4 STUDIES IX THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



as from the wilds, if he attempts only to gratify his 

 love of nature, instead of his vanity or ambition. I 

 believe the most happiness is found in those little flower- 

 gardens, which are cultivated by humble people in the 

 country, and contain a scanty variety, hardly exceed- 

 ing that of the next wild wood or pasture. In a garden 

 plat laid out in the most simple manner, a few ordinary 

 flowers which are as familiar to us as the dandelion and 

 the buttercup, often form a border around the square 

 beds that are devoted to culinary vegetables. Among 

 these a few daffodils greet the inmates of the house, in 

 early spring, with a swarm of pleasing memories, and 

 infuse into their souls the glow of happier days and 

 years. Occasional clusters of tulips come up in this 

 border so modestly, as hardly to remind one that they 

 are emblematical of display. Here the lily is truly the 

 symbol of meekness ; and the roses, that are scattered 

 ' sparingly among other plants, are sure to awaken that 

 delightful sentiment which is always associated with 

 this flower, in the rude pasture or in a humble garden. 



The only approach to what may be called an imita- 

 tion of nature, in a garden, is the avoidance of profu- 

 sion ; for Nature does not plant her flowers in clumps, 

 and seldom makes any single species grow^ together 

 exclusively or in great abundance. The very scarcity 

 of certain species constitutes a part of their charm ; 

 and half the cause of our preference of wild flowers to 

 those of the garden, is the habit of finding them half 

 concealed irj some little dingle, or under the protection 

 of a loftier plant, where they serve to emblem some 

 interesting* moral trait or affection. How soon would 

 the field, the wild wood, and the pasture lose all their 

 attractions, if they were crowded with flowers as some 

 vain people crowd their gardens. All the poetry of 



