BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. (j3 



Dutch school, prevalent in England in the time of William 

 TV. (Fig. 14), the results evince a fertility of odd conceits, 

 rather than the exercise of taste or imagination. Indeed, 

 as, to level ground naturally uneven, or to make an avenue, 

 by planting rows of trees on each side of a broad walk, 

 requires only the simplest perception of the beauty of ma- 

 thematical forms, so, to lay out a garden in the geometric 

 style, became little more than a formal routine, and it was 

 only after the superior interest of a more natural manner 

 was enforced by men of genius, that natural beauty of 

 expression was recognised, and Landscape Gardening was 

 raised to the rank of a fine art. 



The ancient style of gardening may, however, be intro- 

 duced with good effect in certain cases. In public squares 

 and gardens, where display, grandeur of effect, and a highly 

 artificial character are desirable, it appears to us the most 

 suitable ; and no less so in very small gardens, in which 

 variety and irregularity are out of the question. Where a 

 taste for imitating an old and quaint style of residence 

 exists, the symmetrical and knotted garden would be a 

 proper accompaniment ; and pleached alleys, and sheared 

 trees, would be admired, like old armor or furniture, as 

 curious specimens of antique taste and custom. 



The earliest professors of modern Landscape Gardening 

 have generally agreed upon two variations, of which the 

 art is capable — variations no less certainly distinct, on the 

 one hand, than they are capable of intermingling and com- 

 bining, on the other. These are the beautiful and the. pic- 

 turesque : or, to speak more definitely, the beauty charac- 

 terized by simple and flowing forms, and that expressed by 

 striking, irregular, spirited forms. 



The admirer of nature, as well as the lo^^er of pictures 



