A dissertation on oriental gardening / By Sr. William Chambers.

  • Chambers, William, Sir, 1723-1796.
Date:
1773
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dissertation on oriental gardening / By Sr. William Chambers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ( *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 conflder- 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 objed 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 • t * 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 firfl: conflderation is the nature of the ground they are to work upon: whether it be flat or floping; hilly or mountainous ; fmall or of considerable extent; abounding with fprings and rivers, or labouring under a