JOSEPH ADDISON 137 



is in her desolation, and presents us with nothing but bleak and 

 barren prospects, there is something unspeakably cheerful in a 

 spot of ground which is covered with trees that smile amidst 

 all the rigours of winter, and give us a view of the most gay 

 season, in the midst of that which is most dead and melancholy. 

 I have so far indulged myself in this thought, that I have set 

 apart a whole acre of ground for the executing of it. The walls 

 are covered with ivy instead of vines. The laurel, the horn- 

 beam, and the holly, with many other trees and plants of the 

 same nature, grow so thick in it that you cannot imagine a more 

 lively scene. The glowing redness of the berries with which 

 they are hung at this time, vies with the verdure of their leaves, 

 and is apt to inspire the heart of the beholder with that vernal 

 delight which you have somewhere taken notice of in your former 

 papers. It is very pleasant, at the same time to see the several 

 kinds of birds retiring into this little green spot, and enjoying 

 themselves amongst the branches and foliage, when my great 

 garden, which I have before mentioned to you, does not afford 

 a single leaf for their shelter. 



You must know. Sir, that I look upon the pleasure which we 

 take in a Garden, as one of the most innocent delights in human 

 life. A Garden was the habitation of our first parents before 

 the fall. It is naturally apt to fill the mind with calmness and 

 tranquillity, and to lay all its turbulent passions at rest. It gives 

 us a great insight into the contrivance and wisdom of providence, 

 and suggests innumerable subjects for meditation. I cannot but 

 think the very complacency and satisfaction which a man takes 

 in these works of Nature to be a laudable if not a virtuous habit 

 of mind. For all which reasons I hope you will pardon the 

 length of my present letter. 



I am. Sir, etc. 

 — The Spectator^ No. 477 {Saturday, Sept. 6, 1712). 



Writers who have given us an account of China, tell us the 

 inhabitants of that country laugh at the plantations of our 

 Europeans, which are laid out by the rule and line ; because 



