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CHAPTER X.
Of ancient and modern Gardening-Authors-Change of Style-
WIMPOLE-Terraces-at the HASELLS--at COBHAM-Art
and Nature considered-Fx ample BURLEY ON THE HILL.
IT is not my intention to enter into a minute history of gardening,
or pursuing the course of some other writers, to trace back
the gradual progress of the art from Brown to Kent, from Kent
to Le N6tre, from him to the Italians, the Romans, the Grecians,
and ultimately to Adam, who was " the first gardener," but I
shall confine myself to a few observations on the change in the
fashion of gardens, to shew how much of each different style
may be preserved or rejected with advantage: and lest it should
appear to some readers that my allusions are too frequent to
the late theoretical writers on landscape gardening, it is neces-
sary to observe, that many of the MSS. whence I now transcribe,
were written long before Mr. Knight's and Mr. Price's works
appeared; of course the allusions relate to other authors on the
subject, whose sentiments these gentlemen seem to have taken
up without acknowledging that they had ever read them.
It may not be uninteresting here to mention a few of the
authors, who have written on gardening, especially as the works
of some are become scarce and are not generally known.
Ri