12 THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



angle of the terrace in short and steep descents, each 

 landing affording some new scene, some change of 

 sun or shade a genial basking-place, or cool retreat 

 here the rich perfume of an ancestral* orange- 

 tree, there the bright blossom of some sunny creeper 

 while at another turn a balcony juts out to catch 

 some distant view, or a recess is formed with seats for 

 the loitering party to " rest and be thankful." Let all 

 this be connected by colonnades with the architec- 

 ture of the mansion, and you have a far more rational 

 appendage to its necessarily artificial character than 

 the petty wildernesses and picturesque abandon 

 which have not been without advocates up to the 

 very threshold. 



Isola Bella, the creation of Vitaliano Borromeo, 

 may be considered as the extravagant type of the 

 Italian style. A barren rock, rising in the midst of 

 a lake, and producing nothing but a few poor lichens, 

 has been converted into a pyramid of terraces, sup- 

 ported on arches, and ornamented with bays and 

 orange-trees of amazing size and beauty. 



The French are theatrical even in their gardens. 

 There is an effort after spectacle and display which, 

 while it wants the grace of the Italians, is yet free 

 from the puerilities of the Dutch. The gardens of 

 Versailles may be taken as the great exemplar of 

 this style ; and magnificent indeed they are, if ex- 

 pense and extent and repetition suffice to make up 



* There are in Holland many orange-trees which have been in the 

 same family 200 and 300 years ; one at Versailles has the inscription 

 "Sam* en 1421." 



