England, following the fashion of the Continent, was not long in adopting the same formal treatment for the pleasure grounds of mansions and palaces. It was the Dutch influence that introduced into the English style a further abuse of nature, in the clipping of trees and shrubs to resemble the outlines of statues, animals, and even such trivial objects as vases and tea-cups. Perhaps these extreme absurdities were the ultimate cause of a change of taste resulting in the development of a more natural style. The park, a peculiarly English feature, had long presented a refreshing contrast to the formality of orthodox garden arrangements. Semi-cultivated reaches of forest land, mead, and water, these English parks were kept for the enjoyment of primeval nature little altered by the hand of man. The national taste for rural pursuits that distinguishes the English people, may have assisted in rendering popular a new style of natural gardening in which all the most cherished classical precedents were discarded.
