* See Tilloch’s Philosophical Magazine.
+ See Gilpin’s Tour tothe Lakes for a full account of this operation.
PART I. A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 623
it with a view to beauty does not belong to this part of the
work, yet it may not be amiss to remind the improver, that a
very few cartfuls of earth will turn a considerable extent of the
most beautiful surface into an ugly one, by distributing it in
the concavities ; and, on the contrary, a very few cartfuls taken
from the concavities of an ugly surface, and judiciously spread
upon the eminences or convexities, will restore beauty. Ground-
workers, who are ignorant of this, never fail, in removing earth,
to spread it in the hollows; or, if they have no hollows to fill
up, nor undulations to round off (as they term it), their next step
is to lay it down in heaps here and there, and form these into
little round bumps, which are the most disgusting kind of de-
formities. When these bumps are large, they stick a clump on
‘the top of each; when small, a single tree.
In forming HEADS FOR PIECES OF WATER, the materials
should be as ponderous as can be conveniently found ; and. if
not of a nature to prevent that element from oozing through,
a wall of clay should be carried up the centre of the head.
All water on gravelly soil should be puddled with clay, chalk,
adhesive loam, or common earth, well comminuted and incor-
porated with water in Brindley’s manner. Upon this reten-
tive stratum should be laid a covering of earth or gravel,
to preserve it from being injured by cattle or other accidents.
OF 4 THE PRACTICE OF FORMING BOOK It.
For more particulars respecting the preservation of water, see
Marshall’s Rural (Economy of Yorkshire, Le Blond on Gar-
dens, and “ The Art of Fountains, by F. J. Francois*.”
* This author recommends boring for the discovery of springs, and probably
suggested the first hints of Elkington’s Mode of Draining.
BOOK IZ.
PART II.
OF THE
PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF
COUNTRY RESIDENCES.
Ir may be premised here, that in treating this subject I do
not mean to include the management of landed property in
general ; excepting wood. ‘This material, as it is in every
part of an estate not only valuable but highly beautiful, whe-
ther as standing groves or woods of timber, or young planta-
tions, I propose to come under the same manager as the tim-
ber of that part of an estate which surrounds the mansion.
Neither do I consider it necessary to offer any thing respecting
the general management of a household, or of game, fishery,
&e. nor to interfere with the duties of land-stewards: all these
41
t
626 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK II.
being foreign to my purpose here, which chiefly relates to the
proper preservation of the beauty and use of that part of an
estate adopted as a residence, and of such other woody scenes
as are natural, or have been formed upon just principles. Ac-
cording to this idea, the management of an extensive country
residence may be divided into’ the following heads: 1. The
Kitchen Garden and Orchard; 2. The Farm, Pasture, and Live
Stock. 3. The Ornamental and Picturesque Scenery. 4. The
Woods *.
1. The x1tTcHEN GARDEN AND orCHAaRD.—These, from
their obvious connection with regard to use and situation,
should be under the general management of one person. His
business consists of three parts.
1. The first is, to provide wholesome fruits and vegetables for
the family, of the kinds, and during the seasons in which it may
require them; whether this be accomplished by simple culti-
vation, forcing, or artificial preservation.
9: The second is to keep every thing under his care in pro-
per order and elegant neatness ; so that every part may please
the eye when examined, whatever may be the time, place, or
* It is almost unnecessary to observe, that smaller residences may be managed
on a much more limited scale, according to their extent and beauty.
PARTII. | OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 627
season of the year. Thus walks must always be kept free
from weeds, moss, worm-castings, roughnesses, earthy places,
decayed leaves, &c.—their edges preserved regular and uni-
form ; and the borders on each side well cultivated according
to their natures, whether they contain culinary vegetables,
fruits, shrubs, or flowering plants. ‘Trees, whether placed against
walls, or espaliers, or as standards in the quarters of the garden,
must be regularly trained and pruned at the proper seasons.
The ground must be kept free from large weeds, decayed leaves
or roots, and should also be regularly cropped according to a
fixed rotation. Hothouses should be preserved clean, whole-
some, and free from insects, &c.
_ $. The third business of a kitchen gardener is, to renew, or
provide for the renewal of such parts as become useless, whether
from age or accidental circumstances, and to place proper
substitutes in the room of such things as become useless from
change of taste or fashion in the proprietor. Thus he is to
renew the gravel of the walks, the espalier rails, the paint
of the hothouses, the tools or implements of cultivation, and
those fruit trees which are no longer capable of bearing; and
when one sort of fruit is in disrepute, he is to place others
in their stead, by ingrafting, or total removal, and the
introduction of new plants, &c. This branch of a gar-
dener’s duty is much neglected; as appears from the slightest
628 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK If.
observation: a misfortune which may be attributed to the fre-
_ quency of change in this class of servants. A gardener capa-
ble of doing his duty properly should be well versed in his
profession, docile, and intelligent. He should have under him
three sub-foremen ; one for the culimary vegetables, another for
the fruits and orchard, and a third for the hothouses and hotbeds.
He should have occasional opportunities of seemg other gar-
dens, that by viewing and comparing the practices of others, he
may improve his own, and thus become emulous, industrious,
and of increasing service to his employer.
