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is turned, to dash precipitately over a succession of terraces, and is tormented below into a variety of tricks at the turning of a cock, you are assailed by water on every side. We are told by Loudon, to whom we are indebted for much information, that "water is squirted in your face from invisible holes; it darts up in a con

bed on which he lay, strewn with flowers. Cleopatra's passion for roses was so great that she paid a talent for those to ornament one supper. The floor of the apart ment in which the banquet was served was covered with roses to the depth of a cubit. Suetonius tells us that Nero lavished four millions of cesterces, about £30,000, on the roses for one entertain-stellation of jets d'eau, and, descending in ment. We have all heard of the tulip mania which raged throughout Europe for a time, so that these extravagances need not surprise us.

Flowers have been made the vehicles for sentiment all over the world. The Persians communicate with their mistresses by means of bouquets. The poet has made the fond girl depend on the decision of a flower to ascertain whether her affection was returned.

It is the custom in Switzerland, on the birth of a child, to dispatch a maid to all the friends and relatives in the family with the good news, dressed in her very best, and carrying a large nosegay of the choicest flowers. That custom, once so prevalent in merry England, of ushering in the month of May with garlands and crowns of flowers, appeared to us most natural.

During the dark ages the art of gardening would have been utterly lost but for the monks, who still practiced it, and even introduced it into tracts in Italy and Spain hitherto utterly neglected. The art of gardening was revived and encouraged by the Medici family, in Italy, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The most famous gardens were those of Lorenzo de Medici and the opulent Bernard Rucellai; they were laid out according to the geometrical plan of Pliny's Tusculum villa, a fashion adopted throughout Europe soon after. Forsyth tells us that in the villas about Rome, they persisted in "the formal symmetrical plan, architectural groves, devices cut in box, and tunes performed by the hydraulic organ." In the description of the gardens of the Villa Panfilé, we are told of laurel and ilex porticoes, of "parterres, green scutcheons, and clipped coronets, vegetating over half an acre.' Though Belvidere, the villa of Prince Borghese, at Frascati, is mentioned as being a most noble object, and commanding magnificent views; yet here, too, the love of forcing nature out of her own sweet course is seen. Behind the villa a stream

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misty showers, presents against the sun a beautiful iris! Water is made to blow the trumpets of Centaurs and the pipes of a Cyclops; water plays the organ, makes the birds warble and the Muses tune their reeds, sets Pegasus neighing, and all Parnassus on music."

The taste for introducing statues and urns into gardens was revived by Cardinal d'Este, about the same time. Anxious to design a residence and gardens for himself, he took the ground where the Emperor Adrian's villa had stood; here he happened to find a number of antiquities, which he distributed through his gardens, and thus the plan that he had accidentally adopted became the fashion throughout Europe. The approved style of gardening in Italy may be gathered from a poem published in the beginning of the seventeenth century, under the title of "L'Adama." Its author was a Florentine. It is illustrated by "prints representing Paradise, with clipped hedges, square parterres, trees formally lopped, straight walks, marble fountains, and water-works."

Wilson speaks in great rapture of the gardens belonging to many of the villas on the Lake of Como; it, however, appears, from what he says, that they did not altogether escape the prevailing fashion; he tells us that "it is delightful to behold the lofty crags, frowning from the highly cultivated gardens, with hot-houses of exotic plants and ornamented summer-houses subduing the natural wildness of the scene."

The fantastic devices that so long prevailed in the art of gardening could not have been executed without considerable labor and expense, and the obstacles and difficulties which have been overcome in the pursuit of the art is sufficient proof of the zeal with which it was followed. The hanging gardens of Babylon, ranked as one of the wonders of the world, were a striking example of laborious effort and skill; flights of steps led to terrace above terrace, till the height was equal to the walls of the city. The mold which had been

conveyed to these terraces rested on a foundation of lead, supported on vast arches raised above other arches. The earth was so deep that the largest trees grew there, and every variety of plant that could beautify a garden embellished the terraces; water was ingeniously drawn up by an engine, so as to water the whole garden. How grateful must she have been, for whose sake the fairy-scene had been contrived, when she found herself in the midst of the trees and flowers of her native home! what fond recollections must have been wakened! but still dearer to her must have been the proof of that affection which had such tender regard for her early associations.

to afford shelter to the cultivator has been observed. Should he wish, for any reason, to change his situation, he gets into his little vessel, and tows on his garden, if small, by himself; if large, with the help of others, and places it in the direction which is preferred.

