INTRODUCTIOxN. 



11 



never before approached in any age or nation. A painter, 

 uniting his profession with that of architecture, happened to be 

 employed on a small estate near London. There he ventured 

 to extend his operations from the house to the scenery ; in ma- 

 naging which, he produced a new style of Ornamental or Land- 

 scape Gardening * : a style, the imperfections of which ought 

 not to detract from the merits of its inventor, who deserves 

 our gratitude for introducing it, and who has justly obtained 

 this praise from the common voice of the age. From the na- 

 ture of the place first modelled in this style, from Mr. Kent's 

 want of practical knowledge in husbandry, as well as from 

 some professors who evidently never practised from principle, 

 but merely from imitation, several difficulties arose, which have 

 retarded its progress toward perfection ; and which have con- 

 tributed to establish a style much worse than any of Mr. Kent's 

 works ; I mean that of Mr. Brown, who seems evidently to 

 have been guided by the idea of one model which might be 

 applied to every situation. Many of the defects and absur- 

 dities of this style are known to men of taste. It is, how- 

 . ever, still generally followed by the professors of landscape gar- 

 dening, and often with a rigid adherence to the plan of their 

 .great self-taught predecessor. Of this any one may be con- 

 vinced, by viewing a few of such estates as are at present under 



First so denominated by Shenstone, in his Remarks on Gardening. 



