On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening Part 3

3, A Designe for Plentie, by an universall planting of _Fruit-trees_; tendered by some Well-wishers to the Public. _Lond._ without date, but probably (as Mr. Loudon observes) 1652, 4to.

"Published by Hartlib, who had the MS. from the Hon. Colonel John Barkstead, Lieutenant of the Tower. The author was an aged minister of the Gospel, at Lovingland, near Yarmouth."

4, The Commonwealth of Bees, 1657.

Mr. Weston gives much information respecting Mr. Hartlib. I select only the following:--

"He was a German gentleman by birth, a great promoter of husbandry during the times of the commonwealth, and much esteemed by all ingenious men in those days, particularly by Milton, who addressed to him his Treatise on Education; Sir William Petty also inscribed two letters to him on the same subject. _Lond._ 4to. 1647 and 1648. Cromwell, who was a great favourer of agriculture, in consequence of this admirable performance, allowed Hartlib a pension of 100. a year; and Hartlib afterwards, the better to fulfil the intentions of his benefactor, procured Dr. Beatie's excellent annotations on the Legacy, with other valuable pieces from his numerous correspondents. This famous work, attributed to Hartlib, and called the Legacy, was only drawn up at his request, and, pa.s.sing through his correction and revision, was published by him." His name will ever stand honoured, from Milton having dedicated his _Tractate on Education_ to him, and from his having, in this tract, painted with affection, and with warm and high colours, the character of Mr. Hartlib.[31]

Dr. JOHN BEALE, author of that celebrated little tract, the "Herefords.h.i.+re Orchards, a pattern for the whole of England." _London_ 1657, 12mo.; 1724, 8vo. He addresses this to Mr. Hartlib, and thus commences it:--"Your industrious endeavours for the benefit of all men, and particularly for the good of this nation, hath well deserved the grateful acknowledgement of all good men, and of my self in special; for that in my rural retirement I have received some profit, and very much innocent and refres.h.i.+ng delights in the perusal of those treatises, which are by your diligent hand communicated to the publick." He thus affectionately concludes it:--"I briefly hint unto you what esteem we do truly owe unto your labours. I pray the Lord to remember your diligence in the great day of his appearance in glory. Your hearty well-wisher."

In vol. 6 of the works of the Honourable Robert Boyle, are many letters from Dr. Beale. That dated Oct. 26, strongly paints his attachment to the fruits of Herefords.h.i.+re, or whatever may tend to the benefit of that his native county. Mr. Boyle says of him, "There is not in life, a man in this whole island, nor on the continents beyond the seas, that could be made more universally useful to do good to all." And Mr. Gough, in his Topography, records the benefits he conferred on that county. Such a testimony as the above, from such a man as Mr. Boyle, is, indeed, honourable. The learned Boerhaave tells us who Mr. Boyle was: "Boyle, the ornament of his age and country, succeeded to the genius and enquiries of the great Verulam. Which of all Boyle's writings shall I recommend? All of them. To him we owe the secrets of fire, air, water, animals, vegetables, fossils, so that from his works may be reduced the whole system of natural knowledge." His charities amounted to 1000.

annually. Dr. Beale resided chiefly at Hereford, (1660) when he was made Rector of Yeovil, Somersets.h.i.+re, where he died in 1683, at the age of eighty. His other works are enumerated in Mr. Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Gardening. Mr. Evelyn, in the greatest of his works, (his Sylva,) adds to it Dr. Beale's advertis.e.m.e.nt concerning Cyder.

William Brome, a princ.i.p.al ornament of Christ Church, a native of Herefords.h.i.+re, and who afterwards lived in retirement at Ewithington, in that county, "formed the plan (says the late Mr. Dunster in his edition of Phillips's Cyder) of writing the Provincial History of his native county, a work for which he was eminently qualified, not only by his great and general learning, but as being particularly an excellent naturalist and antiquary. After having made a considerable progress, he abandoned his design, and, which is still more to be lamented, destroyed the valuable materials which he had collected." I merely introduce this to state, that from Mr. Brome, much information, in all likelihood, might have been gathered respecting Dr. Beale. We have to regret, that time and mortality, have now obliterated every fading trace of contemporary recollection of a man, who, in his day, was so highly esteemed.[32]

ROBERT SHARROCK, Archdeacon of Winchester, and Rector of Bishop's Waltham, and of h.o.r.ewood. Wood, in his Athenae, says, "he was accounted learned in divinity, in the civil and common law, and very knowing in vegetables, and all appertaining thereunto. He published The History of the Propagation and Improvement of Vegetables, by the concurrence of art and nature. _Oxford_, 1660, 8vo., and 1672, 8vo.: an account of which book you may see in the Phil. Trans. No. 84, page 5002." He also published Improvements to the Art of Gardening; or an exact Treatise on Plants. _London_, 1694; folio. This must have been a posthumous work, as he died in 1684.

