THE HISTORY OF GARDENING. 35 



That of Alcinous, in the Odyssey, is the most renowned in the 

 heroic times. Is there an admirer of Homer, who can read his 

 description without rapture ; or who does not form to his imagination 

 a scene of delights more picturesque than the landscapes of Titian 

 or Juan Fernandez? Yet what was that boasted Paradise with 



which 



The Gods ordain'd 

 To grace Alcinous and his happy land? — Pope. 



Why, divested of harmonious Greek and bewitching poetry, it was 



a small orchard and vineyard, with some beds of herbs, and two 



fountains, that watered them, inclosed within a quickset hedge. The 



whole compass of this pompous garden inclosed — four acres 



Four acres was th' allotted space of ground, 

 Fenc'd with a gn en inclosure all around. 



The trees were apples, figs, pomegranates, pears, olives, and vines. 



Tall thriving trees confess'd the fruitful mould ; 

 The redd'ning apple ripens into gold. 

 Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows, 

 With deeper red the full pomegranate glows. 

 The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear, 

 And verdant olives flourish round the year. 

 * * * • * # 



Beds of all various herbs, for ever green, 

 In beauteous order terminate the scene. 



Alcinous's garden was planted by the poet, enriched by him with 

 the fairy gift of eternal summer, and, no doubt, an effort of imagina- 

 tion, surpassing anything he had ever seen. As he has bestowed on 

 the same happy prince a palace with brazen walls and columns of 

 silver, he certainly intended that the garden should be proportionably 

 magnificent. We are sure, therefore, that as late as Homer's age, an 

 inclosure of four acres, comprehending orchard, vineyard, and kitchen 

 garden, was a stretch of luxury the world at that time had never 

 beheld. 



The hanging gardens of Babylon were a still greater prodigy. 

 We are not acquainted with their disposition or contents ; but, as 

 they are supposed to have been formed on terraces and the walls of 

 the palace, whither soil was conveyed on purpose, we are very certain 

 of what they were not; I mean they must have been trifling, of no 

 extent, and a wanton instance of expense and labour. In other 



