion from it, have not been equalled on the earth for horrors, exhibits its graceful form and drooping branches, light and feathery as ostrich plumes. Another exquisite specimen of araucaria has its broad branches cruciformly placed, four in a whorl, from which the centre stem shoots up some distance, when another leafy salver is formed. But amongst this numerous tribe of exotic trees, what is like the Dacrydium cupressimum of New Zealand, elegant but mournful-looking, as if Nature intended it to droop over graves, with its lightly pendant fringe-like foliage, shaded as softly, and looking like chenille? What would Evelyn have given -he who, born at Wotton amongst the woods, imbibed from nature's self a love of arborary beauties, could he have seen, thus thriving in our own-the elegant Silva of another hemisphere? Some of the Australian pines, experimentally planted in the grounds, have, we are glad to say, stood out the winter, and therefore give a hope of their eventually adding to the variety of those already acclimatized to our land.

In the early part of June few things can be more glorious than the fine show the rhododendrons make; their soft tints ranging from crimson to pink, and from the richest puce through every shade of lilac, to the purest, snowiest white; their prodigality of blossom, the cloud-like roundness of their forms, fading and melting into each other in the artistic arrangement of their hues, is a lovely sight under the sunshine of a summer's day. Then there are mingling with them, here and there, orange and pink and white azaleas; reminding us of Xenophon and the mountains of Asia Minor, which he tells us are covered with these lovely plants, in the hearts of which lurk poison. Honey, gathered from them in these regions, it is said, make those who eat of it mad. Every little garden has felt the benefit of Kew in the additions, almost yearly made, to the varieties of our annuals-those fragile children of the light, that only live one season, but atone for their early loss by the ease with which they are cultivated, and their productiveness.

Here we find them concentrated in large beds on either side of the walk leading to the Palmhouse, and brightening with their beauty the greensward in which they are set (Sauvatalia procumbens), with a dark centre in its gilted star, edging a bed of blue lobelia, or the lobelia mingled with the scarlet blossoms of pelar

Even these fade before the bright scarlet verbena and pelargonium, beds of which are frequently recurring, and make us veil our eyes before their splendour, and turn aside to the sister elms upon the western lawn, or to the cool margin of the ornamental water, to refresh and tone the sight before we make the circuit of the Palm-house.

JEEJEE'S BRIDAL.

BY SHOSHEE CHUNDER DUTT.

Jeejee, the daughter of Jadoo Rao, a Rajpoot chief, were "Shabjee, the son of Malojee, a Mahratta robber, aud the parents of Swajee the Great." The following story respecting their union is borrowed from GRANT DUFF's History of the Mahrattas.

Her smiling eyes entranced she raised;
She clapped her hands, her sire she praised,
Who turn'd and said-"These children fair
Would surely make a happy pair."

Malojee heard, and up he sprung-
"Thy words are past and gone;
Thy daughter, Jadoo, hence I hold
Betrothed to my son!"

The Rajpoot stared with look of scorn-
"My daughter is a Rajpoot born;
The words I said were spoke in jest:
Go lull thy flatt'ring dreams to rest!"
"All lightly must we hold thy words
If thou wilt faithless prove;
The pledge has pass'd-attest it, friends!
Attest, great Heaven above!"
Malojee spoke, then left the cheer;
His stripling follow'd him in fear;
For on his father's face he read
Impetuous anger, fierce and dread.

They marvelled much, the youthful pair,
Why they should ever part;
And Jeejee wept when Shahjee went,
And felt a lonely heart.
Her mother chid, her father frown'd,
And other children play'd around;
But Jeejee lost her joyous tone-
She play'd apart, she play'd alone!

A lonely child, but lovely still,

Sweet Jeejee grew in years;
Her wishful eyes were lit with smiles,
But oftener still with tears.

She had no care, but was not gay,

In quiet passed her life away;

She trill'd her songs, she cull'd her flowers,

Was pensive still in happiest hours!

And Shahjee, 'neath a father's care,
Grew up to war and fame;
Exultant bore a warrior's arms,

And own'd a warrior's name.
His veteran father's steps he trod;
In dreadful raids and forays rode,
And cursed stern Jadoo's stubborn pride,
That scorned with him to be allied.

That spark of love, that partial beam
Which lit his morning hour,

A faithful flame it linger'd still

To nerve his soul with power;
And heaved, beneath his iron vest,
The passions of his youthful breast;
He dreamt his fate a chaplet wove,
Of glory, fame, and Jeejee's love!

Malojee dreamt a kindred dream:
He saw an angel-maid;

From heaven she came-she came to him,
And thus to him she said:

"Thy son must marry Jeejee fair-
I've marked them for a happy pair;
A chief shall spring from their embrace,
The pride and glory of his race.
Haste, haste, to Jadoo speed amain-
Thy suit he dares not now disdain !"

The vision fled; but at his feet

He found her favours strown-
Silver and gold, and jewels rare,
A treasure all his own!
And softened now was Jadoo's pride,
And Shahjee clasped a Rajpoot bride;
And Jeejee 'mid her blushes siniled,
As sweetly as when yet a child.

GROUP OF FLOWERS, IN FLUTED EMBROIDERY.
[FOR ILLUSTRATION SEE NEXT PAGE.]

We give a drawing of a beautiful new fabric, termed fluted embroidery. This unique style of needlework is performed by a peculiar method of sewing over cord, on railway-canvas, producing the same elegant design on both sides of the fabric, which is inimitable by any other mode of working.

The Orné Wool has the design printed on it, and is wound in a ball, consisting of many threads of wool, of equal length, each length forming a row. The canvas has been especially manufactured for the purpose, and is much finer than any hitherto produced. It is dyed sagegreen, so that the tint does not injure the effect of the shading of the wool. Each piece is divided into four spaces, by red threads, which greatly assists the worker, as each space works up a quarter of the length of wool. The cord is fixed on each side of the canvas alternately

inverting the work for each fresh row, always commencing in the centre of the canvas, with the middle of the wool, sewing the first half with the finished part held to you (for every specimen sold is already commenced), always putting in the needle to the right, and drawing it through to the left, measuring, as directed in the instructions which accompany each piece, for every quarter-length of wool, and insuring a correct development of the pattern as the work proceeds.

The various designs are numbered. That given in our engraving is No. 4. No. 2 is a group of tulips; No. 1 a wreath of roses and fuchsias. It is one of the prettiest novelties that we have seen for some time, and commends itself equally for its beauty and durability.

AIGUILLETTE.

MATERIALS: The Boar's Head Crochet Cotton, No. 20, of Messrs. Walter Evans and Co., of Derby. The same design would be very handsome in No. 4 or 8 Cotton, for trimming Counterpanes, Couvrepieds, &c.

WHY LIZZIE AND HER BROTHER LEFT WOODSIDE-HALL, AND WHO WENT TO LIVE THERE INSTEAD.