Letter From the Editor1

Regency Society of America Link Page2

Picnics of Progression3

Manners Makyth The Man7

Theories on Land and Nature

9

Hints on Ornamental Design17

Summer Calendar21

Editor in ChiefSarah Bernsdorff

ContributorsAngie Howard Barbara Shelansky Chris Wilkes

Charlotte Cunningham Nora Azevedo

The Belletrist Logo By Erin DeFilipps

The Belletrist is a Non Profit Publication

While every effort to obtain accurate copyright permission has been made byThe Belletrist please contact us at thebelletristmagazineyahoocom

in the case of a missed or inaccurate attribution

Editor in ChiefSarah Bernsdorff

ContributorsAngie Howard Barbara Shelansky Chris Wilkes

Charlotte Cunningham Nora Azevedo

The Belletrist Logo By Erin DeFilipps

The Belletrist is a Non Profit Publication

While every effort to obtain accurate copyright permission has been made byThe Belletrist please contact us at thebelletristmagazineyahoocom

in the case of a missed or inaccurate attribution

1

Dear ReadersI am sure that while we all have a soft spot in our hearts for the

daily life led by those who lived in the Regency most of us can agree that there are some modern items that we couldnt live without Our computers our phones and of course our air conditioners

The summer months during the Regency offered little by way of cooling that was not produced by chilled ice deserts hand fans natural shade and even for a lucky few Sea Bathing And with the first air conditioner still a century off they had to cool themselves by other means

It was during the Regency that the outdoors were becoming the again Lawn games such as bowling and tennis plant collecting

wild berry picking and outside dinning and picnics provided a repreave from the stuffy indoors

With the invention of the Mechanical Air Conditioner in 1902 the world has changed quite a bit People still venture outside to take part in nature but cool interiors make it possible to stay inside and find enjoyment through electronic devices such as video games and television or even to read a book

With the record breaking warm weather that has been taking over portions of North America this year it gives us the perfect opportunity to set up picnics and other adventures in forests and parks So if you have the opportunity or should you make the opportunity yourself now is the time to dress up in your Regency finest and head back to nature To pack baskets to gather with friends and even should you forget that one item on your list head to the store

Well after you have read our Summer Issue that is

Sarah Bernsdorff

2

Click on the icons to visit the Regency Society of Americas different society sites

3

Picnics Of

My first memory of the word picnic was around four years old Leaving my mother content to relax with a book in our front yard my father and I hiked through the woods to the perfect fishing spot on the river After a few hours my father opened his backpack to reveal a peanut butter honey and banana sandwich accompanied by a thermos full of sweet tea Never mind that the fish werent biting (most likely due to my never ending chatter) or that it seemed like it took forever for lunch time to come around I knew that particular sandwich was for special occasions and my father must have felt that this was going to be a special day From my memories I remember it being a great day outside as I enjoyed spending time with my father and most epecially my lunch

The word Picnic was first puclished in 1692 in the French book

(The Origin of the French Language) by Tony Willis At the time it was described as an indoor meal where everyone would bring wine to share The idea soon caught on to English society through Medieval English

hunting parties Though different from the French meals medieval hunting parties opted for fresh air and filled the event with an abundance of food and servants The serving of the food could be a three day festival with leftovers to be given to the servants as charity

During the Regency period country dwellers would walk or take a briefe carriage ride to a pre-selected location while peple in the city would visit nearby parks and gardens or escape to their country estates As the population grew in the cities the smells of sewage and refuse were often a catalyst for picnic outings in the countryside It was thought that the open air would improve ones health The perfect picnic destination required a shady spot with an enjoyable view and an area to ake a walk about watch birds or play card games The staff would often rush ahead of the picnicers to set everything up and quickly rush out of sight leaving an informal meal to be served by the party goers

Victorians took picnicing to a heightened level of enjoyment With such a popular pastime picnic train routs were

ProgressionWritten by Angie HowardWith Pictures by Sue Hammond

4

Picnics OfProgression

5

4

Picnics OfProgression

5

5

designed to take people out of the city to the countryside One could rent a public picnic basket to be later returned to the train Though because train meals were costly and often consisted of soggy sandwiches many families came with their own elaborate basket filled with meats cheeses bread spreads and pastries for dessert Popular drinks would have been Lavender Leomonade or Ginger Beer

