Sir William Temple. 183 



personal prestige of their owner, whom 

 we remember at present through them and 

 his associations with William III. and 

 Swift. 



It is fortunate for us that Temple, besides 

 being a politician and a practical horticul- 

 turist, possessed literary tastes, and thought 

 proper to insert among his essays one which 

 he entitles " Upon the Gardens of Epicurus ; 

 or, Of Gardening in the year 1685." 



The heading of the paper is rather apt to 

 mislead us till we look through the pages 

 which are occupied with it, and find that it 

 commences with an account of the Gardens 

 of the Ancients, and then proceeds to the 

 end with one of the state of gardening and 

 fruit-culture, especially at Sheen, as it stood 

 at the close of the reign of Charles II. 



I cannot say that the former or introduc- 

 tory portion has anything approaching to the 

 attractive influence which I feel in perus- 

 ing, at a distance of two centuries, the 

 opinions and experiences of so distinguished 

 a personage on a topic so enduringly 

 fascinating and important. I have not room 