---- ILIFFE, in 1670, published in 12mo. The compleat Vineyard.

JOHN REA, the author of "Flora, Ceres, and Pomona." It is enriched by a frontispiece engraved by D. Loggan. He dedicates the above folio, in 1665, to Lord Gerard, of Gerard's Bromley. His lords.h.i.+p, it seems, about that time, determined to erect that n.o.ble mansion, which Plot has given us a plate of; and Rea, in this folio, enumerates those plants, fruits, and flowers, which he thinks this then-intended garden ought to be furnished with; and a small bit, or a piece or parcel, of which once most sumptuous garden, Plot gives us. "Altho' (says Rea) our country cannot boast the benignity of that beautiful planet which meliorates their fruit in Italy, France, and Spain; yet, by reflection from good walks, well gravelled walks, the choice of fit kinds, we may plentifully partake the pleasure, and yearly enjoy the benefit, of many delicious fruits: as also the admiration and delight in the infinite varieties of elegant forms, various colours, and numerous kinds of n.o.ble plants, and beautiful flowers, some whereof have been heretofore handled by a renowned person of your name; but since his time, nature hath discovered many new varieties, not known to former ages, as I hope shortly will appear in your own collections, gloriously adorning your s.p.a.cious garden, which I wish may correspond, both in fas.h.i.+on and furniture, with that n.o.ble structure to which it appertaineth. Accept then, my honoured lord, this humble offering, which may possibly live to do you service, when I am dust and ashes, and, according to my highest ambition, remain as a testimony of my sincerest grat.i.tude for the many favours I have received from your honour, your most accomplished lady, and that n.o.ble family from whence she is descended. I should here add my prayers for your honour's preservation, did I not reserve them for my morning sacrifice, daily to be presented to the immortal deities by him that is, your most humble and most devoted servant, John Rea." He addresses also a long poem to Lady Gerard, on Flora inviting her to walk in this garden, in which he celebrates her "bright beauty."

Self-loved _Narcissus_, if he look On your fair eyes, will leave the brook, And undeceived, soon will rue He ever any loved but you.

If to the _hyacinth_ you turn, He smiles, and quite forgets to mourn.

The enamoured _heliotrope_ will run To your bright stars, and leave the sun.

Our _lilies_ here do make no show, They whiter on your bosom grow, And _violets_ appear but stains, Compared with your bluer veins.

New-blown buds, all scents excelling, As you pa.s.s by, invite your smelling.

Mark the glorious _tulips_ rise In various dress, to take your eyes, And how the fairest and all the rest Strive which shall triumph on your breast.

Thus your rich beauty and rare parts Excel all flowers, exceed all arts.

Live then, sweet lady, to inherit Your father's fortune, and his spirit, Your mother's face and virtuous mind.[33]

Throughout this long poem, John Rea's warmth much exceeds that of the most romantic lovers. One of the latter only observes, that the flowers courted the tread of his fair one's foot; that the sky grew more beautiful in her presence, and that the atmosphere borrowed new splendour from her eyes. Rea's pa.s.sion seems even warmer than this. In his address to the reader, he says, "I have continued my affection to this honest recreation, without companion or encouragement; and now in my old age, (wearied and weaned from other delights) find myself more happy in this retired solitude, than in all the bustles and busie employments of my pa.s.sed days." He thus concludes his book:--

---- this is all I crave: Some gentle hand with flowers may strew my grave, And with one sprig of bays my herse befriend, When as my life, as now my book, doth end.

Laus Deo.

Rea gives us also another very long poem, being that of "Flora to the Ladies," which he thus concludes:--

Silent as flow'rs may you in virtues grow, Till rip'ning time shall make you fit to blow, Then flourish long, and seeding leave behind A numerous offspring of your dainty kind; And when fate calls, have nothing to repent, But die like flow'rs, virtuous and innocent.

Then all your fellow flow'rs, both fair and sweet, Will come, with tears, to deck your winding-sheet; Hang down their pensive heads so dew'd, and crave To be transplanted to your perfum'd grave.

