Life of John Claudius Loudon his wife
Early life London
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Early days in London
In 1803 he first arrived in London. The following day he called
on Mr. Sowerby, Mead Place, Lambeth, who was the first gentleman he
visited in England; and he was exceedingly delighted with the
models and mineralogical specimens, which were so admirably
arranged as to give him the greatest satisfaction from his innate
love of order; and he afterwards devised a plan for his own books
amid papers, partly founded on that of Mr. Sowerby, but much more
complete.
As he brought a great number of letters of recommendation to
different noblemen and gentlemen of landed property, many of them
being from Dr. Coventry with whom he was a great favourite, he was
soon extensively employed as a landscape gardener; and his journal
is filled with accounts of his tours in various parts of England.
It is curious, in turning over his memoranda, to find how many
improvements suggested themselves to his active mind, which he was
unable, from various circumstances, to carry into effect at the
time, but which, many years afterwards, were executed either by
himself or by other persons, who, however, were unaware that he had
previously suggested them. Throughout his life similar occurrences
were continually taking place; and nothing was more common than for
him to find persons taking the merit to themselves of inventions
which he had suggested years before. When this happened, he was
frequently urged to assert his prior claim; but he always answered,
that he thought the person who made an invention useful to the
public had more merit than its original contriver; and that, in
fact, so long as the public were benefited by any invention of his,
it was perfectly indifferent to him who had the merit of it. There
never lived a more liberal and thoroughly public-spirited man than
Mr. Loudon. He had not a single particle of selfishness in his
disposition, and in all his actions he never took the benefit they
would produce to himself into consideration. When writing a book,
his object was to obtain the best possible information on the
subject he had in hand; and he was never deterred from seeking this
by any considerations of trouble or expense.
That these feelings influenced him from the time of his first
arrival in England may be traced in every page of his Journal; and
that they continued to influence him to the last day of his life
was only too evident to every one around him at that mournful
period.
When Mr. Loudon first arrived in London, he was very much struck
with the gloomy appearance of the gardens in the centre of the
public squares, which were then planted almost entirely with
evergreens, particularly with Scotch pines, yews, and spruce firs;
and, before the close of the year 1803, he published an article in
a work called The Literary Journal, which he entitled,
"Observations on laying out the Public Squares of London." In this
article he blamed freely the taste which then prevailed, and
suggested the great improvement that would result from banishing
the yews and firs (which always looked gloomy from the effect of
the smoke on their leaves), and mingling deciduous trees with the
other evergreens. He particularly named the Oriental and Occidental
plane trees, the sycamore, and the almond, as ornamental trees that
would bear the smoke of the city; and it is curious to observe how
exactly his suggestions' have been adopted, as these trees are now
to be found in almost every square in London.
About this time he appears to have become a member of the
Linnaean Society, probably through the interest of Sir Joseph
Banks, to whom he had brought a letter of introduction, and who,
till his death in 1820, continued his warm friend. At the house of
Sir Joseph Banks Mr. London met most of the eminent scientific men
of that day, and the effect produced by their conversation on his
active mind may be traced in his Journal. Among many other
interesting memoranda of new ideas that struck him about this
period, is one as to the expediency of trying the effects of
charcoal on vegetation, from having observed the beautiful verdure
of the grass on a spot where charcoal had been burnt. he appears,
however, to have thought no more at that time on the subject, or to
have forgotten it, as, when he afterwards wrote on charcoal, he
made no allusion to this fact.
In 1804, having been employed by the Earl of Mansfield to make
some plans for altering the Palace Gardens at Scone in Perthshire, he returned to Scotland and
remained there several months, laying out grounds for many noblemen
and gentlemen. While thus engaged, and while giving directions for
planting and managing woods, and on the best mode of draining and
otherwise improving estates, several ideas struck him, which he
afterwards embodied in a book published in Edinburgh by Constable
and Co., and by Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, in London. This,
then, was the first work of Mr. Loudon's presented to the public
through the Messrs. Longman, with whom he continued to transact
business of the same nature for nearly forty years. The book
alluded to was entitled Observations on the Formation and
Management of Useful and Ornamental Plantations; on the Theory, and
Practice of Landscape gardening, and on gaining and embanking Land
from Rivers or the Sea. As this was his first separate work,
and as it is now comparatively little known, it may be interesting
to copy a few sentences from the Introduction; which will show how
strongly his mind was, even in his youth, imbued with the subject
of his profession, though he was then apparently disposed to treat
it in a different style from what he did in after years.
"Various are the vegetable productions which this earth affords.
