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OBSERVATIONS

O N

MODERN GARDENING,

ILLUSTRATED BY

DESCRIPTIONS.

Where Wealth, enthroned in Nature's pride.
With Tafte and Bounty by her fide,

And holding Plenty's horn.
Sends Labour to purfue the toil.
Art to improve the happy foil.

And Beauty to adorn.

2^

LONDON.

Printed for T. Payne, at the Mews-gate.

MDCCLXX.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Research Library, The Getty Research Institute

http://www.archive.org/details/onmoderngardeninOOwhat

TABLE

O F T H E

CONTENTS.

I.

INTRODUCTION.

^\ F the fubjeds, and materials of the art
^^ of gardening. x

Of G R O U N D.

II. Of a level.

2

Defcription of a lawn at Moor Park. a

III. Of convex, and concave fhapes of ground. 6

IV. Of the connexion between the parts in

ground. «

V. Of the relation of the parts to the whole. lo

VI. Of the charader of ground. i'^

VII. Of variety j-

VIII. Of the lines traced by the feveral parts in

ground. j^

IX. Of contraft. ^q

X. Of extraordinary efFedls. 20
Defcription of a hill at Ham. 22

XI. Of the efFeds of wood, on the form of

ground. 23

A 2 Of

CONTENTS.

Of W O O D.

XII. Of the chara£leriftic differences in trees,

and fhrubs. 24

XIII. Of the variety arifing from the differences

in trees and fhrubs. 28

XIV. Of the. mixture of greens. 30

XV. Of the efFedts arifing from the difpofition

of the greens. 34

XVI. Of the feveral fpecies of wood. 35

XVII. Of thelurface of a wood diflinguifhed by

its greatnefs. 36

XVIII. Of the furface of a romantic, and of a

thin wood. 40

XIX. Of the outline of a wood. 42

XX. Of the furface and outline of a grove. 46

XXI. Of the interior of a grove. 47
Defcription of a grove at Claremont. 48
Defcription of a grove at Efher Place. 50

XXII. Of the forms of clumps. 53

XXIII. Of the ufes and fituations of independant

clumps. .56

XXIV. Of clumps which a have a relation to each

other. 57

XXV. Of fingle trees. 58

Of W A T E II.

XXV^I. Of the effecSls and fpecies of water. 61

XXVII. Of the differences between a lake and a

river. 63

XXVIII. Of

CONTENTS.

XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII.
XXXIV.

Of a lake. 66

Of the courfe of a river. 71

Of bridges. 72

Of the accompaniments on the banks.

77

Defcription of the water at Blenheim.

78

Of a river flov/ing through a wood. 81

Defcription of the water at Wotton. 84
Of a rill and a rivulet. 88

Of cafcades. 91

Of R O C K S.

XXXV. Of the accompaniments of rocks. 93
Defcription of Middleton dale. ibid.

XXXVI. Of rocks chara<£lerifed by dignity. 99
Defcription of Mafclock Bath. 102

XXXVII. Of rocks chara(3erifed by terror. 106
Defcription of a fcene at the New Weir

on the Wye. 108

XXXVIII. Of rocks chara6terifed by fancy. 1 1 1
Defcription of Dove dale, ibid.

Of BUILDINGS.

XXXIX. Of the ufes of buildings.

XL.

XLI.

XLII.

116

Of buildings intended for objeds. 118
Of buildings expreffive of charafters.

123
Of the fpecies and fituations of build-
ings. 127

Defcrip-

CONTENTS.

Defcription of the temple of Pan at the

fouth lodge on Enfield Chace. 129

XLIII. Of ruins. 130

Defcription of Tintern Abbey, 133

Of A R T.

XLIV. Of the appearance of art near the

houfe. 135

XLV. Of the approach. 138

Defcription of the approach at Caver-

fham. 140

XLVI. Of regularity in the feveral parts of a

garden. 144

Of PICTURES QJJ E BEAUTY.

XLV II. Of the different effeds from the fame ob-
jeds in a fcene and a pidure. 146

Of CHARACTER.

XLVIII. Of emblematical charaders.
XLIX. Of imitative charaders.
L, Of original characters .

150
153

Of the GENERAL SUBJECT.

LI. Of the differences between a farm, a gar-

den, a park, and a riding. 156

Of a FARM.

LII. Of a paftoral farm. 161

Defcription of the Leafowes. 162

LIII. Of

CONTENTS.

LIII. Of an ancient farm. i^i

LIV. Of a fimple farm i^.

LV, Of an ornamented farm. \n-j

Defcription of Woburn farm. ibid.

Of a P A R K.

LVI. Of a park bordered by a garden. 182

Defcription of PainfliilJ. 184

LVII. Of the charadler of a park blended with

that of a garden. jn^

Defcription of Hagley. iqa

Of a G A R D E N.

LVIII. Of a garden furrounding an enclofure. 206
LIX. Of a garden which occupies the whole en-

clofure.

210

Defcription of Stowe. 2i?

Of a R I D I N G.

LX. Of the decorations of a riding. 227

LXI. Of a village. 2^,q

LXII. Of the buildings defigned for objefts in a

riding. 232

LXIII. Of a garden fimilar in charader to a

riding. ^^^

Defcription of Persfield. 236

Of

C O N T E N T S'.

Of the SEASONS.

LXIV. Qfoccafional effects. 242

Defcription of the temple of concord and

vi6lory at Stowe, at fun-fet. 243

LXV. Of the different parts of the day. 245

LXVI. Of the feafons of the year. 248

CONCLUSION.

LXVII. Of the extent and ftudy of the art of gar-
dening. 256

INTRODUCTION.

G

I. ^^ARDENING, in the perfeaion to
which it has been lately brought in
England, is entitled to a place of
confiderable rank among the liberal arts. It is
as fuperior to landfkip painting, as a reality
to a reprefentation : it is an exertion of fancy,
a fubje(5t for tafte ; and being releafed now from
the reftraints of regularity, and enlarged be-
yond the purpofesof domeftic convenience, the
moft beautiful, the mod fimple, the mod noble
fcenes of nature are all within its province : for
it is no longer confined to the fpots from which
it borrows its name, but regulates alfo the dif-
pofition and embellifhments of a park, a farm,
or a riding -, and the bufinefs of a gardener is to
felect and to apply whatever is great, elegant,
or charafteriftic in any of them ; to difcover
and to fhew all the advantages of the place upon
which he is employed ; to fupply its defeds, to
corred its faults, and to improve its beauties.
B For

[ 2 ]

For all thefe operations, the objefts of nature
are ftill his only materials. His firfl enquiry,
therefore, muft be into the means by which
thofe effeds are attained in nature, which he is
to produce •, and into thofe properties in the
objeds of nature, which (hould determine him
in the choice and arrangement of them.

Nature, always fimple, employs but four
materials in the compofition of her Scenes, ground,
wood, water, and rocks. The cultivation of na-
ture has introduced a fifth fpecies, the buildings
requifite for the accommodation of men. Each
of thefe again admit of varieties in their figure,
dimenfions, colour, and fituation. Every land-
fkip is compofed of thefe parts only ; every
beauty in a landfkip depends on the application
of their feveral varieties.

Of GROUND.

II. The Ihape of ground muft be either a
convex, a concave, or a plane ; in terms lefs tech-
nical called a /well, a hollow, and a level. By
combinations of thefe are formed all the irregu-
larities of which ground is capable ; and the
beauty of it depends on the degrees and the
proportions in which they are blended.

Both the convex and the concave are forms
in themfeives of more variety than a plane :

. either

[ 3 ]

either of them may therefore be admitted to a
greater extent than cart be allowed to the other ;
but levels are not therefore totally inadmiflible.
The preference unjuftly Ihewn to them in the
old gardens, where they prevailed almoft in
exclufion of every other form, has raifed a pre-
judice againft them. It is frequently reckoned
an excellence in a piece of made ground, that
every the leaft part of it is uneven ; but then it
wants one of the three great varieties of ground,
which may fometimes be intermixed with the
other two. A gentle concave declivity falls and
fpreads eafily on a flat ; the channels between
feveral fwells degenerate into mere gutters, if
fome breadth be not given to the bottoms by
flattening them j and in many other inftances,
fmall portions of an inclined or horizontal plane
may be introduced into an irregular compofi-
tion. Care only mufl: be taken to keep them
down as fubordinate parts, and not to fufter
them to become principal.

There are, however, occafions on which a
plane may be principal : a hanging level often
produces effefls not otherwife attainable. A
large dead flat, indeed, raifes no other idea than
of fatiety : the eye finds no amufement, no re-
pofe, on fuch a level : it is fatigued, unlefs
timely relieved by an adequate termination -, and
the llrength of that termination will compen-

B 2 fate

C 4 ]

fate for its diflance. A very wide plain, at the
foot of a mountain, is lefs tedious than one of
much lefs compafs, furrounded only by hil-
locks. A flat therefore of confiderable extent
may be hazarded in a garden, provided the
boundaries alfo be confiderable in proportion ;
and if, in addition to their importance, they
become ftill more interefting by their beauty,
then the facility and diftindinefs with which they
are feen over a flat, makes the whole an agre-
able compofition. The greatnefs and the beauty
of the boundary are not, however, alone fuffi-
cient -, the form of it is of ftill more confe-
quence. A continued range of the noblefl
wood, or the fineft hill, would not cure the in-
fipidity of a flat : a lefs important, a lefs pleaf-
ing boundary, would be more eff'edual, if it
traced a more varied outline ; if it advanced
fometimes boldly forward, fometimes retired
into deep recefles -, broke all the fides into parts,
and marked even the plain itfelf with irregu-
larity.

At Moor Park f, on the back front of the
houfe, is a lawn of about thirty acres, abfo-
lutely flat •, with falls below it on one hand, and
heights above it on the other. The rifing

f The feat of Sir Laurence Dundafs, near Rickmanfworth
in Hertfordftiire.

ground

C 5 ]

ground is divided into three great parts, each
fo diftin(5l and fo different, as to have the ef-
fed of feveral hills. That neareft to the houfe
fhelves gently under an open grove of noble
trees, which hang on the declivity, and ad-
vance beyond it on the plain. The next is a
large hill, prelTing forward, and covered with
wood from the top to the bottom. The third
is a bold fteep, with a thicket falling down
the fteepeil part, which makes it appear ftill
more precipitate : but the reft of the flope is
bare -, only the brow is crowned with wood,
and towards the bottom is a little groupe of
trees. Thefe heights, thus finely charadlerifed
in themfelves, are further diftinguifhed by their
appendages. The fmall, compa6t groupe near
the foot, but ftill on the defcent, of the further
hill, is contrafted by a large ftraggling clump,
fome way out upon the lawn, before the mid-
dle eminence. Between this and the firft hill,
under two or three trees which crofs the open-
ing, is leen to great advantage a winding glade,
which rifes beyond them, and marks the fepa-
ration. This deep recefs, the different dif-
tances to which the hills advance, the contraft
in their forms, and their accompaniments, caft
the plain on this fide into a moft beautiful fi-
gure. The other fide and the end were origi-
nally the flat edge of a defcent, a harfli, offen-
B 3 five

C 6 ]

five termination ; but it is now broken by fe-
veral hillocks, not diminutive in fize, and con-
fiderable by the fine clumps which diftinguifh
them. They recede one beyond another, and
the outline waves agreably amongft them.
They do more than conceal the fharpnefs of the
edge ; they convert a deformity into a beauty,
and greatly contribute to the embellifliment of
this moil lovely fcene; a fcene, however, in
which the flat is principal ; and yet a more va-
ried, a more beautiful landfkip, can hardly be
defired in a garden.

III. A plain is not, however, in itfelf inte-
refting ; and the leaft deviation from the uni-
formity of its furface, changes its nature j as
long as it remains a flat, it depends on the ob-
jefts around for all its variety, and all its beauty;
but convex and concave forms are generally
pleafing ; and the number of degrees and corn-
binations into which they may be caft is infi-
nite : thofe forms only in each which are per-
fedlly regular muft be avoided -, a femicircle
can never be tolerable : fmall portions of large
circles blended together ; or lines gently curved,
which are not parts of any circle ; a hollow fink-
ing but little below a level -, a fwell very much
fiatten'd at the top ; are commonly the moft
agreable figures.

In

[ 7 ]
In ground which lies beautifully, the con-
cave will generally prevail ; within the fame
compais it (hews more furface than a fwell ; all
the fides of the latter are not vifible at the fame
time, except in a few particular fituations ; but
it is only in a few particular fituations, that any
part of a hollow is concealed ; earth feems to have
been accumulated to raife the one, and taken
away to fink the other. The concave, there-
fore, appears the lighter, and for the moft
part it is the more elegant fhape ; even the
(lopes of a fwell can hardly be brought down,
unlefs broken now and then into hollows, to
take off from the heavinefs of the mafs. There
are, however, fituations where the convex form
fhould be preferred. A hollow juft below the
brow of a hill reduces it to a narrow ridge,
which has a poor meagre appearance ; and an
abrupt fall will never feem to join wiih a con-
cave form immediately above it ; a fharp edge
divides them •, and to conneft them, that edge
muft be rounded, or at lead flattened -, which
is, in fact, to interpofe a convex or a level.

IV. In made ground, the connexion is, per-
haps, the principal confideration. A fwell
which wants it is but a heap ; a hollow but a
hole ; and both appear artificial : the one feems
placed upon a furface to which it does not be-
B 4 long-.

C 8 ]

long ; the other dug into it. On the great fcale
of nature indeed, either may be fo confiderable
in itfelf, as to make its relation to any other al-
moft a matter of indifference •, but on the
fmaller fcale of a garden, if the parts are dis-
jointed, the effedt of a whole is loft ; and the
union of all is not more than fufficient to pre-
ferve an idea of greatnefs and importance, to
fpots which muft be varied, and cannot be fpa-
cious. Little inequalities are befides in nature
ufually well blended together •, all lines of fepa-
ration have, in a courfe of time, been filled up ;
and therefore, when in made ground they are
left open, that ground appears artificial.

Even where artifice is avowed, a breach in
the connection offends the eye. The ufe of a
foffe is merely to provide a fence, without ob-
ftrufting the view. To blend the garden with
the country is no part of the idea : the cattle,
the objects, the culture, without the funk fence,
are difcordant to all within, and keep up the
divifion. A foffe may open the moft polilhed
lawn to a corn field, a road, or a common,
though they mark the very point of feparation.
It may be made on purpofe to fhew objeds
which cannot, or ought not to be in the gar-
den ; as a church, or a mill, a neighbouring
gentleman's feat, a town, or a village ; and yet
no confcioufnefs of the exiftence can reconcile

us

[ 9 ]
us to the fight of this divifion. The mod ob-
vious difguife is to keep the hither above the
further bank all the way ; fo that the latter may
not be feen at a competent diftance : but this
alone is not always fufficient ; for a divifion ap-
pears, if an uniformly continued line, however
faint, be difcernible •, that line, therefore, mufi:
be broken ; low but extended hillocks may
fometimes interrupt it j or the fliape on one
fide may be continued, acrofs the funk fence,
on the other ; as when the ground finks in the
field, by beginning the declivity in the garden.
Trees too without, connefted with thofe within,
and feeming part of a clump or a grove there,
will frequently obliterate every trace of an in-
terruption. By fuch, or other means, the line
may be, and fiiould be, hid or difguifed ; not
for the purpofe of deception, (when all is done
we are feldom deceived) but to preferve the
continued furface entire.

If, where no union is intended, a line of fe-
paration is difagreeable, it muft be difguftino-,
when it breaks the connexion between the fede-
ral parts of the fame piece of ground. That con-
nection depends on the jun£lion of each part to
thofe about it, and on the relation of every part to
the whole. To complete the former, fuch fhapes
fhould be contiguous as moflreadily unite ; and the
adual divifion between them fhould be anxioufly

con-

[ lO ]

concealed. If a fwell defcends upon a level j
if a hollow, finks from it, the level is an abrupt
termination, and a little rim marks it diftindtly.
To cover that rim, a fhort fweep at the foot of
a fwell, a fmall rotundity at the entrance of a
hollow, mull be interpofed. In every inftance,
when ground changes its direftion, there is a
point where the change is effedted, and that
point ihould never appear ; fome other fhapes,
uniting eafily with both extremes, muft be
thrown in to conceal it. But there muft be no
uniformity even in thefe connexions •, if the
fame fweep be carried all round the bottom of
a fwell, the fame rotundity all round the top
of a hollow, though the junction be perfe6t, yet
the art by which it is made is apparent, and
art muft never appear. The manner of con-
cealing the feparation fhould itfelf be difguifed ;
and different degrees of cavity or rotundity ;
different fhapes and dimenfions to the little parts
thus diftinguilhed by- degrees •, and thofe parts,
breaking in one place more, in another lefs,
into the principal forms which are to be united ;
produce that variety with which all nature a-
bounds, and without which ground cannot be
natural.

V. The relation of all the parts to the whole,
when clearly marked, facilitates their jun6tion

with

[ ir ]
with each other : for the common bond of union
is then perceived, before there has been time to
examine the fubordinate connexions ; and if
thefe fhould be deficient in fome niceties, the
defed: is loft in the general impreffion. But
any part which is at variance with the reft, is
not barely a blemifh in itfelf : it Ipreads difor-
der as far as its influence extends ; and the con-
fufion is in proportion as the other parts are
more or lefs adapted, to point out any particu-
lar dire^wj, or to mark any peculiar charaoier
in the ground.

If in ground all defcending one way, a piece
is twifted another, the general fall is obftru6led
by it •, but if all the parts incline in the fame
direction, it is hardly credible how fmall a de-
clivity will feem to be confiderable. An ap-
pearance even of fteepnefs may be given to a
very gentle defcent, by raifing hillocks upon it,
which lean to the point, whither all the reft are
tending •, for the eye meafures from the top of
the higheft, to the bottom of the loweft ground ;
and when the relation of the parts is well pre-
ferved, fuch an effect from one is transfufed
over the whole.

But they Ihould not, therefore, all lie exactly
in the fame direflion : fome may feem to point
to it directly, others to incline very much,
others but little, fome partially, ibme entirely.

If

[ «2 ]

If the direcflion be ftrongly marked on a few
principal parts, great liberties may be taken
with the others, provided none of them are
turned the contrary way. The general idea
muft, however, be preferved, clear even of a
doubt. A hillock which only intercepts the
fight, if it does not contribute to the principal
effect, is, at the bell, an unneceflary excrefcence ;
and even an interruption in the general ten-
dency, though it hide nothing, is a blemilh.
On a defcent, any hollow, any fall, which has
not an outlet to lower ground, is a hole : the
eye fkips over it, inftead of being continued
along it ; it is a gap in the compofition.

There may indeed be occafions, when we
fhould rather wifh to check, than to promote,
the general tendency. Ground may proceed
too haftily towards its point ; and we have equal
power to retard, or to accelerate, the fall. We
can flacken the precipitancy of a fleep, by break-
ing it into parts, fome of which Ihall incline
lefs, than the whole before inclined, to the prin-
cipal direction ; and by turning them quite a-
way, we may even change the courfe of the de-
fcent. Thefe powers arc of ufe in the larger
fcenes, where the feveral great parts often lie in
feveral diredions ; and if they are thereby too
ftrongly contrafted, or led towards points too
widely afunder, every art fhould be exerted to

bring

[ '3 ]

bring them nearer together, to aflimilate, and
to connect them. As fcenes encreafe in extent,
they become more impatient of controul : they
are not only iels manageable, but ought to be
lefs reftrained ^ they require more variety and
contraft. But ftill the fame principles are ap-
plicable to the lead, and to the greateft, tho*
not with equal feverity : neither ought to be
rent to pieces ; and though a fmall negle(5t,
which would diftrad the one, may not difturb
the other, yet a total difregard of all the prin-
ciples of union, is alike produflive of confu-
fion in both.

VI. The ftyle alfo of every part muft be
accommodated to the charafter of the whole -,
for every piece of ground is diflinguiflied by
certain properties : it is either tame or bold ;
gentle or rude j continued or broken ; and if
any variety, inconfiftent with thofe properties,
be obtruded, it has no other effedt than to
weaken one idea, without raifing another. The
infipidity of a flat is not taken away by a few
fcattered hillocks ; a continuation of uneven
ground can alone give the idea of inequality.
A large, deep, abrupt break, among eafy fwells
and falls, feems at the beft but a piece left un-
finiflied, and which ought to have been foft-
ened : it is not more natural, btcaufe it is more

rude;

C M ]

rude ; nature forms both the one and the other,
but feldom mixes them together. On the other
hand, a fmall fine polifhed form, in the midft
of rough, miihapen ground, though more ele-
gant than all about it, is generally no better
than a patch, itfelf difgraced, and disfiguring
the fcene. A thoufand inftances might be ad-
duced to fhew, that the prevailing idea ought
to pervade every part, fo far at leaft indifpenf-
ably as to exclude whatever dillrafbs it ; and as
much further as poffible to accommodate the
character of the ground to that of the fcene it
belongs to.

On the fame principle, the 'proportion of the
parts may often be adjufted j for though their
fize mult be very much governed by the extent
of the place ; and a feature which would fill
up a fmall fpot, may be loft in a large one :
though there are forms of a particular caft,
which appear to advantage only within certain
dimenfions, and ought not therefore to be ap-
plied, where they have not room enough, or
where they muft occupy more fpace than be-
comes them ; yet independant of thefe confide-
rations, a charafler of greatnefs belongs to fome
fcenes, which is not meafured by their extent,
but raifed by other properties, fometimes only
by the proportional largenefs of its parts. On
the contrary, where elegance charaderifes the

fpot,

[ 15 ]
fpot, the parts lliould not only be fmall, but
diverfified befides with fubordinate inequalities,
and little delicate touches every where fcattered
about them. Striking effeds, forcible impref-
fions, whatever feems to require effort, difturbs
the enjoyment of a fcene intended to amufe and
to pleafe.

In other inftances, fimilar confiderations will
determine rather the number than the proportion
of the parts. A place may be diftinguifhed by
its fimplicity, which many divifions would de-
ftroy ; another fpot, without any pretenfions
to elegance, may be remarkable for an appear-
ance of richnefs : a multiplicity of objefts will
give that appearance, and a number of parts
in the ground will contribute to the profufion.
A fcene of gaiety is improved by the fame
means ; the obje<fts and the parts may differ in
ftile, but they muft be numerous in both.
Samenefs is dull j the pureft fimplicity can at
the moft render a place compofed of large parts
placid ; the fublimeft ideas only make it ftrik-
ing; it is always grave ; to enliven it, numbers
are wanting.

VII. But ground is fcldom beautiful or na-
tural without i-ariety^ or even without contrail ;
and the precautions which have been given, ex-
tend no further than to prevent variety from

de-

[ i6 ]

degenerating into inconfiftency, and contrail
into contradidion. Within the extremes, na-
ture fupplies an inexhauftible fund ; and va-
riety thus limited, fo far from deftroying, im-
proves the general effedt. Each diftinguifhed
part makes a feparate impreflion ; and all bear-
ing the fame ftamp, all concurring to the fame
end, every one is an additional fupport to the
prevailing idea : that is multiplied ; it is ex-
tended ; it appears in different fhapes j it is
fhewn in feveral lights ; and the variety illuf-
trates the relation.

But variety wants not this recommendation ;
it is always defireable where it can be properly
introduced ; and an accurate obferver will fee
in twcry form feveral circumftances by which it
is diftinguifhed from every other. If the fcene
be mild and quiet, he will place together thofe
which do not differ widely ; and he will gradu-
ally depart from the fimilitude. In ruder fcenes,
the fucceffion will be lefs regular, and the tran-
fitions more fudden. The charafter of the place
muft determine the degree of difference between
forms which are contiguous. Befides diftinc-
tions in the fhapes of ground, differences in
xh.€\x Jttuations and their dimenfions are fources of
variety. The pofition will alter the effefl, tho*
the figure be the fame ; and for particular ef-
fe6ts, a change only in the diftance may be ftrik-

C 17 [

ing. If that be confiderable, a fucceflion of fi-
milar fhapes fometimes occafions a fine perfpec-
tive ; but the diminution will be lefs marked,
that is, the efFedt will be lefs fcnfible, if the
forms are not nearly alike. We take more no-
tice of one difference, when there is no other.
Sometimes a very difagreable effcdl, produced
by too clofe a refemblance of fhapes, may be
remedied only by an alteration in the fize. If a
fleep defcends in a fucceflion of abrupt falls,
nearly equal, they have the appearance of fteps,
and are neither pleafmg nor wild ; but if they
are made to differ in height and length, the ob-
jeftion is removed : and at all times a differ-
ence in the dimenfions will be found to have a
greater effec5l, than in fpeculation we fhould be
inclined to afcribe to it, and will often difguife
a fimilarity of figure.

Vlll. It alfo contributes, perhaps more than
any other circumflance, to the perfeflion of
thofe li7ies^ which the eye traces along the parts
of a piece of ground, when it glances over fe-
veral together. No variety of form compen-
fates for the want of it. An undulating line,
compofed of parts all elegant in themfelves, all
judicioufly contrafted and happily united, but
equal the one to the other, is far from the line
of beauty. A long flrait line has no variety at

C all-.

[ '8 1

all ; and a little deviation into a curve, if there
be (till a continued uniformity, is but a trifling
amendment. Though ground all falling the
fame way requires every attention to its general
tendency, yet the eye muft not dart down the
whole length immediately in one direction, but
fliould be infenfibly conducted towards the prin-
cipal point with fome circuity and delay. The
channels between hillocks ought never to run
in flrait, nor even in regularly curved lines ;
but winding gently among them, and conftantly
varying in form and in dimenfions, fhould gra-
dually find their way. The beauty of a large
hill, efpecially when (een from below, is fre-
quently impaired by the even continuation of
its brow. An attempt to break it by little
knoles is feldom fuccefsful ; they feem feparate
independent hillocks, artificially put on. The
intended effefb may indeed be produced by a
large knole defcending in fome places lower than
in others, and rooted at feveral points into the
hill. The fame end may be attained by carry-
ing fome channel or hollow on the fide up-
wards, till it cut the continued line; or by
bringing the brow forward in one pb,ce, and
throwing it back in another ; or by forming a
fecondary ridge a little way down the fide, and
calling the ground above it into a different,
though not oppofite diredion to the general de-

fcent.

c •? c

fccnt. Either of thefe expedients will at leafl:
draw the attention off from the defed ; but a
greater would be fubftituted in its ftead, if the
break were to divide the line into equal parts ;
another uniformity would be added, without
removing the former ; for regularity always
fuggefts a fufpicion of artifice ; and artifice de-
tedled, no longer deceives. Our imaginations
would induftrioufly join the broken parts, and
the idea of the continued line would be reftored.

IX. Whatever break be chofen, the pofi-
tion of it mud be oblique to the line which is to
be broken. A reftangular divifion produces
famenefs ; there is no contrajl between the forms
it divides -, but if it be oblique, while it dimi-
nifhes the part on one fide, it enlarges that on
the other. Parallel lines are liable to the fame
objeftion as thofe at right angles : though each
by itfelf be the perfe6t line of beauty, yet if
they correfpond, they form a (hape between
them, whofe fides want con trad. On the fame
principle, forms will fometimes be introduced,
lefs for their intrinfic than their occafional me-
rit, in contrailing happily with thofe about
them : each fets off the other ; and together
they are a more agreeable compofition than if
they had been more beautiful, but at the fame
time more fimilar.

C 2 One

[ 20 ]

One reafon why tame fcenes are feldom inte-
refting is, that though they often admit of many
varieties, they allow of few, and thofe only
faint contrails. We may be pleafed by the
number of the former, but we can be ftruck
only by the force of the latter. Thefe ought
to abound in the larger and bolder fcenes of a
garden, efpecially in fuch as are formed by an
affemblage of many diftind and confiderable
parts thrown together •, as when feveral rifmg
grounds appear one beyond another, a Bne
fwell feen above a flanting fweep which runs be-
fore it, has a beautiful effefl, which a nearer
refemblance would deftroy : and (except in par-
ticular inftances) a clofe fimilarity between lines
which either crofs, or face, or rife behind one
another, makes a poor, uniform, difagreable
compofition.

X. The application of any of the foregoing
obfervations to the ftill greater fcenes of na-
ture, would carry me at prefent too far •, nor
could it well be made, before the other confti-
tuent parts of thofe fcenes, ' wood, water, rocks,
and buildings, have been taken into confidera-
tion. The rules which have been given, if fuch
hints deferve the name of rules, are chiefly ap-
plicable to ground which may be managed by
a fpade ; and even there they are only general,

not

[ 21 ]

not univerfal : few of them are without excep-
tion ; very few which, on particular occafions,
may not be difpenfed with. Many of the above
remarks are, however, fo far of ufe in fcenes the
furtheft from our reach, as they may affift in
directing our choice of thofe parts which are in
our power to fhew, or to conceal, though not to
alter. But in converting them to this purpofe,
a caution, which has more than once been. al-
luded to, muft always be had in remembrance ;
never to fufFer general confiderations to inter-
fere with extraordinary great effe^s^ which rife
fuperior to all regulations, and perhaps owe
.part of their force to their deviation from them.
{Singularity caufes at leaft furprife, and furprife
15 allied to aftonifhment. Thefe eifefts are not,
•however, attached merely to objecfts of enor-
mous fize ; they frequently are produced by a
^reatnefs of flyle and charader, within fuch an
-extent as ordinary labour may modify, and the
.compafs of a garden include. The caution
.therefore may not be ufelefs within thefe narrow
bounds ; but nature proceeds flill further, be-
yond the utmoft verge to which &rt can follow ;
.and in fcenes licentioufly wild, not content with
contrail, forces even contradidions to unite.
The grotefque difcordant fhapes, which are of-
ten there confuledly tumbled together, might
fufficiently juilify the remark. But the caprice

C 3 does

t S2 ]

does not flop here : to mix with fuch fhapes a
form perfeftly regular, is ftill more extrava-
gant •, and yet the effed is fometimes fo won-
derful, that we cannot wifh the extravagance
correfted. It is not unufual to fee a conical hill
Handing out from a long, irregular, mountain-
ous ridge, and greatly improving the view : but
at Ham "^ fuch a hill is thrown into the midft of
the rudeft fcene, and almoft fills up an abyfs,
funk among huge, bare, mifhapen hills, whofe
unwieldly parts and uncouth forms, cut by the
tapering lines of the cone, appear more favage
from the oppofition ; and the efFedl would evi-
dently be ftronger, were the figure more com-
plete : for it does not rife quite to a point, and
the want of perfedl regularity feems a blemiih.
Whether fuch a mixture of contrarieties would
for a length of time be engaging, can be known
only to thofe who are habituated to the fpot. It
certainly at firil fight rivets the attention. But
the conical hill is the moft ftriking objcft ; in
fuch a fituation it appears more ftrange, more
fantaftic, than the rude fhapes which are heaped
about it •, and together they fuit the character
of the place, where nature feems to have de-
lighted to bring diftances together ; where two
rivers, which are ingulphed many miles afunder,

• The feat of Mr. Porte, near Aflibourne in Derbyftiire.

iflue

[ 23 ]

iiTue from their fubterraneous pafTages, the one
often muddy when the other is clear, within a
few paces of each other ; but they appear, only
to lofe themfelves again, and immediately unite
their ftreams, jult in time to fall together into
another current, which alfo runs through the
garden. Such whimfical wonders, however,
lofe their effedb, when reprefented in a picture,
or mimicked in ground artificially laid. They
there want that vallnefs which conflitutes their
force ; that reality which afcertains the caprice.
As accidents they may furprife ; but they are
not objefts of choice.

XI. To determine the choice to its proper
objefts is the purpofe of the foregoing obferva-
tions. Some of the principles upon which they
are founded will be applicable alfo, and perhaps
without further explanation, to the other con-
ftituent parts of the fcenes of nature : they
will there be often more obvious than in ground.
But this is not a place for the comparilon -, the
fubjeft now is ground only. It is not, however,
foreign to that fubjedt to obferve, that the ef-
fefts which have been recommended, may
fometimcs be produced by wood alone, without
any alteration in the ground itfelf : a tedious
continued line may by fuch means be broken ;
it is ufual for this purpofe to place feveral little
clumps along a brow ; but if they are fmall
C 4 and

[ 24 ]
and numerous, the artifice is weak and appa-
rent : an equal number of trees coUefted into
one or two large mafles, and dividing the line
into very unequal parts, is lefs fufpicious, and
obliterates the idea of famenefs with more cer-
tainty. Where feveral fimilar lines are feen to-
gether, if one be planted, and the other bare,
they become contrails to each other. A hol-
low in certain fituations has been mentioned as
a difagreable interruption in a continued fur-
face ; but filled with wood, the heads of the
trees fuppjy the vacancy ; the irregularity is
preferved ; even the inequalities of the depth
are in fome meafure Ihewn •, and a continuation
of furface is provided. Rifing ground may,
on the other hand, be in appearance raifed ftill
higher, by covering it with wood, of humble
growth towards the bottom, and gradually taller
as it afcends. An additional mark of the incli-
nation of falling ground may alfo be obtained,
by placing a few trees in the fame direftion,
■ which will ftrongly point out the way -, whereas
plantations athwart a defcent, bolfler up the
ground, and check the fall ; but obliquely
crofling it, they will often divert the general
tendency ; the ground will in fome meafure
aflume their dire£i:ion, and they will make a
variety, not a contradiftion. Hedges, or con-
tinued plantations, carried over uneven ground,

render

[ 25 1
render the irregularity more confpicuous, and
frequently mark little inequalities, which would
otherwife efcape obfervation : or if a line of
trees run clofe upon the edge of an abrupt fall,
they give it depth and importance. By fuch
means a view may be improved ; by fimilar
means, in more confined fpots, very material
purpofes may be anfwered.

Of WOOD.

XII. In thefe inllances, the ground is the
principal confideration : but previous to any en-
quiry into the greater effedls of wood when it
is itfelf an objeft, an examination of the cha-
ra^erijiic differences of trees and fhrubs is necef-
fary. I do not mean botanical difiinftions ; I
mean apparent, not eflential varieties ; and
thefe muft be obvious and confiderable, to me-
rit regard in the difpofition of the objeds they
diftinguilh.

Trees and fhrubs are of different Jhapes,
greens^ and growths.

The varieties in their fhapes may be reduced
to the following heads.

Some thick with branches and foliage have
almoft an appearance of folidityy as the beech
and the elm, the lilac and feringa. Others thin
of boughs and of leaves feem light and air)\ ai

the

[ 26 ]

the afh and the arbele, the common arbor vitse,

and the tamariflv.

There is a mean betwixt the two extremes^ very
diftinguifhable from both, as in the bladder-
nut, and the aflien-leaved maple.

They may again be divided into thofe whofe
branches begin from the ground, and thofe which
fljoot up in a Jiem before their branches begin ^,
Trees which have fome, not much clear ftem,
as feveral of the firs, belong to the former
clafs •, but a very Ihort ftem will rank a Ihrub,
fuch as the althaea, in the latter.

Of thofe whofe branches begin from the
ground, fome rife in a conical figure, as the larc-h,
the cedar of Lebanon, and the holly. Some
fwell out in the middle of their growth, and dimi-
nifh at both ends, as the Weymouth pine, the
mountain alh, and the lilac : and fome are ir-
regular and bufhy from the top to the bottom,
as the evergreen oak, the Virginian cedar, and
Guelder rofe.

There is a great difference between one whofe
bafe is very large, and another whofe bafe is very
fmall, in proportion to its height : the cedar of
Lebanon, and the cyprefs, are inftances of fuch

• Perhaps there are few, if any, which do not put forth
branches from the bottom ; but in fome, the lower branches
are, from various circumftances, generally deftroyed ; and
they appear, at a certain period of their growth, to have fliot
up into a item before their branches began.

a

t '7 ]

a difFerence; yet in both the branches begin
from the ground.

The heads of thofe which fhoot up into a
item before their branches begin, fometimes are
Jlender cones, as of many firs : fometimes are
broad coneSy as of the horle-chefnut •, fometimes
they are round, as of the flone pine, and moft
forts of fruit trees ; and fometimes irregular, as
of the elm. Of this laft kind there are many
confiderable varieties.

The branches of fome grow horizontally, as
of the oak. In others they tend upwards, as
in the almond, and in feveral forts of broom,
and of willows. In others xhty fall, as in the
lime, and the acacia; and in fome of thefe laft they
incline obliquely, as in many of the firs -, in fome
they hang dire ^ly\down, as in the weeping willow.

Thefe are the moft obvious great diftindions
in the fhapes of trees and fhrubs. The differ-
ences between fhades of green cannot be fo con-
fiderable ; but thefe alfo will be found well de-
ferving of attention.

Some are of a dark green, as the horfe-chef-
nut, and the yew •, fome of a light green, as the
lime, and the laurel ; fome of a green tinged with
brown, as the Virginian cedar •, fome of a green
tingedwith white, as the arbele, and the fage tree ;
and fome of a green tinged with yellow, as the
afhen-leaved maple, and the Chinefe arbor vi-

tse.

[ 28 ]

tse. The variegated plants alfo are generally
entitled to be claffed with the white, or the
yellow, by the ftrong tinfture of the one or
the other of thofe colours on their leaves.

Other confiderations concerning colours will
foon be fuggefted ; the prefent enquiry is only
into great fixed diftinflions : thofe in the fhapes
and the greens of trees and Ihrubs have been
mentioned j there are others as great and as im-
portant in their growths ; but they are too ob-
vious to deferve mentioning. Every gradation,
from the moil humble to the mod lofty, has, in
certain fituations, particular effefls : it is un-
neceflary to divide them into flages.

XIII. One principal ufe in fettling thefe cha-
rafleriftic diftin6lions, is to point out the ftores
whence varieties may at all times be readily
drawn, and the caufes by which fometimes in-
confiftencies may be accounted for. Trees
which differ but in one of thefe circumflances,
whether of Ihape, of green, or of growth,
though they agree in every other, are fuiiici-
ently diflinguifhed for the purpofe of variety :
if they differ in two or three, they become con-
trails ; if in all, they are oppofites, and feldom
groupe well together. But there are interme-
diate degrees, by which the mofl diftant may
be reconciled : the upright branches of the al-
mond

[ 29 ]
mond mix very ill with the falling boughs of
the weeping willow •, but an interval filled with
other trees, in figure between the two extremes,
renders them at leaft not unfightly in the fame
plantation. Thofe, on the contrary, which are
of one charafter, and are diflinguifhed only as
the charaderiftic mark, is ftrongly or faintly
impreffed upon them, as a young beach and a
birch, an acacia and a larch, all pendant, tho*
in different degrees, form a beautiful mafs, in
which unity is preferved without famenefs ; and
ftill finer groupes may often be produced by
greater deviations from uniformity into con-
trail.

