DIS SERTATION BY SIRWILLIAM CHAMBERS Comptroller General of his Works. L O N D O N: Printed by W. GrIFFEST, Printer to the RoTAL ACADEMT.fold by Him in Ca&ermr/hzet: and hy T.DaVTES, Bookfeller to the ROYAIi ACADEMY, m Jiu/jfc/ yereet. Coeen? Gardens alfo try J .DODSLET, A//Jfe/// WILSON and NlCOLL, Sbwtd; J. WALTER, (Tfc/r'^fhfi; and P. ELMSLEY, Jiimnd. 177a. V DISSERTATION O N ORIENTAL GARDENING-, b y S R WILLIAM CHAMBERS, Comptroller-General of his Majesty's Works, &c» the SECOND EDITION, with ADDITIONS. TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, AN EXPLANATORY DISCOURSE, B Y Tan Chet-q.ua, of Qjjang-che w-fu, Gent. LONDON: Printed by W. Griffin, Printer to the Royal Academy; fold by Him in Cathariw-Jlreet ; and by T. Davies, Bookfeller to the Royal Academy, in RuJJel-Jlreet, Covenl-Gartlen : alfo by J. Dodsley, Pall-Mall; Wilson and Nicoll, Strand; J. Walter, Chai'mg-Ctofs; and P. Elm$ley, Strand. J773. T O THE KING. I HUMBLY heg leave to lay at Y>ur Majesty's feet the following DiiTertatioii upon an Art of which Tfou are the firft Judge , as well as the moft munificent Encourager . A Sketch of the prefent little Performance was graabufly received by "fi)ur Majesty many years ago, and found a kind reception in the world, under the Influence of Tiour Patronage. This is more ample, I wifh it may be more perfect than the original; that it may have a jufter title to Tour Indulgence , and better pretentions to the favor of the Publick . I am , May it please Yirar Maj e s t y , Your Maj e sty's "WILLIAM CHAMBERS. P R E F A C E. AMONGST the decorative arts, there is none of which the influence is fo extenfive as that of Gardening. The productions of other arts have their feparate clafTes of admirers, who alone relifh or fet any great value upon them: to the reft of the world they are indifferent; fome- times difgufting. A building affords no pleafure to the generality of men, but what refults from the grandeur of the object, or the value of its materials : nor doth a pi&ure affect them, but by its refemblance to life : a thoufand other beauties, of a higher kind, are loft upon them: for, in Architecture, in Painting, and indeed in moft other arts, men muft learn before they can admire; their pleafure keeps pace with their judgment : and it is only by knowing much, that they can be highly delighted. PREFACE. But Gardening is of a different nature : its dominion is general ; its effects upon the human mind certain and invariable: without any previous information, without being taught, all men are delighted with the gay lux- uriant fcenery of fummer, and depreffed at the difmal afpect of autumnal profpects: the charms of cultivation are equally fenfible to the ignorant and the learned; and they are equally difgufted at the rudenefs of neglected nature : lawns, woods, fhrubberies, rivers and mountains,, affect them both in the fame manner: and every com- bination of thefe, will excite fimilar fenfations in the minds of both. Nor are the productions of this Art lefs permanent than general in their effects : pictures, ftatues, buildings, foon glut the fight, and grow indifferent to the fpectator : but in gardens there is a continual ftate of fluctuation, that leaves no room for fatiety ; the progrefs of vegetation,, the vicifTitudes of feafons, the changes of the weather, the different directions of the fun, the paffage of clouds 3 the agitation and founds produced by winds, together with PREFACE. iii with the accidental intervention of living or moving objects, vary the appearances fo often, and fo conii- derably, that it is almoft impoflible to be cloyed, even with the fame profpects. Is it not lingular then, that an Art with which a confiderable part of our enjoyments is fo univerfally connected, mould have no regular profeflbrs in our quarter of the world ? Upon the continent it is a col- lateral branch of the Architect's employment ; who, immerfed in the fludy and avocations of his own pro- feflion, finds no leifure for other difquffitions : and, in this illandj it is abandoned to kitchen gardeners, well /killed in the culture of fallads, but little acquainted with the principles of Ornamental Gardening. It cannot be expelled that men, uneducated, and doomed by their condition to wafle the vigor of life in hard labour, mould ever go far in fo refined, fo difficult a purfuit. To this unaccountable want of regular mailers may, in a great meafure, be afcribed the fcarcity of perfect A 2 gardens PR E F A C E, gardens. There are indeed very few in our part of the globe, wherein nature has been improved to the beffc advantage, or art employed with the foundeft judgment. The gardens of Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and of all the other countries where the antient ftyle ftill prevails, are in general mere cities of verdure ; their walks, like ftreets, all conducted in ftrait lines, diverge from dif- ferent large open fpaces, refembling public fquares j and the hedges with which they are bordered, rife in imi- tation of walls, adorned with pilafters, niches, windows and doors; or they are cut into colonades, arcades and porticos: all the detached trees are fhaped like obelifks, pyramids and vafes ; and all the recefles in the thickets bear the names and forms of theatres, amphitheatres, temples, banqueting-halls, ball-rooms, cabinets and faloons. The ftreets and fquares are well manned with ftatues of marble or lead, ranged in regular lines, like foldiers at a proceflion; which, to make them more natural, are fometimes painted in proper colours, and finely gilt. The lakes and rivers, confined by quais of hewn ftone, are taught to flow in geometrick order ; and PREFACE. and the cafcades glide from the heights by many a fucceflion of marble fteps : not a twig is fuffered to grow as nature directs ; nor is a form admitted but what is fcientific, and determinable by the rule or compafs. In England, where this antient ftyle is held in detefiation, and where, in opposition to the reft of the world, a new manner is univerfally adopted, in which no appearance of art is tolerated, our gardens differ very little from common fields, fo clofely is vulgar nature copied in mod of them; there is generally fo little variety, and fo much want of judgment, in the choice of the objects, fuch a poverty of imagination in the contrivance, and of art in the arrangement, that thefe compofitions rather appear the offspring of chance than defign ; and a ftranger is often at a lofs to know whether he be walking in a common meadow, or in a pleafure ground, made and kept at a very confiderable expence : he finds nothing either to delight or to amufe him ; nothing to keep up his attention, or excite his curiofity ; little to flatter the fenfes, and lefs to touch the paffions, or gratify the VI PR E F A C E. the underftanding. At his firft entrance, he fees a large green field, fcattered over with a few ftraggling trees, and verged with aconfufed border of little flirubs and flowers; on farther infpection, he finds a little ferpentine path, twining in regular effes amonQ-ft the flirubs of the border, upon which he is to go round, to look on one fide at what he has already feen, the large green field; and on the other fide at the boundary, which is never more than a few yards from him, and always obtruding upon his fight. From time to time he perceives a little feat or temple ftuck up againft the wall: happy in the dif- covery, he fits down to reft his wearied limbs, and then reels on again, curfing the line of beauty ; till, fpent with fatigue, half roafted by the fun, for there is never any fhade, and dying for want of entertainment, he refolves to fee no more : vain refolution! there is but one path ; he muft either drag on to the end, or return by the tedious way he came. Such is the favourite plan of all our fmaller gardens: and our larger works are only a repetition of the fmall ones : PREFACE. vii ones : more green fields, more fhrubberies, more Terpentine walks, and more temples ; like the honeft batchelor's feaft, which confifted in nothing but a multiplication of his own dinner; three legs of mutton and turneps, three roafled geefe, and three buttered apple-pies. Sometimes, indeed, by way of regale, where fuch dainties are attainable, you are treated with a ferpentine river ; that is, a {tripe of ftagnant water, waving, in femicircles, as far as it will reach, and finifhing in a pretty little orderly ftep cafcade, that never runs but when it rains. The banks of thefe curious rivers are every where uniform, parallel, level, fmooth and green, as a billiard- table ; and the whole compofition bears a great refem- blance to the barge-canals of Holland: the only difference being, that the Dutch ditches are regularly ftraight, whilft ours are regularly crooked. Of the two, ours are certainly the moil formal and affecled: they are by no means the mod picturefque. It Vlll R E F A C E. It is I think obvious, that neither the artful nor the iimple ftyle of Gardening here mentioned, is right: the one being too much refined, and too extravagant a •deviation from nature; the other, like a Dutch picture, an affected adherence to her, without choice or judg- ment. One manner is abfurd ; the other is infipid and vulgar :- a judicious mixture of art and nature, an extract of what is good in both manners, would certainly be more perfect than either. Yet how this union can be effected, is difficult to fay. The men of art, and the friends of nature, are equally violent in defence of their favourite fyftem; and, like all other partizans, loth to give up any thing, however un-reafonable. Such a coalition is therefore now not to be expected : whoever mould be bold enough to attempt it, would probably incur the cenfure of both fides, without reforming either ; and confequently prejudice himfeif without doing fervice to the Art. But PREFACE. ix But though it might be impertinent as well as ufelefs to ftart a new fyftem of one's own, it cannot be improper, nor totally unferviceable, to publim that of others: efpecially of a people whofe" (kill in Gardening has often been the fubject of praife; and whofe manner has been fet up amongft us as the ftandard of imitation, without ever having been properly defined. It is a common faying, That from the worft things fome good may be extracted; and even if what I have to relate fhould be inferior to what is already known, yet furely fome ufeful hints may be collected from it. I may therefore, without danger to myfelf, and it is hoped without offence to others, offer the following account of the Chinefe manner of Gardening ; which is collected from my own obfervations in China, from converfations with their Artifts, and remarks tranfmitted to me at different times by travellers. A fketch of what I have now attempted to finifh, was publifhed fome years ago; and the favourable reception granted to that little performance, induced me to colled: materials for this. B £' 4% X R E F A C E. Whether the Chinefe manner of Gardening be better or worfe than thofe now in ufe amongfl the Europeans, I will not determine: companion is the fureft as well as the eafiefl: tefl of truth: it is in every man's power to compare and to judge for himfelf. — Should the prefent publication contain any thing ufeful, my purpofe will be fully anfwered ; if not, it may perhaps afford fome little entertainment, or ferve at worfl to kill an idle, hour. I muft not enter upon my fubjecl:, without apologizing • for the liberties here taken with our Englifh Gardens- There are, indeed, feveral that do not come within the compafs of my defcription 5 fome of which were laid out by their owners, who are as eminently fkilled in Garden- ing, as in many other branches of polite knowledge ; the reft owe moft of their excellence to nature ; and are, upon the whole, very little improved by the interposition of art ; which, though it may have heightened fome of their beauties, has totally robbed them of many others. It PREFACE. xt It would be tedious to enumerate all the errors of a falfe tafte : but the havock it has made in our old plan- tations, mufl ever be remembered with indignation. The ax has often, in one day, laid wafte the growth of feveral ages; and thoufands of venerable plants, whole woods of them, have been fwept away, to make room for a little grafs, and a few American weeds. Our vir- tuofi have fcarcely left an acre of fhade, nor three trees growing in a line, from the Land's-end to the Tweed : and if their humour for devaluation continues to rage much longer, there will not be a foreft-tree left (landing in the whole kingdom. DISSERTATION. XJlMONGST the Chinefe, Gardening is held in much higher efteem, than it is in Europe : they rank a perfect work in that Art, with the great productions of the human underftanding ; and fay, that its efficacy in moving, the paffions, yields to that of few other arts whatever. Their Gardeners are not only Botanifts, but alfo Painters and Philofophers ; having a thorough knowledge of the human mind, and of the arts by which its ftrongeft feelings are excited. It is not in China, as in Italy and' France, where every petty Architect is a Gardener ;. neither is it as in another famous country,, where peafants emerge from the melon grounds to take the periwig, and turn profeffors ; as Sganarelle, the faggot- maker j, quitted: his hatchety and commenced physician* In- China,. Gardening is a diftinct profeflionj requiring an extenfise: ftudy; to the perfection of which, few arrive. The Gardenerss ( '4 ) Gardeners there, far from being either ignorant or illiterate, are men of high abilities, who join to good natural parts, moft ornaments that ftudy, travelling, and long experience can fupply them with : it is in confider- ation of thefe accomplifhments only that they are per- mitted to exercife their profeflion : for with the Chinefe the tafte of Ornamental Gardening is an object of legif- lative attention ; it being fuppofed to have an influence upon the general culture, and confequently upon the beauty of the whole country. They obferve, that miftakes committed in this Art, are .too important to be tolerated; being much expofed to view, and in a great meafure irreparable : as it often requires the fpace of a century, to redrefs the blunders of an hour. The Chinefe Gardeners take nature for their pattern; and their aim is to imitate all her beautiful irregularities. Their firft confideration is the nature of the ground they are to work upon : whether it be flat or Hoping ; hilly or mountainous ; fmall or of considerable extent ; abounding with fprings and rivers, or labouring under a fcarcity (■ «1 ) fcarcity of water ; whether woody or bare, rough or even, barren or rich ; and whether the tranfitions be- fudden, and the character grand, wild or tremendous ' y or whether they be gradual, and the general bent placid, gloomy or chearful. To all which circumftances they carefully attend ; choofing fuch difpofitions as humour tshe ground, hide its defects, improve or fet off its advantages, and can be executed with expedition,, at a- moderate expence.- They are alfo attentive to the wealth or indigence of- the patron by whom they are employed; to his age, his- infirmities, temper, amufements, connections, bufinefs and manner of living; as likewife to the feafon of the year in which the Garden is likely to be mod frequented by him: fuiting themfelves in their composition, to his circumftances ; and providing for his wants and recre- ations. Their jfkill confifts in ftruggling, with the im- perfections and defects of nature ; and- with every other impediment : and in producing, in fpite of every obitacle> works that are uncommon, and perfect in their kind. Though ( 16 ) Though the Chinefe artifts have nature for their ge- neral model, yet are they not fo attached to her as to exclude all appearance of art: on the contrary, they think it, on many occasions, neceffary to make an oftentatious fhew of their labour. Nature, fay they, affords us but few materials to work with : plants, ground and water, are her only productions : and though both the forms and arrangements of thefe may be varied to an incredible degree, yet have they but few ftriking varieties; the reft being of the nature of changes rung upon bells, which, though in reality different, ftill produce the fame uniform kind of jingling ; the variation being too minute to be eaiily perceived. Art muft therefore fupply the fcantinefs of nature ; and not only be employed to produce variety, but alfo novelty and effect : for the iimple arrangements of nature are met with in every common field, to a certain degree of perfection; and are therefore too familiar to excite any ftrong fenfations in the mind of the beholder, or to produce any uncommon degree of pleafure. It ( 17 ) It is indeed true, that novelty and variety may both be attained, by tranfplanting the peculiarities of one country to another ; by introducing rocks, cataracts, impending woods, and other parts of romantic fituations, in flat places; by employing much water where it is rare, and cultivated plains, amidft the rude irregularities of mountains : but even this refource is eafily exhaufted, and can feldom be put in practice, without a very great expence. The Chinefe are therefore no enemies to ftrait lines ; becaufe they are, generally fpeaking, productive of grandeur, which often cannot be attained without them: nor have they any averfion to regular geometrical figures, which they fay are beautiful in themfelves, and well fuited to fmall compofitions, where the luxuriant irre- gularities of nature would fill up and embarrafs the parts they fhould adorn. They likewife think them propereft for flower-gardens, and all other compofitions, where much art is apparent in the culture ; and where it fhould therefore not be omitted in the forms. C Their ( *8 ) Their regular buildings they generally furround with artificial terrafTes, Hopes, and many flights of fteps; the angles of which are adorned with groups of fculpture and vafes, intermixed with all forts of artificial water- works, which, connecting with the architecture, fpread the compofition, ferve to give it confequence, and add to the gaiety, fplendor, and buftle of the fcenery. Round the main habitation, and near all their decorated ftau&ures, the grounds are laid out with great regularity,, and kept with great care : no plants are admitted that intercept the view of the buildings ; nor any lines but fuch as accompany the architecture properly, and con.