(if such a person ever existed) imitated nature 2000 years before Nero, and Nero nearly
as long a period before Pope or Shenstone. Tho general progress of ideas in matters of
taste aud refluemcnt, in England, required the creation of such a style, at the time it
became natio n al; and the highly cultivated state of the country, the accounts of Chinese
gardens, and tho descriptions of the poets, would all conspire to its production.
677. The principles o f modem landscape-gardening were unquestionably first laid down
by English writers. I t is allowed on all sides that Addison and Pope “ prepared for
tho now a rt of gai-doning the firm basis of philosophical principles.” Addison’s paper on
Imagmation was pubhshed so early as 1712 ; and Pope’s celebrated Guardian ou Verdant
Sculptm-o, in 1713. Pope attacked the verdant sculpture and formal groves of tho
ancient style, with the keenest shafts of ridicule ; and, in his Episde to Lord Burlington,
laid down tho justcst principles of a r t t h e study of natm-e, o fth e genius of the place,
and never to lose sight of good sense. .
578. Among the firs t examples o f modem landscape-gardening were those given hy Pope
and Addison. In so far as was practicable on a spot of httle more than two acres. Pope
in-actised what ho wrote ; and his weU-known garden at Twickenham contained, so early
as 1716, some highly picturesque and natural-looking scenery; accurately described
by various contemporary writers. Only the soil of Pope’s garden now remains. (Sec
Beauties o f England and Wales.) Addison had a small retirement at Bilton, near
Eugby, laid out in what may be called a rm-al style, which still exists, with very littlo
alteration besides that of time.
579. The first artists who practised in the modem style were Bridgeman and Kent.
Bridgeman was the fashionable designer of gardens in the beginning of the eighteenth century,
and may be considered as having succeeded to London and -Wise, London having
died in 1713. Horace Walpole eonjcctures Bridgeman to have heen “ struck and reformed ”
by the Guardian, No. 173. He banished verdant sculpture, and introduced morsels of
a forest appearance in the gardens at Eichmo n d ; “ hut not till other innovators had
broken loose from rigid symmetry.” I t was, however, reserved for Kent, tho friend of
Lord Burhugton, says Daines Barrington, to eairy Pope’s ideas more extensively into
execution. It was reserved for him “ to realise the beautiful descriptions of the poets,
for which he was peculiarly adapted by being a painter ; as the true tost of perfection in
modern gardening is, that a landscape-painter would choose it for a composition.” Kent,
according to Horace Walpole, appeared immediately after Bridgeman began to make
innovations on the old style. Among these innovations the capital stroke was the destruction
of walls for houndai'ies, and the introduction of hahas : the harmony of the
lawn with the park followed. Kent appeared at this moment, and saw that nature
was a garden : “ painter enough to taste the charms of landscape, hold and opinionative
enough to dare and to dictate, and horn with a genius to strike out a great system ; from
the twilight of imperfect essays, he realised the compositions of tho greatest masters in
painting.” “ Kent,” continues his lordship, “was neither without assistance nor witli-
out faults. Pope contributed to f om his taste ; and the gardens at Cai-lton House were
probably borrowed from the poet’s at Twickenham.”
680. The various deviations from rigid unifarmitg, or, more correctly, the various
attempts to succeed in the Chinese manner, appear to have taken a new and decisive character
under the guidance of K e n t; a circumstance, in our opinion, entirely owing to his
having the ideas of a painter ; for no mere gardener, occupied in imitating the Chinese,
or even Italian manner, would over have thought of studying to produce picturesque
effect. Picturesque beauty, indeed, we consider to have been hut little recognised in
this counti-y, except hy painters, previously to the time of Pope, who was hoth a paiiitor
and a poet. The continued approbation of the modern style, as purified from tho Chinese
absurdities, originally more or less introduced with it, and continued in many places
long after Kent’s time, we consider to be chiefly owing to the circumstance of the study
of drawing and landscape-painting having become a part of the general system of education
; and thus, as Alison observes, our taste for natm-al beauty was awakened; “ the
power of simple .nature was felt and acknowledged, and the removal of the ar-ticles of
acquired expression led men only more strongly to attend to the natural expression of
scenery, and to study the means by which it might be maintained or improved.”
581. The adoption and extension o f the modem style in England may next be considered.
The means which led to its popularity in Britain, and, indeed, over the whole
of Em-ope, were the examples of artists and authors to which it gave rise.
