196 



A fourth barrier is the disposition to regard certain plants as under 

 the influence of a kind of ban or proscription : thus, who does not 

 pass the most beautiful ferns with the conclusion, expressed or felt, 

 " Oh ! that is only spinulosum," or " only Filix-femina." These de- 

 cisions are totally unaccompanied by any examination ; they are 

 made quite off-hand, and with the greatest possible confidence : thus 

 we rivet the fetters of ignorance on our own minds, and cherish them 

 with admirable complacency. 



I look forward with ardent hopes to the day when all ferns shall be 

 collected, or at least examined with equal zest ; when the taste for 

 deformities shall cease ; when specimens for preservation shall be 

 carefully selected, the full-grown, the perfect, the mature ; when seed- 

 lings shall cease to be regarded with interest, except as the progeny 

 of the respective parents. We require competent observers, multi- 

 plied observations, and abundance of specimens such as I have de- 

 scribed. Then truth may enter largely into our conclusions ; at pre- 

 sent we draw inferences from hypotheses, like the young housewife 

 who regarded her cookery-book as sufficient for the manufacture of a 

 l)udding, and so neglected to provide the ingredients. 



What are the casements lined with creeping herbs, 



The prouder sashes fronted with a range 



Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed, 



The Frenchman's darling ? are they not all proofs 



That man, immured in cities, still retains 



His inborn inextinguishable thirst 



Of rural scenes, compensating his loss 



By supplemental shifts, the best he may ? 



* * * * 



There ferns and equisetums planted thick 

 And watered duly. There the pitcher stands 

 A fragment, and the spoutless tea-pot there ; 

 Sad witnesses how close-pent man regrets 

 The country ; with what ardour he contrives 

 A peep at nature, when he can no more. 



In the first of these passages, Cowper's prophetic eye foresees 

 the taste of Devonshire-street generally ; in the second, he indivi- 

 dualises a house, evidently No. 9. 1 have long taken an interest in 

 the horticultural pursuits of my neighbours. Many and many a plant 

 have I seen piu'chased, cherished, watered, nursed, and killed : a 

 valuable table might be compiled for the " statistic section of the Bri- 



