ON THE 



PORTRAITS OF ENGLISH AUTHORS 



ON 



GARDENING. 



The earliest accounts we have of gardens, are those re- 

 corded in Holy Writ; their antiquity, therefore, appears 

 coeval with that of time itself. The Garden in Eden had 

 every tree good for food, or pleasant to the sight. Noah 

 planted a Vineyard. Solomon, in the true spirit of horti- 

 cultural zeal, says, / planted me Vineyards, I made me 

 Gardens and Orchards, and I planted trees in them of all 

 kinds of fruit. We have all heard of the grandeur of Ne- 

 buchadnezzar's Gardens. 



Whether that of Alcinous was fabulous or not, it gave 

 rise to Homer's lofty strains: — 



The balmy spirit of the western gale 

 Eternal breathes on flowers untaught to fail ; 

 The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, 

 The buds to harden, and the fruit to grow.* 



* This garden (as Mr. Walpole observes) was planted I>v the poet, en- 

 riched by him with the fairy gift of eternal summer. 



B 



