THE OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN 167 
were beautiful when they were made, and still more 
beautiful, perhaps, when they fell into ruin, are worthy 
the consideration and investigation of to-day. 
Let me emphasize the fact, too, that all gardens of 
this old time were not beautiful; not more than half 
of them indeed—possibly not that number—could lay 
claim to any merit whatsoever, as garden achievements. 
It is Time’s silvery enchantment which has made them 
seem so, which has held us spellbound, so that no 
doubt has ever entered into the modern conception of 
them. By reason of their antiquity we have accepted 
their beauty as a matter of course; it were heresy to 
question where veneration was so obviously the due. 
Hence, I think, the glamour of the term by which they 
have been designated. May it not be more rationally 
interpreted in the future? 
