SIR THOMAS BROWNE. Mr. Dallaway, in his Anecdotes of the Arts, mentions

the following portrait of Sir Thomas:--"At Devonshire-house is a family

groupe, by Dobson, of Sir Thomas Browne. He is smiling with the utmost

complacency upon his children, who surround him." His portrait is also

prefixed to his works. The Biograph. Dict., folio, 1748, says, "his

picture, in the College of Physicians, shews him to have been remarkably

handsome, and to have possessed, in a singular degree, the blessings of

a grave, yet cheerful and inviting, countenance." The same work farther

gives him a most amiable character. Mr. Ray, in his Ornithology, does

not omit paying a just compliment to his assistant and friend, "the

deservedly famous Sir Thomas Browne." Evelyn, in 1671, mentions Sir

Thomas Browne's garden at Norwich, as containing a paradise of

varieties, and the gardens of all the inhabitants as full of excellent

flowers. Switzer says, "The noble elegance of his style has since

induced many to read his works, (of which, that of _Cyrus's gardens_ is

some of the brightest,) though they have had little inclination to the

practice of gardening itself. There remains nothing that I have heard of

his putting gardening actually into practice himself; but some of his

last works being observations on several scarce plants mentioned in

Scripture; and of Garlands and Coronary garden plants and flowers, 'tis

reasonable to suppose he did; and the love he had so early and late

discovered toward it, was completed in the delightful practice thereof."

He further says, " his elaborate and ingenious pen has not a little

added to the nobleness of our subject."[65] His works were published in

1 vol. folio, 1686, with his portrait, engraved by White. His portrait

appears also to his "Certain Miscellany Tracts," 8vo. A list of his

numerous works may be seen in the Biogr. Dictionaires, or in Watts's

Bibl. Britt. To his "Christian Morals," Dr. Johnson has prefixed his

Life. It is so masterly written, that it is impossible to give even an

abstract. Dr. Kippis has, however, in part, transcribed it. He was

chosen Honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians, as a man _virtute

et literas ornatissimus_. In 1671, he received the honour of Knighthood

from Charles II., a prince, (says Dr. Johnson) "who, with many frailties

and vices, had yet skill to discover excellence, and virtue to reward it

with such honorary distinctions, at least, as cost him nothing, yet,

conferred by a king so judicious and so much beloved, had the power of

giving merit new lustre and greater popularity." Thus he lived in high

reputation, till, in his seventy-sixth year, an illness, which tortured

him a week, put an end to his life, at Norwich, on his birth-day,

October 19, 1682. "Some of his last words (we are told by _Whitefoot_)

were expressions of submission to the will of God, and fearlessness of

death." Dr. Johnson observes, "It is not on the praises of others, but

on his own writings, that he is to depend for the esteem of posterity;

of which he will not be easily deprived, while learning shall have any

reverence among men: for there is no science in which he does not

discover some skill; and scarce any kind of knowledge, profane or

sacred, abstruse or elegant, which he does not appear to have cultivated

with success. His exuberance of knowledge, and plenitude of ideas,

sometimes obstruct the tendency of his reasoning, and the clearness of

his decisions. On whatever subject he employed his mind, there started

up immediately so many images before him, that he lost one by grasping

another. His memory supplied him with so many illustrations, parallel or

dependent notions, that he was always starting into collateral

considerations. But the spirit and vigour of his pursuit always gives

delight; and the reader follows him, without reluctance, through his

mazes, of themselves flowery and pleasing, and ending at the point

originally in view. There remains yet an objection against the writings

of _Browne_, more formidable than the animadversions of criticism. There

are passages from which some have taken occasion to rank him among

deists, and others among atheists. It would be difficult to guess how

any such conclusion should be formed, had not experience shewn that

there are two sorts of men willing to enlarge the catalogue of infidels.

When _Browne_ has been numbered among the contemners of religion by the

fury of its friends, or the artifices of its enemies, it is no difficult

task to replace him among the most zealous professors of christianity.

He may perhaps, in the ardour of his imagination, have hazarded an

expression, which a mind intent upon faults may interpret into heresy,

if considered apart from the rest of his discourse; but a phrase is not

to be opposed to volumes. There is scarcely a writer to be found, whose

profession was not divinity, that has so frequently testified his belief

of the sacred writings, has appealed to them with such unlimited

submission, or mentioned them with such unvaried reverence."

