On Gardeners' Flowers 



art, learns to fix attention too much upon 

 beauties of one special type. Hence, with- 

 out due balance, we may easily get to 

 underrate all flower beauty to which this 

 artificial standard is inapplicable, and per- 

 haps come to dislike every form of that 

 wild looser sort of vegetation which is 

 wholly excluded from the garden. More- 

 over, it is not well to be too constantly 

 dwelling on splendour. We need some- 

 thing more sober for our habitual food. 

 For all these reasons, if we would avoid 

 injury to the taste, we must make wild 

 flowers our habitual study. True appre- 

 ciation of flowers, as I have said before, 

 can only be learnt in the fields. Accustom 

 yourself to contemplate those quiet and 

 unselected charms, look again and again 

 even at the most insignificant till you are 

 able to recognise their loveliness, and then 

 you will know what true excellence means, 

 and be in no danger of being led away by 

 meretricious qualities. The pure works 

 of God will give you the best criterion for 

 judging the works of man. In all this, 

 botany will assist you much, by making 

 you universal, drawing your attention to 

 small and great alike, and compelling you 

 to take note of a thousand peculiarities 

 which you would otherwise overlook. But, 

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