present writer heard him strongly enforce the cultivation of _papaver
somniferum_. What he may have also enforced to others, may possibly have
given rise to some of those ingenious papers on its cultivation, which
are inserted not only in the Transactions of the Society for the
Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; in other publications,
but in the first and fifth volumes of the Memoirs of the Caledonian
Horticultural Society. The papers of Mr. Ball and Mr. Jones, on its
cultivation, in the former of these transactions, are particularly
diffuse and valuable. They are fully noticed in Dr. Thornton's "Family
Herbal." The subjoined plate is a copy of that in the title page to
"_Opiologia_, ou traicte concernant le naturel proprietes, vraye
preparation, et seur vsage de l'opium," a favourite volume with Dr.
Darwin, printed at _la Haye_, 1614, 12mo. Dr. Darwin, in his Botanical
Garden, thus speaks of opium: "the finest opium is procured by wounding
the heads of large poppies with a three-edged knife, and tying
muscle-shells to them, to catch the drops. In small quantities it
exhilirates the mind, raises the passions, and invigorates the body; in
large ones, it is succeeded by intoxication, languor, stupor, and
death."
[94] _Sterne_ mentions a traveller who always set out with the spleen
and jaundice,--"without one generous connection, or pleasurable anecdote
to tell of,--travelling straight on, looking neither to his right hand
or his left, lest love or pity should seduce him out of the road." Mr.
Loudon seems to be a very different kind of a traveller: for his
horticultural spirit and benevolent views, pervade almost every page of
his late tour through _Bavaria_. One envies his feelings, too, in
another rural excursion, through the romantic scenery of _Bury_, at Mr.
Barclay's, and of Mr. Hope's at _Deepdene_; and particularly when he
paints his own emotions on viewing the room of sculpture there. He even
could not, in October last, take his rural ride from _Edgware_ to _St.
Alban's_ without thus awakening in each traveller a love of gardens, and
giving this gentle hint to an honest landlord:--"A new inn, in the
outskirts of _St. Alban's_, in the _Dunstable_ road, has an ample
garden, not made the most of. Such a piece of ground, and a gardener of
taste, would give an inn, so situated, so great a superiority, that
_every one would be tempted to stop there_; but the garden of this
Boniface, exhibits but the beginning of a good idea." When travelling
along our English roads, his mind no doubt frequently reverts to those
road-side gardens in the Netherlands, which he thus happily adverts to
in p. 32 of his Encyclopaedia: "The gardens of the cottagers in these
countries, are undoubtedly better managed and more productive than those
of any other country; no man who has a cottage is without a garden
attached; often small, but rendered useful to a poor family, by the high
degree of culture given to it." Linnaeus, in his eloquent oration at
Upsal, enforces the pleasure of travelling in one's own country, through
its fields _and roads_. Mr. Heath, the zealous and affectionate
historian of Monmouth, in his account of that town and its romantic
neighbourhood, (published in 1804,) omits no opportunity of noticing the
many neat gardens, which add to the other rural charms of its rich
scenery, thus mentions another Boniface:--"The late Thomas Moxley, who
kept the public-house at Manson Cross, was a person that took great
delight in fruit-trees, and had a large piece of ground let him, for the
purpose of planting it with apple-trees; but his death (which followed
soon after) prevented the plan from being carried to the extent he
intended, though some of the land bears evidence of his zeal and
labour." Mr. Heath cannot even travel on the turnpike road, from
Monmouth to Hereford, without benevolently remarking, that "a number of
laborious families have erected small tenements, with a garden to each,
most of which are thickly planted with apple-trees, whose produce
considerably adds to the owner's support."
[95] Of this celebrated biographer of Dr. Darwin (whose Verses to the
Memory of Mr. Garrick, and whose Monody on Captain Cook, will live as
long as our language is spoken,) Sir W. Scott thus describes his first
personal interview with:--"Miss Seward, when young, must have been
exquisitely beautiful; for, in advanced age, the regularity of her
features, the fire and expression of her countenance, gave her the
appearance of beauty, and almost of youth. Her eyes were auburn, of the
precise shade and hue of her hair, and possessed great expression. In
reciting, or in speaking with animation, they appeared to become darker;
and, as it were, to flash fire. I should have hesitated to state the
impression which this peculiarity made upon me at the time, had not my
observation been confirmed by that of the first actress of this or any
other age, with whom I lately happened to converse on our deceased
friend's expressive powers of countenance."