Occafions to fhew the effe6ls of particular
fiiapes in certain fituations will hereafter fo fre-
quently occur, that a further illuftration of them
now would be needlefs. But there are befides,
fometimes in trees, and commonly in fhrubs,
ftill mo-re minute 'varieties, in the turn of the
branches, in the form and the fize of the fo-
liage, which generally catch, and often deferve
attention. Even the texture of the leaves fre-
quently occafions many different appearances ;
fome have a ftiffnefs, fome an agility, by which
they are more or lets proper for feveral pur-
pofcs : on many is a glofs, very ufeful at times
to enliven, at other times too olitterincx for the
hue of the plantation. But all thele inferior

varieties

C 30 ]

varieties are below our notice in the confidera-
tion of great efFefts : they are of confequence
only where the plantation is near to the fight i
where it fkirts a home fcene, or borders the fide
of a walk : and in a Ihrubbery, which in its
nature is little, both in ftyle and in extent, they
fliould be anxioufly fought for. The nobleft
wood is not indeed disfigured by them -, and
when a wood, having ferved as a great objed
to one fpot, becomes in another the edge of a
walk, little circumftances, varying with ceafe-
lefs change along the outline, will then be at-
tended to i but wherever thefe minute varieties
are fitting, the grofleft tafte will feel the pro-
priety, and the moft curfory obfervation will
fuo-gefl: the diftindions ; a detail of all would
be endlefs •, nor can they be reduced into
clafiTes. To range the fiirubs and fmall trees fo
that they may mutually fet off the beauties,
and conceal the blemifhes, of each other ; to
aim at no effects which depend on a nicety^ior
their fuccefs, and which the foil, the expofure,
or the feafon of the day may defl:roy ; to at-
tend more to the groupes than to the individu-
als ; and to confider the whole as a plantation,
not as a colleftion of plants, are the beft gene-
ral rules which can be given concerning them.

XIV. The different tints of greens may feem

at

I 31 ]

at firft fight to be rather minute varieties than
charaderiftic diftindlions ; but upon experience
it will be found, that from fmall beginnings they
lead to material confequences ; that they are
more important on the broad expanfe, than
along the narrow outline of a wood ; and that
by their union, or their contrail, they produce
cffeds not to be difregarded in fcenes of extent
and of grandeur.

A hanging wood in autumn is enriched with
colours, whofe beauty cheers the approaches of
the inclement feafon they forebode : but when
the trees firft droop, while the verdure as yet
only begins to fade, they are no more than
ftronger tints of thofe colours with which the
greens in their vigour are (haded ; and which
now are fucceeded by a paler white, a brighter
yellow, or a darker brown. The efFeds arc
not different -, they are only more faintly im-
prefied at one time than another; but when
they are ftrongeft, they are moft obfervable.
The fall of the leaf, therefore, is the time to
learn the fpecies, the order, and the proportion
of tints, which blended, will form beautiful maf-
fes ; and, on the other hand, to diftinguifh thofe
which are mcompatiMe near together.

The peculiar beauty of the tints of red can-
not then efcape obfervation, and the want of
them throughout the fummer months muft be

re-

C 32 ]

regretted -, but that want, though it cannot per-
fectly, may partially, be fupplied ; for plants
have a permanent and an accidental colour. The
permanent is always fome fhade of green ; but
any other may be the accidental colour ; and
there is none which fo many circumflances con-
cur to produce as a red. It is affumed in fuc-
ceiTion by the bud, the blofTom, the berry, the
bark, and the leaf. Sometimes it profufely
overfpreads ; at other times it dimly tinges the
plant ; and a reddijh green is generally the hue of
thofe plants on which it lafts long, or frequent-
ly returns.

Admitting this, at leaft for many months in
the year, among the chara6leriftic diftindlions,
a large piece of red green, with a narrow edging
of dark green along the further fide of it, and
beyond that a piece of light green Itill larger
than the firft, will be found to compofe a beau-
tiful mafs. Another, not lefs beautiful, is a
yellow green neareft to the eye, beyond that a
light green, then a brown green, and laflly a
dark green. The dark green muft be the
largeft, the light green the next in extent, and
the yellow green the leaft of all.

From thefe combinations, the agreements
between particular tints may be known. A
light green may be next either to a yellow or a
brown green, and a brown to a dark green ; all

in

[ 33 1

in confiderable quantities ; and a little rim of
dark green may border on a red or a light
crreen. Further obfervations will fliew, that
the yellow and the white greens connedl eafily ;
but that large quantities of the light, the yel-
low, or the white greens, do not mix well with
a large quantity alfo of the dark green ; and
that to form a pleafmg mafs, either the dark
green muft be reduced to a meer edging, or a
brown, or an intermediate green, muft be in-
terpofed : that the red, the brown, and the in-
termediate greens, agree among themfelves ;
and that either of them may be joined to any
other tint *, but that the red green will bear a
larger quantity of the light than of the dark
green near it -, nor does it feem fo proper a
mixture with the white green as with the reft.

In mafTing thefe tints, an attention m.uft be
conftantly kept up to their forms, that they do
not lie in large ftripes one beyond another ;
but that either they be quite intermingled, or,
which is generally more pleafmg, that confide-
rable pieces of different tints, each a beautiful
figure, be, in different proportions, placed near
together. Exadlnefs in the fhapes muft not be
attempted, for it cannot be preferved ; but if
the great outlines be well drawn, little variati-
ons, afterwards occafioned by the growth of
the plants, will not fpoil them.

D XV. A

C 34 ]

XV. A fmall thicket is generally moft agre-
able, when it is one fine mafs of well-mixed
greens : that mafs gives to the whole a unity^
which can by no other means be lb perfedly
expreffed. When more than one is necefiary
for the extent of the plantation, ftill if they
are not too much contrafted, if the gradations
from one to another are eafy, the unity is not
broken by the variety.

While the union of tints is produftive of
pleafing effeds, ftrong effedbs may, on the other
hand, be fometimes produced by their dtfagree-
vients. Oppofites, fuch, for inftance, as the
dark and light greens, in large quantities clofe
together, break to pieces the furface upon
which they meet ; and an outline which can-
not be fufficiently varied in form, may be in
appearance, by the management of its Ihades.
Every oppofition of tints is a break in a conti-
nued line : the depth of recefles may be deep-
ened by darkening the greens as they retire.
A tree which Hands out from a plantation may
be feparated by its tint as much as by its pofi-
tion. The appearance of folidity or airinefs in
plants depends not folely on the thicknefs or
thinnefs, but partly on the colour of the leaves.
Clumps at a diftance may be rendered more or
lefs difcinft by their greens ; and the fine effe<5l
of a dark green tree, or groupe of trees, with

nothing

[ 35 ]

nothing behind it but the fplendor of a morn-
ing, or the glow of an evening fky, cannot be
unknown to any who was ever delighted with a
pidure of Claude, or with the more beautiful
originals in nature.

Another effed attainable by the aid of the
different tints, is founded on the firft principles
oi perfpe^live. Objefts grow faint as they re-
tire from the eye -, a detached clump, or a fin-
gle tree of the lighter greens, will, therefore,
feem farther off than oneequidiftant of a darker
hue •, and a regular gradation from one tint to
another will alter the apparent length of a con-
tinued plantation, according as the dark or the
light greens begin the gradation. In a flrait
line this is obvious ; in a broken one, the fal-
lacy in the appearance is feldom detetfled, only
becaufe the real extent is generally unknown ;
but experiments will fupport the principle, if
they are made on plantations not very fmall,
nor too clofe to the eye : the feveral parts may
then be fhortened or lengthened, and the va-
riety of the outline improved, by a judicious
arrangement of greens.

XVI. Other effefls arifing from mixtures of

greens will occafionally prefent themfelves in

the difpofition of wood, which is the next con-

fideration. Wood, as a general term, compre-

D 2 hends

[ 36 ] ,.
hends all trees and fhrubs in whatever difpofi-
tion i but it is fpecifically applied in a more li-
mited fenfe, and in that fenfe I (hall now ufe it.

Every plantation muft be either a wood, a
grovt\ a clump, or a fingle tree.

A wood is compofed both of trees and un-
derwood, covering a confiderable Ipace. A
grove confifts of trees without underwood \ a
clump differs from either only in extent •, it
may be either clofe or open ; when clofe, it is
fometimes called a thicket -, when open, 3. groupe
of trees \ but both are equally clumps, what-
ever be the fliape or fituation.

XVII. One of the noblefl objedls in nature
is the. furface of a large thick wood, commanded
from an eminence, or feen from below hanging
on the fide of a hill. The latter is generally
the more interefting obje<5t : its afpiring fitua-
tion gives it an air of greatnefs -, its termination
is commonly the horizon \ and indeed if it is
deprived of that fplendid boundary, if the brow
appears above it, (unlefs fome very peculiar ef-
fefl charaderifes that brow) it lofes much of
its magnificence -, it is inferior to a wood which
covers a lefs hill from the top to the bottom •,
for a whole fpace filled is feldom little : but a
wood commanded from an eminence is gene-
rally no more than a part of the fcene below ;

and

[ Z1 ]

and its boundary is often inadequate to its great-
nefs. To continue it, therefore, till it winds
out of fight, or lofes itfelf in the horizon, is
generally defireable -, but then the varieties of
its furface grow confufed as it retires ; while
thofe of a hanging wood are all diftin6t ; the
furtheft parts are held up to the eye ; and none
are at a diftance, though the whole be exten-
five.

The varieties of a furface are eflential to the
beauty of it -, a continued fmooth-fhaven level
of foliage is neither agreable nor natural •, the
different growths of trees commonly break it
in reality, and their fhadows ftill more in ap-
pearance. Thefe fhades are fo many tints,
which undulating about the furface, are its
greateft embellifhment ; and fuch tints may be
produced with more effeft, and more certainty,
by a judicious mixture of greens ; at the fame
time an additional variety may be introduced,
by grouping and contrafting trees very diff^erent
in fhape from each other : and whether variety
in the greens or in the forms be the defign, the
execution is often eafy, and feldom to a certain
degree impolTible. In raifing a young wood it
may be perfe6l ; in old woods there are many
fpots which may be either thinned or thickened ;
and there the characfleriftic diftinctions fhould
determine what to plant, or which to leave.; at
D 3 the

C 38 ]
the lead will often point out thofe which, as
blemifhes, ought to be taken away ; and the re-
moval of two or three trees will fometimes ac-
complifh the defign. The number of beauti-
ful forms, and agreable maffes, which may de-
corate the furface, is fo great, that where the
place will not admit of one, another is always
ready ; and as no delicacy of finifhing is re-
quired, no minute exaftnefs is worth regarding,
great effects will not be difconcerted by fmall
obftrudtions, and little difappointments.

The contrafts, however, of mafles and of
groupes muft not be too (Irong, where great-
nefs is the charadler of the wood ; for unity is
effential to greatnefs : but if diredl oppofites be
placed clofe together, the wood is no longer one
objedl ; it is only a confufed colledlion of feveral
feparate plantations ; whereas if the progrefs
be gradual from the one to the other, Ihapes
and tints widely different may aflemble on the
fame furface -, and each fliould occupy a confi-
derable fpace : a fingle tree, or a fmall clufter
of trees, in the midft of an extenfive wood, is
in fize but a (peck, and in colour but a fpot ;
the groupes and the maffes mufl be large to
produce any fenfible variety.

Yet fingle trees in the midfl of a wood, tho*
feldom of ufe to diverfify a furface, often de-
ferve particular regard as individuals, and are

import-

C 39 ]

important to the greatnefs of the whole. The
fuperficies of a fhrubby thicket, how extenfive
foever, does not convey the fame ideas of mag-
nificence, as a hanging wood j and yet at firft
light, the difference is not always very difcern-
ible : it often requires time to colle(51: the feve-
ral circumftances in the latter, which fugged
the elevation to which that broad expanfe of fo-
liage is raifed, the vaftnefs of the trunks which
fupport it fo high, the extent of the branches
which fpread it i'o far : when thefe circum-
ftances, all of grandeur, croud together upon
the mind, they dignify the fpace, which with-
out them might indifferently be, the fuperficies
of a thicket, or the furface of a wood : but a
few large trees, not eminent above all about
them, but diftinguifhed by Ibme flight fepara-
tion, and obvious at a glance, immediately re-
folve the doubt ; they are noble objefts in them-
felves •, become the fituation, and ferve as a
meafure to the reft. On the fame principle,
trees which are thin of boughs and of leaves,
thofe whofe branches tend upwards, or whofe
heads rife in flender cones, have an appearance
more of airinefs than of importance, and are
blemifhes in a wood where greatnefs is the pre-
vailing idea. Thofe, on the contrary, whofe
branches hang diredly down, have a breadth of
D 4 head

[ 40 ]
head which fuits with fuch a fituation, though
their own peculiar beauty be loft in it.

Thefe decorations are natural graces, which
never derogate from greatnefs j and a number
of fhades playing on the furface, over a variety
of thofe beautiful forms into which it may be
caft, enliven that famenefs, which, while it pre-
vails, reduces the merit of one of the nobleft
objefts in nature to that of meer fpace. To
fill that fpace with objeds of beauty ; to delight
the eye after it has been ftruck ; to fix the at-
tention where it has been caught ; and to pro-
long aftonifhment into admiration, are purpofes
not unworthy of the greateft defigns ; and in
the execution produftive of embellifhments,
which in ftyle are not unequal to fcenes of rich-
nefs and magnificence. .

XVIII. When in a romantic fituation, very
broken ground is overfpread with wood, it may
be proper on the furface of the wood, to mark
the inequalities of the ground. Rudenefs, not
greatnefs, is the prevailing idea ; and a choice
directly the reverfe of that which is productive
of unity, will produce it ; ftrong contrafts,
even oppofitions, may be eligible ; the aim is
rather to disjoint than to conned ; a deep hol-
low may fink into dark greens •, an abrupt bank

may

[ 41 ]
may be fhewn by a rifing flage of afpiring trees ;
a fliarp ridge by a narrow line of conical fhapes :
firs are of great ufe upon fuch occafions ; their
tint, their form, their fingularity, recommend
them.

A hanging wood thin of forefi trees, and feen
from below, is feldom pleafing : thofe few trees
are by the perfpedive brought near together ; it
lofes the beauty of a thin wood, and is defec-
tive as a thick one ; the moft obvious improve-
ment therefore is to thicken it. But when ken
from an eminence, a thin wood is often a lively
and elegant circumftance in a view ; it is full
of objedls ; and every feparate tree Ihews its
beauty. To encreafe that vivacity, which is the
peculiar excellence of a thin wood, the trees
ihould be charaileriftically diilinguifhed both
in their tints and their fhapes ; and fuch as for
their airinefs have been profcribed in a thick
wood, are frequently the moft eligible here.
Differences alfo in their growths are a further
fource of variety ; each fhould be confidered as
a diftind objed, unlefs where a fmall number
are grouped together ; and then all that com-
pofe the little clufter muft agree ; but the
groupes themfelves, for the fame reafon as the
feparate trees, fhould be ftrongly contrafted j
the continued underwood is their only connec-
tion ; and that is not afFeded by their variety.

xi'x.

t 42 ]

XIX. Though the furfaceof a wood, when
commanded, deferves all thefe attentions, yet
the outline more frequently calls for our regard 5
it is alfo more in our power ; it may fometimes
be great, and may always be beautiful. The
firft requifite is irregularity. That a mixture of
trees and underwood (hould form a long ftrait
line, can never be natural ; and a fuccelTion of
cafy fweeps and gentle rounds, each a portion
of a greater or lefs circle, compofing all toge-
ther a line literally ferpentine, is, if pofTible,
worfe. It is but a number of regularities put
together m a diforderly manner, and equally
diftant from the beautiful both of art and of
nature. The true beauty of an outline confifls
more in breaks than in fweeps ; rather in an-
gles than in rounds ; in variety, not in fuc-
ceflion.

The outline of a wood is a continued line,
and fmall variations do not fave it from the in-
fipidity of famenefs : one deep recefs, one bold
prominence, has more elfeft than twenty little
irregularities. That one divides the line into
parts, but no breach is thereby made in its
unity ; a continuation of wood always remains ;
the form of it only is altered, and the extent is
encreafed. The eye, which hurries to thp ex-
tremity of whatever is uniform, delights to trace
a varied line through all its intricacies, to paufe

from

[ 43 ]
from ftage to ftage, and to lengthen the pro-
grcfs. The parts muft not, however, on that
account be multiplied, till they are too minute
to be interefting, and fo numerous as to create
confufion. A few large parts fhould be ftrong-
ly diftinguilhed in their forms, their diredions,
and their fituations j each of thefe may after-
wards be decorated with fubordinate varieties ;
and the mere growth of the plants will occafion
fome irregularity ; on many occafions more will
not be required.

Every variety in the outline of a wood muft
be a prominence, or a recefs. Breadth in either
is not fo important as length to the one, and
depth to the other. If the former ends in an an-
gle, the latter diminifhes to a point, they have
more force than a fhallow dent, or a dwarf ex-
crefcence, how wide foever. They are greater
deviations from the continued line which they
are intended to break j and their effed: is to en-
large the wood itfelf, which feem.s to ftretch
from the moft advanced point, back beyond the
moil diftant to which it retires. The extent of
a large wood on a flat, but not commanded,
can by no circumftance be fo manifeflly fliewn,
as by a deep recefs ; efpecially if that recefs
wind fo as to conceal the extremity, and leave
the imagination to purfue it. On the other
hand, the poverty of a fhallow wood might

fome-

c: 44 ]

fometimes be relieved by here and there a pro-
minence, or clumps, which by their apparent
jundlion fhould feem to be prominences from
it. A deeper wood with a continued outline,
except when commanded, would not appear fo
confiderable.

An inlet into a wood feems to have been cut,
if the oppofite points of the entrance tally -, and
that fhew of art depreciates its merit : but a
difference only in the fituation of thofe points,
by bringing one m.ore forward than the other,
prevents the appearance, though their forms be
limilar. Other points, which diftinguifli the
great parts, fhould in general be ftrongly mark-
ed ; a fhort turn has more fpirit in it than a te-
dious circuity ; and a line broken by angles has
a precifion and firmnefs, which in an undulated
iine are wanting : the angles fhould indeed com-
monly be a little foftened ; the rotundity of the
plant which forms them is fometimes fufficient
for the purpofe ; but if they are mellowed down
too much, they lofe all meaning. Three or
four large parts thus boldly diflinguiflied, will
break a very long outline •, more may be, and
often ought to be, thrown in, but feldom are
neceffary : and when two woods are oppofed on
the fides of a narrow glade, neither has fo much
occafion for variety in itfelf, as if it were fingle :
if they are very different from each other, the

con-

[ 45 ]

contrafl fupplies the deficiency to each, and the
interval between them is full of variety. The
form of that interval is indeed of as much con-
fequence as their own : though the outlines of
both the woods be feparately beautiful, yet if
together they do not caft the open fpace into an
agreable figure, the whole fcene is not pleaf-
ing; and that figure is never agreable, when
the fides too clofely correfpond ; whether they
are exadly the fame, or exa-itly the reverfe of
each other, they equally appear artificial.

Every variety of outline hitherto mentioned,
may be traced by the tmderwood alone •, but
frequently the fame effedts may be produced
with more eafe, and with much more beauty,
by 2i few trees (landing out from the thicket, and
belonging, or feeming to belong to the wood,
fo as to make a part of its figure. Even where
they are not wanted for that purpofe, detached
trees are fuch agreable objedts, fo diftinct, fo
light, when compared to the covert about them,
that fkirting along it in fome parts, and break-
ing it in others, they give an unafFcffled grace,
which can no otherwife be given to the outline.
They have a ftill further efrefl, when they
llretch acrofs the whole bread ch of an inlet, or
before part of a recefs into the wood : they are
themfclves (hewn to advantage by the fpace be-
hind them, and that fpace, feen between their

ftems,

[ 46 ]

ftems, they in return throw into an agreablc
perfpedlive. An inferior grace of the fame
kind may be often introduced, only by diftin-
guilhing the boles of fome trees in the wood
itfelf, and keeping down the thicket beneath
them. Where even this cannot be well exe-
cuted, ftill the outline may be filled with fuch
trees and fhrubs as fwell out in the middle of
their growth, and diminifh at both ends ; or
with fuch as rife in a flender cone ; with thofe
whofe branches tend upwards ; or whofe bafe is
very fmall in proportion to their height ; or
which are very thin of boughs and of leaves.
In a confined garden fcene, which wants room
for the effefb of detached trees, the outline will
be heavy, if thefe little attentions are difre-
garded.

XX. The prevailing character of a wood is
generally grandeur; the principal attention
therefore which it requires, is to prevent the
exceffes of that character, to diverfify the uni-
formity of its extent, to lighten the unwieldi-
nefs of its bulk, and to blend graces with great-
nefs. But the charafter of a grove is beauty ;
fine trees are lovely objefts ; a grove is an af-
femblage of them ; in which every individual
retains much of its own peculiar elegance ; and
whatever it lofes, is transferred to the fuperior

beauty

[ 47 1

beauty of the whole. To a grove, therefore,
which admits of endlefs variety in the dilpofi-
tion of the trees, differences in their fhapes and
their greens are feldom very important, and
fometimes they are detrimental. Strong con-
trafts fcatter trees which are thinly planted, and
which have not the connexion of underwood ;
they no longer form one plantation ; they are a
number of fingle trees. A thick grove is not
indeed expofed to this mifchief, and certain fi-
tuations may recommend different {hapes and
different greens for their effefts upon the fur-
face ', but in the outline they are feldom much
regarded. The eye attrafled into the depth of
the grove, paffes by little circumflances at the
entrance ; even varieties in the form of the line
do not always engage the attention : they are
not fo apparent as in a continued thicket, and
are fcarcely feen, if they are not confiderable.

XXL But the furface and the outline are
not the only circumflances to be attended to.
Though a grove be beautiful as an object, it is
befides delightful as a fpot to walk or to fit in j
and the choice and the difpofition of the trees
for effeds ii-itkin, are therefore a principal con-
fideration. Mere irregularity alone will not
pleafe ; ftri6l order is there more agreable than
abfolute confufion j and fome meaning better

than

c 48 :

than none. A regular plantation has a degree
of bea:uty ; but it gives no fatisfadion, becaufe
we know that the fame number of trees might
be more beautifully arranged. A difpofition,
however, in which the lines only are broken,
without varying the diftances, is lefs natural
than any ; for though we cannot find ftrait
lines in a forefl, we are habituated to them in
the hedge-rows of fields j but neither in wild
nor in cultivated nature do we ever fee trees
equi-diftant from each other : that regularity
belongs to art alone. The diftances therefore
Ihould be ftrikingly different : the trees lliould
gather into groupes, or ftand in various irregu-
lar lines, and defcribe feveral figures : the in-
tervals between them fhould be contrafted both
in fhape and in dimenfions : a large fpace fhould
in fome places be quite open ; in others the
trees Ihould be fo clofe together, as hardly to
leave a pafTage between them •, and in others as
far apart as the connexion will allow. In the
forms and the varieties of thefe groupes, thefe
lines, and thefe openings, principally confifts
the interior beauty of a grove.

The force of them is moft flrongly illuftrated
at Claremont* ; where the walk to the cottage,
though deftitute of many natural advantages,
and eminent for none ; though it commands no

• Near Efher in Surry.

pro-

[ 49 ]
profpeft i though the water below it is a trifling
pond ; though it has nothing, in fhort, but in-
equality of ground to recommend it ; is yet the
fineft part, of the garden : for a grove is there
planted, in a gently curved diredion, all along
the fide of a hill, and on the edge of a wood,
which rifes above it. Large recefles break it
into feveral clumps, which hang down the de-
clivity; fome of them approaching, but none
reaching quite to the bottom. Thefe recefles
are fo deep, as to form great operings in the
midfl: of the grove ; they penetrate almofl: to
the covert -, but the clumps being all equally
fufpended from the wood ; and a line of open
plantation, though fometimes narrow, running
confl:antly along the top ; a continuation of
grove is preferved, and the connexion between
the parts is never broken. Even a groupe,
which near one of the extremities fliands out
quite detached, is ftill in fl:ile fo fimilar to the
refl:, as not to lofe all relation. Each of thefe.
clumps is compofed of feveral others fl:ill more
intimately united ; each is full of groupes, fome-
times of no more than two trees ; fometimes of
four or five ^ and now and then in larger clufl:ers :
an irregular waving line, iflfuing from fome lit-
tle croud, lofes itfelf in the next; or a few
fcattered trees drop in a more diftant fuccefl^on
frona the one to the other. The intervals,

E v/ind-

[ 50 ]
winding here like a glade, and widening there
into broader openings, differ in extent, in figure,
and diredion ; but all the groupes, the lines,
and the intervals are coUedled together into
large general clumps, each of which is at th6
fame time both compad and free, identical and
various. The whole is a place wherein to tarry
with fecure delight, or faunter with perpetual
amufement.

The grove at Efher-Place * was planted by
the fame mafterly hand ; but the necelTity of
accommodating the young plantation to fome
large trees which grew there before, has con-
fined its variety. The groupes are few and
fmall j there was not room for larger or for
more : there were no opportunities to form con-
tinued narrow glades between oppofite lines ;
the vacant fpaces are therefore chiefly irregular
openings fpreading every way, and great dif-
ferences of diftance between the trees are the
principal variety •, but the grove winds along
the bank of a large river, on the fide and at the
foot of a very fudden afcent, the upper part of
which is covered with wood. In one place it
preffes clofe to the covert -, retires from it in
another ; and ftretches in a third acrofs a bold
recefs, which runs up high into the thicket.

* Contiguous to Clare men t.

The

[ 51 ]
The trees fometimes overfpread the flat below ;
fometimes leave an open fpace to the river ; at
other times crown the brow of a large knole,
climb up a fteep, or hang on a gentle declivity.
Thefe varieties in the fituation more than com-
pehfate for the want of variety in the difpofi-
tion of the trees ; and the many happy circum-
ftances which concur

■ In Eflier's peaceful grove,

Where Kent and nature vie for Pelham's love,

render this little fpot more agreable than any at
Claremont. But though it was right to pre-
ferve the trees already {landing, and not to fa-
crifice great prefent beauties to flill greater in
futurity; yet this attention has been a reftraint;
and the grove at Claremont, confidered merely
as a plantation, is in delicacy of tafte, and fer-
tility of invention, fuperior to that at Elher.

Both were early eflays in the modem art of
gardening : and, perhaps from an eagernefs to
Ihew the effed, the trees in both were placed
too near together : though they are flill far
fhort of their growth, they are run up into
poles, and the groves are already pad their
prime ; but the temptation to plant for fuch a
purpofe no longer exifts, now that experience
has juftified the experiment. If, however, we
dill have not patience to wait, it is poflible to
fecure both a prefent and a future effed, by
E 2 fixing

[ 52 ]
fixing firft on a difpofition which will be beau-
tiful when the trees are large, and then inter-
mingling another which is agreable while they
are fmall. Thefe occafional trees are hereafter
to be taken away ; and muft be removed in
time, before they become prejudicial to the
others.

The confequence of variety in the difpofition,
is variety in the light and Ihade of the grove ;
which may be improved by the choice of the
trees. Some are impenetrable to the fierceft
fun- beam ; others let in here and there a ray be-
tween the large malTes of their foliage ; and
others, thin both of boughs and of leaves, only
chequer the ground. Every degree of light
and fhade, from a glare to obfcurity, may be
managed, partly by the number, and partly
by the texture of the trees. Differences only
in the manner of their growths have alfo corre-
fponding effedls ; there is a clofenefs under
thofe whofe branches defcend low, and fpread
wide ; a fpace and liberty where the arch above
is high ; and frequent tranfitions from the one
to the other are very pleafing. Thefe ftijl are
not all the varieties of which the interior of a
grove is capable : trees indeed, whofe branches
nearly reach the ground, being each a fort of
thicket, are inconfiftent with an open planta-
tion : but though fome of the charafteriftic dif-

tindions

[ 53 ]

tinflions are thereby excluded, other varieties
more minute fucceed in their place •, for the
freedom of paflage throughout brings every tree
in its turn near to the eye, and fubjeds even
differences in foliage to obfervation. Thefe,
flight as they may feem, are agreable when
they occur : it is true they are not regretted
when wanting ; but a defedt of ornament is not
neceflarily a blemiih.

XXII, It has been already obferved, that
clumps differ only in extent from a wood, if
they are clofe ; or from a grove, if they are
open : they are fmall woods, and fmall groves,
governed by the fame principles as the larger,
after allowances made for their dimenfions. But
befides the properties they may have in common
with woods or with groves, they have others
peculiar to themfelves, which require exami-
nation.

They are either independant or relative ; when
independant, their beauty, as fingle objefls, is
folely to be attended to ; when relative, the
beauty of the individuals muff be facrificed to
the eff'eft of the whole, which is the greater con-
fideration.

The leaft clump that can be, is of two trees;

and the beft eff^edl they can have is, that their

heads united fhould appear one large tree ; two

E 3 there-

[ 54 ] .

therefore of different fpecies, or feven or eight
of fuch fhapes as do not eafily join, can hardly
be a beautiful groupe, efpecially if it have a
tendency to a circular form. Such clumps of
firs, though very common, are feldom pleafmg ;
they do not compofe one mafs, but are only a
confufed number of pinnacles. The confufion
is however avoided, by placing them in fuccef-
fion, not in clufters ; and a clump of fuch
trees is therefore more agreable when it is ex-
tended rather in length than in breadth.

Three trees together muft form either a right
line, or a triangle : to difguife the regularity,
the diftances lliould be very different. Diftinc-
tions in their fhapes contribute alfo to the fame
end ; and variety in their growths ftill more.
When a ftrait line confifts of two trees nearly
fimilar, and of a third much lower than they
are, the even direftion in which they ftand is
hardly difcernible.

If humbler growths at the extremity can dif-
compofe the (triflefl: regularity, the ufe of it is
thereby recommended upon other occafions. It
is indeed the variety peculiarly proper for
clumps : every apparent artifice affeding the
objedls of nature, difgufts -, and clumps are fuch
diftinguifhed objeds, fo liable to the fufpicion
of having been left or placed on purpofe to be
fo diftinguifhed, that to divert the attention

from

[ 55 ]
from thefe fymptoms of art, irregularity in the
comporition is more important to them than to
a wood or to a grove j being alfo lefs extenfive,
they do not admit fo much variety of outline :
but variety of growths is moft obfervable in a
fmall compafs ; and the feveral gradations may
often be cafl: into beautiful figures.

The extent and the outline of a wood or a
grove engage the attention more than the extre-
mities ; but in clumps thefe lafi: are of the moft
confequence : they determine the form of the
whole J and both of them are generally in fight :
great care fhould therefore be taken to make
them agreable and different. The eafe with
which they may be compared, forbids all fimi-
larity between them : for every appearance of
equality fuggefts an idea of art -, and therefore
a clump as broad as it is long, feems lefs the
work of nature than one which ftretches into
length.

Another peculiarity of clumps, is the facility
with which they admit a mixture of trees and
of fhrubs, of wood and of grove j in fhort, of
every fpecies of plantation. None are more
beautiful than thofe which are fo compofed.
Such compofitions are, however, more propei"
in compact than in ftraggling clumps : they are
moft agreable when they form one mafs : if the
tranfitions from very lofty to very humble
E 4 growths,

[ i6 ]
growths, from thicket to open plantations, be
frequent and fudden, the diforder is more fuited
to rude than to elegant fcenes.

'O

XXIII. The occaftons on which independant
clumps may be applied, are many. They are
often defireable as beautiful objeds in them-
felves ; they are fometimes neceflary to break
an extent of lawn, or a continued line, whether
of ground or of plantation •, but on all occafions
a jealoufy of art conftantly attends them, which
irregularity in their figure will not always alone
remove. Though elevations fliew them to ad-
vantage, yet a hillock evidently thrown up on
purpofe to be crowned with a clump, is artifi-
cial to a degree of difguft : fome of the trees
fliould therefore be planted on the fides, to take
off that appearance. The fame expedient may
be applied to clumps placed on the brow of a
hill, to interrupt its famenefs : they will have
lefs oftentation or defign, if they are in part car-
ried down either declivity. The objedion al-
ready made to planting many along fuch a brow,
is on the fame principle : a fingle clump is lefs
fufpedted of art ; if it be an open one, there
can be no finer fituation for it, than juft at the
point of an abrupt hill, or on a promontory into
a lake or a river. It is in either a beautiful ter-
mination, diftinft by its pofition, and enlivened

by

[ 51 ]
by an expanfe of fky or of water, about and be-
yond it. Such advantages may ballance little
defers in its form ; but they are loft if other
clumps are planted near it : art then intrudes,
and the whole is difpleafmg.

XXIV. But though a multiplicity of clumps,
when each is an independant objedl, feldom
feems natural ; yet a number of them may, with-
out any appearance of art, be admitted into
the fame fcene, if they bear a relation to each
other : if by their fucceflion they diverfify a
continued outline of wood •, if between them
they form beautiful glades •, if all together they
caft an extenfive lawn into an agreable fhape,
the effe5l prevents any fcrutiny into the means
of producing it. But when the reliance on that
cfFeft is fo great, every other confideration muft
give way to the beauty of the whole. The fi-
gure of the glade, of the lawn, or of the wood,
are principally to be attended to : the fineft
clumps, if they do not fall eafily into the great
lines, are blemifhes : their connexions, their
contrafts, are more important than their forms.

A line of clumps, if the intervals be clofed
by others beyond them, has the appearance of
a wood, or of a grove •, and in one refped the
femblance has an advantage over the reality.
In different points of view, the relations be-
tween

[ 58 3
tween the clumps are changed •, and a variety
of forms is produced, which no continued wood
or grove, however broken, can furnifh. Thefe
forms cannot all be equally agreable ; and too
anxious a foUicitude to make them every where
pleafing, may, perhaps, prevent their being ever
beautiful. The effect muft often be left to
chance ; but it fhould be ftudioully confulted
from a few principal points of view ; and it is
eafy to make any recefs, any prominence, any
figure in the outline, by clumps thus advancing
before, or retiring behind one another.

But amidft all the advantages attendant on
this fpecies of plantation, it is often exception-
able when commanded from a neighbouringemi-
nence -, clumps below the eye lofe fome of their
principal beauties ; and a number of them be-
tray the art of which they are always liable to
be fufpefted ; they compofe no furface of
wood •, and all effeds arifing from the relations
between them are entirely loft. A profpeft
fpotted with many clumps can hardly be great :
unlefs they are fo diftind as to be objeds, or
fo diftant as to unite into one mafs, they are
leldom an improvement of a view.

XXV. The proper fituations for fmgle trees
are frequently the fame as for clumps -, the
choice will often be determined, folely by the

con-

[ 59 1

confideration of proportion, between the objedt,
and the fpot it is intended to occupy ; and if
the defired efFed can be attained by a fingle
tree, the fimplicity of the means recommends
it. Sometimes it will be preferred merely for
variety ; and may be ufed to mark one point in
a fcene in which two or three points are already
diltinguifhed by clumps. It may occafionally
be applied to moft of the purpofes for which
clumps are ufed -, may be an independant ob-
ject ; may interrupt a continued line, or deco-
rate an extent of fpace : there is but one effect
refulting from clumps which may not to a cer-
tain degree be produced by fingle trees ; a num-
ber of them will never unite into one large
mafs 5 but more dif.ant relations may be ob-
ferved between them. Scattered about a lawn,
they call it into an agreable Ihape ; and to pro-
duce that fhape, each muft be placed with an
attention to the reft ; they may ftand in parti-
cular directions, and collectively form agreable
figures ; or between feveral ftraggling trees lit-
tle glades may open, full of variety and beauty.
The lines they trace are fainter than thofe which
larger plantations defcribe ; but then their forms
are their own -, they are therefore abfolutely
free from all appearance of art ; any difpofition
of them, if it be but irregular, is fure to be
natural.

The

[ ^o ]

The fituations of fingle trees is the firft con-
fideration ; and differences in the diftances
between them their greatefl: variety. In fhape,
they admit of no choice but that which their
fpecies affords'; greatnefs often, beauty often,
fometimes mere folidity, and now and then pe-
culiarity alone, recommends them. Their fitu-
ations will alfo frequently determine the fpecies :
if they are placed before a continyed line of
wood only to break it, they fhould commonly
be fimilaV to the trees in that wood ; they will
elfe lofe their connexion, and not affe6t the
outline which they are intended to vary ; but
if they are defigned to be independant objedls,
they are as fuch more difcernible when diftin-
guifhed both in their fhapes and their greens
from any plantations about them. After all,
the choice, efpecially in large fcenes, is much
confined^ to the trees on the fpot ; young clumps
from the firfl have fome, and foon produce a
confiderable effeft ; but a young fingle tree for
many years has none at all ; and it is often more
judicious to preferve one already growing, tho'
not exa6lly fuch as might be wifhed, either in
itfelf, or in its fituation, than to plant in its
ftead another, which may be a finer objeft, and
better placed, in a diftant futurity.

Of

C 6i ]

Of WATER.

XXVI. In confidering the fubjeds of gar-
dening, ground and wood firft prefent them-
felves ; water is the next, which, though not
abfolutely neceflary to a beautiful compofition,
yet occurs fo often, and is fo capital a feature^
that it is always regretted when wanting ; and
no large place can be fuppofed, a little fpot can
hardly be imagined, in which it may not be
agreable ; it accommodates itfelf to every fitu-
ation ; is the moft interelling obje6l in a land-
fcape, and the happiell circumftance in a re-
tired recefs -, captivates the eye at a diftance,
invites approach, and is delightful when near ;
it refreflies an open expofure ; it animates a
fhade ; chears the drearinefs of a wafte, and
enriches the moft crouded view : in form, in
ftyle, and in extent, may be made equal to the
greateft compofitions, or adapted to the leaft :
it may fpread in a calm expanfe, to footh the
tranquility of a peaceful fcene ; or hurrying a-
long a devious courfe, add fplendor to a cray,
and extravagance to a romantic, fituation. So
various are the characters which water can af-
fume, that there is fcarcely an idea in v/hich it
may not concur, or an impreffion which it can-
not enforce : a deep ftagnated pool, dank and
dark with fhades which it dimly refledls, befits

the

[ 6i ]
the feat of melancholy -, even a river, if it be
funk between two difmal banks, and dull both
in motion and colour, is like a hollow eye which
deadens the countenance ; and over a fluggard,
filent flream, creeping heavily along all toge-
ther, hangs a gloom, which no art can difilpate,
nor even the fun-lhine difperfe. A gently mur-
muring rill, clear and fhallow, juft gurgling,
juft dimpling, impofes filence, fuits with foli-
tude, and leads to meditation : a brifker cur-
rent, which wantons in little eddies over a
bright fandy bottom, or babbles among peb-
bles, fpreads chearfulnefs all around : a greater
rapidity, and more agitation, to a certain degree
are animating j but in excefs, inftead of waken-
ing, they alarm the fenfes j the roar and the
rage of a torrent, its force, its violence, its
impetuofity, tend to infpire terror •, that terror,
which, whether as caufe or efFe6l, is fo nearly
allied to fublimity.

Abftrafted, however, from all thefe ideas,
from every fenfation, either of depreffion, com-
pofure, or exertion j and confidering water
merely as an objefl, no other is fo apt foon to
catch, and long to fix the attention : but it
may want beauties of which we know it is ca-
pable ; or the marks may be ccnfufed by which
we diftinguifii its fpecies ; and thefe defeds
difpleafe : to avoid them, the properties of each,
fpecies muft be determined.

