452 1-HE PLEASURE GARDEN. 



Here, indeed, Nature appears with peculiar at- 

 tractions, when decked by her handmaid Art. Where 

 are the beauties of the Flower Garden to be equal- 

 led ? How great their charms, when properly ar- 

 rayed ! Solomon, in all his glory, was not equal to 

 one of these ! Whatever can gratify the senses ; 

 whatever can please the eye ; whatever can sooth 

 the passions is here to be found. Fragrance, deli- 

 cacy, innocence ? All the charms of nature are here 

 combined ! Think on the Jasmine and the Violet ; 

 on the Carnation and the Rose ; and think on the 

 Lily and the Poet's Narcissus 1 From the humble 

 Daisy to the lovely Robinia, or the tall-flowering 

 Tinus, how many gradations of elegance and of 

 beauty! 



The cultivation of shrubs and flowers, has en- 

 gaged the attention of the curious in all ages. It 

 has been of very great service to the art of garden- 

 ing in general. The florist naturally becomes a 

 botanist ; the botanist, if not an horticulturist, be- 

 comes a valuable assistant to him ; and by impart- 

 ing many secrets of nature, greatly promotes the 

 interests of the science. 



The British Flower Garden, at this present time* 

 if we include the Greenhouse, the Conservatory, 

 and the Stove, can boast a display, and a greater 

 assemblage of plants and flowers, than is to be met 

 with in any other part of the world. Here are to 

 be met with, all our own natives, and the natives of. 

 all other climates ! The veronica, and the Japan 

 rose ; the campanula, and the cactus grandiflora ; 

 the Grampian heath, and the Cape jasmine j with 



