BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 
49 
odd conceits, rather than the exercise of taste or imagination ; 
and to level ground naturally uneven, or to make an 
avenue, by planting rows of trees on each side of a broad 
walk, requires only the simplest perception of the beauty of 
mathematical forms. In short, to lay out a garden in the 
geometric style, was little more than a formal routine, and it 
was only after the superiour interest of a more natural man- 
ner was enforced by men of genius, that beauty of expres- 
sion was recognized, and Landscape Gardening was raised 
to the rank of a fine art. 
The ancient style of gardening may, however, be intro- 
duced with good effect in certain cases. In public squares 
and gardens, where display, grandeur of effect, and a highly 
artificial character are desirable, it appears to us the most 
suitable ; and no less so in very small gardens, in which 
variety and irregularity is out of the question. Where a taste 
for imitating an old and quaint style of residence exists, the 
symmetrical, and knotted garden, would be a proper 
accompaniment ; and pleached alleys, and sheared trees, 
would be admired, like old armour, as curious specimens of 
antique taste and custom. 
The earliest professors of modern Landscape Gardening, 
have generally agreed upon two species of beauty, of which 
the art is capable — variations no less certainly distinct, on 
the one hand, than they are capable of intermingling and 
combining, on the other. These are general , and 'picturesque 
beauty : or, to speak more definitely, the beauty characterized 
by simple and flowing forms, and the expressed by striking, 
irregular, spirited forms. 
The admirer of nature, as well as the lover of pictures and 
engravings, will at once call to mind examples of scenery 
distinctly expressive of each of these kinds of beauty. In 
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