To avoid duplication the Victorian woman felt it would be best if one person hosted the event and assigned guests with certain items to bring It was the hosts responsibility to find the location invite the right people with an emphasis on inviting people who knew each other The hostess would also write a letter to reserve any train carriages or boats needed for the excusion If hosting a moonlit picnic she had the task

of making sure that each person was equipped with a candle and lantern

Upper classes opted for more traditional picnics at home Through the months of August to September weekend house or hunting parties were held at country estates The host would invite men to hunt while the women and non-sporting men would gossip or play games such as Croquet or Hunt the Ring These parties were refered to as a Saturday-Monday party as most it was considered poor tast to call it a weekend Even though the partying and picnics were seen as a getaway from normal routine the etiquette of society was still strongly in place Walks were chaperoned and it was considered rude and inappropriate for someone to be away from the group for too long Meal times were on time paying special attention to the event and seasonal food being served

As that day in the outdoors with my father created a memory for me I am sure many other people through the ages can remember that perfect picnic with a wonderful location good food and great company

6

Below A group of Regency Picnicers enjoy a day in the park Front Page A Regency Picnicer enjoys a cup of tea while picnicing

When the modern person thinks of manners they may think of many things such as saying please and thank you not speaking until you are spoken to and addressing an elder as Mr or Mrs However that is only the start especially if you were brought up a in Regency England

Let us for a moment think of a social situation in our modern times that could compare with one during the Regency Today when meeting a new person in the company of friends it is customary to offer your hand and introduce yourself What a grand faux pas that would be in 1812 The proper way to be known to a person you do now know would to ask for an introduction from someone who knows you both

For example

Miss A Mrs B may I beg an introduction I am not known to that gentleman

A genteel lady such as Mrs B was always

amiable and would upon consenting to performing the office do so henceforth

Mrs B Mr C please allow me the honor of introducing Miss A Miss A this is Mr Crdquo

Of course the consummate gentleman Mr C would say that the honor was his and than give a bow and take her offered hand

To todays modern ways it may seem elaborate and useless but manners were and are very important and this simple greeting and introduction was something ingrained in a regency person as much as covering our mouths when we cough or the proper use of utensils at the dinner table is to us

Manners 200 years ago went further than simple introduction or the correct way to address someone Everything from your clothing how you walked what equipage you drove how you rode your horse and who you associated with

Sketch from Northanger Abbey by CE and HM Brock 1908

7

By Nora Azevedo

told the world how you were raised and what social graces you possessed

A lady of even modest means always wore gloves unless eating or at home A lady always wore the appropriate dress for the occasion situation and time of day A lady always knew the proper head wear to wear for any situation and location

When addressing people manners were utmost important A Lady or Gentleman must be mindful of many different things when addressing people A person of ones own consequence is qualified to speak with candor and ease A well bred person is respectful and genteel to those below them as Emma Woodhouse strives to be with the Mrs and Miss Bates and is diffident and accommodating to someone higher than them in station and consequence as Miss Eliza struggles to be with Lady Catherine The discourse between a Lady and Gentleman of course

manners and propriety must always be observed A Gentleman will never use foul language or flirt outrageously or insinuate with a lady will always make way for her pull out her chair hand her into a carriage and offer his arm even if they are strolling 10 feet A lady always restricts her remarks to what ever topic is at hand and will never let herself be caught alone with a gentleman

Manners may be different but the social necessity are the same So the next time you are properly introduced to someone new show your manners curtsy beautifully or bow gallantly and say ldquoIt is a pleasure to make your acquaintancerdquo

Do you have a question about Regency Manners that you would like to answered E-mail us at thebelletristmagazineyahoocom with Manners in the subject line

8

9

TThheeoorriieessoonnLLaannddaannddNNaattuurree

11

The English landscape is a location in which theories of the social and theories of nature engaged in Jane Austenrsquos era while at the same time it provided the settings for much of what went on in her novels The landscape offered those with enough income to fashion new forms of nature and to enact theories of the natural and social worlds But it also framed what went on in the houses and drawing rooms of Austenrsquos characters as well as providing the setting for the work and the livelihood of rural dwellers Malevolent landowners could raze a village in a month and put paid to centuries of tradition by deciding that they didnrsquot like the view from their study Enclosure meant the diminution of common land and the means of subsistence for the poor And landscape offered the propertied classes a way of expressing their modes of taste and their forms of domination

The meanings attached to land and to property attracted a great deal of attention in Austenrsquos time They were at the center of the debate about what counted as Englishness who had the right to rule and what was the essential nature of the English landscape These theories of nature and of land explain much of what was going on in framing Austens novels

Landscape also offered many opportunities for less dramatic stupidity than razing a village Early on in Maria Bertram marries a park in the form of a Mr Rushworth a man of little sense but large landholdings In contrast to Darcy who has both sense and

property Rushworth lacks all capacity for logical thought

It is clear that Austenrsquos sympathies lay closely with those who took their stewardship of the land seriously Austenrsquos accounts from the housekeeperrsquos tale at Pemberley to the report we receive in of Mr Knightleyrsquos good works make it clear that those who own land have a clear moral obligation to protect and secure the interests of those who live and work on that land Those who cannot are either foolish as was the case of Sir Walter Elliott or absurd as with Mr Rushworth Indeed it is Rushworth who is portrayed as a character worthy of ridicule as he seeks to improve his property and make it more useful and interesting to the world of commerce and of taste