- tribute to the general fymmetry and good effect of the whole compofition :. for they hold it abfurd to furround an elegant fabric with diforderly rude vegetation ; faying, that it looks like a diamond fet in lead ; and always conveys the idea, of an unfiniihed work. When the buildings are rufiic, the fcenery which: furrounds them is wild; when, they are grand, , it is gloomy; when gay, it is luxuriant : in fiiort, the Chinefe are fcrupuloufly nice ( 19 ) nice in preferving the fame character through every part of the composition ; which is one great caufe of that furprifing variety with which their works abound. They are fond of introducing ftatues, bufts, bas-reliefs, and every production of the chifel, as well in other parts of their Gardens, as round their buildings ; obferving, that they are not only ornamental, but, that by com- memorating paft events, and celebrated perfonages, they awaken the mind to pleafing contemplation; hurryincr our reflections up into the remoteft ages of antiquity: and thcy^ never fail to fcatter antient infcriptions, verfes, and moral fentences, about their grounds; which are placed upon the backs of coloffal tortoife and elephants ; on large ruinated ftones, and columns of marble; or engraved on trees and rocks: fuch Situations being always choien for them, as correfpond with the fenfe of the infcriptions ; which thereby acquire additional force in themfelves, and likewife give a llronger expreflion to the Icene. C 2 They ( 20 ) They fay, that all thefe decorations are necefTary, to characterize and diftinguifh the different fcenes of their compofitions ; among which, without fuch ailiftance, there would unavoidably be a tirefome fimilarity. And whenever it is objected to them, that many of thefe things are unnatural, and ought therefore not to be fuffered, they anfwer, that moft improvements are unnatural ; yet they are allowed to be improvements, and not only tolerated, but admired. Our veftments ? fay they, are neither of leather, nor like our fkins, but formed of rich filks and embroidery; our houfes and palaces bear no refemblauce to caverns in the rocks, which are the only natural habitations ; nor is our mulic either like thunder, or the whittling of the northern wind, the harmony of nature. Nature produces nothing either boiled, roailed or ftewed ; and yet we do not eat raw meat : nor doth fhe fupply us with any other tools for all our purpofes, but teeth and hands ; yet we have faws, hammers, axes, and a thoufand other implements : in fhort, there is fcarcely any thing in which art is not apparent j ( *« ) apparent; and why mould its appearance be excluded from Gardening only ? Poets and painters foar above the pitch of nature, when they would give energy to their compofitions. The fame privilege, therefore, fhould be allowed to Gardeners : inanimate, fimple nature, is too infipid for our purpofes : much is expected from us ; and therefore, we have occafion for every aid that either art or nature can furnifh. The fcenery of a Garden mould differ as much from common nature, as an heroic poem doth from a profe relation ; and Gardeners, like poets, fhould give a loofe to their imagination ; and even fly beyond the bounds of truth, whenever it is neceffary to elevate, to embellifh, to enliven, or to add novelty to thtir fubjecl. The ufual method of distributing Gardens in China, is to contrive a great variety of fcenes, to be hen from certain points of view j at which are placed feats or buildings, adapted to the different purpofes of mental or fenfual enjoyments, The perfection of their Gardens confifts in the number and diverilty of thefe fcenes; and in ( 22 ) in the artful combination of their parts ; which they endeavour to difpofe in fuch a manner, as not only Separately to appear to the beft advantage, but alfo to unite in forming an elegant and finking whole. Where the ground is extenfive, and many fcenes can be introduced, they generally adapt each to one fingle point of viewi but where it is confined, and affords no room for variety, they difpofe their objects fo, that being viewed from different points, they produce different reprefentations 5 and often fuch as bear no refemblance to each other. They likewife endeavour to place the feparate fcenes of their compositions in fuch directions as to unite, and be feen all together, from one or more particular points of view ; whence the eye may be delighted with an extenfive, rich and variegated profpecl. They take all poflible advantage of exterior objects; hiding carefully the boundaries of their own grounds ; and endeavouring to make an apparent union between them and the diftant woods, fields and rivers : and where towns, caftles, towers, or any other confiderable objects are ( 2 3 ) are in fight, they artfully contrive to have them feen from as many points, and in as many directions as pofiible. The fame they do with regard to navigable rivers, high roads, foot-paths, mills, and all other moving objects, which animate and add variety to the landfcape. Befides the ufual European methods of concealing boundaries by ha-has, and funk fences, they have others, ftill more effectual. On flats, where they have naturally no profpects of exterior objects, they enclofe their plan- tations with artificial terraffes, in the form of walks, to which you afcend by infenfible Hopes: thefe they border on the infide with thickets of lofty trees and underwood; and on the outfide, with low fhrubberies; over which the pafifenger fees the whole fcenery of the adjacent country, in appearance forming a continuation of the Garden, as its fence is carefully concealed amongft the fhrubs that cover the outfide declivity of die. terrafs. And where the Garden, happens to ftand on higher ground, than the adjacent country, they carry artificial rivers ( 2 4 ) fivers round the outskirts, under the oppoftte banks of which, the boundaries are concealed, amongft trees and fhrubs. Sometimes too they make ufe of ftrong wire fences, painted green, fattened to the trees and fhrubs that border the plantations, and carried round in many irregular directions, which are fcarcely feen till you come very near them : and wherever ha-has, or funk fences are ufed, they always fill the trenches with briars, and other thorny plants, to ftrengthen the fence, and to conceal the walls, which otherwife would have an ugly .appearance from without. In their large Gardens they contrive different fcenes for the different times of the day; difponng at the points of view, buildings, which from their ufe point out the proper hour for enjoying the view in its perfections : and in their fmall ones, where, as has been obferved, .one arrangement produces many reprefentations, they make ufe of the fame artifice. They have befide, ibenes for every feafon of the year : fome for winter, generally expofed to the fouthern fun, and compofed of ( 2 5 ) of pines*, firs, cedars, evergreen oak's, phillyreas, hollies, yews, junipers, and many other evergreens; being enriched with laurels of various forts, laurefrinus, arbutus, and fuch other plants and vegetables as grow or flourifh in cold weather : and to give variety and gaiety to thefe gloomy productions, they plant amongft them, in regular forms, divided by walks, all the rare fhrubs, flowers and trees of the torrid zone ; which they cover, during the winter, with frames of glafs, difpofed in the forms of temples, or other elegant buildings. Thefe they call confervatiories : they are warmed by fubterraneous fires, and afford a comfortable and agreeable retreat, when the weather is too cold to walk in the open air. All forts of beautiful * Thofe who are acquainted with the natural hiftory of China, know, that it produces almoft all the plants and vegetables cultivated in Europe ; with many others, that are not to be found even in our bed hot-houfes: amongft which are feveral evergreens ; as theTfe-fong, of which the leaves refemble both the juniper and cyprefs, mixed in a very beautiful manner; the Mo-lyen, producing large flowers, like lillies, fome yellow, fome red, and fome white, which open in December, and flourifh during the greater part of the winter; the La-mew, a kind of bay, producing fine yellow flowers, that appear in winter ; with many others, which, as they cannot here be obtained, it is fuperfluous to enumerate. D melodious ( 26 ) melodious birds are let loofe in them : and they keep there, in large porcelain citterns, placed on artificial rocks, gold and filver fifhes ; with various kinds of the lyen-wha*, and other aquatic plants and flowers : they alfo raife in them ftrawberries, cherries, figs, bananas, li-chis f , grapes, apricots and peaches, which cover the wood-work of their glafs frames, and ferve for ornament as well as ufe. Their fcenes of fpring like wife abound with evergreens, intermixed with lilacks of all forts, laburnums, limes, * The Lyen-wha is a water lilly, much efteemed in China. In the province of Kiang-fi, whole lakes are covered with it, in a very beautiful manner;, and it is cultivated, by all the great -lords, in ponds and cifterns, for the decoration of their courts and gardens. The flower refembles a tulip, and is either yellow, white, violet, crimfon, or ftreaked with various colours : its l'mell is very pleafing ; and the fruit, which produces a white kernel, being accounted a great reftorative and ftrengthener, is given, in China, as a medicine, after fevere fits of illnefs : the leaves are large, of a circular form, and brilliant green colour •, they float upon the furface of the water. ■f The fruit of the Li-chi refembles the berry of the arbutus, in every thing but fize ; it being as large as a pigeon's egg, and full of a juicy pulp, thiam- in flavor, far furpafTes any other fruit whatever. larixes. ( 2 7 ) larixes, double bloflbmed thorn, almond and peach-trees; with fweet-hryar, early rofes, and honey-fuckles. The ground, and verges of the thickets and mrubberies, are adorned with wild hyacinths, wall-flowers, daffodils, violets, primrofes, polianthes's, crocus's, dairies, fnow- drops, and various fpecies of the iris ; with fuch other flowers as appear in the months of March and April : and as thefe fcenes are alfo fcanty in their natural productions, they interfperfe amongft their plantations, menageries for all forts of tame or ferocious animals, and birds of prey ; aviaries and groves, with proper contrivances for breeding domeftic fowls ; decorated dairies ; and buildings for the exercifes of wreftling, boxing, quail-fighting, and other games known in China. They alfo contrive in the woods large open recefTes for military fports ; as riding, vaulting, fencing, mooting with the bow, and running. Their fummer fcenes compofe the richeft and mod iludied parts of their Gardens. They abound with lakes rivers, and water-works or every contrivance ; and with D 2 veffels ( 28 ) vefTels of every conftruction, calculated for the ufes of failing, rowing, fifhing, fowling, and fighting. The woods confift of oak, beech, Indian chefnut, elm, am, plane, u-ton~fhu * and common fycamore, maple, abele and feveral other fpecies of the poplar ; with many other trees, peculiar to China. The thickets are compofed of every fair deciduous plant that grows in that climate, and every flower or fhrub that flourifhes during the fummer months; all uniting to form the fineft verdure, the moft brilliant, harmonious colouring imaginable. The buildings are fpacious, fplendid and numerous ; every fcene being marked by one or more : fome of them contrived for banquets, balls, concerts, learned difpu- tations, plays, rope-dancing, and feats of activity; others again for bathing, fwimming,. reading, fleeping, or meditation. In the center of thefe fummer plantations, there is generally a large tract of ground fet afide for more fecret and voluptuous enjoyments; which is laid out in a great * A beautiful fpecies of the fycamore, peculiar to China. number ( 2 9 ) number of clofe walks, colonades and paffages, turned with many intricate windings, fo as to confufe and lead the pafTenger aftray : being fometimes divided by thickets of underwood, intermixed with ftraggling large trees; and at other times by higher plantations, or by clump3 of the tfe-tan *, common rofe-trees, and other lofty flowering fhrubs. The whole is a wildernefs of fweets, 1 adorned with all forts of fragrant and gaudy productions; Gold and filver pheafants, pea-fowls, partridges, bantam? and golden hens, quails, and game of every kind, fwarm in the woods ; doves* nightingales, and a thoufand melodious birds^ perch upon the branches; deer, ante^ lopes, mufk goats -f-, fpotted buffaloes, ihen-fi ilieep t 7 and Tartarean horfes, frifk upon the plains. Every walki * A very large fpecies of the rofe- tree; die wood of which is- uncommonly, beautiful, and ufed by the Chinele workmen for tables, cabinets, &c. ■j- A fort of roe-bucks, called by the Chinefe hyang-chang-tfe, found in the mountains, weft of Peking, where they feed on the flefli of ferpents, who, ftupified by the fcent of the mufk, are eafily killed by the animals ; though iome of them are of an enormous fize, very ftrong, and naturally very fier-ce. X. A fort of ilieep with very large, tails, which trail upon the ground. leach ( 3° ) leads to fome delightful object: to groves of orano-e and myrtle ; to rivulets, whofe banks are clad with rofes, woodbine and jefTamine ; to murmuring fountains, with ftatues of Sleeping nymphs, and water-gods ; to cabinets of verdure, with beds of aromatic herbs and flowers ; to grottos cut in rocks, adorned with incruftations of coral fhells, ores, gems and cryftallizations, refreshed with rills of fweet-fcented water, and cooled by fragrant, artificial breezes. Amongft the thickets which divide the walks, are many fecret receffes ; in each of which there is an elegant pavilion, conflfting of one ftate apartment, with out- houfes, and proper conveniences for eunuchs and vvomen- fervants. Thefe are inhabited, during the fummer, by their faired and moft accomplifhed concubines; each of them, with her attendants, occupying a feparate pavilion. The principal apartment of thefe buildings, confifts of one or more large faloons, two cabinet or dreffing- rooms, ( 3* ) rooms, a library, a couple of bed-chambers and waiting- rooms, a bath, and feveral private clofets ; all which are magnificently furnifhed, and provided with entertaining books, amorous paintings, mufical inftruments, imple- ments for gaming, writing, drawing, painting and embroidering; with beds, couches, and chairs, of various conftrudlions, for the ufes of fitting and lying in different poftures.. The faloons generally open to little enclofed courts, fet round with beautiful flower-pots, of different forms, made of. porcelain, marble or copper, filled with the rareft flowers of the feafon : at the end of the court there is generally an aviary ; an artificial rock with a fountain and bafon for gold fifh, or blue fifties of Hay-Nang*; a cafcade; an arbor of bamboo or vine interwoven with flowering fhrubs; or fome other elegant contrivance, of the like nature. * A little beautiful blue fifh, caught near the ifland of Hay-Nang, of which the Chinefe ladies are very fond. Befid iaes I 3^ ) Befides thefe feparate habitations, in which the ladies are privately vifited by the patron, as often as he is difpofed to fee them, and be particular, there are, in other larger receffes of the thickets, more fplendid and fpacious buildings, v/here the women all meet at certain hours of the day, either to eat at the public tables, to drink their tea, to converfe, bathe, fwim, work, romp, or to play at the mora, and other games known in China; or elfe to divert the patron with mufic, finging, lafcivious pofture-dancing, and -acting plays or pantomimes: at all which they generally are very expert. Some of thefe flruclures are entirely open; the roof being fupported on columns of rofe-wood, or cedar, with bafes of Corean jafper, and cryftal of Chang-chew-fu; or upon wooden pillars, made in imitation of bamboo, and plantane-trees, furrounded with garlands of fruit and flowers, artfully carved, being painted and varnilhed in proper colours. Others are enclofed ; and confift fcmetimes only of one fpacious hall, and fometimes of many different flzed rooms, of various forms ; as triangles, fquares, ( 33 ) fquares, hexagons, octagons, circles, ovals, and irregular whimfical fhapes ; all of them elegantly finifhed with incruftations of marble, inlaid precious woods, ivory, filver, gold, and mother of pearl ; with a profufion of antient porcelain, mirrors, carving, gilding, painting and lacquering of all colours. The doors of entrance to thefe apartments, are circular and polygonal, as well as rectangular : and the windows by which they are lighted, are made in the fhapes of fans, birds, animals, fifties, infects, leaves and flowers ; being filled with painted glafs, or different coloured gaufe, to tinge the light, and give a glow to the objects in the apartment. All thefe buildings are furnifhed at a very great expence, not only with the necelTary moveables, but with pictures, fculptures, embroideries, trinkets, and pieces of clock-work of great value ; being fome of them very large, compofed of many ingenious movements, and enriched with ornaments of gold, intermixed with pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and other gems. E ( 34- ) Befides the different flructures already mentioned, they have fome built in large trees, and difpofed amongfr. the branches like nefts of birds, being finifhed on the infide with many beautiful ornaments and pictures, compofed of feathers ; fome they have likewife made in the form of Perfian tents j others built of roots and pollards, put together with great tafte; and others, which are called Miau Ting, or Halls of the Moon, being of a prodigious fize, and compofed each of one Jingle vaulted room, made in the fhape of