Cashmere, too, has its floating gardens. Inundations take place at the city, from the accumulation of weeds and mud, by which the depth of the lakes is diminished and their surface enlarged. Water-lilies, reeds, and a variety of aquatic plants, spring from the bottom of the lakes; and as the boats take the most direct lines through the waters to their place of destination, the waters are divided in some places by beds of sedges and reeds. The farmers, to turn these beds to profitable account, cut off the roots of the plant, about two feet under water; so that they are separated from the bottom, though retaining their situation. They are then pressed together and formed into long borders about two yards wide; the heads of the plants are then cut off, and laid upon the surface; it is then covered with a thin layer of mud, which sinks by degrees into the mass of tangled stalks. The

The artificial gardens of Isola Bella, in the Lago Maggiore, had a foundation like that of the hanging gardens of Babylon. The barren rock, which in 1640 had not an inch of earth on its surface, and produced no vegetation but lichens and moss, became, under the direction of Vitaliano Boremeo, an object of surpassing beauty. Earth was brought from the banks of the lake, in such quantity as to cover ten terraces, raised on arches one above the other to the top of the island where the palace stands; the rarest and most beau-floating bed is kept in its place by a wiltiful plants thus form a pyramid that excites admiration and surprise. Orange and lemon trees are in great luxuriance; the grove of laurels is scarcely equaled in Europe, and two of them are said to be "the largest in existence." A romantic interest, too, like that connected with the gardens of Babylon, is said to attach to those of Isola Bella, for they also owed their existence to affection.

Perhaps the most curious specimens of cultivation to be met with, are the floating gardens of Mexico. When the Mexicans were subdued by the Calhuan and Tepanican nations, and confined to the wretched little islands on the lake, they were without land to cultivate; but necessity (so aptly called the mother of invention) suggested the idea for the formation of floating fields and gardens. They laid the foundation with wicker-work, water plants, and mud. The boat containing one of these gardens is usually eight poles long by three broad. They first grew maize, and other useful plants; but afterward there were gardens among them where all kinds of flowers and herbs were successfully raised. A tree may sometimes be seen, and a hut

low stake, which is driven through it at each end, which admits of its accommodating itself to the rise and fall of the water. A quantity of plants are disturbed from the bottom by means of a long pole thrust in among them, and turned round and round repeatedly; these are conveyed in the boat, and laid on the surface of the bed, when they are twisted into cones about two feet in diameter at their base, and about the same height. The top terminates in a hollow, which is filled with fresh mud, and at times with wood ashes, into which a number of cucumber and melon plants are transplanted from under the mats where they were reared.

No gardens could have cost such an amount of labor as the elaborate pleasure grounds of the Chinese. The great object in their arrangement is to represent nature in a variety of aspects. Some travelers describe these gardens as "exhibiting a general confusion of the productions of verdant nature;" they are of vast extent, and represent a succession of scenes; the pleasing, the horrible, the enchanted. In the Scene of Horror, impending rocks, dark caverns, and impetuous cataracts are

introduced, and the appearance of some great convulsion of nature is imitated. Trees are bent from their natural form, and made to look as if scathed by lightning, or blasted by the tempest. Some are seen torn and shivered; others are lying across the torrents, as if rent from their places by the rush of the waters; the ruins of castles and villages, as if destroyed by lightning and the storm, are interspersed throughout the scene; while wretched homes here and there intimate the misery to which the inhabitants of this region of desolation are reduced. You emerge suddenly from this gloom and devastation into the Scene of Delight, which is diversified by wood and water, and embellished with a profusion of flowering shrubs and flowers of every hue. Vistas of cascades are seen through the openings in the woods, with sheets of water, where vessels are gliding along; bridges and buildings lie scattered in the distance. To surprise seems the great aim of this style of gardening. Sometimes, gradually led on from this delightful landscape to a wild, rugged path, the explorer is involved in dark caverns; and again he finds himself in the midst of luxuriance and beauty. All appears like enchantment. The scene derives its great interest from an air of supernatural mystery; strange sounds are heard to issue from the ground, (contrived by making streams pass beneath it ;) openings are left in the rocks and buildings, through which the wind rushes like an awful dirge; grotesque-looking trees and plants are introduced into this scene, where a number of strange animals are let loose. The imperial gardens, which are of vast extent, are laid out after this fashion, embellished with artificial hills, valleys, lakes, and canals; palaces, towns, and villages of wood, painted and varnished, (for such are always introduced into pleasuregrounds,) bridges, colonnades, restingplaces; a farm and fields fill up the design, where the emperor presides once a year for the encouragement of industry.

The fantastic style of gardening which at one time prevailed throughout Europe, did not originate there, but has been traced by those who have carefully examined the paintings and the bas-reliefs which represent the Egyptian gardens, where the flowers and fruits so essential for the Egyptian banquets were cultivated. They were laid out in the manner which went, VOL. XI.-40

in England, by the name of "the Dutch style;" square flower-beds; raised terraces, in straight lines; arbors of trelliswork at regular distances, covered with vine and other creeping plants; ponds for water-fowl and for fish, form the representations of this ancient people. The value set upon the lotus-plant is perceived at once; it is seen everywhere. The Egyptian ladies almost invariably held the blossom of the lotus in their hand, and it was the decoration for their hair; the necklaces, too, which they wore at their banquets, were formed of its petals. The plants in which the gardens of Egypt abounded, are particularly alluded to in the Song of Solomon."