Those who have wealth but no land in the country must buy it or at a minimum buy themselves a sufficiently large house and surrounding gardens to allow them to set out their social rank in material form for all to see It is not difficult to see how property the design of property and land its profitability or otherwise and the medium it affords for the display of wealth and stature enter into Austenrsquos account of social hierarchy at many points And the clear territory of moral and social judgment that the ownership of land and estates opens up is equally unmistakable The full understanding of this process depends to a large extent on theories of property and landscape that were current at the time

Nigel Everett author of contrasts the

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

When the modern person thinks of manners they may think of many things such as saying please and thank you not speaking until you are spoken to and addressing an elder as Mr or Mrs However that is only the start especially if you were brought up a in Regency England

Let us for a moment think of a social situation in our modern times that could compare with one during the Regency Today when meeting a new person in the company of friends it is customary to offer your hand and introduce yourself What a grand faux pas that would be in 1812 The proper way to be known to a person you do now know would to ask for an introduction from someone who knows you both

For example

Miss A Mrs B may I beg an introduction I am not known to that gentleman

A genteel lady such as Mrs B was always

amiable and would upon consenting to performing the office do so henceforth

Mrs B Mr C please allow me the honor of introducing Miss A Miss A this is Mr Crdquo

Of course the consummate gentleman Mr C would say that the honor was his and than give a bow and take her offered hand

To todays modern ways it may seem elaborate and useless but manners were and are very important and this simple greeting and introduction was something ingrained in a regency person as much as covering our mouths when we cough or the proper use of utensils at the dinner table is to us

Manners 200 years ago went further than simple introduction or the correct way to address someone Everything from your clothing how you walked what equipage you drove how you rode your horse and who you associated with

Sketch from Northanger Abbey by CE and HM Brock 1908

7

By Nora Azevedo

told the world how you were raised and what social graces you possessed

A lady of even modest means always wore gloves unless eating or at home A lady always wore the appropriate dress for the occasion situation and time of day A lady always knew the proper head wear to wear for any situation and location

When addressing people manners were utmost important A Lady or Gentleman must be mindful of many different things when addressing people A person of ones own consequence is qualified to speak with candor and ease A well bred person is respectful and genteel to those below them as Emma Woodhouse strives to be with the Mrs and Miss Bates and is diffident and accommodating to someone higher than them in station and consequence as Miss Eliza struggles to be with Lady Catherine The discourse between a Lady and Gentleman of course

manners and propriety must always be observed A Gentleman will never use foul language or flirt outrageously or insinuate with a lady will always make way for her pull out her chair hand her into a carriage and offer his arm even if they are strolling 10 feet A lady always restricts her remarks to what ever topic is at hand and will never let herself be caught alone with a gentleman

Manners may be different but the social necessity are the same So the next time you are properly introduced to someone new show your manners curtsy beautifully or bow gallantly and say ldquoIt is a pleasure to make your acquaintancerdquo

Do you have a question about Regency Manners that you would like to answered E-mail us at thebelletristmagazineyahoocom with Manners in the subject line

8

9

TThheeoorriieessoonnLLaannddaannddNNaattuurree

11

The English landscape is a location in which theories of the social and theories of nature engaged in Jane Austenrsquos era while at the same time it provided the settings for much of what went on in her novels The landscape offered those with enough income to fashion new forms of nature and to enact theories of the natural and social worlds But it also framed what went on in the houses and drawing rooms of Austenrsquos characters as well as providing the setting for the work and the livelihood of rural dwellers Malevolent landowners could raze a village in a month and put paid to centuries of tradition by deciding that they didnrsquot like the view from their study Enclosure meant the diminution of common land and the means of subsistence for the poor And landscape offered the propertied classes a way of expressing their modes of taste and their forms of domination

The meanings attached to land and to property attracted a great deal of attention in Austenrsquos time They were at the center of the debate about what counted as Englishness who had the right to rule and what was the essential nature of the English landscape These theories of nature and of land explain much of what was going on in framing Austens novels

