THE PRAISE OF GARDENS CHAPTER I ANCIENT EGYPTIAN, HEBREW, PERSIAN, SYRIAN, GREEK AND SHE HE led me, hand in hand, and we went into her garden to EGYPTIAN converse together. There she made me taste of excellent honey. The rushes of the garden were verdant, and all its bushes flourishing. There were currant trees and cherries redder than the ruby.1 of love; The menni unshelled like cocoa-nuts they brought to us, ' and enjoy thyself a day in the room of there is a terrace and a parlour.' 'The Tale of the Garden of Flowers, translated by M. François Chabas (Records of the Past,' Egyptian Texts). Gardens are frequently represented in the tombs of Thebes and other parts of Egypt, many of which are remarkable for their extent. The one here introduced is shown to have been surrounded by an embattled wall, with a canal of water passing in front of it, connected with the river. Between the canal and the wall, and parallel to them both, was a shady avenue of various trees; and about the centre was the entrance, through a lofty door 1 Fruits termed Kaion and Tipau, which probably had nothing in common with cherries and currants except their colour. * The Persea fruit, a species of sacred almond. 3 Green felspar, or Amazon stone. A An unknown fruit. MS. whose lintel and jambs were decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions, containing the name of the owner of the grounds, who in this instance was the King himself. The vines were traced on a trellis-work, supported by transverse rafters resting on pillars; and a wall extending round it separated this part from the rest of the garden. At the upper end were suites of rooms on three different storeys, looking upon green trees, and affording a pleasant retreat in the heat of summer On the outside of the vineyard wall were planted rows of palms, which occurred again with the dom and other trees, along the whole length of the exterior wall: four tanks of water, bordered by a grass plot, where geese were kept, and the delicate flower of the lotus was encouraged to grow, served for the irrigation of the grounds; and small kiosks, or summer-houses, shaded with trees, stood near the water, and overlooked beds of flowers.-Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, 'The Ancient Egyptians.'1 A GARDEN enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut SOLOMON Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind: and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.-The Song of Solomon. 975). AND without the court-yard hard by the door is a great garden, HOMER (B.C. of four plough-gates, and a hedge runs round on either side. 962-927). And there grow tall trees blossoming, pear-trees and pomegranates, and apple-trees with bright fruit, and sweet figs, and olives in their bloom. The fruit of these trees never perisheth, neither faileth winter or summer, enduring through all the year. Evermore the West Wind blowing brings some fruits to birth and 1 From an interesting paper in the Morning Post by Mr Percy E. Newberry, I gather, while correcting these proof sheets, that there is a Tomb at Thebes of a man named Nekht, who, under Thotmes III. (about 1500 B.C.), held the office of Head Gardener of the Gardens attached to the Temple of Karnak, which there is good reason to suppose were designed by him as represented in our illustration. This tomb was discovered first by Mr Robert Hay early in the century, during a residence of thirteen years in the Nile Valley, and has now been re-explored and excavated afresh by Mr Newberry, Lord Northampton, and Dr Spiegelberg. 1 (B.C. 444-359). ripens others. Pear upon pear waxes old, and apple on apple, yea, and cluster ripens upon cluster of the grape, and fig upon fig. There too hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, whereof the one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot on level ground, while other grapes men are gathering, and yet others they are treading in the wine-press. In the foremost row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others there be that are growing black to vintaging. There too, skirting the furthest line, are all manner of garden beds, planted trimly, that are perpetually fresh, and therein are two fountains of water, whereof one scatters his streams all about the garden, and the other runs over against it beneath the threshold of the court-yard, and issues by the lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk draw water.-These were the splendid gifts of the gods in the palace of Alcinöus.-Odyssey, VII. (Done into English Prose by S. H. Butcher and A. Lang.) XENOPHON SOCRATES.-But in some part of Persia there is a great prince called Satrapa, who takes upon him the office both of soldiery and husbandry. Critobulus. If the king acts as you inform me, he seems to take as much delight in husbandry as he does in war. Soc. I have not yet done concerning him; for in every country where he resides, or passes a little time, he takes care to have excellent gardens (such as are called Paradeisioi),1 filled with every kind of flower or plant that can by any means be collected, and in these places are his chief delight. Crit. By your discourse it appears also, that he has a great 1 'A Paradise seems to have been a large Space of Ground, adorned and beautified with all Sorts of Trees, both of Fruits and of Forest, either found there before it was inclosed, or planted after; either cultivated like Gardens, for Shades and for Walks, with Fountains or Streams, and all Sorts of Plants usual in the Climate, and pleasant to the Eye, the Smell or the Taste; or else employed like our Parks for Inclosure and Harbour of all Sorts of Wild Beasts, as well as for the Pleasure of Riding and Walking: And so they were of more or less extent, and of differing Entertainment, according to the several Humours of the Princes that ordered and inclosed them.'-(Sir William Temple: Upon the Gardens of Epicurus.) delight in gardening; for, as you intimate, his gardens are furnished with every tree and plant that the ground is capable of bringing forth. . When Lysander brought presents to Cyrus from the cities of Greece, that were his confederates, he received him with the greatest humanity, and amongst other things showed him his garden, which was called 'The Paradise of Sardis'; which when Lysander beheld he was struck with admiration of the beauty of the trees, the regularity of their planting, the evenness of their rows, and their making regular angles one to another; or, in a word, the beauty of the quincunx order in which they were planted, and the delightful odours which issued from them. Lysander could no longer refrain from extolling the beauty of their order, but more particularly admired the excellent skill of the hand that had so curiously disposed them; which Cyrus perceiving, answered him: 'All the trees which you here behold are of my own appointment; I it was that contrived, measured, laid out the ground for planting these trees, and I can even show you some of them that I planted with my own hands.'-' Economicus,' translated by R. Bradley, F.R.S. SOCRATES. Lead on then, and at the same time look out PLATO for a place where we may sit down. Phædrus. Do you see that lofty plane-tree? Socr. How should I not. Pha. There, there is both shade and a gentle breeze, and grass to sit down upon, or, if we prefer it, to lie down on. Socr. Lead on, then. Socr. By Juno, a beautiful retreat. For this plane-tree is very wide-spreading and lofty, and the height and shadiness of this agnus castus are very beautiful, and as it is now at the perfection of its flowering, it makes the spot as fragrant as possible. Moreover, a most agreeable fountain flows under the plane tree, of very cold water, to judge from its effect on the foot. It appears from these images and statues to be sacred to certain nymphs and to Achelous. Observe again the freshness of the spot, how charm (B.C. 427-347). |