198 ON THE DELIGHTS OF A GARDEN. 



is technically said, the great quantity of stuff in them, they expand 

 most fully and freely. 



Exeter Nursery, August 16, 1841. 



ARTICLE II. 



ON THE DELIGHTS OF A GARDEN. 



BY MR. JOHN SLATER, ALBION-PLACE, 10WKR BROUGHTON, MANCHESTER. 



Letter I. 

 " A garden is the purest of human pleasures."— Lord Bacon. 



Mt Dear Friend, 



I can assure you that I was much surprised on receiving your 

 letter acquainting me that you had retired from business and were 

 living in the country. This was what I little expected, as your 

 active habits led me to suppose you would never withdraw from busi- 

 ness until compelled by old age and infirmities. 



In your letter you complain of time hanging heavy on your hands, 

 and are desirous of some recreation which will also serve for exercise 

 and dispel ennui. I know of none so agreeable and so well calcu- 

 lated to amuse and employ your time than the cultivation of a few 

 flowers ; but knowing your former sentiments upon the subject, I 

 am almost afraid to mention them. In this pursuit you will find 

 every day something to attract your attention, and new beauties 

 spring up on every side calculated to raise your mind from the works 

 of Nature " up to Nature's God." 



It may be inferred from Adam being placed in a garden that those 

 pursuits were the most suitable for the mind of man, and more cal- 

 culated to give him the greatest pleasure. 



Gardens have also been the principal attractions of the ancients, 

 and we read of them having gardens stocked with the choicest plants 

 and flowers upon the tops of their houses. It also appears from his- 

 tory that the luxury of having them attached to our dwellings took 

 place 260 years before the birth of Christ. During Pliny's time it 

 formed one of the occupations of females, and it was a common ob- 

 servation in those days when a garden was out of order and not well 

 kept, the mistress was a bad housewife. The Mahommedan faith 

 teaches its followers that the blessings of a future state consist in 



