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WILLIAM CHAMBERS,

KNIGHT, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY'S WORKS, AND AUTHOR OF A LATE DISSERTATION ON ORIENTAL GARDENING ENRICHED WITH EXPLA

NATORY NOTES, CHIEFLY EXTRACTED FROM THAT ELABORATE PERFORMANCE.

Non omnes arbusta juvant, humilesque myricæ. VIRG.

KNIGHT of the Polar Star! by Fortune plac'd
To fhine the Cynofure of British taste ;
Whofe orb collects in one refulgent view
The fcatter'd glories of Chinese Virtù ;

And

*Readers of the present generation are fo very inattentive to what they read, that it is probable, one half of Sir William's may have forgotten the principles which his book inculcates, VOL. II.

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Let

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And spread their luftre in fo broad a blaze,
That kings themfelves are dazzled, while they

gaze.

O let

Let thefe, then, be reminded, that it is the author's profest aim in extolling the taste of the Chinese, to condemn that mean and paltry manner which Kent introduced, which Southcote, Hamilton, and Brown followed, and which, to our national disgrace, is called the English ftyle of gardening. He fhews the poverty of this tafte, by aptly comparing it to a dinner, which confifted of three grofs pieces, three times repeated; and proves to a demonftration, that Nature herself is incapable of pleasing, without the affiftance of Art, and that too of the most luxuriant kind. In fhort, fuch art as is displayed in the Emperor's garden of Yven-Ming-Yven, near Pekin; where fine lizards, and fine women, human giants, and giant baboons, make but a small part of the fuperb fcenery. He teaches us, that a perfect garden muft contain within itself all the amusements of a great city; that URBS IN RURE, not RUS IN URBE, is the thing, which an improver of true taste ought to aim at. He fays but it is impoffible to abridge all that he fays;- Let this therefore fuffice to tempt the reader again to peruse his invaluable Differtation, fince without it, he will never relish half the beauties of the following epiftle; for (if her Majefty's Zebra, and the powder-mills at Hounslow be excepted) there is fcarce a fingle image in it, which is not taken from that work.

'But tho' the images be borrowed, the author claims fome fmall merit from his application of them. Sir William fays too modeftly," that European artists must not hope to rival Oriental fplendor." The poet fhews, that European artists may

Olet the Mufe attend thy march fublime,
And, with thy prose, caparison her rhyme;
Teach her, like thee, to gild her splendid song,
With scenes of Yven-Ming, and fayings of Li-
Tfong;

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eafily rival it; and, that Richmond gardens, with only the addition of a new bridge to join them to Brentford, may be new modelled, perfectly" à la Chinois." He exhorts his Knight to undertake the glorious task, and leaves no cause to doubt, but that, under the aufpicious patronage he now fo justly enjoys, added to the READY vote of those who furnish ways and means, the royal work will speedily be compleated. Verse 2. Cynosure of British tafte.] Cynosure, an affected phrase. Cynofura is the conftellation of Urfa Minor, or the Leffer Bear, the next ftar to the Pole. Dr. Newton, on the word in Milton.

Verse 10. With fcenes of Yven-Ming.) One of the Imperial gardens at Pekin. (Sayings of Li-Tfong.) "Many trees, fhrubs, and flowers," fayeth Li-Tfong, a Chinese author of great antiquity, "thrive beft in low, moift fituations; many on hills and mountains; fome require a rich foil: but others will grow on clay, in fand, or even upon rocks, and in the water; to fome a funny expofition is neceffary; but for others the shade is preferable. There are plants which thrive best in expofed fituations, but, in general, shelter is requifite. The skilful gardener, to whom ftudy and experience have taught these qualities, carefully attends to them in his operations; knowing that thereon depend the health and growth of his plants; and confequently the beauty of his plantations." Vide Diff. p. 77. The reader, I prefume, will readily allow, that he never met with fo much recondite truth, as this antient Chinese here exhibits.

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Like thee to fcorn Dame Nature's fimple fence;
Leap each Ha-ha of truth and common sense;
And proudly rifing in her bold career,
Demand attention from the gracious ear
Of Him, whom we and all the world admit
Patron fupreme of fcience, tafte, and wit.
Does Envy doubt? Witness, ye chofen train!
Who breathe the sweets of his Saturnian reign;
Witness ye H*lls, ye J*ns*ns, Sc ts, S*bb*s,
Hark to my call, for fome of you have ears.
Let D**d H*e, from the remotest North,
In fee-faw fceptic scruples hint his worth;
D**d, who there fupinely deigns to lye
The fatteft Hog of Epicurus' fty;

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Tho' drunk with Gallic wine, and Gallic praise, 25
D**d fhall blefs Old England's halcyon days;
The mighty Home, bemir'd in profe fo long,
Again shall stalk upon the ftilts of fong:
While bold Mac-Offian, wont in Ghosts to deal,
Bids candid Smollet from his coffin steal;
Bids Mallock quit his fweet Elyfian reft,
Sunk in his St. John's philofophic breast,
And, like old Orpheus, make some strong effort
To come from Hell, and warble Truth at Court.
There

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Verse 34. Truth at Court.) Vide (if it be extant) a poem under this title, for which (or for the publication of Lord Bolingbroke's philofophical writings) the perfon here mentioned

received

There was a time," in Efher's peaceful

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grove, "When Kent and Nature vy'd for Pelham's love, That Pope beheld them with aufpicious fmile, And own'd that Beauty bleft their mutual toil. Mistaken Bard! could fuch a pair defign Scenes fit to live in thy immortal line? Hadft thou been born in this enlighten'd day, -Felt, as we feel, Tafte's oriental ray,

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Thy fatire fure had given them both a stab, Call'd Kent a Driveller, and the Nymph a Drab. For what is Nature? Ring her changes round, 45 Her three flat notes are water, plants, and ground;

Prolong

réceived a confiderable pension in the time of Lord B—te's administration.

Verfe 45. For what is Nature ?) This is the great and fundamental axiom, on which the oriental tafte is founded. It is therefore expreffed here with the greatest precifion, and in the identical phrase of the great original. The figurative terms, and even the explanatory fimile, are entirely borrowed from Sir William's Differtation. "NATURE (fays the Chinese, or Sir William for them) affords us but few materials to work with. Plants, ground, and water, are her only productions; and, though both the forms and arrangements of these 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 easily perceived." "ART

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muft

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