84 GARDENS: THEIR FORM AND DESIGN 



the hedge these were reflected in the water. Some of 

 the stone pedestals were shorter than the others, and 

 these had springs of water flowing from them. 



This fine effect had no doubt been arranged for with a 

 view to the impression it would create upon a spectator 

 viewing it from the formal gardens laid out upon the 

 opposite banks of the river. Guarding the entrance to 

 the island are two very fine treillage, pedestals which 

 correspond in pattern with the elaborate work of the 

 temple under which Apollo stands, and thus they make 

 a distant framework for it. 



Beyond the island the two wide river-branches, 

 momentarily separated, rush together, and, traversing a 

 stone passage, they dash along it to form a cascade. 

 This intermingling of the waters seemed a repetition of 

 the same idea which led the two converging paths to 

 unite in front of the statue of Venus. 



Emblematic in every sense did this garden seem of the 

 meeting of two lovers, who, having overcome separation, 

 at length found peace and happiness upon this lovely 

 island. Here we can picture their souls at length 

 transformed into a stream of crystal water, flowing on 

 over all obstacles towards the sea. Would that some 

 such dream-thought might become a reality in regard to 

 the happy unison of formal and informal garden design. 



But let us leave this garden, which must so recently 

 have had the din and roar of cannon echoing round it, 

 and pass on to some handsome and uncommon central 

 ornaments for beds, taken from old Dutch and Swedish 

 prints. Some of these are exceedingly fanciful, and 

 perhaps, in the workman's anxiety to invent a very novel 

 design, the ultimate object for having treillage was 

 overlooked. It is possible to modify these, and to plan a 

 centre-piece which will answer the two main purposes for 

 which such features are intended. The result to be aimed 



