Since few of the practical followers of Mr. Brown possessed that force of genius which rendered him, according to MASON, ---------- "The living leader of thy powers, Great Nature"---------- it is no wonder that they should have occasionally copied the means he used, without considering the effect which he intended to produce. Thus Brown has been treated with ridicule by the contemptuous observation, that all his improvements consisted in belting, clumping, and dotting; but I conceive the two latter ought rather to be considered as cause and effect, than as two distinct ideas of improvement; for the disagreeable and artificial appearance of young trees, when protected by what is called a cradle fence, together with the difficulty of mailing them grow thus exposed to the wind, induced Mr. Brown to form small clumps fenced round, containing a number of trees calculated to shelter each other, and to promote the growth of those few which might be ultimately destined to remain and form a group. This I apprehend was the origin and intention of those clumps, and that they never were designed as ornaments in themselves, but as the most efficacious and least disgusting manner of producing single trees and groups to vary the surface of a lawn, and break its uniformity by light and shadow.
