GARDENS OF THE ANCIENTS 



noproportion to their otherinventions or refine- Flourish- 

 ments of pleasure and luxury. 



The long and flourishing peace of the two gardening 

 first Empires, gave earlier rise and growth to i F? 1 

 learning and civility, and all the consequences 

 of them, in magnificence and elegancy of build- 

 ing and gardening, whereas Greece and Rome 

 were almost perpetually engaged in quarrels 

 and wars, either abroad or at home, and so were 

 busy in actions that were done under the sun, 

 ratherthan those under the shade. These were 

 the entertainments of the softer nations, that 

 fell under the virtue and prowess of the two last 

 empires, which from those conquests brought 

 home mighty increases both of riches and lux- 

 ury, and so perhaps lost more than they got by 

 the spoils of the East. 



There may be another reason for the small 

 advance of gardening in those excellent and 

 more temperate climates, where theair and soil 

 were so apt of themselves to produce the best 

 sorts of fruits, without the necessity of cultivat- 

 ing them by labour and care; whereas the hot- 

 ter climates, as well as the cold, are forced upon 

 industry and skill, to produce or improve many 

 fruits that grow of themselves in the more tern- 

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