250 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PLEASURE GARDEN. 



throws his fostering arms. Our ambition leads us to hope that we 

 may add pleasure to the pleasure-ground, by pointing out the beauties 

 of the shrubbery, which must render vegetation an object of admira- 

 tion and veneration to all classes. I wish to attract attention to the 

 peculiar pleasing properties of each plant, by the remarks of the 

 ingenious, the anecdotes of the ancients, the harmony of the poets, the 

 observations of the physicians, and the reflection of the moralists of 

 all ages. Morality, however, of a gloomy cast, will be avoided; for 

 my wish is to give the work, like the subject, a smiling aspect. 



" Though flowering shrubs seem to contribute nothing to pottage, 

 and little to medicine in its present refined state, yet they add greatly 

 to our pleasure, and considerably to our health. 



" They win us to good humour by their fragrance and cheerful 



appearance, and produce a serenity of mind by the calm reflections 



they present to it ; thus relieving some of the maladies of the soul, as 



drugs mitigate the grosser and more perceptible sufferings of the 



body. 



" ' The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns ; 

 The low'ring eye, the petulance, the frown, 

 And sullen sadness, that o'ershade, distort, 

 And mar the face of beauty, when no cause 

 For such immeasurable woe appears; 

 These Flora banishes, and gives the fair 

 Sweet smiles and bloom, less transient than her own.' — Cowpek. 



" I shall notice the allegorical allusions which the eastern nations 

 are accustomed to make by means of flowers, and the fables of the 

 ancient poets and mythologists respecting plants. Thus pleasing 

 ideas may be connected with pleasing objects, and agreeable images 

 convey lively but moral sentiments to the mind, adding to the charms 

 of the country without recourse to romance or useless fiction. These 

 accustom the mind to such violent sensations, that at last it is obliged 

 to resort to an excess of feeling, either of mirth or grief, to prevent 

 that dreaded fashionable lethargy of spirit — ennui. Such a habit in 

 the end injures health, and consequently shortens life; but a calm 

 and cheerful mind assists in the prolongation and enjoyment of both. 



" ' Come, then, ye blissful scenes, ye soft retreats ! 



Where life flows pure, the heart more calmly beats.' — Dei.u.le. 



" It would seem that the more terrible a sight, and the more violent 

 an impression, the more agreeable to the great portion of mankind, 



