88 ftbe Garden 



For this reason Kpicurus passed his life whol- 

 ly in his garden : there he studied, there he exer- 

 cised, there he taught his philosophy ; and, 

 indeed, no other sort of abode seems to con- 

 tribute so much to both the tranquillity of mind 

 and indolence of body, which he made his 

 chief ends. The sweetness of air, the pleasant- 

 ness of smell, the verdure of plants, the clean- 

 ness and lightness of food, the exercises of 

 working or walking ; but above all, the exemp- 

 tion from cares and solicitude, seem equally to 

 favor and improve both contemplation and 

 health, the enjoyment of sense and imagina- 

 tion, 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 villas or farms 

 without the city, yet the use of gardens seems 

 to have been the most ancient and most gen- 

 eral 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 been the common favorite of public and 

 private men ; a pleasure of the greatest, and 

 the care of the meanest ; and indeed an em- 



