4 PREFACE. 



called a garden in the interior of the city ; but, 

 at best, those gardens had, as a celebrated wit 

 expressed it, " the shut-up smell." But nowa- 

 days nothing of the kind is to be found ; the 

 opening of a street, the laying out of a square, 

 has dispossessed them of the pent-up treasure, 

 or else the ground has become of such value 

 for building purposes, that it is sold at so much 

 the square foot a price sufficient almost to 

 cover it with gold. Nor is this the case with 

 the capital alone ; other cities less crowded, 

 all towns, in fine, of sufficient consequence to 

 grow, will soon be without a single garden, large 

 or small, within their limits ; the flower, van- 

 quished, retreats before the building stone. 

 Happily it is not indispensable to possess a 

 garden, either large or small, in order to have 

 flowers, and to enjoy the tranquil delight af- 

 forded by the attentions one bestows upon 

 them, and which one experiences in watching 

 the various phases of their development. 



Suppose yourself, for instance, after a severe 

 illness, confined to your room by a long conva- 

 lescence, which it is not in the power of any one 

 to abridge. Even if you were the owner of a 

 garden, you would then only admire its flowers 

 at a distance, through your window panes. 