[ 63 ]

All water is either runnings or fiagnated \
when ftagnated, it forms a lake or o. pool ^ which
differ only in extent ; and a pool and a pond are
the fame. Running waters are either a rivulet^
a river, or a n'// ; and thefe differ only in breadth ;
a rivulet and a i^rt'c^ are fynonimous terms ; a
jiream and a current are general names for all.

In a garden, the water is generally imita-
tive. That which in the open country would
be called a great pond, there affumes the name,
and fhould be fhaped as if it had the extent of
a lake ; for it is large in proportion to the other
parts of the place. Though fometimes a real
river paffes through a garden, yet ftill but a
fmall portion of it is feen ; and more frequently
the femblance only of fuch a portion is fubfli-
tuted inftead of the reality. In either cafe, the
imitation is loll, if the charadleriftic diftinc-
tions between a lake and a river be not fcrupu-
loufly preferved.

XXVII. The charaiSteriftic property of run-
ning water i^progrefs j of ftagnated, is circuity :
the one ftretches into length ; the other fpreads
over fpace : but it is not neceffary that the
whole circumference of a lake be feen, or that
no bounds be fet to the profped of a river : on
ihe contrary, the latter is never more beautiful
than when it is loft in a wood, or retires behind a

hill

C 6+ ]

hill from the view : the former never appears
fo great as when its termination is concealed ;
the Jhap^ not the clofe^ denotes the charafter \ if
the oppofite fhores are both concave, they feem
intended to furround, and to meet ; if they are
nearly parallel, they Ihew no tendency to come
together, but fugged the idea of continuation.

To make both the banks of a river in con-
cave forms is to fin againft this firfl principle ;
and yet the fault is often committed, in order
to encreafe the expanfe ; but when the bold
fweep of a river is thus converted into an infig-
nificant pool, more is loft to the imagination in
length, than is gained to the view in breadth j
and, paradoxical as the aflertion may feem, it is
certainly true, that the water would appear more
important, were it narrower. When one bank,
therefore, retires, the other, if it does not ad-
vance, fhould, at the leaft, continue its former
dire(5lion •, or if that were convex, it may be
ftraitencd ; but both muft not together depart
from the appearance of progrefs.

Particular occalions may, however, juftify a
feeming deviation from the rule. To make
room for an ifland, it may be proper to widen
the river every way ; for there the water is, in
fa6t, intended to furround and to meet ; while
the currents on each fide preferve the principal
character. The fame liberty may alfo be al-
lowed

[ 65 ]
lowed on the influx of a collateral ftream ; and
the accefTion will account both for the breadth
and for the fhape -, but the licence muft here be
ufed with moderation, left the wide place be-
come principal, and divide the river into two
ftreams, the one falling into a pool, and the
other ilTuing from it. Both the fides of a lake
may at all times retire ; but on fuch an accef-
fion, the encreafe fhould be chiefly on the fhore
oppofite to the collateral ftream, that it may
appear to be a real enlargement of the lake,
and not merely the mouth of a river.

A collateral ftream fhould, in general, keep,
or feem to keep for fome way, to nearly the
fame breadth : if it diminifties very faft, it
muft foon come to an end, and has more the
appearance of a creek than of a ftream. Whe-
ther it be the one or the other, may be matter
of indifference when it falls into a lake ; but a
creek is feldom agreable in a river -, it diverts
the current ; its waters feem ftagnated -, it
weakens the idea of progrefs.

All receffes in which the current is loft, are
blemiflies in a river ; a bay is as exceptionable
as a creek ; whatever be the form, if it be a
receptacle, not a pafl^age, it is a fymptom that
the water rather fpreads than proceeds, and
hurts the charaftcr of the river : but a head-
land which only turns or contrails the ftream,
F though

[ 66 ]
though it make a fort of bay, is not liable to
the fame objedtion. Such a bay has a vent ;
fuch an obfl:ru(5tion only itrengthens the cur-
rent ; they do not fuggeft the moft diftant idea
of flagnation. It is almoft needlefs to add,
that in a lake, juft the reverfe of a river, creeks,
bays, recelTes of every kind, are always in cha-
racter, fometimes neceflary, and generally beau-
tiful : the objeflions to them in the one, are
recommendations of them to the other.

XXVIII. Befides the circumflances which
have been mentioned, and in which a river and
a lake eflentially differ ; befides thofe in which
they agree, and which are too obvious to re-
quire illuftration ; there are fome peculiar to
each character, and which though common in
the one, can hardly occur in the other ; at leaft,
not fo often, nor to that degree, as to become
fubjefts of comparifon.

Space is effential to a lake -, it may fpread to
any extent ; and the mind, always pleafed to
expand itfelf on great ideas, delights even in
its vaftnefs. A lake cannot be too large as a
fubjeft of defcription, or of contemplation :
but the eye receives little fatisfad:ion when it
has not a form on which to reft : the ocean it-
felf hardly atones by all its grandeur for its in-
finity J and a profpe<5l of it is, therefore, al-
ways

[ 6; ]

ways mofl agreable, when in fome part, at no
great diftance, a reach of fliore, a promontory,
or an ifland, reduces the immenfity into Ihape.
If the moft extenfive view which can be the
objed of vifion, mufb be reftrained, in order
to be pleafing ; if the nobleft ideas which the
creation can fuggeil, muft be checked in their
career, before they can be accommodated to
the principles of beauty ; an offence againft
thofe principles, a tranfgrefllon of that reflraint,
will not eafily be forgiven on a fubjedt lefs than
indefinite : a lake whofe bounds are out of fight,
is circumfcribed in reality, not in appearance ;
at the fame time that it difappoints the eye, it
confines the imagination ; it is but a wafte of
waters, neither interefting nor agreable.

A diftant flat coaft, dimly and doubtful-
ly fcen, does not obviate the objeflion, but
it may be the means of removing it ; for ele-
vation and diftindlnefs give an appearance of
proximity, and contrad the fpace they limit.
This is the conftant effed of a high fiiore ; a
low one, covered with wood, is in reality raifed ;
and marked by buildings, becomes more con-
fpicuous ; it acquires an artificial elevation and
diftindtnefs.

Thefe obfervations, though immediately re-
lative to very large bodies of water, are ftili
applicable to imitative lakes in parks and gar-
F 2 dens.

[ 68 ]

dens. The principles upon which they are
founded are equally true in both ; and though
an artificial lake cannot be fuppofed, which
fliall be abfolutely, yet comparatively it may
be extravagant : it may be fo out of propor-
tion to its appendages, as to feem a wafte of
water ; for all fize is in fome refpefls relative :
if this exceeds its due dimenfions, and if a
flatnefs of (hore beyond it adds ftill to the drea-
rinefs of the fcene, wood to raife the banks,
and objeds to diftinguifh them, will, from the
fame caufe, produce the fame effeds as on a
larger fcale. If the length of a piece of wa-
ter be too great for its breadth, fo as to deftroy
all idea of circuity, the extremities fhould be
confidered as too far off, and made important,
to give them proximity : while at the fame
time the breadth may be favoured, by keeping
down the banks on the fide. On the fame
principle, if the lake be too fmall, a low fhore
will, in appearance, encreafe the extent.

But it is not necefiary that the whole fcene
be bounded : if form be imprelTed on a con-
fiderable part, the eye can, without difguft,
permit a large reach to (tretch beyond its ken ;
it can even be pleafed to obferve a tremulous
motion in the horizon, which fnews that the
water has not there yet attained its termination.
Still fliort of this, the extent may be kept in

uncer-

[ 69 ]

uncertainty ; a hill or a wood may conceal one
of the extremities, and the country beyond ir,
in fuch a manner, as to leave room for thefup-
pofed continuation of fo large a body of water.
Opportunities to choofe this fhape are frequent,
and it is the mofb perfedl of any : the fcene is
clofed, but the extent of the lake is undeter-
mined •, a complete form is exhibited to the
eye, while a boundlefs range is left open to the
imagination.

But mere form will only give content, not
delight i that depends upon the outline, which
is capable of exquifite beauty •, and the bays
and the creeks^ and the promontories^ which are
ordinary parts of that outline, together with
the accidents of if,ands^ of inlets and of outlets
to rivers, are in their fhapes and their combina-
tions an inexhauflible fund of variety.

A ftrait line of confiderable length may find
a place in that variety ; and it is Ibmetimes of
fingular ufe to prevent the femblance of a ri-
ver in a channel formed between iflands and the
fhore. But no figure perfedtly regular ought
ever to be admitted •, it always feems artificial,
unlefs its fize abfolutely forbid the fuppofition.
A femi-circular bay, though the fhape be beau-
tiful, is not natural ; and any redtilinear figure
is abfolutely ugly j but if one line be curved,
another may Ibmetimes be almoll ftrait -, the
F 3 contraft

C 70 ]

contraft is agreable ; and to multiply the occa-
fions of fhewing contrails, may often be a rea-
fon for giving feveral directions to a creek, and
more than two fides to a promontory.

Bays, creeks, and promontories, though ex-
tremely beautiful, Ihould not, however, be very
numerous ; for a fliore broken into little points
and hollows has no certainty of outline ; it is
only ragged, not diverfified ; and the difl:in6l-
nefs and fimplicity of the great parts are hurt
by the multiplicity of fubdivifions : butillands,
though the channels between them be narrow,
do not fo often derogate from greatnefs ; they
intimate a fpace beyond them whofe boundaries
do not appear ; and remove to a diftance the
fhore which is feen in perfpedtive between them.
Such partial interruptions of the fight fuggeft
ideas of extent to the imagination.

The inlets and the outlets of rivers have fi-
milar effefls : fancy purfues the courfe of the
flreams far beyond the view ; no limits are
iixed to its excurfions. The greateft compofi-
tion therefore of water is that, which is in part
a lake, and in part a river ; which has all the
expanfe of the one, and all the continuation of
the other, each being ftrongly charadlerifed to
the very point of their junction : if that junc-
tion break into a fide of the lake, the diredlion
of the river Ihould be oblique to the line it

cuts ;

C 71 ]

cuts ; redangular bifedions are in this, as in all
other inftances, formal ; but when the conflux
is at an angle, To that the bank of the river co-
incides with one fhore of the lake, they fhould
both continue for fome way in the fame direc-
tion ; a deviation from that line immediately
at the outlet detaches the lake from the river.

XXIX. Though the windings of a river are
proverbially defcriptive of its courfe, yet with-
out being perpetually wreathed, it may be na-
tural ; nor is the charader exprefied only by
the turnings. On the contrary, if they are
too frequent and fudden, the current is reduced
into a number of feparate pools, and the idea
of progrefs is obfcured by the difficulty of tra-
cing it. Length is the ftrongeft fymptom of
continuation ; long reaches are, therefore, cha-
rafteriftic of a river, and they conduce much
to its beauty j each is a confiderable piece of
water -, and variety of beautiful forms may be
given to their outlines j but a ftrait one can
very feldom be admitted : it has the appear-
ance of a cut canal, unlefs great breadth, a
bridge acrofs it, and ftrong contrails between
the objects on the banks, difguife the formality.
A very linall curvature obliterates every idea of
art and ftagnation ; and a greater is often mif-
chievous •, for an excefs of deviation from a
F 4 flrait

[ 72 ]

ftrait towards a circular line, fhortens the view,
•weakens the idea of continuation, and though
not chargeable with fliffnefs, yet approaches to
regularity •, whereas the line of beauty keeps
at a diftance from every figure, which a rule
can determine, or a compafs defcribe.

A confiderable degree of roundnefs is, how-
ever, often becoming, where the ftream changes
its diredion ; and if the turn be effected by a
fharp point of land on one fide, there is the
more occafion for circuity on the other. The
river fiiould alfo be widened under that other
bank ; for it is the nature of water thus driven
out of its courfe, to dafti and encroach upon
the oppofite fhore ; where this circumftance has
been attended to, the bend appears natural j
and the view ending in fpace, gives fcope to
the imagination : the turn, therefore, ought ge-
nerally to be larger than a right angle ; if it be
lefs, it clofes immediately, and checks the idea
of progrefs.

XXX. To further that idea is one ufe of
bridges ; though they crofs, they do not clofe
the view : the water is feen to run through
them, and is fuppofed to continue far beyond
them ; fuch a communication between the op-
pofite banks implies the want of any other, and
gives both length and depth to the ftream. The

form

C n ]

form of a lake, on the contrary, intimates,
that all the feveral fhores are, by making a cer-
tain circuit, acceffible. Bridges, therefore, are
inconfiftent with the nature of a lake, but cha-
radleriftic of a river : they are on that account
ufed to difguife a termination ; but the decep-
tion has been fo often pra6tifed, that it no longer
deceives •, and a bolder aim at the fame effedt
will now be more fuccefsful. If the end can
be turned juft out of fight, a bridge at fome
diftance raifes a belief, while the water beyond
it removes every doubt of the continuation of
the river ; the fuppofition immediately occurs,
that if a difguife had been intended, the bridge
would have been placed further back -, and the
difregard thus fhewn to one deception, gains
credit for the other.

As a bridge is not a mere appendage to a ri-
ver, but a kind of property which denotes its
chara<5i:er, the connexion between them muft be
attended to : from the want of it, the fmgle
wooden arch, now much in fafhion, feems to
me generally mifplaced. Elevated without oc-
cafion fo much above, it is totally detached from
the river ; it is often feen itraddling in the air,
without a glimpfe of the water to account for it ;
and the oftentation of it as an ornamental ob-
jed:, diverts all that train of ideas which its ufe
as a communication might fugged. The vafl-

nefs

[ 74 ]
nefs of Walton bridge cannot without affedla-
tion be mimicked in a garden, where the mag-
nificent idea of including; the Thames under one
arch, is wanting -, and where the ftrudlure itielf,
reduced to a narrow fcale, retains no pretenfions
to grearnefs. Unlefs the fituation make fuch
a height neceffary ; or the point of view be
greatly above it •, or wood or rifmg-ground,
inftead of fky, behind it, fill up the vacancy of
the arch ; it feems an effort without a caufe,
forced and prepofterous.

The vulgar foot-bridge, of planks only,
guarded on one hand by a common rail, and
fupported by a few ordinary piles, is often more
proper. It is perfedl as a communication, be-
caufe it pretends to nothing further -, it is the
utmofb fimplicity of cultivated nature j and if
the banks from v/hich it flarts be of a moderate
heighth, its elevation preferves it from mean-
nefs. No other fpecies fo effeftually charac-
terifes a river ; it feems too plain for an orna-
ment, too obfcure for a difguife ; it mufl be for
ufe ; it can be a paflage only -, it is therefore
fpoiled, if adorned; it is disfigured, if only
painted of any other than a dufky colour.

But being thus incapable of all decoration and
importance, it is often too humble for a great,
and too fimple for an elegant fcene : a flone
bridge is generally more fuitable to either j but

*n

[ IS ]
in that alfo, an extraordinary elevation is feldom
becoming, unlefs the grandeur compenfate for
the diftance at which it leaves the water below.
A gentle rife, and eafy fweep, more clofely pre-
ferve the relation : a certain degree ot union
fhould alio be formed between the banks and
the bridge j that it may feem to rife out of the
banks, not barely to be impoled upon them.
It ought not generally to fwell much above their
level i the parapet wall fhould be brought down
near to the ground, or end againft fome fwell ;
and the fize and the uniformity of the abut-
ments Ihould be broken by hillocks or thickets
about them : every expedient Ihould be ufed to
mark the connexion of the building both with
the ground from which it flarts, and the water
which it crofTes.

In wild and romantic fcenes may be intro-
duced a ruined ftone bridge, of which fome
arches may be ftill Handing, and the lofs of
thofe which are fallen may be fupplied by a
few planks, with a rail, thrown over the vacan-
cy. It is a pidlurefque objedt ; it fuits the fi-
tuation ; and the antiquity of the pafTage, the
care taken to keep it ftill open, though the ori-
ginal building is decayed, the apparent necef-
fity which thence refults for a communication,
give it an impofing air of reality. .

In every fcene of magnificence, in fome where

ele-

[ 76 ]

elegance chiefly prevails, a bridge with a co-
lonacle, or other ornamental Ilrufture upon it,
is charaftcriftically proper j and it has a pecu-
liarity which recommends it to many fituations.
The colonade is alone a perfeft independent
obje6l, which may belong to feveral fpecies of
buildings -, it may therefore cmbellifli a fcene
where no water is vifible ; but the fight mufl
not be let down below the baluftrade. If the
arches appear, it is like other bridges fhewn by
themfelves ; they may now and then be of ufe
to mark a continuation of water, which would
otherwife be doubtful ; but in general they
only remind us of what is wanting to the view.

In fome fituations, two or three bridges may
be admitted into one fcene ; a collateral ftream
always, the turnings of the fame ftream often,
affbrd opportunities to place them in feveral
directions ; and a greater diftindion between
objedls is feldom required, than that between
two bridges, in conftrudion exaflly alike, one
of which prefcnts the paflage over it, and the
other that under it, to the eye Such a variety
of beautiful forms have befides been invented
for them, that in fimilar pofitions they may be
objedls in very different ftiles : and collateral
circumftances occafion ftill further diftinftions.
A bridge, which by means of a bend in the ri-
ver is backed with wood or rifing-grounds, has

in

[ 77 ]

in the effeft little fimilarity to one, through
which nothing can be feen but the water and the
fky ; and if the accident which diftinguifhes im-
mediately groupes with the bridge ; if, for in-
ftance, a tree, or a little clufter of trees, ftand
fo that the ftems appear beneath, the heads
above the arches, the whole is but one pic-
turefque objed, which retains no more than a
diftant refemblance to a bridge quite fimple and
unaccompanied. Amidft all this variety, two
or three may eafily be chofen, which in the
fame landfcape, fo far from afllmilating, will
diverfify the parts ; and, if properly difpofed,
neither in a confufed croud, nor in a formal
fuccefllon, will not incumber the view.

XXXI. A river. requires a number of accom-
paniments J the changes in its courfe furnilh a
variety of fituations ; while the fertility, conve-
nience, and amenity .which attend it, account
for all appearances of inhabitants and improve-
ment. Profufion of ornament on a fictitious ri-
ver, is a juft imitation of cultivated nature ;
every fpecies of building, every flile of planta-
tion, may abound on the banks ; and whatever
be their charadlers, their proximity to the water
is commonly the happieft circumftance in their
fituation. A luftre is from thence diffufed on
all around ; each derives an importance from

its

C 78 ]

its relation to this capital feature ; thofe which
are near enough to be refledied, immediately
belong to it j thofe at a greater diftance, ftill
fhare in the animation of the fcene •, and obje6ts
totally detached from each other, being all at-
tra6ted towards the fame interefting connexion,
are united into one compofition.

In the front of Blenheim was a deep broad
valley, which abruptly feparated the caftle from
the lawn and the plantations before it : even a
diredl approach could not be made, without
building a monftrous bridge over this vaft hol-
low : but the forced communication was only
a fubjedl of raillery, and the fcene continued
broken into two parts, abfolutely diftinft from
each other. This valley has been lately flooded ;
it is not filled ; the bottom only is covered with
water ; the fides are flill very high, but they
are no longer the deeps of a chafm ; they are
the bold fhores of a noble river. The fame
bridge is {landing without alteration ; but no
extravagance remains ; the water gives it pro-
priety. Above it, the river firft appears, wind-
ing from behind a fmall thicic wood in the val-
ley •, and foon taking a determined courfe, it is
then broad enough to admit an ifland filled with
the fineft trees ; others correfponding to them
in growth and difpofition. Hand in groupes on
the banks, intermixed with younger planta-
tions.

C 1^ ]

tions. Immediately below the bridge, the ri-
ver Ipreads into a large expanfe \ the fides are
open lawn ; on that furtheft from the houfe
formerly ftood the palace of Henry the Second,
celebrated in many an ancient ditty by the name
of fair Rofamond's Bower ; a little clear fpring
which fifes there is by the country people ftill call-
ed fair Rofamond's Well : the fpot is now marked
by a fingle willow. Near it is a fine collateral
ftream, of a beautiful form, retaining its breadth
as far as it is feen, and retiring at lafl behind a
hill from the view. The main river, having
received this acceflion, makes a gentle bend,
then continues for a confiderable length in one
wide direft reach, and, juft as it difappears,
throws itfelf down a high cafcade, which is the
prefent termination. On one of the banks of
this reach is the garden ; the fteeps are there
diverfified with thickets and with glades •, but
the covert prevails, and the top is crowned with
lofty trees. On the other fide is a noble hang-
ing wood in the park •, it was depreciated when
it funk into a hollow, and was poorly loft in the
bottom ; but it is now a rich appendage to the
river, falling down an eafy Hope quite to the
water's edge, where, without overfhadowing,
it is reflected on the furface. Another face of
the fame wood borders the collateral ftream,
v/iih an outline more indented and various ;

while

[ 8o ]

while a very large irregular clump adorns the
oppofite declivity. This clump is at a confide-
rable diftance from the principal river j but the
ftream it belongs to brings it down to conne<5t
with the reft ; and the other objefts, which were
before difperled, are now, by theintereftofeach
in a relation which is common to all, colle6ted
into one illuftrious fcene. The caftle is itfelf
a prodigious pile of building, which, with all
the faults in its architedlure, will never feem
lefs than a truly princely habitation; and the
confined fpot where it was placed, on the edge
of an abyfs, is converted into a proud fituation,
commanding a beautiful profpe6t of water, and
open to an extenfive lawn, adequate to the man-
fion, and an emblem of its domain. In the
midft of this lawn ftands a column, a ftately
trophy, recording the exploits of the duke of
Marlborough, and the gratitude of Britain. Be-
tween this pillar and the caftle is the bridge,
which now, applied to a fubjefl worthy of it,
is eftablifhed in all the importance due to its
greatnefs. The middle arch is wider than the
Rialto, but not too wide for the occafion ; and
yet this is the narroweft part of the river : but
the length of the reaches is every where propor-
tioned to their breadth ; each of them is alone
a noble piece of water ; and the laft, the fineft
of all, lofes itfelf gradually in a wood, which

on

[ 8i ]

on that fide is alfo the boundary of the lawn,
and riies into the horizon. All is great in the
front of Blenheim ; but in that vaft fpace no
void appears, fo important are the parts, fo
magnificent the objeds : the plain is extenfive ;
the valley is broad -, the wood is deep •, though
the intervals between the buildings are large,
they are filled with the grandeur which build-
ings of fuch dimenfions, and fo much pomp,
diffufe all around them ; and the river in its
long varied courfe, approaching to every ob-
je6t, and touching upon every part, fpreads its
influence over the whole. Notwithftanding
their diftances from each other, they all feem
to be aflTembled about the water, which is every
where a fine expanfe, whofe extremities are un-
determined. In fize, in form, and in ftile, it is
equal to the majefl:y of the fcene ; and is de-
figned in the fpirit, is executed with the libe-
rality of the original donation, when this refi-
dence of a mighty monarch was bellowed by a
great people, as a munificent reward on the hero
who had deferved bed of his country.

XXXII. In the compofition of this fcene, the
river, both as a part itfelf, and as uniting the
other parts, has a principal fhare ; but water is
not loft, though it be in fo confined or fo con-
cealed a fpot, as to enter into no view -, it may

G ren-

[ 82 ]

render that fpot delightful -, it is capable of the
moll exquifite beauty in its form ; and though
not in fpace, may yet in difpofition have preten-
fions to greatnefs ; for it may be divided into
feveral branches, which will form a clufter of
iflands all connefted together, make the whole
place irriguous, and, in the ftead of extent,
fupply a quantity of water. Such a fequeftered
fcene ufually owes its retirement to the trees and
the thickets with which it abounds ; but in the
difpofition of them, one diftindion Ihould be
conftantly attended to ; a river flowing through
a wood, which overfpreads one continued fur-
face of ground, and a river between two woods,,
are in very different circumftances. In the latter
cafe, the woods are feparate •, they may be con-
trafted in their forms and their characters ; and
the outline of each fhould be forcibly marked.
In the former, no outline ought to be difcern-
ible ; for the river palTes between trees, not be-
tween boundaries ; and though in the progrefs
ofitscourfe, the ftileof the plantations may be
often changed, yet on the oppofite banks a fi-
milarity (hould conftantly prevail, that the iden-
tity of the wood may never be doubtful.

A river between two woods may enter into a
view •, and then it muft be governed by the
principles which regulate the condu(5t and the
accompaniments of a river in an open expofure :

but

m

[ 83 ]

but when it runs through a wood, it is never
to be feen in profpeft ; the place is naturally
full of ob(tru6lions ; and a continued opening,
large enough to receive a long reach, would
feem an artificial cut ; the river muft therefore
neceffarily wind more than in crofling a lawn,
where the pafiTage is entirely free : but its in-
fluence will never extend fo far on the fides :
the buildings muft be near the banks ; and, if
numerous, will feem crouded, being all in one
track, and in fituations nearly alike. The
fcene, however, does not want variety ; on the
contrary, none is capable of more : the objefls
are not indeed fo different from each other as
in an open view j but they are very different,
and in much greater abundance ; for this is the
interior of a wood, where every tree is an ob-
jcdl ; every combination of trees a variety •, and
no large intervals are requifite to diftinguifli
the feveral difpofitions ; the grove, the thicket,
or the groupes may prevail ; and their forms
and their relations may be conftantly changed,
without reftraint of fancy, or limitation of
number.

"Water is fo univerfally and fo defervedly ad-
mired in a profpeft, that the moft obvious
thought in the management of it, is to lay it as
open as pofiible -, and purpofely to conceal it,
would generally feem a fevere felf-denial : yet
G 2 fo

[ 84 ]

fo many beauties may attend its palTage through
a wood, that larger portions of it might be al-
lowed to fuch retired fcenes, than are com-
monly fpared from the view ; and the different
parts in different ftiles would then be fine con-
trafts to each other. If the water at Wotton "^
were all expofed, a walk of near two miles
along the banks would be of a tedious length,
from the want of thofe changes of the fcene,
which now fupply through the whole extent a
fucceflion of perpetual variety. That extent
is fo large as to admit of a divifion into four
principal parts, all of them great in ftile and in
dimenfions ; and differing from each other both
in chara6ter and fituation. The two firfl are
the leafb j the one is a reach of a river, about the
third of a mile in length, and of a competent
breadth, flowing through a lovely m.ead, open
in fome places to views of beautiful hills in the
country, and adorned in others with clumps of
trees, fo large, that their branches ftretch quite
acrofs, and form a high arch over the water.
The next feems to have been once a formal
bafm, encompaffed with plantations ; and the
appendages on either fide ilill retain fome
traces of regularity ; but the fhape of the wa-
ter is free from them ; the fize is about fourteen

* The feat of Mr. Grenville, in the vale of Aylefbury, in
Buckinghamfliire.

acres ;

[ 85 ]
acres ; and out of it iflue two broad collateral
ftreams, winding towards a large river, which
they are feen to approach, and fuppofed to join.
A real jun6lion is however impolTible, from the
difference of the levels •, but the terminations
are fo artfully concealed, that the deception is
never fufpedcd ; and when known, is not eafily
explained. The river is the third great divi-
fion of the water ; a lake into which it falls is
the fourth. Thefe two do adually join ; but
their characters are diredly oppofite ; the fcenes
they belong to are totally diftindl ; and the
tranficion from the one to the other is very gra-
dual ; for an ifland near the conflux, dividing
the breadth, and concealing the end of the lake,
moderates for fome way the fpace; and per-
mitting it to expand but by degrees, raifes an
idea of greatnefs, from uncertainty accompa-
nied with encreafe. The reality does not difap-
point the expectation ; and the ifland, which is
the point of view, is itfelf equal to the fcene ;
it is large, and high above the lake ; the ground
is irregularly broken j thickets hang on the
fides ; and towards the top is placed an Ionic
portico, which commands a noble extent of wa-
ter, not lefs than a mile in circumference, bound-
ed on one fide with wood, and open on the
other to two floping lawns, the leaft of an hun-
dred acres, diverfified with clumps, and bor-

G 3 dered

[ 86 3

dered by plantations : yet this lake, when full
in view, and with all the importance which
fpace, form, and fituation can give, is not more
interefting than the fequeftered river, which
has been u^entioned as the third great divifion
of the water. It is juft within the verge of a
wood, three quarters of a mile long, every
where broad, and its courfe is fuch as to admit
of infinite variety, without any confufion. The
banks are cleared of underwood ; but a few
thickets ftill remain ; and on one fide an impe-
netrable covert foon begins ; the interval is a
beautiful grove of oaks, fcattered over a green-
fwerd of extraordinary verdure. Between thefe
trees and thefe thickets the river feems to glide
gently along, conftantly winding, without one
fhort turn, or one extended reach, in the whole
length of the way. This even temper in the
flream fuits the fcenes through which it pafles ;
they are in general of a very fober caft j not
melancholy, but grave ; never expofed to a
glare ; never darkened with gloom ; nor by
ftrong contrails of light and fhade exhibiting the
excefs of either ; undifturbed by an extent of
profpe6ts without, or a multiplicity of objefls
within, they retain at all times a mildnefs of
charafber, which is ftill more forcibly felt
when the fhadows grow faint as they lengthen i
when a little ruftling of birds in the fpray, the

leaping

[ 8; ]

leaping of the fifli, and the fragrancy of the
woodbine, denote the approach of evening ;
while the fetting fun (hoots its laft gleams on a
Tufcan portico, which is clofe to the upper
balin, but which from a feat near this river is
feen at a diftance, through all the obfcurity of
the wood, glowing on the banks, and reflefted
on the fiirface of the water. In another Hill
more diftinguifhed fpot is built an elegant
bridge, with a colonade upon it, which not
only adorns the place where it ftands, but is
alfo a pidurefque objeft to an oftogon build-
ing near the lake, where it is fhewn in
a fingular fituation, over-arched, encompafled,
and backed with wood, without any appearance
of the water beneath. This building in return
is alfo an objeft from the bridge ; and a Chi-
nefe room, in a little ifland juft by, is another ;
neither of them are confiderable ; and the others
which are vifible are at a diftance j but more or
greater adventitious ornaments are not required
in a fpot fo rich as this in beauties peculiar to
its character. A profufion of water pours in
from all fides round upon the view j the open-
ing of the lake appears ; a glimpfe is caught of
the upper bafm •, one of the collateral ftreams
is full in fight •, and the bridge itfelf is in the
midft of the fineft part of the river ; all feem
to communicate the one with the other ; though
G 4 thickets

[ 88 ]

thickets often intercept, and gronpes perplex
the view, yet they never break the connexion
between the leveral pieces of water ; each may
ftill be traced along large branches, or little
catches, which in fome places are over-fliadowed
and dim -, in others gliften through a glade, or
glimmer between the boles of trees in a diftant
perfpeclive ; and in one, where they are quite
loft to the view, fome arches of a ftone bridge,
but partially feen among the wood, preferve
their connexion. However interrupted, how-
ever varied, they ftill appear to be parts of one
■whole, which has all the intricacy of number,
and the greatnefs of unity ; the variety of a
ftream, and the quantity of a lake ; the folem-
nity of a wood, and the animation of water.

XXXIII. If a large river may fometlmes, a
fmaller current undoubtedly may often, be con-
duced through a wood -, it fcldom adorns, it
frequently disfigures aprofpeft, where its courfe
is marked, not by any appearance of water, but
by a confufed line of clotted grafs, which dif-
agrees with the general verdure : a rivulet may,
indeed, have confideration enough for a home
fcene, though it be open j but a rill is always
moft agreable when moft retired from publick
view : its chara6leriftic excellencies are vivacity
and variety, which require attention, leifure,

and

[ S9 ]
and filence, that the eye may pore upon the lit-
tle beauties, and the ear liften to the low mur-
murs, of the ftream, without interruption. To
fuch indulgence a confined Ipot only is favour-
able ; a clofe copfe is, therefore, often more
acceptable than a high wood ; and a fequeflered
valley at all times preferable to any open ex-
pofure : a fingle rill at a very little diftance is
a mere water-courfe •, it lofes all its charms; it
has no iniportance in itfelf, and bears no pro-
portion to the fcene. A number of little ftreams
have, indeed, an effed: in any fituation, but
not as obje6ts j they are interefting only on ac-
count of the charatler they exprels ; the irri-
guous appearance which they give to the whole.
The full tide of a large river has more force
than activity, and feems too unwieldy to allow
of very quick tranfitions ; but in a rill, the abi-
lity of its motion accounts for every caprice ;
frequent windings difguife its infignificance ;
Ihort turns fhew its vivacity ; fudden changes
in the breadth are a fpecies of its variety ; and
however fantaftically the channel may be wreath-
ed, contraded, and widened, it ftill appears to
be natural. We find an amufement in tracing
the little ftream through all the intricacies of
its courfe, and in feeing it force a pafiage thro'
a narrow ftreight, expatiate on every opportu-
nity, ftruggle with obftruclions, and puzzle out

its

[ 90 ]

its way. A rivulet, which is the mean betwixt
a river and a rill, partakes of the charader of
both : it is not liccnfed to the extravagance of
the one, nor under the fame rellraints as the
other i it may have more frequent bends than
a river \ longer reaches than a rill : the breadth
of a ftream determines whether the principal
beauty refults from extent or from variety.

The murmurs of a rill are amongft the moft
pleafmg circnmflances which attend it : if the
bed of the ftream be rough, mere declivity will
occafion a conftant ripling noile •, when the cur-
rent drops down a defcent, though but of a
few inches, or forcibly bubbles up from a little
hollow, it has a deep gurgling tone, not uni-
formly continued, but inceflantly repeated, and
therefore more engaging than any ; the flatteft
of all, is that found rather of the fplafhing
than the fall of water, which an even gentle
flope, or a tame obftruftion, will produce ;
this is lefs pleafing than the others ; but none
Ihould be entirely excluded ; all in their turns
are agreable ; and the choice of them is much
in our power-, by obferving their caufes, we
may often find the means to ftrengthen, to
weaken, or to change them ; and the addition
or removal of a f;ngle ftone, or a few pebbles,
will fomet'.mes be fufficient for the purpofe.

XXXIV.

[ 91 ]
XXXIV. A rill cannot pretend to any found
beyond that of a little water-fall : the roar of a
cafcade belongs only to larger ftrcams ; but it
may be produced by a rivulet to a confiderable
degree ; and attempts to do more have gene-
rally been unfuccefsful : a vain ambition to imi-
tate nature in her great extravagancies betrays
the weaknefs of art : though a noble river,
throwing itfelf headlong down a precipice be
an objed: truly magnificent ; it mud, however,
be confefled, that in a fingle fheet of water
there is a formality, which its vaflnefs alone can
cure ; but the heighth not the breadth is the
wonder ; when it falls no more than a few feet,
the regularity prevails ; and its extent only
ferves to expofe the vanity of afFedling the flyle
of a cataradt in an artificial cafcade ; it is lefs
exceptionable if divided into feveral parts ; for
then each feparate part may be wide enough for
its depth ; and in the whole, variety, not great-
nefs, will be the predominant charadler : but a
ftruflure of rough, large, detached ftones, can-
not eafily be contrived of ftrcngth fufficient to
fupport a great weight of water ; it is fome-
times from necelTity almoft fmooth and uni-
form ; and then it lofes much of its efi'edl ; fe-
veral little falls in fucceffion are preferable to
one great cafcade which in figure or in motion
approaches to regularity.

When

[ 92 ]

When greatnefs is thus reduced to number,
and length becomes of more importance than
breadth, a rivulet vies with a river j and it
more frequently runs in a continued declivity,
which is very favourable to fuch a fucceflion of
falls. Half the expence and labour which are
fometimes beftowed on a river, to give it, at
the bell, a forced precipitancy, in one fpot
only, would animate a rivulet through the
whole of its courfe j and after all, the moft in-
terefting circumtlance in falling waters is their
animation ; a great cafcade fills us with furprife;
but all furprife muft ceafe ; and the motion,
the agitation, the rage, the froth, and the va-
riety of the water, are finally the obj efts which
engage the attention : for thefe a rivulet is fuf-
ficient ; and they may there be produced with-
out that appearance of effort which raifes a fuf-
picion of art.

To obviate fuch a fufpicion, it may be fome-
times expedient to begin the defcent out of
fif^ht ; for the beginning is the difficulty ; if
that be concealed, the fubfequenc falls feem
but a confequence of the agitation which cha-
raflerifes the water at its firft appearance ; and
the imagination is, at the fame time, let loofe
to give ideal extent to the cafcades : when a
ftrcam ifTues from a wood, fuch management
will have a great effeil : the bends of its courfe

in

C 93 ]
in an open expofure may afford frequent op-
portunities for it : and fometimes a low broad
bridge may furnifh the occafion ; a little fall
hid under the arch will create a dilbrder, in
confequence of which, a greater cafcade below
will appear very natural.

Of ROCKS.

XXXV. Rills, rivulets, and cafcades a-
bound among rocks ; they are natural to the
fcene ; and fuch fcenes commonly require every
accompaniment which can be procured for them :
mere rocks, unlefs they are peculiarly adapted
to certain impreflions, may furprife, but can
hardly pleafe -, they are too far removed from
common life, too barren, and unhofpitable,
rather defolate than folitary, and more horrid
than terrible ; fo auftere a charafler cannot be
long engaging, if its rigour be not foftened by
circumftances, which may belong either to thefe
or to more cultivated fpots ; and when the
drearinefs is extreme, little ftreams and water-
falls are of themfelves infufficient for the pur-
pofe ; an intermixture of vegetation is alfo ne-
cefiary ; and on fome occalions even marks of
inhabitants are proper.