JOHN EVELYN, ESQ. His portrait by Nanteuil, and that by Kneller, holding

his _Sylva_ in his hand, are well engraved in Mr. Bray's Memoirs. The

following remark is from the Quarterly Review, in its review of the same

work, in 1818:--"At four years old he was taught to read by the parish

school-master, whose school was over the church porch; and 'at six his

picture was drawn by one Chanteral, no ill painter.' If this portrait,

as is not unlikely, be preserved in the family, it should have been

engraved for the present work; it would have been very interesting to

compare the countenance of such a person, in childhood, in the flower of

years, when his head was engraved by Nanteuil, and in ripe old age, when

he sat to Sir G. Kneller." In Aubrey's Surrey, vol. iv. are many

interesting particulars of Mr. Evelyn, and his family, and he gives a

list of his works. He says "his picture was thrice drawn in oil; first,

in 1641, by one Vanderborcht, brought out of Germany at the same time

with Hollar, the graver, by the Earl of Arundel; a second time in 1648,

by Walker; and the third time by Sir G. Kneller, for his friend Mr.

Pepys, of the Admiralty, of which that at the Royal Society is a copy.

There is a print of him by Nanteuil, who likewise drew him more than

once in black and white, with Indian ink; and a picture, in crayon, by

Luterel." Mr. Evelyn lived in the busy times of Charles I., Cromwell,

Charles II., James II., and William. He had much personal intercourse

with Charles II. and James II., and was in the habits of great intimacy

with many of the ministers of those two monarchs, and of the eminent men

of those days. Foreigners, distinguished for learning or arts, who came

to England, did not leave it without visiting him. His manners we may

presume to have been of the most agreeable kind, for his company was

sought by the greatest men, not merely by inviting him to their own

tables, but by their repeated visits to him at his own house. Mr. Evelyn

lived to the great age of eighty-six, and wished these words to be

inscribed on his tomb:--"all is vanity that is not honest, and there is

no solid wisdom but in real piety."[66] Cowley, in a letter to him,

says, "I know nobody that possesses more private happiness than you do

in your garden; and yet no man who makes his happiness more publick, by

a free communication of the art and knowledge of it to others. All that

I myself am able yet to do, is only to recommend to mankind the search

of that felicity, which you instruct them how to find and to enjoy." The

Quarterly Review thus speaks of his _Sylva_:--"The Sylva remained a

beautiful and enduring memorial of his amusements, his occupations, and

his studies, his private happiness, and his public virtues. The greater

part of the woods, which were raised in consequence of Evelyn's

writings, have been cut down; the oaks have borne the British flag to

seas and countries which were undiscovered when they were planted, and

generation after generation has been coffined in the elms. The trees of

his age, which may yet be standing, are verging fast toward their decay

and dissolution: but his name is fresh in the land, and his reputation,

like the trees of an Indian Paradise, exists, and will continue to exist

in full strength and beauty, uninjured by the course of time." Mr.

Loudon, in his Encycl. of Gardening, thus speaks of him:--"Evelyn is

universally allowed to have been one of the warmest friends to

improvements in gardening and planting, that has ever appeared. He is

eulogized by Wotton, in his _Reflections on Ancient and Modern

Learning_, as having done more than all former ages." Switzer calls him

"that good esquire, the king of gardeners." His life (says Mr. Walpole)

"was a course of inquiry, study, curiosity, instruction, and

benevolence. He knew that retirement, in his own hands, was industry and

benefit to mankind; in those of others, laziness and inutility."

There appears the following more modern publications respecting Mr.

Evelyn:--

1. Sylva, with Notes by Hunter; in 4to, and 8vo.

2. Memoirs and Correspondence of Mr. Evelyn. Edited by Mr. Bray. 5 vols.

8vo. _Portraits_, and other plates. L3. 10s. Another edition, in 2

vols., 4to.

3. Evelyn's Miscellaneous Writings, collected and edited, with Notes, by

Mr. Upcott. Forming a Supplement to the Evelyn Memoirs. 1 vol. 4to. with

plates, 1825. L3. 10s.

