IV THE LANDSCAPE SCHOOL 8i 



Addison began the attack in The Spectator,^ with 

 the following extraordinary argument : — We 

 may assume, he says, that works of nature rise 

 in value according to the degree of their resem- 

 blance to works of art. Therefore works of 

 art rise in value according to the degree of their 

 resemblance to nature. Gardens are works of 

 art. Therefore they rise in value according to 

 the degree of their resemblance to nature. 

 Therefore in laying out a garden we are to copy 

 nature as much as possible. This is a concise 

 statement of the whole fallacy of the landscape 

 gardener. In this curious argument the first 

 half of the major premiss begs the question ; 

 we do not value nature by the standard of art ; 

 but even if this was true, the deduction from it 

 of the second proposition is an inference from 

 what is true under conditions to what is true 

 absolutely, and the entire argument based on 

 this amounts to a fallacy of the ambiguous middle, 

 for the term "work of art" is used here both 

 for " works of art " in the ordinary sense and for 

 work which is mechanical, that is made by man 

 as distinct from nature. Pope, the most arti- 

 ficial of writers, followed suit in The Guardian'^ 

 with a witty catalogue of objects cut in yew- 

 trees, supposed to be for sale, which included 

 *' a St. George in box, his arm scarce long 

 enough, but will be in a condition to stab 



^ The Spectator, No. 414, 25th June, 17 12. 

 - The Guardian, No. 173, 1712. 



