1712. ticular Quarters assigned it; for besides the wholsome No. 477. Luxury which that Place abounds with, I have always Saturday, thought a Kitchin-garden a more pleasant Sight than the Sept. 6, finest Orangerie, or artificial Green-house, I love to see every Thing in its Perfection, and am more pleased to survey my Rows of Colworts and Cabbages, with a thousand nameless Pot-herbs, springing up in their full Fragrancy and Verdure, than to see the tender Plants of Foreign Countries kept alive by artificial Heats, or wither ing in an Air and Soil that are not adapted to them, I must not omit, that there is a Fountain rising in the upper Part of my Garden, which forms a little wandring Rill, and administers to the Pleasure as well as the Plenty of the Place, I have so conducted it, that it visits most of my Plantations, and have taken particular Care to let it run in the same Manner as it would do in an open Field, so that it gener ally passes through Banks of Violets and Primroses, Plats of Willow, or other Plants, that seem to be of its own producing. There is another Circumstance in which I am very particular, or, as my Neighbours call me, very whimsical As my Garden invites into it all the Birds of the Country, by offering them the Conveniency of Springs and Shades, Solitude and Shelter, I do not suffer any one to destroy their Nests in the Spring, or drive them from their usual Haunts in Fruit-time. I value my Garden more for being full of Blackbirds than Cherries, and very frankly give them Fruit for their Songs, By this Means I have always the Musick of the Season in its perfection, and am highly delighted to see the Jay or the Thrush hopping about my Walks, and shooting before my Eye across the several little Glades and Alleys that I pass through. I think there are as many Kinds of Gardening as of Poetry: Your Makers of Parterres and Flower Gardens, are Epigrammatists and Sonneteers in this Art, Contrivers of Bowers and Grottos, Treillages and Cascades, are Romance Writers. Wise and London are our heroick Poets; and if, as a Critick, I may single out any Passage of their Works to commend, I shall take Notice of that Part in the upper Garden at Kensington, which was at first nothing but a Gravel Pit. It must have been a fine Genius for Gardening, that could have thought 1712. No. 477. thought of forming such an unsightly Hollow into so Saturday, beautiful an Area, and to have hit the Eye with so unSept. 6, common and agreeable a Scene as that which it is now wrought into. To give this particular Spot of Ground the greater Effect, they have made a very pleasing Contrast; for as on one Side of the Walk you see this hollow Basin, with its several little Plantations lying so conveniently under the Eye of the Beholder; on the other Side of it there appears a seeming Mount, made up of Trees rising one higher than another in Proportion as they approach the Center, A Spectator, who has not heard this Account of it, would think this Circular Mount was not only a real one, but that it had been actually scooped out of that hollow Space which I have before mentioned. I never yet met with any one who had walked in this Garden, who was not struck with that part of it which I have here mentioned. As for my self, you will find, by the Account which I have already given you, that my Compositions in Gardening are altogether after the Pindarick Manner, and run into the beautiful Wildness of Nature, without affect ing the nicer Elegancies of Art. What I am now going to mention will, perhaps, deserve your Attention more than any Thing I have yet said. I find that in the Dis course which I spoke of at the Beginning of my Letter, you are against filling an English Garden with Ever Greens; and indeed I am so far of your Opinion, that I can by no Means think the Verdure of an Ever Green comparable to that which shoots out annually, and cloaths our Trees in the Summer Season. But I have often wondered that those who are like my self, and love to live in Gardens, have never thought of contriving a Winter Garden, which should consist of such Trees only as never cast their Leaves, We have very often little Snatches of Sun-shine and fair Weather in the most uncomfortable Parts of the Year, and have frequently several Days in November and January that are as agreeable as any in the finest Months. At such Times, therefore, I think there could not be a greater Pleasure, than to walk in such a Winter Garden as I have proposed, In the Summer Season the whole Country blooms, and is a Kind of Garden, for which Reason we are not so sensible 1712, sensible of those Beauties that at this Time may be every No. 477, where met with; but when Nature is in her Desolation, Saturday, and presents us with nothing but bleak and barren pros Sept, 6, pects, there is something unspeakably chearful in a Spot of Ground which is covered with Trees that smile amidst all the Rigours of Winter, and give us a View of the most gay Season in the Midst of that which is the most dead and melancholy, I have so far indulged my self in this Thought, that I have set apart a whole Acre of Ground for the executing of it. The Walls are covered with Ivy instead of Vines, The Laurel, the Hornbeam, and the Holly, with many other Trees and Plants of the same Nature, grow so thick