Iborace Walpole 259 



sion to be deemed natural than a lineal terrace 

 or a parterre. The late Mr. Joseph Spence, 

 who had both taste and zeal for the present 

 style, was so persuaded of the Chinese em- 

 peror's pleasure-ground being laid out on prin- 

 ciples resembling ours, that he translated and 

 published, under the name of Sir Harry Beau- 

 mont, a particular account of that enclosure 

 from the collection of the letters of the Jesuits. 

 I have looked it over, and except a determined 

 irregularity, can find nothing in it that gives me 

 any idea of attention being paid to nature. It 

 is of vast circumference, and contains two hun- 

 dred palaces, besides as many contiguous for 

 the eunuchs, all gilt, painted, and varnished. 

 There are raised hills from twenty to sixty feet 

 high, streams and lakes, and one of the latter 

 five miles round. These waters are passed by 

 bridges, but even their bridges must not be 

 straight they serpentize as much as the rivu- 

 lets, and are sometimes so long as to be fur- 

 nished with resting-places, and begin and end 

 with triumphal arches. Methinks a straight 

 canal is as rational at least as a meandering 

 bridge. The colonnades undulate in the same 

 manner. In short, this pretty gaudy scene is 

 the work of caprice and whim, and when we 

 reflect on their buildings presents no image but 

 that of unsubstantial tawdriness. Nor is "this 



