j86 garden-craft. 



things it may rightly contain, we saw that the laws 

 of artistic presentment, no less than the avowed 

 purpose for which a garden is made, require that 

 only such things shall be admitted, or such aspects 

 be portrayed there, as conduce to gladness and poetic 

 charm. And, so far as the garden is concerned, the 

 restriction is necessary and desirable. As with other 

 phases of Art, Sculpture, Painting, or Romance, the 

 things and aspects portrayed must be idealistic, not 

 realistic ; its effects must be select, not indiscriminate. 

 The garden is a deliberately contrived thing, a volun- 

 tary piece of handicraft, purpose-made ; and for this 

 reason it must not stereotype imperfections ; it may 

 toy with Nature, but must not wilfully exaggerate 

 what is ordinary ; only Nature may exaggerate her- 

 self — not Art. It must not imitate those items in 

 Nature that are crude, ugly, abnormal, elementary ; 

 it may not reproduce the absolutely repellent ; or 

 at most, the artist may only touch them with a light 

 hand, by way of imaginative hint, but not with 

 intent to produce a finished picture out of them. 



On this point there is a distinct analogy between 

 the guiding principles of Art and Religion. Art and 

 Religion both signify effort to comply with an ideal 

 standard — indeed, the height of the standard is the 

 test of each — and what makes for innocence or for 

 faultiness in the one, makes for innocence or faulti- 

 ness in the other. Innocence is found in each, but 

 to be without guile in Art or in Religion means 

 that you must be either flawlessly obedient to a 

 perfect standard, or be beyond the pale of law 



