mentions Kent’s Elysian scenes in the highest style of panegyric; and observes, in a note, th a t he prided
himself in shading with evergreens in his more finished pieces, in a m anner described in th e fourteenth
and fifteenth sections of W hately’s Observations. “ According to my own idea,” adds G. Mason, “ all
th a t has since been done by the most deservedly admired designers, by Southcote, Hamilton, Lyttelton,
I’itt Shenstone, Morris, for themselves, and by Wright for others; all th at has been written on the
subject, even th e Gardening Didactic Poem and tlie Didactic Essay on the Picturesque, have proceeded
from Kent. Had Kent never exterminated th e bounds of regularity, never actually traversed the way
to freedom of m anner, would any of these celebrated artists have found it of themselves ? Theoretical
hints from th e highest authorities had evidently long existed without suflicient effect. And, had not
And, had not
these great masters actually executed what Kent’s example first in inspired them -....
with th e design of
executimr. would the subsequent writers on gardening have been enabled to collect materials for
executing,i
precepts, or stores for their imaginations?” {Essay, &c., p. 112.)
Wright seems to have been in some repute a t th e time of Kent’s death. “ His b irth and education,
G. Mason informs us, “ were above plebeian; he understood drawing, and sketched plans of his designs,
but never contracted for work, which might occasion his not being applied to by those who consider
n othing so much as having trouble taken off th eir hands.” At Becfcet, th e seat of Lord Barrington, he
produced an admired effect on a law n ; and a t Stoke, near Bristol, he is supposed to have decorated a
copse-wood with roses, in th e manner advised in the fourth book of the English Garden, and as afterwards
extensively displayed a t F onthill Abbey by Mr. Beckford, the celebrated author of Vathek. He
also designed the terrace-walk and river a t Oatlands, both deservedly admired; the la tte r being not
unfrequently mistaken for the Thames itself.
Brotvn is the n ex t professor, in th e order of time. He was a native of K irkharle in Northumberland,
filled the situation of kitchen-gardeiier a t a small place, near Woodstock, in Oxfordshire; and was
afterwards gardener a t Stowe till 1750. He was confined, while there, to th e kitchen-garden (see
Beauties o f England and Wales: Bucks) by Lord Cobham, who, however, afterwards recommended
him to the Duke of Grafton, a t Wakefield Lodge, Northamptonshire, where, in 1764, he directed the
formation of a large lake, which laid the foundation of his fame and fortune. L o rd Cobham, it is said
by some authors, afterwards procured for him tiie situation of royal gardener a t Hampton Court, and
it was he who planted th e celebrated vine there, in 1769. Brown was now consulted by the nobility,
and among other places a t Blenheim. T h ere he threw a dam across the v ale; and th e first artificial
lake in the world was completed in a week. By this he attained th e summit of his popularity. The
fashion of employing him continued, says G. Mason, not only to 1768, but to th e time of his death, 1783.
Repton has given a list of his principal works, among which Croome and Fisherwicke were th e two
largest new places which he formed, including, a t Croome, th e mansion and offices, as well as the
grounds. The places he altered are beyond all reckoning. Improvement was th e passion of the day;
and there was scarcely a couutry-gentleman who did not, on some occasion or other, consult tiie
gardening idol o fth e day. Mason the poet praises this artist, and Horace Walpole apologises for not
praising him. Daines Barrington says, “ Kent hath been succeeded by Brown, who hath undoubtedly
great m erit in laying out pleasure-grounds; but I conceive th at, in some of his plans, I see ra th e r traces
of th e kitchen-gardener of Old Stowe, than of Poussin or Claude L orraine. I could wish, therefore,
th a t Gainsborough gave the design, and th a t Brown executed.” T h e works and memory of Brown
have been severely attacked by Knight and Price, and strenuously defended by Repton, who styles him
” his great self-taught predecessor.” “ Brown,” observes G. Mason, “ always appeared to myself in
th e light of an egregious mannerist; who, from having acquired a facility in shaping surfaces, grew
fond of exhibiting that talent, without due regard to nature , and loft marks of his intrusion wherever
he went. His new plantations were generally void of genius, taste, and p ro p rie ty ; but I have seen
instances of his managing old ones much better. He made a view to Cheney’s church, from Latimer
(Bucks), as natura l and picturesque as can well be imagined. Yet a t the same place he had stuffed a
very narrow vale, by the side of an artificial river, with those crowded circular clumps of firs alone,
th a t Price attributes to him. T h e incongruity of this plan struck most of th e neighbouring gentlemen;
but was defended by the artist himself under shelter of th e epithet ‘ playful,’ totally misapplied.”
