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XVI 



PREFACE. 



be derived from the boundless charms of nature. 

 Hard, indeed, must be the heart of that man, who 

 can enjoy a benefit without gratitude to the giver. 

 The evil of our mind is, that we possess, and 

 appropriate, but do not enjoy. To a large class 

 of mankind creation hourly displays its perfection 

 in vain : their taste for enjoyment, unimproved by 

 neglect, or vitiated by habit, is confined to objects 

 purely sensual, and raises not the mind above 

 subordinate agents; they are strangers to the 

 contemplation of nature, which is attended with 

 intellectual delight, exhalts the thoughts, purifies 

 the desires, and displays to the mind overwhelmed 

 with admiration the infinite attributes of the 

 Creator of the Universe. 



It is not my intention to state, that the beauties 



of the vegetable kingdom are exhibited for the 

 botanist alone ; but that his pursuits afford a fertile 

 source of innocent amusement, remove him, for a 

 time at least, from the cares and contentions of the 

 world, and lead him to scenes of solitude and of 

 peace, where feelings are naturally called forth, 

 far more precious than that knowledge of classi- 

 fication and arrangement, which is supposed to 

 be the sole object of his science . Enjoyment such 

 as this is thankfulness, and tliankfulness is praise. 

 From our moral and physical constitution, we 



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