Public Gardens and Promenades. 649 



ployed in a different manner. The resemblance of the result to 

 the scenery of nature, more than to the forms and lines of 

 architecture, has, very naturally, given rise to the idea that it is 

 simply an imitation of nature ; and this idea, misunderstood, has 

 occasioned the mistake to be made, that a modern garden, to be 

 perfect, ought to be such a scene as to be easily mistaken for nature 

 itself. See, on this subject. Vol. VIII. p. 702., and Vol. X. p. 558, 

 The second principle, which ought to pervade every descrip- 

 tion of garden, is. Unity of expression. " The mind can only 

 attend to one thing at one time," so as to derive the full know- 

 ledge or enjoyment of it; and hence, when a multiplicity of 

 objects are placed before it, they must be so disposed as to form 

 one object or picture, so as to be seen at one glance, other- 

 wise the mind would be distracted, and deprived of that repose 

 which is essential to comprehension and enjoyment, As we have 

 said a good deal on this subject in different parts of this Maga- 

 zine, and in the Architectural Magazine, more especially in the 

 first volume of it, we shall only further remark here, that the 

 want of this unity of expression is a prevailing error in most 

 public gardens ; and, indeed, in most private ones. Not only 

 are too many objects crowded into one scene, so that the spec- 

 tator does not know to which to direct his attention first, but 

 even so many walks offer themselves to his choice, that he is at 

 a loss which to take ; not wishing, on the one hand, to omit 

 seeing any thing ; nor, on the other, to see any thing twice. 

 Now, if the principle of unity were properly attended to, there 

 would be no leading walk seen at one time but the one walked 

 on ; and, instead of the spectator being left to choose what object 

 he would fix his attention on, there ought to be only one leading 

 object presented to him at one time, to which he could attend. 

 The walks in most of our public gardens, crossing in all direc- 

 tions, seem intended to puzzle, rather than to lead to all the 

 different points of view. In this respect, English gardening is 

 too often a direct imitation df the Chinese ; the avowed object of 

 which is to perplex. It ought to be laid down as a rule, derived 

 from the principle of unity, that there should be one main 

 walk, by walking along which every material object in the garden 

 may be seen in a general way ; that the end of this walk, and 

 its commencement, should be at one and the same entrance ; 

 or that the commencement should be at one main entrance and the 

 exit at another, and that not more than two main entrances should 

 be admitted ; and that it should show no scene twice. From 

 this main walk there may be small episodical walks, to display 

 the beauties of particular scenes in detail ; for example, to show 

 particular animals, or classes of animals, in a zoological garden ; 

 or particular compartments of plants, in a botanical garden : 

 but it ought to be a rule, derived from the same principle, that 