a hemifphere; the concave of which is artfully painted, in imitation of a nocturnal fky, and pierced with an infinite number of little windows, made to reprefent the moon and ftars, being filled with tinged giafs, that admits the light in the quantities neceffary to fpread over the whole interior fabric the pleafing gloom of a fine fummer's night. The pavements of thefe rooms are fometimes laid out in parterres of flowers ; amongft which are placed many rural feats, made of fine formed branches, varnifhed red to reprefent coral : but ofteneft their bottom is full of a clear ( 35 ) clear running water, which falls in rills from the fides of a rock in the center : many little iflands float -upon its furface, and move around as the current directs ; fome of them covered with tables for the banquet; others with feats for muficians; and others with arbors, containing beds of repofe, with fophas, feats, and other furniture, for various ufes. To thefe Halls of the Moon the Chinefe princes retire, with their favourite women, whenever the heat and intenfe light of the fummer's day becomes difagreeable to them; and here they feaft, and give a loofe to every fort of voluptuous pleafure. No nation ever equalled the Chinefe in the fplendor and number of their Garden ftauctures. We are told, by Father Attiret, that, in one of the Imperial Gardens near Pekin, called Yven Ming Yven, there are, befides the palace, which is of itfelf a city, four hundred pavilions; all fo different in their architecture, that each feems the production of a different country. He E 2 mentions ( 36 ) mentions one of them, that coft upwards oF two hundred thoufand pounds, exclufive of the furniture; another, confifting of a hundred rooms : and fays, that moft of them are fufficiently capacious to lodge the greateft European lord, and his whole retinue. There is likewife, in the fame garden, a fortified town, with its port, flreets, public fquares, temples, markets, fhops, and tribunals of juftice : in fhort, with every thing that is at Pekin ; only upon a fmaller fcale. In this town the emperors of China, who are too much the Haves of their greatnefs to appear in public, and their women, who are excluded from it by cuftom, are frequently diverted with the hurry and buftle of the capital ; which is there reprefented, feveral times in the year, by the eunuchs of the palace : fome of them, perfonating merchants, others artifts, artificers, officers, foldiers, fhopkeepers, porters, and even thieves and pickpockets. On the appointed day, each puts on the habit of his profeflion •, the mips arrive at the port, the mops are opened, and the goods are offered to fale : tea- Houfes, ( 37 ) houfes, taverns, and inns, are ready for the reception or company ; fruits, and all forts of refreshments, are cried about the ftreets: the fhop-keepers teize the pafTengers to purchafe their merchandize 5 and every liberty is permitted : there is no diftindtion of perfons : even the emperor is confounded in the crowd : quarrels happen — battles enfue — the watch feizes upon the combatants — they are conveyed before the judge ; he examines the difpute and condemns the culprit, who is fometimes very feverely baftinadoed, to divert his imperial majefty, and the ladies of his train. Neither are {harpers for- got in thefe festivals : that noble profeflion is generally allotted to a good number of the moft dextrous eunuchs ; who, like the Spartan youths of old, are punilhed or applauded, according to the merit of their exploits.. The plantations of their autumnal feenes confift of many forts of oak, beech, and other deciduous trees that are retentive cf the leaf, and afford in their decline, a rich, variegated colouring; with which they blend fome ever- ( 33 ) cver-greens, fome fruit-trees, and the few fhrubs and flowers which blofTom late in the year ; placing amongft them decayed trees, pollards, and dead flumps, of picturefque forms, overfpread with mofs and ivy. The buildings with which thefe fcenes are decorated, are generally fuch as indicate decay, being intended as mementos to the paffenger. Some are hermitages and alms-houfes, where the faithful old fervants of the family fpend the remains of life in peace, amidft the tombs of their predeceflbrs, who lie. buried around them: others are ruins of caftles, palaces, temples, and deferted religious houfes ; or half buried triumphal arches and maufoleums, with mutilated infcriptions, that once commemorated tjie heroes of antient times : or they are fepulchres of their anceftors, catacombs and cemeteries for their favourite domeftic animals ; or whatever elfe may ferve to indicate the debility, the difappointments, and the diffolution of humanity: which, by co-operating with the dreary afpect of autumnal nature, and the inclement temperature of the air, fill the mind with melancholy, and incline it to ferious reflections. ( 39 ) Such is the common fcenery of the Chinefe Gardens, where the ground has no ftriking tendency to any particular character. But where it is more ftrongly marked, their artifts never fail to improve upon its Angularities : their aim is to excite a great variety of paflions in the mind of the fpectator; and the fertility of their imaginations, always upon the ftretch in fearch of novelty, furnifhes them with a thoufand artifices to" aceomplifli that aim. The fcenes which I have hitherto defcribed, are chiefly of the pleafing kind : but the Chinefe Gardeners have many forts, which they employ as circumftances vary; all which they range in three feparate clafTes; and diftinguifh them by the appellations of the pleaflng, the terrible, and the- furprizing. The firft of thefe are compofed. of the gayefl and moft perfect productions of the vegetable world j intermixed with rivers, lakes, cafcades, fountains, and water-works of all forts: being combined and difpofed in all the picturefque ( 40 ) picturefque forms that art or nature can fuggeft. Buildings, fculptures, and paintings arc added, to give fplendor and variety to thefe compofitions ; and the rareft productions of the animal creation are collected, to enliven them : nothing is forgot, that can either exhilerate the mind, gratify the fenfes, or give a fpur to the imagination. Their fcenes of terror are compofed of gloomy woods, deep vallies inacceflible to the fun, impending barren rocks, dark caverns, and impetuous cataracts rufhing down the mountains from all parts. The trees are ill formed, forced out of their natural directions, and feemingly torn to pieces by the violence of tempefts : fome are thrown down, and intercept the courfe of the torrents; others look as if blafted and mattered by the power of lightening : the buildings are in ruins ; or half confumed by fire, or fwept away by the fury of the waters: nothing remaining entire but a few miferable huts difperfed in the mountains ; which ferve at once to indicate the exiftence and wretchednefs of the inhabitants. Bats, ( 4* ) Bats, owls, vultures, and every bird of prey flutter in the groves ; wolves, tigers and jackalls howl in the forefts ; half-famifhed animals wander upon the plains ; gibbets, croffes, wheels, and the whole apparatus of torture, are feen from the roads ; and in the moll: difmal receffes of the woods, where the ways are rugged and overgrown with poifonous weeds, and where every object bears the marks of depopulation, are temples dedicated to the king of vengeance, deep caverns in the rocks, and defcents to gloomy fubtcrraneous habitations, overgrown with brufhwood and brambles; near which are infcribed, on pillars of ftone, pathetic defcriptions of tragical events, and many horrid ads of cruelty, perpetrated there by outlaws and robbers of former times : and to add both to the horror and fublimity of thefe fcenes, they fometimes conceal in cavities, on the fummits of thehighefl mountains, founderies, lime-kilns, and glafs- works ; which fend forth large volumes of flame, and continued clouds of thick fmoke, that give to thefe mountains the appearance of volcanoes. Th eir ( 42 ) Their furprizing, or fupernatural fcenes, are of the romantic kind, and abound in the marvellous ; being calculated to excite in the mind of the fpectator, quick fucceflions of oppofite and violent fenfations. Sometimes the pafTenger is hurried by fteep defcending paths to fubterraneous vaults, divided into ftately apartments, where lamps, which yield a faint and glimmering light, difcover the pale images of antient kings and heroes,, reclining on beds of ftate ; their heads are crowned with garlands of liars, and in their hands are tablets of moral fentences : flutes, and foft harmonious organs, impelled by fubterraneous waters, interrupt, at ftated intervals, the filence of the place, and fill the air with folemn facred melody. Sometimes the traveller, after having wandered in the duik of the foreft, finds himfelf on the edge of precipices,, in the glare of day-light, with cataracts failing from the mountains around, and torrents raging in the depths beneath him ; or at the foot of impending rocks, in gloomy vallies, overhung with woods: or on the banks of dull ( 43 ) dull moving rivers, whofe mores are covered with fepulchral monuments, under the made of willow, laurel, and other plants, facred to Manchew, the Genius of Sorrow. His way now lies through dark paffages cut in the rocks, on the fides of which are receffes, filled with ColofTal figures of dragons, infernal furies, and other horrid forms, which hold, in their monfrrous talons, myiterious, cabaliftical fentences, infcribed on tables of brafs ; with preparations that yield a conftant flame ; ferving at once to guide and to aftonifh the pafTenger: from time to time he is furprized with repeated fhocks of electrical impulfe, with mowers of artificial rain, or fudden violent gulls of wind, and inftantaneous explofions of fire ; the earth trembles under him, by the power of confined air ; and his ears are fucceflively ftruck with many different founds, produced by the fame means ; fome refembling the cries of men in torment; fome the roaring of bulls, and howl of ferocious animals, with the yell of hounds, and the voices of hunters; others F 2 are ( 44 ) are like the mixed croaking of ravenous birds ; and others imitate thunder, the raging of the fea, the explofion of cannon, the found of trumpets, and all the noife of war. His road then lies through lofty woods, where ferpents and lizards of many beautiful forts crawl upon the ground, and where innumerable apes, cats and parrots, clamber upon the trees, to intimidate him as he paffes j or through flowery thickets, where he is delighted with the finging of birds, the harmony of flutes, and all kinds of foft inftrumental muflc : fometimes, in this romantic ex- cursion, the pafTenger finds himfelf in fpacious receffes, furrounded with arbors of jefTamine, vine and rofes ; or in fplendid pavilions, richly painted and illumined by the fun : here beauteous Tartarean damfels, in loofe tranfparent robes, that flutter in the fcented air, prefent him with rich wines, or invigorating infufions of Ginfeng and amber, in goblets of agate ; mangoftans, anana?-, and fruits of Quangfl, in balkets of golden filagree; they crown him with garlands of flowers, and invite him to tafte the fweets of retirement, on Perflan carpets, and beds of camufathfkin down, ( 45 ) Thefe enchanted fcenes always abound with water- works, fo contrived as to produce many furprizing effects 3 and many fplendid pieces of fcenery : amongft which, their Kiao-king, or water-palaces, are the moil extra- ordinary ; they confift of many colonades, arcades, galleries and open cabinets, formed of fmooth meets and jets of fair water, artfully riling or falling over grounds of different coloured glafs, or over innumerable lamps, which, varying the tint's of the liquid, give to the ftructures the appearance and luftre of diamond^ fapphire, emerald, ruby, amethift and topaz. Air is likewife employed with great fuccefs, oa different occasions ; not only for the purpofes above- mentioned, but alfo to form artificial and complicated echoes : fome repeating the motion of the feet ; fome the ruftling of garments; and others the human voice, in many different tones : all which are calculated to embarrafs, to furprize, or to terrify the paffenger in his progrefs. All ( 4* ) All forts of optical deceptions are alfo made ufe of; fuch as paintings on prepared furfaces, contrived to vary the reprefentations as often as the fpedtator changes place : exhibiting, in one view, groupes of men; in another, combats of animals; in a third, rocks, cafcades, trees and mountains ; in a fourth, temples and colonades ; with a variety of other pleaiing fubjects. They likewife contrive pavements and incrustations for the walls of their apartments, of Mofaic work, compofed of many pieces of marble, feemingly thrown together without order or defign ; which, when ken from certain points of view, unite in forming lively and exact reprefentations of men, animals, buildings or landfcapes : and they frequently have pieces of architecture, even whole profpects in perfpective; which are formed by introducing temples, bridges, vefTels, and other fixed objects, leiTened as they are more removed from the points of view, by giving greyifh tints to the distant parts of the com- position ; and by planting there trees of a fainter colour, and f mailer growth, than thofe that ftand on the fore ground : thus rendering considerable in appearance, what in reality is trifling. ( 47 ) The Chinefe Artifts employ in thefe enchanted fcenes, the vendezhang *, the ever-moving poplar, the pau-luf, with all kinds of fenfitive and other extraordinary trees, plants and flowers. They keep in them a furprizing variety of monftrous birds, reptiles, and animals, which they import from diftant countries, or obtain by croffing the breeds. Thefe are tamed by art j and guarded by enormous dogs of Tibet, monftrous dwarfs, and African giants, in the habits of Eaftern magicians* They likewife have amongft the plantations, cabinets, in which are collected all the extraordinary productions of the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms; as well as paintings, fculptures, medals, antiquities, and ingenious * The Vendezhang is a native of Siam ; it bears flowers of an agreeable fmell, which, when they open, are of divers colours, as red, yellow, white and black ; the fruit, when it comes to maturity, has the exact refemblance of a wild duck. t The Pau-lu is a tree very common in Bengal, and fome parts of China j to which the large Indian bats have a particular attachment, in fo much, that,, during day-light, they almoft cover its branches, hanging upon them in clutlers, like fruit. inventions- ( 48 ) Inventions of the mechanic arts : which are a frem fource of entertainment, when the weather is bad, or when the heat is too intenfe to admit of being in the open air. The communications to the different fcenes and other parts of the Chinefe Gardens, are by walks, roads, bridle- ways, navigable rivers, lakes, and canals ; in all which their artifts introduce as much variety as poffible ; not only in the forms and dimenfions, but alfo in their decoration: avoiding, neverthelefs, all the abfurdities with which our antient European ftyle of Gardening abounds. " I am not ignorant," faid one of their artifts, " that " your European planters, thinking Nature fcanty in her " arrangements, or being perhaps difgufted with the fa- " miliarity and commonnefs of natural objects, introduce artificial forms into their plantations, and cut their trees in the fhapes of pyramids, flower-pots, fifties, cc and birds. I have heard of colonades, and whole u palaces, formed by plants, cut as precifely as if they " had been built of (lone; and of huntfmen, horfes, (C <( t " dogs, ( 49 ) turned into the fame open fpaces, and the different companies are agreeably furprized to meet where they may view each other, and fatisfy their curionty without impediment. The Chinefe Gardeners very feldom finiih any of their walks en cul de fac, carefully avoiding all unpleafant difappointments : but if at any time the nature of the iituation obliges them to it, they always terminate at fome interefHng object; which leffens the difappointment,. and takes off the idea of a childiin conceit. Neither do they ever carry a walk round the extremities ef a piece of ground, and leave the middle entirely opea, as it is too often done amongft us : for though it mirrht render the firfr, glance ftriking and noble, they think the pleafure would be of fhort duration ; and' that the fpedtator would be but moderately eatertained,., by walking feveral miles> with the fame objects continually obtruding upon his fight. If the ground they have to work upon he fmall, and they choofe to exhibit a grand. fcene^ , ( 5+ ) fcene, either from the principal habitation, or any other capital point, they do indeed leave a great part of the fpace open ; but {till care is taken to have a good depth of thicket, which frequently breaks confiderably in upon the open fpace, and hides many parts of it from the Ipectator's eye. Thefe projections produce variety, by altering the apparent figure of the open fpace from every point of *yiew ; and by constantly hiding parts of it, they create a myftery, which excites the traveller's curiofity : they likewife occafioa, in many places, a great depth in the thicket, which affords opportunities of making receffes for buildings, feats, and other objects, as well as for bold windings of the principal walks, and for feveral fmaller paths to branch off from the principal ones j all which take off the idea of a boundary, and furnifh amulement to the paffenger in his courfe; and as it is not eafy to purfue all the turns of the different lateral paths, there is flill fomething left to defire, and a field ibr die imagination to work upon. In r s5 ) In their crooked walks, they carefully avoid all fudderi or unnatural windings, particularly the regular Terpentine curves, of which our Engliili Gardeners are fo fond ; obferving, that thefe eternal, uniform, undulating lines, are, of all things, the moft unnatural, the moft affected, and moft tirefome to purfue. Having nature