.'

'Well, then, to Blunderland let us go!'

Shortly before Popanilla's illness he had been elected a member of the
Vraibleusian Horticultural Society, and one evening he had endeavoured
to amuse himself by reading the following CHAPTER ON FRUIT.

CHAPTER 14

That a taste for fruit is inherent in man is an opinion which is
sanctioned by the conduct of man in all ages and in all countries. While
some nations have considered it profanation or pollution to nourish
themselves with flesh or solace themselves with fish, while almost every
member of the animal creation has in turn been considered either sacred
or unclean, mankind, in all climes and in all countries, the Hindoo and
the Hebrew, the Egyptian and the Greek, the Roman and the Frank, have,
in some degree, made good their boastful claim to reason, by universally
feeding upon those delightful productions of Nature which are nourished
with the dews of heaven, and which live for ever in its breath.

And, indeed, when we consider how exceedingly refreshing at all times is
the flavour of fruit; how very natural, and, in a manner, born in him,
is man's inclination for it; how little it is calculated to pall upon
his senses; and how conducive, when not eaten to excess, it is to his
health, as well as to his pleasure; we must not be surprised that a
conviction of its excellence should have been one of those few subjects
on which men have never disagreed.

That some countries are more favoured in their fruit than others is
a fact so notorious that its notice is unnecessary; but we are not
therefore to suppose that their appetite for it is more keen than
the appetite of other nations for their fruit who live in less genial
climes. Indeed, if we were not led to believe that all nations are
inspired by an equal love for this production, it might occasionally
be suspected that some of those nations who are least skilful as
horticulturists evince a greater passion for their inferior growths
than more fortunate people for their choicer produce. The effects of
bad fruit, however, upon the constitution, and consequently upon the
national character, are so injurious that every liberal man must regret
that any people, either from ignorance or obligation, should be forced
to have recourse to anything so fatal, and must feel that it is the
duty of everyone who professes to be a philanthropist to propagate and
encourage a taste for good fruit throughout all countries of the gl