Having remembered this place in its pristine beauty, I could not help condoling with him on its present ruinous situation. I spoke to him of the many alterations which had been made, and all for the worse; of the many shades which had been taken away, of the bowers that were destroyed by neglect, and the hedge-rows that were spoiled by clipping. The Genius, with a sigh, received my condolement and assured me that he was equally a martyr to ignorance and taste, to refinement and rusticity.

Seeing me desirous of knowing farther, he went on:

'You see in the place before you the paternal inheritance of a poet; and, to a man content with little, fully sufficient for his subsistence: but a strong imagination, and a long acquaintance with the rich, are dangerous foes to contentment.

'Our poet, instead of sitting down to enjoy life, resolved to prepare for its future enjoyment, and set about converting a place of profit into a scene of pleasure. This he at first supposed could be accomplished at a small expense; and he was willing for a while to stint his income, to have an opportunity of displaying his taste. The improvement in this manner went forward; one beauty attained led him to wish for some other; but still he hoped that every emendation would be the last. It was now, therefore, found that the improvement exceeded the subsidy— that the place was grown too large and too fine for the inhabitant. But that pride which was once exhibited, could not retire; the garden was made for the owner, and though it was become unfit for him, he could not willingly resign it to another. Thus the first idea of its beauties contributing to the happiness of his life, was found unfaithful; so that, instead of looking within for satisfaction, he began to think of having recourse to the praises of those who came to visit his Improvement.

'In consequence of this hope, which now took possession of his mind, the gardens were open to the visits of every stranger; and the country flocked round to walk, to criticise, to admire, and to do mischief. He soon found that the admirers of his taste left by no means such strong marks of their applause, as the envious did of their malignity. All the windows of his temples,

and the walls of his retreats, were impressed with the characters of profaneness, ignorance and obscenity; his hedges were broken, his statues and urns defaced, and his lawns worn bare. It was now, therefore, necessary to shut up the gardens once more, and to deprive the public of that happiness which had before ceased to be his own.-Essays: On the Tenants of the Leasowes.'

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I

WOULD divide the Art of Painting, as one of the second IMMANUEL KANT kind of Formative Arts, representing sense-appearance (1724-1804). (Sinnen-schein) artistically united with ideas, into that of beautiful presentation of Nature, and beautiful combination of her products. The first would be pure Painting, the second Pleasure-gardening. For the first gives only the appearance of physical extent, whereas the second represents this according to truth, but only the appearance of its application and use for other ends, as merely for the play of the imagination in the contemplation of its forms. The latter is nothing else but decoration of the ground with the same variety (grasses, flowers, bushes and trees, even waters, hills and valleys) as Nature presents to the sight, only in different combinations and according to certain ideas. But the beautiful juxtaposition of material things is also only presented to the eye, as in painting. -Criticism of the Aesthetic Judgment.

(d. 1732).

Professor of Botany at Cambridge, a post he obtained by fraud. One RICHARD of the first writers on Horticulture, who concentrated in any considerable BRADLEY, F.R.S. degree, the light of other Sciences for its improvement. His works abound in information collected from books and men of learning.'—G. W. Johnson. He was the author of twenty-nine different works on Botany, Husbandry and Gardening. His 'General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening' is a summary of what he had previously written on the subject.

WHEN

/HEN I consider these things, I cannot enough lament the want of learning among the gardeners of this nation; who in their spare hours, were they Men of Letters, might very

greatly improve themselves by reading the works of the Ancients, and bringing their several propositions to practice; and also might bring to light many of the most hidden branches of the art of Gardening, and have the pleasure of producing several effects, as good and useful, perhaps, as most of those that are called modern discoveries. For upon a deliberate perusal of Columella, Varro, and the other gentlemen I am to descant upon in the following work, I find many excellent pieces, which have not hitherto been made common with us; many more that have not yet been try'd in our fields and gardens.—A Survey of the Ancient Husbandry and Gardening.