[96] From one of these pleasing sermons I extract these few
lines:--"Among the most pleasing sights of a country village, is that of
a father and mother, followed by their family of different ages, issuing
from their little dwelling on a Sunday morning, as the bell tolls to
church. The children, with their ruddy, wholesome looks, are all neat
and clean. Their behaviour at church shews what an impression their
parents have given them of the holiness of the place, and of the duties
they have to perform. Though unregarded, as they return home, by their
richer neighbours, they carry back with them to their humble cottage the
blessing of God.--Pious parents! lead on your children from church to
heaven. You are in the right road. Your heavenly father sees your
hearts."
[97] Mr. Cradock published in 8vo. in 1777, price 2s. 6d. an account of
some of the most remarkable places in North Wales.
[98] Mons. de Voltaire was so charmed with the taste and talents, and
polite engaging manners of La Fage, that he paid him the following
compliment; which may very justly be applied to Mr. Cradock:
_Il recut deux presens des Dieux,
Les plus charmans qu'ils puissent faire;
L'un etoit le talent de plaire,
L'autre le secret d'etre heureux._
[99] The Quarterly Review for April, 1821, observes, that "The total
number of exotics, introduced into this country, appears to be 11,970,
of which the first forty-seven species, including the orange, apricot,
pomegranate, &c. were introduced previously or during the reign of Henry
VIII., and no fewer than 6756 in the reign of George III. For this proud
accession to our exotic botany in the last century, the public are
chiefly indebted to Sir Joseph Banks, and Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, of
the Hammersmith nursery."
[100] The invocation to this Vale, reminds one of Mr. Repton's
description:--"Downton Vale, near Ludlow, one of the most beautiful and
romantic valleys that the imagination can conceive. It is impossible by
description to convey an idea of its natural charms, or to do justice to
that taste which has displayed these charms to the greatest advantage,
_With art clandestine, and conceal'd design._
A narrow, wild, and natural path, sometimes creeps under the beetling
rock, close by the margin of a mountain stream. It sometimes ascends to
an awful precipice, from whence the foaming waters are heard roaring in
the dark abyss below, or seen wildly dashing against its opposite banks;
while, in other places, the course of the river _Teme_ being impeded by
natural ledges of rock, the vale presents a calm, glassy mirror, that
reflects the surrounding foliage. The path, in various places, crosses
the water by bridges of the most romantic and contrasted forms; and,
branching in various directions, including some miles in length, is
occasionally varied and enriched by caves and cells, hovels, and covered
seats, or other buildings, in perfect harmony with the wild but pleasing
horrors of the scene."
[101] Foxley, this far-famed seat of dignified and benevolent
retirement, has on many occasions become interesting. I will merely
mention one. It gave a peaceful asylum to Benjamin Stillingfleet, when
his mind was depressed by disappointment. The then owner, Robert Price,
Esq. and his mild and amiable lady, both kindly pressed him to become an
inmate of their domestic retreat, that his health might be restored, and
his mind calmed; and though he modestly refused being a constant
intruder, yet he took up his residence in a cottage near them, and
delighted to pass his leisure hours in their happy domestic circle,
"blending his studious pursuits, with rural occupations," and
particularly with gardening. No doubt, to this protecting kindness, may,
on this spot, have been imbibed his great veneration for Theophrastus;
and here he must have laid the foundation of those attainments, which,
during the future periods of his life, obtained for him the high
approbation of the justly celebrated Mrs. Montagu, who, in her letters,
speaks of "this invaluable friend," in the highest possible terms of
praise. In this peaceful and consoling retreat, was written his original
and masterly tribute to the talents of Xenophon; and here was first
kindled his deep enthusiastic zeal for the classic authors of antiquity;
and the materials for his then intended edition of Milton (who he says
equalled all the ancients whom he imitated; the sublimity of Homer, the
majesty of Sophocles, the softness of Theocritus, and the gaiety of
Anacreon,) enriched with parallel passages from holy writ, the classics,
and the early Italian poets; and here he composed his matchless treatise
on the power and principles of Tartini's music (for it seems Mr. Price
himself "was a master of the art.") Here too, most probably, he
sketched, or first gathered, his early memoranda towards his future
general history of husbandry, from the earliest ages of the world to his
own time; and fostered a devoted zeal for Linnaeus, which produced that
spirited eulogium on him, which pervades the preface to his translation
of "Miscellaneous Tracts on Natural History."
