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

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). THE 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.

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WILLIAM

WOLIAN MY green-house is never so pleasant as when we are just upon

COWPER

(1731-1780).

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.

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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

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

regulates also the disposition and embellishments of a park, a farm, or a riding; and the business of a gardener is to select and to apply whatever is great, elegant, or characteristic in any of them; to discover and to shew all the advantages of the place upon which he is employed; to supply its defects, to correct its faults, and to improve its beauties. For all these operations, the objects of nature are still his only materials. . . . Nature, always simple, employs but four materials in the composition of her scenes, ground, wood, water, and rocks. The cultivation of nature has introduced a fifth species, the buildings requisite for the accommodation of men.

...

But the art of gardening aspires to more than imitation: it can create original characters and give expressions to the several scenes superior to any they can receive from illusions. Certain properties and certain dispositions of the objects of nature are adapted to excite particular ideas and sensations.

Elegance is the peculiar excellence of a garden; greatness of a park; simplicity of a farm; and pleasantness of a riding.

Whatever contributes to render the scenes of nature delightful is amongst the subjects of gardening; and animate as well as inanimate objects are circumstances of beauty or character. Nothing is unworthy of the attention of a gardener which can し tend to improve his compositions, whether by immediate effects or by suggesting a train of pleasing ideas. The whole range of nature is open to him, from the parterre to the forest; and whatever is agreeable to the senses or the imagination he may appropriate to the spot he is to improve; it is a part of his business to collect into one place the delights which are generally dispersed through different species of country.

But in this application, the genius of the place must always be particularly considered; to force it is hazardous; and an attempt to contradict it is always unsuccessful.

The art of laying out gardens has, within a little more than a hundred years in Europe, and within a much less time in Great

Britain started up from being one of the mechanical arts, in which mere utility is intended, to be one of the fine arts, which join utility to pleasure. In all ages men have known the use of fruits, flowers and herbs for the pleasure of the senses: it is almost only in our age that they have introduced into gardens one half of the pleasing objects of art and nature for the entertainment of the imagination....

There seem in nature to be four different dispositions of grounds distinct from each other, and which create distinct and separate sentiments.

The first situation is that of a high-land country, consisting of great and steep mountains, rocks, lakes, impetuous rivers, etc. Such a place is Inverary.

The sentiment which a situation like this creates in the breast of a beholder is obviously, and every one feels it, that of Grandeur. The next is what one may call a romantic disposition of grounds, consisting of small valleys, woods hanging over them, Places like smooth rivers, the banks steep but accessible, etc.

this we have on the banks of many of our small rivers in the low countries of Scotland.

The sentiment which such a situation seems to flatter, is that of composure of mind, and perhaps even of melancholy.

A third situation is that of grounds running by gentle falls and In situations of this kind are risings easily into each other. placed many of the English modern gardens; and particularly those which Kent delighted in laying out. Such a situation, as it is generally attended with great verdure, cultivation and populousness, naturally creates in the mind that sentiment of cheerfulness which society and action are apt to create.

The last situation is that of a dead flat. A situation of this kind may, from its verdure, or from its extent, or from its contrast with other grounds that surround it, create some particular sentiment, but merely considered in itself, it appears to create little

or none.

The English in such a situation attempt to humour nature; the French in such a situation attempt to hide her. . . . In a small