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The gardens of Switzerland appear to have been laid out without any attempt at imitation; they exhibited none of the fantastic ornaments which were so profusely introduced into the gardens of other countries. Hirschfield tells that "they are theaters of true beauty, without vain ornaments or artificial decoration." There is an unspeakable charm in simplicity, which makes it a component part in all that is sublime and lovely. The natural advantages of these gardens would, indeed, render embellishment, beyond the culture of plants, quite out of place. Their romantic and picturesque situations, the undulations of the ground, the rocks, the verdure for which some are remarkable, the noble views which they command, render them most delightful pleasure-gardens; and they are, besides, cultivated with the greatest care and most scrupulous neatness. The first botanic garden was founded at Zurich, by Gesner, before the middle of the sixteenth century. Though his means obliged him to limit its extent and the number of hands he employed, yet his energy was such that he had a vast collection of plants which he had preserved in his extensive travels and procured from his friends. Most of the cantons can now boast of a botanic garden. Pisa is distinguished for having opened the first in Europe. The botanic garden of Ghent, established by Napoleon in 1797, is the richest and best in the Netherlands. Here, too, the festivals of Flora are held twice a year by the agricultural society; they last for three days at midsummer, and again at midwinter. An honorary medal is the prize awarded to the finest plants exhibited.

[The subject will be continued in a future article.]

THE FAITHFUL PASTOR AND THE

DEVOTED WIFE.

The plague was introduced into this remote district through the medium of a box. of clothes sent to a tailor who resided

HE little village of Eyam, in Derby- there. The person who opened the box,

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ever symptoms of the plague appeared, so hopeless was recovery, that the dissolution of the afflicted patient was watched with anxious solicitude, that so much of the disease might be buried, and its fatal influence destroyed. In the churchyard, on the neighboring hills, and in the fields bordering the village, graves were dug ready to receive the expiring sufferers, and the earth with an unhallowed haste was closed upon them, even while the limbs were yet warm. A clear idea of the ravages made here by this awful scourge may be gathered from the fact, that out of a population of three hundred and thirty persons who then inhabited Eyam, two hundred and fifty-nine fell victims to death. When the pestilence first appeared, the clergyman, Mr. Mompesson, was residing

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here with his wife and two children. alarmed villagers communicated the fearful fact at once to their minister and friend. After the first shock, he speedily made up his mind as to the proper course to pursue; he determined to confine the plague, if possible, to the bounds of his own parish, and to remain there with his flock, as a true pastor should, and thus literally become "the priest, the physician, and the legislator of a community of sufferers." He was at this time a young man, his wife was in her twenty-seventh year, and for her safety and for that of his two children he was deeply anxious; he therefore at once imparted the melancholy news to her, explained the determined nature of his own self-sacrifice, and urged her immediate flight with the children while life and

ranged that food should be left at stated spots around the village, that troughs filled with water should be placed near the boundary line of communication, to receive and purify the purchase money used in the perilous traffic; and thus all danger be avoided of spreading contagion. In his labors he was much assisted by the Earl of Devonshire, who was at the time resid

health remained. But he addressed a spirit as bold as his own, as truly imbued with knowledge of Christian duty, as determined to act with fortitude and resignation to death. She sent her children to a temporary home of safety, but she refused to go herself; he whom she had sworn to love and cherish she would not desert in his hour of need; the marriage vow of consolatory companionship, "tilling at Chatsworth, where he also remained, death doth part," she would keep to the letter, and resolutely, with Christian fortitude, cast away all fear, and prepared for a duty, although it was rendered doubly repulsive by the terrors which surrounded

it.

These noble spirits by their example upheld the hopes of their poor parishioners; they flew not from their homes when their pastor showed his faith and determination; they trusted in him and obeyed his behests; he was their guide, their monitor, in life and death. By this means the plague was pent in the narrow limits of the village, and the county or perhaps we may say the country generally-was saved from similar ravages. Such was his influence over the villagers, that at a time when, of all others, men listen least to argument and most to fear, he was implicitly obeyed in all things; his character and example drew a moral cordon-" a charmed circle" -round Eyam, which none attempted to pass, even though to remain within it was to hazard death almost inevitably. He ar

undeterred by fear, during the whole time the plague was ravaging Eyam, doing all in his power to second the exertions of its noble pastor.

Mompesson felt more than ever the necessity for religious comfort and observances, and wished that his flock should unite in prayer to God, and listen to the certain hope of salvation as they had done heretofore. But to assemble where they used, in the village church, would be to woo the embraces of Death. He therefore fixed on a spot where he had often enjoyed the beauty of retirement in happier hours, and there determined to assemble his hearers. It is a deep dell, close to the village, formed by the fissures of the rocks as they descend toward Middleton Dale, its craggy sides covered with trees, and a small stream trickling along the midst. Half-way down the dell a rock projects from the mass of foliage, and at a little height from the base is a small cavernous arch about twelve feet high. This Mompesson chose for his pul

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