it is substituted in its place. It is absurd, therefore, to despise the ancient style, hccausc
it has not the same beauties as tho modern, to which it never aspired. It has heantics
of a diil'ercnt kind, equally perfect in thcir manner as those of the modern style, and
eipially desirable under certain circumstances. The question, therefore, is not, whether
wc shall admit occasional specimens of obsolete gardening, for the sake of antiquity, bnt
whether we shall admit specimens of a different stylo from that in general use, but equally
perfect in its kind. (Ed. Encyc., ait. Landscape-Gardening.)
973. A n enlightened mind will derive pleasure from every style. “ 'When I perceive a
man,” observes' Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, “ incapable of deriving pleasure from more
than one style of composition, and dogmatising on its exclusive merit, I pity his weakness,
and despise his presumption. When he narrows his curiosity, cither to what is
old or what is new; when he confines liis praise either to the dead or to tlic liv in g ;
though ill both cases he is ridiculous, perhaps his folly is more evinced iu the last.”
(Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 214.) It is the privilege of tho man who has opened
to his mind by observation and study all the springs of pleasant association, to dchght
1)3' turns in the rudeness of solitaiy woods, in the cheei’fuliiess of spreading plains, in the
decorations of refined art, in the magnificence of luxm-iant wealth, in tho activity of
crowded ports, tho industiy of cities, the pomp of spectacles, aud the pageantry of festivals.
(Ed. Rev., 1806.)
974. We may therefore conclude that gardening, as an art o f design, must be considered
relatively to the climate and situation of the countiy, and habits and manners of the
]icoplc where it is employed; and that the ancient and modern styles, viewed in this
light, are each perfectly natural, and equally meriting adoption, according to relative
circumstances; less than from any positive beauty or advantages of either manner. Wc
are consequently of opinion, that the ancient style, divested of some ingredients which
relate to warm climates, and purified from the extravagances of extremes in decoration,
would be in mucli better taste in some situations, even in Britain, than the modern
style; and that this latter style cannot, for a long series of yeai-s, afford any other satisfaction
ill many parts of other countries than what ai'iscs from the tcmporai-y interest of
novelty, or of accidental association.
Sect. III. O f the Climate o f Britain, in respect to Gardening.
975. Britain, France, Holland, and the North o f Italy, are unquestionably the best countries
in Europe fo r European gardening; and of these, the best pai’ts are such as combine
hills and ])lains, rocks, rivers, and prospects.
976. The preference o f Britain, as to government and civilisation, its equality at
least as to soil and surface, will not be disputed. As to climate, Charles II., in reply to
some who were reviling it, said, he thought “ that was the best climate where he could
be abroad in the air with pleasure, or at least without trouble and inconvenience, the
most days o fth e ycai-, and the most hours of the day;” and this, he thought, could be
done ill England more than in any other country he knew of in Europe.
977. Gravel and turf. There ai-e, says Sir William Temple, “ besides the temper of
our climate, two tilings particulai- to us, that contribute much to the beauty and elegance
of our gai-dens; which are, the gravel of our walks, and the fineness and almost perpetual
greenness of our tuif. The first is not knoivn any where else, wliich leaves all
their dry walks, in other countries, very unpleasant and uneasy. The other cannot be
found in France or in HoUand as wc have it, the soil not admitting that fineness of
blade in Ilolland, nor the sun that greenness in France, during most of the summer;
nor indeed is it to be found but in tbe finest of our soils.”
978. Neatness and greenness, says Horace Walpole, “ are so essential, in ray opinion,
to the country, that in France, where I see nothing but chalk and dirty peasants, I seem
in a terrestrial purgatory, that is neither in town nor counti-y. The face of England is
so beautiful that I do not believe Tcmpe or Arcadia was half so m ra l; for both lying
in hot climates must have wanted the moss of our lawns.” (Letters, cch., 1796.)
979. That which prevents the gardening o f Britain from attaining to a much higher
degree o f perfection as an art o f taste, is not any natural deficiencies in our dimate or
soil, nor the want of means to make the most of them, but the want of taste in the proprietors;
for after all that has been done and written, there appears to be few who have
a just relish for that sort of beauty in pleasure-grounds which is properly called pic-
tui-esque, or such as a painter might introduce in a picture. We do not allude to any
objects or an-angcm.eiits which would interfere with utility; but to such a disposition of
forms as painters call grouping, connection, hai-mony, and, above all, to that general
result which is called unity of expression or chai-acter.