* Middleton dale is a cleft between rocks,
afcending gradually from a r:mantic village,

• Near Chatfworth.

till

[ 94 ]
till it emerges, at about two miles diftance, on
the vafl moor-lands of the Peake ; it is a dif-
mal entrance to a defart j the hills above it are
bare; the rocks are of a grey colour; their
furfaces are rugged ; and their fhapes favage ;
frequently terminating in craggy points ; fome-
times refembling vaft unwieldy bulwarks ; or
rifmg in heavy buttrefles, one above another ;
and here and there a mifhapen mafs bulging
out, hangs lowering over its bafe. No traces
of men are to be feen, except in a road which
has no effeft on fuch a fcene of defolation;" and
in the lime kilns conftantly fmoaking on the
fide ; but the labourers who occafionally attend
them live at a diftance ; there is not a hovel in
the dale ; and fome fcanty withering bufhes
are all its vegetation ; for the foil between the
rocks produces as little as they do ; it is dif-
figured with all the tinges of brown and red,
which denote barrennefs; in fome places it has
crumbled away, and ftrata of loofe dark ftones
only appear ; and in others, long lines of drofs
and rubbilh fhoveled out of mines, have fallen
down the Iteeps. In thefe mines, the veins of
lead on one fide of the dale, are obferved al-
ways to have correfponding veins, in exadly
the fame direction, on the other: and the
rocks, though differing widely in different
places, yet always continue in one ftyle for

fome

C 95 3
fome way together, and feem to have a rela-
tion to each other; both thefe appearances
make it probable, that Middleton dale is a
chafm rent in the mountain by fome convulfion
of nature, beyond the memory of man, or per-
haps before the ifland was peopled : the fcene,
though it does not prove the faft, yet juftifies
the fuppofition ; and it gives credit to the tales
of the country people, who, to aggravate its
horrors, always point to a precipice, down
which they fay, that a poor girl of the village
threw herfelf headlong, in defpair at the neg-
lect of the man whom fhe loved : and fhew a
cavern, where a fkeleton was once difcovered ;
but of what wretch is unknown ; his bones
were the only memorial left of him : all the
drearinefs however of the place, which accords
fo well with fuch traditions, abates upon the
jundlion of another valley, the fides of which
are dill of rock, but mixed and crowned with
fine wood ; and Middleton dale becomes more
mild by fharing in its beauties : near this junc-
tion a clear ftream ilTues from under the hill,
and runs down the dale, receiving as it proceeds
many rills and fprings, all as tranfparent as it-
felf ; the principal rivulet is full of little water-
falls ; they are fometimes continued in fuccef-
fion along a reach of confiderable length, which
is whitened with froth all the way; at other

times

[ 96 ]
times the brook wreathes in frequent windings,
and drops down a ftep at every turn ; or dopes
between tufts of grafs, in a brifk, though not a
precipitate defcent; when it is moft quiet, a
thoufand dimples ftill mark its vivacity -, it is
every where adive ; fometimes rapid j feldoni
filent J but never furious or noify : the firft
imprefTions which it makes are of fprightlinefs
and gaiety, very different from thofe which be-
long to the fcene all around ; but by dwelling
upon both, they are brought nearer together ;
and a melancholy thought occurs, that fuch a
ftream fhogld be loll in watering a wafte ; the
wildernefs appears more forlorn which fo much
vivacity cannot enliven ; as the idea of defola-
tion is heightened by reflecSting that the

Flower is born to blufli unfeen,
And wafte its fweetnefs on the defart air.

And that

the nightingale attunes her notes.
Where none are left to hear.

If fuch a fcene occurs within the precincts of
a park or a garden, no expence fhould be fpared
to meliorate the foil, wherever any foil can be
found : without fome vegetation among the
rocks, they are only an objed of curiofity, or
a fubjed: of wonder-, but verdure alone will
give fome relief to the drearinefs of the fcene ;
and Ihrubs or bulhes, without trees, are a i'uf-

ficiency

[ 97 ]
ficiency of wood ; the thickets may alfo be ex-
tended by the creeping plants, fuch as pyra-
cantha, vines, and ivy, to wind up the fides, or
clufter on the tops of the rocks •, and to this
vegetation may be added fome fymptoms of in-
habitants, but they mufl be flight and few ;
the ufe of them is only to cheer, not to deftroy
the folitude of the place-, and fuch therefore
fhould be chofen as are fometimes found in
fituations retired from publick refort ; a cottage
may be lonely •, but it muft not here feem rui-
nous and neglefted ; it fhould be tight and
warm, with every mark of comfort about it,
to which its pofition in fome fheltered recefs
may greatly contribute. A cavity alfo in the
rocks, rendered eafy of accefs, improved to a
de2;ree of convenience, and maintained in a
certain Itate of prefervation, will fuggefl fimilar
ideas, of protection from the bittereft inclemen-
cies of the fky, and even of occafional refrefh-
ment and repofe ; but we may venture flill fur-
ther; a mill is of necelTity often built at fome
diftance from the town which it fupplies ; and
here it would at the fame time apply the water
to a ufe, and encreafe its agitation. The dale
may befides be made the haunt of thofe animals,
fuch as goats, which are fometimes wild, and
fometimes domeftici and which accidentally
appearing, will divert the mind from the fenfa-
H tions.

[ 98 ]

fations, natural to the fcene, but not agreable If
continued long without interruption. Thefc
and fuch other expedients, will approximate the
fevereft retreat to the habitations of men, and
convert the appearance of a perpetual banifh-
rnent, into that of a temporary retirement from
fociety.

But too ftrong a force on the nature of the
place always fails ; a winding path which ap-
pears to be worn, not cut, has more effed: than
a high road, all artificial and level, which is too
weak to overbear, and yet contradids the gene-
neral idea: the objeds therefore to be introduced
muft be thofe which hold a mean betwixt foli-
tude and population ; and the inclination of that
choice towards either extream, fhould be direct-
ed by the degree of wildnefs which prevails;
for though that runs fometimes to an excefs
which requires corrcdion j at other times it
wants encouragement ; and at all times it ought
to be preferved : it is the predominant charac-
ter of rocks, which mixes with every other, and
to which all the appendages muft be accomo-
dated ; and they may be applied, fo as greatly
to encreafe it : a licentious irregularity of wood
and of ground, and a fantaftic conduct of the
ftreams, neither of which would be tolerated in
the midft of cultivation, become and improve
romantic fpotsj even buildings, partly by their

ftyle.

[ 99 1
/lyle, but ftlll more by their pofition, in ftrangc,
difficult, or daagerous fituations, diftinguifh
and aggravate the native extravagancies of the
fcene.

In the choice and the application of thefe ac-
con^paniments, confiils all our power over rocks;
they are themfelves too vaft and too ftubborn
-to fubmit to our controul ; but by the addition
or removal of the appendages which we can
command, parts may be fhewn or concealed,
and the charadlers with their imprelTions may
be weakened or enforced : to adapt the accom-
paniments accordingly, is the utmoft ambition
of art when rocks are the fubjedl.

Their moft diftinguilhed chara<fters are, dig-
niiy^ terror^ and fancy : the expre/Tions of all are
conftantly wild ; and fometimes a rocky fcene
is only wild, without pretenfions to any parti-
cular charader,

XXXVI. That which infpires ideas of great-
nefs, as diftinguiflied from thofe of terror, has
lefs wildnefs in it than any j there is a compo-
fure in dignity, which is difconcerted by quick
tranfitions, and the flutter of variety ; a fuccejP-
fion therefore of nearly the fame forms, a repe-
tition of them one above the other, do not de-
rogate from an effed, which depends more on
the extent than the changes of the. fcene : the
H 2 dimen-

[ 100 ]

dimenfions which are neceflary to produce that
effeft, contra6t the room for variety •, the parts
muft be large •, if the rocks are only high, they
are but ftupendous, not majeftic : breadth is
equally eflential to their greatnefs •, and every
flender, every grotefque fhape, is excluded.

Art may interpofe to fhew thefe large parts
to the eye, and magnify them to the imagina-
tion, by taking away thickets- which flretch
quite acrofs the rocks, fo as to difguife their
dimenfions ; or by filling with wood the fmall
intervals between them -, and thus by conceal-
ing the want, preferving the appearance of con-
tinuation.

When rocks retire from the eye down a gra-
dual declivity, we can, by raifing the upper
ground, deepen the fall, lengthen the perfpec-
tive, and give both height and extent to thofe
at a diftance : this effeft may be ftill encreafed
by covering that upper ground with a thicket,
which fhall ceafe, or be lowered, as it defcends.

A thicket, on other occafions, makes the
rocks which rife out of it feem larger than they
are -, if they ftand upon a bank overfpread with
fhrubs, their beginning is at the leafl uncer-
tain ; and the prefumption is, that they ftart
from the bottom.

Another ufe of this brufliy underwood is to
conceal the fragments and rubbilh which have

fallen

[ lOI ]

fallen from the fides and the brow, and which
are often unfightly. Rocks are feldom remark-
able for the elegance of their forms ; they are
too vaft, and too rude, to pretend to delicacy ;
but their Ihapes are often agreable ; and we
can affedl thofe Ihapes to a certain degree, at
lead we can cover many blemilhes in them, by
conducing the growth of fhrubby and creep-
ing plants about them.

For all thefe purpofes mere underwood fuf-
fices ; but for greater efFeds larger trees are
requifite ; they are worthy of the fcene ; and
not only improvements, but acceflions to its
grandeur -, we are ufed to rank them among
the nobleft objedts of nature j and when we fee
that they cannot afpire to the midway of the
heights around them, the rocks are raifed by
the comparifon. A fingle tree is, therefore,
often preferable to a clump ; the fize, though
really lefs, is more remarkable : and clumps
are befides generally exceptionable in a very
wild fpot, from the fufpicion of art which at-
tends them ; but a wood is free from that fuf-
picion ; and its own charader of greatnefs re-
commends it to every fcene of magnificence.

On the fame principle, all the confideration

which can be, Ihould be, given to the ftreams ;

no number of little rills are equal to one broad

river J and in the principal current, fome va-

H 3 rieties

[ 102 ]

pedes may be facrificed to importance -, but a
degree of flrength Ihould always be preferved ;
the water, though it needs not be furious, muft
not be dull -, for dignity, when moft ferene, is
not languid ; and fpace will hardly atohb ifof
want of animation.

The chara6ler, however, of greatnefs, when
divefted of terror, is placid •, it does, not,
therefore, exclude marks of inhabitants, though
it never requires them to tame its wildnefs ;
and without inviting, it occafionally admits aii
intermixture of vegetation -, it even allows of
buildings intended only to decorate the fcene ;
but they muft be adequate to it, both in fizc
and in character : and if cultivation is intro-
duced, that too fhould be conformable to the
reft ; not a fingle narrow patch cribbed out of
the wafte ; but the confines of a country fhelv-
ing into the vale, and fuggefting the idea of ex-
tent ; nothing trivial ought to find admittance ;
but on the other hand, the character is not vio-
lated by a mixture of agreablenefs with its
grandeur •, and far lefs is extravagance required
to fupport it : ftrange fhapes in extraordinary
pofitions •, enormous weights unaccountably fuf-
tained ; trees rooted in the fides, and torrents
raging at the foot, of the rocks, are, at the
beft, needlefs excefl^es : there is a temperance
in dignity, which is rather hurt by a wanton

violence

violence on the common order of nature j grea^
obje(5t:s alone, great in their dimenfions and in
their ftyle, are amply fufficient to fatisfy and
to fill the mind ; when thefe fail, then, and
then only, we are apt to have recourfe to won-
der, in order to excite admiration.

Many of the circumftanccs which have been
mentioned concur at * Matlock Bath, which is
fituated in a vale near three miles long, Ihut
up at one end by a rifing moor, and at the
other end by vafl cliffs of rock : the entrance
into it is hewn through one of them, and is in-
deed a noble rude portal to a fcene of romantic
magnificence. One fide of the valley is a very
high range of hill, rough with bufhes, and
great blocks or ledges of ftone ; the other fide
is wafhed by the Derwent, and chiefly of rocks ;
which, however, are often interrupted by fleep
declivities of greenfwerd, large thickets, and
gentle defcents of fine fields from the adjacent
country. The rocks fometimes form the brow,
fometimes they fix the foot, and fometimes they
break the fides of the hill ; at the high Tor
they are an hundred and twenty three yards
above the water ; in other places they are no
more than an abrupt bank of a few feet to the
river j for the moft part they are nearly per-

• In DerbyOufe^

H 4 pen-

C 104 ]

pendicular, falling in feveral ftages, or in one
vaft precipice from the top to the bottom ; but
though fimilar in fhape, they are widely differ-
ent in their conftrudlion ; in one place they are
irregularly jointed •, in another more uniformly
ribbed ; in a third they form a continued fur-
face from the fummit to the bafe ; and fre-
quently they are compofed of enormous mafTes
of ftone heaped upon each other. From fome
fuch fcene probably was conceived the wild
imagination in antient mythology of the giants
piling Pelion upon OlTa : in this, all is vaft ;
height, breadth, folidity, boldnefs of idea,
and unity of ftyle, combine to form a charac-
ter of greatnefs, confiftent throughout, not
uniform, unmixed with any littlenefs, unallayed
with any extravagance. The colour of the
rocks is almoft white ; and their fplendor is en-
hanced in many places by ivy and fingle yew
trees appearing amongft them : the intervals
between them are generally filled with a brulhy
underwood, which diverfifies and embellifhes
the fcene very beautifully j but for want of
large trees adds nothing to its grandeur ; thefe
are few of any note throughout the vale -, the
beft are in a fmall wood near the bath j but
they are not adequate to the magnificence of
the objefts around them, to the fteeps of the
hill, the loftinefs of the rocks, and the charac-
ter

[ 105 3

ter of the Derwent. That charafter is, indeed,
rather too ftrong for the place ; in fize, and in
the direction of its courfe, the river is exadlly
fuch'as might be wifhed ; but it is a torrent, in
which force and fury prevail ; the cafcades in
it are innumerable ; before the water is reco-
vered from one fall, it is hurried down another ;
and its agitation being thus encreafed by re-
peated Ihocks, it pulhes on with reftlefs vio-
lence to the next, where it dafhes againft frag-
ments of rocks, or foams among heaps of ftones
which the ftream has driven together. The
colour all along is of a reddifh brown ; even
the foam is tinged with a dufky hue ; and where
there are no cafcades, ftill the declivity of the
bed preferves the rapidity, and a quantity of
little breakers continue the turbulence of the
current. Many of thefe circumftances are cer-
tainly great ; but a more temperate river, roll-
ing its full tide along with ftrength and adli-
vity, without rage •, falling down one noble caf-
cade, inflcad of many j and if animated fome-
times by refiftance, yet not conftantly ftrug-
gling with obflrudions, would have been more
confident with the fedate fteady dignity of thefe
noble piles of rock, whofe brightnefs, together
with the verdure of a vigorous and luxuriant,
though humble vegetation, and fome appear-
ances of culture, give to the whole an air of

chearful

t io6 ]

ehearful ferenity, which is difturbed by the im*
petuofity of the Derwent.

XXXVII. This river would be better fuited
to a fcene charadlerifed by that terror, which
the combination of greatnefs with force infpires,
and which is animating and interefting, from
the exertion and anxiety attending it. The ter-
rors of a fcene in nature are like thofe of a dra-
matic reprefentation ; they give an alarm ; but
the fenfations are agreable, fo long as they are
kept to fuch as are allied only to terror, un-
mixed with any that are horrible and difguft-
ing ; art may therefore be ufed to heighten
them, to difplay the objeds which are diftin-
guifhed by greatnefs, to improve the circum-
ftances which denote force, to mark thofe which
intimate danger, and to blend with all, here and
there a caft of melancholy.

Greatnefs is as elTential to the charafler of
terror as to that of dignity 5 vaft efforts in little
objects are but ridiculous ; nor can force be
fuppofed upon trifles incapable of refiftance ; on
the other hand it muft be allowed, that exertion
and violence fupply fome want of fpace ; a rock
wonderfully fupported, or threatening to fall,
acquires a greatnefs from its fituation, which it
has not in dimenfions j fo circumftanced, the
fize appears to be monftrous. A torrent has a

. con-

C 107 ]
confequence which a placid river, of equal
breadth, cannot pretend to ; and a tree which
would be inconfiderable in the natural foil, be-
comes important when it burfts forth from a
rock.

Such circumftances fliould be always induf-
trioufly fought for j it may be worth while to
cut down fevcral trees, in order to exhibit one
apparently rooted in the (tone. By the removal
perhaps of only a little brufh wood, the alarm-
ing pofition of a rock, flrangely undermined,
rivetted, or fufpended, may be Ihewn ; and if
there be any foil above its brow, fome trees
planted there, and impending over it, will make
the objed ftill more extraordinary. As to the
ftreams, great alterations may generally be made
in them ; and therefore it is of ufe to afcertain
the fpecies proper to each fcene, becaufe it is
in our power to enlarge or contract their dimen-
fions i to accelerate or retard their rapidity ; to
form, encreafe, or take away obftru6lions ; and
always to improve, often to change, their cha-
rafters.

Inhabitants furnifli frequent opportunities to
ftrengthen the appearances of force, by giving
intimations of danger. A houfe placed at the
edge of a precipice, any building on the pinna-
cle of a crag, makes that fituation feem formi-
dable, which might otherwife have been unno-
ticed ;

[ io8 ]

ticcd ; a deep, in itfelf not very remarkable,
becomes alarming, when a path is carried aflant
up the fide ; a rail on the brow of a perpendi-
cular fall, (hews that the height is frequented
and dangerous ; and a common foot-bridge
thrown over a cleft between rocks, has a ftill
ftronger efFed. In all thefe inftances, the ima-
gination immediately tranfports the fpedlator
to the fpot, and fuggells the idea of looking
down fuch a depth j in the laft, that depth is a
chafm, and the fituation is diredlly over it.

In other inftances, exertion and danger feem
to attend the occupations of the inhabitants ;

-Half way down

Hangs one that gathers famphire ; dreadful trade !

is a circumftance chofen by the great mafter of
nature, to aggravate the terrors of the fcene he
defcribes. Mines are frequent in rocky places ;
and they are full of ideas fuited to fuch occa-
fions. To thefe may fometimes be added the
operations of engines-, for machinery, efpecially
when its powers are ftupendous, or its effeds
formidable, is an effort of art, which may be
accommodated to the extravagancies of nature.
A fcene at the ^ New Weir on the Wye,
which in itfelf is truly great and awful, fo far

* Near a place called Symonds's Gate, between Rofs and
Monmouth.

from

[ 109 ]
from being difturbed, becomes more intereft-
ing and important, by the bufmels to which ic
is deftined. It is a chafm between two high
ranges of hill, which rile almoll perpendicu-
larly from the water •, the rocks on the fides are
moftly heavy mafles j and their colour is gene-
rally brown ; but here and there a pale craggy
fhape ftarts up to a vaft heighth above the reft,
unconnefled, broken, and bare : large trees
frequently force out their way amongft them ;
and many of them ftand far back in the covert,
where their natural dufky hue is deepened by
the fhadow which overhangs them. The river
too, as it retires, lofes itfelf in woods which
clofe immediately above, then rife thick and
high, and darken the water. In the midft of
all this gloom is an iron forge, covered with a
black cloud of fmoak, and furrounded with
half-burned ore, with coal, and with cinders ;
the fuel for it is brought down a path, worn into
fteps, narrow and fteep, and winding among
precipices ; and near it is an open fpace of bar-
ren moor, about which are fcattered the huts
of the workmen. It ftands clofe to the cafcade
of the Weir, where the agitation of the current
is encreafed by large fragments of rocks, which
have been fwept down by floods from the banks,
or Ihivered by tempefts from the browj and the
fallen found, at ftated intervals, from the ftrokes

of

[ no ]

of the great hammers in the forge, deadens the
roar of the water- fall. Juft below it, while the
rapidity of the ftream ftill continues, a ferry is
carried acrofs it •, and lower down the fiihermen
ufe little round boats, called truckles, the re-
mains perhaps of the ancient Britilh naviga-
tion, which the leaft motion will overfet, and
the flighteil touch may deftroy. All the em-
ployments of the people feem to require either
exertion or caution •, and the ideas of force or
of danger which attend them, give to the fcene
an animation unknown to afolitary, though per-
feflly compatible with the wildeft romantic Gl-
tuations.

But marks of inhabitants muft not be carried
to the length of cultivation, which is too mild
for the ruggednefs of the place, and has befides
an air of chearfulnefs inconfiftent with the cha-
radter of terror •, a little inclination towards me-
lancholy is generally acceptable, at leaft to the
cxclufion of all gaiety ; and beyond that point,
fo far as to throw juft a tinge of gloom upon the
fcene. For this purpofe, the obj efts whofe co-
lour is obfcure fliould be preferred ; and thofe
which are too bright may be thrown into fha-
dow ; the wood may be thickened, and the dark
greens abound in it ; if it is neceffarily thin,
yews and fhabby firs fhould be fcattered about
it; and fometimes, to fliew a withering or a

dead

[ I'l 3

dead tree, it may for a fpace be cleared entirely
away. All Tuch circumftances are Vquifuions,
if they can be had without detriment to the
principal character -, for it muft ever be remem-
bered, that where terror prevails, melancholy
is but a iecondary confideration.

XXXVllL The different fpecies of rocks
often meet in the fame place, and compofe t
noble fcene, which is not diftinguiftied by any
particular chara6ler ; it is only when one emi-
nently prevails, that it defervqs. fuch a pre-
ference as to exclude every othgr, .Sometimes
a fpot, remarkable for nothing but its wildnefs,
is highly romantic ; and when this wildnefs rifes
to fancy, when the moll fingular, the mofl op-
pofite forms and combinations are thrown toge-
ther, then a mixture alfo of feveral characters
adds to the number of inftances which there
concur to difplay the inexhauftible variety of
nature.

So much variety, fo much fancy, are feldom
found within the fame extent as in Dovedale **
it is about two miles in length, a deep, narrow,
hollow valley ; both the fides are of rock -, and
the Dove in its paflage between them is perpe-
tually changing its courfe, its motion, and ap-
pearance. It is never lefs than ten, nor fo much

• Near Aflibourne in Derby/hire.

as

I Ili ]

as twenty yards wide, and generally about four
feet deep 5 but tranfparent to the bottom, ex-
cept when it is covered with a foam of the
pureft white, under water-falls which are per*
fedly lucid : Thefe are very numerous, but very
different 5 in fome places they ftretch ftrait
acrofs, or aflant the ftream 5 in others they are
only partial ; and the water either dalhes againft
the ftones, and leaps over them j or pouring
along a fteep, rebounds upon thofe below ;
fometimes it rufhes through the feveral open-
ings between them ; fometimes it drops gent-
ly down ; and at other times it is driven back by
the obftrudion, and turns into an eddy. In
one particular fpot, the valley almoll clofing,
leaves hardly a paffage for the river, which pent
up, and ftruggling for a vent, rages, and roars,
and foams, till it has extricated itfelf from the
confinement. In other parts, the ftream, tho*
never languid, is often gentle ; flows round a
little defart ifland, glides between aits of bul-
ruflies, difperfes itfelf among tufts of grafs or
of mofs, bubbles about a water-dock, or plays
with the flender threads of aquatic plants which
float upon the furface. The rocks all along the
dale vary as often in their ftru6lure, as the
ftream in its motion ; in one place an extended
furface gradually diminillies from a broad bafe
almoft to an edge ; in another, a heavy top

hang-

[ '13 ]
hanging forwards, overfhadovvs all beneath ;
fometimes many different Shapes are confufedly
tumbled togetlier ; and fometimes they are
broken into (lender fharp pinnacles, which rife
upright, often two or three together, and often
in more numerous clufters. On this fide of
the dale, they are univerfally bare •, on the
other, they are intermixed with wood ; and the
vaft height of both the fides, with the narrow-
nefs of the interval between them, produces a
further variety ; for whenever the fun fhines
from behind the one, the form of it is diftinflly
and completely cafl: upon the other ; the rugged
furface on which it falls diverfifies the tints ;
and a ftrong refledled light often glares on the
edge of the deepeft fhadow. The rocks ne-
ver continue long in the fame figure or fitua-
tion, and are very much feparated from each
other : fometimes they form the fides of the
valley, in precipices, in fteeps, or in flages ;
fometimes they feem to rife in the bottom, and
lean back againft the hill •, and fometimes they
ftand out quite detached, heaving up in cum-
brous piles, or ftarting into conical fhapes, like
vaft fpars, an hundred feet high j fome are
firm and folid throughout •, fome are cracked j
and fome, fplit and undermined, are wonder-
fully upheld by fragments apparently unequal
to the weight they fuftain. One is placed be-

I fore,

[ "+ ]

fore, one over another ; and one fills at fomc
diflance behind an interval between two. The
changes in their difpofition are infinite •, every
flep produces fome new combination ; they are
continually crofling, advancing, and retiring :
the brea(ith of the valley is never the fame
forty yards together j at the narrow pafs which
has been mentioned, the rocks almofl: meet at
the top, and the Iky is feen as through a chink
between them : juft by this gloomy abyfs, is a
■wider opening, more light, more verdure, more
chearfulnefs, than any where elfe in the dale.
Nor are the forms and the fituations of the
rocks their only variety ; many of them are
perforated by large natural cavities •, fome of
which open to the fky ; fome terminate in dark
recefl^es ; and through fome are to be feen feve-
ral more uncouth arches, and rude pillars, all
detached, and retiring beyond each other, with
the light fliining in between them, till a rock
far behind them clofes the perfpe6live : the
noife of the cafcades in the river echoes amongft
them i the water may often be heard at the
fame time gurgling near, and roaring at a dif-
tance ; but no other founds difturb ti^e filence
of the fpot •, the only trace of men i^ blind
path, but lightly and but feldom trodden, by
thofe whom ciiriofity leads to fee the wonders
they have been told of Dovedale. It fcems,

indeed.

[ "5 ]

indeed, a fitter haunt for more ideal beings ;
the whole has the air of enchantment -, the per-
petual Ihifting of the fcenes i the quick tranfi-
tions ; the total changes ; then the forms all
around, grotefque as chance can caft, wild as
nature can produce, and various as imagina-
tion can invent ; the force which feems to have
been exerted to place fome of the rocks where
they are now fixed immoveable ; the ma-
gick by which others appear ilill to be fuf-
pended ; the dark caverns ; the illuminated re-
cefles ; the fleating fliadows, and the gleams of
light glancing on the fides, or trembling on the
ftream j and the lonelinefs and the flillnefs of
the place, all crouding together on the mind,
almoil realize the ideas which naturally prefent
themfelves in this region of romance and of
fancy.

The folitude of fuch a fcene is agreable, on
account of the endlefs entertainment which its
variety affords, and in the contemplation of
which both the eye and the mind are delighted
to indulge : marks of inhabitants and cultiva-
tion difturb that folitude ; and ornamental
buildings are too artificial in a place fo abfo-
lutely free from reftraint. The only accompa-
niments proper for it are wood and water j and
by thefe fometimes improvements may be made:
when two rocks fimilar in fhape and pofition

I 2 are

C ii6 ]

are near together, by fkirting one of them with
wood, while the other is left bare, a material
diftinftion is eftablilhed between them ; if the
ftreams be throughout of one character, it is
in our power, and ihould be our aim, to in-
troduce another. Variety is the peculiar pro-
perty of the fpot, and every acceflion to it is a
valuable acquifition. On the fame principle,
endeavours fhould be ufed not only to multi-
ply, but to aggravate differences, and to en-
crcafe diftindlions into contrails : but the fub-
je6l will impofe a caution againft attempting
too much. Art muft almoft defpair of improv-
ing a fcene, where nature feems to have ex-
erted her invention.

Of BUILDINGS.

XXXIX. Buildings are the very reverfe of
rocks. They are abfolutely in our power, both
the fpecies and the fituation ; and hence arifes
the excefs in which they often abound. The
defire of doino; fomethins; is ftronger than the
fear of doing too much : thefe may always be
procured by expence, and bought by thofe
who know not how to choofe ; who confider
profufion as ornament ; and confound by num-
ber inftead of diftinguifiiing by variety.

Buildings probably were firft introduced into
gardens merely for convenience, to afford re-
fuge

[ 1^7 ]
fucre from a fudden fhower, and Ihelter againft
the wind ; or, at the moft, to be feats for a
party, or for retirement : they have fince been
converted into objeds ; and now the original
ufe is too often forgotten in the greater purpofes
to which they are applied ; they are confidered
as objeds only ; the infide is totally neglefted ;
and a pompous edifice frequently wants a room
barely comfortable. Sometimes the pride of
making a lavilh difplay to a vifitor, without
any regard to the owner's enjoyments ; and
foraetimes too fcrupulous an attention to the
ftyle of the building, occafions a poverty and
dulnefs within, which deprives them of part
of their utility. But in a garden they ought
xo be confidered both as beautiful objeds, and
as agreable retreats ; if a character becomes
them, it is that of the fcene they belong to,
not that of their primitive application : a Gre-
cian temple, or a Gothic church, may adorn
fpots where it would be affedation to preferve
that folemnity within, which is proper for
places of devotion -, they are not to be exacft
models, fubjefts only of curiofity or Itudy ;
they are alfo feats •, and fuch feats will be little
frequented by the proprietor •, his mind muft
generally be indifpofed to fo much fimplicity,
and fo much gloom, in the midft of g^ety,
richnefs, and variety.

I 3 But

[ ii8 ]

But though the interior of buildings fhould
not be difregarded, it is by their exterior that
they become obje^s ; and fometimes by the
one, fometimes by the other, and fometimes
by both, they are intitled to be confidered as
chara^ers. , -

XL. As objeds they are defigned either to
dijiinguijh^ or to breaks or to adorn, the fcenes
to which they are applied. o/,i>«prt

The differences between one wood, one lawn,
one piece of water, and another, are not al-
ways very apparent j the feveral parts of a
garden would, therefore, often feem fimilar, if
they were not diftinguilhed by buildings ; but
thefe are fo obfervable, fo obvious at a glance,
fo eafily retained in the memory, they mark the
fpots where they are placed with fo much
ftrength, they attrad the relation of all around
with fo much power, that parts thus diftin-
o-ui{hed can never be confounded together. But
it by no means follows, that, therefore, every
fcene muft have its edifice : the want of one is
fometimes a variety ; and other circumftances
are often fufficiently charaderiflic ; it is only
when thefe too nearly agree, that we mufl have
recourfe to buildings for differences ; we can in-
troduce, exhibit, or contraft them as we pleafe ;
the moft ftriking objed is thereby made a mark

of

[ 119 ]

of diftinftion ; and the force of this firfl: im-
preflion prevents our obferving the points of re-
femblance.

The uniformity of a view may be broken by
fimilar means, and on the fame principle : when
a wide heath, a dreary moor, or a continued
plain is in profpe6l, objefts which catch the
eye fupply the want of variety -, none are fo
effectual for this purpofe as buildings. Planta-
tions or water can have no .very fenfible effeft,
unlefs they are large or numerous, and almoft
change the charafler of the fcene : but a fmall

ID '

fingle buildino; diverts the attention at once
from the famenels of the extent, which it breaks,
but does not divide j and diverfifies, without
altering its nature. The defign, however,
muft not be apparent •, the merit of a cottage
applied to this purpofe, confifts in its being
free from the fufpicion ; and a few trees near
it will both enlarge the objeft, and account for
its pofition : Ruins are a hackneyed device im-
mediately deteded, unlefs their ftyle be fingu-
lar, or their dimenfions extraordinary. The
femblance of an ancient Britifh monument might
be adapted to the fame end, with little trouble,
and great fuccefs ; the materials might be
brick, or even timber plaiftercd over, if ftone
could not eafily be procured : whatever they
were, the fallacy would not be difcernible -, it
I 4 is

C 120 3'

is an objefb to be feen at a diftance, rude and
large, and in charader agreable to a wild open
view : but no building ought to be introduced,
which may not in reality belong to fuch a fitua-
tion ; no Grecian temples, no Turkifh mofques,
no Egyptian obeliiks or pyramids, none im-
ported from foreign countries, and nnufual
here -, the apparent artifice would deftroy an ef-
fedb, which is fo nice as to be weakened, if ob-
jefts proper to produce it are difplayed with too
much oftentation, if they feem to be contri-
vances, not accidents, and the advantages of
their pofition appear to be more laboured than
natural.

But in a garden, where objedts are intended
only to adorn, every fpecies of architefture may
be admitted, from the Grecian down to the
Chinefe ; and the choice is fo free, that the mif-
chief moft to be apprehended, is an abufe of
this latitude in the multiplicity of buildings.
Few fcenes can bear more than two or three ;
in fome a fingle one has a greater effeft than
any number ; and a carelefs glimpfe here and
there, of fuch as belong immediately to differ-
ent parts, frequently enliven the landfkip with
more fpirit than thole which are induftrioufly
fhewn. If the effeft of a partial fight, or a
diftant view, were more attended to, many
fcenes might be filled, without being crouded ;

a greater

I 121 ]

a greater number of buildings would be tole-
rated, when they feemed to be cafual, not
forced j and the animation, and the ricbnefs of '
objeds, might be had without pretence or dif-
play.

Too fond an oflentation of buildings, even
of thofe which are principal, is a common er-
ror ; and when all is done, they are not always
Ihewn to the greateft advantage. Though their
fymmetry and their beauties ought in general
to be diftindly and fully feen, yet an oblique
is fometimes better than a dired view ; and they
are often lefs agreable objedts when entire, than
when a part is covered, or their extent is inter-
rupted i when they are bofomed in wood, as
well as backed by it ; or appear between the
ftems of trees which rife before or above them :
thus thrown into perfpectivc, thus grouped and
accompanied, they may be as important as if
they were quite expofed, and are frequently
more pi6lurefque and beautiful.

But a ftill greater advantage arifes from this
management, in connefting them with the
fcene; they are confiderable, and different
from all around them ; inclined therefore to fe-
parate from the reft -, and yet they are fome-
times ftill more detached by the pains taken to
exhibit them : that very importance which is
the caufe of the diftin6tion, ought to be a reafon

for

[ 122 ]

for guarding againft the independence to which
it is naturally prone, and by which an objcdt,
which ought to be a part of the whole, is re-
duced to a mere individual. An elevated is ge-
nerally a noble fituation ; when it is a point, or
a pinnacle, the flru6ture may be a continuation
of the afcent ; and on many occafions, fome
parts of the building may defcend lower than
others, and multiply the appearances of con-
nexion ; but an edifice in the midft of an ex-
tended ridge, commonly feems naked, alone,
and impofed upon the brow, not joined to it.
If wood to accompany it will not grow there,
it had better be brought a little way down the
declivity, and then all behind, above, and about
it, are fo many points of contaft, by which it
is incorporated into the landfkip.

Accompaniments are important to a build-
ing J but they lofe much of their effefl, when
they do not appear to be cafual. A little mount
juft large enough for it ; a fmall piece of water
below, of no other ufe than to refie6t it ; and a
plantation clofe behind, evidently placed there
only to give it relief, are as artificial as the
ftrufture itfelf, and alienate it from the fcene
of nature into which it is introduced, and to
which it ought to be reconciled. Thefe ap-
pendages therefore Ihould be lo difpofed, and
fo connected with the adjacent parts, as to an-

fwer

[ 123 ]

fwer other purpofes, though applicable to this,
that they may be bonds of union, not marks of
difference ; and that the fituation may appear
to have been chofen, at the moft, not made
for the building.

In the choice of a fituation, that which fhews
the building befl, ought generally to be pre-
ferred.-, eminence, relief, and every other advan-
tage which can be, ought to be given to an ob-
je<5t of fo much confideration : they are for the
moft part defireable, fometimes neceflary, and
exceptionable only when, inftead of rifing out
of the fcene, they are forced into it ; and a con-
trivance to procure them at any rate, is avowed
without any difguife. There are, however, oc-
cafions, in which the moft tempting advantages
of fituation muft be waved j the general com-
pofition may forbid a building in one fpot, or
require it in another ; at other times, the inte-
reft of the particular gioupe it belongs to, may
exafl a facrifice of the opportunities to exhibit
its beauties and importance ; and at all times,
the pretenfions of every individual objed muft
give way to the greater effed of the whole.

XLI. The fame ftruflure which adorns as an
objed, may alfo be expreffive as a charadler ;
where the former is not wanted, the latter may
be defireable j or it may be weak for one pur-

pofe,

C 124 ]

pole, and ftrong for the other ; it may be grave,
or gay ; magnificent, or fimple ; and accord-
ing to its ftyle, may or may not be agreable to
the place it is applied to ; but mere confiftency
is not all the merit which buildings can claim :
their charadters are fometimes ftrong enough to
determine, improve, or correal that of the fcene ;
and they are fo confpicuous, and fo diftinguilhed,
that whatever force they have is immediately
and fenfibly felt. They are fit therefore to
make a firfl impreflion ; and when a fcene is
but faintly chara6lerifed, they give at once a
caft which fpreads over the whole, and which the
weaker parts concur to fupport, though perhaps
they were not able to produce it.
- Nor do they flop at fixing an uncertainty, or
removing a doubt ; they raife and enforce a
charafter already marked : a temple adds dig-
nity to the nobleft, a cottage fimplicity to the
moft rural fcenes •, the lightnefs of a fpire, the
airinefs of an open rotunda, the fplendor of a
continued colonade, are lefs ornamental than
expreffive : others improve chearfulnefs into
gaiety, gloom into folemnity, and richnefs into
profufion : a retired fpot which might have^^been
jpaffed unobierved, is noticed for its tranquili-
ty, as foon as it is appropriated by fonae ftruc-
ture to retreat •, and the moft unfrequented place
feems lefs folitary than one which appears to

have

[ 125 ]
have been the haunt of a fingle individual, or
even of a fequeftered family, and is marked by
a lonely dwelling, or the remains of a deferted
habitation.

The means are the fame, the application of
them only is different, when buildings are ufed
to corredl the charader of the fcene ; to enliven
its dulnefs; to mitigate its gloom; or to check
its extravagance; and on a variety of occalions
to foften, to aggravate, or to counteract, parti-
cular circumftances attending it : but care muft
be taken that they do not contradift too Ilrongly
the prevailing idea; they may leflen the dreari-
nefs of a wafte, but they cannot give it ameni-
ty ; the^' may abate horrors, but they will never
convert then into graces ; they may make a
tame fcene agreable, and even interefting, not
romantic ; or turn folemnity into chearfulnefs,
but not into gaiety. In thefe, and in many other
inftances, they correfl the charader, by giv-
ing it an inclination towards a better, which
is not very different ; but they can hardly alter
it entirely; when they are totally inconfiflent
with it, they are at the bed nugatory.

The great effects which have been afcribed
to buildings, do not depend upon thofe^trivial
ornaments, and appendages, which are often
too much relied on ; fuch as, the furniture of a
hermitage; painted glafs in a Gothic church;

and

C "« ]

and fculpture about a Grecian temple ; gro-^
tefque or bacchanalian figures to denote gaiety,
and deaths heads to fignify melancholy. Such
devices are only defcriptive, not expreflive, of
charader ; and muft not be fubftituted in the
ftead of thofe fuperior properties, the want of
which they acknowledge, but do not fupply :
they befides often require time to trace their
meaning, and to fee their application ; but the
peculiar excellence of buildings is, that their cf-
fefts are inftantaneous, and therefore the im-
preflions they make are forcible : in order to
produce fuch effeds, the general ftyle of the
ftru(5lure, and its pofition, are the principal
confiderations -, either of them will fometimes
be ftrongly charadleriftic alone ; united, their
powers are very great; and both are fo impor-
tant, that if they do not concur, at leafl they
muft not contradift one another : the colour alfo
of the buildings is feldom a matter of indiffe-
rence; that exceflive brightnefs which is too in-
difcriminately ufcd to render them confpicuous,
is apt to difturb the harmony of the whole ;
fometimes makes them too glaring as objeds ;
and is often inconfiftent with their charaders.
When thefe efiential points are fecured, fubordi-
nate circumftances may be made to agree with
them; and though minute, they may not be
improper, if they are not affeded; they fre-
quently

[ 127 ]

quently mark a correlpondence between the
outfide, and the infide of a. building •, in the
latter they are not inconfiderable ; they may
there be obferved at leifure ; and there they ex-
plain in detail the charadter which is more gene-
rally exprefled in the air of the whole.

