217 
From this brief allusion to horticulture as a science and an art, it is 
obvious, that its influence upon the enlargement and refinement of the in¬ 
tellect is worthy of high consideration. A subject, that has exercised the 
classic taste of such distinguished lights in literature as Addison and 
Pope, must be pre-eminently favorable to intellectual improvement, both 
in its theoretical and experimental aspects. And as a pure intellectual 
taste is intimately associated with refined moral sensibilities, we may in¬ 
fer the great moral benefits to be derived from experimental gardening. 
But the moral influence of horticulture rests upon more substantial ground 
than mere inferential evidence. It is easy to show— 
2. That its influence upon the moral nature of man is direct and most 
salutary. There is much more in the rose than its beautiful tints and 
hues, or its fragrant breath. There is a moral essence to be extracted 
from this queen of flowers far more valuable than the admired otter that 
breathes its perfumes round “the toilet of the belle.” Besides its natural 
beauty, it contains a deep moral significance. There is innocence in its 
delicate blush, purity in its spotless petals, and sweetness in its breath ; 
and each of these qualities are suggestive of corresponding qualities in 
the human heart. Nature, through all her forms of rural loveliness and 
magnificence, speaks in words of eloquence and power to the contempla¬ 
tive soul of man. In the branches of the cypress, he beholds a mournful 
emblem which reminds him of the grave, and of the dear ones of other 
days “who slumber where no sound shall awake them.” In the whisper¬ 
ing foliage of the mountain pine, in the perpetual verdure of the sym¬ 
metrical fir, and the moss-covered hemlock, he discovers an appropriate 
emblem of that fairer world, where 
“ Everlasting spring abides; 
And never-withering flowers — 
where fields, more glorious than primeval Eden, 
“Stand dressed in living green.” 
In short, rural nature abounds with emblems containing moral lessons 
of the highest significance. From the frail flower of an hour, to the lofty 
evergreen, that nods defiance at the tempests, and preserves its verdure 
through all the frosts and desolations of winter, the horticulturist, in his 
daily vocation, is admonished of the exceeding brevity of human life, and 
the certainty of immortality. 
