2 + THE GARDENS OF EPICURUS 



must be very great, if it answers at all to that of the 

 gardener, who must have employed a great deal of his 

 care and of his study, as well as of his leisure and 

 thought in these entertainments, since he writ of all 

 plants, from the cedar to the shrub. 



What the gardens of the Hesperides were, we have 

 little or no account, further than the mention of them, 

 and thereby the testimony of their having been in 

 use and request, in such remoteness of place, and 

 antiquity of time. 



The garden of Alcinous, described by Homer, 

 seems wholly poetical, and made at the pleasure of the 

 painter ; like the rest of the romantic palace, in that 

 little barren island of Phenicia or Corfu. Yet, as all 

 the pieces of this transcendent genius are composed 

 with excellent knowledge, as well as fancy ; so they 

 seldom fail of instruction as well as delight, to all that 

 read him. The seat of this garden, joining to the 

 gates of the palace, the compass of the enclosure being 

 four acres, the tallNtees of shade, as well as those of 

 fruit, the two fountains, the one for the use of the 

 garden, and the other of the palace, the continual 

 succession of fruits throughout the whole year, are, 

 for aught I know, the best rules or provisions that can 

 go towards composing the best gardens ; nor is it 



