48 History of the English Landed Interest. 



Evelyn himself had in his travels come across, not only 

 abroad, but in England, many an instance of tastefnl artificial 

 scenery ; and though living as he did before the laws of land- 

 scape planting were known to any one except artists, he was 

 an appreciative observer of nature. "The garden and vineyard 

 of Hatfield," he says, " were, besides the house, the most con- 

 siderable rarety ; being well watered and planted." Penshurst 

 stood in a finely watered park, and was already famous for its 

 gardens and excellent fruit. Mr, Tomb's garden possessed 

 " large and noble walks, some modern statues, and a vineyard 

 planted in strawberry borders, staked at 10 foote distances." 

 The Physick Garden of Magdalen College, Oxford, was noted 

 for its canes, olive trees, and wonderful sensitive plant ; and 

 the garden of AVilton, " a large handsome plain," with a grotto 

 and waterworks, was esteemed the noblest in England. 



But the best of these shrank to insignificance beside what he 

 had seen on the Continent. The Park at Brussels, with its 

 great heronry, divers springs of water, artificial cascades, 

 rocks and grotts ; the Jardin Royale at Paris, with its hills, 

 meadows, woods, and uplands (natural and artificial) ; the whole 

 richly stored with exotic plants ; the gardens of the Luxem- 

 bourg, " an English mile in compasse, enclosed in a stately 

 wall, and laid out into four squares and as many knots, having 

 in the centre a noble basin of marble meere thirty feet in dia- 

 meter " ; and lastly, " the vacant stayrecase, marbles, statues, 

 urnes, pictures, courte, grotto, and waterworks of the Palace 

 of Pitti," at Florence, all dwarfed in his estimation the more 

 simple beauties of artificial scenery at home. 



Though his ideas of planting observed no rules, Evelyn was 

 no mean landscape gardener ; thus we road in his diary of 

 January 17th, 1653 : " I began to set out the wall garden at 

 Sayes Court, which was, before, a rude orchard, and all the rest 

 one entire field of 100 acres, without any hedge, except the 

 hither holly hedge, joyning to the bank of the mount walk. 

 This was the beginning of all the succeeding gardens, walks, 

 groves, enclosures and ])lantations there." 



Often enough he must have longed to remedy defects of 

 taste when he found them, as when he described Lord 



