Dinbnr Castle, its Gardens and Gardeners. 497 



never in my life was I taken in by a Scotchman.' I told him 

 that every one could not say as much ; but I hoped that I should 

 not be the first that would cause him to alter the opinion he had 

 formed of the natives of the North. And away I went a proud 

 man, with a quartern loaf under the one arm, and a quarto 

 volume under the other; getting a slice of both for breakfast, 

 and believing the stories that are told about the frauds of London 

 to be without foundation. 



" At another time, when working in a nobleman's garden, I 

 had to travel several miles across a wild common before I came 

 to the market town. There was only one circulating library in 

 the place, and there appeared to be little demand for reading ; 

 for I was allowed to take as many books with me as I could 

 carry, and one burthen after another had the dust brushed off 

 them, which had not been disturbed before for many a day. 

 When I worked in the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, I fre- 

 quently attended Carfrae's sale-room at night, and often purchased 

 some useful book ; and, with one book after another, they soon 

 became the heaviest part of my luggage. I was sadly dis- 

 appointed some years ago, when on a visit to Edinburgh; I 

 went to my old book-shop, expecting to get something new ; 

 but, instead of tables full of books ready for sale, I observed 

 large barrels, marked ' Glenlivet,' ' Islay,' &c. I turned away 

 with a sad heart, when I thought on the change that had taken 

 place. 



" My young men, you may perhaps be thinking that if you 

 were to follow such a course as that recommended to you, too 

 much of your time would be occupied with it; but, after having 

 often taken a retrospective view of my past life, my advice to 

 you would still be, read on. When I think of the fate of many 

 of my companions who started with me in life, who, with greater 

 abilities and brighter prospects, had every appearance of becom- 

 ing useful members of society, but, by following frivolous pur- 

 suits and vitiated company, soon became an easy prey to evil 

 designing men ; when I remember how often books have been 

 the means of keeping me from the tap-room, the ball-room, and 

 other haunts of dissipation, I cannot but love them; and when I 

 think on the pleasure I have had in their company, and the in- 

 structive knowledge they have imparted to my mind, I must 

 always look upon them as real friends. Besides, the man who 

 deserves the name of a gardener requires to read much, in order 

 to qualify him to discharge aright the duties of his situation. 

 There is much knowledge required, from the planting of a cab- 

 bage, to the pruning, and planting, and manuring of a lordly 

 domain. With such a field before him, he will find ample scope 

 for his mathematical knowledge, and also for what he has learned 

 about the laws of equilibrium, of motion, and its communication, 

 3d Ser.— 1842. X. k k 



