SECTION II. 



389 



her countrymen. This is perhaps the best foreign treatise on the sub- 

 ject, excepting the large and excellent work of Professor Hirschfeld of 

 Kiel, {Die Theorie der Gartenkunst^ which for many reasons is well 

 deserving of an English dress, as the French translation gives no com- 

 petent idea of the merit of the original. 



Mr Loudon, who visited Poland in 1818, and saw many trees that 

 had been transplanted by Stanislaus, soon after 1764, gives the following 

 account of the palace and grounds at Lazenki, which contains a curious 

 picture of the manners, as well as the wood, at the residence of this 

 unfortunate Prince. 



"By far the most remarkable of these gardens (says he,) is Lazenki, 

 or The Bath, formed by the last King, on the site of an ancient park at 

 Ujasdow, wdthin the suburbs of the city. At the beginning of the 

 reign of Stanislaus, in 1764, it was a marshy wood, planted with alders, 

 with some canals, and other stagnated pieces of water, near which was 

 a grotesque edifice, called The Bath, from which this park takes its 

 name. 



" The palace, a beautiful piece of Roman architecture, from the 

 design of Camsitzer, a German artist, is placed on an island, in a con- 

 siderable piece of water. It consists of a centre and two wings. The 

 centre is placed in the middle of a narrow part of the lake, and the 

 wings are on opposite shores, and joined to the centre by arches, with 

 orangeries over them. The entrance is by a carriage-portico in one of 

 the wings, to which you arrive without seeing the lake ; and on 

 entering the orangery, its first effect is surprising and delightful. On 

 the north shore of this lake, there is an open amphitheatre of stone, 

 with its orchestra on the brink of the water ; and near the margin is an 

 island of trees, which served as the proscenium. This theatre was at 

 all times open to the public ; and, in addition to the ordinary exhibitions, 

 ships and naval engagements were occasionally exhibited. The gaiety 

 which reigned here, during the first years of the reign of Stanislaus, the 

 singular effect of the illuminations, the ships, and the resounding of 

 music in the woods, are still recollected by some of the oldest inhabi- 

 tants of Warsaw, and spoken of with feelings of regret. 



" The grounds were not extensive, nor, excepting near the palace, 

 much ornamented. They consisted of a number of broad green alleys, 

 crossing each other at right angles ; and of smaller covered paths leading 

 to open circles of turf, for dances and music, and for tents and booths, 

 on extraordinary occasions. In several places, coffee-rooms and ice- 

 cellars were established, and still remain. And there are two pavilions 

 for the king's mistresses ; and another, which served as a seraglio for 

 strangers, or visitors of the king ; the three being connected with 



