Very little was done in Poland previously to the time of the unfortunate Stanislaus Augustus. That monarch built the beautiful palace or villa of Lazenki, or the Bath, in a situation originally a marsh, from the designs of Camsit zer, a German architect. This beautiful piece of Roman architecture consists of a centre and two wings. The cen tre is placed in the middle of a narrow part of the lake, and the wings are on opposite shores, joined to the centre by arches, with orangeries over. The entrance is through a carriage portico in one of the wings, to which you arrive without seeing the water. On entering the orangery, the effect is surprising and delightful. In the lake, at one side near the palace, is an island, which served as the pro scenium to an open Roman amphitheatre of stone on the shore. The orchestra was placed close to the brink ; and in addition to the common business of a theatre, ships and naval engagements were occasionally exhibited. The theatre was open to every person without exception ; and the effects of the music and the performances are still mentioned in raptures by the more elderly inhabitants of Warsaw. The grounds were not extensive, and, except ing near the palace, not highly ornamented. They con tained various coffee-rooms, ice cellars, circles of turf, or dancing places, situations f it tents and rural fetes, and three pavillions for the king's mistresses, connected by co vered alleys with the palace.
The principal private garden in the ancient style, was that of Villaneuve, late the property of Count Stanislaus Potocky, a few miles from the capital, and now modern ised. Judging from the excellent views of these gardens, painted by Canaletti, and now in the royal zamosk, or cas tle, in Warsaw, they were more in the verdant and simple style of the Dutch, than in the enriched Italian or French taste.
It is questionable whether the ancient style was at all introduced into Russia before the time of Peter the Great. Peterhoff, near Petersburgh, is the creation of that mo narch, through the French artist and author Le Blond, and is worthy of the patron and the designer. Its chief merits consist in its water works, which are equal if not superior to those at Versailles.
The principal private ancient garden in Russia, is that at Petrowsky Razumowsky, near Moscow. The hedges and alleys are chiefly formed of spruce fir, which are shorn, and seem to flourish under the sheers. It contains also a labyrinth, and a turf amphitheatre, on which the Count at one time had operas performed by his domestic slaves.
Sophiowski, in Padolia, is a magnificent residence of the Countess Potocki, laid out by a Polish architect, M. Met zel, in the manner of Switzer. It has a magnificent ter race or promenade, and extensive avenues, conservatories, and gardens.
Little or nothing appears to have been done in the an cient style in Sweden. who published his Reg ?turn Suecire, in 1671, mentions gardens only once. These
belonged to the court, and were used, he says, for delight and recreation. The most beautiful were those between the Palatiurn and Vivarium. The latter contained some wooden buildings, in which were kept specimens of lions, leopards, and bears. As kitchen gardeners and botanists, the Swedes, even at the period of which we now speak, were in a considerable state of advancement, of which there are proofs in the history of the gardens of Upsal, given in the first volume of the Amcenitates Academicce.
Sir John Carr, and Her von Lehmann, have mentioned some ancient royal gardens at Denmark, which, however, are now in a state of dilapidation, and could never have been considerable.
The Spaniards appear to have had less taste for garden ing than any of the other nations of Europe. The botanic garden of Madrid was not formed till 1757, but they had at one time two or three magnificent examples in the French style ; those of the Escurial and Aranjuez, from designs by Le Notre ; and that of Ildefonso, of which we have not been able to learn the name of the designer. Hirschfield de scribes these gardens from the journal of an Italian, in 1775. A detailed account of those of the Escurial has been pub lished in England by J. Thomson. They appear to have contained a splendid profusion of water works, and covered alleys, rock works, statues, and other details of an ancient garden ; and we regret to find, from more recent travellers, that they are now in a state of dilapidation. The oldest gardens in Spain are undoubtedly those of the religious houses. There are still some water works, walks, and um brageous scenes, adjoining the Alhambra and the Alcazar. At the Retiro, near Malaga, a seat of Count Villacasa, and formerly a royal residence, are gardens in the Moorish style, with straight cypress walks, and excellent water works. Granja, the seat of Don Ramon Fortuny, near Tar ragona, appears to be in good taste, combining the ancient style, and the cultivation of orange, olive, and other or chards, with vineyards ; and with an accidental mixture of rocks and picturesque scenery.
Montserrat, near Cintra, a seat of the late eminent mer chant Mr. Beckford, was laid out by his English gardener, but is in no respect remarkable.
Wherever Europeans have settled, and enriched them selves in other quarters of the world, it is natural to suppose they would attempt to introduce their native style of garden ing. 'We know of no remarkable instance applicable to that of the ancient style, excepting that of the Dutch gover nor at the Cape of Good Hope. In Lachman's Travels of the Jesuits, published in 1767, it is described as a square enclosure, occupying 19 acres, with " covered and open walks, natural thickets, and rills of water ;" and, " on the whole," says Father Premare, "is one of the most beauti ful spots in the world, in which art had taken far less pains than nature." Lachman's Travels, vol. i. p. 37.