XXX 



and science.* These have highly assisted in elevating 

 gardening to the rank it has long since held, and has 

 allured multitudes to this delightful science : no won- 

 der, when Homer fcrtWf) f)0to Laertes tfte OttK man, 



toas tooiu tofti) ins trafcatle fn ins uf)arUs, to 

 im'&e from ins tmnfce tf)e sorroto Dee toofce for tfje 



absence Of f)tS SO tine* When old Gerarde asks his 

 courteous and well-willing readers " whither do all 

 men walk for their honest recreation, but where the 

 earth hath most beneficially painted her face with 

 flourishing colours ? and what season of the year 

 more longed for than the spring, whose gentle breath 

 enticeth forth the kindly sweets, and makes them 

 yield their fragrant smells ?" When the Lord Chan- 

 cellor Bacon declares a garden " is the purest of hu- 

 man pleasures ; it is the greatest refreshment to the 

 spirits of man :" and when this wonderfully gifted 

 man thus fondly dwells on part of its allurements ; 



exalted character, seemed to acknowledge and repay the respect he 

 received ; his venerable form, bowed with infirmity and age, but 

 animated by a mind which nothing could subdue ; his spirit shining 

 through him, arming his eye with lightning, and cloathing his lips 

 with thunder ; or, if milder topics offered, harmonizing his counte- 

 nance in smiles, and his voice in softness, for the compass of his 

 powers was infinite. As no idea was too vast, no imagination too 

 sublime, for the grandeur and majesty of his manner ; so no fancy 

 was too playful, nor any allusion too comic, for the ease and gaiety 

 with which he could accommodate to the occasion. But the charac- 

 ter of his oratory was dignity ; this presided in every respect, even 

 to his sallies of pleasantry." 



* Sir Walter Scott's attachment to gardens, breaks out even in 

 his Life of Swift, where his fond enquiries have discovered the se- 

 questered and romantic garden of Vanessa, at Marley Abbey. 



