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■sometimes in a narrower channel, stole 

 silently beneath the over-hanging boughs. 

 Many rich natural groups of trees he might 

 remember — now thinned and rounded into 

 clumps ; many sequestered thickets which 

 he had loved when a boy — now all open 

 and exposed, without shade or variety; 

 and all these sacrifices made, not to his own 

 taste, but to the fashion of the day, and 

 against his natural feelings. 



It seems to me that there is something 

 of patriotism in the praises which Mr. 

 Walpole and Mr. Mason have bestowed on 

 English gardening ; and that zeal for the 

 honour of their country, has made them, 

 in the general view of the subject, over- 

 look defects, which they have themselves 

 condemned. My love for my country, is, 

 I trust, not less ardent than theirs, but it 

 has taken a different turn ; and I feel anxi- 

 ous to free it from the disgrace of propa- 

 gating a system, which, should it become 

 universal, would disfigure the face of alt 

 Europe. It is my wish that a more liberal 

 and extended idea of improvement should 



