INTRODUCTION. 3 



the first who deviated from straight lines, as apphed to decorative 

 pieces of water, by following the natural curves of a valley, when 

 widening a brook at Ryskins, near Colnbrook. Lord Stafford, sup- 

 posing economy to have been the motive, inquired, " What would 

 have been the additional expense to have made the banks of this 

 piece of water straight ?" 



It appears surprising, while pursuing this subject from the time 

 of Vespasian or Titus to the reign of George the Third, to find 

 that little improvement had been made in the style of Landscape 

 Gardening. 



About this period, improvements more natural and elegant were 

 introduced by Kent, Brown, and others, which met with such general 

 approbation, that Sir William Chambers was induced to say, " If this 

 mania be not checked, there will not remain three trees standing in 

 a line throughout the kingdom.'^ Since that period, however, the 

 taste for natural scenery has so much improved, that the specimens 

 of ancient taste in Landscape Gardening are now esteemed as remains 

 of antiquity ; the most respected and distinguished of which may be 

 considered those grand avenues at Hampton Court and Windsor 

 Forest : such noble examples may with propriety be deemed worthy 

 of preservation. 



Having taken this cursory view of the progress of Landscape Gar- 

 dening, it will be proper briefly to consider the nature of the Beau- 