Blades of grass spring up every where, and clothe the surface with
pasture; groups of shrubs arise in some places, and diversify this
uniform covering; but trees are the most striking objects that
adorn the face of inanimate nature. If we imagine for a moment that
the surface of Europe were totally divested of wood, what would be
our sensations on viewing its appearance? Without this
accompaniment, hills and valleys, rivers and lakes, rocks and
cataracts, all of themselves the most perfect that could be
imagined, would present an aspect bleak, savage, and uninteresting.
But, let the mountains be covered with wood, and the water shaded
by trees, and the scene is instantly changed what was before cold
and barren, is now rich, noble, and full of variety. In traveling
through a naked country, a whole unvaried horizon is comprehended
by the eye with a single glance; its surface is totally destitute
of intricacy to excite curiosity and fix attention; and both the
eye and the mind are kept in a state of perpetual weariness and
fatigue. But, in a wooded country, the scene is continually
changing; the trees form a varied boundary to everything around,
and enter into numberless and pleasing combinations with all other
objects; the eye is relieved without distraction, and the mind
fully engaged without fatigue. If we examine even a tree by itself,
the intricate formation and disposition of its boughs, spray, and
leaves, its varied form, beautiful tints, and diversity of light
amid shade, make it far surpass every other object; and,
notwithstanding this multiplicity of separate parts, its general
effect is simple and grand.
"But wood is not only the greatest ornament on the face of our
globe, but the most essential requisite for the accommodation of
civilized society. The implements of agriculture, the machinery of
manufactures, and the vehicles of commercial intercourse, are all
made of timber; nor is there an edifice or superstructure of almost
any denomination, in which this material does not form the
principal part.
"Wood is more particularly valuable in Great Britain, where the
existence and prosperity of the empire depends upon the support of
a numerous shipping, emphatically called its 'wooden walls.'
"From the universal utility, and the unrivalled beauty of wood,
it may reasonably be supposed to have been assiduously cultivated
in all improved countries; and, accordingly, we find trees were
planted, and the growth of timber encouraged, by every polished
nation. To this subject, as to all other parts of rural economy,
the Romans paid great attention; and the writings of some of their
most celebrated authors contain many excellent observations and
precepts on the culture and management of timber and ornamental
trees." (p. 20.) "But, independently of the beauty and profit of
wood, the pleasure attending the formation and management of
plantations will be a considerable recommendation to every virtuous
mind. We look upon our young trees as our offspring; and nothing
can possibly be more satisfying than to see them grow and prosper
under our care and attention; nothing more interesting than to
examine their progress, and mark 'their several peculiarities. As
they advance to perfection, we foresee their ultimate beauty; and
the consideration that we have reared them raises a most agreeable
train of sensations in our minds; so innocent and rational, that
they may justly rank with the most exquisite of human
gratifications. But, as the most powerful motives to planting are
those which address themselves to the interest of the individual, I
proceed to consider it more particularly in this point of view."
(p. 23.)
The work is divided into sections, in one of which, in
particular, on the principal distinctions of trees and shrubs, are
some very interesting observations, which show how well
their author was acquainted with the characteristics of trees and
shrubs even at that early period of his life. Before Mr. Loudon
left Edinburgh, he published another work, entitled A short
Treatise on some Improvements lately made in Hothouses. This
was in 1805; and the same year he returned to England. Oh this
second voyage to London, he was compelled by stress of weather to
land at Lowestoft; and he took such a disgust at the sea, that he
never afterwards traveled by it if it was possible to go by land,
he now resumed his labours as a landscape gardener; and his Journal
is filled with the observations he made, and the ideas that
suggested themselves of improvements, on all he saw. Among other
things, he made some remarks on the best mode of harmonizing
colours in flower-gardens, which accord, in a very striking manner,
with the principles afterwards laid down by M. Chevreul in his
celebrated work entitled De la Loi du Contraste simultane des
Couleurs, published in Paris in 1839. Mr. Loudon states that he
had observed that flower-gardens looked best when the flowers were
so arranged as to have a compound colour next the simple one, which
was not contained in it. Thus, as there are only three simple
colours, blue, red, and yellow, he advises that purple flowers,
which are composed of blue and red, should have yellow next them;
that orange flowers, which are composed of red and yellow, should
be contrasted with blue; and that green flowers, which are composed
of blue and yellow, should be relieved by red. He accounts for this
on the principle that three parts are required to make a perfect
whole; and he compares the union of the three primitive colours
formed in this manner with the common chord in music; an idea which
has since been worked out by several able writers. He bad also
formed the plan of a Pictorial Dictionary, which was to embrace
every kind of subject, and to be illustrated by finished woodcuts
printed with the type.
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