in viewv they feldom turn their walks, without fome apparent excufe ; either to avoid impediments, naturally exifting, or raifed by art, to improve the fcenery. A mountain, a precipice, a deep valley, a marfh, a piece of rugged ground, a building, or fome old venerable plant, afford a ftriking reafon for turning afide ; and if a river, the fea, a wide extended lake, or a terrace commanding rich profpedts, prefent themfelves, they hold it judicious to follow them in all their windings; fo to protract the enjoyments which thefe noble objects procure: but on a plain, either open, or formed into groves and thickets., . where no impediments oblige, nor no curiofity invites to •- follow a winding path,, they think it abfurd ; faying, that the road muft either have been made by art, or be worn by the conftant paffage of travellers : in either of which, i ( 56 ) which cafes, it cannot be fuppofed that men would go hy a crooked line, where they could arrive by a ftraight one. In general, they are very fparing of their twills, iwhich are always eafy, and fo managed, that never more lhan one curve is perceptible at the fame time. They likewife take care to avoid an exact parallelifm in thefe walks, both with regard to the trees which Jborder them, and the ground of which they are compofed. The ufual width given to the walk, is from eight to twenty, or even thirty feet, according to the extent of the plantation: but the trees, on each fide, are, in many places, more diftant ; large fpaces being left open, which are covered with grafs and wild flowers, or with fern, broom, briars, and underwood. The ground of the walk is either of turf or gravel ; neither of them finishing exa&ly at its edges, but run- ning fome way into the thickets, groves or fhrubberies, on each fide, in order to imitate nature more clofely ; .and to take off that difagreeable formality and fliffhefs, which ( 57 ) which a contrary practice occasions in our European plantations. In their ftraight roads or walks, when the extent is vaft, the Chinefe Artifts obferve an exact order and fym- metry ; faying, that in ftupendous works, the appearance of art is by no means difgufting; that it conveys to posterity inftances of the grandeur of their anceftors ; and gives birth to many fublime and pleating reflections. The imperial roads are aftonifhing works of this nature: they are compofed of triple avenues, adorned with four rows of enormous trees; generally Indian chefnuts, fpruce firs, mountain cedars, and others of formal fhapes; or oaks, elms, tulips, and others of the largeft growth, planted at proper regular distances ; and extending in ftraight lines, and almofx on a perfect level, two, three, even four hun- dred miles. The center avenues are from one hundred and fifty, to two hundred feet wide; and the lateral ones, are generally from forty to fifty feet; the fpreading branches of the trees forming- over them a natural umbrella, under which the travellers pafs, at all times of the day, unmolefted by the fun. H ( S* ) In fome places thefe roads are carried, by lofty vaulted paflages, through the rocks and mountains ; in others, upon caufeways and bridges, over lakes, torrents, and arms of the Tea; and in others, they are fupported, be- tween the precipices, upon chains of iron, or upon pillars, and many tire of arcades, over villages, pagodas, and cities : in fhort, no difficulty has been attended to in their conftru£tion ; but every obftacle has been con^- quered with amazing induftry, and at an almoft incredible expence. There are, in different parts of China, many works of the kinds juft mentioned ; but amongfl: the moft'con- fiderable, are counted the Paffage of King-tong, the Bridges of Fu-cheu, thofe of Svven-chew and Lo-yang, with the Cientao, in the province of Xenfi. The firft of thefe is a communication between two precipices, compofed of twenty enormous chains of iron, each two hundred feet in length, which are covered with planks and earth, to form the road* The ( 59 ) The fecond is a clufter of bridges between Fu-cheu and Nanti, uniting various iflands, that divide the river into different ftreams : the principal of thefe confifts of one hundred arches, of a fufficient fize for the pafTage of fhips under full fail ; it is built of large blocks of hewn ftone, and enclofed with a magnificent marble baluftrade, the pedeftals of which fupport two hundred Coloffal lions, artfully cut in the fame material. The third is a bridge at Swen-chew-fu, built over an arm of the fea, that fometimes is very boifterous : it is above three quarters of a mile long, thirty-five feet wide, and confifts of one hundred and thirty piers, of an aftonifhing height, upon which are laid vaft blocks, of a greyiih granite, that form the road. Eut the largeft and moft furprizing work of the fort, that yet has been heard of, is the bridge of Lo-yang, in the province of Fokien : it is compofed of three hundred piers of black marble, joined to each other by vaft blocks of the fame material, forming the road, which is enclofed H 2 with ( 6° ) with a marble baluftrade, whofe pedeftals are adorned with lions, and other works of fculpture. The whole length of thebridge is fixteen thoufand two hundred feet, or upwards of three miles ; its width is forty-two feet ; and the blocks of which it is compofed, are each fifty- four feet long, and fix feet diameter. The Cientao, or Way of Pillars, is a communication between many precipices, built to fhorten a road to Pe-king. It is near four miles long, of a considerable width, and fupported oyer the vallies upon arches and ftone piers of a terrifying height. In the mountains, on each fide of thefe imperial roads, are erected a great number of buildings, furrounded with cyprefs groves, and adorned with works of fculpture, which afford conftant entertainment to the paffengers : thefe are the monuments of their wife men, their faints, and their warriors, ere&ed at the expence of the ftate, and furnimed with nervous infcriptions, in the Chinefe language, giving an account of the lives and actions of thofe . ( 6i ) thofe they commemorate : fome of thefe buildings are distributed into many fpacious courts and ftately apart- ments, being little inferior to palaces, either in mag- nificence or extent ; they are furnimed with all kinds of movables and utenfils, much larger than the common fize ; and a great number of Coloffal figures are every where feen, reprefenting officers, foldiers, eunuchs, faddle-horfes, camels, lions and dogs, all placed in melancholy attitudes, with countenances expreflive of the deepeft forrovv. Inftead of roads, the center avenues are fometimes formed into navigable canals, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet wide, being fufficiently deep to admit gallies and other fmall veffels ; with horfe-ways on each iide of the canals, for the convenience of towing them, either againft the wind or the ftream. On thefe the emperor, and Chinefe mandarines, are frequently con- veyed, in large magnificent fampans or barges, divided into many fplendid rooms ; being fometimes attended by a considerable train of fmaller veffels, of different con- ftruc~tions s ( «» ) Ih-uclions, adorned with dragons, ftreamers, lanterns of painted filk, and various other ornaments ; the whole compofing a very brilliant and entertaining fhow. All the imperial forefts, befides the high roads which pafs through them, have many fpacious avenues cut in -the woods, fpreading from different centers, like rays of flars, and terminating at idol temples, towers, caftles, and all the interefling objects of the circumjacent country. The centers from which thefe avenues part, are of a circular or octagonal figure, with eight avenues; or of a femi- circular form, with only three branching from them. Their area is generally very confiderable ; and its middle is adorned with ti triumphal arch, a pagoda, a magni- ficent fountain, or fome other confiderable monument. Where the extent is vaft, each fingle avenue has befides, In its courfe, one or more open fpaces, from which a number of fmaller avenues again branch out, and ter- minate at many buildings, erected in the woods, for various purpofesj all which, without any confufion, add to ( 63 J to the variety and intricacy of thefe compositions ; giving them an appearance of immenfity not to be conceived, but by fuch as have feen them : and wherever a deep valley, a large river, or an arm of the fea, interrupt and break off the courfe of the avenues, the plantations ars neverthelefs continued on the oppofite more, in order to* make them appear more considerable. In Straight roads, of fmaller dimenfions, the Chinefe very artfully imitate the irregular workings of nature; fop although the general direction be a Straight line, yet they eafily avoid all appearance of StifFnefs or formality, by planting fome of the trees out of the common line; by inclining fome of them out of an upright; or by em- ploying different fpecies of plants, and placing them at irregular distances, with their Stems fometimes bare, and at other times covered with honey-fuckles and fweet- bryar, or furrounded with underwood. They likewife cut and difpofe the branches of the trees in various manners : fome being fuffered to fpread, to cover and made the walks ; whilft others are Shortened, to admit the ( 6+ ) the fun. The ground too is compofed of rifes and falls ; and the banks on each fide of the walk are, in fome places, of a confiderable height, forming hollow ways ; which they often cover at the top with bufhes and trunks of fallen trees. Frequently too, the courfe of the walk is interrupted by a large oak, or elm, or tulipifera, placed in the middle ; or by a fcreen of trees running quite acrofs; which, when the part on one fide of the fcreen is opened and illuminated by the fun, and the part on the other fide clofe and fhaded, produces a pleafing contraft. I have often feen, in China, berceaus and arbors, not of lattice-work, as in France, but of bamboo, hazel, and elm ; whofe branches being interwoven at the top, formed an arch not at all difpleafing to the eye, and exceedingly ufeful, during the heats of fummer: and to render thefe cool retreats more agreeable, jefTamine, fcarlet beans, fweet-fcented peas, granadillas of feveral forts, nafturtiums, the convulvus major, and many other kinds of climbers, were planted round the outfide; which, forcing " ( 6 5 ) forcing their way through, enriched the fides and arches of the walks in a very beautiful manner. I have likewifc feen, in Chinefe plantations, walks bordered with the cut yew and elm hedges, fo common in mod countries of Europe, which the Chinefe Artifts fometimes admit of, for variety's fake ; but they never have the ftiff appearance of our European ones : the fhears are ufed fparingly ; towards the top the branches are fuffered to fpread unmolefted ; and even in the cut parts of them are feen large maffes of other plants forcing their way through ; fuch as the fycamore, the fig, the vine, and others, vvhofe foliage and verdure are moil oppofite to thofe of the hedge. The dimenfions both of their ftraight roads and walks, vary according to the purpofes they are defigned for ; and, in fome degree too, according to their length. Roads or avenues to considerable obje&s, are, as has been obferved, generally compofed of three parallel walks : that in the middle being from thirty to one hundred and fifty, I or ( 66 ) or even two hundred feet wide; thofe on the fides,- from fifteen to forty. In their Gardens, the principal* ftraight walks are never narrower than twenty feet ; and feldom broader than forty-five or fifty : and the fmalleft are at leaft twelve feet wide. Thirty to thirty-fix feet is called a fufficient width for a length of two hundred; yards ; forty to fifty for one of four hundred ; fixty for one of fix hundred ; and feventy for a length of eight hundred yards: and when the extent is more than this, laft dimenfion, they do not tie themfelves up to any proportion, but encreafe their width as much as they conveniently can; never, however, exceeding ' one hundred and fifty, to two hundred feet ; which they think the utmoft width that can be given, without rendering, the avenue difproportionate to the trees that border it- In the construction of roads and walks, the Chinefe Gardeners are very expert, and very circumfpecl: : they never fituate them at the foot of mountains or riling grounds.* without contriving drains to receive the waters defcending ( *J ) defcending from the heights, which are afterwards difcharged by arched gulleys under the roads, into the plains below; forming, in the rainy feafon, a great number of little cafcades, that increafe the beauty of the fcenery. The roads which are deflgned for carriages, they make as level as poflible ; giving them a folid bottom, and fhaping them fo as to throw off the rain-waters expeditioufly : they ufe, as much as poflible, the neareft materials, to fave expence; and are very judicious in employing different foils to form mixtures, which never become either hard or flippery ; never loofe in dry wea» ther, nor deep in wet; not eafily ground into powder; nor ever forming a rough flinty furface, difficult and painful for horfes to move upon. Their walks are either of grafs, of gravel, or chippings of ftone, covered with a fmall quantity of coarfe river- fand. The firft fort, which are feldom ufed but in private Gardens, they being too liable to be Ipoiled in public walks, are made of the fined and cleaneft turf that can be found on downs and commons ; and they are I 2 kept ( 68 ) kept in order, by frequent mowing, and rolling with large iron rollers. The fecond fort are made of binding gravel, laid about fix inches deep, upon the natural ground ; if it be dry, or if fwampy, upon brick rubbifh, flint ftones, or any other hard materials, eafieft to be had : and thefe are alfo kept firm, and in great beauty,, by being frequently rolled. Thofe of flone are compofed of gallets, laid about a foot thick, rammed to a firm' confiftence, and a regular furface; upon which is put a fufrlcient quantity of river-fand, to fill up all the in- terftices : this done, the whole is moiftened, and well rammed again. Both in their roads and: walks, they are very careful to contrive fink-ftones, with proper drains and cefs-pools for carrying off the waters, after violent rains : and to thofe that are upon defcents, they never give more fall at the moft than half an inch to every foot, to prevent their being damaged by the current of the rain-waters. As China, even in the northern provinces, is ex- ceedingly hot during fummer, much water is employed ( 6 9 J in their Gardens. In the fmall ones, where the Situation? admits, they frequently lay the greatefl part of the ground- under water, leaving only fome iflands and rocks; and* in their large compositions, every valley has its brook or rivulet, winding round the feet of the hills, and dif— charging themfelves into larger rivers and lakes. Their artifls affert, that no Garden, particularly if it be extenfive, can be perfect, without that element, diftributed in many fhapes : faying, that it is.refrefhing and grateful to the' fenfe, in the feafons when rural fcenes are moft frequented ; that it is a principal fource of variety, from the diveriity of forms and changes of which it is fufceptible ; and from' the different manners in which it may be combined with i other objects ; that its impreilions are numerous,, and' uncommonly forcible ; and that, by various modifications,. - it enables the artift to Strengthen the, character of every composition ; to encreafe the tranquility of the quiet fcene ; to give gloom to the melancholy, gaiety to the: pleating,, fublimity to the. great, and horror ta the.: terxible. I 7° ) They obferve, that the different aquatic fports of rowing, failing, fwimming, fiiliing, hunting and com- bating, are an inexhauftible fund of amufement ; that the birds and fillies, inhabitants of the water, are highly- entertaining, efpecially to naturalifts ; and that the boats or veffels which appear upon its bofbm, fometimes furioufly impelled by tempefts, at others gently gliding over the fmooth furface, form, by their combinations, a thoufand momentary varied pictures, that animate and embellifti every profpect. They compare a clear lake, in a calm funny day, to a rich piece of painting, upon which the circumambient objects are reprefented in the highefr, perfection ; and fay, it is like an aperture in the world, through which you fee another world, another fun, and other ikies. Theyalfo remark, that the beauty of vegetable nature .depends, in a great degree, upon an abundant fupply of water; which, at the fame time that it produces variety and contrail in the fcenery, enriches the verdure of the lawns, and gives health and vigor to the plantations. Their ( H ) Their lakes are made as large as the ground will admit y feme feveral miles in circumference: and they are fo fhaped, that from no fingle point of view all their ter- minations can be feen; fo that the fpectator is always kept in ignorance of their extent. They interfperfe in them many iflands ;, which ferve to give intricacy to the form, to conceal the bounds, and to enrich the fcenery; Some of thefe are very fmall, fufrlcient only to contain one or two weeping willows, birch, larch, laburnum, or fome other pendant plants, whofe branches hang over the water; but others are large, highly cultivated, and en- riched with lawns, fhrubberies, thickets, and buildings: or they are rugged, mountainous, and furrounded with rocks and fhoals; being covered with fern, high grafs, and fome .ftraggling large trees, planted in the vallies :- amongfl which are often feen flalking along the elephant, the tin-hyung or man bear, the rhinoceros, the dro- medary, the oftrich, and the fin-fin or black giant baboon. There are other iflands, raifed to a confiderable height;,, by a fucceflion of terraces, communicating with each other { 72 ) hy -various flights of magnificent fteps. At the angles of all thefe terraces, as well as upon the fides of the fteps, are placed many brazen tripods", that fmoke with incenfe; and upon the uppermost, platform is generally ere&ed