Gueklerland, and twelve leagues from U trecht. The heath Is said to bean «'Vw I l ' i K f
f o w l in g , and hawking; a large decoy, and six large fish-ponds, “ somewhat after the model of those m
Hyde P a rk ,” supply ducks, teal, and fish.
32
«, The p.,l«ce has a b ro ad green walk in front between V F F J i J r ’ n i i e S y ta'frlnTof
raiiiating .at each end in a gate of iron rail.a between “ "P trees, upwards of a mile In
enters the court of the palace are three avenues, or gieen walks, between t-rce», p
lengtl).
b, c. The stables, which are of great extent, and comprise house, &c. ’ f coach-houses, ,i
d, Domestic offices, including extensive lodgings for th e servants of visiters.
e, Orangery. , , . / , Fountain.
guard-house, a ndiiigg,
Lower garden, having a terrace walk on three sides, ascended by steps.
h, Upper garden, separated from the lower garden by canals, by a low wall, and by a broad cross walk
planted with oak trees. The fountain in this upper garden has 33 jets, and the middle one throws up the
water 45 feet high. There is another fountain,Yrom^which the water rises in the "form of apeacockTtaVh
near which are two large porticoes or semicircular cloisters.
i, T h e king’s garden, with a large fountain. k, Bowling-green.
I, The queen’s garden, having a fountain similar to that of the king’s. Adjoining this garden southward
^ e r e are various arbour walks, with five fountains in th e middle of as many parterres.
m, T h e king’s wilderness or labyrinth of clipped hedges, with sandy walks between.
n, 1 he queen’s wilderness or labyrinth of retirement, in which are fountains, statues, walks, &c.
0 , I h e old hoof, court, or castle, th e residence of th e Seigneur de Laeckhuysen, till the pronertv was
purchased by William. p i j »
p . T h e volière, or fowl-garden.
q, T h e viver, vivarium, or park, containing a fountain, and “ divers pleasant and long green walks
nurseries of young trees, groves, and canals ; and westwards of this park there is a fine grove for retirement,
called The Queen’s Grove.”
O f the trees, shri^s, and flowers planted in these gardens, very little is said. In the lower garden the
slopes of tu rf are described as being crowned with junipers cut into pyramids, and intermixed with curious
shrubs. _ One of th e numerous basins of water is ornamented with “ a pine-apple cut in stone • ” an-
other with th e celestial globe, and one with th e terrestrial, having Europe, Asia, Africa, and America
distinctly marked on it. The parterres are said to contain divers figures in box, with beds of flowers and
shrifos of Althiea frutex {Hibiscus Suriacus), all cut into pyramids. “ In the spring there is a variety of
th e hnest tulips, hyacinths, ranunculuses, anemones, auriculas, narcissuses, jonquils, &c. In the summer
there are double poppies of all colours, gillyflowers, larkspurs, A-c. In th e autumn, the sunflower,
nasturtium, stocks, marigolds, &c. On the walls are peaches, apricots, cherries, pears. •
. , ^»lums,
. ----- - — ..y-xye,,.!, &«C. . The hedges are chiefly vx of x-Dutch xubvu cx.elms iia,; cwd and the avenues of oaiv.oaks,ss,, eeilimnss,,eh
aannda iliimmeess..
1 ne ugures into which the trees and shrubs are cut, are, for the most part, pyramids. On the walls
fresco paintings are introduced in various places between the trees. In the arbour walks of the queen’s
garden are seats, and opposite to them windows, through which views can be had of the fountains statues
^ d other objects in the open garden. The parterres in the queen’s garden are surrounded by hedges of
Dutch elm about four feet high. The seats and prop-work of all the arbours, and the trellis-work on
th e iru it-tree walls, are painted green. All along th e gravel walks, and round th e middle fountain, are
placed orange trees and lemon trees in portable wooden frames, and flower-pots about them ” “ In a
corner of the queen’s garden, next to th e terrace walk in th e great garden, and under one corner of the
palace, there is a fine grotto, consisting of th e roots of trees, flints, and shells, disposed in a rough
grotesque manner, and in one corner of this grotto is an aviary; connected with it is also a china room ’’
1 he ironwork is painted blue, and the ornaments gilt. Every hedge, when it is planted, has fixed alone
Its centre a prop, or line of trellis, of the height it is intended to grow, which regulates the gardener in
clipping the hedge. In th e park, are not only walks, groves, nurseries, fountains, canals, cascades and
a place tor enclosing and feeding game, but “ cornfields for his majesty’s diversion in shooting, setting,
&c. m one of the basins of water in th e park there is a jet which throws up a large inverted bell of
wa te r; round which are lesser inverted bells of w ater: round the basin are little stone canals of seven
inches in breadth, with borders of two inches. These little canals, “ besides the flourish they make on
each side, do form the letters R. W. M. R . ; and above those letters, th e said small canals are so disposed
as to form th e representation of a crown.” Close by these royal letters are fourscore minute jets concealed
in the ground, which, by turning two cocks, “ divert the spectators, by causing a small rain to fall
unawares on those who shall advance within the compass of their reach.” “ All the fountains and
cascades are supplied from a natural reservoir at some distance; and hence a t Loo the water is always
sw e etl’but where water is forced up by engines into great cisterns, as at Versailles, it soon corrupts and
2'he six yivers oi-Jish-ponds in the park, lie on six different levels, the water flowing from the first
through all th e others. They are dug six feet deep, and the earth taken out forms a bank of three fe e t;
so that the depth of water is nine feet. The banks are every where planted with willows. T h e first
viver IS 842 feet lo n g ; the second 612 fe e t; the third 434 fe e t; and the fourth, fifth, and sixth 396 feet
each. These vivers are provided for the supplying of different sorts offish. They were finished from
a model ot Monsieur Marot, a very ingenious mathematician, who is the same person that first desi'uied
ail these gardens and fountains; but th e orders relating to them were from time to time given by the
Right Honourable the Earl of Portland; and his lordship’s directions were punctually observed bv
Monsieur de Marais, his majesty’s chief architect, a gentleman of great endowments and capacity.”
155. This picture o f an ancient palace and garden, however magnificent in its time, is
not presented as at all worthy of imitation in the present age ; eA'cn if a proprietor had
the requisite sum of money to spai-e. Considered relativcdy to nature and utility, the
style of the ornaments is absurd, and even injurious to h e a lth ; but considered historically,
or relatively to the age which produced it, it is good enough; or railicr
it could not be otherwise. Italy, on the rerival of ai'ts and commerce, took the lead
in arcliitecture and_ gardening ; and as her gai-dens abounded in statues and fountains,
so did all those wliich sprung from them. A modern popular wi-iter {Tour hya Gemnan
Prince, SiC., vol. iv. p. 178.) observes, that “ a little age can only form little things.”
A profusion of basins and fountains would never have been resorted to, by the natiiral
taste or feeling of mankind, in a cold, moist country like Holland. In the progress of
improvement, tlie cai-eer for a long period is that of imitation ; but the time will at last
come, when eveiy people will think for themselves, and aclojit modes of building and
giu'dening suitable to the climate, and other physical circumstances of the countiy in
which they live. A greater adA-aiice has been made towards this state of things in
England, and, perhaps, in North America, than in any other countries of the ivorld ; for
wherevcr there are really free civil institutions, they Avill be iblloAvcd by freedom of taste
in the arts.
156. The garden o f the Count de Nassau { fg . 33.) affords a very faA'oiu-ablc specimen
of tlie genuine Dutch taste. A remarkably good engraving of it is given in Le Rouge’s
Collection o f Designs, from which the accompanying figure is copied ; and it will stand in
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