130 



there is nothing absurd in supposing that he 

 might have gi ven some attention to the de- 

 corations of a garden. G. Romano, the 

 most distinguished among the moderns for 

 a highly poetical genius in painting, did not 

 disdain to make drdwitigs for the Duke of 

 Mantua's plate; and therefore could not 

 have thought it a degradation of his art to 

 have designed such a garden, as Would best 

 accompany and set off his own archi- 

 tecture. That style of gardening therefore, 

 and those decorations which men of Sttch 

 eminence possibly may have designed, and 

 certainly did not disdain to associate with 

 their own designs, ought not td be treated 

 with contempt and be totally banished, to 

 make way for the productions of a Kent, 

 or a Brown. 



Having shewn the possibility at least of 

 such high authorities for the excellence of 

 the old Italian gardens, I will now endea- 

 vour to point out what I conceive to be the 

 principles on which that excellence is 

 founded. 



