172 



GARDEN CRAFT IN EUROPE 



large trees was prevented by heavy winds, and because the roots were unable 

 to penetrate into the ground to any depth without coming to water. 



One of the most interesting Flemish gardens was that of the Castle 

 of the Due d'Enghien, eighteen miles from Brussels, destroyed during 



the French Revolu- 

 tion. From the en- 

 gravings of Romain 

 de Hooghe we see it 

 illustrated when the 

 gardens were at their 

 best, and as they ap- 

 peared at the period 

 when Voltaire and 

 the Marquise de 

 Chatelet stayed here 

 in 1739. " The gar- 

 dens were so attrac- 

 tive that they almost 

 reconciled Voltaire to 

 a house where there 

 was not a single book 

 except those which 

 he had brought him- 

 self." De Hooghe's 

 plan shows a broad 

 alley leading directly 

 from the castle to a 

 kind of fort with 

 seven bastions over- 

 looking shooting 

 ranges. There was 

 a mount known as 

 " Parnas " planned in three tiers, each connected by ramps enclosed with 

 hedges. The Vyver was near the castle and contained a square island 

 known as "la Motte," surrounded by hedges, with a tremendous water-jet 

 in the middle. Another feature was the Mall (p. 174), an alley some three 



SIMON SCHYNVOET. 



