262 ftbe (Barfcett 



introduce cultivated fields, and even morsels of 

 a forest appearance, by the sides of those end- 

 less and tiresome walks that stretched out of 

 one into another without intermission. But 

 this was not till other innovators had broken 

 loose, too, from rigid symmetry. But the capi- 

 tal stroke, the leading step to all that has 

 followed, was (I believe the first thought was 

 Bridgman's) the destruction of walls for boun- 

 daries, and the invention of fosses an attempt 

 then deemed so astonishing that the common 

 people called them Ha ! Ha's ! to express their 

 surprise at finding a sudden and unperceived 

 check to their walk. 



One of the first gardens planted in this simple, 

 though still formal style, was my father's at 

 Hough ton. It was laid out by Mr. Byre, an 

 imitator of Bridgman. It contains three and 

 twenty acres, then reckoned a considerable 

 portion. 



I call a sunk fence the leading step for these 

 reasons : No sooner was this simple enchant- 

 ment made, than levelling, mowing, and rolling 

 followed. The contiguous ground of the park, 

 without the sunk fence, was to be harmonized 

 with the lawn within ; and the garden in its 

 turn was to be set free from its prim regularity, 

 that it might assort with the wilder country 

 without. The sunk fence ascertained the 



