560 Planting and laying out Grounds. 



consideration in the adoption of a general plan ; and a know- 

 ledge of gardening, as an art of cnlture, is requisite to insure 

 success. When a thicket of all kinds of trees is wanted, a 

 detailed plan is not so necessary ; but even to plant a thicket in 

 imitation of nature, nature must have been previously studied. 



I have seen magnificent gardens in England ; but some in 

 Germany appeared to me almost as beautiful, particularly in 

 Saxony and Bavaria. I have not forgotten the beautiful 

 villas of Rome, and the fine gardens in Italy; but, in France, 

 Ermenonville, Malmaison, and some others in this style, have 

 made a greater impression on me than the masterpiece at 

 Versailles. Nature is there disfigured by pruning trees to stiff 

 and whimsical forms. In barbarous ages, and to ignorant 

 individuals in the present age, this mutilation gives pleasure, 

 because it shows the power of man : but to highly civilised 

 nations, and to individuals of refined taste, the simplicity of 

 nature is the greatest beauty. 



The object of painting and poetry is to represent the finest 

 effects of nature. Picturesque effects in a pleasure-garden 

 consist equally in the choice of the most agreeable forms, the 

 elegance of the outline, the gradation of the perspective, the 

 contrast of light and shade, the projection and relief of 

 objects which strike the sight, the charm of variety and the 

 beautiful harmony of colours, and finally, in that happy and 

 admirable ease which is the distinctive mark of nature and 

 gracefulness. 



I have endeavoured to show that the arrangement of a 

 pleasure-garden cannot be the effect of caprice, and that there 

 are rules and principles to be followed, which we cannot 

 neglect without committing the faults which are remarked in 

 many of our gardens in the English style. These kinds of 

 productions may please and suit persons who have not re- 

 ceived that education which forms and distinguishes a man 

 of taste. To know how to value and judge what is really 

 beautiful, admirable, and sublime, can only be the fruit of 

 application, and much care and study. These tj'uths are fully 

 demonstrated in the treatises written on the subject by French 

 architects and landscape-gardeners who have become cele- 

 brated by their works ; amongst others by M. Morel, archi- 

 tect, whose work, in 2 vols. &vo \_Enajc. of Gard., p. 1118.], 

 contains, besides his theory' of gardening, a description of 

 Ermenonville ; and by M. Curten, architect, whose essay on 

 gardening, in 1 vol. 8vo [^Encyc. of Gard.^ p. 1120.], contains 

 the principles of the art of forming picturesque gardens, and 

 a plan descriptive of an immense park, as an example. Read- 

 ing these works will convince those who entertain any doubts 



