Beauties and /Ymr//>/rs of the Ail 11 



may abound near the house, and in the more frequented 

 parts of the place. 



The recognition of art, as London justly observes, is a 

 first principle in Landscape Gardening, as in all other arts; 

 and those of its professors have erred, who supposed that 

 the object of this art is merely to produce a fac-simile of 

 nature, that could not be distinguished from a wild scene. 

 But we contend that this principle may be fully attained 

 with either expression - - the picturesque cottage being as 

 well a work of art as the classic villa; its baskets, and seats 

 of rustic work, indicating the hand of man as well as the 

 marble vase and balustrade; and a walk, sometimes nar- 

 row and crooked, is as certainly recognized as man's work, 

 as one always regular and flowing. Foreign trees of pic- 

 turesque growth are as readily obtained as those of beautiful 

 forms. The recognition of art is, therefore, always appar- 

 ent in both modes. The evidences are indeed stronger and 

 more multiplied in the careful polish of the Beautiful land- 

 scape,* and hence many prefer this species of landscape, 

 not, as it deserves to be preferred, because it displays the 

 most beautiful and perfect ideas in its outlines, the forms of 

 its trees, and all that enters into its composition, but chiefly 

 because it also is marked by that careful polish, and that 

 completeness, which imply the expenditure of money, which 

 they so well know how to value. 



If we declare that the Beautiful is the more perfect 



The beau ideal in Landscape Gardening, as a fine art, appears to 

 us to be embraced in the creation of scenery full of expression, as the 

 beautiful or picturesque, the materials of which are, to a certain exlcnt, 

 different from those in wild nature, being composed of the floral and 

 arboricultural riches of all climates, as far as possible; uniting in the same 

 scene, a richness and a variety never to be found in any one portion of 

 nature; a scene characterized as a work of art, by the variety of the 

 materials, as foreign trees, plants, etc., and by the polish and keeping of 

 the grounds in the natural style, as distinctly MS by the uniform and sym- 

 metrical arrangement in the ancient style. - A. .1. D. 



Into this definition of the natural style Mr. Downing condenses his 

 \\hole philosophy. It is a curious and interesting definition. Those 

 \vlio would compare it with other views may consult Waugh's "The 

 Natural Style in Landscape Gardening." Chapter I. 



