8+ THE FORMAL GARDEN IN ENGLAND iv 



of ground, building up of rocks, and, for a 

 crowning effort of genius, in planting dead trees 

 " to heighten the allusion to natural woods." 

 He might as well have nailed stuffed nightingales 

 to the boughs. As Scott said of him : " His 

 style is not simplicity, but affectation labouring 

 to seem simple." Kent's great work in gardens 

 was Stowe in Buckinghamshire. These gardens 

 were begun by Bridgeman with some approach 

 to style, but Kent obliterated every trace of it. 

 He so contrived his views and prospects that 

 at every turn appeared a fresh tour de force. 

 After inspecting the Hermitage, the Temple 

 of Venus, the Egyptian Pyramid, and St. 

 Augustine's Cave, built of roots and moss, 

 and adorned with indecent inscriptions, the 

 amazed spectator would proceed to the Saxon 

 Temple, the Temple of Bacchus, Dido's Cave, 

 the Witch House, the Temple of Ancient and 

 Modern Virtue, the Grecian Temple, the Gothic 

 Temple, and the Palladian Bridge, not to 

 mention many other monuments of minor 

 interest, while at every point inscriptions were 

 at hand to tell you what to admire and to 

 supply the appropriate sentiments. Shenstone, 

 at Leasowes, was even more solicitous for his 

 visitors, for in places of more than ordinary 

 interest on his farm he would put a Gothic seat 

 *' still more particularly characterised by an in- 

 scription in obsolete language and the black 

 letter." This was the practical result of the 



