61 



Wc have thus traced the progress of Gardenint^ iu ils several 

 departments in this country from the accession of our third 

 Edward, to the conclusion of the reio^n of Henry the VIII., a 

 period of more than two Centuries, the first one hundred and 

 fifty years of which, were characterized by a still lingerina; 

 taste for hunting, chivalry, and War ; by Crusades to the Holy 

 Land, and as wild expeditions to the continent; and above all 

 by the civil horrors induced by the contest between the houses 

 of York and Lancaster. Notwithstanding these circumstances 

 so hostile to domestic improvement, and the cultivation of the 

 social Arts, we have seen that the art of Gardening iu its 

 various departments had continued to advance, and in the 

 concluding years of the period had improved most disting-uish- 

 ably. So true is the observation that good is often the offspring 

 of evil ; for our foreign wars introduced us to the Horticulture 

 of France, who excelled us in the practical parts of the Art ; to 

 the disposition of the Pleasure Grounds of the Easterns, which 

 were magnificent ; and to numerous new plants of which pre- 

 viously we had been ignorant. Our navigation was improved 

 by <he voyages made on these expeditions, and thus led to other 

 and more distant climes, which in their turn afibrded to us 

 their vegetable riches. To these favourable circumstances 

 may be added the increase of our commerce, and the invenlion 

 of Printing, which above all others tended to foster the progress 

 of every Art and Science, by enlarging the sphere of inter- 

 course, and rendering the experience and knowledge of cxcyy 

 man of learning, the property of his age. 



