i8 ITntrofcuction 



every page of the little book is readable and 

 instructive. 



William Shenstone, who died in 1763, also 

 wrote on the subject, and somewhat from the 

 standpoint of Kent, his "Unconnected Thoughts 

 on the Garden," published in 1764, being fre- 

 quently mentioned. Reference may also be 

 made to "An Kssay on Design in Gardening," 

 by G. Mason, published in 1795, and to various 

 other tracts and papers of about the same time, 

 pertaining to what is termed the school of Kent. 



The parks and enclosures treated under this 

 style were marked by simplicity, and the ab- 

 sence of pagodas, temples, columns, and other 

 architectural tricks and devices. "The house 

 rose abruptly from the lawn and the general sur- 

 face of the ground was characterized by smooth- 

 ness and bareness," as London describes it. 



This manner was followed by the romantic or 

 "picturesque" style, to which the Gothic re- 

 vival of the time contributed not a little, as the 

 radical change in architecture required a differ- 

 ent treatment of surroundings. The French 

 Revolution destroyed the temple and grotto, 



