April 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDE NEB. 
4.6 
of the workshops of London? Truly, it is not art the 
mechanic wishes to feast his eyes upon when an oppor¬ 
tunity of leisure offers; ho has enough of art, when we 
: consider it is his business 313 out of the 365 days in the 
I year. Of course we all feel a pride and interest in our 
liandywork; but with what different feelings the rich 
and great contemplate the beautiful in works of art, 
which mainly minister for their refinement and enjoy- 
j merit, than do the artizan or mechanic, who, to gain liis 
I daily bread, has to undertake the anxious, and too often 
unhealthy, processes of their fabrication? It is the 
green fields, the trees, the beauty of Nature, that form 
a charm for him : the resort of his imagination. 
“ When a long-looked-for day arrives, upon which a 
trip into the country was planned, which, alas! too 
often the case in our variable climate, turns out wet: 
is it not a disappointment? No! not if he have a 
Crystal Palace transformed into a sheltered garden 
to fall back upon! In a population like London how 
many such features as this would be likely to occur on a 
wet day. To thousands, that wet day may be the only 
one for a long season that could be spared them, or 
taken advantage of, and so the holiday must be had; 
| and how, in the majority of cases would it be spent in 
j inclement weather? Would it not be in the nearest 
tavern ? 
“ Then there are wives, children, and sweethearts— 
! what becomes of them ? The day that was to form for 
them a recreation and pleasure, becomes one of comfort¬ 
less disappointment and misery. 
“ Besides, for the purpose of a public garden for all 
seasons, consider the site of the Crystal Palace. Could 
any other place be more calculated to ensure a beneficial 
and lasting result for good, than by causing the people 
to congregate upon that particular spot ? To associate 
us near our Gracious Sovereign ; our House of Lords 
and Commons; our venerable Abbey; our stately 
parks; our nobility and gentry; our finest squares and 
streets; the majority of our grandest buildings; every¬ 
thing, in short, wearing the stamp of England’s great¬ 
ness and power; thus impressing upon her subjects a 
proud and loyal feeling that those glorious institutions 
of their country are their own. We are thus invited to 
become familiar with all that is great and good: not 
spurned and thrust into the background—looked down 
upon as a senseless, meaningless mob ; a vulgar mass, 
incapable of either thought, conduct, or feeling. 
“ And again, more particularly for youth,—to schools, 
| would such a place of recreation prove invaluable. We 
never part with the beneficial results which Nature 
impresses upon us in childhood. In our earlier years, 
education, coupled with religion, and the genial 
influences of Nature, naturally lay the strongest and 
safest foundation; a guide for our future development 
and conduct through life; features which certainly 
should not be lost sight of by our Legislature as regards 
the rising generation. 
“ What a striking and beneficial effect would the 
strange and beautiful vegetation collected from the four 
quarters of the globe serve to produce upon the mind of 
youth. What a soothing and enlightened influence 
upon the minds of us all. More so, I will venture to 
say, than the wonderful collective art of man, which, to 
the eternal honour of England, has already astonished 
our senses. A far higher order of workmanship should 
we find exhibited in the living beauty of the works of 
Creation: by the contemplation of which our minds 
and thoughts would be led upwards; carried through 
that glorious transparent arch, up to that other aud 
still more glorious arch of the firmament bent over us, 
whose mighty constructor and builder is God! 
“ As a working man, though, nevertheless, with an 
eye to the interests and welfare of my country, perhaps 
these few homely and simple observations I have 
allowed my pen to trace, may be thought worthy of 
a consideration. I feel confident they would find an 
echo and a sentiment from by far the larger part of the 
inhabitants of London; and their aim appreciated, both 
as regards the present and future enjoyment of the work¬ 
ing classes of our mighty metropolis. 
“ I have already had the satisfaction of publicly 
stating a part of my views relative to the Crystal Palace. 
At that time I could almost have staked my existence 
that the idea would never enter the mind of man to 
conceive its demolition. I prophesied such a piece of 
wantonness would not happen; and I still hope, in this 
instance, I may prove a prophet. 
“ As an Englishman, however, who likes to arrive at 
a point—aye, even the point of the bayonet, should it be 
necessary for the defence of our country—I have ten 
shillings ready at a moment’s notice to subscribe for the 
preservation of the building; and ten shillings more, if 
need be, to ensure a fund for its future maintainance as 
a garden. I should be prepared still further to subscribe 
for the purpose of arching over the nave similar to the 
transept, and then it would be a glorious tiling ! 
“ Upwards and Onwards.” 
EORSYTH MSS. 
In the January of 1785, Mr. Anderson accompanied 
General Mathew to Grenada, and now, through the 
conjoined home-influence of this amiable man aud of 
Mr. Forsyth, brighter days began to dawn upon Mr, 
Anderson. The following letter is dated Grenada, June 
1st, 1784. 
MR. A. ANDERSON TO MR. FORSYTH. 
General Mathew still continues my pay as hospital mate, 
but does not know if he can continue it, as all the appoint¬ 
ments (for the most part) come through Mr. Adair. As the 
General desired Mr. Connor, now at the head of the hos¬ 
pital in these islands (and who is no friend of mine), to 
write to Mr. Adair that he intended to continue me, and that 
he would establish me. As at the same time Mr. Adair 
appointed some who had not been one-sixth of the time 
in the hospital as I; and in the letters he wrote to said 
Connor he made no mention of me at all, I have every 
reason to think he made no mention of me to Mr. Adair, or 
if he did, to my disadvantage. I should be much obliged 
to you if you could find out whether it is so or not, and let 
me know. He is a malicious, ill-intentioned man, who from 
his merit or services has no title to what he has got. As he 
is a sycophant, and by his sly insinuations he traduces the 
most amiable characters to answer his own malicious in- 
