HISTORY OF GARDENING. P art I.
hornbeam, birch, poplar, and other secondary deciduous trees. The house is a liiigc
pile, which, however, has been diminished in size hy the dilapidations of the Revolution.
Near it is a largo piece of iu-tificial water, and a piece of ground laid out in tho English
manner. One of the cxtraordinaiy tilings shown to strangers is the stables. These,
Duppa observes, “ are magnificent, and in the highest degree unfit for their pui*posc.
They arc at least forty feet high, and six hundred feet long, without accommodation for
a bushel of corn, or a single truss of hay ; in the centre is an octagonal room, sixty feet
in diameter, and ninety feet in height. Here the prince used to dine once in the course
of the hunting season, with a large party of his iricnds of the chase. The old garden
has not been restored, but there is a modern garden, laid out like an English gentleman’s
pleasure-ground.” (Duppa’s Observations, &c., p. 3.)
216. Le Nôtre’s successor was Dufrcsnoy, controller of buildings; his taste differed
considerably Irom that of his predecessor, aud he is said to have determined on inventing
a style different aud more pietm-csquc. He prefciTed unequal surfaces, and sometimes
attempted these by ai-t. liis style had something of the modern English manner, hut
his projects were rarely caiTicd into execution. However, he constructed, in a style
superior to that of Lc Nôtre, tho gardens of the Abbe Pajot, near Vincennes, and in
the Faubourg Saint Antoine two otherr ggaa:i 'd' ens of liis own, now known under the names
of Moulin and of Chcmincrciix. MaiUi''llyy hhaass b’ een erroneously attributed to Dufrcsnoy,
but it was constructed from tlie plans of tho architect Druse, controller of the works
at St. Germain. The garden of Bagiiolet is the principal work of Dcsgodctz, a relation
of Lo Nôtre. Chapelle d’lslc, and tho brothers Mansard, and other ai'chitccts, at
that time constructed several gardens in Fi-aiicc, but on the general plan of that of
Lo Nôtre.
217. The Eyujlish style o f ganlening began to pass into France after the peace of
1762, and was soon afterwards pui'sucd with tho utmost enthusiasm. Hirschfeld
affirms that they set about destroying the ancient gardens, and rciilanting them in the
English manner, with a warmth more common to the mania of imitation than the genius
of invention. Even a part of the gai'dens of Versailles was removed, as Dclille
laments (Les Jardins, 4th edit., p. 40.), to make Avay for a young plantation à TAnglaise.
Laugicr is the first French author who espoused the English stjde of gardening, in his
Essai sur VArchitectwe, published in 1753 ; and next in order Ifrcvôt, in his Homme du
Gout, published in 1770. About the same time, the first notable example was preparing
at Ermenonville, the seat of Vicomte Girardin, about ten leagues from Paris. An
account of this place was written hy Girardin liimsclf, in 1775, and published in 1777.
I t was soon after translated into English, and is well knoAvn for its cloipicnt descriptions
of romantic and pictiircsquc scenes. Morel observes, in his Théorie des Jardins, published
in 1766, that very little had been done previously to 1766: he mentions that
a , OhiUpau.
b, VitlaK«''
c, Kouoyoau's Cottage
/ , Garden tn niine.
a, Cascade.
B o o k I. PEENCII GARDENS.
he had been consulted os to Ennenonville, and states that the Due d’Aumont’s nark
at Gmscard, and a scto near Château Thiciy, were chiefly laid out by him. Soon
aitci Morels work, Dcldle’s celebrated poem {Ze., Jardim) made its appearance, and
IS perhaps a more imcxccptionablo pcrfonnancc than 77,e F m M Garden of Mason.
Jlic drench, indeed, liave written much better on gardening aiid agi-icultnrc than thcT
have praetisod ; a circnmstMico which may he acconiitcd for irom the general concentra-
tion ot wealth and talent in tlio capital, wlierc books arc more frequent than examples •
and of professional rcpntation in that country depending more on wliat a man lia!
wiitton than on what lie has done. I t does not appear tliat English g.ardoniiig was ever
at all noticed by the court of Eranco. b v.is ovu
ErmcnoitxnUg (fig. 40.) aj.
rmesippcecctt ttoo hhaavvee bnoeeonn somew: “ S S i J S r i »
ondgc (Jigs. 47, 48.), Ins torn!) in the Island of P o p la rs; that of tho landscapc-paintcr G. F. Meyer, who
had assisted Girardin in designing th e improvements, in an adjoining island; a garden in riihis,
and the grand cascade. Useless buildings were in a great degree avoided, and the picturo.snne efrect
ol every object carefully considered, not in exclusion of, but in connection with, their utility There
IS hardly an exceptionable principle, or even direction, referring to landscape-gardening laid down in
thecourse nf Girardin’s Essa'
and :
. . . - ay ;
n all tliat relates to tlie
picturesque, it is remarkable
how exactly it corresponds with
tlie ideas of Price. Girardin,
high in military rank, had p reviously
visited every part of
Europe, and paid particular
attention to England ; and before
publishing his work he
hiul the advantage of consulting
those of Whately, Shen-
stone, G. Mason, and Chambers,
from the first of which he
has occasionally borrowed. Ho
professes, however, th a t his
object is neither to create En glish
gardens nor Chinese gardens,
and less to divide his
grounds into pleasure-grounds,
parks, or ridings, than to produce
interesting landscapes,
“ pay.sagcs intércssans,” &c.
He received the professional
aid of J . M. Morel, who afterwards
published Théorie des
.Jardins, and probably tbat of
a a, Ilcath-hcnPhoi.
to f tv e composed th e preface to his book. Magellan, in the Gazelle Liliéi^aire^h f/rT778*^"iii
gi^vfog some account ot the last days of Kousseau, who died at Ermenonville, and was buried in tbe Island
ot 1 oplars there,_ informs us, that Girardin kept a band of musicians, who constantly perambulated
the grounds, making concerts sometimes in the'woods, and a t other times on the waters, and in scenes
calculated for particular seasons, so as to draw the attention of visitors to them a t tlie proper time. At
mght they returned to the house, and performed in a room adjoining the hall of company. Madame
Girardin and her daughters were clothed in common brown stuff, cn amnzotics, with black hats, while
the young men wore “ habillemens lc plus simples ct le plus propres à les faire confondre avec les enfans
des campagnards,” &c.
Ermenonville, in October, 1828. T h e property was then to be sold, and was let in the mean time to
th e 1 rince de Conde, who made no other use ol it than as a preserve for game. The tower of th e fair
Dabnclle was roofless, and going fast to decay ; some of the other garden structures were wanting • all
! -Ik ! :