a lofty tower for agronomical obfervations ; an elegant temple, filled with idols ; the Coloffal ftatue of a god ; or .fame other eonfiderable work : ferving, . at the fame time, .as an ornament to the Garden, and as an object to the wliole country. They alfo introduce in their lakes large artificial rocks, -built of a particular fine coloured ftone, found on the fea-coafis of China, and defigned with much tafte. Thefe are pierced with many -openings, through which you difcover diftant profpeds: they have in them caverns for the reception of tortoifes, crocodiles, enormous water- ferpents, and other monfters ; with cages for rare aquatic birds ; and grottos, divided into many Alining apartments, adorned with marine produdions, and gems of various forts. They plant upon thefe rocks all kinds of grafs, .creepers and fhrubs, which thrive in fuch fituations, as mofs, ( 73 ) mofs, ground-ivy, fern, ftone-crop, common houfe-leek, and various other forts of the fedum, crane's-bill, dwarf box, rock rofes and broom; with fome trees rooted into the crevices : and they place on their fummits, her- mitages and idol temples, to which you afcend by many rugged, winding fteps, cut in the rock. But far the moft extraordinary, as well as the mod pleafing of their aquatic conftru&ions, are the Hoie-ta, •or fubmerged habitations, confirming of many galleries, cabinets, and fpacious halls, built entirely under water ; their walls are decorated with beautiful {hells, corals, and fea-plants of all forts, formed into many fingular ihapes, and funk into various irregular receffes ; in which are placed, in due order, Fung-fhang, God of the Winds; Bong-hoy, Monarch of the Sea ; Shu~kong, King of the Waters ; with all the inferiour powers of the deep. The pavements are laid in compartments of jafper, agat, and madrepores of Hay-nang, of many extraordinary kinds : the ceilings are entirely of glafs, which admits the light through the medium of the water, that rifes feveral feet K above ( 74 ) above the fummits of thefe ftructures; the glafs is of various bright colours, very ftrong ; and the different pieces, artfully joined, to refill the preffure of the fluid with which they are loaded. The ufe of thefe habitations,. is the fame as that of the Miao-ting, before defcribedt they are reforted to, in very hot weather, to feaft and to enjoy ; and it is Angularly entertaining, in the intervals of pleafure, to obferve,. through the eryftal ceilings, the. agitation of the waters, the paffage of veffels, and fports of the fowl and fifhes, that fwim over the fpectator's heads* On the borders of their lakes are feen extenfive porticoes, and many detached buildings, of different forms and dimenfions, accompanied with plantations,, fea-ports with fleets of veffels lying before them, forts with flags flying, and batteries of cannon ; alfo., thickets of flowering ffirubs, meadows covered with cattle, corn, lands, cotton and fugar plantations, orchards of various. fruit-trees, and rice grounds, which project into the lakes ; leaving, in the midft of them, paffages for boats i. and 3 < 75 ) and, in fome places, the borders conflfl of lofty woods, with creeks or rivers for the admiffion of veffels, whofe banks are covered with high grafs, reeds, and wild Spreading trees, forming clofe gloomy arbours, under which the veffels pafs. From thefe arbours are cut many viftas through the woods, to diftant profpects of towns, bridges, temples, and various other objects, which fuc- ceffively ftrike the eye, and fill the mind with expectation ; when fuddenly a farther progrefs is rendered impracticable, by rocks, ftrong branches, and whole trees lying crofs the channel ; between which the river is feen ftill to continue, with many iflands ; whereon, and alfo in the water, appear the remains of antient ftructures, monumental infcriptions, and fragments of fculpture: which ferve to give an edge to curiofity, and to render the difap- pointment more affecting. Sometimes too, inftead of being intercepted in your paffage, the veflel, together with the whole river, are, by the impetuofity and particular direction of the current, hurried into dark caverns, overhung with woods 3 whence, K 2 after ( 76 ) after having been furioufly impelled for fome time, yon are again difcharged into day-light, upon lakes encom- paffed with high hanging woods, rich profpects on mountains, and ftately temples, dedicated to Tien-ho*. and the celeftial fpirits.. Upon their lakes, the Chinefe frequently exhibit fea- fights, proceffions, and fhip-raees; alfo fire-works and. illuminations : in the two laffc of which they are more fplendid, and more expert than the Europeans. Oa fome occafions too, not only the lakes and rivers, but all the pavilions, and every part of their Gardens, are illur- minated by an incredible number of beautiful lanterns, of a thoufand different fhapes, intermixed with lampions,, torches,, fire-pots, and fky-rockets ; than which a more magnificent fight cannot be feen, Even the Girandola,, and illumination of St. Peter's of the Vatican, though far the moil fplendid exhibitions of that fort in Europe, are trifles, when compared to thefe of China* At the feaft of Lanterns, in particular, all China is illuminated, during three days: it feems as if the whole ( 77 ) empire were on fire; every perfon lights up a number of painted lanterns, of various beautiful forms ; fome- times of horn, glafs, or mother of pearl, but mod com- monly framed of wood, carved, varnifhed and gilt, upon which is flrained thin filk, painted with flowers, birds and human figures, that receive an uncommon brilliancy from the number of lights within: fome there are likewife made like our magic lanterns, reprefenting,. by coloured fhadows, (hips failing, armies marching, horfes galloping, and birds flying : others are full of puppets, reprefenting mountebanks, buffoons,, boxers, wreftlers and dancers, which are moved by imperceptible threads, the actions being accompanied by the voice of the operator, modified in different manners; all fo conformable to the fize and geftures of the* figures, that they feem really tofpeak. There are likewife lanterns made in the form of tigers, dromedaries, and dragons of an enormous fize j which are painted in tranfparency, and filled with lights:, thefe are moved about the ftreets by men concealed within them, who. artfully give to the machine Qvcry motion of ths? C 78 ) t£he animal it reprefents; others there are feen floating -upon the lakes and rivers, built like boats and vefTels of various kinds, or fhaped like dolphins, alligators and porpufes, that fwim and curvet upon the water ; others again that refembie birds fluttering amongft trees, or perdhed on the fummits of the houfes, on all parts of their temples, triumphal arches, and public ftructures of different kinds : in fhort, there is fcarcely any form that can be imagined, which is not given to fome of thefe lanterns,; all executed with the greatest tafte and neat- nefs, often at a very considerable expence ; fome even to the amount of a thoufand tael, or near three hundred and fifty pounds. It is likewife upon this feftival that the moft fplendid of their fire-works are exhibited : it would be tedious to defcribe them particularly, as they refembie, in many things, our European ones; but what is related on that head, by one of the miilionaries, is curious, and may here be inferted, to give the reader an idea of Chinefe ikill, in works of this fort. " I was f 79 ) " I was extremely furprized," fays the father, " at a f( fire-work which I faw at Pe-king, reprefenting an " arbor of vines : it burnt for a very confiderable time* "without confuming; the grapes were red, the leaves <{ green, and the colour of the ftem and branches varie- " gated, in imitation of nature ; all the forms were " reprefented, with the utmoft precifion, in fires of " different colours ; the whole was executed with,. dwarf mulberry, cotton, rofe, rafberry, bramble, currant, lavender, vine and goofberry bufhes ; with barberry, elder, peach, nectarine and almond trees. All the walks are narrow, and carried under the drip of the trees, or Ikirts of the plantation, that they may occupy no ufefwl ground : and of the buildings, part are barns for grain or hay ; part ftables for horfes and oxen ; fome are dairies, with their cow-houfes and calf-pens ; fome cottages for the hufbandmen, with fheds for implements * A fpecies of the walnut-tree. - + The pepper- tree. J The varniih-tree. § The wax-tree. () Iron wood. ** The Chinefe cedar, faid never to decay, ft The rofe-tree. % J Different fpecies of the tea fhrub. of ( I0 3 ) of hufbandry ; others again are dove-houfes ; menageries for breeding poultry ; or ftovcs and green-houfes, for railing early rare fruits, vegetables and flowers: all judicioufly placed, and designed with tafte, though in a ruftic ftyle. The lakes and rivers are well ftored with fifii and water-fowl ; all the veiTels are contrived for fifhing,, hunting, and other fports that are profitable as well as entertaining j and in their borders they plant, inftead of flowers, fweet herbs, celery, carrots, potatoes, ftrawberries r fcarletbeans, nafturtiums, endive, cucumbers, melons, pine- apples, or other handfome fruits and vegetables ; while all the lefs Tightly productions for the kitchen, are carefully hid behind efpaliers of fruit-trees. And thus, they fay,, every farmer may have a Garden without expence y and 5 . that if all land-holders were men of tafte, the world might be formed into one continued Garden, without difficulty. Such is the fubftance of what I have hitherto collected-' relative to the Gardens of the Chinefe. My endeavour^ ( 104 ) an the prefent Publication, has been to give the general outline of their ftyle of Gardening, without entering into trifling particulars, and without enumerating many little rules of which their Artifts occasionally avail themfelves; being perfuaded that, to men of genius, fuch minute difcriminations are always unnecefTary, and often pre- judicial, as they burden the memory, and clog the imagination with fuperfluous reftrictions. » The difpofitions and different artifices mentioned in the preceding pages, are thofe which are chiefly practifed in China, and fuch as beft characterize their ftyle of Garden- ing/ But the Artifts of that country are fo inventive, and fo various in their combinations, that no two of their compositions are ever alike : they never copy nor imitate each other; they do not even repeat their own pro- ductions ; faying, that what has once been feen, operates feebly at a fecond infpe&ion ; and that whatever bears even a diftant refemblance to a known object, feldom excites a new idea. The reader is therefore not to imagine that what has been related is all that exifts ; on the ( io S ) the contrary, a confiderable number of other examples might have been produced: but thofe that have been offered, will probably be fufficient ; more efpecially as moft of them are like certain compofitions in mufick, which, though fimple in themfelves, fuggeft, to a fertile imagination, an endlefs fucceflion of complicated variations. To the generality of Europeans, many of the foregoing defcriptions may feem improbable; and the execution of what has been defcribed, in fome meafure impracticable: but thofe who are better acquainted with the Eaft, know that nothing is too great for Eaftern magnificence to attempt; and there can be few impoflibilities, where treafures are inexhauftible, where power is unlimited, and where munificence has no bounds. European artifts rauft not always hope to rival Oriental grandeur: they will feldom find iflands for oftriches, or forefts for elephants, where property is much divided, where power is confined, and wealth rare: men of genius O may ( io6 ) may often conceive more than it is practicable to execute j yet let them always boldly look up to the fun, and copy as much of its luftre as they can: circumftances will frequently obftruft them in their courfe, and they may be prevented from foaring high ; but their attention fliould conftantly be fixed on great obje&s, and their productions always demonstrate, that they knew the road to perfection, had they been enabled to proceed on the journey. Where twining ferpentine walks, digging holes and crooked ditches for earth to raife mole-hills, fcattering fhrubs, and ringing never-ceafing changes on lawns, groves and thickets, is called Gardening; artifts will have few opportunities of difplaying their talents ; it matters little there who are the Gardeners; a cabbage planter may rival a Claude, and a clown outwine a Pouilin : the meaneft may do the little there is to be done, and the beft could reach no farther. But wherever a better ftyle is adopted, and Gardens are to be natural, without refemblance to vulgar Nature, new without affectation, and ( 107 ) and extraordinary without extravagance ; where the fpectator is to be amufed, where his attention is con- ftantly to be kept up, his curiofity excited, and his mind agitated by a great variety of opposite paflions, there parts will be neceffary ; and Gardeners muft be men of genius, of experience and judgement j quick in perception, rich in expedients, fertile in imagination, and thoroughly verfed in all the affections of the human mind. FINIS, A N EXPLANATORY DISCOURSE, B Y TAN CHET-QUA, O F Quang-Chew-fu, Gent. FRSS, MRAAP* ALSO, MIAAF, TRA, CGHMW and ATT.Q. WHEREIN The Principles laid down in the Foregoing Dissertation, are illuftrated and applied to Practice. *p PREFACE. iLVERY new fyftem naturally meets with oppofition; when the monfter Novelty appears, all parties, alarmed at the danger, unite to raife a clamour : each cavils at what it doth not like, or doth not comprehend, till the whole project is pulled to pieces, and the projector ftands plumed of every feather; not only robbed of the praife due to his labour and good intentions, but, like a common enemy, branded with fcorn and abufe. In the firft hurry of criticifm, every deviation is accounted an error; every fingularity an extravagance; every difficulty a vilionary's dream : warm with refentment, biaffed by interests and prejudices, the angry champions of the old, rarely £how mercy to the new ; which is almoft always invidiouily confidered, and too often unjuftly condemned. Senfible ii2 PREFACE. Senfible of thefe difficulties, the Author of the fore- going Differtation, written in direct oppofition to the ftream of fafhion, harboured no fanguine hopes of fame from his Publication : far from expecting at the firft, either applaufe or encouragement, he even judged artifice necefTary to fcreen him from refentmentj and cloathed truth in the garb of fiction, to fecure it a patient hearing. The fuccefs of his little work, however, in one fenfe, far exceeded expectation : at its firft appearance here, it found not only a patient, but a very indulgent reception; and it has fince been equally fortunate in France, and other parts of Europe ; where Monfieur Delarochette's elegant tranllation has made it known. Yet flattering as this extenfive fuffrage may feem, it is in reality rather mortifying to the Author ; who finds, from the nature of the encomiums beftowed upon his Performance, that it has been more generally liked than underftood ; and that, whilft a few have honoured it with PREFACE. 113 with a deliberate reading, and feparated the fubftance from the vehicle in which it was contained, far the greater number have miftaken the mafk for the reality 9 and confidered it fimply as a pleafing tale ; as the mere recital of a traveller's obfervation ; or, as the luxuriant effufions of a fertile imagination, a fplendid picture of vifionary excellence* Whether thefe mi-fapprehenfions arofe from want of perfpicuity in the writer, or want of attention in the readers, admits of no difpute ; the former was mofl probably the cafe. The Author therefore, who wimes to be perfectly understood, and is more ambitious of being ufeful than entertaining, humbly begs leave to offer, at the end of this fecond edition, fuch reafons and explanations as feem neceffary, either to remove doubts^ or clear obfeurities ; he flatters himfelf they will be found fufficient, and ferve to place the work in its true, its mofl advantageous light. Of thefe illuftrations he faw the neceffity fome time ago, and framed them into a Difcourfe fuppofed to be- P H4 PREFACE. pronounced by Chet-qua, then in England; judging it, at that time, a fort of propriety to put in the mouth of a Chinefe, what farther information was wanted relative to his country. But as there is now no longer any necemty for difguife, both the DifTertation and Explanatory Difcourfe ought certainly to appear in their natural drefs. To new-model them, however, would require more time than the Au- thor can pofTibly fpare ; he therefore has republished the DiiTertation, in its original form, and the Difcourfe as it was originally written ; hoping the indulgent reader will pardon thefe defects, and gather the fruit, if there be any to gather, without minding the trees on which it STOWS. o INTRO- Introdu&ion, x\LL the world knew Chet~qua, and how he was born at Quang-chew-fu, in the fourth moon of the year twenty-eight; alfo how he was bred a face-maker, and had three wives, two of whom he carefled very much; the third but feldom, for (he was a virago, and had large feet. He drefTed well, often in thick fattin; wore nine whifkers and four long nails, with filk boots, callico breeches, and every other ornament that Mandarins are wont to wear; equalling therein the prime macarones, and fcavoir vivres, not only of Quang-chew, but even of Kyang-ning, or Shun-tien-fu. Of his fize; he was. Quang- chew fu — Canton." For JBewas a iirago> end had targe fee?; — Both' which are accounted great defects in China. NineicbijZers,&c. — Allbeaus wear whifkers in China; and all gentlemen long nails, to fhew that they are idle, Kjang-ning, or Nang-king — Capital of Kyang-nang. Shun-tienfu — Peking, P 2 a well. ( u6 ) a well-fpoken portly man, for aChinefe; a pretty general fcholar; and, for a heathen, a very compleat gentleman. He compofed a tieh-tfe, or billet-doux, at pleafure; recited verfes, either in Mantchou or