These love poems seem all to have been written in his old age; and that pa.s.sion causes him thus to open his first book:--"Love was the inventor, and is still the maintainer, of every n.o.ble science. It is chiefly that which hath made my flowers and trees to flourish, though planted in a barren desert, and hath brought me to the knowledge I now have in plants and planting; for indeed it is impossible for any man to have any considerable collection of plants to prosper, unless he love them: for neither the goodness of the soil, nor the advantage of the situation, will do it, without the master's affection; it is that which renders them strong and vigorous; without which they will languish and decay through neglect, and soon cease to do him service. I have seen many gardens of the new model, in the hands of unskilful persons, with good walls, walks and gra.s.s-plots; but in the most essential adornments so deficient, that a green meadow is a more delightful object; there nature alone, without the aid of art, spreads her verdant carpets, spontaneously embroidered with many pretty plants and pleasing flowers, far more inviting than such an immured nothing. And as n.o.ble fountains, grottoes, statues, &c. are excellent ornaments and marks of magnificence, so all such dead works in gardens, ill done, are little better than blocks in the way to intercept the sight, but not at all to satisfy the understanding. A choice collection of living beauties, rare plants, flowers and fruits, are indeed the wealth, glory, and delight of a garden." He seems enamoured with tulips. He describes no less than one hundred and ninety different sorts. He calls them "Flora's choicest jewels, and the most glorious ornaments of the best gardens. Such is their rarity and excellence, and so numerous are the varieties, that it is not possible any one person in the world should be able to express, or comprehend the half of them, every new spring discovering many new diversities never before observed, either arising from the seeds of some choice kinds, the altering of off-sets, or by the busy and secret working of nature upon several self-colours, in different soils and situations, together with the help of art."[34] Switzer says, "the practical and plain method in which he has delivered his precepts, are admirable." There is a second edition of the Flora, _with additions_.

What these are, I know not; unless they are the cuts of parterres, which were omitted in the first edition. There is an edition in 1696.

JOHN WORLIDGE published his Systema Agriculturae in folio, 1668; second edition in 1675, folio: fourth edition in 1687, folio. An octavo edition 1716, with its English t.i.tle of "A compleat System of Husbandry and Gardening, or the Gentleman's Companion in the Business and Pleasures of a Country life." In the preface to this, and indeed throughout all his works, we may trace his fondness for gardens. The great variety of rural subjects treated on in this book, may be seen in its Index, or full a.n.a.lysis. In his second section "Of the profits and pleasures of fruit-trees," he strongly enforces the planting of vineyards.

His Systema Horticulturae, or the Art of Gardening, was published in 1677, 8vo.; a third edition 1688; a fourth edition 1719.

Vinetum Britannic.u.m, or a Treatise on Cyder, and other Wines and Drinks, extracted from Fruits: to which is added, a Discourse on Bees; 8vo., _second impression, much enlarged_, 1678. He therein thus paints the pleasures of a garden:--"The exercises of planting, grafting, pruning, and walking in them, very much tendeth to salubrity, as also doth the wholesome airs found in them, which have been experienced not only to cure several distempers incident to our nature, but to tend towards the prolongation of life. For nothing can be more available to health and long life, than a sedate quiet mind, attended with these rural delights, a healthful air, and moderate exercise, which may here be found in all seasons of the year."

He also published, The Second Parts of Systema Agriculturae, 8vo. 1689.

The Second Part of Vinetum Britannic.u.m, 8vo. 1689. This is usually bound with the above.

His attachment to whatever concerns a rural life, s.h.i.+nes through most of his pages. Take the few following for a specimen:--

In his description of the month of _April_, he says, "In this month your garden appears in its greatest beauty, the blossoms of the fruit-trees prognosticate the plenty of fruits for all the succeeding summer months, unless prevented by untimely frosts or blights. The bees now buz in every corner of your garden to seek for food; the birds sing in every bush, and the sweet nightingale tunes her warbling notes in your solitary walks, whilst the other birds are at their rest. The beasts of the woods look out into the plains, and the fishes of the deep sport themselves in the shallow waters. The air is wholesome, and the earth pleasant, beginning now to be cloathed in nature's best array, exceeding all art's glory. This is the time that whets the wits of several nations to prove their own country to have been the _Garden of Eden_, or the terrestrial paradise, however it appears all the year besides. In case unseasonable weather hinders not, the pleasantness and salubrity of the air now tempts the sound to the free enjoyment of it, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of _Bacchus_ in a smoaky corner." In his month of _May_, he says, "He that delights not in physick, let him now exercise himself in the _garden_, and take the smell of the earth with the rising sun, than which to the virtuously inclined, there is nothing more pleasant; for now is nature herself full of mirth, and the senses stored with delights, and variety of pleasures." His month of _July_ thus recommends itself: "Grotts and shady groves are more seasonable to recreate yourself in than the open air, unless it be late in the evening, or early in the morning, to such that can afford time to take a nap after noon."