The Encycl. of Gardening enumerates the whole of Mr. Evelyn's works. So

does Dr. Watts in his Bibl. Britt.; and Mr. Johnson in his History of

English Gardening.[67]

ABRAHAM COWLEY. The portraits of him are well known. That in Bishop

Hurd's edition is very neat. This same portrait is also well engraved

for Ankars's edition of Cowley; and also in that by Aikens, in 8vo. Dean

Sprat has prefixed to his edition of Cowley, his portrait, engraved by

Faithorne, and, in his preface, pays a warm and just tribute to his

memory. When his death was announced to Charles II., he declared, that

Mr. Cowley had not left a better man behind him in England. Cowley

addresses his chapter _Of Gardens_ (which strongly paints his delight in

them) to Mr. Evelyn. He wrote this epitaph for himself:--

From life's superfluous cares enlarg'd,

His debt of human toil discharg'd,

Here COWLEY lies, beneath this shed,

To ev'ry worldly interest _dead_:

With decent poverty content;

His hours of ease not idly spent;

To fortune's goods a foe profess'd,

And, hating wealth, by all caress'd.

'Tis sure he's _dead_; for, lo! how small

A spot of earth is now his all!

O! wish that earth may lightly lay,

And ev'ry care be far away!

Bring flow'rs, the short-liv'd roses bring,

To _life deceased_ fit offering!

And sweets around the poet strow,

Whilst yet with life his ashes glow.

JOHN ROSE, head gardener to the Lord Essex, at Essex-house, in the

Strand. He sent him to study the celebrated beauties in the gardens of

Versailles. He became afterwards the chief gardener to Charles II., at

the royal gardens in St. James's Park. His portrait may be seen at

Kensington, in an oil painting, where he is presenting a pine to his

Majesty, whilst on a visit to the Duchess of Cleveland, at Downey Court,

Buckinghamshire. It has lately been engraved in mezzotinto. He was the

author of "The English Vineyard Vindicated, and the Way of Making Wine

in France;" first printed with Evelyn's French Gardener, in 1672, 12mo.

Other editions in 1675, 1676, and 1690, in 8vo. The preface is by

Evelyn, as well as The Art of Making Wine. Rose brought to great

perfection dwarf fruit trees, in the gardens at Hampton Court, Carlton,

and Marlborough House. Switzer thus speaks of him:--"He was esteemed to

be the best of his profession in those days, and ought to be remembered

for the encouragement he gave to a servant of his, that has since made

the greatest figure that ever yet any gardener did, I mean Mr. London.

Mr. Rose may be well ranked amongst the greatest virtuosos of that time,

(now dead) who were all well pleased to accept of his company while

living."

CHARLES COTTON. He published "The Planter's Manual," 12mo. 1675. There

is prefixed to it a rural frontispiece, by Van Houe. Mr. Johnson

properly calls him "one of the _Scriptores minores_ of horticulture."

His "devoted attachment to Izaak Walton, forms the best evidence we have

of his naturally amiable disposition." His portrait is finely engraved

in Mr. Major's extensively illustrated and most attractive editions of

the Angler; a delightful book, exhibiting a "matchless picture of rural

nature." Mr. Cotton's portrait is also well engraved in Zouch's Life of

Walton; and in the many other curious and embellished editions of Walton

and Cotton's Angler. He translated with such truth and spirit, the

celebrated Essays of Montaigne, that he received from that superior

critic, the Marquis of Halifax, a most elegant encomium. Sir John

Hawkins calls it "one of the most valuable books in the English

language." A complete list of Mr. Cotton's works appears in Watts's

Bibl. Britt. When describing, in his _Wonders of the Peake_, the Queen

of Scot's Pillar, he thus breaks out:--

Illustrious _Mary_, it had happy been,

Had you then found a cave like this to skreen

Your sacred person from those frontier spies,

That of a sovereign princess durst make prize,

When Neptune too officiously bore

Your cred'lous innocence to this faithless shore.

Oh, _England_! once who hadst the only fame

Of being kind to all who hither came

For refuge and protection, how couldst thou

So strangely alter thy good nature now,

Where there was so much excellence to move,

Not only thy compassion, but thy love?

'Twas strange on earth, save _Caledonian_ ground,

So impudent a villain could be found,

Such majesty and sweetness to accuse;

Or, after that, a judge would not refuse

Her sentence to pronounce; or that being done,

Even amongst bloody'st hangmen, to find one

Durst, though her face was veil'd, and neck laid down,

Strike off the fairest head e'er wore a crown.

