46 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
that art, or the schools, or modes, by which it has previous- 
ly been characterized, is but to be groping about in a dim 
twilight, without the power of knowing, even should . we be 
successful in our efforts, the real excellence of our produc- 
tion ; or of judging its merit, comparatively, as a work of 
taste and imagination. 
[Fig. 12. The Geometric style, from an old print.] 
The beauties elicited by the ancient style of gardening 
were those of regularity, symmetry, and the display of 
labored art. These were attained in a merely mechanical 
manner, and usually involved little or no theory" . The 
geometrical form and lines of the buildings were only ex- 
tended and carried out in the garden. In the best classical 
models, the art of the sculptor conferred dignity and ele- 
gance on the garden, by the fine forms of marble vases and 
statues ; in the more intricate and labored specimens of the 
