The immediate successor of Brown, was his nephew, Mr. Holland, who was more employed as an architect than as a landscape gardener; though he generally directed the disposition of the grounds when he was employed in the former capacity. Me. Holland, we believe, retired from business some years ago.
The next artist that deserves to be mentioned, is Mr. Eames, of whom, however, we know little wore than that he is mentioned in terms of respect by Mr. G. Mason.
Mr. Repton, a highly respectable artist, from being- an amateur, began his career as professor of landscape garden ing about thirty years ago ; and, till a sort of decline or in activity of taste took place ten or twelve years since, he was extensively consulted. Though at first an avowed defen der and follower of Brown, lie has gradually veered round with the change effected in public opinion by the Essays on the Picturesque, so that now, comparing his earlier works of 1795 and 1805, with his Fragments on Landscape Gar dening, published in 1817, he appears much more a disci ple of Price, than a defender of his " great predecessor." Mr. Repton is a beautiful draughtsman, and gives, besides plans and views, his written opinion in a regular form, gene rally combining the whole in a manuscript volume, which he calls the red book of the place. Ile never, we believe, undertakes the execution of his plans. Mr. Repton has not, as far as we arc aware, been employed out of England ; but Valley field, in Perthshire, was visited by his two sons, and arranged from Mr. Repton's designs. The character of this artist's talent, seems to be cultivation rather than genius, and he seems more anxious to gratify the preconceived wishes of his employers, and improve on the fashion of the day, than to strike out grand and original beauties. This, indeed, is perhaps the most useful description of talent, both for the professor and his employers. Mr. Repton's taste in gothic architecture, and in terraces, and architectural ap pendages to mansions, is particularly elegant. His pub lished " Observations" on this subject arc valuable ; though we think otherwise of his remarks on landscape gardening, which we look upon as wanting depth, and often at variance with each other. On the whole, however, we have no hesi tation in asserting, that both by his splendid volumes, and extensive practice among the first classes, he. has supported the credit of this country for taste in laying out grounds.
Though it may he true, that " in all liberal arts, the merit of transcendent genius, not the herd of pretenders, charac terizes an era ;" yet in an art like that of laying out grounds, whose productions necessarily have such an influ ence on the general face of a Country, it is impossible to judge otherwise of the actual state of the art, than from the effect which is produced. This effect, about forty years ago, when clumps and belts blotted every horizon, could never be mistaken for that intended by such professors as Kent, or such authors as Wheatley and Mason. The truth
is, as we have already hinted, such was the rage for im provement, that the demand for artists of genuine taste ex ceeded the regular supply ; and, as it is usual. in such cases, a false article was brought to market, and imposed on the public. This false taste, which may be said to have for the time reduced a liberal to a mechanic art, gave a new character to modern improvements, which, from con sisting in a display of ease, elegance, and nature, according to the situation, became a system of set forms, indiscrimi nately- applied in every ease. This system was in fact mole formal, and less varied, than the ancient style to which it succeeded, because it had fewer parts. An ancient garden had avenues, alleys, stars, pates d'oye, pelotons, or pla toons, (square clumps,) circular masses, rows double and single, and strips, all from one material, snood; but the modern style, as now degraded, had only three forms, a clump, a belt, and a single tree. Place the belt in the cir cumference, and distribute the clumps and single trees within, and all that respects wood in one of these places is finished. The professor required no further examination of the ground, than what was necessary to take the levels for forming a piece of water, which water uniformly assum ed one shape and character, and differed no more in differ ent situations, than did the belt or the clump. So entirely mechanical had the art become, that any one might have guessed what would be the plan given by the professor be fore he was called in ; and Mr. Price actually gives an in stance in which this was done. The activity of this false taste was abated in England before our time ; hut we have seen in Scotland, between the years 1795 and 1805, we be lieve, above a hundred of such plans, in part formed by lo cal artists, and in part by an English professor, who was in the habit of making annual journies in the north, taking orders for plans, which he got drawn on his return home, not one of which differed from the rest in any thing but magnitude.* The good sense of the country soon revolted at such monotonous productions; and proprietors were ridiculed for expending immense sums in destroying old avenues, and woods, and planting in their room young clumps, for no other reason than that it was the fashion to do so. Part ly on this account, and partly because almost every place in England had been metamorphosed, and that lassitude had ensued which always succeeds over exertion, the career of improvement slackened its pace in England about the year 1780. Various causes contributed to diminish its course, till the almost decisive blow given by Knight and Mr.