And what state policy there might be here,

Which does with right too often interfere,

I 'm not to judge: yet thus far dare be bold,

A fouler act the sun did ne'er behold.[68]

Plott, in his Staffordshire, calls Mr. Cotton "his worthy, learned, and

most ingenious friend." Sir John Hawkins thus speaks of him:--"He was

both a wit and a scholar; of an open, cheerful, and hospitable temper;

endowed with fine talents for conversation, and the courtesy and

affability of a gentleman." He farther thus speaks of one of his

poems:--"It is not for their courtly and elegant turn, that the verses

of Charles Cotton ought to be praised; there is such a delightful flow

of feeling and sentiment, so much of the best part of our nature mixed

up in them, and so much fancy displayed, that one of our most

distinguished living poets has adduced several passages of his Ode upon

Winter, for a general illustration of the characteristics of fancy." He

must have possessed many endearing qualities, for the benevolent and

pious Walton thus concludes a letter to his "most honoured friend,

Charles Cotton, Esq.:"--"though I be more than a hundred miles from you,

and in the eighty-third year of my age, yet I will forget both, and next

month begin a pilgrimage to beg your pardon: for I would die in your

favour, and till then will live, Sir, your most affectionate father and

friend, Isaac Walton." One cannot wonder at the good old man wishing to

visit the courteous and well-bred Mr. Cotton, and to enjoy the

intercourse of hospitable urbanity, near the pastoral streams of the

Dove, when he had received such an invitation as the following,

addressed to his "dear and most worthy friend, Mr. Isaac Walton:"--

Whilst in this cold and blustering clime,

Where bleak winds howl and tempests roar,

We pass away the roughest time

Has been of many years before;

Whilst from the most tempestuous nooks

The chillest blasts our peace invade,

And by great rains our smallest brooks

Are almost navigable made;

Whilst all the ills are so improved,

Of this dead quarter of the year,

That even you, so much beloved,

We would not now wish with us here;

In this estate, I say, it is

Some comfort to us to suppose,

That, in a better clime than this,

You, our dear friend, have more repose;

And some delight to me the while,

Though nature now does weep in rain,

To think that I have seen her smile,

And haply may I do again.

If the all-ruling Power please

We live to see another May,

We'll recompense an age of these

Foul days in one fine fishing day.

We then shall have a day or two,

Perhaps a week, wherein to try

What the best master's hand can do

With the most deadly killing fly:

A day with not too bright a beam,

A warm, but not a scorching sun,

A southern gale to curl the stream,

and, master, half our work is done.

There, whilst behind some bush we wait

The scaly people to betray,--

We'll prove it just, with treacherous bait

To make the preying _Trout_ our prey.

And think ourselves, in such an hour,

Happier than those, though not so high,

Who, like _Leviathans_, devour

Of meaner men the smaller fry.

This, my best friend, at my poor home

Shall be our pastime and our theme;

But then--should you not deign to come,

You make all this a flattering dream.

In wandering over the lovely scenes, the pleasant brooks, the

flower-bespangled meadows, which the moral pages of Isaac Walton so

unaffectedly delineate, it is impossible not to recur to the name of the

late author of _Salmonia_, and to reflect, that on these pages he oft

unbended his vigorous mind from his severe and brilliant discoveries. We

can now only lament the (almost) premature death of this high-ranked

philosopher, this great benefactor to the arts, and deep promoter of

science, whose mortal remains were consigned to his unostentatious tomb,

at Geneva, in one of the finest evenings of summer, followed by the

eloquent and amiable historian, De Sismondi, and by other learned and

illustrious men. One may apply to his last moments at Geneva, (where he

had arrived only one day before) these lines of his own favourite

Herbert:--

_Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,

The bridal of the earth and sky,

Sweet dews shall weep thy fall to-night,

For thou must die!_[69]

SAMUEL GILBERT'S portrait is prefixed to his "Florist's Vade Mecum;"

12mo. In his "Gardener's Almanack," is a particular description of the

roses cultivated in the English gardens at that period. He was the

author of "Fons Sanitatis, or the Healing Spring at Willowbridge Wells."

He was son-in-law to John Rea, the author of Flora, and who planned the

gardens at Gerard's Bromley. Willowbridge Wells are at a little distance

from where these once superb gardens were.

