252 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Dutch char- 

 acteristics. 



VASE AT LLVA5TON 



occupy more than his three feet of space, and is lost 

 like a worm in his immense possessions." This de- 

 scription reproduces the impres- 

 sion received upon looking at 

 pictures of English gardens in 

 the same style. Ineffective sym- 

 metry, endlessly long, straight 

 avenues- with no apparent object 

 point, and a succession of prim 

 enclosures are wearisome in their 

 meaningless rigidity. 

 The Dutch garden is said to have been brought to 

 England by William III, though some of its characteris- 

 tics might have been discovered there before his day. It 

 was an adaptation of the French and Barocco styles, hardly 

 to be called original, but comprising certain features at 

 least individual. This individuality was due to the 

 limited extent of terra-firma and to the abundance of 

 water in Holland. An ordinary plan became extraordi- 

 nary because laid out on such a surprisingly small scale. 

 A scheme covering dozens of acres in France was to be 

 seen reproduced on a fewer number of feet in Holland. 

 The parterres of Versailles might almost as well have 

 been reduced to serve as embroidery for a pocket hand- 

 kerchief. In a Dutch garden no tree could be admitted 

 until its growth had been stunted, and no flower larger 

 than a tulip could be allowed to engross the space 



