146 
FLORA AND SVLVA 
a hill you have vistas of distant country framed by 
towering cypresses into delightful pictures. Tet in 
the British examples you have a distinct sentiment; 
it is of a garden that you love — a charm that can 
only be gained by the employment of rare knowledge 
and design. There is a subtle charm about the 
terrace at Haddon Hall and the bowling green at 
Bramshill that is entirely absent in Trentham or 
Versailles. There is no great striving after effect. 
I would rather be the designer of Montacute than 
Versailles — I will go farther^ and say of the 
Haddon Hall terrace rather than Versailles. In- 
deed., there are few of the vast garden conceptions 
that please me. Chatsworth bores me^ so does the 
Crystal Palace ; yet they are laid out on grand 
lines: they are meant for spectacular performances, 
and unless all the fountains are playing the effect 
is dismal as an empty theatre. We do not feel this 
at the Villa d" Este or Borghese gardens. I cannot 
recall a single picture in which either the Crystal 
Palace or Versailles is brought in.'' 
Just think of a garden being laid out [ 
for " spectacular performances " — the i 
last place in God's earth where the idea ! 
should even come into the mind. [ 
' ' The A Ibaniwas laid out by Marchionne largely 
to show off the rich collection of antiques collected 
by Cardinal Albani. The plan is a good example 
of carpet gardening. I cannot say that it appeals 
to me. I have but the faintest liking for the geo- 
metrical garden. Its mathematical pattern excites 
no pleasurable emotions ; still parts o f it are excel- 
lent — like the curate's egg." 
Does it appeal to anyone with the slight- 
est glimmer of feeling for the beautiful? 
But is it not the stereotyped Italian or 
geometrical design that leads to the 
geometrical planting that Mr. Mac- 
artney deplores ? People are afraid to | 
be free or natural before these elabora- | 
tions spread out before their windows. 
Even nature-lovers who see the ugli- 
ness of it all are led to tolerate it, and \ 
so we get gardens that are certainly not 
English and only bastard Italian. 1 
The distinct advantages of our islands I 
in leading us to a more charming type of 
garden than the Italians ever possessed, 
are rightly referred to by the author. 
"21?^/ cannot dissever your self fromyour climate; 
and though I vastly admire the superb cypress Jlex., 
a?id arbutus groves of Italy., I am as fond of our 
deciduous trees, even in winter. It may be impious, 
but I do not care very much for the appearance 
of evergreens in England except the yew and holly. 
Their foliage has a hard metallic look that seems 
to indicate that they are not happy in their sur- 
roundings. Nature is supposed to hate straight 
lines, and therefore winding paths, sloping lawns, 
and wavy beds are introduced to satisfy votaries of 
this style." 
An error is embodied in the above 
which is so harmful that it is well to 
point it out. Winding " paths made 
for the sake of their winding about 
"wavy beds" are not any essential part 
of what is here called the " natural 
style." We suppose that if Mr. Mac- 
artney had a lawn sloping down to a 
gentle river-bank he would accept it as 
such and not call it an invention of the 
naturalistic school ? and that if he were 
forming walks in hilly ground he would 
be glad to make his paths bend around 
the lines of easiest grade — often beauti- 
ful ones? He may rest assured however 
that in many cases winding paths are 
no essential part of good work; that 
we accept straight paths no less than 
winding paths ; and that we can plant 
beside such paths as beautifully as by 
any others. 
In many valleys there are lawns 
made by the earth-mother better than 
man can make them, and the question 
is do we improve these by disfiguring 
them with paltry imitations of the Italian 
garden, so out of place and yet so 
common in Britain. W. R. 
