46 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



that art, or the schools, or modes, by which it has previous- 

 ly been characterized, is but to be groping about in a dim 

 twilight, without the power of knowing, even should we be 

 successful in our efforts, the real excellence of our produc- 

 tion ; or of judging its merit, comparatively, as a work of 

 taste and imagination. 



[Fig. 12. The Geometric style, from an old print.] 



The beauties elicited by the ancient style of gardening 

 were those of regularity, symmetry, and the display -of. 

 labored art. These were attained in a merely mechanical 

 manner, and usually involved little or no theory. The 

 geometrical form and lines of the buildings were only ex- 

 tended and carried out in the garden. In the best classical 

 models, the art of the sculptor conferred dignity and ele- 

 gance on the garden, by the fine forms of marble vases and 

 statues ; in the more intricate and labored specimens of the 



