In the concluding part of the last section we have ex pressed our opinion of the origin of the English, or modern, art of laying out grounds ; which, after the utmost at tention which we have been able to give the subject, we have been, in some degree, reluctantly compelled to adopt ; not only as being at variance with that of some names of great authority, but as depriving us, in some degree, of the merit of entire originality. As in a work of this nature it is proper that our readers should judge for themselves, we shall first state the various sentiments of other writers, and next enumerate the first eminent practitioners and artists.
\Varton, in his Essay on Pope, and Lord Walpole, in his History of Modern Gardening, agree in referring the first ideas to Milton ; and the former adds, that the Seasons of Thomson may have had a very considerable influence. Eustace is of opinion, that we may, with nearly equal pro priety, refer to Tasso's celebrated description of the gar den of Armida ; and Bceuinger, in his Racemazionen zur Garten Kunst der 41ten, &c. carries us back to the descrip tions of the grotto of Calypso, by Homer ; the vale of Tem pe, by ./Elian ; and of Vaucluse, by Petrarch. To these opinions may be very properly added a remark of Mr. G. Mason, that " were only classical authorities consulted, it would hardly be supposed that even from the earliest ages any considerable variation in taste had ever prevail ed." (Essay on Design in Gardening, p. 27.) Mr. Alison seems to consider the modern style as derived from our taste for the classic descriptions of the poets of antiquity. " In this view," (alluding to the progress of art from the expression of design to the expression of variety and natural beauty,) lie observes, " I cannot help thinking that the modern taste in gardening, (or what Mr. Walpole very justly, and very emphatically, calls the art of creat ing landscape,) owes its origin to two circumstances, which may, at first, appear paradoxical, viz. to the accidental circumstance of our taste in natural beauty being founded upon foreign models ; and to the difference or inferiority of the scenery of our own country to that which we were accustomed peculiarly to admire." The poet Gray (Life and Letters, &c. Letter to Ilfr. How, dated 1763.) is of opinion, that " our skill in gar dening, or rattier laying out grounds, is the only taste we can call our own ; the only proof of original 'talent in matters of pleasure. This is no small honour to us ; since neither France nor Italy have ever had the least notion of it."
Mason, the poet, states, in a note to the English Garden, that " Bacon was the prophet, Milton the herald, of modern gardening ; and Addison, Pope, and Kent, the champions of true taste." The efficacy of Bacon's ideas, Mr. G. Mason considers to have been " the introduction of clas sical landscapes," though this does not very clearly appear from his essay, the object of which seems to be, to banish certain littlenesses and puerilities, and to create more variety, by introducing enclosures of wild scenery, as well as of cultivation. The title of champion, applied to Addison, alludes to his excellent paper in the Spectator, No. 414, " on the causes of the pleasures of the imagination arising from the works of nature, and their superiority over those of art, published in 1712 ; and when applied to Pope, it refers to his celebrated Guardian, No. 173, published the following year. Bcettinger, however, affirms that the bishop of Avranches had thrown out similar ideas, pre viously to the appearance of the Spectator. (See " Hue tiana," Pensee 51, " Beautes naturelles preterables aux beautes de l'art ;" and P. 72, " Des jardins a la mode.") Mr. G. Mason, the third writer on the modern style, (Pope and Shenstone being the two first,) in reference to Sir 'William Temple's observations on the Chinese manner, observes, " little did Sir William Temple imagine, that in not much more than half a century the Chinese would become the nominal taste of his country ; or that so many adventurers in it would do great justice to his observation, and prove by their works, how difficult it is to succeed in the undertaking. Yet to this whimsical exercise of caprice, the modern improvements in gardening may chiefly be at tributed." (Essay on Design, Ste. p. 50.) No man could be a more enthusiastic admirer of the a warmer patriot, or a more rigid critic, than this author ; and it ap pears from another part of his wow k, (Discussion on Kent, p. 105) that he was well aware, when he wrote the above passage, that the origin of the modern style was generally traced to Kenn That he should derive it from our attempt at the Chinese manner, we consider as a proof of candour and impartiality. Having given the different views respecting the origin, we shall next advert to ment of the modern sty le, in which happily there is a greater unanimity of opinion.