At WIMPOLE, the natural shape of the surface seemed to invite this fashion for geometric forms; the ground was covered, in every direction, with trees in straight lines, circles, squares, triangles, and in almost every mathematical figure. These had acquired the growth of a century, when the taste of gardening changed; and, as every absurd fashion is apt to run from one extreme to another, the world was then told, that "Nature abhorred a straight line;" that perfection in gardening consisted in waving lines, and that it was necessary to obliterate every trace of artificial interference. And now many a lofty tree, the pride and glory of our ancient palaces, was rooted up, because it stood on the same line with its fellows and contemporaries: and because these ranks of sturdy veterans could not,* like a regiment of soldiers, be marched into new shapes, according to the new system of tactics, they were unmercifully cut down; not to display beautiful scenery behind them, but merely to break their ranks: while a few were spared which could be formed into platoons, this was called clumping an avenue.
The position of all the large trees on the plain near the house, at WIMPOLE, shews the influence of fashion in these different styles; the original lines may be easily traced by the trees which remain, and the later formed clumps are scattered about, like the ghosts of former avenues, or monstrous shapes which could not be subdued.
*[That this simile may not appear ludicrous, I should observe, that the ancient gardens were often made with a reference to military dispositions; or trees were sometimes planted in conformity to the order of certain battles; thus, at Blenheim, the square, clumps planted before Brown saw the place, were in imitation of the famous battle from whence the place was named. And in an old map of a place in Suffolk, which, I believe, was planned by Le Notre, the names of regiments were given to square clumps, or platoons, of trees, which on paper resembled the positions of an army.]
