INTRODUCTION. [) 



milky flower-stalks of the dandelion; but who 

 at the sight of a butterfly burst the brittle 

 bonds and scampered away, to return, perhaps, 

 a few years after, sighing and entangled in 

 fetters not so visible, but more binding. 



There is no part of Nature's works more 

 interesting than flowers. They seem intended 

 for the embellishment of our fair, and for the 

 ornament of the spot where they tread. Their 

 sweet perfumes have such influence over all 

 our sensations, that in the midst of flowering 

 shrubs the most acute grief generally gives 

 way to the sweetest melancholy. When our 

 home and domestic companions are encom- 

 passed by the shrubbery, our situation then 

 approaches nearest to a terrestrial paradise. 

 Is it not, then, 



" Strange, there should be found, 



Who, self-imprisoned in their proud saloons, 

 Renounce the odours of the open field, 

 For the unscented fictions of the loom ; 

 Who, satisfied with only pencilled scenes, 

 Prefer, to the performance of a God, 

 Th* inferior wonders of an artist's hand ? 

 Lovely, indeed, the mimic works of art ; 

 But Nature's works far lovelier. " 



Cowper. 



The shrubbery is to a rational mind a source 

 of inexhaustible delight and instruction* where 

 each season brings new joy, and every morn- 

 ing a fresh harvest of delightful sweets. Sub- 