Chinefe, and fung Jove-fongs in many languages. He likewife danced a fandango, after the neweft tafte of Macao, played divinely upon the bag-pipe, and made excellent remarks; which, when he lodged at Mr. Marx's, in the Strand, he would repeat to his friends over a pipe, as often as they pleafed ; for .he was fond of fmoaking, provided the tobacco was good ; and, upon thefe occaflons, was always vaftly pleafant, and very communicative. Amongft his favourite topics were painting, mufic, architecture and gardening; to the laffc of which he feemed moft affected, often differting thereon till he was tired, and the audience fa ft aileep ; for the tone of his voice was like opium to the hearers j his method was diffufe, and the fubject, though a good one, not generally ititereftiiig. One ( II? ) One day he launched out Into a long defcriptiori of the Eaftern Gardens, efpecially thofe of his own country, to which he was exceedingly partial ; and, in the con- clufton, compared them to a fplendid feaft, at which there were pleafures for every fenfe, and food for every fancy ; whilft our Gardens, he faid, were like Spartan broth, which was difguftful to all but Spartan palates ; or like the partial niggardly treats of the fable, adapted , only to organs of a peculiar conftru&ion : he advanced many other odd pofitions, fpoke very freely, as well of our Gardeners, as Gardens, and ended recommeading the Chinefe tafte, in preference to all others. We were diverted with the difcourfe, from its Angularity, and the variety of new ideas in which it abounded ; yet as it ran in direct opposition to the general opinion and ufage of England, and recommended a fyftem which appeared to us rather viiionary than practicable, we ani- madverted upon all its parts with the utmoft freedom ; neither fparing the fpeech nor fpeaker in any particular. The k ( n8 ) The feverity of our criticifm at firft difconcerted poor Chet-qua, who remained filent, and in apparent confufion; but, after a fhort paufe, he reaffumed his ufual good humour, his countenance cleared up, hearofe, bowed to- the company, and flroking his nine whifkers, began the following difcourfe. DISCOURSE, &a Tan lott ty tchan yue, Ou yim king tal pan Ko ou, pou ho cboue. Foufou teou la ty 1 F, in the hurry and warmth of fpeaking, Chet-qua has- ufed expreffions that feemed difrefpe6tful, or inadvertently ftarted notions that appeared extravagant, as you, Gen- tlemen, are pleafed to ajfrert, it is more than he intended j 'Tan lou ty tchan yue, &c. — The motto which Chet-qua has made choke of' r is part of a poem written by Kien-long, reigning emperor of China, in praife of drinking tea: and publifhed, by his imperial edict, bearing date the twelfth day, of the ninth moon, of the thirteenth year of his reign; in thirty-two. different types, or characters; under the infpe&ion of Yun-lou, and Houng- yen, C I1 9 ) Iiis fole aim at this meeting, has been to point out a ftyic of Gardening preferable to your's ; and to (hew how much more may be done in that Art, than has hitherto been thought on, by your or any other European nation : to yen, princes, by the title of Tfin-ouang; Fouheng, grandee, by the title of Taypao; Count, by the title of Valiant ; and firft prefident of almoft all the great tribunals of the empire : whofe deputies were Akdoun and Tfing-pou, grandees, by the title of Tay-tfee Chaopao ; and thefe were again aflifted by Ifan, Fouki, Elguingue, Tetchi, Mingte, Tfoungmin, Tchangyu, Tounmin, and about a dozen other mandarines of rank and reputation •, fo that there is no doubt but the work is. perfectly correct. Here follows the exact copy of it, with an Englilh tranflation, for the entertainment and inflruction of the curious in poetry. There is a French tranflation of the fame work, by Father Amiot, publifhed at Paris, in 1770, from which the prefent Publication is in a great meafure taken; the Editor having found it eafier to tranflatc from the French copy, than from the Chinefc original. Mei-hoa che pou yao Yue ngueou po fien jou, LankuTchao-tchcoungan Fo-cheou hiang tfie kie, Tan lou ty tchan yue, P6 fiao Yu-tchouan kiu Soung-chc ouei fang ny ; Ou yun king tai pan Han fiao ting fing leou San pin tchou tfing kue; Koou, pou ko choue. Kou yue kan hiuen tfuc, Pong y tche kio tang, Fou fou teou lo ty Joan pao tchen ki yu Ou tche tchengkoang hiue Ho ho yun kiang tche Tfiao king fing ou kie, Houo heou pien yu hie, Ou-tfuen y ko tfan Kien-long ping-yn Ting yen y cheng rnie. Lin fou chang che pie. Siao, tchun yu ty. TRANSLATION. ( 120 ) to enumerate impoffibilities, or amufe an audience with golden dreams and glittering fhadows, would anfwer no ufeful purpofes ; and could, therefore, neither be the bufinefs nor intention of Chet-qua, who* fpeaks not for the TRANSLATION.. The colours of the Mei-hoa are never brilliant, yet is the flower always pleafing : in fragrance or neatnefc the £o-cheou has no equal : the fruit of the pine is aromatick, its odour inviting. In gratifying at once the fight, the fmell and the tafte, nothing exceeds thefe three things: and if, at the fame time, you put, upon a gentle fire,, an old pot, with three legs, grown black and battered with length of fervice, after having firft filled it with the limpid' water of melted fhow •, and if, when the water is heated to a degree that will boil a fifh, of redden a lobfter, you pour it directly into a cup made of the earth of yue, upon the tender leaves of fuperfine tea; and if you let it reft there, till the vapours which rifes at firft in great abundance, forming thick clouds, difiipate by degrees, and at laft appear merely as^ a flight mift upon> the furface ; and if then you gently Pip this delicious beverage, it is labouring, effectually to remove the five caufes ©f difcontent which ufually difturb our quiet : you may feel, you may tafte, but it is impofiible to defcribe the fweet tranquillity which a liquor, thus prepared, procures. Retired,, for fame fpace of time, from the tumults of bufinefs, I fit albne in my tent, at liberty to enjoy myfelf unmolefted : in one hand holding a* fo-cheou, which I bring nearer to my nofe, or put it farther off, at pleafure j in the other hand holding my difh, of tea, upon which forne pretty curling vapours Hill appear : I tafte, by intervals the liquor ; by intervals, I confides the ( 121 ) the pleafure of fpeaking, nor with a defire of tickling the ear, hut with the hope of being ferviceable ; he laments his want of perfpicuity, to which alone your the mei-hoa — I give a fillip to my imagination, and my thoughts are naturally turned towards the fages of antiquity. — I figure to myfelf the famous Ou-tfuen, whole only nourilhment was the fruit of the pine ; he enjoyed himfelf in quiet, amidfl this rigid frugality ! I envy, and wiih to imitate him. — I put a few of the kernels into my mouth ; I find them delicious. Sometimes, methinks, I fee the virtuous Lin-fou, bending into form, with his own hands, the branches of the mei-hoa- chou. It was thus, fay I to myfelf, that he relieved his mind, after the fatigues of profound meditation, on the moft interefting fubjects. Then I take a look at my fhrub, and it feems as if I were ailifting Lin-fou, in bending its branches into a new form. — I fkip from Lin-fou to Tchao-tcheon, or to Yu-tchouan •, and fee the firft in the middle of a v-aft many tea-cups,, filled with all kinds of tea, of which he fometimes taftes one, fometimes another; thus varying incefiantly his potation: while the fecond drinks, with the profoundefl; indifference, the bed tea, and fcarcely dillinguifhes it from the vileft fluff. — My tafte is not their's ; why fhould I attempt to imitate them ? But I hear the found of the evening bell ; the frefhnefs of the night is augmented ; already the rays of the moon ftrike through the windows of my tent, and with their luftre brighten the few moveables with which it is adorned. I End myfelf neither uneafy nor fatigued ; my ftomach is empty, and I may, without fear, go to reft. It is thus that, with my poor abilities, I have made thefe verfes, in the little fpring of the tenth moon of the year Ping-yn, of my reign Kien-lang. Q^ mifap- ( 122 ) mifapprehenfions muft be imputed; and begs leave to trefpafs on your patience a few moments longer, to explain himfelf more clearly, and endeavour to remove your prejudices againft him.: He is forry to have been under a neceflity of cenfuring-, even in a diftant manner, what feemed to him imperfect amongft you ; but whoever would be inftrumental in the advancement of fcience, muft declare his mind freely, and fometimes enforce his precepts by examples that exift: his obfervations have been as general as the fubjecl: would permit ; for it is never his inclination to give offence; yet where truth is to be inveftigated, the truth muft necefTarily be told ; elfe little or no progrefs can; ever be made : where men play the fycophants, and- tacitly fuffer, or meanly applaud, what they do not approve ; no amendment can ever be expected. It is true, that diiTentions in opinion, however well meant, will often bear an invidious afpect, and always muft offend fome interefted individuals ; yet, to the community, ( 123 ) community, they are generally advantageous, and mould always be favourably received, as they give birth to new difcoveries, and ultimately point out the higheft per- fection : had no man ever ventured to difTent from his neighbour, our age would be as dark as were thofe of Fo-hii, Shing tong, or Whoang-tii ; and I am firmly perfuaded, that your Englifli Gardening would now have been much more perfect, had any one ever dared to dif- pute its excellence: but to diffent, is an unthankful bufinefs; a dangerous tafk, that Ccw have fpirits to undertake, particularly where party-rage is violent, as it now and then feems to be amongft you. — But I come to the point. In China, our large Gardens are obtained at an almoft incredible expence, and attended with many incon- veniencys : amongft you, whofe policy, whofe manners are totally different from ours, they might often be had at a moderate charge, and without much trouble j for Fo-hii, Shing- tong y or Whoang-tii— -Some of the firft emperors of China; who invented the eight qua's, together with the kay-tfe, and created colaus. Q^ 2, formidable < "4 ) formidable as they may at firft appear, it is certain that mod of their fcenery is eaiily executed, when proper opportunities occur, which is frequently the cafe in. Europe, particularly in England; where your illuflrious families have large domains ; where agriculture is neater and more various than in other countries; and where the face of nature is in general more luxuriant ; as well as better contrafted. It is natural enough for a Granger to be dazzled with the fplendor of our Oriental plantations; upon a curfory infpecrion, to conclude them too vafr, too magnificent, too expenfive for European imitation; and that, in your part of the world, the greater! princes fhould not be indulged with fuch articles of luxury, calculated, as they feem, to exhauft their treafures, wafte their lands, rob and opprefs their fubje&s: but a more attentive examination- will probably give birth to more favourable opinions, and ferve to prove, that not only your princes, but even your private gentlemen, may emulate us in this particular very fafely ; and that our ftyle of Gardening may be adopted amongft ( I2 5 ) amongfl: you, even in its whole extent, without being attended with any of the inconveniences jufl nov/ recited. It is not the fence that conflitutes the Garden 5 Cobham, Stourton, Blenheim, would ftill be what they are, though the pales or walls by which they are enclofed were taken away : neither is privacy neceflary to the efTence of a Garden; for Richmond and Kew are - finely the fame, when open to all the world, as when they are only acceiTible to the Royal Family ; nor iss ufeful or profitable culture incompatible with the idea 3 - either of our Chinefe, or your Englifh. Gardening. Any trad: of land, therefore, whofe cnara&eri/lick expreffions have been ftrengthened by art, and in which 1 the fpontaneous arrangements of nature have been cor^ reeled, improved and adorned by the hand of tafte ought to be coniidered as a Garden, though only fenced with common hedges, and although the roads or paths paiTing through it be publick, and the grounds of which it is compofed cultivated to the utmoft advantage. ( 126 ) There remains then no obftacle to your rivalling the Chinefe, either in the grandeur or extent of their Gardens: in which, you feem to fix, the infuperable difficulties of the imitation j fince you have parks, forefts, manors and royalties, fome even in private hands, more extenfive than is neceflary; and fince thefc may be fo improved, and converted into gardens upon the plan now mentioned, without wade of land, without invafion of property, without annoyance or feclufion of the public, and cer- tainly with lefs damage or expence to the owner, than are ufually incurred in the article of your common Gar- dening; as no chargeable keeping or fencing would be neceffary, no grounds unprofitably employed, no con- siderable afiiftance from art wanted: for the features of real nature, being in themfelves generally more perfect, as well as greater than the finell imitations, require very few helps ; feldom any that are expenfive. Every artift, therefore, who has the fortune to meet with patrons of large poflefiions, and liberal fentiments, may give full fcope to his imagination, and boldly apply whatever ( 127 ) whatever he has feen, heard, or his own fancy may have fuggefted, that is great, extraordinary, or furprifing : in- ftead of confining his views to a {e\v acres, to form a trifling compofition, fcarcely fuperior to the defert at a feftival ; and which, infignificant as it would be, none but the healthful and vigorous could ever fee; he may convert a whole province into a Garden ; where the Spectator, inftead of toiling on foot, as ufual, to fee a few nothings, and performing more revolutions than a horfe in a mill, may wander over a whole country at his eafe, in mips or in barges, in carriages or on horfe-back, feafting the fight with fcenes of the boldert dimensions, , and contemplating the luxuriant varied productions of Nature, improved and nobly enriched by Art, And permit mc to fay, that Gardens of this fort, . would not only be more magnificent, but alfo much more beautiful and perfect in every refpecl, than any even amongft the beft of your artificial performances. In the great ftyle of Gardening, neatnefs is not only fuperfluous, but destructive of the principal intent : the common- ( 128 ) ^common roads, bridleways and paths, of a country, however wild, are always preferable to the {tiff, formal, made walks of a Garden; they are, in themfelves, grander, more natural, and may, with a very little ailiftance; a few accompanyments, be made as com- modious, as rich, as varied, and as pleafant. Fields covered with corn, turneps, beans, potatoes, temp, or productions of a iimilar nature; meadows, pafture lands, hop grounds, orchards, and other parts of Englifh culture ; interwoven with common hedges, or blended with accidental plantations, require little, if any afliftance from Art, to be more pidturefque than lawns the moil curioufly dotted with clumps; and villages, country churches, farm-houfes or cottages, when placed with judgement, and deiigned with tafle, enrich and adorn a landfcape as well as more expensive flructures. The rivers of Nature flow in forms that Art can never equal : their natural modifications, particularly in mountainous places, are fuificiently numerous; a little management ( 129 ) management heightens or diminifhes all their expreflions, varies their appearances, and adapts them to fcenes of any character : their banks are foon adorned, even in the richeft manner ; for rofes, a thoufand other flirubs, and mod perennial flowers, will grow as eafily, and with as little culture, as primrofes and briars do. A few of thefe, a little planting properly employed, and blended with rural buildings, bridges, ruins, monumental urns, and other trifling decorations, fpread over the whole an appearance that equals, even furpafTes the moft elaborate cultivation. In every large tract of land, there generally are fome places abundantly fupplied with water, which often flows through uncouth marfhy bottoms of little ufe or value to the owner: by raifing heads at their extremities, thefe are eafily overflowed ; and lakes of very considerable dimenfions may thus be obtained, often without much trouble, always with great advantages, as well in point of profit as of pleafure j and wherever it may be neceflary to dig, in order to give a proper depth to the water, the R earth ( *3° ) earth may be raifed into iflands of various fhapes, which ferve to complicate the forms, to enrich and beautify the fcenery. Though woods, from various caufes, are now more rare than heretofore amongft you, yet are there, in moPc parts, fome frill remaining; their natural beauties are many, and little more is left for art to do in them, than to form roads, to thin or thicken them occaiionaHy ; where it may be wanting, to interfperfe, amongft the plantations, a few proper fhrubs and flowers ; to open recelTes, and to decorate them with objects ; this done 3 , they will be infinitely fuperior, in every refpeft,, to any of the gaudy trifling confufed plantations with which all your Englifh-made Gardens are fo crouded; England abounds with commons and wilds, dreary,- barren, and ferving only to give an uncultivated ap- pearance to the country, particularly near the metropolis: to beautify thefe vaft tra6fo of land, is next to an im- poftibility ; but they may eaiily be framed into fcenes of terror, ( i3i ) terror, converted into noble pictures of the fublimeft call:, and, by an artful contraft, ferve to enforce the effect of gayer and more luxuriant profpects. On fome of them are feen gibbets, with wretches hanging in terrorem upon them ; on others, forges, collieries, mines, coal tracts, brick, or lime kilns, glafs- works, and different objects of the horrid kind : what little vegetation they have, is difmal ; the animals that feed upon