), and other lilies and water-plants from
various countries. It will be readily believed that the
flower-gardens are among the most exquisitely beautiful in
Europe; they have been arranged by one of the master minds of
the age, and bear evidence of matured knowledge, skill, and
taste; the nicest judgment seems to have been exercised over
even the smallest matter of detail, while the whole is as
perfect a combination as can be conceived of grandeur and
loveliness. The walks, lawns, and parterres are lavishly, but
unobtrusively, decorated with vases and statues; terraces occur
here and there, from which are to be obtained the best views of
the adjacent country; 'Patrician trees' at intervals form
umbrageous alleys; water is made contributory from a hundred
mountain streams and rivulets, to form jets, cascades, and
fountains, which, infinitely varied in their 'play,' ramble
among lilies, or--it is scarcely an exaggeration to say--fling
their spray into the clouds, and descend to refresh the topmost
leaves of trees that were in their prime three centuries ago.
The most striking and original of the walks is that which leads
through mimic Alpine scenery to the great conservatory; here
Art has been most triumphant; the rocks, which, have been all
brought hither, are so skilfully combined, so richly clad in
mosses, so luxuriantly covered with heather, so judiciously
based with ferns and water-plants, that you move among or
beside them in rare delight at the sudden change which
transports you from trim parterres to the utmost wildness of
natural beauty. From these again you pass into a garden, in the
centre of which is the conservatory, always renowned, but now
more than ever, as the prototype of the famous Palace of Glass,
which, in this _Annus Mirabilis_, received under its roof six
millions of the people of all nations, tongues, and creeds. In
extent, the conservatory at Chatsworth is but a pigmy compared
with that which glorifies Hyde Park: but it is filled with the
rarest Exotics from all parts of the globe--from 'farthest
Ind,' from China, from the Himalayas, from Mexico; here you see
the rich banana, Eschol's grape hanging in ripe profusion
beneath the shadow of immense paper-like leaves; the feathery
cocoa-palm, with its head peering almos