[102] Sir Uvedale, about fifty years ago, translated _Pausanias_ from
the Greek. One may judge of the feeling with which he dwelt on the pages
of this book, by what he says of that nation in vol. i. p. 65 of his
Essays, where he speaks of being struck with the extreme richness of
some of the windows of our cathedrals and ruined abbeys: "I hope it will
not be supposed, that by admiring the picturesque circumstances of the
Gothic, I mean to undervalue the symmetry and beauty of Grecian
buildings: whatever comes to us from the Greeks, has an irresistible
claim to our admiration; that distinguished people seized on the true
points both of beauty and grandeur in all the arts, and their
architecture has justly obtained the same high pre-eminence as their
sculpture, poetry, and eloquence."
[103] On the pomp of devotion in our ancient abbeys, Mr. R. P. Knight
thus interests his readers, in the chapter "Of the Sublime and
Pathetic," in the Inquiry into the principles of Taste:--"Every person
who has attended the celebration of high mass, at any considerable
ecclesiastical establishment, must have felt how much the splendour and
magnificence of the Roman Catholic worship tends to exalt the spirit of
devotion, and to inspire the soul with rapture and enthusiasm. Not only
the impressive melody of the vocal and instrumental music, and the
imposing solemnity of the ceremonies, but the pomp and brilliancy of the
sacerdotal garments, and the rich and costly decorations of the altar,
raise the character of religion, and give it an air of dignity and
majesty unknown to any of the reformed churches."
[104] In p. 130 and 179 of vol. ii. he thus adverts to the effects of
the levelling system of Launcelot Browne:--"From this influence of
fashion, and the particular influence of Mr. Browne, models of old
gardens are in this country still scarcer in nature than in painting;
and therefore what good parts there may be in such gardens, whether
proceeding from original design, or from the changes produced by time
and accident, can no longer be observed; and yet, from these specimens
of ancient art, however they may be condemned as old fashioned, many
hints might certainly be taken, and blended with such modern
improvements as really deserve the name."--"Were my arguments in favour
of many parts of the old style of gardening ever so convincing, the most
I could hope from them at present, would be, to produce _some caution_;
and to assist in preserving some of the few remains of old magnificence
that still exist, by making the owner less ready to listen to a
professor, whose interest it is to recommend total demolition." Mr. R.
P. Knight, in a note to his _landscape_, thus remarks on this subject:
"I remember a country clock-maker, who being employed to clean a more
complex machine than he had been accustomed to, very confidently took it
to pieces; but finding, when he came to put it together again, some
wheels of which he could not discover the use, very discreetly carried
them off in his pocket. The simple artifice of this prudent mechanic,
always recurs to my mind, when I observe the manner in which our modern
improvers repair and embellish old places; not knowing how to employ the
terraces, mounds, avenues, and other features which they find there,
they take them all away, and cover the places which they occupied with
turf. It is a short and easy method of proceeding; and if their
employers will be satisfied with it, they are not to be blamed for
persevering in it, as it may be executed by proxy, as well as in
person."
Severely (and no doubt justly), as the too generally smooth and
monotonous system of Mr. Browne has been condemned, yet he must have had
great merit to have obtained the many encomiums he did obtain from some
of our first nobility and gentry. The _evil_ which he did in many of
their altered pleasure-grounds, _lives after him--the good is oft
interred in his grave_.
[105] Mr. George Mason justly observes that "Nature's favourite haunts
are the school of gardening."
[106] Dion. Chrysostom said of Xenophon, that "he had something of
witchcraft in his writings." It would not be too much to say the same of
this poet.
THE END.
_Printed by Lowe and Harvey, Playhouse Yard, Blackfriars._