70 AMERICAN GARDENER. 



fess, that its value in my eyes, consists in it^> 

 moral effects. It is a source of pleasure to the 

 Mistress of the mansion ; to her, who has so 

 strong a claim to attention and indulgence. I 

 will not praise pursuits like these, with LORD 

 BACON, because, " God Almighty first filanted a 

 garden ;" nor with COWLEY, because " a garden 

 is like Heaven;" nor with ADDISON, because "a 



farclen was the habitation of our first parents 

 efore the fall ;" all which is rather far-fetched, 

 and puts one in mind of the grave dispute between 

 the Gardeners and 7<zzYors, as to the antiquity of 

 their respective callings ; the former contending 

 that the planting of the garden took place before 

 the sewing of the fig-leaves together ; and, the 

 latter contending, that there was no gardening at 

 all, till Adam was expelled and compelled to 

 work ; but, that the sewing was a real and bona 

 fide act of tailoring. This is vulgar work to be 

 sure ; it is grovelling ; but, who can blame such 

 persons, when they have LORD BACON to furnish 

 them with a precedent ? 



122. I like, a great deal better than these 

 writers, SIR WILLIAM, who so ardently and yet 

 so rationally and unaffectedly praises the pursuits 

 of gardening, in which he delighted from his 

 youth to his old age. But, I look still further, 

 as to effects. There must be amusements in every 

 family. Children observe and follow their pa- 

 rents in almost every thing. How much better, 

 during a long and dreary winter, for daughters, 

 and even sons, to assist, or attend, their mother 

 in a green-house, than to be seated with her at 

 cards , or at any other amusement that can be 

 conceived! How much more innocent, more 