JACOB BOBART, the elder, is an admirable portrait, by D. Loggan, taken

at his age of eighty-one, and engraved by Burghers. Granger says it is

extremely scarce. Beneath the head, which is dated 1675, is this

distich:--

_Thou Germane prince of plants, each year to thee,

Thousands of subjects grant a subsidy._

It is a venerable countenance, of deep thought. Richardson re-engraved

this among his Illustrations to Granger. Granger mentions also a

whole-length of Bobart in a garden, dog, goat, &c. 4to. The Encycl. of

Gardening says, "Bobart's descendants are still in Oxford, and known as

coach proprietors." Do none of them possess the original painting? The

munificence of the Earl of Danby placed Bobart in the physic garden at

Oxford, in 1632, as supervisor; and this garden flourished many years

under his care, and that of his son Jacob, whose zeal and diligence Dr.

Pulteney records. The elder Bobart was the author of the _Hortus

Oxoniensis_, 1648. Wood, in his Athenae, informs us, that "Jacob Bobart

died in his garden-house, in February, 1679, whereupon his body was

buried in the church of St. Peter, Oxon." He left two sons, _Jacob_ and

_Tillemant_. Tillemant became a master coachman between Oxford and

London, but having had the misfortune to break his leg, became one of

the beadles of the university. In the preface to Mr. Nicholls's late

curious work on autographs, among other _albums_, in the British Museum,

it mentions that of David Krein, in which is the autograph of Jacob

Bobart, with these verses;--

----"virtus sua gloria.

Think that day lost whose descending sun

Views from thy hand no noble action done.

Yr success and happyness

is sincerely wished by

Ja. Bobart, Oxford."

It appears from Ray's History of Plants, that Jacob Bobart, the son, was

a frequent communicator to him of scarce plants. It was this son who

published the second volume of Morrison's Oxford History of Plants, who

wrote its excellent preface, and who engaged _Burghers_ to engrave many

of the new plants; which engravings are highly commended by Pulteney.

Mr. Johnson, in page 148 of his History of Gardening, thus pays Bobart a

high compliment:--"a phalanx of botanists were then contemporaries,

which previous ages never equalled, nor succeeding ones surpassed. Ray,

Tournefort, Plumier, Plukenet, Commelin, Rivinus, _Bobart_, Petiver,

Sherard, Boccone, Linnaeus, may be said to have lived in the same age."

JAMES GARDINER. His portrait is engraved by Vertue, from after Verelst,

and prefixed to his translation of _Rapin on Gardens_, 8vo. second

edition; no date. A third edition, 8vo. 1728. I believe he also wrote

"On the Beatitudes;" 2 vols. 8vo. Switzer says, that this "incomparable

Latin poem was translated by an ingenious and worthily dignified

clergyman, and a great lover of gardening, Mr. Gardiner, Sub-Dean of

Lincoln." He became afterwards (I believe) Bishop of Lincoln; and a

Latin epitaph on this bishop is in Peck's _Desid. Curiosa._ There is a

print of "Jacobus Gardiner, Episc. Lincoln," engraved by George White,

from after Dahl.

SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE. The portraits of this worthy man are numerous.

Vanderbane's engraving, from Sir Peter Lely's, is particularly fine.

Vertue's engravings, from Sir Peter, in the folio editions of 1720 and

1740, are also fine. This same portrait is neatly engraved in the late

Mr. Nichol's Collection of Poems. Houbraken has also engraved the same

for Birch's Lives. Sir William Temple, after spending twenty years in

negociations with foreign powers, retired in 1680 from public life, and

employed his time in literary pursuits. He was ambassador for many years

at the court of Holland, and there acquired his knowledge and taste in

gardening. He had a garden at Sheen, and afterwards, another at Moor

Park, where he died in 1700; and though his body was buried in

Westminster Abbey, his heart was enclosed in a silver urn under a

sun-dial in the latter garden. His Essay "Upon the Gardens of Epicurus,

or of Gardening in the year 1685," is printed in all the editions of his

works.[70] These works are published in 2 vols. folio, and 4 vols. 8vo.

Switzer, in his History of Gardening, first published in 1715, says,

"That he was a great lover of gardening, appears by his own writings,

and several kinds of fruit brought over by him out of Holland, &c. as

well as by the testimony of his neighbours _yet living_, the greatest

consolation of his life being, in the lucid intervals he had from public

employs, in his beloved gardens at _Sheen_." And, in his Fruit Gardener

he says, that "the magnificence and generosity of this great lover of

planting, distributed vast numbers of the finest grapes among the

nurserymen about London, as well as amongst the nobility and gentry."