it, are half-famifhed to the artift's hands ; and the cottagers, with the huts in which they dwell, want no additional touches, to indicate their mifery : a few uncouth ftraggling trees, fome ruins, caverns, rocks, torrents, abandoned villages, in part confumed by fire, folitary hermitages, and other fimilar objects, artfully introduced and blended with gloomy plantations, would compleat the afpect of defolation, and ferve to fill the mind, where there was no poffibility of gratifying the fenfes. In profecuting a plan of this extenfive nature, many other opportunities would prefent themfelves to the able ( 132 J artift, of dignifying nature, and of heightening his com- positions with all the force of novelty and grandeur; flone quarries, chalk pits, mines, might as eafily be framed into vaft amphitheatres, ruftic arcades and peryftiles, extenfive fubterraneous habitations, grottos,, vaulted roads, and paiTages, as into other fhapes; hills might, without much difficulty, be transformed into flupendous rocks, by partial incruftations of (tone, judicioufly mixed with turf, fern, wild fhrubs and foreft trees; gravel pits, or other fimilar excavations, might be converted into the moft romantic fcenery imaginable, by the addition of fome planting, intermixed' with ruins, fragments of fculpture, infcriptions, or any other little embellifhments ; and, in fhort, there would be no deviation, however trifling, from the ufual march of nature, but what would fuggefl, to a fruitful imagination, fome extraordinary arrangement, fomething to difguife her vulgarity, to roufe the attention of the fpecTator, and to excite in his mind a fucceffion of ftrong and opposite ienfations* It ( *3'3 ) It is thus that far the noblefr. part of our Chinefe Garden?, and thofe which at firft fight appear mod im- practicable, may be obtained even amongfi: the common difpofitions of Englifli nature; and the great might thus have pleafure-grounds, extenfive and extraordinary as thofe of the Eaft, without any very confiderable expence : men of lefs note would naturally imitate i'heir fuperiors^ by embellishing their poflefiions in the fame manner; and inftead of fpending large fums to fence and to lard a little field with twigs, to give it the name of a Garden^ they would beautify their whole eftate; which, by a proper attention to the oeconomical precepts of our Chi^ nefe Gardeners, might be done in fuch a manner as to encreafe its value, as well as improve its appearance. By thefe means this whole kingdom might foon become one magnificent vaft Garden, bounded only by the fea^- the many noble feats and villas with which it abounds-; would give uncommon confequence to the fcenery; and' it might ftill be rendered more fplendidj if, inftead of disfiguring, your churches with monuments, our Chinefe- manner- ( *34 ) manner of erecting maufoleums by the fides of the roads was introduced amongft you ; and if all your public bridges were" adorned with triumphal arches, roftral pillars, bas-reliefs, itatues, and other indications of victory, and glorious achievements in war: an empire transformed into a fplendid Garden, with the imperial manfion towering on an eminence in the center, and the palaces of the nobles fcattered like pleafure-pavilions amongft the plantations, infinitely furpaffes any thing that even the Chinefe ever attempted: yet vaft as the defign appears, the execution is certainly within your reach. Such, as far as I am able to judge, continued our Orator, is the true application of nature to horticulture ; perhaps the only one that can be attempted with fuccefs : wherever me is made in little, or introduced upon a con- fined plan, the effect is always trifling and bad, as will appear to any man of real tafte, who infpects the artificial fcenery even of your molt approved gardens: Nature 4n eminence in the center— Meaning Windfor, probably. admits ( J 35 ) admits of no reduction in her dimenfions ; trees will not grow in miniature; nor are her bold movements to be exprefled upon the furface of a few acres: and not to mention any of your performances, it is fcarcely in the power of the mod confummate art, to imitate nature perfectly; nor were it poflible, could the mofl flcilful arrangements acquire their true effect, till after the expiration of many years : our children may fee the perfection of what we plant ; we never can. Our eaftern artifts, therefore, feldom attempt to create, but rather imitate the tonfor, the habit-maker, the pofture-m after, and all the other polifhers of man; who difpofe, decorate, cleanfe, clip, and add grace to what is already formed to their hands : to make nature, they fay, is tedious and difficult beyond conception; but fhe may foon be embellished, her redundancys fup* preiTed, her faults corrected, her wants Supplied, her beauties improved, and fet to view. The truth of thefe aflertions is, I think, apparent in many of your famous plantations ; but the beauties of ( *& ) improved natural fcenery, the defects of artificial, are no where fo ftrongly marked as at B*#####m, the moil magnificent feat I have yet feen in Europe. On our entrance into the Park, we were aftonifhed at the fight of a ftupendous palace, furrounded with one of the nobleft fcenes of nature that can be imagined ; the extent is vaft, the parts uncommonly large, the grounds natu- rally well contrafled, the tranfitions bold, the plantations in perfect maturity : what afTiftance was neceffary from art, has hitherto been judicioufly adminiftered ; the removal of fome trees, has expofed to view -beauties that feem before to have been concealed ; the addition .of fome others, has enriched parts that w.ere bare •, and the trifling, though very judicious cireumftanee of railing a head at the end of a valley, has obtained a very confi- derable lake of water, which enriches- and enlivens all the profpects; and which, by following the natural bent or windings of the valley, has taken, without any affift- ance from art, the mpft pi&urefque forms that could be defired : in fhort, the whole is now admirable ; and, when improved to the utmoft, according to the defign of the munificent ( *37 ) munificent owner, will yet be more (o. Ornaments to characterize the Garden more ftrongly, are yet wanting, and fome mafterly finiming touches ftill very necellary : one only little twining path, within ten cubits of the fence, is certainly not in character with the grandeur of the place; but the fence may be removed; and there is room, even now, on the declivity of the banks, and by the fides of the lake, for more considerable walks, with many recefTes, which, when made and decorated, will add variety to grandeur, and render the whole as enter- taining and fplendid, as it is now great. You enjoy the fight of this noble profpect for more than a mile; when the little path is fuddenly turned into a little wood, whence, after having advanced a few paces, you behold a piece of fcenery, all artificial, which I cannot venture to defcribe in this prefence : fome of you, Gentlemen, have feen what it is; and, with all your national partiality, mud allow, either that it proves the impoflibility of creating nature with any degree of fuccefs ; or, that the ablefl: of your countrymen have S no ( '38 ) no talent that way ; to create, or to improve, are indeed very different operations ; the former of which requires infinitely the mod fkill: it is ten times more difficult to paint a picture, than to judge, or fuggeft improve- ments, in one already painted. Hitherto I have only defcribed of B##***#m, what ftrangers ufually fee ; but the whole park, above twelve miles in circumference, and feveral farms adjoining to it> are uncommonly beautiful, rich in old planting, in water, and in a great variety of pidlurefque fites and points of view; fo that, with a very little dreiling, with fome affiftance from the fifter arts of architecture and fculp- ture, the whole might eafily be converted into one large magnificent Garden. And give me leave to obferve, that thefe advantages are by no means peculiar to B***##*m; England boafts at lead a hundred other places, many as extcnlive, mofl of them as capable of improvement, in various ways ; which, under the management of true artifls, might foon be ( 139 ) be made to rival theTfe-hiu andChang-lin of ancient days, the Yven ming, the Tchang tchun yven, or any of the prefent fplendid pleafure Gardens of our fublime Emperor, Kieng-long ; the torch of the eaft, and true defcendant of Tay-tfoy, the providence of Heaven, whom Jofs preferve in flefh and good fpirits. It muft, however, be confeffed, that there is an in- conveniency fubfifting amongft you, which will always retard, and often prevent the execution of this extensive plan of Gardening; it is the licentioufnefs of your youth and common people, who delight in deftroying every extraordinary thing that comes in their way : if a great man plants trees to made and beautify a road, the people cut them down; if flatues, or other pieces of fculpture, are fet to adorn places of public refort, the boys pelt at ftfe-biu and Chang-lin — Two celebrated parks, which belonged to the emperors of the Ty. Tven-ming-yven, and Tchang-tthun-yven — Are Gardens near Pe-king, belong- ing to the prefent Emperors of China. Jo/s — A corruption of Dios, God. S 2 them ( *40 ) them with ftones, till all their extremities are demolifhed: wherever there are buildings, or feats, even in you? Royal Gardens, we fee them eonflantly disfigured with fcurrilous infcriptions, or obfeene rhimes ; and where there are any uncommon trees, they are divefted of every branch within reach ; the fhrubs are robbed of their blofTom; the flowers are trodden under foot ; the birds- and animals are deftro'yed t in fhort, no mifchief, that drunken mirth or deliberate malevolence can fu go-eft, w left undone. What pity that fuch deftrudtive brutality fhould exift in a country fo particularly favoured by Nature, and fo capable of improvement in- the highest degree ; w hi 1ft, in every other part of the world,, it ; £. unknown, almoft unheard of! But there is a ftrong tin&ure of the rhubarb in alB human competitions; and liberty, which has fo many advantages, is, neverthelefs, attended with fome incon- veniencies, of a very ferious nature - x amongft which, the ferocity of its loweft votaries is none of the leaffc formidable. Since our arrival here laft July, I have {een ( 1+1 ) at leafl: twenty of their boifterous pranks ; in which, not to enumerate the broken windows, the bloody nofes, the kicks, and the baftinadoes of other gentlemen, I have myfelf been a melancholy fufferer upon various occafions; particularly at Portfmouth, where I was thrown into ths fea, and narrowly efcaped drowning, for the diverflon of the company. Would to Heaven ! — as I fay to the miftrefs 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 whifkers about usl The rigours of an Emperor are lefs frightful to me, than the frolics of a favage mob, elevated to madnefs with fongs of freedom, and tons of ftrong beer: it is eafier to pleafe a man with one good head, than a monfter with tea thoufand,, all bad ones. Miao kao faan-quai Tjat paat quai-tfai Pardon this digreflion, which the terrors of a difturbed imagination have drawn me into \ and permit your fervaot to re-affume the thread of his Difcourfe. Mao kao, &V. — Muttering exprefiions from Hoaag-fou-tfe, or Confucius, Wherever ( 142 ) "Wherever the extent is considerable, and the lands properly formed for the purpofe, the mode of natural -Gardening, juft recommended, ought certainly to be employed in preference to any other, as it furpaffes all others in perfection, and is yet moil: eafily executed: but in or near great cities, where property is much di- vided, on flats, where nature has no play, in all tame iituations ; the richer and more artificial manner of our Gardening is preferable : becaufe it may contain much variety in a fmall compafs, and corrects the natural defects of the ground, more fpeedily, more effectually, with lefs charge than any other. This manner is alfo propereft for grounds that imme- diately furround elegant ftru&ures, where order and fymmetry are abfolutely necefTary; and for many little jcnclofures, or refting-places of various kinds, that mud .always be difperled in different parts of extenflve plan- tations j where nicety of drcfs, and exceilive decoration .are in character,; and where they may be conveniently fecured with ftronger fences, to guard them from public 'intrufian* ( 143 ) Thefe choice pieces of cultivation are appropriated to the owner and his felect friends ; fet afide for convivial pleafures, and enjoyments that can only be tafted in private : they may be confidered as more fpacious apart- ments, as habitations adapted to the milder feafons of the year, in which Art and Nature unite to furnifh a variety of whatever is beautiful, elegant, extraordinary or entertaining ; whilfr. the larger improvements are fuited to the more open amufements of the owner, contrived upon a bolder fyftem, for a more diftant and curfory inflection : they are a noble indication of his confequence , a benevolent, as well as artful tribute to the community 5 which, whilft it ferves to multiply the conveniencys, or promote the innocent amufements of the public, fecures the popularity of the benefactor, and marks, in the ftrongefr. colours, his power, wealth and munificence. How thefe confiderations operate in England, I, who am a ftranger, cannot determine ; but in the kingdoms of the Eafl: they have great weight* Your connoiffeurs will, I know, object: to our arti- ficial fcenery 5 which they confider as unnatural, ancL ( 144 3 itprefent as too expenfive for imitation. On the former of thefe points you have already heard my fentiments; I need not now repeat them: thofe who are not yet con- vinced, may dill feed on crabs, and leave ananas to .tetter heads. Till my arrival in England, I never doubted but the appearance of art was admiiTible, even necefTary to the effence of a fplendid Garden : and I am more firmly of that opinion, after having feen your Englifh Gardens ; though the contrary is fo violently main- tained by your countrymen, in oppofition to the reft of the world, to the practice of all other polifhed nations, all enlightened ages ; and, as far as I am able to judge, in oppofition to reafon. But your people .delight in extremes ; and, whenever they get upon a new fcent, purfue it with fuch rage, that they always overlhoot the bounds. We admire Nature as much as you do ; but being of a more phlegmatick difpofition, jour afTeclions are fomewhat better regulated : we confider how me may be employed, upon every occafion, to moil ( *45 ) moft advantage ; and do not always introduce her in the fame garb ; but fhovv her in a variety of forms ; fome- times naked, as you attempt to do ; fometimes difguifed; fometimes decorated, or afiifted by art; fcrupuloufly avoiding, in our moft artlefs difpofitions, all refemblance to the common face of the country, with which the Garden is immediately furrounded ; being convinced, that a removal from one field to another, of the fame appearance, can never afford any particular pleafure, nor ever excite powerful fenfations of any kind. . If I muft tell you my mind freely, Gentlemen, both your artifts and connoiffeurs feem to lay too much ftrefs on nature and fimpliclty; they are the conftant cry of every half-witted dabbler, the burthen of every fbng, the tune by which you are infenfibly lulled into dullnefs and infipidity. If refemblance to nature were the mea- fure of perfection, the waxen figures in Fleet-ftreet, would be fuperior to all the works of the divine Buon- arotti ; the trouts and wood-cocks of Elmer, preferable to the cartoons of Raphael : but, believe me, too much T nature ( i+6 ) nature is often as bad as too little, as may be deduced from many examples, obvious to every man converfant in polite knowledge. Whatever is familiar, is by no means calculated to excite the ftrongeft feelings; and though a clofe refemblance to familiar objects may delight the ignorant, yet, to the fkilful, it has but few charms, never any of the moft elevated fort; and is fome- times even difgufting: without a little afliftance from art, nature is feldom tolerable; me may be compared to certain viands, either taftelefs, or unpleafant in them- felves : which, neverthelefs, with fome feafoning, become palatable ; or, when properly prepared, compofe a moft exquifite difli. And with refpecl to fimplicity, wherever more is admitted than may be requifite to conilitute grandeur, or necefTary to facilitate conception, it is always a fault. To the human mind, fome exertion is always necefTary : it muft be occupied to be pleafed ; and is more fatisfied with a treat, than with a frugal repaft : for though it doth not delight in intricacies, yet, without a certain, even ( '147 ) even a considerable degree of complication, no grateful fenfations can ever be excited. Exceflive fimplicity can only pleafe the ignorant or weak, whofe comprehensions are flow, and whofe powers of combination are confined, Simplicity muft therefore be ufed with difcretion, and the dofe be adapted to the conftitution of the patients, amongft favages and Hottentots ; where arts are unknown, refinements unheard of, an abundant portion may be neceffary; but wherever civilization has improved the mental faculties, a little, with proper management, will go a very great way: need I prove what the mufic, poetry, language, arts and manners, of every nation demonftrate, beyond the pofiibility of a doubt. Another favourite word of your virtuofi, is purity; a word of which, being a flranger, I do not perhaps know the full value ; nor exactly in what fenfe it is applied to the art in queftion. • We are told, that in the purity of Gardening, you were never equalled by any nation; even that this boafted purity never appeared in any T 2 country • ( 148 ) country but England : it may be fo ; your Gardens have certainly been purged to the quick, freed of every en- cumberance, and cleanfed of every extrinfick redundancy; fo that nothing now remains but the genuine carcafs, in its native purity : yet whether this quality, which I apprehend is the