ON GARDENS 39 



disguising or hiding the boundary; thirdly, to conceal 

 every interference of art, however expensive, making 

 the whole appear the production of Nature only ; 

 and, fourthly, to remove or conceal all objects of 

 mere convenience and comfort if incapable of being 

 ornamental or becoming proper parts of the general 

 scenery." Besides possessing "views," Repton had 

 a system of " Red Books," and when asked to 

 improve a place he sent one of these books, illus- 

 trated with plans and pictures of the Garden as it 

 was ; while, by a clever arrangement of slides, the 

 picture could be changed to show how he proposed 

 to change the Garden. These Red Books give the 

 old Garden-lover a terrible shock ! How such 

 sweeping changes could have entered into the mind 

 of any man remains a mystery. Sir Uvedale Price's 

 famous passage of arms with Repton brought the 

 latter to greater reason in his alterations. Price was 

 one of the group of men called the " Picturesque 

 writers," and belonged to what was sometimes called 

 the " Picturesque Landscape School." They saw 

 the excesses of both schools, and advised that the 

 Formal Garden should be altered but not destroyed, 

 and " that the principles of Claude shall be 

 followed as a safe guide," so returning to Kent's 

 original views. To their efforts many a beautiful 

 old Garden owes its existence. 



How often it appears that the aim at a great 

 simplicity but results in a greater artificiality. Such 