XLII. To enumerate the feveral buildings
which may be ufed for convenience, or diftinc-
tion, as ornaments, or as charafters, would
lead me far from my fubjed: into a treatife of
architedlure ; for every branch of architedlure
furnilhes, on different occafions, obje6ls proper
for a garden -, and different fpecies may meet in
the fame compofition ; no analogy exifts between
the age and the country, whence they are bor-
rowed, and the fpot tliey are applied to, except
in fome particular inftances; but in general,
they are naturalized to a place of the moft im-
proved cultivated nature by their effedls j beau-
ty is their ufe ; and they are confiilent with each
other, if all are conformable to the ftyle of the
fcene, proportioned to its extent, and agreable
to its charader. On the other hand, varieties
more than fufiicient for any particular fpot,
enough for a very extenfive view, may be found
in every fpecies ; to each alfo belong a number
of characters : the Grecian architedlure can lay
afide its dignity in a ruftic building ; and the ca-
price

[ "8 ]
price of the Gothic is fometimes not incompa-
tible with greatnefs ; our choice therefore may
be confined to the variations of one fpecies, or
range through the contrails of many, as circum-
ftances, tafte, or other confiderations fhali de-
termine.

The choice of fituations is alfo very free;
circumftances whith are requifite to particular
ftruflures, may often be combined happily v^^ith
others, and enter into a variety of compofi-
tions ; even where they are appropriated, they
may ftill be applied in feveral degrees, and the
fame edifice may thereby be accommodated to
very different fcenes : fome buildings which have
a juft expreflion when accompanied with proper
appendages, have none without them ; they may
therefore be charaflers in one place, and only
objeds in another. On all thefe occafions, the
application is allowable, if it can be made with-
out inconfiftency ; a hermitage muft not be
clofe to a road, but whether it be expofed to
view on the fide of a mountain, or concealed
in the depth of a wood, is almoft a matter of
indifference, that it is at a diftance from pub-
lick refort is fufHcient : a caftle muft not be funk
in a bottom •, but that it fhould ftand on the ut-
mofl pinnacle of a hill, is not neceffary ; on a
lower knole, and backed by the rife, it may
appear to greater advantage as an objetfl ; and

be

[ 129 ]

be much more important to the general compo-
fition : a tower,

Bolbmed high in tufted trees,

has been felefted by one of our greatefl: poets
as a fingular beauty ; and the juftnels of his
choice has been ib generally acknowledged,
that the defcription is become almoft proverbial j
and yet a tower does not feem defigned to be
furroundcd by a wood ; but the appearance
may be accounted for ; it does fometimes oc-
cur; and we areeafijy fatisfied of the propriety,
when the effet^t is fo pleafing. Many build-
ings, which from their fplendor beft become
an open expofure, will yet be fometimes not
ill beftowed on a more fequeftered fpot, either
to charafterife or adorn it ; and others, for
which a folitary would in general be preferred
to an eminent fituation, may occafionally be
objedls in very confpicuous pofitions. A Gre-
cian temple, from its peculiar grace and dig-
nity, deferves every diftinflion ; it may, how-
ever, in the depth of a wood, be fo circum-
ftanced, that the want of thofe advantages to
which it feems entitled, will not be regretted.
A happier fituation cannot be devifed, than
that of the temple of Pan, at the * fouth lodge
on Enfield Chace. It is of the ufual oblong

• A villa belonging to Mr. Sharpe, near Barnet, in Mid-
dlefex,

K form.

[ 130 ]
form, encompafled by a colonade ; in dimen-
fions, and in ftyle, it is equal to a moll exten-
five landfkip ; and yet by the antique and ruftic
air of its Dorick columns without bafes ; by
the chaftity of its little ornament, a crook, a
pipe, and afcrip, and thofe only over the doors ;
and by the fimplicity of the whole, both within
and without, it is adapted with fo much pro-
priety to the thickets which conceal it from the
view, that no one can wilh it to be brought
forward, who is fenfible to the charms of the
Arcadian fcene which this building alone has
created. On the other hand, a very fpacious
field, or Iheep-walk, will not be difgraced by
a cottage, a Dutch barn, or a hay-ftack ; nor
will they, though fmall and familiar, appear to
be inconfiderable or infignificant objeds. Num-
berlefs other inftances might be adduced to
prove the impoflibility of reftraining particular
buildings to particular fituations, upon any ge-
neral principles ; the variety in their forms is
hardly greater than in their application.

XLIII. To this great variety muft be added
the many changes which may be made by the
means oi ruins-, they are a clafs by themfelves,
beautiful as objeds, expreffive as charaders,
and peculiarly calculated to connedl with their
appendages into elegant groupes : they may be

accom-

[ 131 ]

accommodated with eafe to irregularity of
ground, and their diforder is improved by it ;
they may be intimately blended with trees and
with thickets, and the interruption is an ad-
vantage ; for imperfeflion and obfcurity are
their properties ; and to carry the imagination
to fomething greater than is feen, their effedl.
They may for any of thefe purpofes be fcpa-
rated into detached pieces ; contiguity is not
necelTary, nor even the appearance of it, if the
relation be preferved ; but ftraggling ruins have
a bad effedt, when the feveral parts are equally
confiderable. There fhould be one large mafs
to raife an idea of greatnefs, to attract the others
about it, and to be a common centre of union
to all : the fmailer pieces then mark the origi-
nal dimenfions of one extenfive llru6ture ; and
no longer appear to be the remains of feveral
little buildings.

All remains excite an enquiry into the former
ftate of the edifice, and fix the mind in a con-
templation on the ufe it was applied to ; befides
the charaflers exprefi!ed by their ftyle and pofi-
tion, they fuggeft ideas which would not arife
from the buildings, if entire. The purpofes
of many have ceafed ; an abbey, or a caftle, if
complete, can now be no more than a dwelling;
the memory of the times, and of the manners,
to which they were adapted, is preferved only

K 2 in

C 132 ]

in hiflory, and in ruins ; and certain fenfations
of regret, of veneration, or compaffion, attend
the recolle6i:ion : nor are thefe confined to the
remains of buildings which are now in difufe ;
thofe of an old manfion raife refleftions on the
domeftic comforts once enjoyed, and the an-
cient hofpitality which reigned there. What-
ever building we fee in decay, we naturally
contrail its prefent to its former ftate, and de-
light to ruminate on the comparifon. It is true
that fuch effefls properly belong to real ruins ;
but they are produced in a certain degree by
thofe which are ficftitious -, the imprcffions are
not fo ftrong, but they are exactly fimilar ; and
the reprefentation, though it does not prefent
fads to the memory, yet fuggefts fubjeds to
the imagination : but in order to affe6l the
fancy, the fuppofed original defign fhould be
clear, the ufe obvious, and the form eafy to
trace ; no fragments fhould be hazarded with-
out a precife meaning, and an evident connec-
tion ; none fliould be perplexed in their con-
llru(flion, or uncertain as to their application.
Conjeftures about the form, raife doubts about
the exiftence of the ancient ftruflure -, the mind
muft not be allowed to hefitate; it muft be
hurried away from examining into the reality,
by the exadnefs and the force of the refem-
blance.

In

C 133 ]

In the ruins of * Tintern abbey, the origi-
nal conftrudion of the church is perfed:ly mark-
ed ; and it is principally from this circumftance
that they are celebrated as a fubject of curiofity
and contemplation. The walls are almoft en-
tire i the roof only is fallen in ; but moft of the
columns which divided the ifles are (till Hand-
ing ; of thofe which have dropped down, the
bafes remain, every one exa6tly in its place ;
and in the middle of the nave, four lofty arches,
which once fupported the ileeple, rife high in
the air above all the reft, each reduced now to
a narrow rim of ftone, but completely preferv-
ing its form. The (hapes even of the windows
are little altered ; but fome of them are quite
obfcured, others partially fliaded, by tufts of
ivy, and thofe which are moft clear, are edged
v/ith its {lender tindrils, and lighter foliage,
wreathing about the fides and the divifions -, it
winds round the pillars ; it clings to the walls ;
and in one of the ifles, clufters at the top in
bunches fo thick and fo large, as to darken the
fpace below. The other ifles, and the great
nave, are expofed to the fl<:y ; the floor is en-
tirely overfpread with turf; and to keep it clear
from weeds and buflies, is now its higheft pre-
servation. Monkifli tomb-ftones, and the mo-

» Between Chepftowe and Monmouth.

K ? numents

[ '34 1
numents of benefaflors long fince forgotten,
appear above the* greenfwerd ; the bafes of the
pillars which have fallen, rife out of it ; and
maimed effigies, and fculpture worn with age
and weather, Gothic capitals, carved cornices,
and various fragments, are fcattered about, or
lie in heaps piled up together. Other fhattered
pieces, though disjointed and mouldering, ftill
occupy their original places •, and a ftair-cafe
much impaired, which led to a tower now no
more, is fufpended at a great heighth, unco-
vered and inaccefllble. Nothing is perfe6l ; but
memorials of every part ftill fubfift; all cer-
tain, but all in decay ; and fuggefting, at once,
every idea which can occur in a feat of devo-
tion, folitude, and defolation. Upon fuch mo-
dels, fiditious ruins fhould be formed ; and if
any parts are entirely loft, they fhould be fuch
as the imagination can eafily fupply from thofe
which are ftill remaining. Diftin6fc traces of
the building which is fuppofed to have exifted,
are lefs liable to the fufpicion of artifice, than
an unmeaning heap of confufion. Precifion is
always fatisfailory ; but in the reality it is only
agreable ; in the copy, it is elTential to the imi-
tation.

A material circumftance to the truth of the
imitation, is, that the ruin appear to be very
old; the idea is befides interefting in itfelf; a

mo-

C 135 ]

monument of antiquity is never feen with in-
difference ; and a lemblance of age may be
given to the reprefentation, by the hue of the
materials ; the growth of ivy, and other plants ;
and cracks and fragments feemingly occafioned
rather by decay, than by dcftruftion. An ap-
pendage evidently more modern than the prin-
cipal ftrufture will fometimes corroborate the
effect ; the fhed of a cottager amidft the re-
mains of a temple, is a contraft both to the
former and the prefent ftate of the building ;
and a tree flourifhing among ruins, fhews the
length of time they have lain neglefled. No
circumftance fo forcibly marks the defolation of
a fpot once inhabited, as the prevalence of na-
ture over it :

Campos ubi Troja fuit

is a fentence which conveys a ftronger idea of
a city totally overthrown, than a defcription of
its remains •, but in a reprefentation to the eye,
fome remains muft appear ; and then the per-
verfion of them to an ordinary ufe, or an inter-
mixture of a vigorous vegetation, intimates a
fettled defpair of their refloration.

Of ART.

XLIV. The feveral conftituent parts of the

fcenes of nature having now been confidered,

K 4 the

[ 136 ]

the next enquiry is into the particular principles
and circumftances which may afFec5t them, when
they are applied to the fubjedls of gardening.
It has always been fuppofed that art mull then
interfere -, but art was carried to excefs, when
from accefibry it became principal ; and the
fubjed upon which it was employed, was
brought under regulations, lefs applicable to
that than to any other ; when ground, wood,
and water, were reduced to mathematical fi-
gures ; and fimilarity and order were preferred
to freedom and variety. Thefe mifchiefs, how-
ever, were occafioned, not by the ufe but the
perverP.on of art ; it excluded, inftead of im-
proving upon nature ; and therefore deftroyed
the very end it was called in to promote.

So ftrange an abufe probably arofe from an
idea of fome neceflary correfpondence between
the manfion, and the fcene it immediately com-
manded i the forms, therefore, of both were
determined by the fame rules ; and terraces,
canals, and avenues, were but fo many varia-
tions of the plan of the building. The regu-
larity thus eftablifhed fpread afterwards to more
diftant quarters : there, indeed, the abfurdity
was acknowledged, as foon as a more natural
difpofition appeared ; but a prejudice in favour
of art, as it is called, jujl about the houfe, ftill
remains. If by the term, regularity is intended,

the

I ^37 'i

the principle is equally applicable to the vici-
nity of any other building j and every temple
in the garden ought to have its concomitant
formal flopes and plantations j or the confor-
mity may be reverfed, and we may as reafonably
contend that the building ought to be irregu-
lar, in order to be confident with the fcene it
belongs to. The truth is, that both propofitions
are erroneous ; architecture requires fymmetry ;
the objects of nature freedom ; and the proper-
ties of the one, cannot with juftice be trans-
ferred to the other. But if by the term no
more is meant than merely dejign, the difpute is
at an end ; choice, arrangement, compofition,
improvement, and prefervation, are fo many
fymptoms of art, which may occafionally ap-
pear in feveral parts of a garden, but ought to
be difplayed without referve near the houfe ;
nothing there fhould feem negle6ted j it is a
fcene of the moft cultivated nature ; it ought
to be enriched j it ought to be adorned ; and
defign may be avowed in the plan, and expence
in the execution.

Even regularity is not excluded ; fo capital
a ftrufture may extend its influence beyond its
walls ; but this power (hould be exercifed only
over its immediate appendages ; the platform
upon which the houfe Hands, is generally con-
tinued to a certain breadth on every fide •, and

whether

[ 138 ]

whether it be pavement or gravel, may un-
doubtedly coincide with the fhape of the build-
ing. The road which leads up to the door,
may go off from it in an equal angle, fo that
the two fides fhall exadtly correfpond : and cer-
tain ornaments, though detached, are yet ra-
ther within the province of architedlure than
of gardening ; works of fculpture are not, like
buildings, objefls familiar in fcenes of culti-
vated nature ; but vafes, ftatues, and termini,
are ufual appendages to a confiderable edifice ;
as fuch they may attend the manfion, and tref-
pafs a little upon the garden, provided they
are not carried fo far into it as to lofe their con-
nexion with the ftrudure. The platform and
the road are alfo appurtenances to the houfe ;
all thefe may therefore be adapted to its form ;
and the environs will thereby acquire a degree
of regularity ; but to give it to the objedls of
nature, only on account of their proximity to
others which are calculated to receive it, is, at
the beft, a refinement.

XLV. Upon the fame principles regularity
has been required in the approach ; and an ad-
ditional reafon has been afligned for it, that the
idea of a feat is thereby extended to a diftance ;
but that may be done by other means than by
an avenue j a private road is eafily known ; if

carried

[ 139 ]

carried through grounds, or a park, it is com»
monly very apparent ; even in a lane, here and
there a bench, a painted gate, a fmall plan-
tation, or any other little ornament, will fuffi-
ciently denote it ; if the entrance only be
marked, fimple prefervation will retain the im-
prefTion along the whole progrefs ; or it may
wind through feveral fcenes diftinguiflicd by
obje6ls, or by an extraordinary degree of cul-
tivation ; and then the length of the way, and
the variety of improvements through which it
is conduced, may extend the appearance of
domaine, and the idea of a feat, beyond the
reach of any direfl avenue.

An avenue being confined to one termina-
tion, and excluding every view on the fides,
has a tedious famenefs throughout ; to be great,
it muft be dull ; and the objedl to which it is
appropriated, is after all feldom Ihewn to ad-
vantage. Buildings, in general, do not appear
fo large, and are not fo beautiful, when looked
at in front, as when they are feen from an an-
gular ftation, which commands two fides at
once, and throws them both into perfpeftive :
but a winding lateral approach is free from
thefe objeflions -, it may befides be brought up
to the houfe without difturbing any of the
views from it j but an avenue cuts the fcenery
direflly in two, and reduces all the profped to

anar-

[ UO ]

a narrow vifta. A mere line of perfpedive,
be the extent what it may, will feldom com-
penfate for the lofs of that fpace which it divides,
and of the parts which it conceals.

The approach to * Caverfham, though a mile
in length, and not once in fight of the houfe,
till clofe upon it, yet can never be miftaken
for any other way than it is ; a paflage only
through a park is not introduced with fo much
diftindtion, fo precifely marked, or kept in
fuch prefervation. On each fide of the entrance
is an elegant lodge •, the interval between them
is a light open paiifade, crolTing the whole
breadth of a lovely valley ; the road is con-
duced along the bottom, continually winding in
natural eafy fweeps, and prefenting at every
bend fome new fcene to the view ; at laft it
gently flants up the fide of a little rife to the
manfion, where the eminence, which feemed
inconfiderable, is found to be a very elevated
fituation, to which the approach, without once
quiting the valley, had been infenfibly afcending
all the way. In its progrefs, it never breaks
the fcenes through which it pafles ; the planta-
tions and the glades are continued without in-
terruption, quite acrofs the valley j the oppofite
fides have a relation to each other, not anfwer-
ing, not contrafted, but connedled j nor does the

• The feat of lord Cadogan, near Reading.

difpo-

[ HI ]

difpofition ever feem to have been made with any
attention to the road j but the fcenes ftill belong
purely to the park-, each of them is preferved
entire ; and avails itfelf of all the fpace which
the fituation will allow. At the entrance the
flopes are very gentle, with a few large haw-
thorns, beeches, and oaks, fcattered over them ;
thefe are thickened by the perfpedive as the
valley winds; and juft at the bend, a large
clump hangs on a bold afcent, from whence dif-
ferent groupes, growing gradually lefs and lefs
till they end in fingle trees, ftretch quite away
to a fine grove, which crowns the oppofite brow:
the road paffes between the groupes, under a
light and lofty arch of afh ; and then opens up-
on a glade, broken on the left only by a fingle
tree ; and on the right by feveral beeches {land-
ing fo clofe together as to be but one in appear-
ance : this glade is bounded by a beautiful grove,
v/hich in one part fpreads a perfefl gioom, but
in others divides into different cluftcrs, which
leave openings for the gleams of light to pour
in betv/een them. It extends to the edge, and
borders for fome way the fide, of a collateral
dale, which retires flowly from the view; and
in which the falls of the ground are more tame,
the bottom more fiattcncd, than in the princi-
pal valley; the banks of this alfo near the junc-
tion, are more gentle than before ; but on the

oppo-

t 142 3

oppofite fide, the fteeps and the clumps ftill
continue ; and amongft them is a fine knole,
from which defcend two or three groupes of
large trees, feathering down to the bottom, and
by the pendency of their branches favouring
the declivity. To thefe fiicceeds an open fpace,
diverfified only with a few fcattered trees -, and
in the midft of it, fome magnificent beeches
crouding together, overfhadow the road, which
is carried through a narrow, darkfome paflage
between them : foon after it rifes under a thick
wood in the garden up to the houfe, where it
fuddenly burfts out upon a rich, and extenfive
profped, with the town and the churches of
Reading full in fight, and the hills of Windfor
forefi: in the horizon. Such a view at the end
of a long avenue, vvould have been, at the bell,
but a compenfation for the tedioufnefs of the
way ; but here the approach is as delightful as
the termination : yet even in this, a fimilarity of
ftyle may be faid to prevail •, but it has every
variety of open plantations ^ and thefe are not
confufedly thrown together, but formed into
feveral fcenes, all of them particularly marked :
one is charaflerifed by a grove; the next by
clumps; and others by little groupes, or fingle
trees : the plantations fometimes cover only the
brow, and retire along the top from the view ;
fometimes they feem to be fufpended on the

edge,

C 143 ]
edge, or the fides, of the defcents •, in one place
they leave the bottom clear ; in another they
overfpread the whole valley : the intervals are
often little lefs than lawns -, at other times they
are no more that narrow glades between the
groves ; or only fmall openings in the midfl of
a plantation. The ground, without being
broken into diminutive parts, is call into an
infinite number of elegant fhapes, in every gra-
dation from the moft gentle flope, to a very
precipitate fall : the trees alfo are of feveral
kinds, and their fhadows of various tints; thofe
of the horfe-chefnuts are dark ; the beeches
fpread a broader but lefs gloomy obfcurity •, and
they are often fo vafb, they fwell out in a fuc-
ceflion of fuch enormous maffes, that, though
contiguous, a deep fliade finks in between them,
and diftinguiflies each immenfe individual : fuch
intervals are in fome places filled up with other
fpecies •, the maples are of fo extraordinary a fize,
that they do not appear inconnderable, when
clofe to the foreft trees ; large hawthorns, fome
oaks, and in one part many, perhaps too many
limes, the remains of former avenues, are inter-
mixed •, and amongft all thefe often rife the
tailed afli, whofe lighter foliage only chequers
the turf beneath, while their peculiar hue diver-
fifies the greens of the groupes they belong to.
After enumerating the beauties of this approach,

and

C 144- ]

and reflecting that they are confined withiri A
narrow valley, without views, buildings, or wa-
ter, another can hardly be conceived fo dcfti-
tute of the means of variety, as to juflify the
famenefs of an avenue.

XLVI. If regularity is not entitled to a pre-
ference in the environs or approach to a houfe,
it will be difficult to fupport its pretenfions to a
place in any more difiant parts of a park or a
garden. Formal dopes of ground are ugly;
right or circular lines bounding water, do not
indeed change the nature of the element -, it ftill
retains fome of its agreable properties ; but
the Ihape given to it is difgufting. Regula-
rity in plantations is lefs offenfive-, we are
habituated, as has been already obferved, to
ftrait lines of trees, in cultivated nature ; a
double row, meeting at the top, and forming
a complete arched vifta, has a peculiar effed: ;
other regular figures have a degree of beauty ;
and to alter or to difguife fuch a difpofition,
without deflroying a number of fine trees, which
cannot well be fpared, may fometimes be dif-
ficult ; but it hardly ever ought to be chofen
in the arrangement oi a young plantation.

Regularity was, however, once thouglit ef-
fential to every garden, and every approach j
at^d it yet remains in many. It is ilill a cha-

rader.

C H5 ]
tader, denoting the neighbourhood of a gen-
tleman's habitation ; and an avenue as an ob-
jed: in a view, gives to a houfe, otherwife in-
confiderable, the air of a manfion. Buildinors
which anfwer one another at the entrance of an
approach, or on the fides of an opening, have
a fimilar effeft ; they diftinguifh at once tha
precincts of a feat from the reft of the country.
Some pieces of fculpture alfo, fuch as vafes and
termini, may perhaps now and then be ufed,
to extend the appearance of a garden beyond
its limits, and to raife the mead in which they
are placed above the ordinary improvements of
cultivated nature. At other times they may be
applied as ornaments to the moftpolifhed lawns ;
the traditional ideas we have conceived of Ar-
cadian fcenes, correfpond with fuch decora-
tions ; and fometimes a folitary urn, infcribed
to the memory of a perfon now no more, but
who once frequented the fhades where it ftands,
is an obje(5t equally elegant and interefting.
The occafions, however, on which we may,
with any propriety, trefpafs beyond the bounds
of cultivated nature, are very rare ; the force o£
the charader can alone excufe the artifice avow*
ed in expreffing it.

Of

[ 146 ]

Of PICTURESQJJE BEAUTY.

XLVII. But regularity can never attain to
a great fhare of beauty, and to none of the fpe-
cies called p5lurefqiie ; a denomination in ge-
neral expreflive of excellence, but which, by
being too indifcriminately applied, may be
fometimes productive of errors. That a fub-'
jed: is recommended at leaft to our notice,^
and probably to our favour, if it has been dif-
tinguilhed by the pencil of an eminent painter,"
is indifputable ; we are delighted to fee thofe
objeds in the reality, which we are ufed to ad-
mire in the reprefentation ; and we improve
upon their intrinfic merit, by recolleding their
effedls in the piflure. The greateft beauties of
nature v/ill often fuggeft the remembrance ; for
it is the bufinefs of a landfkip painter to feledl
them ; and his choice is abfolutely unreflrain-
ed ; he is at liberty to exclude all objedls which
may hurt the compofition ; he has the power of
combining thofe which he admits in the moft
agreable manner ; he can even determine the
feafon of the year, and the hour of the day, to
fhew his landfkip in v/hatever light he prefers.
The works therefore of a great mailer, are fine
exhibitions of nature, and an excellent fchool
wherein to form a tafte for beauty ; but flill
• their

[ »47 ]
their authority is not abfolute •, they muft be
ufed only as (Indies, • not as models -, for a pic-
ture and a fcene in nature, though they agree
in many, yet differ in fome particulars, which
muft always be taken into confideration, before
we can decide upon the circumftances which
may be transferred from the one to the other.

In their dimenfions tlie diftinftion is obvious ;
the fame objefls on different fcales have very
difi^erent efi^edls •, thofe which feem monftrous
on the one, may appear diminutive on the
other-, and a form which is elegant in a fmall
obje<5t, may be too delicate for a large one.
Befides, in a canvafs of a few feet, there is not
room for every fpecies of variety which in nature
is pleafing. Though the charafleriftic diftinc-
tions of trees may be marked, their more mi-
nute diff'erences, which however enrich planta-
tions, cannot be expreffed ; and a multiplicity
of enclofures, catches of water, cottages, cattle,
and a thoufand other circumftances, which en-
liven a profpedt, are, v/hen reduced into a nar-
row compafs, no better than a heap of confufion.
Yet, on the other hand, the principal objeds
muft often be more diverfified in a pidlure than
in a fcene \ a building which occupies a confi-
derable portion of the former, will appear
fmall in the latter, when compared to the fpace
all around it ; and the number of parts which

L 2 may

[ '48 ]

may be necefifary to break its famenefs in the
one, will aggravate its infignificance in the
other. A tree which prefents one rich mafs
of foliage, has fometimes a fine effeft in nature ;
but when painted, is often a heavy lump, which
can be lightened only by feparating the boughs,
and fliewing the ramifications between them.
In feveral other inftances the objedl is frequent-
ly afi^edled by the proportion it bears to the ac-
tual, not the ideal, circumjacent extent.

Painting, with all its powers, is ftill more
unequal to fome fubjeds, and can give only a
faini, if any ^ reprefentation of them; but a gar-
diner is not therefore to rejedt them ; he is not
debarred from a view down the fides of a hill,
or a profpecl where the horizon is lower than
the ftation, becaufe he never faw them in a pic-
ture. Even when painting exadly imitates the
appearances of nature, it is often weak in con-
veying the ideas which they excite, and on which
much of their efFeft fometimes depends. This
however is not always a difadvantage ; the ap-
pearance may be more pleafing than the idea
which accompanies it ; and the omifiion of the
one may be an improvement of the other ;
many beautiful tints denote difagrcable circum-
Itances ; the hue of a barren heath is often finely
diverfified ; a piece of bare ground is fome-
times overfpread with a number of delicate

(hades j

[ H9 J
fliadcs ; and yet we prefer a mOre uniform ver-
dure to all their variety. In a pidture, the fe-
veral tints which occur in nature may be blend-
ed, and retain only their beauty, v;ithout fug-
gcfting the poverty of the foil which occafions
them ; but in the reality, the caufe is more
powerful than the effect ; we are lefs pleafed
with the fight, than we are hurt by the reflec-
tion ; and a moil agreable mixture of colours
may prefent no other idea than of drearinefs and
fterility.

On the other hand, uliliiy will fometimes fup-
ply the want of beauty in the reality, but not
in a piflure. In the former, we are never to-
tally inattentive to it ; we are familiarifed to the
marks of it ; and we allow a degree of merit to
an objedt which has no other recommendation.
A regular building is generally more agreable
in a fcene than in a pi6lure ; and an adjacent
platform, if evidently convenient, is tolerable
in the one ; it is always a right line too much
in the other. Utility is at the leaft an excufe,
when it is real -, but it is an idea never included
in the reprefentation.

Many more inftances might be alledged to
prove, that the fubjedls for a painter and a gar-
diner are not always the fame ; fome which arc
agreable in the reality, lofe their effeft in the ^
imitation ; and others, at the beft, have lefs
L 3 merit

f 150 ]

merit in a fcene than in a pidure. The term
piflurefque is therefore applicable only to fuch
objedls in nature, as, after allowing for the
differences between the arts of painting and of
gardening, are fit to be formed into groupes,
or to enter into a compofition, where the feve-
ral parts have a relation to each other ; and in
oppofition to thofe which may be fpread abroad
in detail, and have no merit but as individuals.

Of CHARACTER.

XLVIII. Character is very reconcileable
with beauty ; and even when independent of it,
has attradled fo much regard, as to occafion fe-
veral frivolous attempts ta produce it j flatues,
infcriptions, and even paintings, hiftory and
mythology, and a variety of devices have been
introduced for this purpofe. The heathen dei-
ties and heroes have therefore had their feveral
places affigned to them in the woods and the
lawns of a garden j natural cafcades have been
disfigured with river gods -, and columns ere6t-
ed only to receive quotations ; the comparti-
ments of a fummer-houfe have been filled with
picSlures of gambols and revels, as fignificant of
gaiety ; the cyprefs, becaufe it was once ufed
in funerals, has been thought peculiarly adapted
to melancholy j and the decorations, the furni-
ture,

[ '5' ]
ture, and the environs of a building have been
croLided with puerilities, under pretence of pro-
priety. All thefe devices are rather emblematical
than expreffive •, they may be irngenious contri-
vances, and recal abfent ideas to the recollec-
tion ; but they make no immediate impreffion ;
for they muft be examined, compared, perhaps
explained, before the whole defign of them is
well underftood : and though an allufion to a
favourite or well-known fubjed of hiftory, poe-
try, or of tradition, may now and then animate
or dignify a fcene, yet as the fubjed does not
naturally belong to a garden, the allufion iliould
not be principal ; it fhould feem to have been
fuggefted by the fcene : a tranfitory image,
which irrefiftibly occurred ; not fought for, not
laboured ; and have the force of a metaphor,
free from the detail of an allegory.

XLIX. Another fpecies of charafler arifes
from dire6l imitation ; when a fcene, or an ob-
je6l, which has been celebrated in defcription,
or is familiar in idea, is reprefented in a gar-
den. Artificial ruins, lakes, and rivers, fall
under this denomination -, the air of a feat ex-
tended to a diftance, and fcenes calculated to
raife ideas of Arcadian elegance, or of rural
fimplicity, with many more which have been
occafionally mentioned, or will obvioufly oc-
L 4 cur

[ >5^ 3
cur, may be ranked in this clafs ; they are aU
reprefentations ; but the materials, the dimen-
fions, and other circumftances, being the fame
in the copy and the original, their effefts are
fimilar in both ; and if not equally ftrong, the
dcfe6k is not in the refemblance ; but the con-
fcioufnefs of an imitation, checks that train of
thought which the appearance naturally fug-
gefls ; yet an over-anxious follicitude to dif-
guife the fallacy is often the means of expofing
it ; too many points of likenefs fometimes
hurt the deception ; they fecm ftudied and
forced j and the affedation of refemblance de-
itroys the fuppofition of a reality. A her-
mitage is the habitation of a reclufe ; it Ihould
be diftinguilhed by its folitude, and its fimpli-
city ; but if it is filled with crucifixes, hour-
glaffes, beads, and every other trinket which
can be thought of, the attention is diverted
from enjoying the retreat to examining the par-
ticulars ; all the collateral circumftances which
agree with a charafter, feldom meet in one fub-
je6t ; and when they are induftrioufly brought
together, though each be natural, the collec-
tion is artificial.

The peculiar advantages which gardening
has over other imitative arts, will not, how-
ever, fupport attempts to introduce, they ra-
ther forbid the introduflion of chara6ters, to

whicl>

[ 153 ]
which the fp^ce is not adequate. A plain fim-
ple field, unadorned but with the common ru-
ral appendages, is an agreable openings but if
it is extremely fmall, neither a hay-ftack, nor
a cottage, nor a ftile, nor a path, nor much
lefs all of them together, will give it an air of
reality. A harbour on an artificial lake is but
a conceit : it raifes no idea of refuge or fecu-
rity J for the lake does not fuggeft an idea of
danger ; it is detached from the large body of
water j and yet is in itfelf but a poor inconfi-
derable bafin, vainly affecting to mimick the
majefty of the fea. When imitative charac-
ters in gardening are egregioufly defedive in
any material circumftance, the truth of the
others expofes and aggravates the failure.

L. But the art of gardening afpires to more
than imitation : it can create original charac-
ters, and give expreflions to the feveral fcenes
fuperior to any they can receive from allufions.
Certain properties, and certain difpofitions, of
the objefts of nature, are adapted to excite
particular ideas and fenfations : many of them
have been occafionally mentioned -, and all arc
very well known : they require no difcernment,
examination, or difcufiion, but are obvious at
a glance, and inftantaneoufly diftinguifhed by
pur feelings. Beauty alone is not fo engaging

as

[ 154 ]
as this fpacies of chara6ler •, the iinprefllons k
makes are more tranfient and lefs intcrefting ;
for it aims only at delighting the eye, but the
other affeds our fenfibility. An affemblage
of the moft elegant forms in the happieft fitu-
ations is to a degree indifcriminate, if they
have not been feleded and arranged with a dc-
fign to produce certain expreffions ; an air of
magnificence, or of fimplicity, of chearful-
nefs, tranquility, or fome other general cha^
rader, ought to pervade the whole ; and ob-
jedts pleafmg in themfelves, if they contradid:
that chara6ler, Ihould therefore be excluded ;
thofe which are only indifferent muft foinetimes
make room for fuch as are more fignificant ;
many will often be introduced for no other me-
rit than their expreffion j land fome which are
in general rather difagreable, may occafionally
be recommended by it. Barrennefs itfelf may
be an acceptable circumftance in a fpot dedi-
cated to folitude and melancholy.

The power of fuch charadlers is not cohp
fined to the ideas which the obje6ls immedi-
ately f^ggeft ; for thefe are connefled witk
others, which infenfibly lead to fubjeds, far
diftant perhaps from the original thought, and
related to it only by a fimilitude in the fenfa-
tions they excite. In a profpect, enriched and
enlivened with inhabitants and cultivation, the

attention

[ ^55 ]

attention is caught at firft by the circumflanccs
which are gayeft in their feafon, the bloom of
an orchard, the feftivity of a hay-field, and the
carols of harveft-home j but the chearfulnefs
which thefe infule into the mind, expands af-
terwards to other objeds than thofe immedi-
ately prefented to the eye j and we are thereby
difpofed to receive, and delighted to purfue, a
variety of pleafing ideas, and every benevolent
feeling. At the fight of a ruin, reflections on
the change, the decay, and the defolation be-
fore us, naturally occur ; and they introduce a
long fuccefllon of others, all tincflured with
that melancholy which thefe have infpired : or
if the monument revive the memory of former
times, we do not ftop at the fimple faft which
it records, but recolleft many more co^eval cir-
cumflanccs, which we fee, not perhaps as they
were, but as they are come down to us, vene-
rable with age, and magnified by fame j even
without the afiiftance of buildings, or other
adventitious circumftances, nature alone fur-
nifhes materials for fcenes, which may be a-
dapted to almoil every kind of expreHion ;
their operation is general ; and their confe-
quences infinite : the mind is elevated, depreflTed,
or compofed, as gaiety, gloom, or tranquillity,
prevail in the fcene ; and we foon lofe fight of
the means by which the character is formed ;

we

[ '55 ]
we forget the particular objedls it prefents •,
and giving way to their efFeds, without recur-
ring to the caufe, we follow the track they have
begun, to any extent, which the difpofition
they accord with will allow : it fufEces that the
fcenes of nature have a power to affedt our ima-
gination and our fenfibility ; for fuch is the
conftitution of the human mind, that if once
it is agitated, the emotion often fpreads far
beyond the occafion ; when the paflions are
roufed, their courfe is unreftrained ; when the
fancy is on the wing, its flight is unbounded ;
and quitting the inanimate objedls which firft
gave them their fpring, we may be led by
thought above thought, widely differing in de-
c^ree, but flill correfponding in chara6ter, till
we rife from familiar fubje<5ts up to the fub-
limeft conceptions, and are rapt in the contem-
plation of whatever is great or beautiful, which
we fee in nature, feel in man, or attribute to
divinity.

Of the GENERAL SUBJECT.

LI. The fcenes of nature are alfo affedled
by the general fubjeft to which they are ap-
plied, whether that htzfarm, 2i garden, zpark,
or a riding. Thefe may all indeed be parts of
one place ; they may border on each other ;

they

[ ^51 ]
they may to a degree be intermixed •, but each
is ftill a charadter of fuch force, that which-
ever prevails, the propriety of all other cha-
racters, and of every fpecies of beauty, muft
be tried by their conformity to this : and cir-
cumftances neceffary to either, may be incon-
fiftencies in the reft •, elegance is the peculiar
excellence of a garden ; greatnefs of a park ;
JimpHcity of a farm ; and pleafantnefs of a riding.
Thefe diftinguifhing properties will alone ex-
clude from the one, many objects which are
very acceptable in the others ; but thefe are
not the only properties in which they efTentially
differ.

A garden is intended to walk or to fit in,
which are circumftances not confidered in a
riding ; a park comprehends all the ufes of the
other two ; and thefe ufes determine the pro-
portional extent of each ; a large garden would
be but a fmall park ; and the circumference
of a confiderable park but a fhort riding. A
farm is in fome meafure denominated from its
fize ; if it greatly exceed the dimenfions of a
garden, fo that its bounds are beyond the reach
of a walk, it becomes a riding. A farm and
a garden hence appear to be calculated for in-
dolent, a riding for a<5live amufements ; and a
park for both ; feats, therefore, and buildings
for refrefhment or indulgence, fhould be fre-
quent

[ 158 ]

quent in a garden or a farm ; (hould fomecimes
occur in a park, but are unneceflary in a
riding.

Within the narrow compafs of a garden,
there is not room for difiant effects \ on the
other hand, it allows of objedts which are ftrik-
ing only in di/mgle point of view ; for we may
flop there to contemplate them ; and an ob-
fcure catch, or a partial glimpfe of others, ard
alfo acceptable circumflances, in the leifure of
a feat, or even in the courfe of a loitering
walk. But thefe are loft in a riding, where the
pleafantnefs of the road, not of the fpot, is
the principal confideration ; and its greateft im-
provement is a diftant objeft, which may be
feen from feveral points, or along a confider-
able part of the way. Minute beauties in gene-
ral may abound in a garden ; they may be fre-
quent in a farm ; in both we have opportuni-
ties to obferve, and to examine them ; in a
park they are below our notice ; in a riding
they efcape it.

Profpe^s are agreable to either of the four
general fubjeds ; but not equally necelTary to
all. In a garden, or in a farm, fcenes within
themfelves are often fatisfadlory ; and in their
retired fpots an opening would be improper. A
park is defedive, if confined to its enclofure ;
a perpetual fucceflion of home fcenes, through

[ 159 ]
fo large an extent, wants variety ; and fine
prdipev5ls are circumftanccs of greatnefs ; but
they are not required in every part ; the place
itfelf fupplies many noble views -, and thefe arc
not much improved by a diftant rim, or a little
peep of the country, which is inadequate to the
reft of the compofition. A riding has feldom
much, beauty of its own ; it depends on objeds
without for its pleafantnefs j if it only leads now
and then to a ftriking point, and is dull all the
reft of the way, it will not be much frequented ;
but very moderate views are fufficient to render
its progrefs agreable.

