THE GARDENS OF THE ANCI- 

 ENTS SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE 



EPICURUS PASSED HIS LIFE WHOL- The 



lyin his gardens; there he studied, there he ex- 

 ercised, there he taught his philosophy; and 

 indeed, no other sort of abode seems to contri- 

 bute so much, to both the tranquillity of mind, 

 and indolence of body, which he madehis chief 

 ends. The sweetness of air, the pleasantness of 

 smells, the verdure ofplants, the cleanness and 

 lightness of food, the exercises of working or 

 walking ; but above all, the exemption from 

 cares and solicitude, seem equally to favour 

 and improve both contemplation and health, 

 the enjoyment of sense and imagination, and 

 thereby the quiet and ease both of the body 

 and mind. 



Though Epicurus be said to have been the 

 first that had a garden in Athens, whose citizens 

 before him had theirs in their villages or farms 

 without the city; yet the use of gardens seems 

 to have been the most ancient and most general 

 of any sorts of possession among mankind, and 

 to have preceded those of corn or of cattle, as 

 yielding the easier, the pleasanter, and more 

 natural food. As it has been the inclination of 

 kings, and the choice of philosophers, so it has 

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