432 Flan for the Formation 



lawn for hours, talking of its various beauties, with my 

 father, who was himself the greatest ornament of the scene. 

 The iDourne*, which rose in the chalk-pit, was connected 

 with one three miles off on one side at Epsom, and another 

 two miles oiF on the other side at Lower Cheam ; the water 

 rose after a wet season : I remember to have seen a con- 

 siderable quantity of water in the pit twice in my life ; a cir- 

 cumstance which we considered a great misfortune, as it 

 converted the hollow into a pond. T. W. 



Art. IV. Outlines of a Plan for the Formation of a Classical 

 Garden. By Mr. J. Main, A.L.S. 



Sir, 



Britain ranks high in the scale of nations ; and not more 

 for her power and commerce, than for her exertions in the 

 advancement of every art and science, within these last fifty 

 years. 



Architecture has raised, and is raising, monuments which 

 will remain for the admiration of ages ; sculpture, painting, 

 and all the liberal arts, are advancing in rapid progression. 

 The stupendous national undertakings to promote the con- 

 venience, the safety, and the comforts of society, and the 

 noble institutions for the advancement of every kind of use- 

 ful and elegant knowledge, merit the applause, and receive 

 the eulogies, of surrounding nations. Nothing seems too 

 great or expensive for the genius and affluence of the empire 

 to accomplish ; and nothing which can add to its fame or its 

 splendour is neglected from indifference, or forgotten from 

 want of public spirit. 



But, among these astonishing works of national aggrandise- 

 ment, one thing has not yet been taken up with that ardour 

 it deserves, nor on the comprehensive scale of execution of 

 which it is capable ; namely, the formation of what may be 

 called a Classical Garden. For, notwithstanding this art 

 has received the attention of the wisest heads, and engrossed 

 the cares of the brightest and most rational among man- 

 kind; and though the titile diilci of the ancients has been 

 eminently displayed in many instances around the palaces of 

 the princes and noblemen of the European world, during the 

 last century ; yet these gardens, whether an appendage to a 

 palace, the requisite accompaniment of a country seat, or the 



* An occasional spring, which flowed only at distant and uncertain 

 periods. 