in it, that you cannot imagine a more lively Scene. The glowing Redness of the Berries, with which they are hung at this Time, vies with the Verdure of their Leaves, and are apt to inspire the Heart of the Beholder with that vernal Delight which you have somewhere taken Notice of in your former Papers. It is very pleasant, at the same Time, to see the several Kinds of Birds retiring into this little green Spot, and enjoying themselves among the Branches and Foliage, when my great Garden, which I have before mentioned to you, does not afford a single Leaf for their Shelter. You must know, Sir, that I look upon the Pleasure which we take in a Garden, as one of the most innocent delights in humane Life. A Garden was the Habitation of our first Parents before the Fall. It is naturally apt to fill the Mind with_Calmness and Tranquillity, and to lay all its turbulent Passions at Rest. It gives us a great Insight into the Contrivance and Wisdom of Providence, and suggests innumerable Subjects for Meditation. cannot but think the very Complacency and Satisfaction which a Man takes in these Works of Nature, to be a laudable, if not a virtuous Habit of Mind. For all which Reasons I hope you will pardon the length of my present Letter, C I am, I Sir. &c' Monday No. 478, No. 478, Monday, September 8. -Usus Quem penes arbitrium est, & jus & norma'Mr. SPECTATOR, I his family, T happened lately, that a Friend of mine, who had to walk with him to the Shops. He was very nice in his Way, and fond of having every thing shewn, which at first made me very uneasy; but as his Humour still con tinu'd, the things which I had been staring at along with him began to fill my Head, and led me into a Set of amus ing Thoughts concerning them, I fancy'd it must be very surprizing to any one who enters into a Detail of Fashions, to consider how far the Vanity of Mankind has laid it self out in Dress, what a prodigious Number of People it maintains, and what a Circulation of Money it occasions. Providence in this Case makes use of the Folly which we will not give up, and it becomes instrumental to the Support of those who are willing to labour. Hence it is that Fringe-Makers, Lace-Men, Tire-Women, and a Number of other Trades, which would be useless in a simple State of Nature, draw their Subsistence; tho' it is seldom seen that such as these are extremely rich, because their original Fault of being founded upon Vanity, keeps them poor by the light Inconstancy of its Nature. The Variableness of Fashion turns the Stream of Business, which flows from it now into one Channel, and anon into another; so that different Sets of People sink or flourish in their Turns by it. From the Shops we retir'd to the Tavern, where I found my Friend express so much Satisfaction for the Bargains he had made, that my moral Reflections (if I had told them) might have pass'd for a Reproof; so I chose rather to fall in with him, and let the Discourse run upon the Use of Fashions, Here we remembred how much Man is govern'd by his Senses, how lively he is struck by the Objects which appear to him in an agreeable Manner, how much Cloaths contribute contribute to make us agreeable Objects, and how much No. 478, we owe it to our selves that we should appear so, Monday, 1712. We considered Man as belonging to Societies: Societies Sept. 8, as form'd of different Ranks, and different Ranks distinguished by Habits, that all proper Duty or Respect might attend their Appearance, We took Notice of several Advantages which are met with in the Occurrences of Conversation. How the bashful Man has been sometimes so rais'd, as to express himself with an Air of Freedom, when he imagines that his Habit introduces him to Company with a becoming Manner: And again, how a Fool in fine Cloaths shall be suddenly heard with Attention, 'till he has betrayed him self; whereas a Man of Sense appearing with a Dress of Negligence, shall be but coldly received till he be prov'd by Time, and established in a Character. Such Things as these we cou'd recollect to have happen'd to our own Knowledge so very often, that we concluded the Author had his Reasons, who advises his Son to go in Dress rather above his Fortune than under it, At last the Subject seem'd so considerable, that it was proposed to have a Repository builded for Fashions, as there are Chambers for Medals and other Rarities. The building may be shap'd as that which stands among the Pyramids, in the Form of a Woman's Head. This may be rais'd upon Pillars, whose Ornaments shall bear a just Relation to the Design, Thus there may be an Imitation of Fringe carv'd in the Base, a Sort of Appear ance of Lace in the Frieze, and a Representation of curling Locks, with Bows of Riban sloping over them, may fill up the Work of the Cornish. The Inside may be divided into two Apartments, appro priated to each Sex, The Apartments may be fill'd with Shelves, on which Boxes are to stand as regularly as Books in a Library, These are to have Folding Doors, which being open'd, you are to behold a Baby dress'd out in some Fashion which has flourish'd, and standing upon a Pedestal, where the Time of its Reign is mark'd down, For its further Regulation let it be order'd, that every one who invents a Fashion shall bring in his Box, whose Front he may at Pleasure |