Book II. IN DIFFERENT CLIMATES. 115 



has subsisted, as we have seen, from the earliest ages in warm climates; and still pre- 

 vails there, as well as in more temperate countries, whose inhabitants are not altogether 

 ignorant of the modern style. It may, therefore, be said to have grown up with man- 

 kind, and at all events must be perfectly suited to the wants and wishes of the inhabit- 

 ants of such countries. 



527. The fitness and beauty of any style must depend on the purposes to which it is 

 applied, and the kind of rural beauty already prevalent in the country of its adoption. 



The gardens of the east, we have every reason to believe, were used more as arbors or conservatories 

 are in this country, than as places of exercise and active enjoyment. The object was repose, indolent re- 

 creation, sedentary or luxurious enjoyment. To breathe the fresh air, shaded from a tropical sun ; to 

 inhale the odor of flowers ; to listen to the murmur of breezes or fountains ; to the singing of birds ; or to 

 observe the minute beauties of the surrounding foliage, were, and still continue to be, the ordinary class 

 of beauties desired in an eastern garden. A higher and more voluptuous kind, consisted in using it as a 

 banqueting-place, bath, or seraglio, as is still the case in Turkey and Persia ; in feasting the eyes with the 

 sight of dancing beauties ; in ravishing the ears with concerts of vocal or instrumental music, and in firing 

 every sense with wine. Exercise was incompatible with that languor of body, which is attendant on a 

 warm climate and a distant prospect ; inconsistent with security from wild beasts, and that privacy which 

 selfishness or jealousy might dictate. " The Persians," Chardin observes, " do not walk in gardens so 

 much as we do, but content themselves with a bare prospect, and breathing the fresh air. For this reason, 

 they set themselves down in some part of the garden at their first coming in, and never move from their 

 seats till they are going out of it." {Travels, ch. vi.) " Nothing surprises the people of the East Indies so 

 much as to see Europeans take pleasure in exercise. They arc astonished to see people walk who might 

 sit still." (Kinderley's Letters from the East Indies, p. 182.) Add to this, that the natural surface of warm 

 countries is generally so parched with heat, as to be far less agreeable to look on than the verdure of a 

 limited space, kept luxuriant by water. " Before the end of May," Uussel remarks, " the whole country 

 round Aleppo puts on so parched and barren an aspect, that one would scarcely think it capable of produc- 

 ing any thing but the very few plants which still have vigour enough to resist the extreme heats." 

 (UusseVs Aleppo, p. 13.) If to these we subjoin the use of fruit, and, what is common to every exertion of 

 man, a desire of obtaining applause for the employment of wealth and skill, we shall include every object 

 sought in an eastern garden. An eastern garden, therefore, appears to have been a collection of all those 

 beauties found scattered about in general nature, in order to adapt them to the use and enjoyment of 

 man. 



528. The plan of an eastern garden ivas well calculated to attain the ends in view. 

 Moderate extent and immediate connection with the house, are necessary and obvious 

 ingredients in their design. The square form was adapted for the enclosure as the sim- 

 plest ; the trees ranged in rows, to afford continuity of shade ; and the walks laid out 

 parallel between them, to admit uninterrupted progress ; that walk parallel to, and close 

 under the house, as a raised platform or terrace, to give elevation and dignity to the 

 house, to give the master a commanding view of the garden, and to serve as a connecting 

 link between art and comparative nature. By leaving open plots or squares of turf in 

 the areas, formed by intersecting rows of trees, a free circulation of air would be faci- 

 litated ; and the same object, as Pliny informs us, is promoted by the quincunx, which 

 admits the breeze from every quarter of the compass more readily than any other dis- 

 position. A picturesque or natural arrangement would have stagnated the air, and 

 defeated one of the grand purposes in view. The same reasons would guide them in 

 their choice of spreading broad-leaved trees; and to thicken their boughs, or deprive 

 them of such branches as were too low, or tended to destroy the balance of the tree, the 

 pruning-knife would be occasionally applied. Water in every form suggests the idea 

 of coolness ; but agitated in cascades, fountains, or jets-d'eau, it is used to the best ad- 

 vantage, and the heat of the atmosphere is moderated in proportion to the evaporation 

 which takes place. In still ponds or basins it has another property, that of reflecting the 

 objects around it. Buildings, as arbors, aviaries, covered seats, banqueting-houses, baths, 

 and grottoes, would become requisite for their respective uses, and would abound in pro- 

 portion to the wealth or rank of the owner. Fruit-trees would be introduced in ap- 

 propriate situations for the sake of their fruit, and a choice of odoriferous flowers and 

 shrubs would fringe the margin of the walks, to admit of a more easy inspection of their 

 beauties, and nearer contact of their odors with the olfactory nerves ; they would also 

 be disposed in greater profusion, in curious knots or parterres near to the house, or in 

 front of the resting-places or banqueting-rooms. In time, even artificial objects of 

 value, as dials, statues, vases, and urns, would be added, in order to create as much 

 variety and interest in a small spot as was consistent with its utility. Such we have 

 found to be the general arrangement of eastern gardens ; and as there seems no more 

 obvious way of attaining the wants of those to whom they belonged, we may pronounce 

 it to be perfectly reasonable and natural. 



529. As to the more extensive paradises or paries in which wild beasts were admitted, and 

 even whole regiments exercised, we have but few authentic particulars respecting them. 

 Those of Assyria must be regarded as royal extravagancies, cafculated to excite astonish- 

 ment and admiration at their magnitude, and the art and expense employed in their 

 construction ; and if any reliance is to be placed in the account given by ancient authors 

 of the hanging gardens of Babylon, their design will be found singularly to unite this 

 object with the minor beauties of the confined garden ; to combine the splendor of mag- 

 nificence with the delights of the justest feelings of nature. They were situated over, 

 or according to some, adjoining to King Nebuchadnezzar's palace, or on a platform raised 



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