Lord Mountmorris thus speaks of him:--"The retirement of this great man

has bequeathed the most invaluable legacy to posterity. Of the taste and

elegance of his writings too much can never be said, illuminated as they

are by that probity and candour which pervade them, and those charms

which render truth irresistible. Though other writers may be more the

objects of imitation to the scholar, yet his style is certainly the best

adapted to the politician and the man of fashion; nor would such an

opinion be given, were it not for an anecdote of Swift, which I had from

the late Mr. Sheridan, who told me the dean always recommended him as

the best model, and had repeatedly said that the style of Sir William

Temple was the easiest, the most liberal, and the most brilliant

in our language. In a word, when we consider his probity, his

disinterestedness, his contempt of wealth, the genuine beauty of his

style, which was as brilliant, as harmonious, and as pure as his life

and manners; when we reflect upon the treasures which he has bequeathed

by his example and by his works to his country, which no man ever loved

better, or esteemed more; we cannot avoid considering Sir William Temple

as one of the greatest characters which has appeared upon the political

stage; and he may be justly classed with the greatest names of

antiquity, and with the most brilliant characters which adorn and

illustrate the Grecian or Roman annals." Mr. Mason, in his English

Garden, contrasts Sir William's idea of "a perfect garden," with those

of Lord Bacon, and Milton; but he candidly says,

----and yet full oft

O'er Temple's studious hour did truth preside,

Sprinkling her lustre o'er his classic page;

There hear his candour own, in fashion's spite,

In spite of courtly dulness hear it own,

_There is a grace in wild variety

Surpassing rule and order._ Temple, yes,

There is a grace; and let eternal wreaths

Adorn their brows who fixt its empire here."

He then, in glowing lines, pays an animated tribute to Addison, Pope,

and Kent. Hume records that "he was full of honour and humanity." Sir

William thus concludes one of his philosophic essays:--"When this is

done, human life is, at the greatest and the best, but like a froward

child, that must be played with and humoured a little to keep it quiet

till it falls asleep, and then the care is over." His garden was one of

his last delights. He knew what kind of life was best fitted to make a

man's last days happy. Mr. Walpole, though he censures Sir William's

warm panegyric on the garden at Moor Park, yet scruples not doing him

full justice, in styling him an excellent man, and an admired writer,

whose style, as to his garden, is animated with the colouring and glow

of poetry. Mr. Cobbett, in his _English Gardener_, thus deplores the

fate of Moor Park:--"This really wise and excellent man, Sir W. Temple,

who, while he possessed the soundest judgment, and was employed in some

of the greatest concerns of his country, so ardently, yet so rationally

and unaffectedly, praises the pursuits of gardening, in which he

delighted from his youth to his old age; and of his taste in which, he

gave such delightful proofs in those gardens and grounds at Moor Park,

beneath the turf of one spot of which, he caused by his will, his heart

to be buried, and which spot, together with all the rest of the

beautiful arrangement, has been torn about and disfigured within the

last fifty years, by a succession of wine merchants, spirit merchants,

West Indians, and God knows what besides." And, in his _Woodlands_, he

says, "I have stood for hours, when a little boy, looking at this object

(the canal and borders of beautiful flowers at Moor Park); I have

travelled far since, and have seen a great deal; but I have never seen

any thing of the gardening kind so beautiful in the whole course of my

life." Mr. Johnson, in his History of English Gardening, after noticing

many general particulars of Sir William, devotes an interesting page to

Sir William's attachment to gardening; and every line in this generous

page, betrays his own delight in this art. He thus concludes this

page:--"Nothing can demonstrate more fully the delight he took in

gardening, than the direction left in his will, that his heart should be

buried beneath the sun-dial of his garden, at Moor Park, near Farnham,

in Surrey. In accordance with which, it was deposited there in a silver

box, affording another instance of the ruling passion unweakened even in

death. Nor was this an unphilosophical clinging to that which it was

impossible to retain; but rather that grateful feeling, common to our

nature, of desiring finally to repose where in life we have been happy.

In his garden, Sir William Temple had spent the calmest hours of a

well-spent life, and where his heart had been most peaceful, he wished

its dust to mingle, and thus, at the same time, offering his last

testimony to the sentiment, that in a garden

_Hic secura quies, et nescia fallere vita._"

On the portraits of English authors on gardening · 第 7 / 19 段