8o GLEANINGS ON GARDENS. 



round about; and to him you owe the fruit-trees 

 that nourish your village, and afford you shelter from 

 the sun. It was not avarice that made him 

 unwearied in his labours ; no, it was the love of 

 industry, for which he was wont to say, man was 

 born ; and the great and sacred belief that God 

 regarded him when cultivating his lands for the 

 nourishment of his children. He married and had 

 twenty-five children. He formed them all to labour 

 and to virtue, and they have all maintained an un- 

 blemished character. He has taken care to marry 

 them properly, and led them, with a smiling aspect, 

 to the altar. All his grandchildren have been brought 

 up in his house ; and you know what a pure unalter- 

 able joy dwells upon their countenances. All these 

 brethren love one another, because he loved them, and 

 made them see what pleasure he found in loving them. 

 On days of rejoicing, he was the first to sound the 

 rural instruments ; and his looks, his voice, and 

 gesture, you know, were the signals for universal 

 mirth. You cannot but remember his gaiety, the 

 lively effect of a peaceful mind, and his speeches full 

 of sense and wit ; for he had the gift of exercising 

 an ingenious raillery without giving offence. He 

 cherished order from an eternal sense he had of 

 virtue. Whom has he ever refused to serve ? When 

 did he show himself unconcerned at public or private 



