556 DAWN OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



in which, whatever may be its merits or demerits, the author 

 has evidently thought the subject well out and gives his 

 conclusions generally, although not- always, in a clear 

 style and with a logical precision which is rarely equalled 

 in writings on this subiect. The author commences by 

 asserting the desirability of uniting pleasure to utility in 

 gardening, and reminds us that this art is comparatively 

 young, and " not as yet arrived at the same degree of taste 

 to which some of the other arts have." His first principles 

 are thus stated : 



" There seem in Nature to be four different dispositions 

 of ground, distinct from each other and which create dis- 

 tinct and separate sentiments. 



" The first situation is that of a highland country con- 

 sisting of great and steep mountains, rocks, lakes, im- 

 petuous rivers, &c. Such a place is Inverary. The 

 sentiment which a situation like this creates in the breast 

 of a beholder is obviously, and everyone feels it, that of 

 grandeur. 



" The next is what one may call a romantic disposition 

 of ground, consisting of sunk vallies, woods hanging over 

 them, smooth rivers, the banks steep but accessible, and 

 the rocks appearing high, not so much from their own 

 height as from the trees which crown, and the wild birds 

 that are continually hovering over them ; such a situation 

 is generally destitute of prospect ; but then in return, both 

 the whole and parts of it being very precisely marked, give 

 the same room to the imagination of the gardener that 

 they give to that of the landscape painter. Places like 

 this we have on the banks of many of our small rivers in 

 the low countries of Scotland. The sentiment which such 

 a situation seems to flatter is that of composure of mind 

 and perhaps even of melancholy. 



" A third disposition is that of grounds running by 

 gentle falls and rising easily into each other. In situations 

 of this kind are placed many of the English modern 

 gardens, and particularly those which Kent delighted in 



