CypHpcdia. 329 



There is enough ah-eady said about the education of tlie intellect, but 

 hardly a word about the education of senses, when it is known that char- 

 acter depends upon a n)an's sentiments and tastes rather than upon intel- 

 lectual achievements. A man's pleasures — those things which occupy and 

 amuse his leisure — mould and influence his moral character vastly more 

 than his work. To educate the senses to apprehend and enjoy the noble 

 and the beautiful is to elevate and exalt human nature. We must be 

 taught what is beautiful and symmetrical and pure and true, and educated 

 to find pleasure in the contemplation of excellence, if we expect to enjoy 

 the highest sentiments, and to keep above the degradation to which the 

 senses, unaided, might lead us. 



There is so much contributed through the senses to make up the man, 

 that we should analyze profoundly the capabilities and range of sensational 

 pleasure. Sensational gratifications may be lofty or low ; and they are so 

 mysteriously mixed up with the subtlest elements of our being, that it is 

 almost impossible to define their limits. I know the word " sensational " is, 

 with the public, by no means a synonyme for spiritual or intellectual ; and 

 the very reason of its occupying so low a status is, because we allow the 

 senses, in a great degree, to select their own avenues of pleasure, and to 

 expatiate in the lower ranges of animal gratification. 



The following sentiments of the great German poet (Goethe) express so 

 appropriately the necessity of cultivating and keeping alive the sesthetic 

 faculty by disciplining the senses to apprehend and enjoy the consummate 

 and the excellent, that I am resolved to quote them here : — 



" Men are so inclined to content themselves with what is commonest, so 

 easily do the spirit and sense grow dead to the impression of the beautiful 

 and the perfect, that every person should strive to nourish in his mind the 

 faculty of feeling these things by every thing in his power ; for no man can 

 bear to be wholly deprived of such enjoyment. It is only because they are 

 not used to tasts of what is excellent that the generality of people take 

 delight in silly and insipid things, provided they be new. For this reason, 

 every day one ought to see a fine picture, read a good book, and, if it were 

 possible, to speak a few reasonable words." 



These philosophical ideas, however, may not be considered apropos in a 

 horticultural journal ; and I may incur the penalty of being called to order 



VOL. I. 42 