ERASMUS

THE

M.D., Edin., and practised as Physician at Derby; grandfather of Charles DARWIN, Darwin; author of Botanic Garden or Loves of the Plants,' and 'Zoonomia.' F.R.S., (1731-1802). HE beautiful colours of the petals of flowers with their polished surfaces are scarcely rivalled by those of shells, of feathers, or of precious stones. Many of these transient beauties, which give such brilliancy to our gardens, delight at the same time the sense of smell with their odours: yet have they not been extensively used as articles, either of diet, medicine, or the arts.-Phytologia, or The Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening, 1800.

ww

WILLIAM COWPER (1731-1780).

MY

Y green-house is never so pleasant as when we are just upon the point of being turned out of it. The gentleness of the autumnal suns, and the calmness of this latter season, make it

a much more agreeable retreat than we ever find it in the summer; when the winds being generally brisk, we cannot cool it by admitting a sufficient quantity of air, without being at the same time incommoded by it. But now I sit with all the windows and the door wide open, and am regaled with the scent of every flower, in a garden as full of flowers as I have

known how to make it. We keep no bees, but if I lived in a hive, I should hardly hear more of their music. All the bees in the neighbourhood resort to a bed of mignonette opposite to the window, and pay me for the honey they get out of it by a hum, which, though rather monotonous, is as agreeable to my ear as the whistling of my linnets. All the sounds that Nature utters are delightful, at least in this country.-Letter to Rev. John Newton. (Sept. 18, 1784.)

My dear, I will not let you come till the end of May, or beginning of June, because before that time my green-house will not be ready to receive us, and it is the only pleasant room belonging to us. When the plants go out, we go in.

I line it with mats, and spread the floor with mats; and there you shall sit with a bed of mignonette at your side, and a hedge of honeysuckles, roses, and jasmine; and I will make you a bouquet of myrtle every day. Sooner than the time I mention, the country will not be in complete beauty.-Letter to Lady Hesketh. (Olney, February 9, 1786.)

I write in a nook that I call my boudoir; it is a summerhouse not bigger than a sedan-chair; the door of it opens into the garden that is now crowded with pinks, roses, and honeysuckles, and the window into my neighbour's orchard. It formerly served an apothecary as a smoking-room; at present, however, it is dedicated to sublimer uses.-Letter to Hill.

N

CHAPTER VIII

GARDEN DESIGN AS A LIBERAL OR FINE ART: THE 'COMPOSI

TION' OF NATURE OR LANDSCAPE

'PICTURESQUE' WRITERS

TICISM IN THE GARDEN.

REACTION OF THE COSMOPOLITANISM AND ECLEC

68

soon

THOMAS Loudon in the Encyclopædia of Gardening' says of him :-' His “ ObservaWHATELY tions on Modern Gardening,” published in 1770, is the grand fundamental and (d. 1772). standard work on English gardening. It is entirely analytical; treating first of the materials, then of the scenes, and lastly, of the subjects of gardening. Its style has been pronounced by the learned Eason, inimitable; and the descriptions with which his investigations are accompanied have been largely copied and amply praised by Alison in his work on "Taste." The book was translated into the continental languages, and is judiciously praised in the Mercure de France, Journal Encyclopédique and Wieland's Journal. G. Mason alone dissents from the general opinion, enlarging on the very few faults or peculiarities which are to be found in the book.' Whately was the brother of the then proprietor of Nonsuch Park, near Epsom in Surrey, which place he mainly assisted in 'laying out.' He was for a short time secretary to the Earl of Suffolk; then M.P. and secretary to the Treasury; besides this work, he published two anonymous English pamphlets, and died in 1772. After his death his Remarks on Shakespeare were published in 1785 by his brother, the Rev. Dr J. Whately, and a second edition in 1808 by his nephew Dr R. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, 1831.

GAR

ARDENING, in the perfection to which it has been lately brought in England, is entitled to a place of considerable rank among the liberal arts. It is as superior to landskip-painting as a reality to a representation: it is an exertion of fancy, a subject for taste; and being released now from the restraints of regularity and enlarged beyond the purposes of domestic convenience, the most beautiful, the most simple, the most noble scenes of nature are all within its province: for it is no longer confined to the spots from which it borrows its name, but