To the Dutch must be conceded the earliest manifestation of a love for gardening, in Northern Europe—a feeling possessed by them even before the thirteenth century. The taste owed its origin, no doubt, partly to the general monotony of their country, partly to the wealth of their merchants, and partly to an extended commerce, which enabled the Dutch to import from the East those bulbous roots which have long been cultivated in Holland, and were once valued at fabulous prices. Dutch gardening soon acquired a peculiar character of its own. The gardens of Loo, laid out in the time of William III., were excellent examples of the symmetrical Dutch style; a canal divided the upper from the lower garden; the beds were cut in squares, and filled at various seasons of the year with tulips, hyacinths, poppies, sun-flowers, &c.; straight walks intersected the grounds, which were adorned with numerous statues, grotto-work, and fountains, some exceedingly whimsical and curious; the trees and shrubs were cut into devices, principally in pyramidal forms, whilst hedges separated the different parts of the garden, and were not allowed to grow above a certain height. Straight rows and double rows of trees constitute another characteristic of the Dutch style, and elaborate lace-like patterns for parterres were much in vogue during the latter part of the seventeenth century. The influence of this style upon English gardens may still be perceived in the clipped hedgerows and trees, green terraces, and now only prim, now magnificent avenues, so frequent in our country.
It would appear that from William down to George II., gardening in England suffered sad deterioration as an art. Formality prevailed to the most deadening and oppressive extent. The shapes of men and animals were cut in trees, and the land was threatened with a vast and hideous collection of verdant sculpture. Pope and Addison came to the rescue of nature, and ridiculed the monstrous fashion. Pope, in one of his papers in “The Guardian,” details an imaginary set of plants for sale, including a “St. George, in box, his arm scarce long enough, but will be in condition to stick the dragon next April;” and a “quickset hog shot up into a porcupine by being forgot a week in rainy weather.” Addison, in “The Spectator,” says, “Our British gardeners, instead of humouring nature, love to deviate from it as much as possible. Our trees rise in cones, globes, and pyramids. We see the marks of the scissors upon every plant and bush.” Pope himself laid out his grounds in his villa at Twickenham; and his gardens there, which still bear the impress of his taste, attest to his practical skill as a gardener.
The satire of these great writers contributed not a little to a revolution in English gardening. Bridgeman seems to have been the first to commence the wholesome work of destruction, and to introduce landscape gardening; and it is said that he was instigated to his labour by the very paper of Pope’s, in “The Guardian,” to which we have alluded. But Kent, at a later period, banished the old grotesque and ridiculous style, and established the new picturesque treatment. He laid out Kensington Gardens, and probably Claremont. Wright and Brown were also early artists in the new style, and deserve honourable mention for their exertions in the right direction. The former displayed his skill at Fonthill Abbey, the seat of Mr. Beckford; Brown was consulted at Blenheim, where he constructed the earliest artificial lake in the kingdom,—the work of a week. Nor must Shenstone, the poet, be forgotten. His attempt, towards 1750, to establish the rights of nature in his own ornamental farm at the Leasowes, places him fairly in the front rank of our rural reformers. Mathematical precision and the yoke of excessive art were thus cast off, and nature was allowed a larger extent of liberty and life. She was no longer tasked to imitate forms that detracted from her own beauty without giving grace to the imitation; but she was questioned as to the garb which it chiefly delighted her to wear, and answer being given, active steps were taken to comply with her will. Then came Knight and Price to carry out the goodly work of recovery and restoration. To them followed Mr. Humphrey Repton, the accomplished scholar under whose eye the gardens of Cobham Hall were planned, and under whose influence all the celebrated landscape-gardens of his time were fashioned. And as the result of the united labours of one and all, we have the irregularly-bounded pieces of water which delight the English eye, the shrubberies, the noble groups of trees, the winding walks, the gentle undulations, and pleasant slopes,—all which combined give a peculiar charm to our island landscapes, that is looked for in vain in fairer climates and on a more extended soil.
In the Crystal Palace Gardens, the Italian style has not been servilely copied, but rather adapted and appropriated. It has been taken, in fact, as the basis of a portion of our garden, and modified so as to suit English climate and English taste. Thus, we have the terraces and the architectural display, the long walks, the carefully cut beds, and the ornamental fountains: but the undulations of greensward, that bespeak the English soil, give a character to the borrowed elements which they do not find elsewhere. The violent juxtaposition of the two styles of gardening—the Italian and the English—it may readily be conceived, would produce a harsh and disagreeable effect. To avoid the collision, Sir Joseph Paxton has introduced, in the immediate vicinity of the terraces and the broad central walk, a mixed or transitional style, combining the formality of the one school with the freedom and natural grace of the other; and the former character is gradually diminished until, at the north side of the ground, it entirely disappears, and English landscape-gardening is looked upon in all its beauty.
THE TERRACES.
Descending the steps we reach the first terrace, on the parapet of which are placed twenty-six allegorical statues of the most important commercial and manufacturing countries in the world, and of the chief industrial cities of England and France. The length of the upper terrace is 1576 feet, and its width 48 feet; the terrace wall is of Bath-stone. The granite pedestals on each side of the steps, leading from the Great Transept, are 16 feet by 24 feet. The width of the central flight of steps is 96 feet; and this is also the width of the grand central walk. The lower terrace, along which are ranged the first six fountains of the upper series, is 1664 feet long between the wings of the building, or nearly one-third of a mile, and 512 feet wide, the basins for the fountains on this terrace being, in their measurements, as before stated, all multiples of eight. The total length of the garden front of the wall of this terrace, which is formed into alcoves, is 1896 feet. The length of the broad central gravel walk from the building to the end of the garden in a direct line is 2660 feet. Such are a few of the principal measurements connected with the Palace Gardens, as these are seen on the surface. But although the work that is above ground may be recognised and calculated with little trouble by the visitor, there is beneath the surface an amount of labour and capital expended, of which he can with difficulty form an accurate idea. Drain pipes spread under his feet like a net-work, and amount in length to several miles; he treads on thousands of bundles of faggots which have formed his path; he walks over ten miles of iron piping which supply the fountains for his amusement.
On each side of the great central staircase are statues representing Mulhouse, Glasgow, and Liverpool (to the right as we face the gardens), the two first by Calder Marshall, the third by Spence. On the left side are personifications of Paris, Lyons, and an allegorical statue of French art, the first by Etex.
The next bastion, on the Sydenham side, is surmounted by statues of Spain and Italy, admirably executed by Monti; the succeeding bastion forms a pedestal for the very characteristic figures of California and Australia, by Bell. The staircase at this end of the terrace is ornamented at the first angle with representations of South America, by Monti, and of Turkey and Greece by Baron Marochetti; the second group consists of India and Egypt, also by Marochetti, and of China, by Monti.
The first bastion, on the Norwood side of the central staircase, supports allegorical statues of Manchester, by Theed, and Belfast, by Legrew. On the succeeding one are placed those of Sheffield and Birmingham, by Bell.
On each side of the staircase, at this point, are very excellent representations of the Zollverein and Holland, by Monti, and of Belgium, by Geefs.