Landscape also offered many opportunities for less dramatic stupidity than razing a village Early on in Maria Bertram marries a park in the form of a Mr Rushworth a man of little sense but large landholdings In contrast to Darcy who has both sense and

property Rushworth lacks all capacity for logical thought

It is clear that Austenrsquos sympathies lay closely with those who took their stewardship of the land seriously Austenrsquos accounts from the housekeeperrsquos tale at Pemberley to the report we receive in of Mr Knightleyrsquos good works make it clear that those who own land have a clear moral obligation to protect and secure the interests of those who live and work on that land Those who cannot are either foolish as was the case of Sir Walter Elliott or absurd as with Mr Rushworth Indeed it is Rushworth who is portrayed as a character worthy of ridicule as he seeks to improve his property and make it more useful and interesting to the world of commerce and of taste

Those who have wealth but no land in the country must buy it or at a minimum buy themselves a sufficiently large house and surrounding gardens to allow them to set out their social rank in material form for all to see It is not difficult to see how property the design of property and land its profitability or otherwise and the medium it affords for the display of wealth and stature enter into Austenrsquos account of social hierarchy at many points And the clear territory of moral and social judgment that the ownership of land and estates opens up is equally unmistakable The full understanding of this process depends to a large extent on theories of property and landscape that were current at the time

Nigel Everett author of contrasts the

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

By Nora Azevedo

told the world how you were raised and what social graces you possessed

A lady of even modest means always wore gloves unless eating or at home A lady always wore the appropriate dress for the occasion situation and time of day A lady always knew the proper head wear to wear for any situation and location

When addressing people manners were utmost important A Lady or Gentleman must be mindful of many different things when addressing people A person of ones own consequence is qualified to speak with candor and ease A well bred person is respectful and genteel to those below them as Emma Woodhouse strives to be with the Mrs and Miss Bates and is diffident and accommodating to someone higher than them in station and consequence as Miss Eliza struggles to be with Lady Catherine The discourse between a Lady and Gentleman of course

manners and propriety must always be observed A Gentleman will never use foul language or flirt outrageously or insinuate with a lady will always make way for her pull out her chair hand her into a carriage and offer his arm even if they are strolling 10 feet A lady always restricts her remarks to what ever topic is at hand and will never let herself be caught alone with a gentleman

Manners may be different but the social necessity are the same So the next time you are properly introduced to someone new show your manners curtsy beautifully or bow gallantly and say ldquoIt is a pleasure to make your acquaintancerdquo

Do you have a question about Regency Manners that you would like to answered E-mail us at thebelletristmagazineyahoocom with Manners in the subject line

8

9

TThheeoorriieessoonnLLaannddaannddNNaattuurree

11

The English landscape is a location in which theories of the social and theories of nature engaged in Jane Austenrsquos era while at the same time it provided the settings for much of what went on in her novels The landscape offered those with enough income to fashion new forms of nature and to enact theories of the natural and social worlds But it also framed what went on in the houses and drawing rooms of Austenrsquos characters as well as providing the setting for the work and the livelihood of rural dwellers Malevolent landowners could raze a village in a month and put paid to centuries of tradition by deciding that they didnrsquot like the view from their study Enclosure meant the diminution of common land and the means of subsistence for the poor And landscape offered the propertied classes a way of expressing their modes of taste and their forms of domination

The meanings attached to land and to property attracted a great deal of attention in Austenrsquos time They were at the center of the debate about what counted as Englishness who had the right to rule and what was the essential nature of the English landscape These theories of nature and of land explain much of what was going on in framing Austens novels

Landscape also offered many opportunities for less dramatic stupidity than razing a village Early on in Maria Bertram marries a park in the form of a Mr Rushworth a man of little sense but large landholdings In contrast to Darcy who has both sense and

property Rushworth lacks all capacity for logical thought

It is clear that Austenrsquos sympathies lay closely with those who took their stewardship of the land seriously Austenrsquos accounts from the housekeeperrsquos tale at Pemberley to the report we receive in of Mr Knightleyrsquos good works make it clear that those who own land have a clear moral obligation to protect and secure the interests of those who live and work on that land Those who cannot are either foolish as was the case of Sir Walter Elliott or absurd as with Mr Rushworth Indeed it is Rushworth who is portrayed as a character worthy of ridicule as he seeks to improve his property and make it more useful and interesting to the world of commerce and of taste

Those who have wealth but no land in the country must buy it or at a minimum buy themselves a sufficiently large house and surrounding gardens to allow them to set out their social rank in material form for all to see It is not difficult to see how property the design of property and land its profitability or otherwise and the medium it affords for the display of wealth and stature enter into Austenrsquos account of social hierarchy at many points And the clear territory of moral and social judgment that the ownership of land and estates opens up is equally unmistakable The full understanding of this process depends to a large extent on theories of property and landscape that were current at the time

