POPE.


Of the origin of these enchanting gardens, Mr. Aubrey, in his
"Antiquities of Surrey," gives us the following account;--"At Vauxhall,
Sir Samuel Morland built a fine room, anno 1667, the inside all of
looking-glass, and fountains very pleasant to behold, which is much
visited by strangers: it stands in the middle of the garden, covered
with Cornish slate, on the point of which he placed a punchinello, very
well carved, which held a dial, but the winds have demolished it." And
Sir John Hawkins, in his "History of Music," has the following account
of it:--"The house seems to have been rebuilt since the time that Sir
Samuel Morland dwelt in it. About the year 1730, Mr. Jonathan Tyers
became the occupier of it, and, there being a large garden belonging to
it, planted with a great number of stately trees, and laid out in shady
walks, it obtained the name of Spring Gardens; and the house being
converted into a tavern, or place of entertainment, was much frequented
by the votaries of pleasure. Mr. Tyers opened it with an advertisement
of a _Ridotto al Fresco_, a term which the people of this country had
till that time been strangers to. These entertainments were repeated in
the course of the summer, and numbers resorted to partake of them. This
encouraged the proprietor to make his garden a place of musical
entertainment, for every evening during the summer season. To this end
he was at great expense in decorating the gardens with paintings; he
engaged a band of excellent musicians; he issued silver tickets at one
guinea each for admission, and receiving great encouragement, he set up
an organ in the orchestra, and, in a conspicuous part of the garden,
erected a fine statue of Mr. Handel." These gardens are said to be the
first of the kind in England; but they are not so old as the Mulberry
Gardens, (on the spot now called Spring Gardens, near St. James's Park,)