260 ON RURAL EMBELLISHMENT. 



during six months of the year, a change takes place, and 

 is perceptible, in the plants of a garden, every day ; and 

 every day has in consequence its operations and its prod- 

 ucts." 



In conclusion : A bountiful Providence has given the 

 vegetable kingdom for our sustenance, employment, and 

 highest intellectual enjoyment, — and has scattered these 

 elements of happiness, with a profuse hand, every where 

 within our reach. It is left for us to enjoy them in a 

 greater or less degree, as we learn to appreciate their 

 value, and exert ourselves to apply them to their proper 

 use. The brute is content to satisfy its animal wants. 

 Man, the lord of the creation, should have a higher aim, 

 because he has higher sources of enjoyment than the 

 brute, and higher duties to perform — he is the husband- 

 man appointed to take care of and nurture the great vine- 

 yard, and to carry out the purposes of the all-bountiful 

 Giver. 