only one that can pofitively be implied, is a perfection or a blemifh, will always be difputed ; for though pure wine is, without doubt, a delicious beverage, and preferable to that which is mixed, yet pure water is very infipid, and may be much mended, by the additions of arrack, lemon and fugar, to turn it into punch ; and ninety-nine perfons in a hundred will maintain, that your pure Gardens might be much improved by the addition of embellifliments proper to produce variety, and fet off the vegetation to advantage : for vary your trees and fhrubs as much as poilible, combine them in For though pure ivine, &c. — It is remarkable, that our Orator draws moft of his fimiles and allufions either from the kitchen or the cellar ; whether this particularity proceeded from any fkill of his in the culenary art, from his affection for good living, or from any other hidden motive; or whether it was merely accidental, the Editor never could learn with any degree o£ certainty, every ( 149 ) every imaginable arrangement, they are ftill but trees and flirubs ; they can imprefs but a very few images upon the mind of the fpectator, and only affect his fenfes with very flight perceptions^ That our artificial ftile of Gardening is expensive, is doubtlefs true ; yet certainly not ruinoufly fo. In my former voyage, I knew an unfortunate prince, who, on a very moderate allowance from his relations, fupported a court in fplendour; and, with the furplus, formed one of the moft extraordinary, as well as magnificent artificial Gardens I ever faw. It is furprizing what good ma- nagement will do, where management is neceffary; but you are too rich ever to need it in any thing. I have feen more money expended here, in digging an ugly pond, than would have compleated a whole Garden elfe- where; yet, after all, the pond would never hold water. But, to proceed — You have all fo.tn what the French have done at Verfailles, Marli, Trianon, Saint Cloud, Liancourt, and Chaniily; the Italians near Rome, at Tivoli, at Frefcati, and in many other parts of Italy : I do ( *5° ) do not here enter into the merit of thefe works; but they are certainly as coftly, perhaps more fo, than any of ours; yet thefe were done by foreigners, of different denominations ; all without the leaft help of magick : you are richer than they; you may, with fome trouble, acquire their ikill ; it is hoped you have already more than their fpirit ; be not, therefore, afraid to attempt, what they have already long fince accompli/hed. I have formerly told you what fort of art we employ in our Chinefe Gardening; I now recommend it to your imitation ; and though in general your European arti- ficial manner appears not to me perfe<9:, yet doth it con- tain many things highly deferving notice, which you have imprudently laid afide, without fubflituting any equivalent* To inftance the Gardens of France ; they are, I will allow, fufliciently extravagant : you hear of nothing but iflands of love, or halls of feftivity ; every recefs is the retreat of a God, Gvery profpecl: a fcene of enchantment: like like their petit maitres, they are all out of nature, all affectation ; yet it is an affectation often delightful, and abfurdity generally overflowing with tafle and fancy : in their beft works there is fuch a myfterious, pleafing in- tricacy in the difpofition, fuch variety in the objects, fo much fplendour and animation in the fcenery, and fo much fkill apparent in the execution of every part, that the attention of the fpectator never flags ; the fucceflion is fo rapid, that he is hurried on from one exhibition to another, with his mind constantly upon the (tretch : he has only time to be pleafed ; there is no leifure to reflect, none to be difgufted with the extravagance of what he fees, if their Gardens are lefs rational than yours, they are certainly much more entertaining; and though, upon the whole, they can by no means be propofed as models for imitation, yet are there many things to be borrowed from them, which might be adopted by you with con- fiderable advantage. I may fay the fame with regard to the Italian Gardens, of which the ftyle is lefs affected, lefs extravagant than in ( '52 } |n thofe of France: the heat of the climate obliges the inhabitants to feek for fhade ; the walks are fheltered, the plantations clofe, whence their compositions have a gloom, and an air of folitude that are exceedingly awful. There is a grandeur of manner in all their works, feldom to be met with elfewhere; which, about Rome, and in fome other parts of Italy, is greatly heightened by the majeftick face of Nature, framed upon a larger fcale, and broken into nobler forms, than in moft other countries. Their vegetation too is uncommonly pic- turefque; the abundance of water with which they are every where fupplied, enables them to form a thoufand pleafing combinations ; and the venerable veftiges of ancient Structures, which rear their decaying heads above the plantations, add furprizingly to the dignity of the fcenery. At every ftep, the admiration cf the fpectator is excited by Statues, therms, bas-reliefs, farcophagi urns, vafes, and other remains of ancient fplendour ; or he is delighted with the productions of modern artifts, inge- niously ( 153 ) nioufly imagined, well executed, and fkilfully difpofed. It is not eafy to conceive any thing more entertaining, to a man of tafte, than an Italian Garden ; in which, amidft a profufion of pleafing objects, the fame elegance of choice, the fame elevation of ftyle fo confpicuous in the fculpture and painting of the great Italian fchools, is every where prevalent. To branch out into farther defcriptions of your con- tinental Gardens, is perhaps fuperfluous, and may be thought foreign to the prefent purpofe; as fome of them differ very little from thofe juft mentioned; and others are too trifling, or imperfect, to deferve any notice : yet permit me, before I finifh, to give a flight fketch of the Dutch Gardening; from which I am apt to believe your ideas of the artificial ftyle are chiefly collected, and your extraordinary averfion to it principally owing. In Holland, parterres, embroidered in box, brick-duft, fea-coal, and broken porcelain, are every where admired. No Garden is perfect, that is not furrounded with a wet U ditch, ( '54 ) ditch, and many lufthoufes hanging over it, for fmoking tobacco ; nor is there any elegance, without fome tons of lead, transformed into Ikating Dutchmen, Harlequins, and fluting Shepherdeffes, all richly painted, in proper colours: azure flower-pots, with gilt handles, are ken in every corner ; and golden mercury are perched, like birds, upon every pinnacle : every pafs is guarded by pafteboard Grenadiers; and Fame, ftraddling over the entrance, difplays a Dutch label to the paffenger, telling the name and beauties of the place, the virtues and moral opinions of the proprietor. Thefe particularities, with all the formal abfurd parts of the French Gardenings make an Eden in Holland; a thing too ridiculous to be out of humour with any where ; 'tis a pity it has had fa ferious an effect upon you. You are a wife people ; yet, in t,he reformation of Gardening, you have followed the beaten road of ignorance: to avoid one fault, you have run headlong into another, its oppoiite : becaufe, in the Old Gardening, art, order and variety, were carried to an extravagant excefs, you have, in the New, almoit. totally excluded them all three : to mend an exuberant, fantaftick ( 155 ) fantaftick drefs, you have ftripped flark naked : and, to heal a dhtempered limb, you have, like fome famous furgeons of our day, chopped it entirely off. All connoiffeurs amongft you, and even amongft us, agree in defpifing our enchanted, or fupernatural fcenery; which, they fay, is trifling, abfurd, extravagant, abound- ing in conceits and boyifh tricks ; that operating chiefly by furprize, it has little or no effe£t, after a nrft or fecond infpedion, and confequently can afford no plea- fure to the owner : yet our beft Artifts, who have no ex- ceflive reverence for the decrees of connoiffeurs*, and who think the owner is not the only perfon to be entertained, often introduce it; either where the plan is extenftve, and admits of many changes ; or, where the ground is barren of natural varieties : faying, in their vindication, that it lerves as an interlude between more ferious expo- * In China they have an innumerable multitude of connoiffeurs and criticks ; who, with a very ftiperficial knowledge, a few general maxims, and fome hard words, boldly decide on fubje&s they do not underfland: hence the whole fraternity is fallen into difrepute. They have, indeed, like Ui, fome real connoiffeurs amongft them ; but thefe are very rare in China. U 2 fitions ; ( 156 } fitions ; that, at a treat, there fhould be meats for every palate ; in a (hop of general refort, goods for every fancy; in a Garden, deiigned for publick infpection, exhibitions of every kind ; that all may . find fomething to their liking, and none go away difappointed or dinatisfied : and, as at a feaft, men eat of what they bed relifli, without mumbling the reft of the dirties, but leave them untainted for others to feed upon, fo, in a Garden, if a man be too wife to laugh, or be pleafed with trifles, he may pafs them over unnoticed : amongfi: the multitude, there are many fancies to gratify; children, old women, eunuchs, and pleafure-mifTes, ought to be diverted, as well as fages, mandarines, or connoiffeurs. It is not every one, fay they, that enjoys the force or fiercenefs of grand compositions; to fome they are even terrifying: weak minds delight in little objects, which are eafieft; adapted to their confined comprehensions; as children are better pleafed with a puppet-fhow, than with more ferious or noble performances. Thus they reafon; and lay moreover, that, as the prin- cipal parts of this fupernatural Gardening confifts in a ( «57 ) difplay of many furprizing phcenomena, and extraordinary effects, produced by air, fire, water, motion, light, . and gravitation, they may be confidered as a collection of phi-» lofophical experiments, exhibited in a better manner, upon a larger fcale, and more forcibly than is common : in that light they think, even men of fenfe may venture to look at them, without impeachment of their understanding; to admire what is ingenious, new or extraordinary ; and ftare at what they do not comprehend. Whether the con- noiffeurs or the.artifts are molt in the wrong, I will not decide.; you, Gentlemen, mu ft determine for yourfelves>. Some' free expreillons, relative to your Gardeners, conftitute a heavy part of the charge exhibited againft me : it feems therefore neceiTary, in alleviation of this high offence, to declare, that whatever has h^Qii faid on that fubject, was with an eye to the general character of the fraternity ; and by no means levelled at yon (lately gentleman in the black perriwig, as he has been pleafed to maintain. It could not be my bufinefs to markout individuals, either by exceflive praife, which was perhaps ejected.. ( 158 ) expected, or by more poignant cenfure: fuch conduct muft have been fawning in one inftance, invidious in both ; for there is no exalting one phenomenon, without proportionably degrading the reft : as in a draw-well, one bucket can never rife, but when the other finks. If a man far outftrips his brothers, he will of courfe be diftinguifhed ; if only a little, his fafefl ftation is in the croud. And really it is odd that any one mould officioufly have flepped out of the ranks, infifting, like mafter Dogberry in the play, upon his exclufive title; where nothing partial was even diftantly hinted at, no names mentioned, nor any thing faid, that was not full as ap- plicable to the brotherhood in general, as to the fagacious claimant in particular: but Man lup jao kai Tai hup tao hat. There is reafon to believe, from various hints which nave been dropped by Gentlemen here prefent, that the veracity of Chet-qua's defcription is doubted ; nay, that the Gardens defcribed, are fuppofed to have no exiftence but in Chet-qua's brain : be it fo t my friends ; I (hall not feek to refute what you feem fo ftrongly difpofed to ( »59 ) believe ; it is not at prefent material : for the end of all that I have faid, was rather as an Artift, to fet before you a new ftyle of Gardening ; than as a Traveller, to» relate what I have really feen : and, notwithstanding your ftrictures, you all feemed fatisfied, even entertained with the defcription : there is no doubt, but the reality, like all other realities, would affect you ftill more ftrongly than the picture. I have endeavoured to fhewj. how that may be obtained : the reft is left to thofe it moft concerns ; the ingenious, the wealthy, and the great ; who have power and inclinations to execute what I attempt to plan : my part is done, as far as I am able to do it j theirs may begin when they think fit. And although they may at firft be embarraffed in the execution of a fyftem fo much more complicated and de- pendant on genius, on fkill, and on nice judgement, than that which has hitherto been purfued ; yet there is no doubt, but practice and perfeverance will, by degrees, difpel every difficulty : it is at leaft glorious to hazard arduous attempts , and more honourable even to fail in manly ( i6o ) iftianly purfuits, than to fucceed in trifling, chlldifti en- terprizes. Let the timid or the feeble meanly creep upon the earth, with uniform, fluggard pace ; but the towering fpirit muft attempt a nobler flight, and. climb the paths that lead to fame : now gayly fporting on the ilippery furface, as doth the gentle, graceful lizard ; now thun- dering up the precipice, with the tremendous dragon's firide ; now foaring to the top, irately and fplendid as the imperial bird ; when, with his glittering creft and twelve irradiant wings, he comes upon the morning's light, while myriads of the warbling tribes, at awful diftance, crowd the vaulted air, adore their King, and, with loud fongs of frantick joy, make the firm earth, and all yon ftarry heaven. From the whole tenour of this Difcourfe, and indeed from the fubftance of the firft DilTertation, it is evident, The imperial bird, or foung-hoang, is a fabulous being, of the nature of the phoenix ; by the Chinefe poets, accounted the emperor of birds, as the dragon is of all the fcaly tribe : he is faid never to appear, but in great pomp, attended by a numerous train of all the moft brilliant and extraor- dinary of the volatile race. Gentlemen, ( j6i ) Gentlemen, that your fervant Chet-qua has no averfion to natural Gardening ; but is, on the contrary, a zealous advocate in its favour, wherever there is room to expandj and work upon a great fcale, or where it can conveniently, and with propriety be introduced. The ftyle which in- England has been adopted, preferable to others, is not what appears to him reprehenfible ; but he laments the little ufe you have made of your adoption, and ap- prehends your partiality is too exceflive, while you obftinately refufe theaffiftanceof almoft every extraneous 1 embellifhment, and perfift in an indifcriminate applica- tion of the fame manner, upon all occafions, however oppofite, or ill adapted; and often where no probab- ility of fuccefs appears. Natural Gardening, when treated upon an extenfive plan, when employed with' judgement, and conducted with art, is perhaps as' fuperior to all other forts of culture, as heroiek verfe is to every other fpecies of writing; but there are many occafions, where neither the one nor the other can, with the leaft propriety, be employed; where, they would only ferve to give a ridicule to the whole X com— ( 162 ) compofition ; and where different or lefs elevated modes of exprefiion are, on all accounts, preferable. Artifts of other profeffions, vary their manners of applying to the human affections ; fuiting them to the circumftances or nature of the fubjects before them ; and they are oftenefl indebted to thefe variations for their fuccefs ; why then mould Gardeners always confine themfelves to the fame tract, and torture all difpofitions to adapt them to the fame method, like that tyrant of old, who ftretched or mutilated every gueft, till he fitted a particular bed ? Can they hope to fucceed by means, which others have found ineffectual ; or is it reafonable to fuppofe, that Nature will change her courfe to pleale their fancy ? Variety is a powerful agent,- without the affiftance of which, little can be effected ; it captivates even with trifles; and, when united to perfection, has charms which nothing can refift : the moft exquifite pictures of nature, receive additional beauties from a judicious op- position of art; and the confined, uniform, taftelefs walk of imitation, which you have unfortunately fallen into, muft Jiave many helps to make it even tolerable ; a thou- sand enlivening additions, to animate its native dulnefs. ( i6 3 ) Thus I have confidered every part of my firft Dif- courfe, and offered in its vindication, what immediately occurs to me : perhaps, with more leifure, I might have contrived a better Speech, and a ftronger Defence ; but the hurry of Face-making is fuch, that there is fcarcely time to eat rice, or drink brandy, much lefs to think : I never frequent my wives but by night; I have only heard one of them fcold, and feen the others by twilight, thefe fix months : judge then, what can be expected from Chet-qua ; the little knowledge he has, or thinks he has, is freely communicated to his neighbours ; he wifhes it were more and better ; yet fuch as it is, he flatters himfelf it will be kindly received ; and that his neigh- bours will ufe what may be ufeful, without kicking too violently at the reft. Hurry of face-making — The Chinefe call portrait-painting, or modelling por- traits in coloured clay, which was Chet-qua's particular profeffion, face- making. Eat rice or drink brandy — The Chinefe call dining, eating rice ; and their common liquors, at meals, are fpirits, of various forts. FINIS. » Ik : ft. • ■# > **V ■^J ' '-v^-v WS • • ^ I • 4 £/ M:t: ■■ r *^" * * ; *9 .#♦*,. ./•, , ***»'« * * *m 9 <: ■: 0. •" >* 4k .V * ■« •*. • % • 4 ••" ««■* •'A «»-• 4 * 4»* i> f < * ■ ■ J ft* 4*' JP