You enjoy the sight of this noble prospect for more than a mile; when the little path is suddenly turned into a little wood, whence, after having advanced a few paces, you behold a piece of scenery, all artificial, which I cannot venture to describe in this presence: some of you, Gentlemen, have seen what it is; and, with all your national partiality, must allow, either that it proves the impossibility of creating nature with any degree of success; or, that the ablest of your countrymen have no talent that way; to create, or to improve, are indeed very different operations; the former of which requires infinitely the most skill: it is ten times more difficult to paint a picture, than to judge, or suggest improvements, in one already painted.
Hitherto I have only described of B——m, what strangers usually see; but the whole park, above twelve miles in circumference, and several farms adjoining to it, are uncommonly beautiful, rich in old planting, in water, and in a great variety of picturesque sites and points of view; so that, with a very little dressing, with some assistance from the sister arts of architecture and sculpture, the whole might easily be converted into one large magnificent Garden.
And give me leave to observe, that these advantages are by no means peculiar to B——m; England boasts at least a hundred other places, many as extensive, most of them as capable of improvement, in various ways; which, under the management of true artists, might soon be made to rival the Tse-hiu and Chang-lin[24] of ancient days, the Yven ming, the Tchang tchun yven,[25] or any of the present splendid pleasure Gardens of our sublime Emperor, Kieng-long; the torch of the east, and true descendant of Tay-tsoy, the providence of Heaven, whom Joss[26] preserve in flesh and good spirits.
It must, however, be confessed, that there is an inconveniency subsisting amongst you, which will always retard, and often prevent the execution of this extensive plan of Gardening; it is the licentiousness of your youth and common people, who delight in destroying every extraordinary thing that comes in their way: if a great man plants trees to shade and beautify a road, the people cut them down; if statues, or other pieces of sculpture, are set to adorn places of public resort, the boys pelt at them with stones, till all their extremities are demolished: wherever there are buildings, or seats, even in your Royal Gardens, we see them constantly disfigured with scurrilous inscriptions, or obscene rhimes; and where there are any uncommon trees, they are divested of every branch within reach; the shrubs are robbed of their blossom; the flowers are trodden under foot; the birds and animals are destroyed: in short, no mischief, that drunken mirth or deliberate malevolence can suggest, is left undone. What pity that such destructive brutality should exist in a country so particularly favoured by Nature, and so capable of improvement in the highest degree; whilst, in every other part of the world, it is unknown, almost unheard of!
But there is a strong tincture of the rhubarb in all human competitions; and liberty, which has so many advantages, is, nevertheless, attended with some inconveniencies, of a very serious nature; amongst which, the ferocity of its lowest votaries is none of the least formidable. Since our arrival here last July, I have seen at least twenty of their boisterous pranks; in which, not to enumerate the broken windows, the bloody noses, the kicks, and the bastinadoes of other gentlemen, I have myself been a melancholy sufferer upon various occasions; particularly at Portsmouth, where I was thrown into the sea, and narrowly escaped drowning, for the diversion of the company. Would to Heaven!—as I say to the mistress Chet-quas in a morning—would to Heaven, my ducks, we were well at Quang-chew-fu again, with all our long nails, and all our whiskers about us! The rigours of an Emperor are less frightful to me, than the frolics of a savage mob, elevated to madness with songs of freedom, and tons of strong beer: it is easier to please a man with one good head, than a monster with ten thousand, all bad ones.
Miao kao faan-quai[27]
Tsat paat quai-tsai
Pardon this digression, which the terrors of a disturbed imagination have drawn me into; and permit your servant to re-assume the thread of his Discourse.
Wherever the extent is considerable, and the lands properly formed for the purpose, the mode of natural Gardening, just recommended, ought certainly to be employed in preference to any other, as it surpasses all others in perfection, and is yet most easily executed: but in or near great cities, where property is much divided, on flats, where nature has no play, in all tame situations; the richer and more artificial manner of our Gardening is preferable: because it may contain much variety in a small compass, and corrects the natural defects of the ground more speedily, more effectually, with less charge than any other.
This manner is also properest for grounds that immediately surround elegant structures, where order and symmetry are absolutely necessary; and for many little enclosures, or resting-places of various kinds, that must always be dispersed in different parts of extensive plantations; where nicety of dress, and excessive decoration are in character; and where they may be conveniently secured with stronger fences, to guard them from public intrusion.