Nigel Everett author of contrasts the

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

9

TThheeoorriieessoonnLLaannddaannddNNaattuurree

11

The English landscape is a location in which theories of the social and theories of nature engaged in Jane Austenrsquos era while at the same time it provided the settings for much of what went on in her novels The landscape offered those with enough income to fashion new forms of nature and to enact theories of the natural and social worlds But it also framed what went on in the houses and drawing rooms of Austenrsquos characters as well as providing the setting for the work and the livelihood of rural dwellers Malevolent landowners could raze a village in a month and put paid to centuries of tradition by deciding that they didnrsquot like the view from their study Enclosure meant the diminution of common land and the means of subsistence for the poor And landscape offered the propertied classes a way of expressing their modes of taste and their forms of domination

The meanings attached to land and to property attracted a great deal of attention in Austenrsquos time They were at the center of the debate about what counted as Englishness who had the right to rule and what was the essential nature of the English landscape These theories of nature and of land explain much of what was going on in framing Austens novels

Landscape also offered many opportunities for less dramatic stupidity than razing a village Early on in Maria Bertram marries a park in the form of a Mr Rushworth a man of little sense but large landholdings In contrast to Darcy who has both sense and

property Rushworth lacks all capacity for logical thought

It is clear that Austenrsquos sympathies lay closely with those who took their stewardship of the land seriously Austenrsquos accounts from the housekeeperrsquos tale at Pemberley to the report we receive in of Mr Knightleyrsquos good works make it clear that those who own land have a clear moral obligation to protect and secure the interests of those who live and work on that land Those who cannot are either foolish as was the case of Sir Walter Elliott or absurd as with Mr Rushworth Indeed it is Rushworth who is portrayed as a character worthy of ridicule as he seeks to improve his property and make it more useful and interesting to the world of commerce and of taste

Those who have wealth but no land in the country must buy it or at a minimum buy themselves a sufficiently large house and surrounding gardens to allow them to set out their social rank in material form for all to see It is not difficult to see how property the design of property and land its profitability or otherwise and the medium it affords for the display of wealth and stature enter into Austenrsquos account of social hierarchy at many points And the clear territory of moral and social judgment that the ownership of land and estates opens up is equally unmistakable The full understanding of this process depends to a large extent on theories of property and landscape that were current at the time

Nigel Everett author of contrasts the

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

TThheeoorriieessoonnLLaannddaannddNNaattuurree

11

The English landscape is a location in which theories of the social and theories of nature engaged in Jane Austenrsquos era while at the same time it provided the settings for much of what went on in her novels The landscape offered those with enough income to fashion new forms of nature and to enact theories of the natural and social worlds But it also framed what went on in the houses and drawing rooms of Austenrsquos characters as well as providing the setting for the work and the livelihood of rural dwellers Malevolent landowners could raze a village in a month and put paid to centuries of tradition by deciding that they didnrsquot like the view from their study Enclosure meant the diminution of common land and the means of subsistence for the poor And landscape offered the propertied classes a way of expressing their modes of taste and their forms of domination

The meanings attached to land and to property attracted a great deal of attention in Austenrsquos time They were at the center of the debate about what counted as Englishness who had the right to rule and what was the essential nature of the English landscape These theories of nature and of land explain much of what was going on in framing Austens novels

Landscape also offered many opportunities for less dramatic stupidity than razing a village Early on in Maria Bertram marries a park in the form of a Mr Rushworth a man of little sense but large landholdings In contrast to Darcy who has both sense and

property Rushworth lacks all capacity for logical thought

It is clear that Austenrsquos sympathies lay closely with those who took their stewardship of the land seriously Austenrsquos accounts from the housekeeperrsquos tale at Pemberley to the report we receive in of Mr Knightleyrsquos good works make it clear that those who own land have a clear moral obligation to protect and secure the interests of those who live and work on that land Those who cannot are either foolish as was the case of Sir Walter Elliott or absurd as with Mr Rushworth Indeed it is Rushworth who is portrayed as a character worthy of ridicule as he seeks to improve his property and make it more useful and interesting to the world of commerce and of taste

Those who have wealth but no land in the country must buy it or at a minimum buy themselves a sufficiently large house and surrounding gardens to allow them to set out their social rank in material form for all to see It is not difficult to see how property the design of property and land its profitability or otherwise and the medium it affords for the display of wealth and stature enter into Austenrsquos account of social hierarchy at many points And the clear territory of moral and social judgment that the ownership of land and estates opens up is equally unmistakable The full understanding of this process depends to a large extent on theories of property and landscape that were current at the time

