2o THE GARDENS OF EPICURUS 



his gardens ; there he studied, there he exercised, 

 there he taught his philosophy ; and indeed, no other 

 sort of abode seems to contribute so much, to both 

 the tranquillity of mind, and indolence of body, which 

 he made his chief ends. The sweetness of air, the 

 pleasantness of smells, the verdure of plants, the clean- 

 ness and lightness of food, the exercises of working 

 or walking ; but above all, the exemption from cares 

 and solicitude, seem equally to favour and improve 

 both contemplation and health, the enjoyment of sense 

 and imagination, 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 villages or farms without the 

 city ; yet the use of gardens seems to have been the 

 most ancient and most general 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 favourite of public and private men ; a 

 pleasure of the greatest, and the care of the meanest j 

 and indeed an employment and a possession, for which 

 no man is too high nor too low. 



