80 HISTORY OF GARDENING. P a r t I.
English style hy Berthoud, assisted bythe English gardener Hudson, B o iip l a n d fo rm e d
the botanical collection, which was chiefly obtained from the Hammersmith Nursery, and
directed its cultm-c ; and Redouté lent his pencil to aid in its description. We saw
Malmaison in 1815, and again in September, 1828, afew days before it was exposed for
sale. The large hothouse which wc saw on our first visit had disappeared before our
second ; and on its site stood a labourer’s cottage. The cedar trees, and the lai-ge hip-
pophacs, the tulip trees, the catalpas, the jujubes, and the Ju d as trees, still remained ;
but it would have been difficult to find any feature that could tell that it had once been
laid out as an English garden. In this respect the difference between the natural and
the geometrical style is Avorthy of notice. Tho most finished place in the natural style,
Avhcn neglected, soon ceases to be recognised as a work of art ; trees remain, but they
may have been planted tlicre by natiue, and undulating laAvns may very avcI I pass for
the original surface ; but while a row of trees or a terrace remains, it beai’S the stamp of
art, and proclaims itself to be the work of man.
227. During the empire, landscape gardening made little progress. Napoleon fonncd a
winding road, or drive, iu the park of Fontainebleau, for the purpose of taking exercise ;
and the scenery on each side of it Avas opened up a little, so as to resemble the free or
natm-al manner. I t is also said ( L i t Gaz., Jan. 19.1830) that he had fonncd a plan
for roofing over Avith glass the gai'den of the Tuileries, so as to make it a Aviiitcr promenade.
Nothing, however, was done at St. Cloud, the principal imperial residence, and
but very little at either of the Trianons. Versailles was never occupied ; and the theatre
of the palace there, Avhen wo saw it in 1814, was said to be exactly in the same state in
which it was left after a masquerade, which was given by Mario Antoinette before the
Revolution. The emperor’s generals were too frequently iu the field to have leisure to
attend to thefr gardens. , -o • o- .
228. Landscape-gardening in France made someprogress after the Liestoration. Sixteen
years of peace gave leisure to those who had made fortunes during the war, to apjily
themselves to the means of domestic enjoyment. Louis XVH I. had the park of St.
Ouen formed in the English style for his mistress, Madame de Cayla ; Compoigne Avas
also laid out or altered in the English style ; and a small garden, in imitation of H art-
Avell, was formed in a secluded part of the park of Versailles. Besides these, the Duchess
d’Angoiüême obtained possession of Villeneuve d’Etang, and made some improvements
there ; and Rosin underwent alterations while in possession of the Duchess de Bcrri.
All the men of wealth in France began now to direct their attention to the improving
of thefr estates ; and more or less to practise or encourage gardening. The names of
the individuals most conspicuous during this period for maldng improvements iii landscape
gardening, Avere M. Doublât of Epinal ; M. d’Argcnson of Vienne ; M. de Rade-
pont near Rouen ; Admiral Tchitchagoff, at Sceaux ; M. Ternaux, at St. Ouen ;
M Berthoud at Chantilly ; M. Soiilaiige Bodin, at Fromont ; and M. Boursault, in
Paris. Wo shall give short notices of some of these gardens, and of a few others, as Ave
found them in 1828.
>.51.) was laid out by Gabriel Thouin for Madame de Cayla, soon after the fi. T h e surface is flat ; and very little is gained from the distant prospect ; but
/ of disposition in the trees and walks, a continual change of verdant scenery is presented
T h e fault, to an English taste, is, that the wood is not in sufficiently large masse^ and
’• --- -’-x'--*- = -aw a n t of grandeur and repose. Ih o re
shrubbery, m th e axils, so to speak, of their intersections ; and the second, that great depth of interior
view IS given from ali the principal points, by studiously avoiding to intercept the views bv trees. In
short, nothing in this plan of the park of St. Ôuen seems as if it could be otherwise than as it is ; and
tins IS always a good test. M. G. Thouin, though he has never been in England, and therefore cannot
have a clear ffiea oi what an English park is, yet lays out such parks, in France, on strictly scientific
principles. The entrance lodge and iron gates to. the park of St. Ouen (figbO.) have a very elegant
appearance, and a glimpse of the house is obtained from them, though it is a t quite the other extremity
ot the park : a proof of how much the depth of perspective has been studied.
The gardens and pleasure-grounds of M. Doublât, at Epinal, have th e reputation of being tlie finest
specimen of English gardening m France. Their merits are great, though they depend more on the
natural beauties ot the situation, and on the surrounding scenery, than on the exercise of any styleof art.
M. D o u f ta ts g r o u f t s consist of a rocky hill (/^ .r> 2 .a ), rising abruptly from the town of Epinal, to the
ncigtit ot 3UU or 400 teet, and stretching away to the cast in the form of a narrow ridge of a mile in
length, gradually declining till it terminates in th e vale of th e Moselle. This hill and its continuous
f t g e bear a remarkable resemblance to those on which Edinburgh Castle and th e Old Town are
built. The town of tpm a l (bb) embraces the hill on th ree sides ; th e Moselle passes through the town
and forms the northern boundary to the ridge; and a public road, accompanied by a small tributary
stream, constitutes the western boundary. M. Doublât, the proprietor, a banker in Epinal and the
receiver-general for the department des Vosges, assisted by M. Grillot and his son, architects of Nancy
a f t Epinal, began to plant and improve this domain about 1793, and have continued doing so ever since.
Ih e great merit of the place, so far as a r t is concerned, is, that the planting is done in groups and
masses, in which one species always prevails m one place ; and in which the trees are disposed in a free,
natural-like manner ; and not in heavy, lumpish, tonnai shapes, as in some of M. Sckell’s works in
the_English garden a t Munich.
the ruins
adjoining
o by pipes
Doublat’s house,