In My Vicarage Garden 



There are, of course, some, and perhaps not a 

 few, who think that to spend the money of the 

 nation on a garden is a waste : they would at 

 once disestablish and disendow all public gardens ; 

 but I am sure that such persons are in a minority, 

 and a quite insignificant minority, not only among 

 Englishmen, but among all civilised nations. To 

 establish public gardens would certainly not be 

 the first care of any rising State ; but it is found 

 to be almost the first when the foundations have 

 been well laid, and there is nothing that shows 

 that a nation has reached a high state of civilisation 

 and a state of stability as the formation of public 

 gardens. " A man shall ever see," said Bacon, 

 " that when ages grow to civility and elegancy, 

 men come to build stately sooner than to garden 

 finely, as if gardening were the greater perfection ; " 

 but the fine gardens soon follow upon the stately 

 buildings. It does not seem to be known for 

 certain what European State first led the way in 

 the formation of public gardens i.e. of gardens 

 maintained by the State. Hallam says that the 

 first public garden was founded at Pisa in 1545, 

 and a somewhat earlier date has been claimed for 

 a similar garden at Padua ; but, though these may 

 have been public gardens, they were attached to 

 Universities, and do not seem to have been main- 

 tained out of national money. Prescott, however, 

 has told us that long before this public gardens of 

 great excellence and beauty were established in 

 Mexico, in which not only were the beautiful 



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