582. The country-seats in which the modern style was'first employed are dcscrihed hy
Shenstone, G. Mason, and -Whately, in then- works on gardening, and incidentidly by
some other authors.
_______ ... which th e modern style was adopted.
delling the grounds a t Stowe, about the same time
Stowe .appears to have been th e first extensive residence
Lord Cobiiam seems to have been occupied in re-modeliing t..„ „ -----------
tb at Pope was laying out his gardens a t Twickenham. Ilis lordship began these improvements m ly lt
employing Bridgeman, whose plans and views for altering old Stowe from th e most rigid character of
the ancient style to a more open and irregular design, are still in existence. Kent was employed a few
years afterwards, first to paint foe hall, and ‘ft«
g a rd en e r; and th e bmldmgs and magnificent buildmgs, by
well kn own : nature has done h t t l e ; but character to scenes of little or no natural
which it has been attempted to give a S Pope, “ a work to wonder a t,” than one
expression. T h e result is u n iq u e ; b u t more as e x p re^ ed by rope,^^ considered him as the first who
to charm th e imagination. 1 h® fie n d s f / t h e concluding lines of an epitaph to his
exhibited the new style cufcTU his primum in a g r is i l h i s t r a t o
memory, placed in the garden,— ^ jggi and found them considerably extended,
PATRIAM ORNAVIT, 1747.” We ''»«ited t^ese Tineularly enough, bears th e same name as his
and greatly improved by the gardener ’ was originally the head gardener
in these gardens were sold hy 4„ sunnosed to have been one of the first small places
Woburn Farm, near W eybridge,m Surrey, is s u p ^ ^ southcote, says G. Mason, possessed a genius
where the new system struck out too lavish of his flowery decorations. The
in many respects well suited to the purpose, but was ra to ornamented to th e highest d egree; two
extent of th e grounds was 150 .«®’^®S’ t^ " ty -flv e of whm decorations
thirds of th e remainder were to almost every fence, but varied by
c o n s is te d in h a v in g a b ro a d margin of shrubbery and^^^^ described in Whately’s Observations, as an
difference of style, views, h ^ < h n p . &®; It is mmu ^ 0 ^ ^ ^ too narrow, and sometimes
example of an ornamented farm. G. Mason thinks th e ^ F bordering walk, he thinks, may
offensive, from tb e impossibility ®®«®f^ " 8 ‘S® h S remarks refer to th e year 1768. We visited
probably be attributed the introduction of th e b ^ existing b u t the shrubberies overgrown, or gone.
««P««&‘» ‘“«
Huto ^
supposed to have been one of th e «®^t ®P®®‘i ^ ® f S / f his grounds. Pain’s Hill was formed from a
have studied pictures with a view to the ' 3 7 3 ¿ravelly soil, fortunately accompanied by a small
common, having an undulating 3 f«® f ? if |^ 4 ^ iih L ta s te Znd its merits in this and other respects will
stream of w ater. It has been We have frequently visited this place, and
be found done ione ample ampie justice ju s i iu « to lv 1a. «, ^ ^ a t e ly s - g g , ^ had ^ a a been o c e n for m i many l u n i v years
j«<44o
always with :h ..‘ renewed « » « y / L p easure.K r a - ia l a riè r i j d ! surfaèe.s u t te e , and and the the tasteful disposition of
4.u„v.w..„V.1,r vorvairo/1
neiore. ui a state of neglect and ‘I® f 7 ;,‘^,Scî/hanRed Ï Ï and has been thoroughly repaired
th e trees, remainea.remained. T iu h c e property i/wpu. ^ has s»«®- ® ®xu hj«“ g®„me ^^j time as ^s p Pain's è in ’s HiU m u ; ; in eiiecLiufe effecting which,» 1.1V..4, ^ Lord
^ 4^,
Hasley seems to have been improved about tn e same i. _ th e n h i s euest. T h e
Hasleii u Thomson, who was then his guest.
