Leigh is an English author，born in 1784.He has written poetry and prose of a lively and interesting character，and is popular，both in England and America.The following is in his best style，and is not only interesting，but has a valuable moral.
Leigh Hunt，critic，essayist，poet and author1.WHY does not every one （who can afford it）have a geranium in his window，or some other flower？It is very cheap；its cheapnessis next to nothing，if you raise it from seed，or from a slip；and it is a beauty and a companion.It sweetens the air，rejoices the eye，links you with nature and innocence，and is something to love.And if it can not love you in return，it can not hate you；it can not utter a hateful thing even for your neglecting it；for，though it is all beauty，it has no vanity；and such being the case，and living as it does purely to do you good and afford pleasure，how will you be able to neglect it？
2.But，pray，if you choose a geranium，or possess but a few of them，let us persuade you to choose the scarlet kind，the “old original”geranium，and not a variety of it，not one of the numerous diversities of red and white，blue and white，ivy-leaved，etc.Those are all beautiful，and very fit to vary a large collection；but to prefer them to the originals of the race，is to run the hazard of preferring the curious to the beautiful，and costliness to sound taste.It may be takenas a good general rule，that the most popular plants are the best；for otherwise they would not have become such.And what the painters call “pure colors”are p r e f e r a b l e t o m i x e d ones，for reasons which Nature herself has given when she painted the sky of one color，and the fields of another，and divided the rainbow itself into a few distinct colors，and made the red rose the queen of flowers.
3.Every thing is handsome about the geranium，not excepting its name；which can not be said of all flowers，though we get to love ugly words when associated with pleasing ideas.The word “geranium”is soft and pleasant；the meaning is poor，for it comes from a Greek word which signifies a crane，the fruit having the form of a crane’s head or bill.Cranesbill is the English name for geranium，though the learned appellation has superseded the vernacular.But what a reason for naming the flower！as if the fruit were any thing in comparison，or any one cared about it.Such distinctions，it is true，are useful to botanists，but as a plenty of learned names are sure to be reserved for the freemasonry of the science，it would be well for the world at large to invent joyous and beautiful names for these images of joy and beauty.
In some instances we have them；such as heartsease，honeysuckle，marigold，mignonette，（little darling，）daisy，（day‘s eye，）etc.And many flowers are so lovely，and have associated names，otherwise unmeaning，so pleasantly with one’s memory，that no new ones would sound so well，or seem even to have such proper significations.
4.In pronouncing the words lilies，roses，tulips，pinks，jonquils，we see the things themselves，and seem to taste all their beauty and sweetness.Pink is a harsh，petty word in itself，and yet assuredly it does not seem so；for in the word we have the flower.It would be difficult to persuade ourselves，that the word rose is not very beautiful.Pea is a poor，Chinese-like monosyllable；and brier is rough and fierce，as it ought to be；but when we think of sweet-pea and sweet-brier，the words appear quite worthy of their epithets.The poor monosyllable becomes rich in sweetness and appropriation，the rougher dissyllable also；and the sweeter for its contrast.
5.The names of flowers，in general，among the polite，are neither pretty in themselves，nor give us information.The country people are apt to do them more justice.Goldylocks，ladies‘fingers，rose-a-ruby，shepherd’s clock，shepherd‘s purse，sauce-alone，scarlet runners，sops-in-wine，sweet-william，etc.，give us some ideas，either useful or pleasant.But from the peasantry come many uncongenial names，as bad as those of the botanist.It is a pity that all fruits and flowers，and animals too，except those with good names，could not be passed in review before somebody with a genius for christening，as the creatures did before Adam in paradise，and so have new names given them，worthy of their creation.
