10 THE MANSE GARDEN. 



ble a title as " The Manse Garden ;" yet neither 

 must the author's spirit sink because his scope is con- 

 fined. The first paradise was a garden, and though 

 grandeur may require amplitude, beauty is contented 

 with smaller dimensions. The most touching scenes 

 of nature are often found, not in the wide range of 

 hill and dale, but in the very nook of a glen ; and 

 genius may appear in a cabinet picture as well as in 

 one of the largest canvass. Why, then, may not the 

 manse garden be fair, though the field be small? and 

 why should not art be employed to make it a very 

 delight to its owner, and an object of pleasure to the 

 traveller that passes by ? O for a law, originating in 

 the perception of comfort, and self-imposed, which 

 should make the planting of a few trees an operation 

 as certain as the building of a house ! Men would 

 live longer and better for the happiness thus given 

 to their homes ; and the sickening sameness of bare 

 hillsides and of cold blue walls would be changed 

 into a succession of the most pleasing objects. But 

 how often do we find even the manse, or villa of 

 similar rank, devoid of that peculiar charm which 

 arises from partial concealment, and standing almost 

 naked in the blast, though some shelter has been 

 sought by a strip or clump of trees. 



When partial concealment is the object, the holly 

 fulfills the intention of the planter; it casts a deep 

 shade on the stonework, and, like the dash of the pen- 

 cil in a good picture, the effect remains unchanged by 

 the changing of seasons; whereas that produced by 

 a deciduous tree resembles the like effect in a bad 

 picture, whose colours fade and frustrate the design 

 of the artist. Much more, where shelter is sought, 



