2 THE ART AND PRACTICE OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



heart. But there is another form of art yet. There are expres- 

 sions of beauty to which we are all subject, and to an appreciation 

 of which we are most of us educated. We are always under their 

 influence. In a thousand forms Nature herself puts forward her 

 charms, and the influence of these is, in degree, upon us all, 

 arousing emotions, or enriching those we possess. It is difficult to 

 define the working and result of such emotions ; moreover, the 

 wealth of their sweetness and grandeur would be lessened could 

 we impose on ourselves a definite conception of their extent. 

 Nature appeals to us in multitudinous ways, in particular as well 

 as in general effect : in the mute appeal of the violet, as well 

 as in the majesty of the oak ; in light and shade ; in the sheen 

 of water; in the infinite variety of the formation of the earth's 

 surface ; in the disposition of foliage both in colour and outline ; 

 in combination of different features, and in constant development. 

 Simply to accumulate and crowd together natural productions, 

 in themselves beautiful, may give us collections, but not the desired 

 result. If we endeavour to define the art of landscape gardening, 

 it may be stated as the taking true cognizance of Nature's means 

 for the expression of beauty, and so disposing those means artistically 

 as to co-operate for our delight in given conditions. 



It is not the author's intention by this book to give 

 another history of landscape gardening ; his intention is rather to 

 record the present development of the art and his own relation 

 to, and practice of it. The love of natural picturesqueness is 

 of very modern growth in England. Its rise was coincident with 

 that of the modern novel in literature, and of genre painting in 

 art. Little more than a century has, with the aid of conducing 

 influences, ripened the feeling to a passion. Peace and augmenting 

 prosperity have been necessary conditions for advancing the art 

 of gardening in this country, since that time when safety made it 