In his Syst. Hort. he observes, that "A fair stream or current flowing through or near your _garden_, adds much to the glory and pleasure of it: on the banks of it you may plant several aquatick exoticks, and have your seats or places of repose under their umbrage, and there satiate yourself with the view of the curling streams, and its nimble inhabitants. These gliding streams refrigerate the air in a summer evening, and render their banks so pleasant, that they become resistless charms to your senses, by the murmuring noise, the undulation of the water, the verdant banks and shades over them, the sporting fish confined within your own limits, the beautiful swans; and by the pleasant notes of singing birds, that delight in groves, on the banks of such rivulets."[35]

And in his preface to this last work, he says, "My princ.i.p.al design being not only to excite or animate such as have fair estates, and pleasant seats in the country, to adorn and beautifie them; but to encourage the honest and plain countryman in the improvement of his Ville, by enlarging the bounds and limits of his _Gardens_, as well as his _Orchards_, for the encrease of such esculent plants as may be useful and beneficial to himself and his neighbors."

FRANCIS DROPE, B. D., who died at Oxford, and whose father was Vicar of c.u.mner, in Berks.h.i.+re. Wood, in his Athenae, says, "he hath written on a subject which he much delighted in, and wherein he spent much time, but which was not published till his death: A short and sure guide to the practice of raising, and ordering of fruit trees, _Oxford_, 1672, 12mo., a large and laudable account of which you may see in the Phil. Trans.

No. 86, p. 10, 49."

MOSES COOKE, Gardener to the Earl of Ess.e.x, at Cas.h.i.+obury, afterwards a partner with Lucre, Field and London, in the Brompton Park Nursery. He wrote "The Art of making Cyder," published in Mr. Evelyn's works. The manner of raising Forest Trees, 4to. 1696. Other editions in 8vo. in 1717, 1724, and 1770. Mr. Evelyn (speaking of Cas.h.i.+obury) says, "The gardens are very rare, and cannot be otherwise, having so skilful an artist to govern them as Cooke." Moses Cooke, in his preface, justly says, "Planting and Gardening add much to the health and content of man; and these two jewels no man that well understands himself, would willingly be without; for it is not only set down for a certain truth by many wise men, but confirmed by experience. The learned Lord Bacon commends the following of the plough in fresh ground, to be very healthful for man; but more, the digging in gardens." His pages, here and there, record some of "the fine stately trees that we have growing in the woods at Cas.h.i.+obury." Cooke unfortunately fancied himself a poet; but grat.i.tude to his n.o.ble master, and loyalty to his king, seem to have been the motives of his inspiration. "One night (methought) walking up one of my Lord's lime-walks, I heard the grateful trees thus paying the tribute of their thanks to his lords.h.i.+p:--

Like pyramids our stately tops we'll raise, To sing our n.o.ble benefactor's praise; Freshly we will to after-ages show What n.o.ble Ess.e.x did on us bestow: For we our very being owe to him, Or else we had long since intombed been In crop of bird, or in beast's belly found, Or met our death neglected on the ground.

By him we cherish'd were with dung and spade, For which we'll recompense him with our shade.

And since his kindness saw us prun'd so well, We will requite him with our fragrant smell; In winter (as in grat.i.tude is meet) We'll strew our humble leaves beneath his feet.

Nay, in each tree, root, trunk, branch, all will be Proud to serve him and his posterity."

And he thus invokes the stately oak, after enumerating many of the rich commodities which this tree bears through our Thames:--

Of silks and satins fine, to clothe the back; Of wines, Italian, French, and Spanish sack.

'T was faithful oak preserved our king, that we Might thence learn lessons of true loyalty.

When in salt seas Sir Francis Drake did steer, Sailing in oak he say'd one day i'th'year.

His oak, which the terrestrial globe did measure, Through dangers led him t' honour, profit, pleasure.

No wood like oak that grows upon the ground, To make our house and s.h.i.+ps last long and sound; No oak like ours: by love to oak let's then Appear true subjects, and right Englishmen.

ANTHONY LAWRENCE published in 4to. 1677, Nurseries, Orchards, Profitable Gardens, and Vineyards Encouraged.