292 



THE PEAR» 



large proportion to be devoted to his few square 

 yards of garden ground ! The very change of 

 labour seems to be his best restorative. He bends 

 over his flowers and vegetables^ and his work is 

 now his recreation. Or^ if debarred from renew- 

 ing his toil in the open air, he expends his labour 

 of love on a few cherished auriculas or carnations, 

 and brings them to such perfection, that, while 

 for their beauty and rarity they might vie with 

 the costliest produce of his wealthy neighbour's 

 hot-house, they impart to his homely cottage an 

 air of elegance, which, if it were attached to ar- 

 ticles of furniture or clothing, would be far above 

 the station of the occupant ; but, associated with 

 this pursuit, tends to elevate the tone both of the 

 dwelling and its inhabitants. 



So common is this taste, that it excites little or 

 no notice ; and it seems so natural, that no one 

 thinks of trying to account for its existence. It 

 belongs to no particular age or climate, nor does 

 it arise from any peculiar constitution of society ; 

 for even in so remote a country as China, and 

 one the daily customs of whose inhabitants difl'er 

 so widely from our own, the same fondness for 

 the cultivation of fruits and flowers has existed 

 for ages ; and one of the most elegant and per- 

 fect poems of antiquity, the Georgics of Virgil, 

 is devoted to the same and kindred subjects. The 

 most remote history, sacred and profane, certifies 

 the prevalence of the same taste, so that there 

 can be little doubt of its existence in all ages and 

 climes. 



But whence did it originate ? How comes it, 

 that men of all nations take delight in an oc- 

 cupation so laborious as that of the cultivation of 



