REFINING INFLUENCES. 107 



spirit of man ; without which, buildings and palaces are but 

 gross handiworks ; and a man shall ever see, that, when ages 

 grow to civility and elegancy, men c^me to huild stately, 

 sooner than to garden finely ; as if gardening were the greater 

 perfection." "Nothing" said the immortal Webster, "is too 

 polished to see its beauty, nothing too refined to be capable 

 of its enjoyment." So thought the king of Israel when he 

 made for himself gardens and orchards. So thought the noble 

 Scipio when he retired to his favorite retreat after he had 

 made Rome the mistress of the world. So thought our own 

 Pickering, Lowell, Dearborn, and thousands of others in our 

 own time, who have retired from the busy haunts of the city 

 to the quiet scenes of rural life, that they might enjoy the rich 

 gifts of bounteous nature, and drink from those pure fountains 

 of contentment and peace. And may I not add what ex- 

 perience has taught me of the sacred influences of rural life 

 to soothe and comfort in those hours of depression, sickness 

 and sorrow, from which none are exempt. Here, then, amidst 

 fruits and flowers, and scenes of rural bliss, let my remaining 

 days be passed, and at last, like fruit fullj ripe, dropping softly 

 on the bosom of mother earth, let me lie down to rest in the 

 joyous hope of a glorious immortality in the garden of the 

 Lord, where the tree of life beareth fruit every month, where 

 blight, disease, and the wintry blast of death shall never come, 

 where the summer of glory and jjerfection shall forever reign . 

 Some of the most touching and beautiful, some of the most 

 sacred and sublime inspirations of Scripture have been drawn 

 from scenes in the garden. Nor has the imagination of the 

 poet, philosopher, or psalmist, ever conceived of any spot 

 more chastening, more refining or more hallowed in its 

 influence. 



" Though in heaven the trees 

 Of life, ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines 

 Yield nectar ; though from off the boughs, each mom 

 We brush mellifluous dews ; yet God hath here 

 Varied his bounty so with new delights, 

 As may compare with lieaven." 



In no department of cultivation is improvement of taste to 

 be more distinctly seen, than in the decoration of our grounds 

 and the universal love of trees and plants. Many in this 



