STUDY XIV. 327 



îlridls to nine the number of monuments deftined 

 to the general education of the Capital. 



Round each of thefe amphitheatres, there fliould 

 foe a great park, ftored with the plants and trees of 

 the Country, fcattered about without artificial ar- 

 rangement, as in the fields and the woods. We 

 fhould there behold the primrofe and the violet 

 fhining around the root of the oak ; the apple and 

 pear-tree blended with the elm and the beech. 

 The bowers of innocence fhould be no lefs inte- 

 refling than the tombs of virtue. 



If I have cxprefTed a wifli, to have monuments 

 raifed to the glory of thofe by whom our climate 

 has been enriched with exotic plants, it is not that 

 I prefer thefe to the plants of our own Country, 

 but it is in the view of rendering to the memory 

 of thofe citizens, a part of the gratitude which we 

 owe to Nature. Belides, the moll common plants 

 in our plains, independent of their utility, are thofe 

 which recal to us the moft agreeable fenfluions : 

 they do not tranfport us beyond feas, as foreign 

 plants do ; but recal us home, and reftore us to 

 ourfelves. The feathered fphere of the dandelion 

 brings to my recoUedlion the places where, feated 

 on the grafs with children of my own age, we en- 

 deavoured to fweep off, by one whiff of breath, 

 ^U it's plumage, without leaving a fingle tuft be- 



Y 4 hind. 



