EASTERN GAEDENs.] PEACTICE OF HOETI CULT UEE. [ouecian gaedens. 



pass in succession to the lieads of many 

 others." Keraarkable as this may be, it is 

 not nearly so striking as his epitaph :— " 

 man! whoever thou art, and wherever thou 

 comest (for come I know thou wilt), I am 

 Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire. 

 Envy me not the little earth that covers my 

 body." Peace to his manes! 



GARDENS OF THE EAST GENERALLY. 



Erom the foregoing descriptions, it will 

 readily be inferred, that gardens, among the 

 Asiatics generally, were objects from which 

 great pleasure was received ; and hence the 

 reason that they are so frequently spoken of by 

 the inspired writers in such away as to illustrate 

 subjects of a spiritual or heavenly nature. 

 One of the first essentialities of an Eastern 

 garden seems to have been elevation of situa- 

 tion. " When Serairamis came to Chanon, a 

 city of Media," observes Diodorus Siculus, 

 " she discovered, on au elevated plain, a rock 

 of stupendous height and considerable extent. 

 Here she formed another paradise, exceedingly 

 large, enclosing a rock in the midst of it ; on 

 which she erected sumptuous buildings for 

 pleasure, commanding a view of both the 

 plantations and the encampment." The exist- 

 ence of these gardens, however, has been 

 questioned; and so has even that of Queen 

 Semiramis. 



Looking back to a period 1500 B.C., Solo- 

 mon's gardens necessarily come into view. 

 The form of this plot was quadrangular ; and 

 it was encompassed by a high wall. It was 

 adorned with plants of various descriptions — 

 curious as objects of natural history, such as 

 the hyssop : but it was also fragrant with the 

 rose, the lily of the valley, cinnamon, spike- 

 nard, camphire, saffron, and other plants. 

 Its timber trees were the cedar, the pine, and 

 the fir. Its fruits were the pomegranate, the 

 tig, the grape, the apple, and the date. No 

 doubt, like Milton's Eden, it was supplied 

 with grots and caves of cool recess, over which 

 the mantling vine — 



'« Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps 

 Luxuriant ; meanwhile murmuring waters fall 

 Down the slope hills, dispersed, or in a lake. 

 That to the fringed bank with myrtle crown'd 

 Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams." 



In the hotter parts of Eastern couutries, a 

 92S 



constant supply of water is so necessary, that 

 were the application of this precious beverage 

 to be denied to a garden but for a few days, 

 everything in it would be literally burnt and 

 destroyed. There is, therefore, in these parts, 

 no garden whatever without a certain supply 

 of water, obtained either from some neigh- 

 bouring river, or from some reservoir, either 

 collected from springs or filled during the 

 rainy season, to an extent sufficient to yield 

 an ample quantity for the rest of the year. 

 As a general description of the manner in 

 which an Eastern garden is laid out, that of 

 the Emir of Berytua may be taken. Eefer- 

 ring to this piece of art, Mr. Maundrell, in 

 his Travels, says — " The best sight that the 

 palace afi'ords, and that which is most deserv- 

 ing of recollection, is the orange garden. It 

 contains a large quadrangular plot of ground, 

 divided into sixteen lesser squares, four in 

 a row, with walks between them. The walks 

 are shaded with orange trees of a large 

 spreading size. Every one of these sixteen 

 lesser squares in the garden was bordered 

 with stone; and in the stone-work w^ere 

 troughs, very artiScially contrived for con- 

 veying the water all over the garden, there 

 being little outlets cut at every tree, for the 

 stream, as it passed by, to flow out and water 

 it." Kempher describes the royal gardens 

 at Ispahan as being watered in a precisely 

 similar manner. 



GRECIAN GARDENS. 

 The Greeks, original, elegant, and refined iu 

 most things, yet copied the Persians iu 

 gardening. We are informed by Diogenes 

 Laertius, that the philosopher Epicurus took 

 great delight in a garden, and chose such a 

 scene for teaching his principles. This plot 

 was in the city of Athens ; and he is stated 

 to have been the first who introduced tie 

 charms and enjoyments of trees and flowers 

 into the heart of a city. Thus the pleasures 

 of country life could be experienced without 

 the necessity of going out of town, and thoso 

 of town life might be participated in without 

 having to go into the country. This was in 

 accordance with the philosophy which teaches 

 that happiness consists in pleasure, not cer- 

 tainly altogether of the pleasures of sense, 

 but of that species of pleasure which would 



