10 



stone terrace, shaped his small lake in a square or circular form, and 

 clipped his trees and shrubs into fantastic shapes, aiming at ostentation 

 without regard either to propriety or good taste. 



Such a style is well fitted for immediately producing startling if not 

 grand effects; and during early stages of society, and in countries 

 abounding with the irregular and natural forms of uncultivated scenery, 

 distinction is at once imparted by introducing perfectly level or regu- 

 larly sloping surfaces of ground, trees planted at uniform distances 

 apart, and lakes or ponds bounded by geometrical lines, so as to leave 

 no chance of mistaking any portion of the scene as having been the re- 

 sult of unassisted arrangement, but unmistakably conveying the impres- 

 sion of a display of wealth and refinement, and to indicate ownership 

 by distinguishing the country residence from the natural, uninclosed, 

 rude scenery of the neighborhood. 



In the strictly geometrical style everything is architecturally accu- 

 rate in its lines, perfect symmetry pervades the whole, and all parts 

 are equally balanced. Statuary of all kinds, fountains, steps, ballus- 

 ters, and pediments, broad walks, straight-planted avenues, formal- 

 shaped flower beds, all belong to this species of garden and landscape 

 decoration. 



THE NATURAL STYLE. 



In the geometrical style the hand of the artist is evident in every 

 detail ; but in the natural style artificial interference is not so conspic- 

 uously apparent. In the disposition of the material used for the devel- 

 opment of landscape views and scenic effects there is nothing, so far as 

 general impressions are concerned, to indicate where the hand of the 

 improver has been operating, or anything appearing beyond a natural 

 production, or what may be indigenous to the locality. All natural 

 beauties are carefully preserved so far as is consistent with objects of 

 use or convenience, and the element of utility enters more largely, per- 

 haps, into our ideas of the beautiful in this than in the geometrical 

 style ; and while there is no desire to avoid the appearance of art in 

 operative details, it is not rendered obtrusive, and the effects produced 

 need not suggest % the idea of painful and laborious operations. 



The perception of the beauty ought to be the first impression, and not 

 that of the art by which it has been produced. The beauties of nature 

 are imitated in the disposition of trees and shrubs, and, so far as gen- 

 eral scenic effect is concerned, the arrangement might be taken for a 

 natural group ; yet a close examination of details will lead to the dis- 

 covery that the plants employed are not indigenous to the locality, 

 and thus art and design will be recognized. So also in a district where 

 evergreen trees do not exist in the surrounding natural woods their in- 

 troduction in the scenery will at once convey the impression of an arti- 

 ficial plantation, so far as regards the materials of which it is com- 

 posed. While therefore the general effects produced in this style are 



