PREFACE. IIS 



trust, I have never lost sight of in any part 

 of my work, rests the whole force of my 

 argument. If I have succeeded in estab* 

 lishing tj?em, the system of modern Garden- 

 ing, which, besides banishing all picturesque 

 effects, has violated every principle of paint- 

 ing, is of course demolished. 



All such abstract reasoning, however, 

 makes but a slight impression unless it be 

 applied : I, therefore, took examples from 

 the works of the most celebrated layer out 

 of grounds, Mr. Brown,* and examined 



* It has been mentioned as an objection, that Mr. Ha- 

 milton and Mr. Shenstone are in reality the most celebrated 

 for their skill in laying out grounds, and, therefore, Pain- 

 shill and the Leasowes, are the true examples of the taste 

 of English Gardening. The acknowledged superiority of 

 men of liberal education who embellished their own places, 

 is strongly in favour of the whole of my argument ; but has 

 nothing to do with the objection. Poussin and Le Sueur 

 were models of simplicity, and were the two most cele- 