Lyttelton might probably receive some fficturesque. A very small rill, which passed through
grounds are riu c h varied, and the distant prospe^^^^^^ which the park scenery
the grounds in a sort of dell, was surrounded to th e offscape; thus, in th e language of
formed a sort of foreground, and a m iddte , ^ „ T h e fine trees, the distant prospects,
Whately, “ blending the ex® ® Il® "® ® 3 ¥ i^3 5 \h e g a K scenery has been long since choked by the
and th e principal buildmgs. still ¿ e f ln /e was removed, and th e whole thrown mto the
growth of forest trees ; and s® 3 A ® 7 7® ,S order " /n d in 1840 it was very greatly impro ved,
park. In 1831, we found th e park in improvements of Hamilton and Lyttelton. “ th e
South Lodge comes n ex t in time. ¿be embellishment of ru ra l nature .” and
g reat P i t t ,^ G. Mason informs us, Chase “ T h e first ground surrounding the
exercised his talents a t th® 7®*^ .4 3 w iw/rsified with hill and dale. He entertained the idea
enclosure was then wild and woody, f"^ ^A y _ j^ 7 o rre sp o n d with th e exterior scenery. His temple of
(and admirably realised it) of making th e ® ^ P^brt of his genius was a successful imitation
Pan is mentioned in / „ t h ^ r v principles P rice supposes it might be practicable.
of t h e p i c t u r e s q u e a p p e a r a n c e o f a by-lane, onto^^ P l i t e r a l l y a grazing larm, with a
TVieXeflsotiies were improved »^out th e same tim several enclosures. Much taste and
walk, in imitation of a common field, of°vfew in so confined an extent, and with so few
in g e/u ity were displayed in seatsy ur^^^^ and inscriptions were too frequent for
advantages in point of distance. / / 3 n an improved or ornamented, English farm. It was,
th e whole to be classed with a common, or ®^®«jf J ¿“ tan t allusion was made to pastoral poetry ; and
in fact, intended as an emblematical scene, in w^®«®^®j ju st what it ought to have been,
if we consider it in this hght, viz. th a t of a of pecuniary embarrassments; a salutary
Shenstone is said to have broken h;s heart ^ should attack the
warning to men of great taste and small 3 ;//? 1?, J e presume of his intentions, by blaming him for
taste of this amiable man, from a 3 *®®«®®^!// S ¿ n am e n ta l lawn or park only as might be consistent
not “ surrounding his house with such a ¿ 3 ^ 3 » We fear th a t, if Shenstone had a d o p t^
with th e size of th e mansion or th e extent of th e distinguished from places goi up by the
this mode of improvement, ‘he Leasowes never wo ^ Leasowes was m 1831; when we found
common r« a‘;".« f t f t d tho shade of poor Shenstone re tu rn to earth, we
dViht th?!o°ssi'bilfty“ o’f his recoBmsIng from having originally ftlo n g c d to
Clarenuia and Esher are well known, ^ “ aremont took It belonged to the iSuhe ol Newthe
Earl of Clare, hy whoin It vvas >“'» « f t f t j f t " f t t a o „ a r d s enlarged, and the house and kitchen-
castle, and was improved 5r.a Whatelv have celebrated both, and also Garth. Esher is
garden added, by Brown. Walpole Lover o f Nature, 1740. I t was laM out by Kent for
praised by Warton, in his poem, no logger ex ists; b u t Claremont is kept
its proprietor, th e R i ^ t H 3® 3 ^ ^ I® ^ \f7 "T ^ i4 l‘/ r a n d served as a refuge, in 1848, for Louis Philippe,
Its |J4\/|/«.revre
UP in good style lor i^eopoiu K U . B -
th e ex-king ,g o of fth the e French.rr e n c h i t is a small ,j park,^ with „ ¡ tn an an interesting interesting walk,wall
ea rn ed along the
Peircgteld was laid out so late f t ‘‘-S ftft-c o hm s as faultless as th e nature of th e place admits
brow of a romantic ro cV ,h “nk f t of this place in 1768, “ th a t any of th e scenes on the
•’'■ i e ¥ ? w ? s ' f o S « S f t ' e ’. ¥n“d " a ftira .ic e d to a « « - “ -¡>¿“ «‘ 5 0 ^ - , S rl°b °yY o ?d ’Z r t „ | r n ' ;
to London, discovered a genius for p a c i n g , was to feouse till 1748, when he died, a t t ^ ago
ie ta rn e d with his lordship, imd 'e"firem¥loyed to paim historical «uD««‘« f t f t
of sixtv-three years. On his first re tu rn , ne was cim i j g ^ a s employed as an a rch ite c t,