tongue's end and he recited it with sympathy and accuracy which called
out much admiration from the cultivated German ladies with whom we
were driving. Most interesting of all was Bancroft's evident passion
for roses. The gardeners, as we stopped, were plainly surprised at his
knowledge of their varieties and the best methods of cultivation.
He was so well versed in the lore of the rose and so devoted to its
cultivation one might well have thought it his horse and not his
hobby. He possessed at Newport a rose garden far famed for the number
of its varieties and the perfection of the flowers, and it was an
interesting sight at Washington to see Bancroft, even when nearing
ninety, busy in his garden in H Street, one attendant shielding his
light figure with a sun umbrella, while another held at hand, hoe,
shears, and twine, the implements to train and cull. Is there a subtle
connection between roses and history? Parkman wrote an elaborate book
upon rose culture which I believe is still of authority, and John
Fiske had a conservatory opening out of his library and the rose of
all flowers was the one he prized. Here is a neat turn of McMaster.
At a dinner given in his honour a big bunch of American Beauties was
opposite to him as he sat. It fell to me to make a welcoming speech.
Catching at the occasion, I suggested a connection between roses and
history and referred to McMaster close behind his American Beauties as
an instance in point, at the same time expressing with earnestness my
strong admiration of that good writer's work. McMaster rose, his face
glowing in response to my emphatic compliment. His speech consisted of
only one sentence, "I have one bond with the rose, I blush."

I owe many favours to Bancroft; the greatest perhaps that he allowed
me to consult to my heart's content the papers of Samuel Adams, a
priceless collection which he possessed. For this he gave me _carte
blanche_ to use his library in Washington, though he himself