496 Dinbur Castle, its Gardens and Gardeners. 



life of a gardener; and, from the first day of his entering that 

 profession, he should endeavour to imitate the daring of the 

 eagle : 



" ' Proudly careering his course of joy, 

 Firm in his own mountain vigour relying, 

 Breasting the dark storm, the red bolt defying, 

 His wing on the wind, and his eye on the sun, 

 He swerves not a hair, but bears onward right on. 

 Boys, may the eagle's flight ever be thine, 

 Onward and upward, and true to the line ! ' 



" Although gardeners may not have the opportunities for 

 acquiring knowledge which others have who live in towns or 

 their immediate neighbourhood, and may not have money to 

 purchase books, or be able to attend lectures in colleges or 

 mechanics' institutions, yet these wants cannot be held as valid 

 reasons why they should remain in ignorance. By paying a few 

 shillings in the year, they may secure as many books from a 

 circulating library as they will be able to read ; and, by means 

 of reading and study, gardeners may, in a great measure, keep 

 pace with those who have greater advantages for acquiring in- 

 formation : for it is a well-known fact, that those who attend 

 lectures in public, and do not follow them up with private study, 

 never make great advances in learning. Well do I remem- 

 ber the time when I used to go in the winter season to the library, 

 and receive volume after volume of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 

 covered up in my blue apron to preserve it from the rain and 

 snow. At another time, when I worked in one of the London 

 nurseries, I was well warned by my employer to beware of the 

 company with which I associated: for, he said, 'association soon 

 begets assimilation; and the time of life at which you have 

 arrived is in general the time at which the character is formed, 

 either for good or evil.' I was bound by a sense of duty to thank 

 him for his kindness in warning me against danger, although at 

 the time when I received his counsel I did not perceive the full 

 force of his statements ; but I have often seen it verified in after life. 



" As I was a stranger in the place, I resolved to live as quietly 

 as possible: I was fortunate enough to meet with a kind landlord 

 and landlady. One morning, when I was at the baker's for a 

 loaf, I passed a bookseller's shop where books were given out to 

 read. On my return I went into it, and told the owner of the 

 shop what I wanted. He was very obliging, and told me that I 

 might have any book that was within his shop. He showed me 

 his catalogue ; I fixed on one, and received it. He asked my 

 name and place of abode ; I also offered him money as a deposit, 

 which is done in some places where persons are not known. ' No,' 

 said he, ' I will take no money from you. You are from Scot- 

 land ; I was once in that country, and was civilly treated ; and 