Nigel Everett author of contrasts the

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

11

The English landscape is a location in which theories of the social and theories of nature engaged in Jane Austenrsquos era while at the same time it provided the settings for much of what went on in her novels The landscape offered those with enough income to fashion new forms of nature and to enact theories of the natural and social worlds But it also framed what went on in the houses and drawing rooms of Austenrsquos characters as well as providing the setting for the work and the livelihood of rural dwellers Malevolent landowners could raze a village in a month and put paid to centuries of tradition by deciding that they didnrsquot like the view from their study Enclosure meant the diminution of common land and the means of subsistence for the poor And landscape offered the propertied classes a way of expressing their modes of taste and their forms of domination

The meanings attached to land and to property attracted a great deal of attention in Austenrsquos time They were at the center of the debate about what counted as Englishness who had the right to rule and what was the essential nature of the English landscape These theories of nature and of land explain much of what was going on in framing Austens novels

Landscape also offered many opportunities for less dramatic stupidity than razing a village Early on in Maria Bertram marries a park in the form of a Mr Rushworth a man of little sense but large landholdings In contrast to Darcy who has both sense and

property Rushworth lacks all capacity for logical thought

It is clear that Austenrsquos sympathies lay closely with those who took their stewardship of the land seriously Austenrsquos accounts from the housekeeperrsquos tale at Pemberley to the report we receive in of Mr Knightleyrsquos good works make it clear that those who own land have a clear moral obligation to protect and secure the interests of those who live and work on that land Those who cannot are either foolish as was the case of Sir Walter Elliott or absurd as with Mr Rushworth Indeed it is Rushworth who is portrayed as a character worthy of ridicule as he seeks to improve his property and make it more useful and interesting to the world of commerce and of taste

Those who have wealth but no land in the country must buy it or at a minimum buy themselves a sufficiently large house and surrounding gardens to allow them to set out their social rank in material form for all to see It is not difficult to see how property the design of property and land its profitability or otherwise and the medium it affords for the display of wealth and stature enter into Austenrsquos account of social hierarchy at many points And the clear territory of moral and social judgment that the ownership of land and estates opens up is equally unmistakable The full understanding of this process depends to a large extent on theories of property and landscape that were current at the time

Nigel Everett author of contrasts the

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

12

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

himself spoke of the need for marks of grandeur spread across the private landscape The removal of practical buildings barns stables and the like were typical of this tendency and they are exemplified in Austenrsquos writing by the theories of Henry Crawford and Mr Rushworth Fake farms could be constructed if this made the landscape look more pleasing but the fundamental aim was the look The heart of this set of improvements was to find the ideal in nature and to obscure the mundane life of the country Rank must win out The great house must dominate and it follows logically then that the great people in it should equally reign as a matter of natural order The Whigs looked to the traditions of paintings aesthetics and the highest forms of civilization as their justification Man was seeing beyond the ordinary towards the perfect in these works

If such improvements were to occur then villages might need to be moved Nature was there to be improved it would not do as it was It was not natural enough Nature was becoming more natural all the time but at the same time more regulated Gardens and landscapes had ethics and morality built into them

But the critics were equally formidable in their views The removal of towns and villages could not go unnoticed Local landowners and residents resisted such moves with vehemence and these lsquosocial demolitionsrsquo frequently stretched over generations But the rights of property normally prevailed Community could be irrevocably

damaged by such strategies a situation Austen would not support There were those who sought to stop these changes and these tendencies were supported in times of economic hardship in the country such as the 1760s The ancient sense of community was clearly at odds with the new improving spirit The concentration of wealth in great parks meant the impoverishment of others

Theories of benevolence and of the free market were therefore engaged in a vigorous dialectical exchange during this period Whether the two could be brought together in a sort of lsquobenevolent improvementrsquo

13

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

was the main issue at stake Improvement could mean the renovation of a village Local people could be cared for The estate could become a machine for wealth Benevolence creates and sustains community while allowing property to dominate unchallenged by or indeed because of the benevolent actions of those with wealth Against this view the Whig theory of landscape may be said to be largely concerned with self-interest and with the dignity and taste of those with the best education people stuffed with civilization

The Tory theory of landscape and its Whig alternative as set out by

Everett are now seen clearly enough These two views and the variations that existed in each camp point to the complex set of ideas that underpinned the workings of the countryside in Austenrsquos time But therersquos more at work here as the author of Simon Schama reminds us There is the very nature of Englishness itself something we might imagine was very dear to Austenrsquos heart Searching out the authentic nature of England was very much an issue during the Regency period and much intellectual energy was directed towards what the English might stand for and where Englishness might be found Many of these answers lay in nature and in attempts by landowners to shape their landscapes Authentic English life might be found in nature but what kind of nature was the real question Behind all the improving of nature to make it more natural was there anything left of the real England And if nature were not to be touched by civilization how could the idea of England reside there

