MEDIAEVAL GARDENS 



This warlike note seems strange and almost dis- 

 cordant in the midst of the peace of the cloister; 

 but many, before seeking shelter there, had been 

 doughty knights, and St. Bernard, man of the 

 world as he was, would realise that even this 

 mimic warfare might bring diversion to their 

 tranquil seclusion. 



What a contrast to all this joy in the Middle 

 Ages in gardens and flowers are the sober reflec- 

 tions of Marcus Aurelius ! Philosopher as he 

 was, he would have us learn from plants the 

 lesson of cause and effect, the continuity of life. 

 He says : 



The destruction of one thing is the making of another ; 

 and that which subsists at present is, as it were, the seed of 

 succession, which springs from it. But if you take seed in the 

 common notion, and confine it to the field or the garden, you 

 have a dull fancy. 



It is with a sense of relief that we turn from 

 the thoughts which a garden suggests to this 

 stoic, to those not less profound, though perhaps 

 more simple, of a Chinese writer of the fourth 

 century : 



Ah, how short a time it is that we are here ! Why then 

 not set our hearts at rest, ceasing to trouble whether we remain 

 or go ? What boots it to wear out the soul with anxious 

 thoughts ? Let me stroll through the bright hours as they 

 pass in my garden among my flowers. 



Printed by R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, Edinburgh. 



