TYPES OF GARDENERS. 251 



stating the simple fact that Adam was a gardener 

 from the first, placed in the garden to dress it and to 

 keep it before the Fall, and so instructing us that 

 work in its felicities is the companion of innocence, 

 and only in its miseries the consequence of sin. 



Associated by this ancient occupation with all that 

 is brightest and sweetest, all things pleasant to the 

 eye, and good for food ; and therefore having, despite 

 the exceptions to which I have referred, communion 

 and co-operation from cultured minds ; living in the 

 pure fresh air and sunshine ; the gardener, refined by 

 these influences, is for the most part (I speak from a 

 long and large acquaintance and many a pleasant 

 friendship) of a gentle and thoughtful spirit, having 

 mens sana in corpore sano, a tuneful fiddle in a good 

 strong case, a clear conscience and a ruddy cheek; 

 but my admirations are by no means indiscriminate. 

 I suppose that a man may be fond of music without 

 an irrepressible wish to shake hands all round when- 

 ever he meets a German band ; and while I con- 

 fidently affirm that the gardener, as a rule, is, from 

 his surroundings, a pleasant and interesting com- 

 panion, I am painfully aware of many exceptions, of 

 three conspicuously with whom most of my readers 

 have some acquaintance, Messrs. Gawster, Groundsel, 

 and Grunt. 



Mr. Gawster has the pride of the peacock without 

 its tail. At least, he has never favoured me with an 

 exposition of plumage which might be termed remark- 

 able. Nevertheless, he assures us that there are no 

 gardens, no houses, no plants, hardy or tender, in 

 Her Majesty's dominions which can vie with his. He 