{Essay on Design, p. 130. 2d edit. 1795.)
That Brown m ust have possessed considerable talents, th e extent of his reputation abundantly p rove s;
but that he was imbued with much of th a t taste for picturesque beauty which distinguished tlie works
o f Kent, Hamilton, and Shenstone, we think will hardly be asserted by any one who has observed
attentively such places as are known to be his creations. Whatever be the extent or character of the
surface, they are all surrounded by a narrow belt, and th e space within is distinguished by numbers of
round or oval clumps, and a reach or two of a tame river, generally on different levels, 'ih is description,
in short, will apply to almost every place in Britain laid out from the time (about 1740) when the
passion commenced for new-modelling country-seats, to about 1785 or 1790, when it in a great measure
ceased. Sir U. Price observes, alluding to Brown’s mannerism, that, had th e landscape-gardeners of
his day been incorporated, a clump, a belt, and a piece of made water would have served for a model as
well as for a seal. The leading outline of this plan of improvement was easily recollected and easily
applied; th e great demand produced abundance of a rtis ts ; and tlie general appearance of th e country
so rapidly changed under th eir operations, th a t in 1772, Sir William Chambers declared, th a t if the
mania were not checked, in a few fyars longer there would not be found th ree trees in a line from the
L an d ’s End to the Tweed. Brown, it is said, never went out of England, but he sent pupils and plans
to Scotland and Ire la n d ; and Paulowsky, a scat of the emperor Paul, near St. P etersburg, is said to be
from his design. -Brown, as far as wc have learned, could n o t draw, b u t had assistants, who made out
filans of what he intended. He generally contracted for th e execution of the work. He amassed a
landsome fortune, and his son Launcelot, a landed proprietor in Huntingdonshire, has sat in several
parliaments.
The. immediate successor of Broion was his nephew, Henry Holland, who was chiefly employed as an
architect, though he generally directed th e disposition of the grounds when he was employed in the
former capacity. Holland built Carlton House, and th e Pavilion a t Brighton, and died about 1806.
Eme.s is the n e x t-a rtist th a t deserves notice: of him, however, we know little more than th a t he is
mentioned in terms of respect by G. Mason. He died 13 March, 1803.
584. The authors who esiablished the modern style, are Addison, Pope, Thomson,
Shenstone, G. Mason, Whately, and Mason the poet. Addison’s Spectators have been
ah-eady referred t o ; IPope’s Epistle to Lord Burlington has also been noticed, as well as
Shenstone’s Unconnected Thouflits; the former published in 1716, the latter iu 1764.
G. Mason’s Essay on Design in Gardening, from which we have so frequently quoted,
was first published in 1768, aud afterwai'ds greatly enlarged in 1795. I t is more a historical
and critical work than a didactic performance. Mason was the eldest son of a
distiller at Deptford. li e was an excellent classiciU scholar; lived much alone, and
almost always in London, being connected witli tlic Sun Fii’c Office. He died at
Aldciiham, iu Herts, in 1806, aged seventy-one.
WhateWs Observations on Modern Gardening, published m 1770, is th e grand fundamental and
standard work on English gardening. It is entirely analytical; treating, first, of the materials, then of
the scenes and lastly, of th e subjects, of gardening. Its style has been pronounced, by the learned
Ensor inimitable; and the descriptions with which his investigations are accompanied, have been
larKclv copied and amply praised by Alison, in his work on taste. T h e book was soon translated into
the continental languages, and is judiciously praised in the Mercure de France, Jtmrrial Encyclopédique,
and Wieland’s Journal. G. Mason alone dissents from the
general opinion, enlarging on toe very few
faults or peculiarities which are to be found in toe the book.bool
Whately was the brother of th e then pro-
S o r o? Nonesuch P ark , near Epsom, in Surrey, which i
place, as has been already rn e ^ o n e d
(554.), he mainly assisted in laying out. He was for a short time secretary secretar;
to the Earl of
He published paraphlrtsj a ^ r which, m 1772, he dicd.
