400 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



Ill passing through Holland, among persons whom we are 

 sometimes pleased to call the stupid Dutchmen and, in my 

 opinion, there was never a greater misnomer, as I shall presently 

 show one is charmed with the multitude of residences, orna 

 mented in the highest degree with shrubs, and vines, arid flowers 

 of extreme beauty and luxuriance. At Brussels, at Leyden, at 

 Utrecht, are botanical gardens, supported by public munificence, 

 of great extent, and where no pains are spared to carry the cul 

 ture of plants to the highest degree of perfection. At Antwerp, 

 and at the Hague, there are public promenades, and gardens, and 

 parks, laid out with trees, and shrubs, and flowers, with taste and 

 liberality, kept in the neatest manner, and open constantly to the 

 recreation and enjoyment of the public. 



The environs of Frankfort on the Rhine may be pronounced 

 a region of perfect enchantment. The whole city, certainly one 

 of the cleanest and handsomest which I have seen, is surrounded 

 by a wide belt of large extent, and furnishing not only many 

 walks, but drives for several carriages abreast, of trees and flower 

 ing shrubs, and flowering plants of the greatest variety, combin 

 ing the richness and glory of the vegetable world as far as the 

 climate admits of it. This charming promenade is open always 

 freely to the public for health, recreation, and delight. The 

 public, thus freely admitted, never dream of defacing a statue, or 

 disturbing a fountain, of breaking a shrub, or plucking a flower. 

 Indeed, I can almost believe, that the richest fruit might hang 

 there untouched such is the sentiment of propriety in which 

 these people have been trained, and the conviction deeply im 

 pressed upon their minds, that what is intended for the common 

 and unrestricted enjoyment of all, should be protected by com 

 mon consent. In Milan, and Turin, and Florence, and all the 

 principal cities of continental Europe, as far as I have seen, the 

 same taste for rural embellishments prevails, and the same lib 

 erality in opening these grounds and gardens to the free enjoy 

 ment of all. In the neighborhood of Rome, a prince,* one of 

 the rich men of the sovereignty, gives up his whole villa, com 

 prising a large extent of the most richly ornamented and embel 

 lished grounds, to the free enjoyment of the public. 



In England, with the exception of the magnificent parks of 



* Prince Borghese. 