By concealing therefore much of the pro-
fpeds, we deftroy the amufement of a riding;
the view of the country fhould not be hurt by
the improvements of the road. In a garden,
on the contrary, continuation of fliade is very
acceptable; and if the views be fometimes in-
terrupted, they may ftill be caught from many
points; we may enjoy them there whenever we
pleafe; and they would pall if conftantly in
fight. The beft fituation for. a houfe is not
that which has the greateft command ; a chear-
ful look-out from the windows is all that the
proprietor defires ; he is more fenfible to the
charms of the greater prolpe6ls, if he fees them
only occafionally, and they do not become in-
fipid by being familiar ; for the fame reafon he

doei

C 160 1

docs not wilh for them in every part of his gar-
den ; and temporary concealments give them
frefh fpirit whenever they appear ; but the views
of a riding are not vifited fo often, as thereby to
lofe any of their effect. Plantations therefore
in a country (hould be calculated rather for ob-
je(5ts to look at, than for fhades to pais through :
in a park, they ma'y anfvver both purpofes j but
in a garden, they are commonly confidered as
places to walk or to fit in : as fuch too they are
moft welcome in a farm ; but ftill the diftinflion
between an improved and an ordinary farm be-
ing by no circumftance fo fenfibly marked, as
by the arrangement of the trees, they are more
important as objedls there than in a garden.

Though a farm and a garden agree in many
particulars conneded with extent, yet in Jiyle
they are the two extremes. Both indeed are
fubjecfts of cultivation ; but cultivation in the
one is hujhandry j and in the other decoration :
the former is appropriated to projif, the latter
to pleafure : fields profufely ornamented do not
retain the appearance of a farm j and an ap-
parent attention to produce, obliterates the idea
of a garden. A park is fometimes not much
hurt by being turned to account. The ufe of
a riding is to lead from one beauty to another,
and be a fcene of pleafure all the way. Made
avowedly for that purpofe only, it admits more

em?

[ i6i ]

embellilhment and diflindlion, than an ordi*
nary road through a farm.

Of a FARM.

LIT. In fpeculation it might have been ex-
pelled that the firft eflays of improvement
fhould have been on a farm, to make it both
advantageous and delightful j but the fad was
otherwife ; a fmall plot was appropriated to
pleafure ; the reft was preferved for profit only ;
and this may, perhaps, have been a principal
caufe of the vicious tafte which long prevailed
in gardens : it was imagined that a fpot fet a-
part from the reft fliould not be like them ; the
conceit introduced deviations from nature, which
were afterwards carried to fuch an excefs, that
hardly any objedls truly rural were left within
the enclofure, and the view of thofe without
was generally excluded. The firft ftep, there-
fore, towards a reformation, was by opening
the garden to the country, and that immedi-
ately led toanTimilating them ; but ftill the idea
of a fpot appropriated to pleafure only pre-
vailed ; and one of the lateft improvements
has been to blend the ufeful with the agreable;
even the ornamented farm was prior in time to
the more rural -, and we have at laft returned to
fimplicity by force of refinement;

M " The

[ '^^ ]

The ideas of pajloral poetry feem now to be
the ftandard of that fimplicity ; and a place
conformable to them is deemed a farm in its
utmoft purity. An allufion to them evidently
enters into the defign of "^ the Leafowes,
where they appear fo lovely as to endear the
memory of their author; andjuftify the repu-
tation of Mr. Shenftone, who inhabited, made,
and celebrated the place ; it is a perfed; picture
of his mind, fimple, elegant, and amiable ;
and will always fuggeft a doubt, whether the
fpot infpired his verfe ; or whether, in the fcenes
which he formed, he only realized the paftoral
images which abound in his fongs. The whole
is in the fame tafte, yet full of variety -, and
except in two or three trifles, every part is ru-
ral and natural. It is literally a grazing farm
lying round the houfe ; and a walk as unaf-
fefted and as unadorned as a common field
path, is condufled through the feveral enclo-
fures.

Near the entrance into the grounds, this
walk plunges fuddenly into a dark narrow dell,
filled with fmall trees which grow upon abrupt
and broken fteeps, and watered by a brook,

• In Shropfhire, between Birmingham and Stourbridge.
The late Mr. Dodfley publiftied a more particular defcription
than is here given of the Leafowes ; and to that the reader is
referred for the detail of thofe fcenes of which he will here
find only a general idea.

which

[ 1^3 ]
which falls among roots and (tones down a na-
tural cafcade into the hollow. The flrcam at
firft is rapid and open ; it is afterwards con-
cealed by thickets, and can be traced only by
its murmurs ; but it is tamer when it appears
again -, and gliding then between little groupes
of trees, lofes itfelf at laft in a piece of water
juft below. The end of this fequeftered fpot
opens to a pretty landfliip, which is very fim-
ple i for the parts are but^ few, and all the ob-
jects are familiar ; they are only the piece of
water, fome fields on an eafy afcent beyond it,
and the fteeple of a church above them.

The next fcene is more foiitary : it is con-
fined within itfelf, a rude negledled bottom,
the fides of which are over-run with bufhes
jind fern, interfperfed with feveral trees. A
rill runs alfo through this little valley, ilTuing
from a wood which hangs on one of the decli-
vities ; the ftream winds through the wood in
a fucceflion of cafcades, down a quick defcent
of an hundred and fifty yards in continuance ;
alders and hornbeam grow in the midft of its
bed ; they fhoot up in feveral ftems from the
fame root •, and the current trickles amongft
them. On the banks are fome confiderable
trees, which fpread but a chequered fhade, and
let in here and there a fun-beam to play upon
the water : beyond them is a flight coppice,
M 2 juft

[ t64 ]

jufl fufEcient to fkreen the fpot from open view ;
but it calls no gloom ; and the fpace within is
all an animated fcene ; the flream has a pecu-«
liar vivacity -, and the fingular appearance of
the upper falls, high in the trees, and feen
through the boughs, is equally romantic, beau-
tiful, and lively. The walk having pafled
through this wood, returns into the fame val-
ley, but into another part of it, fimilar in it-
felf to the former ; and yet they appear to be
very different fcenes, from the conduct only of
the path ; for in the one, it is open, in the bot-
tom, and perfecflly retired ; in the other, it is
on the brow, it is fhaded, and it over-looks
not only the little wild below, but fome corn-
fields alfo on the oppofite fide, which by their
chearfulnefs and their proximity diflipate every
idea of folitude.

At the extremity of the vale is a grove of
large foreft trees, inclining down a fteep decli-
vity ; and near it are two fields, both irregular,
both beautiful, but diftinguiHied in every par-
ticular : the variety of the Leafowes is wonder-
ful ; all the enclofures are totally different ;
there is feldom a fmgle circumftance in which
they agree. Of thefe near the grove, the
lower field comprehends both the fides of a deep
dip : the upper is one large knole ; the former
is encompaffed with thick wood ; the latter

is

[ i65 ]
is open ; a flight hedge, and a ferpentine ri-
ver, are all its boundary. Several trees, fingle
or in groiipes, are fcattered over the fwells of
the ground : not a tree is to be feen on all the
fleeps of the hollow. The path creeps under
a hedge round the one, and catches here and
there only peeps of the country. It runs di-
rcflly acrofs the other to the higheft eminence,
and burfts at once upon the view.

This profpe6t is alfo a fource of endlefs va-
riety : it is chearful and extenfive, over a fine
hilly country, richly cultivated, and full of ob-
jefts and inhabitants : Hales Owen, a large
town, is near ; and the Wrekin, at thirty miles
diflance, is diftindtly vifible in the horizon.
From the knole, which has been mentioned, it
is feen altogether, and the beautiful farm of
the Leafowes is included in the landflcip. In
other fpots, plantations have been raifed, or
openings cut, on purpofe to fliut out, or let in,
parts of it, at certain points of view. Juft be-
low the principal eminence, which commands
the whole, is a feat, where all the ftriking ob-
jecls being hid by a few trees, the fcene is
fimply a range of enclofed countryl This at
other feats is excluded, and only the town, or
the church, or the fleeple without the church,
appears. A village, a farm houfe, or a cot-
tage, which had been unobferved in the confu-
M 3 fion

[ i66 ]

fion of the general profpedl, becomes princi-
pal in more contrafled views j and the fa^'e
objeft which at one place feemed expofed and
folitary, is accompanied at another with a fore-
ground of wood, or backed by a beautiful
hill. The attention to every circumftance which
could diverfify the fcene has been indefatiga-
ble ; but the art of the contrivance can never
be perceived ; the effecft always feems acci-
dental.

The tranfitions alfo are generally very fud-
den : from this elevated and gay fituation, the
change is immediate to fober arid quiet home
views. The firft is a pafture, elegant as a po-
lifhed lawn, in fize not diminutive, and en-
riched with feveral fine trees fcattered over
ground which lies delightfully ; jufl below it is
a little wafte, fhut up by rude fteps, and wild
hanging coppices ; on one fide of which is a
wood, full of large tim.ber trees, and thick
with underwood. This receives into its bofom
a fmall irregular piece of water, the other end
of which is open ; and the light there breaking
in enlivens all the reft ; even where trees over-
hang, or thickets border upon the banks, tho*
the refleftion of the fhadows, the ftillnefs of
the water, and the depth of the wood, fpread
a compofure over the whole fcene ; yet the
coolnefs of it Itrikes no chill ; the fhade fpreads

no

[ 1^7 3

no gloom ; the retreat is peaceful and filent,
but not folemn ; a refrefhing flielter from the
fcorching heat of noon, without fuggefting the
moft diltant idea of the damp and the darknefs
of night.

A rill much more gentle than any of the for-
mer, runs from this piece of water, through a
coppice of confiderable length, dropping here
and there down a fhallow fall, or winding about
little aits, in which fome groupes of fmall trees
are growing. The path is condutled along the
bank to the foot of a hill, which it climbs in an
aukward zig-zag; and on the top it enters a
flrait walk, over-arched with trees : but though
the afcent and the terrace command charming
profpedts, they are both too artificial for the
character of the Leafowes. The path, however,
as foon as it is freed from this reflraint, recovers
its former fimplicity •, and defcends through fe-
veral fields, from which are many pretty views
of the farm, diftinguifhed by the varieties of
the ground, the different enclofures, the hedges,
the hedge-rows, and the thickets, which divide
them ; or the clumps, the fingle trees, and now
and then a hay-ftack, which fometimes break
the lines of the boundaries, and fometimes Hand
out in the midft of the paftures.

At the end of the defcent, an enchanting

grove overfpreads a fmall valley, the abrupt

M 4 fides

[ i68 ]
fides of which form the banks of a lovely rivu-
let, which winds along the bottom : the dream
rufhes into the dell by a very precipitate cafcade,
which is feen through openings in . the trees,
glimmering at a diftance among the fhades
which over-hang it : the current, as it proceeds,
drops down feveral falls ; but between them it
is placid and fmooth; it is every where clear,
and fometimes dappled by gleams of light j
while the Ihadow of every fingle leaf is marked
oh the water; and the verdure of the foliage
above, of the mofs, and the grafs, and the wild
plants, on the brink, feem brightened in the re-
flexion : various pretty clufters of open coppice
wood are difperfed about the banks; ftately fo-
reft trees rile in beautiful groupes upon fine
fwelling knoles above them ; and often one or
two detached from the reft, incline down the
flopes, or flant acrofs the ftream : as the valley
defcends, it grows more gloomy ; the rivulet is
loft in a pool, which is dull, emcompaffed and
darkened by large trees ; and juft before the
ftream enters it, in the midft of a plantation of
yews, is a bridge of one arch, built of a dufky
coloured ftone, and fimple even to rudenefs :
but this gloom is not a black fpot, ill-united
with the reft ; it is only a deeper caft of ftiade;
no part of the fcene is lightfome ; a folemnity
prevails oyer the whole ; and it receives an ad-

^itiona}

C 169 ]

ditional dignity from an infcription on a fmall
obelifls:, dedicating the grove to the genius of
Virgil ; near to this delightful fpot is the firft
entrance into the grounds ; and thither the walk,
immediately tends, along the fide of a rill.

But it would be injuftice to quit the Lea-
fowes, without mentioning one or two circum-
ftances, which in following the courfe of the
walk could not well be taken notice of. The
art with which the divifions between the fields
are diverfified is one of them ; even the hedges
are diftinguifhed from each other ; a common
quickfet fence is in one place the feparation ; in
another, it is a lofty hedge-row, thick from the
top to the bottom •, in a third, it is a continued
range of trees, with all their ftems clear, and
the light appearing in the interval between their
boughs, and the bufhes beneath them •, in others
thefe lines of trees are broken a few groupes
only being left at different diftances ; and fome-
times a wood, a grove, a coppice, or a thicket,
is the apparent boundary, and by them both
the fhape, and the ftyle of the enclofures is
varied.

The infcriptions which abound in the place,
are another ftriking peculiarity ; they are well
known, and juftly admired ; and the elegance
of the poetry, and the aptnefs of the quotations,
atone for their length and their number; but in

general.

[ 170 ]
general, infcriptions pleale no more than once ;
the utmoft they can pretend to, except when
their allufions are emblematical, is to point out
the beauties, or dcfcribe the efFedts, of the fpots
they belong to ; but thofe beauties and thofe
cfFeds muft be very faint, which fland in need
of the affiftance : infcriptions however to com-
memorate a departed friend, are evidently ex-
empt from the cenfure j the monuments would
be unintelligible without them; and an urn in
a lonely grove, or in the midft of a field, is a
favourite embellilhment at the Leafowes ; they
are indeed among the principal ornaments of the
place ; for the buildings are moftly meer feats,
or little root-houfes ; a ruin of a priory is the
largeft, and that has no peculiar beauty to re-
commend it -, but a multiplicity of objedts are
unnecefTary in the farm ; the country it com-
mands is full of them j and every natural ad-
vantage of the place within itfelf has been dif-
covered, applied, contrafted, and carried to the
utmoft perfection, in the pureft tafte, and with
inexhauftible fancy.

Among the ideas of paftoral poetry which
are here introduced, its mythology is not omitted;
but the allufions are both to ancient and to mo-
dern fables •, fometimes to the fayes and the
fairies ; and fometimes to the naiads and mufes.
The objedls alfo are borrowed partly from the

fcenes

[ 171 1
fcenes which this country exhibited fome cen-
turies ago, and partly from thofe of Arcadia i
the priory, and a Gothic feat, ftill more parti-
cularly charaderifed by an infcription in oblo-
lete language and the black letter, belong to
the one ; the urns, Virgil's obelifk, and a ruftic
temple of Pan, to the other. All thefe allu-
fions and objeds are indeed equally rural ; but
the images in an Englifli and a claffical eclogue
are not t|ie fame ; each fpecies is a diftind imi-
tative charadler ; either is proper; richer will
raife the farm it is applied to above the ordi-
nary level •, and within the compafs of the fame
place both may be introduced ; but they fliould
be feparate ; when they are mixed, they coun-
teract one another ; and no reprefentation is
produced of the times and the countries they
refer to. A certain diftrifl fhould therefore be
allotted to each, that all the fields which belong:
to the refpeflive charaders may lie together;
and the correfponding ideas be preferved for a
continuance.

LIIT. In fuch an aflbrtment, the more open
and polifhed fcenes will generally be given to
the Arcadian fliepherd ; and thofe in a lower
degree of cultivation, will be thought more
conformable to the manners of the ancient Britijh
yeomanry: We do not conceive that the country

in

[ 172 ]

in their time was entirely cleared, or diftinftly
divided ; the fields v/ere furrounded by woods,
not by hedges ; and if a confiderable tra6l of
improved land lay together, it flill was not fe-
parated into a number of enclofures. The fub-
jefts therefore proper to receive this charader,
are thofe in which cultivation feems to have
encroached on the wild, not to have fubdued
it ; as the bottom of a valley in corn, while the
fides are ftill overgrown with wood ; and the
outline of that wood indented by the tillage
creeping more or lefs up the hill. But a glade
of grafs thus circumftanced, does not peculiarly
belong to the fpecies -, that may occur in a park
or a paftoral farm : in this, the paftures (hould
rather border on a wafte or a common : if large,
they may be broken by itraggling bufhes,
thickets, or coppices •, and the fcattered trees
fliould be befet with brambles and briars. All
thefe are circumftances which improve the
beauty of the place, yet appear to be only re-
mains of the wild, not intended for embellifh-
ment. Such interruptions muft however be lefs
frequent in the arable parts of the farm ; but
there the opening may be divided into feveral
lands, diftinguilhed, as in common fields, only
by different forts of grain. Thefe will fuffi-
ciently break the famenefs of the fpace ; and
tillage does not furnilh a more pleafing fcene,

than

[ 173 ]
than fuch a fpace fo broken, if the extent be
moderate, and the boundary beautiful.

As much wood iseflential to the charafler, a
fpot may eafily be found, where turrets rifing
above the covert, or fome arches feen within
it, may have the femblance of a caftle or an
abbey ; the partial concealment is almofl ne«
ceiTary to both •, for to accord with the age,
the buildings muft feem to be entire ; the ruins
of them belong to later days : the difguife is
however advantageous to them as objedts ; none
can be imagined more pidturefque, than a tower
bofomed in trees, or a cloyfter appearing be-
tween the ftems and the branches. But the fu-
perftitions of the times furnifli other objefls,
which are more within compafs j hermitages
were then real ; folitary chapels were common j
many of the fprings in the country being deem-
ed holy wells, were diftinguiflied by little Go-
thic domes built over them ; and every hamlet
had its crofs -, even this, when perfeft, fet on a
little ruftic pillar, and that raifed upon a bafe
of circular (leps, may in fome fcenes be confi-
derable : if a fituation can be found for a May-
pole, whence it would not obtrude itfelf on
every view, that alfo might not be improper ;
and an ancient church, however unwelcome it
may be, when it breaks into the defign of a
park or a garden, in fuch a farm as this would

be

C 174 ]

be a fortunate accident ; nor would the old yew
in the church-yard be indifferent ; it would be
a memorial of the times when it was ufeful.

Many other objeds, fignificant of the man-
ners of our anceftors, might perhaps, upon re-
colledlion, occur j but thefe are amply fuffi-
cient for a place of confiderable extent ; and
cottages muft abound in every age and every
country ; they may therefore be introduced in
different forms and pofitions. Large pieces of
water are alfo particularly proper j and all the
varieties of rills are confident with every fpecies
of a farm. From the concurrence of fo many
agreable circumftances in this, be the force or
the effe^l of the charafler what it may, a num-
ber of pleafmg fcenes may be exhibited either
in a walk or a riding, to be contrafted to thofc,
which in another part of the place may be form-
ed on Arcadian ideas ; or even to be fubftituted
in their ftead, if they are omitted.

LIV. A part may alfo be free from either of
thefe imitative charaders, and laid out in a
common fimple farm ; fome of the greateft
beauties of nature are to be found in the fields,
and attend an ordinary ftate of cultivation ; wood
and water may there be exhibited in feveral
forms and difpofitions ; we may enlarge or di-
vide the enclofures, and give them fuch fhapes

and

[ ^1S ]

and boundaries as we pleafe ; every one may
be an agreable fpot ; together they may com-
pofe beautiful views ; the arable, the pafture,
and the mead may fucceed one another •, and
now and then a little wild may be intermixed
without impropriety ; every beauty, in fhort,
which is not unufual in an enclofed country,
whether it arife from negleft or improvemeut,
is here in its place.

The buildings alfo which are frequent in
fuch a country, are often beautiful objedts ; the
church and the manfion are confiderable ; the
farm-yard itfelf, if an advantageous fituation
be chofen for it ; if the ricks, and the barns,
and the outhoufes are ranged with any defign to
form them into groupes ; and they are properly
blended with trees -, may be made a pidurefque
compofition. Many of them may be detached
from the groupe, and difperfed about the
grounds ; the dove-cote, or the dairy, may be
Separated from the reft •, they may eitlier of
them be elegant in their forms, and placed
wherever they will have the beft efted. A com-
mon barn, accompanied by a clump, is fome-
times pleafing at a diftance -, a Dutch barn isTo
when near •, and a hay-ftack is generally an
agreable circumftance in any pofition. Each of
thefe may be fingle j and befides thefe, all kinds
of cottages are proper. Among fo many build-
ings.

j: 176 ^

ings, fome may be converted to other purpofes
than their conftruftion denotes ; and whatever
be their exterior, may within be made agre-
able retreats, for refrefhment, indulgence, or
Ihelter.

With fuch opportunities of improvement,
even to decoration, within itfelf, and with ad-
vantages of profpeft into the country about it,
a fimple farm may undoubtedly be delightful ;
it will be particularly acceptable to the owner,
if it be clofe to his park or his garden ; the ob-
jedts which conftantly remind him of his rank,
impofe a kind of conftraint ; and he feels him-
felf relieved, by retiring fometimes from the
fplendor of a feat into the fimplicity of a farm ;
it is more than a variety of fcene ; it is a tem-
porary change of fituation in life, which has all
the charms of novelty, eafe, and tranquillity,
to recommend it. A place therefore can hardly
be deemed perfect, which is not provided with
fuch a retreat ; but if it be the whole of the
place, it feems inadequate to the manfion j a
vifitor is difappointed ; the mafter is diflatisiied ;
he is not fufficiently diftinguifhed from his te-
nants •, he milfes the appendages incidental to
his feat and his fortune ; and is hurt at the fimi-
larity of his grounds with the country about
them. A paftoral or an ancient farm is a little
above the common level ; but even thefe, if

brought

[ ^11 ]

brought clofe up to the door, fet the houfe in a
field, where it always appears to be neglec~ted
and naked. Some degree of poliili and orna-
ment is expefted in its immediate environs \ and
a garden, though it be but a fmall one, fhould
be interpoled between the manuon and any fpe-
cies of farm.

LV. A fenfe of the propriety of fuch im-
provements about a feat, joined to a tafte for
the more fimple delights of the country, pro-
bably fuggefted the idea of an ornam£7tted farm,
as the means of bringing every rural circum-
ftance within the verge of a garden. This idea
has been partially executed very often ; but no
where, I believe, fo completely, and to fuch
an extent, as at * Woburn farm. The place
contains an hundred and fifty acres, of which
near five and thirty are adorned to the higheft
degree ; of the reft, about two-thirds are in
pafture, and the remainder is in tillage : the
decorations are, however, communicated to
every part ; for they are difpofed along the fides
of a walk, which, with its appendages, forms a
broad belt round the grazing grounds ; and is
continued, though on a more contra6led fcale,
through the arable. This walk is properly

• Belonging to Mrs. Southcote, near Weybridge in Surry,

N gar-

[ 178 J

garden j all within it is farm ; the whole lies
on the two fides of a hill, and on a flat at the
foot of it : the flat is divided into corn-fields ;
the paftnres occupy the hill ; they are fur-
rounded by the walk, and crofl!ed by a com-
munication carried along the brow, which is
alfo richly drefl^ed, and which divides them into
two lawns, each completely encompafled with
garden.

Thefe are in themfelves delightful : the
ground in both lies beautifully j they are di-
verfified with clumps and fingle trees ; and the
buildings in the walk feem to belong to them.
On the top of the hill is a large odagon fl:ruc-
ture ; and not far from it, the ruin of a chapel.
To one of the lawns the ruin appears, on the
brow of a gentle afcent, backed and grouped
with wood ; from the other is feen the odlagon,
upon the edge of a fl:eep fall, and by the fide
of a pretty grove, which hangs down the decli-
vity. This lawn is further emibelliflied by a
neat Gothic building j the former by the houfe,
and the lodge at the entrance -, and in both,
other objefts of lefs confequence, little feats, al-
coves, and bridges, continually occur.

The buildings are not, however, the only
ornaments of the walk ;• it is fliut out from the
country, for a confiderable length of the way,
by a thick and lofty hedge-row, which is en-
riched

C '79 ]

riched with woodbine, jeflamine, and every
odoriferous plant, whofe tendrils will entwine
with the thicket. A path, generally of fand
or gravel, is conduced in a waving line, fome-
times clofe under the hedge, fometimes at a
little diftance from it ; and the turf on either
hand is diverfitied with little groupes of fhrubs,
of firs, or the fmalleft trees, and often with
beds of flowers ; thefe are rather too profufely
flrewed, and hurt the eye by their littlenefles ;
but then they replenifh the air with their per-
fumes, and every gale is full of fragrancy. In
fome parts, however, the decoration is more
chafte ; and the walk is carried between larger
dumps of evergreens, thickets of deciduous
fhrubs, or ftill more confiderable open planta-
tions. In one place it is entirely fimple, with-
out any appendages, any gravel, or any funk
fence to feparate it from the lawn, and is diftin-
guilhed only by the richnefs of its verdure, and
the nicety of its prefervation : in the arable
part it is alfo of greenfwerd, following the di-
reftion of the hedges about the feveral enclo-
fures ; thefe hedges are fometimes thickened
with flowering (hrubs ; and in every corner, or
vacant fpace, is a rofary, a clofe or an open
clump, or a bed of flowers : but if the parterre
has been rifled for the embellilhment of the
fields, the country has on the other hand been
N > fearched

[ i8o ]
fearched for plants new in a garden ; and the
ihrubs and the flowers which ufed to be deemed
peculiar to the one, have been liberally tranl-
ferred to the other ; while their number feems
multiplied by their arrangement in fo many and
fuch different difpofitions. A more moderate
ufe of them would, however, have been better,
and the variety more pleafrng, had it been lefs
licentious.

But the excefs is only in the borders of the
■walk 5 the fcenes through which it leads are
truly elegant, every where rich, and always
agreable. A peculiar chearfulnefs overfpreads
both the lawns, arifing from the number and
the fplendor of the objeds with which they
abound, the lightnefs of the buildings, the in-
equalities of the ground, and the varieties of
the plantations. The clumps and the groves,
though feparately fmall, are often maflied by
the perfpedtive, and gathered into confiderable
crroupes, which are beautiful in their forms,
their tints, and their pofitions. The brow of
the hill commands two lovely profpedls ; the
one gay and extenfive, over a fertile plain, wa-
tered by the Thames, and broken by St. Ann's
Hill, and Windfor Caftle ; a large mead, of the
moft luxuriant verdure, lies jufl: below the eye,
fpreading to the banks of the river ; and beyond
it the country is full of farms, villas, and vil-
lages.

[ i8i ]
lages, and every mark of opulence and cultiva-
tion. The other view is more wooded ; the
fteeple of a church, or the turrets of a feat,
fometimes rife above the trees ; and the bold
arch of Walton Bridge is there a confpicuous
objedr, equally fingular and noble. The enclo-
fures on the flat are more retired and quiet;
each is confined within itfelf ; and all together
they form an agreable contrail to the open ex-
pofure above them.

With the beauties which enliven a garden,
are every where intermixed many properties of
a farm j both the lawns are fed ; and the low-
ing of the herds, the bleating of the Iheep, and
the tinklings of the bell-wether, refound thro*
all the plantations ; even the clucking of poul-
try is not omitted ; for a menagerie of a very
iimple defign is placed near the Gothic build-
ing i a fmall ferpentine river is provided for the
water-fowl -, while the others ftray among the
flowering fhrubs on the banks, or ftraggle about
the neighbouring lawn : and the corn-fields are
the fubjefls of every rural employment, which
arable land, from feed-time to harveft, can fur-
nifh. But though lb many of the circumftances
occur, the fimplicity of a farm is wanting ; that
idea is lofl: in fuch a profufion of ornament ; a
f ufticity of charadler cannot be preferved amidft
N3 all

[ i82 ]

all the elegant decorations which may be lavifli-
ed on a garden.

Of a PARK.

LVI. A park and a garden are more nearly
allied, and can therefore be accommodated to
each other, without any difparagement to either.
A farm lofes fome of its charaderiftic proper-
ties by the connection, and the advantage is on
the part of the garden ; but a park thus bor-
dered, retains all its own excellencies ; they are
only enriched, not countera6led, by the inter-
mixture. The moil perfedl compolicion of a
place that can be imagined, confifts of a garden
opening into a park, with a fhort walk through
the latter to a farm, and ways along its glades
to ridings in the country ; but to the farm and
the ridings the park is no more than a paflage ;
and its woods and its buildings are but circum-
ftances in their views ; its fcenes can be com-
municated only to the garden.

The affinity of the two fubjefls is fo clofe,
that it would be difficult to draw the exadl line
of feparation between them : gardens have
lately encroached very much both in extent and
in ftyle on the charader of a park ; but flill
there are fcenes in the one, which are out of the

reach

C 183 3

reach bftheother; the fmallfequefteredfpots which
are agreable in a garden, would be trivial in a
park i and the fpacious lawns which are annong
the nobleft features of the latter, would in the
former fatigue by their want of variety ; even
fuch as being of a moderate extent may be ad-
mitted into cither, will feem bare and naked,
if not broken in the one ; and lofe much of
their greatnefs, if broken in the other. The
proportion of a part to the whole, is a mea-
fure of its dimenfions : it often determines the
proper fize for an objed, as vvell as the fpace
fit to be allotted to a fcene ; and regulates the
ftyle which ought to be afllgned to either.

But whatever diflindlions the extent may oc-
cafion between a park and a garden, a ftate of
highly cultivated nature is confiftent with
each of their charaflers ; and may in both be
of the fame kind, though in different degrees.
The fame fpecies of prcfervation, of ornament,
and of fcenery, may be introduced; and though
a large portion of a park may be rude ; and
the mod romantic fcenes are not incompatible
with its charafler ; yet it fhould feem rather to
be reclaimed from a foreft, than a neglefted
corner of it •, the wildnefs mufi: not be univer-
fal ; it is but a circumftance ; and it is a happy
circumftance only when it is kept within due
bounds J fome appearance of improvement is

N 4 eflen-

[ «84 ]

cfTential ; and a high degree of polifh is at times
expeded, and generally agreable. All fcenes
wherein it prevails, naturally coalefce ; the
roiighnefs of others is foftened by diftance ;
and even thefe, when near, may be noble views,
though too vaft and too wild to be parts of a
garden. On the other hand, the minute beau-
ties of a walk, when feen acrofs a fpacious
lawn, are combined into large m^fles, and by
their number amount to greatnefs. As a park,
therefore, and a garden, agree in fo many cir-
cumftances, and may by the point of view be
accommodated to each other in thofe wherein
they principally differ, frequent opportunities
imufl occur to form an intimate union between
them.

Painfhill * is fituated on the utmoft verge of a
moor, which rifes above a fertile plain, watered
by the Mole. Large vallies defcending in dif-
ferent direfbions towards the river, break the
brow into feparate eminences •, and the gardens
are extended along the edge, in a femi-circular
form, between the winding river which de-
fcribes their outward boundary, and the park
which fills up the cavity of the crefcent : the
moor lies behind the place, and fometimes ap-
pears too confpicuoufly -, but the views on the
Other fides into the cultivated country are agre-

• The fwt of Mr. Hamilton, near Cohham in Surry. •

able ;

[ >S5 ]
able •, they are terminated by hills at a compe-
tent diftance ; the plain is fufficiently varied
with objedls ; and the richefl meadows over-
fpread the bottom juft below : the profpecfbs
are, however, only pretty, not fine ; and the
river is languid and dull. Painfhill, therefore,
is little benefited by external circumftances ;
but the fcenes within itfelf are both grand and
beautiful ; and the difpofition of the gardens af-
fords frequent opportunities of feeing the feveral
parts, the one from the other, acrofs the park,
in a variety of advantageous fituations.

The houfe (lands at one extremity of the
crefcent, on a hill which is fhut out from the
park, but open to the country. The view is
chearful -, and the fpot is laid out in an elegant
garden tafte, pretending to no more than to be
pleafant. In the midft of the thicket which fe-
parates it from the park, is a parterre, and an
orangerie, where the exotic plants are, during
the fummer, intermixed with common flirubs,
and a conftant fuccefiion of flowers. The fpace
before the houfe is full of ornament ; the ground
is prettily varied ; and feveral forts of beautiful
trees are difpofed on the fides in little open
plantations.

This hill is divided from another much larger
by a fmall valley ; and on the top of the fe-
cond eminence, at a feat juft above a large vine-
yard

[ i86 ]
yard which overfpreads all the fide, a fcene to-
tally different appears : the general profpecft,
though beautiful, is the circumftance the leaft
engaging ; the attention is immediately attrad-
ed from the cultivated plain, to the point of a
hanging wood at a diftance, but ftill within the
place, and which is not only a noble obje6l in
itfelf, but affords the moft pleafmg encourage-
ment to all who delight in gardening •, for it
has been raifed by the prefent poffeffor ; and
by its fituation, its thicknefs, and extent, while
it retains the frefhnefs of a young plantation,
has already in appearance all the maffy richnefs
of an old one. Oppofite to the hill thus co-
vered, is another in the country, of a fimilar
fhape, but bare and barren ; and beyond the
opening between them, the moor falling back
into a wide concave, clofes the interval. Had
all thefe heights belonged to the fame proprie-
tor, and been planted in the fame manner, they
would have compofed as great, as romantic a
fcene, as any of thofe which we rarely fee, but
always behold with admiration, the work of na-
ture alone, matured by the growth of ages.

But Painlhill is all a new creation ; and a
boldnefs of defign, and a happinefs of execu-
tion, attend the wonderful efforts which art has
there made to rival nature. Another point of
the fame eminence exhibits a landlkip diftin-

guiflied

[ '8; ]

gullhed from the lalt in every particular, ex-
cept in the ^ra of its exiftence : it is entirely
within the place ; and commanded from an
open Gothic building, on the very edge of a
high fleep, which riles immediately above a
fine artificial lake in the bottom : the whole of
this lake is never feen at once j but by its form,
by the difpofition of fome iflands, and by the
trees in them and on the banks, it always feems
to be larger than it is : on the left are conti-
nued plantations, to exclude the country ; on
the right, all the park opens ; and in front, be-
yond the water, is the hanging wood, the point
of which appeared before, but here it ftretches
quite acrofs the view, and difplays all its ex-
tent, and all its varieties. A broad river, if-
fuing from the lake, palTes under a bridge of
five arches near the outlet, then direfts its courfe
towards the wood, and flows underneath it.
On the fide of the hill is couched a low hermit-
age, encompaffed with thicket, and overhung
with (hade ; and far to the right, on the ut-
moft fummit, rifes a lofty tower, eminent above
all the trees. About the hermitage, the clofefi:
covert, and the darkeft greens, fpread their
gloom : in other places the tints are mixed ;
and in one, a little glimmering light marks an
opening in the wood, and diverfifies its uni-
formity, without diminifhing its greatnefs.

Through-

[ '88 ]

Throughout the illuftrious fcene confiftency is
preferved in the midft of variety ; all the parts
unite eafily i the plantations in the bottom join
to the wood which hangs on the hill ; thofe on
the upper grounds of the park, break into
groves, which afterwards divide into clumps,
and in the end taper into fmgle trees. The
ground is very various, but it points from all
fides towards the lake, and flackening its de-
fcent as it approaches. Aides at laft gently into
the water. The groves and the lawns on the
declivities are elegant and rich •, the fine ex-
panfe of the lake, enlivened by the gay plan-
tations on the banks, and the reflexion of the
bridge upon the furface, animates the land-
flcip ; and the extent anci the height of the
hanging wood gives an air of grandeur to the
whole.

An eafy winding defcent leads from the Go-
thic building to the lake, and a broad walk is
afterwards continued along the banks, and
acrofs an ifland, clofe to the water on one hand,
and fkirted by wood on the other : the fpot is
perfectly retired ; but the retirement is chearful;
the lake is calm •, but it is full to the brim, and
never darkened with fhadowj the walk is fmooth,
and almoft level, and touches the very margin
of the water ; the wood which fecludes all view
into the country, is compofed of the moft elegant

trees.

[ i89 ]
trefs, tull of the lightcft greens, and bordered
with Ihrubs and with flowers ; and though the
place is aimoft furrounded with plantations, yet
within itfelf it is open and airy j it is embeliflied
with three bridges, a ruined arch, and a grotto j
and the Gothic building, ftill very near, and
impending dire6lly over the lake, belongs to
the place ; but thefe obje6ls are never vifible
all together; they appear in fucceflion as the
walk proceeds ; and their number does not
croud the fcene which is enriched by their fre-
quency.

The tranfition is very fudden, aimoft imme-
diate, from this polillied fpot, to another of the
moft uncultivated nature ; not dreary, not ro-
mantic, but rude ; it is a wood, which over-
fpreads a large trad: of very uneven ground; the
glades through it are juft cleared of the buflies
and plants, which are natural to the foil ; fome-
times they are clofed on both fides with thickets;
at other times they are only cut through the
fern in the openings ; and even the larches, and
the firs, which are mixed with beech on the fide
of the principal glade, are left in fuch a flate of
apparent negledl, that they feem to be the pro-
dud: of the wild, not decorations of the walk :
this is the hanging wood, which before was fo
noble an objed, and is now fuch a difbant
retreat j near the tower it is thin ; but about

the

[ ipo ]
the hermitage it is thickened with trees of the
darkeft greens-, a narrow gloomy path, over-
hung with Scotch and fpruce firs, under which
the fern feems to have been killed, not cleared,
and fcarce a blade of grafs can grow, leads to the
cell j that is compofed of logs and of roots ; the
defign is as fimple as the materials ; and the
furniture within is old and uncouth j all the cir-
cumftances which belong to the charader, are
retained in the utmoft purity, both in the ap-
proach and the entrance ; in the fecond room
they are fuddenly changed for a view of tlie gar-
dens and the country, which is rich with every
appearance of inhabitants and cultivation. From
the tower on the top of the hill is another pro-
fped, much more extenfive, but not more beau-
tiful ; the objects are not fo well felefled, nor
feen to fo great advantage ; fome of them are
too diflant •, fome too much below the eye •, and
a large portion of the heath intervenes, which
cafts a cloud over the view.

Not far from the tower is a fcene poliflied to
the higheft degree of improvement, in which
ftands a large Doric building, called the temple
of Bacchus, with a fine portico in the front, a
rich alto relievo in the pediment, and on each
fide a range of pilafters : within, it is decorated
with many antique bufts, and a noble ftatue of
the god in the centre j the room has none of

that

[ »9i ]

that folemnity which is often affeiSledly afcribed
to the charader, but without being gaudy is full
of light, of ornament, and fplendor; the fitua-
tion is on a brow, which commands an agreable
profped ; but the top of the hill is almoft a flat,
diverfified however by fcveral thickets, and
broad walks winding between them ; thefe walks
run into each other fo frequently, their relation
is fo apparent, that the idea of the whole is
never loft in the divifions ; and the parts are,
like the whole, large ; they agree alfo in ftyle ;
the interruptions therefore never deftroy the ap-
pearance of extent •, they only change the boun-
daries, and multiply the figures : to the grandeur
which the fpot receives from fuch dimenfions,
is added all the richnefs of which plantations
are capable -, the thickets are of flowering
fhrubs ; and the openings are embellifhed with
little airy groupes of the moft elegant trees,
fkirting or crofling the glades •, but nothing is
minute, or unworthy of the environs of the
temple.

