128 



It is the total change, it is the total de- 

 stmction I regret, even of a garden so infe- 

 rior to those that I remember in Italy, 

 though with many of the same kind of de- 

 corations. 



I have hitherto spoken of these old gar- 

 dens merely from my own opinion and feel- 

 ing ; it is right to shew that their excellence 

 may with great probability be grounded on 

 much higher authority, and still more so to 

 point out, as far as I am capable, on what 

 principles that excellence is founded : for 

 without some principles, clearly discernible 

 in the thing itself, mere authority, however 

 high, is insufficient. I know very little of 

 the history of the old Italian gardens, and 

 of their dates ; but it is probable that seve- 

 ral of them, which may have served as mo- 

 dels for those of later times, were made 

 during the most flourishing period of paint- 

 ing : and as some of the greatest painters 

 were likewise architects, and were employed 

 by their patrons in making designs for the 

 houses of their villas, it is not improbable 

 that they might have been consulted about 