P A E T I I .
G A R D EN IN G CONSIDERED A S A SCIENCE.
980. Knowledge, in the infancy of every art, is necessarily confined to particulars, but
fl i! observation and experience, the mind begins to generalise fiicts; and this is
t le first step towards the foundation of theory, or science ; which is nothing more than
tfie substitution of rational principles of action, for habits founded on custom or prciudicc.
A- number of generalised facts being accumulated, the next process of the mind is to
classiiy or systematise them; this is the highest effort in the progress of knowledge; and
tiiat art wffi be the most perfectly understood as a science, in which the greatest number
ot tacts, 01% in other words, the most extensive range of experience and obsci-vation, is
generalised and an-angcd in a connected system.
981. Unfortified by the light o f science, t\\Qpi-aQ.tic,c^ man has no other assurance for
tfie success of the future, than the experience o fth e past, aud no resource for unforeseen
events but ordinary expedients; he thus resorts to rules drawn from precedents, which,
ot pourse, can apj)ly only to peculiar cases, instead of resorting to general princinlcs
Avhich are capable of being applied to every case. Industry may be baffled, and hoiio
ueteatecl, by a thousand coiitmgeiicies from causes incident to every process of art, and
to cvci-y operation of nature. By these the mere routiiie-practitioner is deranged, or
tlirown off his guard; whilst the man of science refers events to thcir tme causes, sug-
p s t s the adaptation of measures to iiioct cvei-y case; and knowing the laws of nature to
be immutable, operates on her materials with confidence in the result. Science alone
iiowevcip witliout practical experience, will not insure success, aud may at first end in
disappointment. But “ where theoretical knowledge and practical skill,” as Dugald
Stewart obsci-vcs, “ are happily combined in the same person, tbe iiitcUcctual power of
man appears in full perfection, and fits him equally to conduct with a masterly liand tlie
details of ordinary business, and to contend successfully with tho untried difficulties of
new and hazardous situations.” (Elements o f the rhilosoplaj o f the Human Mind
2d edit. p. 232.) z ^ ,
982. 'The science o f every art must necessarily depend on the end or object fo r which that
art IS practised; on the nature of the materials employed to procure or attain those ends;
aiid on the nature of the agents made use of by human skill to ojicrate on those materials’
Hie object of the art of gai-deiiiiig is twofold; that of cultivating vegetables for use or
ornament m domestic or general economy; and that of forming aiTangcmeiits of external
scenei-}', beantiful as such, and suitable for personal recreation. The first of these objects is
by far the more ancient and the more important. Men must have used vegctabl.es as food
in the earliest ages of society; and the idea of collecting them, and cultivating them in one
place, field, or garden, must have been coeval with the first dawn of civilisation. The first
gardens or fields probably contained only the plants necessary for food; and the second,
those useful in medicine. As civilisation advanced, the idea must have arisen of growing
plants solely for ornament; and the nccessai-y consequence wonld be a ivish to^ render
gaijlcns ornamental. The science of gardening appears, therefore, naturally to consist
of four p arts: first, the study of the vegetable kingdom, in order tliat the young gardencr
may know the nature of the jffants he has to cultivate; secondly, the study of the agents
of -yegctable culture; thirdly, the science of liorticulturc, to kno-\v how to use tlicse agents
judiciously; aud fourthly, the iiriiiciples of landscape gai-dcning, or the lu-t of laying
out grounds. ^
B O O K I .
ON TH E STUDY OR T IIE VEGETABLE KINGDOM,
983. The study o f plants comprehends the following objects; viz. thcir nomenclature,
or tho power of distinguishing one kind from another; thcir description, or the
mode of conveying intelligence respecting them; thcir classification, or tlie mode of
arranging them, in order that they may be studied in masses ; the fonnation of herbaria
for thcir systematic study; tlicir organography, their physiologj', thcir gcograpliical
distribution, and the principles of vegetable culture. To each of these subjects wc shall
devote a chapter; not for the purpose of treating upon them at length, but in order to
lioint out such of thcir leading features as may impress on the mind of the young
gardener the immense importance, to him, of studying them, in all their details, from
the botanical works which will be referred to.