The gardens end here ; this is one of the ex-
tremities of the crefcent, and from hence to the
houfe in the other extremity, is an open walk
through the park; in the way a tent is pitched,
upon a fine fwell, juft above the water, which is
feen to greater advantage from this point than
from any other j '.ts broadefl: expanfe is at the

foot

[ 192 ]
foot of the hill ; from that it fpreads in feveral
diredions, fometimes under the plantations,
fometimes into the midft of them, and at other
times winding behind them; the principal
bridge of five arches is juft below ; at a dif-
tance, deep in the wood, is another, a fingle
arch, thrown over a ftream which is loft a little
beyond it ; the pofition of the latter is direftly
athwart that of the former ; the eye paftes along
the one, and under the other ; and the greater is
offtone, the fmaller of wood; no two objeds
bearing the fame name, can be more different in
figure and fituation : the banks alfo of the lake
are infinitely diverfified ; they are open in one
place, and in another covered with plantations ;
which fometimes come down to the brink of the
water ; and fometimes leave room for a walk ;
the glades are either condufled along the fides,
or open into the thickeft of the wood ; and now
and then they feem to turn round it towards the
the country, which appears in the ofFskip, rifing
above this pl6lurefque and various fcene, through
a wide opening between the hanging wood on
one hand, and the eminence crowned with the
Gothic tower on the other.

LVII. Both the park and the gardens at
Painlhill thus mutually contribute to the beauty
of the feveral landikips ; yet they are abfolutely

diftind;
\

[ '93 ]

diflind ; and not only feparated by fences very
artfully concealed, but the chara6ler of each
is prefervcd pure in the fpots, from which the
fcenes wherein they mix are commanded. They
may, however, be more clofely united j and
by transferring to the one, fome of the circum-
rtances which are ufually, but not neceflarily,
confined to the other, they may be aflually
blended together. There are, indeed, proper-
ties in a garden, which cannot be applied to a
park : its bloom and its fragrancy cannot there
be preferved •, if they could, the flowers, and
the flowering flirubs, and the culture they re-
quire, would not aflTort with the place ; even
the more curious trees could hardly be fecured
from injuries -, the little groupes, if raifed,
would feldom kindly coalefce with the woods
of the forefl: around them ; and feveral delicate
finifhings, and elegant ornaments, which be-
come the confined fpots of a garden, would, at
the bell, be loft in the larger fcenes of a park.
•But ftill the latter may borrow many decora-
tions from the former ; and if the lawns and the
woods be of a moderate extent, and great ra-
ther in ftyle than in dimenfions ; if they be
every where diftinguifhed by elegance in their
forms and their outlines ; and if, in the com-
munications between them, the appendages of
a walk be preferred to thofe of a riding j the
O park

[ 194 ]
park may retain its own charafter ; may be
{locked with deer and with fheep, and amply
provided with harbour and pafture ; yet adopt,
without any derogation, the capital beauties of
a garden.

The excellencies both of a park and of a
garden are thus happily blended at * Hagley,
where the fcenes are equally elegant and noble.
It is fituated in the midft of a fertile and lovely
country, between the Clent and the Witchberry
Hills, neither of which are within the pale,
but both belong to the place. The latter rife
in three beautiful fwells ; one of them is co-
vered with wood •, another is an open fheep-
walk, with an obelifk on the fummit ; on the
third, the portico of the temple of Thefeus,
exadly on the model of that at Athens, and
little lefs in the dimenfions, ftands boldly out
upon the brow, backed by the dark ground of
a fir plantation, and has a mod majeftic ap-
pearance, abdve the fteeps which fall before and
befide it. The houfe is feen to the greateft ad-
vantage from thefe eminences, and every point
of them commands fome beautiful profpedl ;
the bufy town of Stourbridge is juft below
them i the ruins of Dudley caftle rife in the
ofFskip •, the country is full of induftry and in-

• Near Stourbridge, in Worcefterfliire.

habit-

[ ^95 ]
habitants ; and a fmall portion of the moor,
where the minerals, manufadured in the neigh-
bourhood, are dug, breaking in upon the hori-
zon, accounts for the richnefs, without dero-
gating from the beauty of the landfl^ip. From
the Clent hills the views are ftill greater •, they
extend on one fide to the black mountains in
Wales, a long ridge which appears, al fixty
miles diftance, in the interval between the un-
weildy heap cf the Malvern hills, and the fo-
litary peak of the Wrekin, each thirty miles off,
and as many afunder. The fmoak of Wor-
celter, the churches in Birmingham, and the
houfes in Stourbridge, are diftinftly vifible ;
the country is a mixture of hill and dale, and
ftrongly enclofed, except in one part, where a
heath, varied by rifing grounds, pieces of wa-
ter, and feveral objedls, forms an agreable con-
trail to the cultivation which furrounds it. From
the other extremity of the Clent hills, the prof-
pe6t is lefs extenfive -, but the ground is more
rude and broken ; it is often overfpread with
large and beautiful woods ; and the view is
dignified with numerous feats of the nobility
and gentry : the hills alfo being very irregular,
large advanced promontories frequently inter-
rupt the fight, and vary the fcene : in other
parts, deep vallies (helving down towards the
country below, exhibit the objeds there in dif-
O 2 ferent

[ 196 ]
ferent lights. In one of thefe hollows is built
a neat cottage, under a deep defcent, fheltered
befides by plantations, and prefenting ideas of
retirement in the midft of fo much open ex-
pofure ; from the heights above it, is feen all
that view which before was commanded from
the Witchberry hills, but which is feen here over
Hagley Park, a noble fore-ground, beautiful
in itfelf, and completing the landfkip.

The houfe, though low in the park, is yet
above the adjacent country, which it overlooks
to a very diftant horizon : it is furrounded by
a lawn, of fine uneven ground, and diverfified
with large clumps, little groupes, and finglc
trees ; it is open in front, but covered on one
fide by the Witchberry hills ; on the other fide,
and behind, by the eminences in the park,
which are high and fteep, and all overfpread
with a lofty hanging wood. The lawn prefling
to the foot, or creeping up the Hopes of thefe
hills, and fometimes winding along glades into
the depth of the wood, traces a beautiful out-
line to a fylvan fcene, already rich to luxuri-
ance in maflinefs of foliage, and ftatelinefs of
growth.

But though the wood appears to be entire, it
in reality opens frequently into lawns, which
occupy much of the fpace within it : in the
number, the variety, and the beauty of thele

lawns.

C 197 ]

lawns, in the fhades of the reparations between
them, in their beauties alfo, and their varieties,
the glory of Hagley confifts ; no two of the
openings are alike, in dimenfions, in fhape, or
in charafler •, one is of no more than live or fix
acres •, another of not lefs than fifty ; and others
are of all the intermediate fizes ; fome ftretch
out into lengthened glades ; fome widen every-
way, they are again diftinguilhed by buildings,
by profpefls, and often by the ftyle only of
the plantations around them. The boundary
of one is defcribed by a few carelefs lines ; that
of another is compofed of many parts, very
different, and very irregular j and the ground
is never flat, but falls fometimes in fteep de-
fcents, fometimes in gentle declivities, waves
along eafy fwells, or is thrown into broken in-
equalities, with endlefs variety.

An odtagon feat, facred to the memory of
Tomfon, and eredted on his favourite fpot,
ftands on the brow of a fteep ; a mead winds
along the valley beneath, till it is loft on either
hand behind fome trees j oppofite to the feat,
a noble wood crowns the top, and feathers
down to the bottom, of a large, oval, fwelling
hill ; as it defcends on one fide, the diftant
country becomes the offskip ; over the fall on
the other fide the Clent hills appear ; a dulky
antique tower ftands juft below them, at the
O 3 extre-

C >98 ]

extremity of the wood •, and in the midfl of it
is feen a Doric portico, called Pope's Building,
with part of the lawn before it ; the fcene is
very fimple -, the principal features are great ;
they prevail over all the reft, and are intimately
connected with each other.

The next opening is fmall, circling about a
rotunda on a knole, to the foot of which the
ground rifes every way -, the trees which fur-
round it are large ; but their foliage is not very
thick ; and their ftems appearing beneath, their
ramifications between, the boughs, are, in fo
confined a fpot, very diflinguifhcd and agreable
circumflances : it is retired ; has no profpeft ;
no vifible outlet but one, and that is fhort and
narrow, to a bridge with a portico upon it,
which terminates a piece of water.

The grove behind the rotunda, feparates this
from a large, airy, foreft glade, thinly fkirted
■with wood, carelefs of drefs, and much over-
grov/n with fern. The wildnefs is an accept-
able relief in the midft of fo much elegance
and improvement as reign in the neighbouring
lawns ; and the place is in itfelf pleafant ; in
no part confined ; and from a Gothic feat at
the end is a perfpedlive view of that wood and
tower, which were feen before in front, toge-
ther with the Witchberry hills, and a wide range
of country.

The

[ »99 ]

The tower, which in profpetl is always con-
nefted with wood, {lands liowever on a piece
of down, which ftretches along the broad ridge
of a hill, and fpreads on each hand for fome
way down the fides : thick groves catch the
falls ; the defcent on the right is foon loft under
the trees ; but that on the left being fteeper and
fhorter, it may be followed to the bottom •, a
wood hangs on the declivity, which is con-
tinued in the valley beneath ; the tower over-
looks the whole ; it feems the remains of a
caftle, partly entire, partly in ruins, and partly
overgrown with bufhes; a finer fituation cannot
be imagined •, it is placed in an expofed unfre-
quented fpot J commands an extenfive profpedt •,
and is every where an interefting objeft.

At the end of the valley below it, in an
obfcure corner, and fhut out from all view, is
a hermitage, compofed of roots and of mofs ;
high banks, and a thick covert darkened with
horfe-chefnuts, confine the fequeftered fpot ; a
little rill trickles through it, and two fmall
pieces of water occupy the bottom •, they are
feen on one fide through groupes of trees •, the
other is open, but covered with fern : this
valley is the extremity of the park, and the
Clent hills rife in all their irregularity imme-
diately above it.

O 4 The

C 200 ]

The other defcent from the caflle is a long
declivity, covered like the reft with noble
woods, in which fine lawns are again embo-
fomed, differing ftill from the former, and from
each other : in one, the ground is very rough,
the boundary is much broken, and marked only
by the trunks of the trees which llioot up high
before the branches begin. The next is more
fimple; and the ground falls from an even
brow into one large hollow, which flopes to-
wards the glen, where it finks into the covert.
This has a communication through a Ihort "
glade, and between two groves, with another,
called the Tinian lawn, from the refemblance
which it is faid to bear to thofe of that cele-
brated illand ; it is encompaffed with the ftate-
lieft trees, all frelh and vigorous, and fo full of
leaf that not a ftem, not a branch, appears,
but large maffes of foliage only defcribe an
undulating outline : the effed however is not
produced by the boughs feathering down to
the bottom •, they in appearance fhoot out
horizontally a few feet above the ground to a
furprizing diftance, and form underneath an
edging of (hade, into which the retreat is im-
mediate at every hour of the day ; the verdure
of the turf is as luxuriant there as in the open
fpace ; the ground gently waves in both over
eafy fwells and little dips, juft varying, not

breaking

C 201 ]

breaking the furface •, no ftrong lines are
drawn ; no ftriking objects are admitted ; but
all is of an even temper, all mild, placid, and
ferene, in the gayeft feafon of the day not more
than chearfiil, in the ftilleit watch of night
not gloomy -, the fcene is indeed peculiarly
adapted to the tranquility of the latter, when
the moon feems to repofe her light on the thick
foliage of the grove, and fteadily marks the
fhade of every bough ; it is delightful then to
faunter here, and fee the grafs, and the gof-
famer which entwines it, gliftening with dew ;
to liften, and hear nothing ftir, except perhaps
a withered leaf dropping gently through a tree ;
and flickered from the chill, to catch the frelh-
nefs of the evening air : a folitary urn, chofen
by Mr. Pope for the fpot, and now infcribed
to his memory, when fhewn by a gleam of
moon-light through the trees, fixes that
thoughtfulnefs and compofure, to which the
mind is inlcnfibly led by the reft of this elegant
fccne.

The Doric Portico which alfo bears his name,
though not within fight is near ; it is placed on
the declivity of a hill ; and Thomfon's feat,
with its groves and appendages, are agreable
circumftances in the profpedt before it. In
the valley beneath is fixed a bench, which com-
mands a variety of Ihort views j one is up the

afcent

[ 202 ]

afcent to the portico, and others through open-
ings in the wood to the bridge and the rotunda.
The next lawn is large j the ground is fteep
and irregular, but inclines to one direftion, and
falls from every fide into the general declivity -,
the outline is diverfified by many groupes of
trees on the dopes ; and frequent glimpfes of
the country are feen in perfpedive through
openings between them : on the brow is a feat,
in the proudeft fituation of all Haglev; it
commands a view down the bold fweep of the
lawn, and over a valley filled with the nobleft
trees, up to the heights beyond ; one of thofe
heights is covered with a hanging wood ; which
opens only to fhew Thomfon's feat, and the
groves, and the fteeps about it ; the others are
the Witchberry hills, which feem to prefs for-
ward into the landfkip -, and the maffy heads
of the trees in the vale, uniting into a con-
tinued furface, form a broad bafe to the temple
of Thefeus, hide the fwell on which it is built,
and croud up to the very foundation -, farther
back flands the obelifk •, before it is the fheep-
walk ; behind it the Witchberry wood ; the
temple is backed by the firs ; and both thefe
plantations are conneded with that vaft fylvan
fcene, which overfpreads the other hill, and all
the intermediate valley •, fuch extent of wood ;
fuch variety in the dilpofition of itj objefts

fo

[ 203 ]

fo illuilrious in themfelves, and ennobled by
their ficuations, each contrafted to each, every
one dirtind, and all happily united ; the parts
fo beautiful of a whole fo great ; feen from a
charming lawn ; and furrounded by a delightful
country ; compofe all together a fcene of real
magnificence and grandeur.

The feveral lawns are feparated by the finefl:
trees -, which fometimes grow in airy groves,
chequered with gleams of light, and open
to every breeze j but more frequently, their
great branches meeting or crofling each
other, caft a deep impenetrable fhade. Large
boughs feathering down often intercept the
fight ; or a vacant fpace is filled with coppice
wood, nut, hawthorn, and hornbeam, whofe
tufted heads mixing with the foliage, and their
little ftems clullering about the trunks of the
trees, thicken and darken the plantation ; here
and there the divifion is of fuch coppice wood
only, which then being lefs conftrained and op-
prefled, fprings up ftronger, fpreads further,
and joins in a low vaulted covering; in other
places the Ihade is high over-arched by the
talleft afh, or fpreads under the branches of
the mofl venerable oaks ; they rife in every
fhape, they are difpofed in every form, in
which trees can grow ; the ground beneath
them is fometimes almoil level j fometimes a

gentle

[ 204 I

gentle fwell ; but generally very irregular and
broken : in feveral places, large hollows wind
down the fides of the hills, worn in the ftormy
months by water-courfes, but worn many ages
ago; very old oaks in the midft of the channels
prove their antiquity : fome of them are per-
fe<5tly dry moft part of the year ; and fome are
watered by little rills all the fummer ; they
are deep and broad ; the fides are commonly
lleep ; often abrupt and hollow ; and the trees
on the banks fometimes extend their roots, all
covered with mofs, over the channels of the
water. Low down in one of thefe glens, under
a thick (hade of horfe-chefnuts, is a plain
bench, in the midft of feveral little currents,
and water-falls, running among large loofe ftones,
and the ftumps of dead trees, with which the
ground is broken : on the brink of another
glen, which is diftinguiflied by a numerous
rookery, is a feat in a ftill wilder fituation,
near a deeper hollow, and in a darker gloom ;
the falls are nearly perpendicular ; the roots of
fome of the trees are almoft bare, from the
earth having crumbled away ; large boughs of
others, finking with their own weight, feem
ready to break from the trunks they belong to;
and the fineft afh, ftill growing, lie all aflant
the water-courfe below, which, though the
ftream runs in winter only, yet conftantly re-
tains

[ 205 ]

tains the black tinge of damp, and cafts a chill
all around.

Gravel walks are conducted acrofs the glens,
through the woods, the groves, or the thickets,
and along the fides of the lawns, concealed ge-
nerally from the fight, but always ready for the
communication; and leading to the principal
fcenes ; the frequency of thefe walks, the num-
ber and the ftyle of the buildings, and the high
prefervation in which all the place is kept, give
to the whole park the air of a garden ; there is
however one fpot more peculiarly adapted to
that purpofe, and more artificially difpofed than
the reft-, it is a narrow vale, divided into three
parts ; one of them is quite filled with water,
which leaves no room for a path, but thick trees
on either fide come down quite to the brink ;
and between them the fight is conduced to the
bridge with a portico upon it, which clofes the
view : another part of this vale is a deep gloom,
over-hung with large afli, and oaks, and dar-
kened below by a number of yews j thefe are
fcattered over very uneven ground, and open
underneath ; but they are encompafled by a
thick covert, under v/hich a flream falls, from
a ftony channel, down a rock ; other rills drop
into the current, which afterwards pours over
a fecond cafcade into the third divifion of the
vale, where it forms a piece of water, and is loft

under

t 2c6 ]
under the bridge : the view from this bridge is
a perfeft opera fcene, through all the divifions
of the vale, np to the rotunda ; both thefe build-
ings, and the other decorations of the fpot, are
of the fpecies generally confined to a garden j
the hermitage alfo, which has been defcribed,
and its appendages, are in a ftyle which does not
belong to a park •, but through all the reft of
the place, the two charaders are intimately
blended ; the whole is one fubjed ; and it was
a bold idea to conceive that one to be capable
of fo much variety ; it required the moR- vigo-
rous efforts of a fertile fancy to carry that idea
into execution.

Of a GARDEN.

LVIII. The gravel paths have been men-
tioned as contributing to the appearance of a
garden j they are unufual elfewhere ; they con-
flantly prefent the idea of a walk ; and the cor-
refpondence between their fides, the exaftnefs of
the edges, the nicety of the materials and of the
prefervation, appropriate them to fpots in the
highefl ffate of improvement : applied to any
other fubjed than a park, their efFe6l is the
fame ; a field furrounded by a gravel walk is to
a degree bordered by a garden ; and many or-
naments may be introduced as appendages to

the

[ 207 ]

the latter, which would otherwife appear to be
inconfiftent with the former •, when thefe accom-
paniments occupy a confiderable fpace, and are
feparated from the field, the idea of a garden
is complete as far as they extend -, but if the
gravel be omitted, and the walk be only of
turf, a greater breadth to the border, and more
richnefs in the decorations, are neceflary, to
preferve that idea.

Many gardens are nothing more than fuch a
walk round a field ; that field is often railed to
the character of a lawn ; and fometimes the en-
clofure is, in fad, a paddock ; whatever it be,
the walk is certainly garden -, it is a fpot (tt
apart for pleafure ; it admits on the fides a pro-
fufion of ornament ; is fit for the reception of
every elegance ; and requires the nicelt preferv-
ation •, it is attended alfo with many advan-
tages; may be made and kept without muchi
expence ; leads to a variety of points ; and a-
vails itfelf in its progrefs of the feveral cir-
cumftances which belono- to the enclofure it

o

fiirrounds, whether they be the rural appurte-
nances of a farm, or thofe more refined which
diftinguilh a paddock.

But it has at the fame time its inconvenien-
cies and defefls : its approach to the feveral
points is always circuitous, and they are thereby
often thrown to a diftance from the houfe, and

from

[ 208 ]

from each other ; there is no accefs to them
acrofs the open expofure •, the way muft con-
ftantly be the fame ; the view all along is into
one opening, which muft be peculiarly circum-
ftanced, to furnifh within itfelf a fufficient va-
riety ; and the embellifhments of the walk are
feldom important ; their number is limited, and
the little fpace allotted for their reception ad-
mits only of thofe which can be accommodated
to the fcale, and will conform to the charafter.
This fpecies of garden, therefore, reduces al-
moft to a famenefs all the places it is applied
to ', the fubjedt feems exhaufted ; no walk
round a field can now be very different from
feveral others already exifting. At the beft too
it is but a walk ; the fine fcenery of a garden
is wanting •, and that in the field, which is fub-
ftituted in its ftead, is generally of an inferior
charadler ; and often defeftive in connedion
with the fpot which commands it, by the inter-
vention of the fence, or the vifible difference
in the prefervation.

This objedlion, however, has more or lefs
force according to the charafter of the enclo-
fure : if that be a paddock or a lawn, it may
exhibit fcenes not unworthy of the moft ele-
gant garden, which agreeing in ftyle, will unite
in appearance, with the walk. The other ob-
jedions alfo are Itronger or weaker in propor- -

tion

[ 209 ]

tion to the fpace allowed for the appendages ;
and not applicable at all to a broad circuit of
garden, which has room within itfelf for fce-
nery, variety, and charafler ; but the common
narrow walk, too indiicriminately in fafhion, if
continued to a confiderable extent, becomes
very tirefome ; and the points it leads to muft
be more than ordinarily delightful, to compen-
fate for the fatigue of the way.

This tedioufnefs may, however, be remedied,
without any extravagant enlargement of the
plan, by taking in, at certain intervals, an ad-
ditional breadth, fufficient only for a little fcene
to interrupt the uniformity of the progrefs.
The walk is then a communication, not between
points of view, through all which it remains
unaltered ; but between the feveral parts of a
garden, in each of which it is occafionally loft ;
and when refumed, it is at the worft a repeti-
tion, not a continuation, of the fame idea ; the
eye and the mind are not always confined to
one tra(5t •, they expatiate at times, and have
been relieved before they return to it. An-
other expedient, the very reverfe of this, may
now and then be put in pradlice : it is to con-
tract, inftead of enlarging, the plan •, to carry
the walk, in fome part of its courfe, direcflly
into the field ; or at the moft to fecure it from
cattle i but to make it quite fimple, omit all
P its

[ 210 ]

Its appendages, and drop every idea of a gar-
den. If neither of them, nor any other means
are ufed to break the length of the way, the'
the enclofures fnould furnidi a fuccefllon of
fcenes, ail beautiful, and even contrafted to
each other, yet the walk will introduce a fimi-
larity between them. This fpecies of garden,
therefore, feems proper only for a place of a
very moderate extent ; if it be ftretched out to-
a great length, and not mixed with other cha-
rafters, its famencfs hurts that variety, which it
is its peculiar merit to difcover.

LIX. But the advantages attending it upon
fome, and the ufe of it on fo many occafions,
has raifed a partiality in its favour ; and it is
often carried round a place, where the whole en-
clofure is garden •, the interior openings and com-
munications turnifh there a fufficient range ; and
they do not require that number and variety of
appendages, which muft be introduced to dif-
guife the uniformity of the circuitous walk,
but which often interfere with greater efteds.
It is at the leaft unnecefTary in fuch a garden ;
but plain gravel walks to every part are com-
monly deemed to be indifpenfablc ; they un-
doubtedly are convenient ; but it muft alfo be
acknowledged, that though fometimes they a-
dorn, yet at other times they disfigure, the

fcenes

[ 211 ]

fcenes through which they are condu6led. The
proprietor of the place, who vifits thefe fcenes
at different feafons, is mod anxious for their
beauty in fine weather ; he does not feel the re-
flraint to be grievous, if all of them be not at
all times equally accefiible j and a gravel walk
perpetually before him, cfpecially when it is
ufelefs, mud be irkfome ; it ought not, there-
fore, to be oftentatioufly fliewn ; on many oc-
cafions, it fliould be induftrioufly concealed :
that it lead to the capital points is fufficient ;
it can never be requifite along the whole extent
of every fcene ; it may often fl<:irt a part of
them, without appearing-, or juft touch upon
them, and withdraw ; but if it cannot be in-
troduced at all without hurting them, it ought
commonly to be omitted.

The fides of a gravel walk muft correfpond,
and its courfe be in fweeps gently bending all
the way. It preferves its form, though con-
duced through woods, or along glades, of the
moft licentious irregularity •, but a grafs walk
is under no reftraint •, the fides of it may be
perpetually broken ; and the diredlion fre-
quently changed •, fudden turns, however, are
harfh -, they check the idea of progrefs ; they
are rather difappointments than varieties -, and
if they are fimilar^ they are in the worft ftyle
of aflc6lation. The line muft be curved, but
P 2 it

[ 212 J

it fliould not be wreathed ; if it be truly fer-
pentine, it is the moft unnatural of any ; it
ought conftantly to proceed ; and wind only
juft fo much, that the termination of the view
may differ at every ftep, and the end of the
walk never appear ; the thickets which confine
it fhould be diverfified with feveral mixtures of
greens ; no diftindlions in the forms of the
ilirubs or the trees will be loft, when there are
opportunities to obferve them fo nearly ; and
combinations and contrafts without number
may be made, which will be there truly orna-
mental. Minute beauties are proper in a fpot
precluded from great effefts ; and yet fuch a
walk, if it be broad, is by no means infignifi-
cant ; it may have an importance which will
render it more than a mere communication.

But the peculiar merit of that fpecies of gar-
den, which occupies the whole enclofure, con-
fifts in the larger fcenes ; it can make room for
them both in breadth and in length ; and be-
ing dedicated entirely to pleafure, free from all
other confiderations, thofe fcenes may be in
any ftyle which the nature of the place will al-
low ; a number of them is expefted ; all dif-
ferent ; fometimes contrafted ; and each dif-
■ tinguilhed by its beauty. If the fpace be di-
vided into little flips, and made only a collec-
tion of walks, it forfeits all its advantages, lofes

its

[ 213 ]

its charafter, and can have no other excellence
than fuch as it may derive from fituation ;
whereas by a more liberal difpofition, it may be
made independent of whatever is external ; and
though profpeds are no where more delightful
than from a point of view which is alfo a beau-
tiful fpot, yet if in fuch a garden they fliould
be wanting, the elegant, pidurefque, and va-
rious fcenes within itfelf, almoll fupply the de-
ficiency.

This is the charadler of the gardens at Stowe ;
for there the views into the country are only
circumftances fubordinate to the fcenes ; and
the principal advantage of the fituation is the
variety of the ground within the enclofure.
The houfe ftands on the brow of a gentle a-
fcent i part of the gardens lie on the declivity,
and fpread over the bottom beyond it ; this
eminence is feparated by a broad winding val-
ley from another which is higher and fteeper ;
and the defcents of both are broken by large
dips and hollows, floping down the fides of the
hills. The whole fpace is divided into a num-
ber of. fcenes, each difl:inguifhed with taft:e and
fancy ; and the changes are fo frequent, fo fud-
den, and complete, the tranfitions fo artfully
conduced, that the fame ideas are never con-
tinued or repeated to fatiety.

P 3 Thefe

t 214 ]

Thefe gardens were begun when regularity
was in fafliion ; and the original boundary is
(till preierved, on account of its magnificence ;
for round the whole circuit, of between three
and four miles, is carried a very broad gravel
walk, planted with rows of trees, and open ei-
ther to the park or the country ; a deep-funk
fence attends it all the way, and compre-
hends a fpace of near four hundred acres. But
in the interior fcenes of the garden, few traces
of regularity appear ; where it yet remains in
the plantations, it is generally difguifed j every
fymptom almoft of formality is obliterated
from the ground ; and an oftagon bafin in the
bottom, is now converted into an irregular
piece of water, which receives on one hand
two beautiful ftreams, and falls on the other
down a cafcade into a lake.

In the front of the houfe is a confiderable
lawn, open to the water, beyond which are two
elegant Doric pavillions, placed in the boun-
dary of the garden, but not marking it, though
they correfpond to each other •, for ftill further
back, on the brow of fome rifing grounds with-
out the enclofure, flands a noble Corinthian
arch, by which the principal approach is con-
duced, and from which all the gardens are feen,
reclining back againft their hills ; they are rich
with plantations, full of objefts, and lying on

both

C ^'5 ]
both fides of the hoiife almoft equally, every
part is within a moderate diftance, notwith-
itanding the extent of the whole.

On the right of the lawn, but concealed from
the houfe, is a perfedly garden fcene, called the
queen's amphitheatre, where art is avowed,
though formality is avoided -, the f9re-ground
is fcooped into a gentle hollow; the planta-
tions on the fides, though butjuft refcued from
regularity, yet in ftyle are contrafted.to each
other ; they are, on one hand, chiefly thickets,
(landing out from a wood ; on the other, they
are open groves, through which a glimpfe of
the water is vifible : at the end of the hollow,
on a little knole, quite detached from all ap-
pendages, is placed an open Ionic rotunda;
beyond it, a large lawn Hopes acrofs the
view-, a pyramid ftands on the brow; the
queen's pillar, in a recefs on the deicent ; and
all the three buildings being evidently intended
for ornament alone, are peculiarly adapted to a
garden fcene, yet their number does not render
it gay ; the dufky hue of the pyramid, the retir-
ed fituation of the queen's pillar, and the foli-
tary appearance of the rotunda, give it an air of
gravity ; it is encompaffed with wood ; and all
external views are excluded ; even the opening
into the lawn is but an opening into an enclofure.

At

[ 2t6 ]

At the king's pillar, very near to this, is
another lovely fpot; which is fmall, but not
confined -, for no termination appears ; the
ground one way, the water another, retire un-
der the trees out of fight, but no where meet
with a boundary; the view is firft over fome
very broken ground, thinly and irregularly
planted ; then between two beautiful clumps,
which feather down to the bottom ; and after-
wards acrofs a glade, and through a little grove
beyond it, to that part of the lake, where the
thickets, clofe upon the brink, fpread a tranqui-
lity over the furface, in which their fhadows are
reflefted : nothing is admitted to difturb that
quiet ; no building obtrudes ; for objects to fix
the eye are needlefs in a fcene, which may be
comprehended at a glance ; and none would
fuit the paftoral idea it infpires, of elegance too
refined for a cottage, and of fimplicity too pure
for any other edifice.

The fituation of the rotunda promifes a prof-
pe6b more enlarged ; and in fadt moft of the
objefts on this fide of the garden, are there vi-
fible i but they want both connexion and con-
trafl:-, each belongs peculiarly to fome other
fpot; they are all blended together in this,
without meaning; and are rather fhewn on a
map, than formed into a pidure. The v/ater
only is capital ; a broad cxpanfe of it is fo near

as

[ 217 ]
as to be feen under the little groupes on the
bank without interruption -, beyond it is a wood,
which in one place leaves the lake, to run up
behind a beautiful building, of three pavillions,
joined by arcades, all of the Ionic order ; it is
called Kent's Building ; and never was a defign
more happily conceived ; it feems to be charac-
teriftically proper for a garden ; it is fo elegant,
fo varied, and fo purely ornamental ; it diredly
fronts the rotunda, and a narrow rim of the
country appears above the trees beyond it : but
the effect even of this noble objeft is fainter
here than at other points ; its pofition is not the
moft advantageous j and it is but one among
many other buildings, none of which arc prin-
cipal.

The fcene at the temple of Bacchus is in
character dire6lly the reverfe of that about the
rotunda, though the fpace and the objedts are
nearly the fame in both ; but in this, all the
parts concur to form one whole -, the ground
from every fide Ihelves gradually towards the
lake ; the plantations on the further bank open
to fhew Kent's building, rife from the water's
edge towards the knole on which it flands, and
clofe again behind it ; that elegant flrudlure,
inclined a little from a front view, becomes
more beautiful by being thrown into perfpec-
tive ; and though at a greater diftance, is more

important

[ 2I8 ]

important than before, becaufe it is alone in
the view j for the queen's pillar and the ro-
tunda are removed far afide ; and every other
circumftance refers to this interefting objedt ;
the water attradls, the ground and the planta-
tions dire^ the eye thither ; and the country
does not juft glimmer in the offskip, but is
clofe and eminent above the wood, and con-
neded by clumps with the garden. The fcene
all together is a moft animated landfkip •, and
the fplendor of the building; the reflexion in
the lake ; the tranfparency of the water -, and
the pidlurefque beauty of its form, diverfified
by little groupes on the brink, while on the
broadeft expanfe no more trees caft their fha-
dows than are fufficient to vary the tints of the
furface ; all thefe circumftances, vying in luflre
with each other, and uniting in the point to
which every part of the fcene is related, difFufe
a peculiar brilliancy over the whole compofi-
tion.

The view from Kent's building, is very dif-
ferent from thofe which have been hitherto
defcribed ; they are all direftcd down the de-
clivity of the lawn •, this rifes up the afcent ;
the eminence being crowned with lofty wood,
becomes thereby more confiderable ; and the
hillocks into which the general fall is broken,
doping further out this way than any other,

they

[ 219 ]

they alfo acquire an importance which they had
not before ; that particularly on which the ro-
tunda is placed, feems here to be a proud fitu-
ation J and the flrudlure appears to be properly
adapted to fo open an expofure. The temple of
Bacchus on the contrary, which commands fuch
an illuflrious view, is itfelf a retired object,
clofe under the covert : the wood rifing on the
brow, and defcending down one fide of the
hill, is fhewn to be deep -, is high, and feems
to be higher than it is ; the lawn too is exten-
five ; and part of the boundary being con-
cealed, it fuggefts the idea of a ftill greater
extent; a fmall portion only of the lake indeed
is vifible •, but it is not here an objedl ; it is
a part of the fpot ; and neither termination
being in fight, it has no diminutive appear-
ance ; if more water had been admitted, it
might have hurt the character of the place,
which is fober and temperate ; neither folemn
nor gay -, great and fimple, but elegant ; above
rufticicy, yet free from oftentation.

Thefe are the principal fcenes on one fide of
the gardens ; on the other, clofe to the lawn
before the houfe, is the winding valley above-
mentioned ; the lower part of it is alTigned to
the Elyfian fields ; they are watered by a lovely
rivulet ; are very lightfome, and very airy, lo
thinly are the trees fcattered about them ; are

open

[ 220 ]

ppen at one end to more water and a larger
glade ; and the reft of the boundary is fre-
quently broken to let in objefls afar off, which
appear ftill more diftant from the manner of
fliewing them. The entrance is under a Doric
arch, which coincides with an opening among
the trees, and forms a kind of vifta, through
which a Pembroke bridge juft below, and a
lodge built like a caftle in the park, are feen
in a beautiful perfpeftive : that bridge is at
one extremity of the gardens ; the queen's
pillar is at another •, yet both are vifible from
the fame ftation in the Elyfian fields ; and all
thefe external objeds are unaffefledly intro-
duced, diverted of their own appurtenances,
and combined with others which belong to the
fpot : the temple of friendfhip alfo is in fight
juft without the place ; and within it, are the
temples of antient virtue, and of the Britifh
worthies, the one in an elevated fituation, the
other low down in the valley, and near to the
water: both are decorated with the effigies of
thofe who have been moft diftinguiftied for
military, civil, or literary merit •, and near to
the former ftands a roftral column, facred to
the memory of captain Grenville, who fell in
an aftion at fea : to place the meed of valour
in the fields of Elyfium, and to fill them with
the reprefentations of thofe who have deferved

beft

[ 221 ]

beft of mankind, is an idea equally jufl and
poetical ; and the number of the images which
are here prefented or excited, correfponds with
the character J folitude was never reckoned
among the charms of Elyfium ; it has been
always pidured as the manfion of delight and
of joy ; and in this imitation, every circum-
ftance accords with that eftabliflied idea ; the
vivacity of the ftream which flows through the
vale ; the glimpfes of another approaching to
join it ; the fprightly verdure of the green-
fvrerd, and every buft of the Britifh worthies,
refledted in the water ; the variety of the trees j
the lightnefs of their greens ; their difpofition ;
all of them difl:in(5t objects, and difperfed over
gentle inequalities of the ground ; together
with the multiplicity of objects both within and
without, which embellilh and enliven the fcene 5
give it a gaiety, which the imagination can
hardly conceive, or the heart wifh to be ex-
ceeded.

Clofe by this fpot, and a perfed contrafl to
it, is the alder grove, a deep recefs, in the
midft of a fhade, which the blaze of noon
cannot brighten : the water feems to be a flag-
nated pool, eating into its banks, and of a
peculiar colour, not dirty, but clouded, and
dimly reflefling the dun hue of the horfe-
chefnuts and alders, which prefs upon the

brink j

t 22^ ]

brink ; the ftems of the latter, rifing in cluftera
from the fame root, bear one another down,,
and flant over the water : mifhaped ehns, and
ragged firs are frequent in the wood which en-
compafTes the hollow ; the trunks of dead trees
are left ftanding amongft them ; and the un-
couth fumach, and the yew, with elder, nut,
and holly, compofe the underwood ; fome limes
and laurels are intermixt; but they are not
many -, the wood is in general of the darkeft
greens ; and the foliage is thickened with ivy,
which not only twines up the trees, but creeps
alfo over the falls of the ground ; they are
fteep and abrupt; the gravel walk is covered
with mofs ; and a grotto at the end, faced with
broken flints and pebbles, preferves in the fim-
plicity of its materials, and the dufkinefs of
its colour, all the charafter of its fituation :
two little rotundas near it were better away ;
one building is fufficient for fuch-a fcene of
folitude as this, in which more circumftances of
gloom concur than were ever perhaps colleded
together.

Immediately above the alder grove is the
principal eminence in the gardens ; it is di-
vided by a great dip into two pinnacles, upon
one of which is a large Gothic building ; the
fpace before this ftrudure is an extenfive lawn ;
the ground on one fide falls immediately into

the

[ 223 J

the dip ; and the trees which border the lawn,
finking with the ground, the houfe rifes above
them, and fills the interval : the vafl pile feems
to be ftill larger than it is -, for it is thrown
into pcrfpedtive, and between and above the
heads of the trees, the upper ftory, the por-
ticoes, the turrets, and baluftrades, and all the
dated roofs appear in a noble confufion : on the
other fide of the Gothic building, the ground
flopes down a long continued declivity into a
bottom, which feems to be perfectly irriguous ;
divers dreams wander about it in feveral direc-
tions ; the conflux of that which runs from the
Elyfian fields with another below it, is full in
fight ; and a plain wooden bridge thrown over
the latter, and evidently defigned for a paffage,
impofes an air of reality on the river -, beyond
it is one of the Doric porticoes which front the
houfe ; but now it is alone; it (lands on a little
bank above the water, and is feen under fome
trees at a diftance before it •, thus grouped, and
thus accompanied, it is a happy incident, con-
curing with many other circumftances to diftin-
guifh thislandfkip by a character of chearfulnefs
and amenity.

From the Gothic building a broad walk leads
to the Grecian valley, which is a fcene of more
grandeur than any in the gardens •, it enters
them from the park, fpreading at firfl to a

confider-

[ 224 ]

conlidcrable breadth ; then winds ; grows nar-
rower but deeper ; and lofes itfelf at lafl: in a
thicket, behind fome lofty elms, which inter-
rupt the fight of the termination : lovely woods
and groves hang all the way on the declivities ;
and the open fpace is broken by detached trees,
which near the park are cautioufly and fpar-
ingly introduced, left the breadth Ihould be
contracted by them ; but as the valley finks,
they advance more boldly down the fides,
ftretch acrofs or along the bottom, and clufter
at times into groupes and forms, which mul-
tiply the varieties of the larger plantations :
thofe are fometimes clofe coverts, and fome-
times open groves-, the trees rife in one upon
high ftems, and feather dov/n to the bottom in
another ; and between them are fhort openings
into the park or the gardens. In the midft of
the fcene, juft at the bend of the valley, and
commanding it on both fides, upon a large,
eafy, natural rife, is placed the temple of con-
cord and vidory : at one place its majeftic front
of fix Ionic columns, fupporting a pediment
filled with bas relief, and the points of it
crowned with ftatues, faces the view ; at ano-
ther, the beautiful colonade on the fide of ten
lofty pillars, retires in perfpedive ; it is feen
from every part, and imprefling its own cha-
ra6ter of dignity on all around, it fpreads an

awe

[ 225 ]

awe over the whole ; but no gloom, no melan-
choly attends it; the fenfations it excites are
rather placid ; but full of refpedt, admiration,
and folemnity ; no water appears to enliven,
no diftant profpedt to enrich the view -, the parts
of the fccne are large ; the idea of it fublime ;
and the execution happy ; it is independant of
all adventitious circumftances ; and relies on
itfelf for its greatnefs.

