IV PREFACE 



end enrich itself with solid and lasting good. As an incite- 

 ment to such study, the following reflections are submitted 

 to the attentive perusal of the reader. 



The creation of Nature is beautiful, enchantingly beau- 

 tiful, universally diffused, and of endless variety; but it is the 

 province of man to adorn a single spot, to collect about him 

 the scattered and single beauties, and to see, and feel, and 

 enjoy them. Nature is fruitful, inexhaustibly fruitful ; but 

 man must improve her fertility, guide it, and give it its most 

 generally useful direction. Nature is full of life, but man is 

 capable of diversifying, elevating, and ennobling this life; 

 and he is amply rewarded for his labour. 



" Thine is a glorious volume, Nature! Each 

 Line, leaf, and page, is filled with living lore ; 



Wisdom more pure than sage could ever teach. 

 And all philosophy's divinest store ; 



Rich lessons rise where'er thy tracks are trod: 



The book of Nature is the book of God." 



It may be truly said, that the whole field of Nature is laid 

 open to the investigation and mental enjoyment of man, and 

 that its study is the more accessible, because it is the easiest 

 as well as the most delightful of all studies. 



The student in literature must have his library, the natu- 

 ral philosopher and chemist, his apparatus, and the student 

 of man, his annals and records ; which are frequently so 

 perplexing, that much of his time is spent in testing their 

 correctness, and the results of his study are often far from 

 satisfactory to himself. Whereas the tillage of the soil invi- 

 gorates man's mental as well as bodily powers, and elicits 

 more deep science, and more observation, and more general 

 acquaintance with the laws of Nature, than any other pur- 

 suit of life. 



Of all recreations, perhaps tlie cultivation of flowers may 

 be considered as the most enchanting. It is not only con- 

 genial to health, but is calculated to attach man to his home; 

 and he who delights in his home, and feels disposed to em- 

 bellish it, will be likely to hasten to it when he has done his 