Jane Austenrsquos theory of landscape was very much a Tory one a view embodying a nostalgia for the past that never existed or a future that might come into existence But itrsquos much more complicated than that Austenrsquos view also involves a clear awareness that property speaks to honor dignity and social standing Itrsquos clear in everything she writes that moral and social character is of paramount importance in developing her system of social judgment But this view has a third part to it as well Her view of the landscape also

14

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

15

encourages good social relations the conducting of affairs towards a wider benevolence than is usually associated with conservative theory She clearly valued those who worked the land as well as those who owned it as she describes in some detail in the tale of Mr Martin and Harriet Smith

If landscape and nature are everywhere in Austen and in the theories of the time it is also important to remind ourselves how memory both social and individual also played a part in all this The memory of land its use and ownership has the capacity to establish dominance in a way that any amount of money and rank could not match It is the final capital at stake Long history cannot readily be bought When Emma seeks to suggest that the Woodhouses are an ancient family or the Dashwoods suggest that they have owned Norland Hall for many generations they plan by this device to outrun history and present action and display their ownership and their status as eternal It is the classic play of the already-establish against the nouveau riche of any generation and any social setting There is memory in the land and eternity as well The incumbents seem to be saying ldquoWersquove been here forever and you are temporary Thus we are natural and no amount of present action on your part will change thingsrdquo They have history in the bank How can antiquity be countered in the struggle for control Only by history and memory and that takes time

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

16

Retreat Activities Include

ReadingsWe begin with the classics Jane Austen and get together to read from the novelsmdashwe enjoy tea literature

and polite companyAn afternoon in the drawing room

Crafty are you Well why not just sit around in period dresses embroidering drinking tea and gossiping Ladies only of course

Teaswhat better than to have a tea party Invite your most handsome gentleman to share tea and share other

fine society Perhaps there will be dancing perhaps simply cards All in all itrsquos good company with cakes and tea

Partiessmall evening gatherings which include dinner cards singing and piano (should anyone wish to display

of course) and possible dancingPicnics

nothing appeals more than donning your spencer and your bonnet and joining other friends to enjoy a picnic and a brisk walk

WorkshopsThe art of letter writing dance lessons regency crafts

BallsA grand ball where open invitation occurs to encourage society membership Dining dancing good

society and funPeriod Movie Nights

Get your comfiest clothes curl up on a friends sofa with a group of Regency fanatics and enjoy your favourite period movies together

Event hosted by the Oregon Regency SocietyClick on picture for more details

17

Rural embellishment had become so general a pursuit and so few works have been written on the subject except of a voluminous nature embracing matter not intimately connected with this inquiry that we trust our readers will approve the introduction of ldquoHints on ornamental Gardeningrdquo in the pages of the Repository particularly as they will be accompanied by designs for such decorative buildings as are practicable useful and convenient

The annexed plate contains a design for a woodland seat composed of materials homogeneous to the spot on which such a building should be placedthis would properly be on the border of an elevated wood or coppice at a short distance from the residence here it would add relief force and spirit to its sombre or secluded character become a resting-place and a shelter from the heat and rain and induce the visitor more

18

satisfactorily to contemplate the prospects its situation might command

The building is intended to be composed chiefly of unbarked wood which is commonly the refuse of trees felled and sawn into square timbers for the carpenter To receive these native planks a framework is to be erected to which the planks are to be fixed and here the ingenuity of the selector of the materials would be fully employed for much of the design consists in the choice and disposal of the planks and pieces so that a claim to attention may be obtained independent of its outline and general proportions

The various sizes of the materials the colour and texture of the bark when contrasted with the dark browns and yellow hues of the sawn surfaces of the timber afford ample for an effective display of taste particularly as the forms may be disposed in infinite variety The upper roof is intended to be covered with reed-thatching

The rational enjoyment of rural nature has been a favorite pursuit for many ages and perhaps every country has evidenced some feeling for its beauties and although the construction of the celebrated pensile gardens of ancient Babylon described by Diodorus and Quintus Curtuis may not in out time merit the title of miraculous nor be very remarkable for their dimensions they at least prove how highly the science was esteemed at the early period The Chinese have carried the business of ornamental gardening to a peculiarly romantic extent and all the countries of the East have profited by the beauties of its cultivation The Greeks and the Romans the Germans Italians and the French pursued this science with delight and the Dutch appropriated its principles to the singular circumstances of their country

