:2S2 THE PLEASURES OF SOLITUDE AND GARDENING 



where, with some fair form and devoted and affectionate heart, he 

 might enjoy the real beauties of Nature; where, in 



-some calm, sequestered spot, 



The world forgetting, by the world forgot," 



the bonds of affection would be the only restraint upon his liberty ; 

 where care, discontent, and sorrow would never approach ; where 

 peace and harmony would reign undisturbed, and the seasons flee 

 away unnoticed as speedily as the divisions of a day. 



In such a seclusion as is here attempted to be pourtrayed to the 

 reader, what pure and unalloyed enjoyment is derived, by the admirer 

 ot Nature's charms, from the amusement of gardening ! When the 

 suns of spring again reanimate the young shoots, and make them 

 start from their hibernacula or winter retreats, how pleasant it is to 

 watch the progress of the season, and see our auriculas and polyanthuses 

 again approaching their gay perfection ! When May arrives, what 

 pleasure to watch over and protect the delicate and splendid beauties 

 of the tulip ! And as the months glide on, what varied and fragrant 

 beauties are to be found in the ranunculus, the pansy, the pink, the 

 picotee, and die carnation ! And what encomiums are then lavished 

 upon our friend Ely and others for the many beautiful varieties with 

 which they have adorned our flower-beds — varieties on which Nature's 

 most correct artist seems to have been employed with the greatest 

 care ! And last, though not least, to crown and close the floricultural 

 year, comes the stately and permanent magnificence of our dahlias, 

 which keep our gardens a blaze of autumnal beauty, till the early 

 frosts of approaching winter lay prostrate their beauties, and instead 

 of realized hopes, leave us only our stock of roots, and anticipation of 

 a renewal of their beauties the following season. 



Such are a proof of the charms of solitude, and some of the soothing 

 aspirations which bind mankind to the oar of life, and impel them 

 forward along its varied, intricate, and frequently dangerous currents. 

 Without the soothing whisperings of that sweetest of all our earthly 

 counsellors — hope, which often soothes and ameliorates the rugged 

 present, by presenting in perspective a brilliant and happy future, life 

 would often appear but a dark and dawmless night; and as such would 

 hold out few attractions to the adventurer upon its changing ocean. 

 Such, however, is the wisdom and beneficence of Omniscience, that, 

 while patience — that grand and universal medicine for all our worldly 



