LITERATURE OF GARDENING. 547 



Numerous works appeared about this time which it 

 would serve little purpose to enumerate, many borrowing 

 largely from their predecessors. The early writers on 

 English gardening were mostly scholars who had little 

 knowledge of the subject; the style was consequently 

 superior to the matter. Later on, when practical men 

 began to write more freely, the matter was superior to the 

 style. But as education became more widely diffused the 

 union of the two gave us a more satisfactory garden 

 literature. 



The " Unconnected Thoughts on Landscape Garden- 

 ing," by Shenstone the poet, published in 1764, deserve 

 more than a passing word. They were apparently jotted 

 down at intervals while he was carrying out improvements 

 at his beautiful ferme ornh " The Lease wes," and might 

 be read with advantage by some of our modern improvers. 



Having been brought by the sequence of time into the 

 arena of landscape gardening, we propose to diverge here 

 to follow briefly but separately the literature of that branch 

 of the art, although we have no intention of taking part in 

 the fierce but bloodless combats which ensued. We may 

 safely assume that the earliest gardens were simply 

 enclosed pieces of land with fences or hedges as a protec- 

 tion against cattle. Then followed formal plans to please 

 the fancy and for the convenience of access to the different 

 objects which the garden contained. Gradually following 

 upon this rose up artistic or landscape gardening. Men 

 wrote little on the subject, and the earliest literature of any 

 importance on this branch of the art, seems to have been 

 Lord Bacon's " Essay on Gardens." It is true that the 

 writings of Shakespeare abound in allusions to trees, 

 plants, and flowers, and later on came the essays of Sir 

 Wm. Temple, Addison, Pope, Lord Kames, G. Mason, and 

 Walpole. Switzer also wrote on the subject from the more 

 practical point of view, while Bridgeman, Kent, and Brown 

 were workers rather than writers. Whately, \to Mason, 

 and Repton, were distinguished writers on this brafcch of 