The fcenes which have been defcribed are
fuch as are mofl remarkable for beauty or cha-
rader i but the gardens contain many more ;
and even the objects in thefe, by their feveral
combinations, produce very different effefls,
within the diftance fometimes of a few paces,
from the unevenefs of the ground, the variety
of the plantations, and the number of the
buildings ; the multiplicity of the laft has in-
deed been often urged as an objettion to Stowe;
and certainly when all are feen by a flranger in
two or three hours, twenty or thirty capital
ftru(5tures, mixed with others of inferior note,
do feem too many; but the growth of the wood
every day weakens the objedion, by concealing
them one from the other ; each belongs to a
diftinfl fcene ; and if they are confidered fepa-
ratcly, at different times, and at leifure, it may
be difficult to determine which to take away :
yet (till it muft be acknowledged that their
Ci_ frequency

[ 226 ]

frequency deflroys all ideas of filencc and re-
tirement : magnificence and fplendor are the
charaderiftics of Stowe ; it is like one of thofe
places celebrated in antiquity, which were de-
voted to the purpofes of religion, and filled
with facred groves, hallowed fountains, and
temples dedicated to feveral deities ; the refort
of diflant nations ; and the objed of veneration
to half the heathen world : this pomp is at
Stowe blended with beauty ; and the place is
equally diftinguifhed by its amenity and its
grandeur.

' In the midft of fo much embelifhment as
may be introduced into this fpecies of garden,
a plain field, or a (heep walk, is fometimes an
agreable relief; and even wilder fcenes may
occafionally be admitted : thefe indeed are not
properly parts of a garden ; but they may be
comprehended within the verge of it -, and their
proximity to the more ornamented fcenes is at
leaft a convenience, that the tranfition from the
one to the other may be eafy, and the change
always in our option ; for though a fpot in the
higheft flate of improvement be a neceflary ap-
pendage to a feat, yet in a place which is per-
fect, other charaders will not be wanting ; if
they cannot be had on a large fcale, they are
acceptable on a fmaller ; and fo many circum-
ftances are common to all, that they may often

be

[ 227 J

be intermixt ; they may always border on each
other.

Of a R I D I N G.

LX. Even a Ridings which in extent differs
fo widely from a garden, yet agrees with it in
many particulars ; for, exclufive of that com-
munity of charadter which refults from their
being both improvements, and both deftined to
pleafure, a clofer relation arifes from the pro-
perty of a riding, to exiend the idea of a feat,
and appropriate a whole country to the man-
fion ; for which purpofe it muft be diftin-
guiflied from common roads ; and the marks
of diftinfbion muft be borrowed from a garden ;
thofe which a farm or a park can fupply are
faint and few ; but whenever circumftances be-
longing to a garden occur, they are immediately
received as evidence of the domaine : the fpe-
cies of the trees will often be decifive ; planta-
tions of firs, whether placed on the fides of the
way, or in clumps or woods in the view, de-
note the neighbourhood of a feat ; even limes
and horfe-chefnuts are not indifferent -, for they
have always been frequent in improvements,
and rare in the ordinary fcenes of cultiva-
ted nature : if the riding be carried through
a wood, the Ihrubs, which for their beauty or
(^ 2 their

[ 228 ]

their fragrancy, have been tranfplanted froiii
the country into gardens, fuch as the fweet-
briar, the viburnum, the euonymus, and the
wood-bine, fhould be encouraged in the under-
wood ; and to thefe may be added feveral
which are flill peculiar to fliruberies, but which
might eafily be transferred to the wildeft covert9>
and would require no further care.

Where the fpecies are not, the difpcfttion
may be particular j and any appearance oi defign
is a mark of improvement ; a few trees {land-
ing out from a hedge-row, raife it to an elegance
above comm.on rufticity, and ftill more may
be done by clumps in a field j they give it the
air of a park : a clofe lane may be decorated
with plantations in all the little vacant fpaces :
and even the groupes originally on the fpot,
(whether it be a wood, a field, or a lane,) if
properly felefted, and thofe only left which are
elegant, will have an effeft; though every
beauty of this kind may be found in nature,
yet many of them are feldom feen together,
and never unmixed. The number and the
choice are fymptoms of defign.

Another fymptom is 'variety: if the appen-
dages of the riding be different in different
fields J if in a lane, or a wood, fome diftin-
guifhing circumftance be provided for every
bend j or, when carried over an open expofure,

it

[ 229 ]

it winds to feveral points of view ; if this be
the condufl throughout, the intention is evident,
to amufe the length of the way : variety of
ground alfo is charadleriftic of a riding, when
it feems to have proceeded from choice •, and
pleafure being the purfuit, the changes of the
fcene both compenfate and account for the cir-
cuity.

But a part undiftinguiflied from a common
road, fucceeding to others more adorned, will
by the contraft alone be fometimes agreable ;
and there are beauties frequent in the high-way,
and almoft peculiar to it, which may be very
acceptable in a riding : a green lane is always
delightful ; a paflage winding between thickets
of brambles and briars, lometimes with, fome-
times without a little fpring-wood rifing amongft
them, or cut in a continued fweep through the
furze of a down, or the fern of a heath, is
generally pleafant. Nor will the charader be
abfolutely loft in the interruption •, it will foon
be refumed ; and never forgotten : when it has
been once ftrongly impreffed, very flight means
will preferve the idea.

Simplicity may prevail the whole length of
the way, when the way is all naturally pleafant;
but efpecially if it be a comimunication between
feveral fpots, which in character are raifed above
the reft of the country : a line open grove is
O ^ unufual,

[ 230 ]

unufual, except in a park or a garden ; it has
an elegance in the difpofition which cannot be
attributed to accident ; and it feems to require
a degree of prefervation beyond the care of mere
hufbandry : a neat railing on the edge of a fteep
which commands a profped, alone diftinguiflies
that from other points of view : a building is
Hill more ftrongly charaderiftic ; it may be only
ornamental j or it may be accommodated to
the reception of company ; for though a place
to alight at interrupts the range of a riding;
yet, as the objeft of an airing, it may often be
acceptable ; a fmall fpot, which may be kept
by the labour of one man, enclofed from the
fields, and converted into a fhrubery, or any
other fcene of a garden, will fometimes be a
pleafing end to a fhort excurfion from home ;
nothing fo effedually extends the idea of a feat
to a dillance ; and not being conftantly vifited,
it will always retain the charms of novelty and
variety.

LXI. When a riding is carried along a high
road, a kind of property may in appearance
be claimed even there, by planting on both
fides trees equidiftant from each other, to give
it the air of an approach j regularity intimates
the neighbourhood of a manfion ; a village
therefore feems to be within the domaine, if
any of the inlets to it are avenues ; other for-
mal

[ 231 ]

mal plantations about it, and ftill more trivial
circumftances, when they are evidently orna-
mental, Ibmetimes produce, and alway corro-
borate fuch an efFeft •, but even without raifing
this idea, if the village be remarkable for its
beauty, or only for its Angularity, a pafiage
through it may be an agreable incident in a
riding.

The fame ground which in the fields is no
more than rough, often feems to be romantic,
when it is the fcite of a village ; the buildings
and other circumftances mark and aggravate the
irregularity : to ftrengthen this appearance, one
cottage may be placed on the edge of a fteep,
and fome winding fteps of unhewn ftone lead
up to the door ; another in a hollow, with all
its little appurtenances hanging above it. The
pofition of a few trees will fometimes anfwer
the fame purpofe : a foot-bridge here and there
for a communication between the fides of a
narrow dip, will add to the charadler -, and if
there be any rills, they may be conduced fo as
greatly to improve it.

A village which has not thefe advantages of
ground, may, however, be beautiful : it is dif-
tinguifhed by its elegance, when the larger in-
tervals between the houfes are filled with open
groves, and little clumps are introduced upon
other occafions. The church often is, it gene-
0^4 rally

C 232 ]

rally may be made a pifturefque objed. Even
the cottages may be neat, andfometimes grouped
with thickets. If the place be watered by a
ftream, the croflings may be in a variety of
pleafing defigns j and if a fpring rife, or only
a well for common ufe be funk, by the fide of
the way, a little covering over it may be con-
trived, v;hich fhall at the fame time be fimplc.
and pretty.

1 here are few villages which may not eafily
be rendered agreable ; a fmall alteration in a
houfe will fometimes occafion a great difference
in the appearance. By the help of a few trifling
plantations, the objefts which have a good ef-
fect may be fhewn to advantage -, thofe which
have not may be concealed ; and fuch as are
fimilar be difguifed. And any form which of-
fends the eye, whether of ground, of trees, or
of buildings, may fometimes be broken by the
flighteft circumftances, by an advanced paling,
or only by a bench. Variety and beauty, in
fuch a fubje(51:, are rather the effeds of atten-
tion than expence.

LXII. But if the paflage through the vil-
lage cannot be pleafant ; if the buildings are
all alike, or ftand in unmeaning rows and fimi-
lar fituations ; if the place furnilhes no oppor-
tunities to contrail the forms of dwellings with

thofe

[ 233 J
thofe of outhoufes •, to introduce trees and
thickets ; to interpofe fields and meadows -, to
mix farms with cottages ; and to place the fe-
veral obje<5ts in different pofitions •, yet on the
outfide even of fuch a village, there certainly is
room for wood ; and by that alone, the whole
may be grouped into a mafs, which fhall be
agreable when fkirted by a riding ; and ftill
more fo when feen from a diftance. The fepa-
rate farms in the fields alfo, by planting fome
trees about them, or perhaps only by managing
thofe already on the fpot, may be made very
interefting obje6ts : or if a new one is to be
built, beauty may be confulted in the form of
the houfe, and the difpofition of its appurte-
nances. Sometimes a charafter not their own,
as the femblancc of a caftle or an abbey, may
be given to them -, they will thereby acquire a
degree of confideration, which they cannot
otherwife be entitled to ; and objefls to improve
the views are fo important to a riding, that
buildings mull fometimes be erected for that
purpofe only ; but they fhould be fuch as by
an a(5tual effefl adorn or dignify the fcene ; not
thofe little flight deceptions which are too well
known to fucceed, and have no merit if they
fail ; for though a fallacy fometimes contributes
to fupport a charafter, or fuggcfts ideas to the
imagination j yet in itfelf it may be no im-
prove-

[ 234 ]

provement of a fcene ; and a bit of a turret,
the tip of a fpire, and the other ordinary fub-
jedls of thefe frivolous attempts, are fo infigni*
cant as obje6ts, that whether they are real or
fidlitious is almoll a matter of indifference.

LXIII. The fame means by which the prof-
pedls from a riding are improved, may be ap-
plied to thofe from a garden ; though they are
not effential to its charadcr, they are import-
ant to its beauty ; and wherever they abound,
the exttnt only of the range which commands
them, determines, whether they fhall be feen
from a riding or a garden. If they belong to
the latter, that affumes in fome degree the pre-
dominant properties of the former, and the two
characters approach very near to each other : but
ftill they differ in one or two particulars ; pro-
grefs is a prevailing idea in a riding ; and the
pleafantnefs of the way is, therefore, a princi-
pal confideration ; but particular fpots are more
attended to in a garden ; and to them the com-
munications ought to be fubordinate ; their di-
redlion muft generally be accommodated, their
beauties fometimes facrificed to the fituation
and the charadler of the fcenes they lead to :
an advantageous approach to thefe mufl be pre-
ferred to an agreable line for the walk ; and the
circumftances which might otherwife become it

are

[ 235 ]
are mifplaced, if they anticipate the openings •,
it fhould fometimes be contrafted to them ; be
retired and dark if they are fplendid or gay,
and fimple if they are richly adorned. At other
times it may burft unexpededly out upon them ;
not on account of the furprize, which can have
its effedt only once ; but the imprefTions are
ftronger by being fudden •, and the contrail is
enforced by the quicknefs of the tranfition.

In a riding the fcenes are only the amufe-
ments of the way, through which it proceeds
without flopping •, in the garden they are princi-
pal ; and the fubordination of the walks raifes
their importance ; every art, therefore, fhould
be exerted to make them feem parts of the
place ; diftant profpefls cannot be fo ; and the
alienation does not offend us ; ^^c are familiar-
ized to it ; the extent forbids every thought of
a clofer connexion ; and if a continuation be
prcferved between them and the points which
command them, we are fatisfied : but home-
views fuggefl other ideas j they appear to be
within our reach ; they are not only beautiful
in profpedl, but we can perceive that the fpots
are delightful ; and we wifh to examine, to in-
habit, and enjoy them. Every apparent impe-
diment to that gratification is a difappointment ;
and when the fcenes begin beyond the opening,
the confcquence of the place is lowered ; no-
thing

[ 236 ]

thing within it engages our notice ; it is an ex-
hibition only of beauties, the property of which
does not belong to it ; and that idea, though
indifferent in a riding, which is but a palfage,
is very difadvantageous to fuch a refidence as
a garden ; the points of view therefore Ihould
be made important ; the objefts within be ap-
pendages to thofe without ; the feparations be
removed or concealed ; and large portions of
the garden be annexed to the fpots which are
contiguous to it. The ideal boundary of the
place is then carried beyond the fcenes which
are thus appropriated to it ; and the wide cir-
cuit in which they lie, the different pofitions in
which they may be Ihewn, afford a greater va-
riety than can generally be found in any gar-?
den, the fcenery of which is confined to the
enclofure.

■^Persfield is not a large place -, the park con-
tains about three hundred acres ; and the houfe
ftands in the midfl of it. On the fide of the
approach, the inequalities of the ground are
gentle, and the plantations pretty ; but nothing
there is great : on the other fide a beautiful
lawn falls precipitately every way into a deep
vale, which fhelves down the middle ; the de-
clivities are diverfified with clumps and with

* The feat of Mr. Morris, near Cliepftowe, in Mon-.
mouthfliire.

groves i

C 237 ]

groves 5 and a number of large trees flragglc
along the bottom. This lawn is encompafled
with wood ; and through the wood are walks,
which open beyond it upon thofe romantic
fcenes which furround the park, and which are
the glory of Persfield. The Wye runs imme-
diately below the wood ; the river is of a dirty
colour ; but the fhape of its courfe is very va-
rious, winding firft in the form of a horfe-
fhoe, then proceeding in a large fwecp to the
town of Chepflowe, and afterwards to the Se-
vern. The banks are high hills ; in different
places fteep, bulging out, or hollow on the
fides ; rounded, flattened, or irregular at top -,
and covered with wood, or broken by rocks.
They are fometimes feen in front -, fometimes
in perfpeftive ; falling back for the pafTage, or
clofing behind the bend of the river ; appear-
ing to meet, rifing above, or fhooting out be-
yond one another. The wood which enclofes
the lawn crowns an extenfive rano-e of thefe
hills, which overlook all thofe on the oppofite
fhore, with the country which appears above
or between them ; and winding themfelves as
the river vvind?, their fides, all rich and beau-
tiful, are alternately exhibited ; and the point
of view in one fpot becomes an objeft to the
next.

In

C 238 ]

in many places the principal feature is a con-
tinued rock, in length a quarter of a mile, per-
pendicular, high, and placed upon a height : to
refemble ruins is common to rocks ; but no ruin
of any fingle ftrufture was ever equal to this
enormous pile -, it feems to be the remains of a
city ; and other fmaller heaps fcattered about it,
appear to be fainter traces of the former extent,
and ftrengthen the fimilitude. It ftrctches along
the brow which terminates the foreft of Dean ;
the face of it is compofed of immenfe blocks
of ftone, but not rugged ; the top is bare and
uneven, but not craggy ; and from the foot of
it, a declivity, covered with thicket, flopes gently
towards the Wye, but in one part is abruptly
broken off by a ledge of lefs rocks, of a different
hue, and in a different dire(ftion. From the
grotto it feems to rife immediately over a thick
wood, which extends down a hill below the point
of view, acrofs the valley through which the
Wye flows, and up the oppofite banks, hides
the river, and continues without interruption to
the bottom of the rock ; from another feat it is
feen by itfelf without even its bafe j it faces an-
other, with all its appendages about it ; and
fometimes the fight of it is partially intercepted
by trees, beyond which, at a diftance, its long
line continues on through all the openings be-
tween them.

Another

[ 239 ]

Another capital objcft is the caflle of Chep-
ftowe, a noble ruin, of great extent j advanced
to the very edge of a perpendicular rock, and fo
immediately rivetted into it, that from the top of
the battlements, down to the river feems but one
precipice: the fame ivy v/hichoverfpreads the face
of the one, twines and clufters among the frag-
ments of the other j many towers, much of the
walls, and large remains of the chapel are {land-
ing. Clofe to it is a moft romantic wooden
bridge, very antient, very grotefque, at an ex-
traordinary height above the river, and feem-
ing to abut againft the ruins at one end, and
fome rocky hills at the other. The caftle is fo
near to the alcove at Persfield, that little circum-
ftances in it may be difcerned i from other fpots
more diftant, even from the lawn, and from a
fhrubery on the fide of the lawn, it is diftinft-
ly vifible, and always beautiful, whether it is
feen alone, or with the bridge, with the town,
with more or with lefs of the rich meadows
which lie along the banks of the Wye, to its
jundion three miles off with the Severn. A
long fweep of that river alfo, its red cliffs, and
the finerifing country in the counties of Somerfet,
and Glouceftcr, generally terminate the profpedt.

Mod of the hills about Persfield are full of
rocks i fome are intermixed with hanging woods,
apd either advance a little before them, or re-
tire

[ 240 ]

tire within them, and are backed, or overhung,
or feparated by trees. In the walk to the cave,
a long fucceffion of them is frequently feen in
perfpedlive, all of a dark colour, and with wood
in the intervals between them. In other parts the
rocks are more wild and uncouth -, and fome-
times they fland on the tops of the higheft hills ;
at other times down as low as the river ; they
are home objeds in one fpot ; and appear only
in the back-ground of another.

The woods concur with the rocks to render
the fcenes of Persfield romantic j the place every
where abounds with them ; they cover the tops
of the hills •, they hang on the fteeps ; or they
fill the depths of the vallies. In one place
they front, in another they rife above, in an-
other they fmk below the point of view : they
are feen fometimes retiring beyond each other,
and darkening as they recede ; and fometimes
an opening between two is clofed by a third at
a diftance beyond them. A point, "called the
Lover's Leap, commands a continued furface of
the thickeft foliage, which overfpreads a vaft
hollow immediately underneath. Below the
Chinefe feat the courfe of the Wye is in the
Ihape of a horfe-fhoe ; it is on one fide enclofed
by a femi-circular hanging wood ; the direcft
fteeps of a table-hill (hut it in on the other ;
and the great rock fills the interval between

them.

[ 241 ]
them : in the midft of this rude fcene lies the
peninfula formed by the river, a mile at the
leaft in length, and in the higheft ftate of cul-
tivation : near the iflhmus the ground rifes con-
fiderably, and thence defcends in a broken fur-
face, till it flattens to the water's edge at the
other extremity. The whole is divided into
corn fields and paftures j they are feparated by
hedge-rows, coppices, and thickets ; open
clumps and fingle trees Hand out in the mea-
dows i and houfes and other buildings, which
belong to the farms, are fcattered amongft them :
nafure fo cultivated, furrounded by nature fo
wild, compofe a moll lovely landfl-iip together.
The communications between thefe feveral
points are generally by clofe walks ; but the
covert ends near the Chinefe feat ; and a path
is afterwards conducted through the upper park
to a rudic temple, which over-looks on one
fide fome of the romantic views which have
been defcribed, and on the other the cultivated
hills and rich valleys of Monmouthlhire. To
the rude and magnificent fcenes of nature now
fucceeds a pleafant, fertile, and beautiful coun-
try, divided into enclofures, not covered with
woods, nor broken by rocks and precipices,
but only varied by eafy fwells and gentle decli-
vities, yet the profpeft is not tame j the hills in
it are high; and it is bounded by a vaft fweep
^ of

[ J4i ]
of the Severn, which is here vifible for many
miles together, and receives in its courfe the
Wye and the Avon.

From the temple a road leads to the Wind-
cliff, an eminence much above the reft, and
commanding the whole in one view. The Wye
runs at the foot of the hill ; the peninfula lies
juft below i the deep bofom of the femi-cir-
cular hanging wood is full in fight j over part
of it the great rock appears ; all its bafe, all its
accompaniments are fecn ; the country imme-
diately beyond it is full of lovely hillocks ; and
the higher grounds in the counties of Somerfet
and Gloucefter rife in the horizon. The Severn
feems to be, as it really is, above Chepftowe,
three or four miles wide ; below the town it
fpreads almoft to a fea •, the county of Mon-
mouth is there the hither fhore ; and between
its beautiful hills appear at a great diftance the
mountains of Brecnock and Glamorganfhire.
In extent, in variety, and grandeur, few profpe<5ls
are equal to this. It comprehends all the noble
fcenes of Persfield, encompaffed by fome of
the fineft country in Britain.

Of the SEASONS.

LXIV. To every view belongs a light which
Ihews it to advantage ; every fcene and every

objedt

'[ 243 ]

objefl is in its highefl: beauty only at particular
hours of the day-, and every place is, by its fitu-
;ition or its charader, peculiarly agreable in cer-
tain months of the year. The feafons thus be-
come fubjeds of confideration in gardening ;
and when feveral of thole circumftances which
dillinguifh a fpot more at one time than another
happen to concur, it will often be worth the
while to add to their number, and to exclude
fuch as do not agree with them, for no other
purpofe than to llrengthen their efFed at that
particular time. Different parts may thus be
adapted to different feafons ; and each in its
turn will be in perfedion. But if the place
will not allow of fuch a fuccefllon, flill occaji-
cnal effeSfs may often be fecured and improved
without prejudice to the fcene when they are
pad, and without affedation while they con-
tinue.

The temple of concord and vidory at Stowe
has been mentioned as one of the nobleft ob-
jeds that ever adorned a garden ; but there is a
moment when \z appears in fingular beauty ;
the fetting fun Ihines on the long colonade
which faces the weft -, all the lower parts of the
building are darkened by the neighbouring
wood i the pillars rife at different heights out
of the obfcurity ; fome of them are nearly
^verfpread with it j fome are chequered with a
R 2 variety

[ 244 ]
variety of tints ; and others are illuminated al-
mod down to their bafes. The light is gently
foftened off by the rotundity of the columns i
but it fpreads in broad gleams upon the wall
within them; and pours full and without inter-
ruption on all the entablature, diftinftly mark-
ing every dentil: on the ftatues which adorn
the feveral points of the pediment, a deep
fhade is contraited to fplendor ; the rays of the
fun linger on the fide of the temple long after
the front is over-caft with the fober hue of
evening ; and they tip the upper branches of
the trees, or glow in the openings betweert
them, while the fhadows lengthen acrofs the
Grecian valley.

Such an occafional effefb, however tranfient,
is fo exquifitely beautiful, that it would be un-
pardonable to negledl it. Others may be pro-
duced at feveral hours of the day ; and the dif-
pofition of the buildings, of the ground, the
water, and the plantations may often be ac-
commodated to fupport them. There are alfo
occafional effects in certain months or only
weeks of the year, arifing from fome particular
bloom, feme occupation then carrying on, or
other incident, which may fo far deferve atten-
tion as to recommend a choice and arrange-
ment of objeds, which at that time will im-
prove

[ 245 ]
prove the compofition, though at another they
may have no extraordinary merit.

LXV. Befides thefe tranfitory efFeds, there
are others which may be defined and produced
with more exadlnefs, which are fixed to ftated
periods, and have certain properties belonging
to them. Some fpecies and fituations of objeds
are in themfelves adapted to receive or to make
the impreflions which characterize the principal
parts of the day ; their fpiendor, their fobriety,
and other peculiarities recommend or prohibit
them upon diflferent occafions j the fame confi-
derations diredl the choice alfo of their appen-
dages ; and in confequence of a judicious af-
femblage and arrangement of fuch as are pro-
per for the purpofe, the fpirii of the morning,
the excefs^oi noon^ or the temperance oi tv^mns.^
may be improved or correfted by the applica-
tion of the fcene to the feafon.

In a morning, the freflinefs of the air allays
the force of the fun-beams, and their bright-
ne{s is free from glare ; the moft fplendid ob-
je6b5 do not offend the" eye-, nor fugged the
idea of heat in its extreme ; but they corref-
pond with the glitter of the dew which befpan-
gles all the produce of the earth, and with the
chearfulnefs diffufed over the whole face of the
creation. A variety of buildings may there-
fore be introduced to enliven the view i their

R 3 colour

t '46 1

colour may be the pureft white, without danger
of excefs, though they face the eaftern fun 5
and thofe which are in other afpefts fhould be
fo contrived, that their turrets, their pinnacles,
or other points, may catch glances of the rays,
and contribute to illuminate the fcene. The
trees ought in general to be of the lighteft
greens, and fo fituated as not to darken much
of the landfkip by the length of their fhadows.
Vivacity in the ftreams, and tranfparency in a
lake, are more important at this than at any
other hour of the day -, and an open expofure
is commonly the mofl delightful, both for the
effefl of particular objefts, and the general cha-
ra6ler of the fcene.

At fioon every expedient fhould be ufed to
correft the excefs of the feafon : the Ihades
are Ihortened ; they muft therefore be thick ;
but open plantations are generally preferable to
a clofe covert ; they afford a paflage, or at
leaft admittance to the air, which tempered by
the coolnefs of the place, foft to the touch,
and refrefhing at once to all the fenfes, renders
riie fhade a delightful climate, not a mere re-
fuge from heat. Groves, even at a diftance,
fugged the ideas which they realize on the fpot;
and by multiplying the appearances, improve
the fenfations of relief from the extremity of
the weather : grottos, caves, and cells, are on

the

[ 247 1
the fame account agreable circurtTftances in a
fequeftered recefs -, and though the chill within
be hardly ever tolerable, the eye catches only an
idea of coolnefs from the fight of them. Other
buildings ought in general to be Caft into fhade,
that the glare of the refledion from them may
be obfcured. The large expanfe of a lake, is
alfo too dazling; but a broad river moving
gently, and partially darkened with fhadow, is
very refrefhing •, more fo perhaps than a little
rill; for the vivacity of the latter rather difturbs
the repofe which generally prevails at mid-day :
every breeze then is ftill -, the refledtion of an
afpin leaf fcarcely trembles on the water ; the
animals remit their fearch of food ; and man
ceafes from his labour ; the fteam of heat;
feems to opprefs all the faculties of the
mind, and all the adive powers of the bo-^
dy -, and any very lively motion difcompofes
the languor in which we then delight to
indulge. To hear, therefore, the murmurs of
a brook purling underneath a thicket, or the
echo of falling waters through a wood, is more
agreable than the fight of a current ; the idea
conveyed by the found is free from any agita-
tion •, but if no other ftream than a rill can be
introduced, the refrefliment which attends the
appearance of water muft not be denied to the
fcene.

R 4 In

[ ?48 ]
In the evening all fplendor fades •, no build-
ings glare ; no water dazzles ; the calmnefs of
a. lake fuits the quiet of the time ; the light ho-
vers there, and prolongs the duration of day.
An open reach of a river has a fimilar, though
a fainter effefl ; and a continued flream all ex-
pofed, preferves the laft rays of the fun along
the whole length of its courfe, to beautify the
landfkip. But a brifk current is not fo confid-
ent as a lake with the tranquillity of evening i
and other obje<5ls ftiould in general conform to
the temper of the time ; buildings of a dufky
hue are moft agreable to it ; but a very parti-
cular effect from a fetting fun will recommend
thofe of a brighter colour •, and they may alfo
be fometimes ufed, among other means, to cor-
re6t the uniformity of twilight. No contraft
of light and fhade can then be produced -, but
if the plantations which by their fituation are
the firft to be obfcured, be of the darkeft
greens ; if the buildings which have a weftern
afpedt be of a light colour-, and if the ma-
nagement of the lawns and the water be adapted
to the fame purpofe, a diverfity of tints will
be preferved long after the greater effeds are
faded.

LXVI. The delights, however, of themorn-

ths
of

ing and evening are confined to a few months

[ 249 ]
of the year ; at other times two or three hours
before, and as much after noon, are all that
are pleafant ; and even then the heat is feldom
fo extreme as to require relief from its excefs.
The diftindlions therefore between the three
parts of the day may in general be reckoned
among the charadteriftics of fummer, the occa-
fional effecfts which by the pofition of objefls
may occur at any hour, are common to all the
feafons of the year ; and fuch as arife from the
accidental colours of plants, though they are
more frequent and more beautiful in one fea-
fon than another, yet exill in all : and very
agreable groupes may be formed by an alTem-
blage of them. A degree of importance may
be given even to the flowers of a border, if in-
ftead of being indifcriminately mixed, they are
arranged according to their heights, their fizes,
and their colours, fo as to difplay their beau-
ties, and to blend or contraft their varieties
to the greateft advantage. The bloom of fhrubs
differs from that of flowers only in the fcale ;
and the tints occafioned by the hue of the berry,
the foliage, or the bark, are fometimes little
inferior to bloom. By colleding into one fpot
fuch plants as have at the fame time their ac-
cidental colours, confiderable effedls may be
produced from the concurrence of many little
caufes.

Thofc

[ 250 ]

Thofe which arife from bloom are the moft
ftriking, and the moft certain ; and they abound
chiefly in the fprwg ; bloom is a charadleriftic
of the feafon ; and a villa near town, which is
defigned principally for that time of the year,
is not adapted to its ufe, if this property be not
amply provided for. In fuch a place, there-
fore, fliruberies, with an intermixture of flow-
ers, are peculiarly proper. In the fummer
months, a border between the thicket and the
greenfwerd, breaks the connedtion, and defl:roys
the greater effedt ; it ought not to be then in-
troduced, except to enliven fmall fpots, and as
the beft fpecies of parterre. But in the fpring,
the thicket is hardly formed ; its principal
beauty is bloom ; and flowers before or among
the flirubs, are agreable to the charader of the
feafon. An orchard, which at other times is
unfighily, is then delightful ; and if a farm
joins to the garden, fhould not be forgotten :
but evergreens appear in general to great difad-
vantage ; moft of them have a ruflTet or a dark
hue, which fufFers by being contrafted to the
lively verdure of the young flioots on the deci-
duous trees j that verdure is, however, fo light,
and fo univerfal, that efl'edts from a mixture of
greens can feldom be produced ; and thofe
which depend on a depth of fliade will often
be difappointed > but buildings, views of wa-
ter,

[ 251 1

tcr, and whatever tends to animate the fccne,
accords with the feafon, which is full of youth
and vigour, frefh and fprightly, brightened by
the verdure of the herbage and the woods, gay
with bloflbms and flowers, and enlivened by
the fongs of the birds in all their variety, from
the rude joy of the fky lark, to the delicacy of
the nightingale.

In Jummer both the buildings and the water
are agreable, not as objeds only, but alio as
circumftances of refreftiment ; the pleafantnefs,
therefore, of the rooms in the former, of the
feats and the walks near the latter, are to be
regarded. The plantations alfo fhould be cal-
culated at lead as much for places of retreat,
as for ornaments of the view; and a continua-
tion of fhade be preferved, with very few and
fhort interruptions, through all the parts of the
garden. Communications by gravel walks are
of lefs confequence ; they do not fuggeft that
idea of utility which attends them in winter or
autumn ; and their colour, which in fpring is a
lively contrail to the verdure through which it
winds, is in the intemperate blaze of a fummer
day, glaring and painful. They fhould, there-
fore, be concealed as much as poffible ; and
the other confiderations which belono- to the
noon-tide hour, fhould be particularly attended
to i at the fame time that the delights of the

morn-

t 252 ]

morning and the evening are alfo liberally pro-
vided for. But exclufive of all fuch incidental
circumftances, the fcenes of nature in general
appear at this feafon to the greateft advantage ;
though the bloom of the fpring be faded, and
the verdure of the herbage may be fometimes
affected by drought ; yet the richnefs of the
produce of the earth, and the luxuriance of the
foliage in the woods, the fenfations of refrefh-
ment added to the beauty of water, the ideas
of enjoyment which accompany the fight of
every grove, of every building, and every de-
lightful fpot ; the characters of rocks, height-
ened by their appendages, and unallayed by
any difconfolate reflexions ; the connexion of
the ground with the plantations -, the perma-
nency of every tint ; and the certainty of every
effefl ; all concur in fummer to raife the feveral
compofitions to their higheft ftate of perfeflion.
But maturity is always immediately fucceeded
by decay ; flowers bloom and fade^ fruits ripen and
roti the grafsfprings and withers; and the foliage
of the woods flioots, thickens, and falls. In the
latter months of auburn}], clW nature is on the decline ;
it is a comfortlefs feafon ; not a bloflfom is left
on the flirubs or the trees ; and the few flowers
which ftill remain in the borders, dripping with
wet, and fickening even as they blow, feem
hardly to iurvive the leaves of the plant which

are

[ 253 ]
arc fhriveling beneath them •, but the change
of the leaf precedes the fall ; and thence refults
a variety of colours fuperior to any which the
Ipring or the fummer can boaft of. To fhew
and to improve that variety Ihould be princi-
pally attended to, in a place, fuch as a fporting
feat, which is frequented only in autumn. It
appears to advantage, whenever the furface of
a wood can be commanded ; and it may be
produced to a confiderable degree even in a
fhrubbery, if the plants are fo difpofed as to
rife in gradation one behind another. By ob-
ferving the tints which the leaves aflume when
they change, the choice may be direfted to the
improvement of their variety ; and by attend-
ing to the times when they fall, a fuccefTion of
thefe tranfitory beauties may be provided, from
the earlieft to the lateft in the feafon. Many
Ihrubs and trees are at this time alfo covered
with berries, which furnifh ilill further varieties
of colour J both evergreens and deciduous plants
abound with them ; and the verdure of the
former is befides a welcome fubftitute to that
which is daily fading away. Open buildings,
airy groves, views of water, and the other de-
lights of fummer, now lofe their charms ; and
more homely circumftances of comfort and
convenience are preferable to all their beau-
ties.

A place

[ 254 ]

. A place which is the refidence of a family all
the year is very defedive, if fome portion of it
be not fet apart for the enjoyment of a fine day,
for air and exercife in winter: to fuch a fpot
fiielter is abfolutely effential j and evergreens
being the thickeft covert, are therefore the belli
their verdure alfo is then agreable to the eye \
and they may be arranged fo as to produce
beautiful mixtures of greens, with more cer-
tainty than deciduous trees, and with almoffc
equal variety : they may be colle6ted into a
wood, and through that wood gravel walks may
be led, along openings of a confiderable breadth,
free from large trees, which would intercept the
rays of the fun, and winding in fuch a manner
as to avoid any draft of wind, from whatever
quarter it may blow. But when a retreat at all
times is thus fecured, other fpots may be adapted
only to occafional purpofes; and be flieltered
towards the north or the eaft on one hand, while
they are open to the fun on the other : the few
hours of chearfulnefs, and warmth which its
beams afford are fo valuable, astojuflify thefacri-
fice even of the principles of beauty, to the en-
joyment of them j and therefore no objections of
famenefs or formality, can prevail againft the
pleafantnefs of a flrait walk, under a thick
hedge, or a fouth wall : the eye may however
be diverted from the fkreen, by a border before

it.

[ ns ]

it, where the aconite and the fnowdrop, the
crocus and hepatica, brought forward by the
warmth of the fituacion, will be welcome har-
bingers of fpring ; and on the oppofite fide of
the walk, little tufts of lauruftines, and of va-
riegated evergreens, may be planted. The fpot
thus enlivened by a variety of colours, and even
a degree of bloom, may be ftill further improved
by a green-houfe; the entertainment which exo-
tics afford peculiarly belongs to this part of the
year; and if amongft them be interfperfed fomc
of our earlleft flowers, they will there blow be-
fore their time, and anticipate the gaiety of the
feafon which is advancing. The walk may alfo
lead to the ftoves, where the climate and the
plants are always the fame: and the kitchen
garden Ihould not be far off; for that is never
quite deftitute of produce, and always an adive
fcene ; the appearance of bufinefs is alone en-
gaging ; and the occupations there are an earneft
of the happier feafons to which they are pre-
parative. By thefe expedients even the winter
may be rendered chearful in a place, where
fhelter is provided againfl all but the bittereft
inclemencies of the fky, and agreable objedts,
and interefting amufemcnts are contrived for
every hour of tolerable we uher.

CON-

C 256 1

CONCLUSION.

LXVII. Whatever contributes to render*
the fcenes of nature delightful, is amongft the
fubjeds of gardening; and animate as well as
inanimate objefls, are circumftances of beauty
or character. Several of thefe have been occa-
fionally mentioned ; others will readily occur ;
and nothing is unworthy of the attention of a
gardiner, which can tend to improve his com-
pofitions, whether by immediate effect*?, or by
fuggefling a train of pleafing ideas. The whole
range of nature is open to him, from the par-
terre to the foreft ; and whatever is agreable to
the fenfes or the imagination, he may appropriate
to the fpot he is to improve : it is a part of his
bufmcfs to colleft into one place, the delights
which are generally difperfed through different
ipecies of country.

But in this application, the genius of the place
muft always be particularly confidered ; to force
it is hazardous ; and an attempt to contradid it
is always unfuccefsful. The beauties peculiar
to one charader, cannot be transferred to its
oppofite ; even where the charadlers are the
fame, it is difficult to copy diredly from the
one into the other ; and by endeavouring to
produce a refemblance of a fcene which is juftly

admired.

C 257 ]

admired, the proper advantages of the place,
are often neglected for an imitation much in-
ferior to the original. The excellence of the
latter probably depends on the happy applica-
tion of the circumftances to the fubjcdtj and
the fubjefls of both are never exactly alike.
The art of gardening therefore is not to be ftu-
died in thofe fpots only where it has been exer-
cifed ; though they are in this country very nu-
merous, and very various ; yet all together they
contain but a fmall proportion of the beauties
which nature exhibits ; and unlefs the gardener
has ftored his mind with ideas, from the infinite
variety of the country at large, he will feel the
want of that number, which is neccflary for
choice ; he will have none ready to apply to
the fubjeft immediately before him ; and will
be reduced to copy an imitation. But improved
places are of fingular ufe to dire6t the judgment
in the choice, and the combinations of the beau-
ties of nature : an extenfive knowledge of them
is to be acquired in the country where they cafual-
ly occur; difcernment of their excellencies, and a
tafle for the difpofition of them, is to be formed
in places where they have been feleded, and ar-
ranged with defign.

FINIS.

•u

02 ■ e.

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