2.6o STUDIES OF NATURE. 



can render to his Country. Foreign plants unite 

 us to the Nations from whence they come j they 

 convey to us a portion of their happinefs, and of 

 their genial Suns. The olive-tree reprefents to 

 me the happy climate of Greece, much better than 

 the book of Paujanias -, and I find the gifts of 

 Minerva more powerfully expreffed in it, than 

 upon medallions. Under a great-cheftnut in blof- 

 fom, I feel myfelf laid to reft amidft the rich um- 

 brage of America ; the perfume of a citron tran- 

 fporrs me to Arabia ; and I am an inhabitant of 

 voluptuous Peru, whenever I inhale the emanations 

 of the heliotrope. 



I would begin, then, with erecting the firft mo- 

 numents of the public gratitude to thofe who have 

 introduced among us the ufeful plants ; for this 

 purpofe, I would feled one of the illands of the 

 Seine, in the vicinity of Paris, to be converted into 

 an Elyfium. I would take, for example, that 

 one which is below the majeftic bridge of Neuilly, 

 and which, in a few years more, will aftually be 

 joined to the fuburbs of Paris. I v/ould extend 

 my field of operation, by taking in that branch of 

 the Seine which is not adapted to the purpofes of 

 navigation, and a large portion of the adjoining 

 Continent. I would plant this extenfive diftriâ: 

 with the trees, the (hrubbery, and the herbage, 

 with which France has been enriched for feveral 



ages 