In England the study of rural improvement has long employed the attention of men of science and it has consequently passed through several stages of practice in its way to the perfection to which it has arrived About a century ago a systematic style prevailed in which the interference of art was so prevalent that every material of the garden-landscape submitted to the mathematical operations of the geometrician At that time the situation for the residence was chosen on account of its flatness because an undulating surface was only desirable as it permitted the introduction of terraces and flights of steps Avenues were then cultivated as important vistas and placed in every direction Square fields bordered by trimmed hedges occupied the intermediate spaces and were relieved by circles parallelograms and polygons disposed as ponds and canals and placed in symmetrical order but as a better feeling for the liberty of nature was not quite extent the wood and wilderness were permitted to become features in this arrangement but the former was simply as assemblage of trees compactly planted in some prim mathematical order and the wilderness which was also a wood was regularly disposed in alleys converging to one or more centres decorated with small ponds or leaden statues these were further diversified by a serpentine path traversing the wood and intersecting the alleys in its circuitous progress to the spot whence it first proceeded thus producing the intricacy but without the variety and a labyrinth to which every path was an effectual clue

19

Have you ever wished that there was place you could go to

completly immerse yourself in the life daily life of the

RegencySuch a place is in the concept

phase right nowBut we could use a little helpPlease take a few minutes and click on the picture below to take our 5 minute survey to

gauge interest and tell us what would make your dream come

true

18

satisfactorily to contemplate the prospects its situation might command

The building is intended to be composed chiefly of unbarked wood which is commonly the refuse of trees felled and sawn into square timbers for the carpenter To receive these native planks a framework is to be erected to which the planks are to be fixed and here the ingenuity of the selector of the materials would be fully employed for much of the design consists in the choice and disposal of the planks and pieces so that a claim to attention may be obtained independent of its outline and general proportions

The various sizes of the materials the colour and texture of the bark when contrasted with the dark browns and yellow hues of the sawn surfaces of the timber afford ample for an effective display of taste particularly as the forms may be disposed in infinite variety The upper roof is intended to be covered with reed-thatching

The rational enjoyment of rural nature has been a favorite pursuit for many ages and perhaps every country has evidenced some feeling for its beauties and although the construction of the celebrated pensile gardens of ancient Babylon described by Diodorus and Quintus Curtuis may not in out time merit the title of miraculous nor be very remarkable for their dimensions they at least prove how highly the science was esteemed at the early period The Chinese have carried the business of ornamental gardening to a peculiarly romantic extent and all the countries of the East have profited by the beauties of its cultivation The Greeks and the Romans the Germans Italians and the French pursued this science with delight and the Dutch appropriated its principles to the singular circumstances of their country

In England the study of rural improvement has long employed the attention of men of science and it has consequently passed through several stages of practice in its way to the perfection to which it has arrived About a century ago a systematic style prevailed in which the interference of art was so prevalent that every material of the garden-landscape submitted to the mathematical operations of the geometrician At that time the situation for the residence was chosen on account of its flatness because an undulating surface was only desirable as it permitted the introduction of terraces and flights of steps Avenues were then cultivated as important vistas and placed in every direction Square fields bordered by trimmed hedges occupied the intermediate spaces and were relieved by circles parallelograms and polygons disposed as ponds and canals and placed in symmetrical order but as a better feeling for the liberty of nature was not quite extent the wood and wilderness were permitted to become features in this arrangement but the former was simply as assemblage of trees compactly planted in some prim mathematical order and the wilderness which was also a wood was regularly disposed in alleys converging to one or more centres decorated with small ponds or leaden statues these were further diversified by a serpentine path traversing the wood and intersecting the alleys in its circuitous progress to the spot whence it first proceeded thus producing the intricacy but without the variety and a labyrinth to which every path was an effectual clue

19

Have you ever wished that there was place you could go to

completly immerse yourself in the life daily life of the

RegencySuch a place is in the concept

phase right nowBut we could use a little helpPlease take a few minutes and click on the picture below to take our 5 minute survey to

gauge interest and tell us what would make your dream come

true

19

Have you ever wished that there was place you could go to

completly immerse yourself in the life daily life of the

RegencySuch a place is in the concept

phase right nowBut we could use a little helpPlease take a few minutes and click on the picture below to take our 5 minute survey to

gauge interest and tell us what would make your dream come

true

September 1 - 2 201210 am to 6 pm Both DaysGeorge Rogers Clark Park

Springfield Oh

21

SSuummmmeerr CCaalleennddaarr

July

Film Evening

AzRS

Pittock Mansion

Picnic ORS

22

August

September

ECD AzRS

2nd AnnualRSATN Ball

ORS RegencyRetreat

ECD AzRSSummer Picnic

and Masquerade Ball ORS

Whist Party AzRS

Dance Party BAERS

Atlanta ECD Fandago Event

GRS

Want More RegencyJoin the RSA Forum to

ask questions talk with others

and keep up do date on society activites