THE ENGLISH LANDSCAPE SCHOOL 291 



his designs, and one upon which he prided himself. " Thames ! Thames 

 thou wilt never forgive me," he was overheard to exclaim when lost in admira- 

 tion of one of his pet schemes. So completely did the landscape school of 

 Kent and Brown obliterate all previous work that Repton, writing in 1806, 

 declares that " no trace now remains " of the Italian style of gardening, 

 which he defines as consisting of " balustraded terraces of masonry, magnifi- 

 cent flights of steps, 

 arcades and architec- 

 tural grottoes, lofty 

 clipped hedges, with 

 niches and recesses en- 

 riched by sculpture." ^^ ^^^ 



It would be hardly i 



possible to enumerate 

 all the fine old gardens 

 remodelled by Brown, 

 always according to 

 the system upon which 

 he worked with per- 

 severing uniformity. 

 His reputation and 

 consequent wealth 

 gave him almost ex- 

 clusive pretensions. 



Brown died in 

 1783 and was suc- 

 ceeded by Humphrey 

 Repton ; fortunately 

 the wholesale destruc- 

 tion of old gardens was checked, for Repton had not sufficient influ- 

 ence to suggest the sweeping alterations that Brown had made. At 

 first Repton followed closely the rules laid down by his famous predecessor, 

 but aa_ his own reputation increased he invented for himself, trusting 

 to his own talents. He was the first to assume the title of " Landscape 

 Gardener " and declared himself the professor of an art to which he gave 

 the name of " Landscape Gardening," because he says " the art can only 



HUMPHREY REPTON. 



