14 THE PLEASURES OF SOLITUDE AND GARDENING 



nomy than in their appearance. Thus we have the oak which braves 

 the storms of many centuries, and the fungus of a day. And in the 

 animal kingdom we have the elephant, which lives nearly a century, 

 and the little insect, which, in the short space of a few hours, comes 

 into existence, enjoys the short period of life allotted to it, and departs. 

 One word on the pleasure which may be derived from a knowledge of 

 natural objects. There are few who are not capable of receiving 

 pleasure, from the sight of a plant or flower ; but how much greater is 

 the degree of pleasure to him who only knows the name of the plant 

 he sees, than to him who knows nothing about it ! and how is the 

 pleasure enhanced to him who has a -physiological knowledge of the 

 plant, who understands the structure of its several parts, their mutual 

 dependence on one another, and the part they are designed to act in 

 the great economy of nature ! Finally, the student of natural history 

 need never feel solitary, he may always find pleasure in the daisy or 

 the moss growing at his feet, or in the little insect which flits past him. 

 In the wild solitude of nature he may exclaim with Byron, 



" To sit on rocks, to muse o'er floods and fell, 



To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, 



Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, 



And mortal foot hath ne"er, or rarely been ; 



To climb the trackless mountain all unseen, 



With the wild flock that never needs a fold, 



Alone o'er steeps, and foaming falls to lean ; 



This is not solihide ; 'tis but to hold 

 Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unroll'd." 



Such are some of the charms of solitude, and gardening charms, 

 which have engaged the attention and soothed the mind of all authors, 

 and of all the wise and good, from the remotest ages. But however 

 great the pleasures and advantages of occasional retirement may be 

 found during the summer and autumn of our life ; it is, perhaps, near 

 the two extremities of our earthly pilgrimage — in youth and age— that 

 the benefits to be derived from solitude are greatest to the human race. 

 In the former stage, the youthful mind is possessed of the greatest 

 ductility, is fittest to receive every tender and virtuous impression, and 

 if matured with care in calm retirement, and familiarized with nothing 

 but what we may term the harmonies of human nature, it then most 

 readily imbibes those beautiful maxims of truth, of love, and charity 

 to all, which enable us to avoid many of the quicksands of fate, and, 

 when we are launched into the business of the great world, to en- 



