16 fntro&uction 



was rightly set, and justifies the old proverb, 

 " All is fine that is fit." 



Yet while Lady Mary could frankly enjoy 

 the art displayed in this ancient retreat, she 



could sing : 





 " Give me, Great God, said I, a little farm, 



In summer shady, and in winter warm, 



Where a clear spring gives birth to murmuring brooks 



By nature gliding down the mossy rocks, 



Not artfully, by leaden pipes conveyed, 



Or greatly falling in a forced cascade 



Pure and unsullied, winding through the shade. 



All bounteous Heaven has added to my prayer 



A softer climate and a purer air." 



Modern gardening our contemporary art, 

 not that of Kent, does not indeed disdain 

 the use of all materials suitable to produce an 

 artistic effect, though the present drift is un- 

 doubtedly with the ' ' naturalists. " It is at the 

 present time that this school has asserted 

 itself in its greatest vigor and fulness, and as 

 now practised it is indeed an art, demanding 

 not merely refined taste, sound judgment, and a 

 real love of nature, but thorough training ancj 

 cultivation. 