He published only this work, and two anonymous political pamphlets; soon at _ „ _
After his death, some remarks on Shakespeare, from his pen, were p utoshed, m a small l i ^ o volume
in 1785 by his brother, th e Rev. Dr. J . Whately, and afterwards a second edition was printed m 1808, by
his nenhew. D r. Richard Whately, who in 1831 was made Archbishop of Dublin. „ 4- i • ,
.. . .. T... Ire— "KUT 'M'rtc/.v. ..Tno r,i,KiicVttfi/i irj four diffcrcDt books,The English Garden, a poem by W. Mason, was published i.. .rere.. - ...... _ the first of which
ap p e a re d ln 1772 and the last in 1782. With the exception of the fourth book, it was received with
very great applause. T h e precepts for planting are particularly instructive. On t ^ whole, to e work
may be c la s sS with the Observations of Whately ; and these two books may be to_ exhibit a clear
view of the modem style, as first introduced and f o ^ ^ e d by hberal and cultivated m^
TViiiertation on Oriental Gardening, by Sir William Chambers, pubhshed in 1772, holds up to ridicule
theabsurd_imitatipns of. uncultivated am ^ eu rs an^profe^^^^^^^^^^
Aston: he was th e author of
Gray th e poet, &c.
585. The partial corruption o f the modem style took place as soon as it became fashionable.
Though it may be true tliat, “ in all liberal ai’ts, the merit of tran sc cn d ^ t gemus,
not the herd of pretenders, characterises an era,” yet m an art like that of la p n g out
grounds, whose productions necessarily havo such an influence on the general mce of a
country, it is impossible to judge otherwise of the actual state of the art, than from the
effect which is produced. This effect, about fifty years ago, when clumps and belts
blotted every horizon, could never be mistaken for that intended to be produced by
such professors as Kent, or such authors as Whately and Mason. The tm th is, such
was the rage for improvement, that the demand for artists of genuine taste exceeded the
regular supply ; and, as is usual in such cases, a false article was brought to market, and
imposed on the public. A Hbcral was thus for a time reduced to a mcchamcal art, and a
new character was given to modern improvements, which, from consisting m a display of
ease, elegance, and nature, according to the situation, became a system of set fomis,
indiscriminately appUed iu every case. This system was in fact more formal, and less
varied, than the ancient style to which it succeeded, because it had fewer parts. An
ancient garden had avenues, alleys, stars, paiies <Toie, pelotons or platoons (squaiæ clumps),
circular masses, rows double and single, and strips, aU from one material, wood; but the
modem style, as then degraded, had only three forms, a clump, a belt, and a single tree.
Place the belt in the circumference, and distribute the clmnps and single trees within,
and all that respects wood in one of these places is finished. The professor required no
further examination of the ground than what was necessary to take the levels for forming
a piece of water, which water uniformly assumed one shape and character, and differed
no more in different situations than did the belt or the clump. So entu-ely mechanical
had the art become, that any one might have guessed what would he the plan given by
the professor before he was called in ; and Price actually gives an instance m wluch tins
was done. Tho monotonous productions of tliis mcchamcal style soon brought it
into disrepute 5 and proprietors were ridiculed for expending immense sums 111 destroying
old avenues and woods, and planting in their room young clmnps, for no other
reason than that it was the fashion to do so. , . ,
586. T h e fr s t symptoms o f disapprobation that were ventured to he uttered against the
degradation of the new taste appear to be contained in an epistolary novel, entitled
Village Memoirs, written by the Rev. J . Cradock, and published in 1775, in wluch tho
profcssoi-s of gardening are satirised under the name of Layout. A better taste, however
than that of Mr. Layout is acknowledged to exist, which the author states “ Shenstone
and natm-e to have brought us acquainted with.” Most of the large gardens are
said to be laid out by some general undertaker, “ who introduces the same objects at the
same distances, in all.” (p. 143.) The translation of Gerai-din, De la Composition des
Paysages, ou des Moyens d’embellir la Nature autour des Habitations, en y joignant l agréable
à l’utile, &c., accompanied with an excellent historical preface in 1783, must have
had considerable influence in pm-ifj-ing the taste of its readers ; as must a poem
entitled Some Thoughts on Building and Planting. But the Essay on Prints, and the
various pictm-csque tom-s of Gilpin, published at different intervals from 1768, to 1790,
had the principal influence on persons of taste. The beauties of light and shade, outline,
grouping, and other ingredients of picturesque scenery, were never before cxlubited
to the English public in popular wi-itings. These works were eagerly read, au d brought
about that general study of drawing and sketching landscape among the then rising
<'>-cncratioii, wliich has ever since prevailed ; and will do more, perhaps, than any other
dass of studies, towards forming a taste for the harmony and councctmn oi natural
scenery; the only secure autidotc^to the revival of the monotony which characterises
that which wc have been condemning.