9. THE FARM, PASTURE, AND LIVE sTocK.—the duties of
a bailiff, or gentleman’s farmer, may be divided similarly to
those of a kitchen gardener; viz. to provide the necessaries
which constitute the utility of his province; to make this pro-
vince agreeable to the view and examination of his proprietor,
according to its capacity of producing beauty, and the nature
of the pleasures which it is calculated to raise ; and to renew or
preserve it when decay, accident, change of taste, profit, or
other circumstances dictate. His duties are less intricate than
those of the gardener, but more important.
1. He must provide every requisite variety, and the proper
quantity of farm produce, whether grain, legumes, roots, her-
bage, &c. or cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, &c.
PART IT: OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 629
2. He must preserve propriety and decorum in every part
of the farm, whether in the fields, offices, barns, rick-yards,
dung-courts, or in the ordering of the different pericdical la-
bours; such as seed-time, hay-time, harvest, &c.
8. He must keep machinery, implements, buildings, walls,
hedges, drains, &c. in repair; renew aged cattle or horses, and
improve breeds of sheep, or dispose of them to the best advan-
tage when not wanted for family consumption. For these and
other purposes, he should have under him a hedger, or manager
of the drains and fences; an overseer of the farm-yard and live
stock not at pasture; and in extensive farms, a principal team
and ploughman; but as the diversity of the kinds of farms is
great, these will vary in different circumstances and situations.
A judicious bailiff will not overlook the practice of the neigh-
bouring farmers—will study that of those under like circum-
stances with himself, attend fairs and markets, whether for the
purchase or sale of stock, or for regulating the value of labour ;
preserving all the while sobriety, honesty, steadiness; increas- ~
ing in intelligence and knowledge of his profession, and conse-
quently becoming better fitted to discharge the duties of his
situation, and ensure the approbation of his employer.
38. THe ORNAMENTAL AND PICTURESQUE SCENERY, Un-
der which I include the ornamental gardens, green-houses,
iG
630 OF THE PRESERVATION, XC. BOOK I.
exotic stoves, and every thing commonly included under the
' mame of Pleasure Ground, whether near the house,- or in dis-
tant parts of the Park. ‘These ought all to be under the gene-
ral superintendance of one person, who in residences where
something of this kind occurs is commonly denominated the _
Flower or Pleasure Gardener. His duty 1s,
1. To provide flowers and flowering shrubs (either to be re-
moved to the drawing-room in pots, or to be cut at all the re-
quisite seasons) of the kinds which are most beautiful, or
desirable by the proprietor, and in quantities suited to his
demands.
2. He must preserve the proper character and beauty of
‘every scene under his management; as the greenhouse,
exotic stove, conservatory, &c..which he must have in pro-
per order, and appropriately decorated at all seasons. The
flower gardens, according to their different kinds and uses,
must be constantly attended to, and a thousand little opera-
tions performed which it would be trifling to mention. Green
lawns near the mansion must be kept mown; flowery lawns*
kept from becoming too wild, and the groups of flowers
and shrubs kept properly guarded from the sheep in other
* See pages 316, 317, of Ornamental Gardening.
PART It. OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 631
places, The shrubbery must not only be cultivated during a
certain period, but: must also be thinned, and in some cases .
preserved agreeably to the principles of picturesque improve-
ment. Water must be preserved in character, sometimes by
emptying and clearing, at other times by improving the banks,
thinning the bushes or aquatics, depositing gravel where it has
become covered with pasture, and many other things. Views
through trees must be preserved of proper form, so as to shew
the distant scenery to the best advantage. Thus the fore-
ground trees require to be pruned with a picturesque eye;
otherwise the finest views are often lost or materially injured.
Rocks, stones, roots, water, &c. in dells and dingles, require to
be shewn or concealed with the same care, and upon the same
principles, in order to produce beauties of the same order.
Every scene where vegetation is concerned is annually chang-
ing, and every change which takes place must either injure or
improve it. Hence the necessity of a very assiduous attention
to this part of a gardener’s duty, which is so important, and
requires such a nice taste, that unless the proprietor himself
has attended to the subject, the special directions of the pic-
turesque improver (unfortunately for such scenery, few will
be willing to adopt this practice) will be occasionally neces-
sary to have the work done with the proper effect. One
great advantage that will result from calling in an improver,
independently of professional knowledge, is, that having been
632 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK II.
absent from the residence for some time, and being in the
habit of comparing, he will be better able to judge of the
alterations occasioned by the progress of vegetation; for as
these are always slow and almost imperceptible, daily spec-
tators are gradually deceived, and are thence scarcely sensible
of beauties, deformities, or changes, which will forcibly affect a
stran ger.
3. The next duty of the Pleasure Gardener is to provide for
the effects of decay, accident, age, and other circumstances. He
must propagate rare plants, flowers, and shrubs, preserve im-
plements, and attend to the reparation of hothouses, seats, and
such other buildings as may be within his province. ‘To enable
him to accomplish all these purposes upon an extensive scale,
he must have a foreman for the hothouses, one for the parterres
and flower-garden, and one for the general operations of the
pleasure-ground. In regard to the culture of flowers or
exotics, he will derive information from comparing the ope-
rations and success of other eardeners ; but he cannot readily,
in regard to picturesque decoration, as nothing is more
opposite to nature or the picturesque, than the common
mode of managing scenery. ‘To send him to wild nature
would confound him, by discomposing long-received notions,
to give place to others widely different; or if he derived
only a certain degree of improvement, he would be more
PART II. OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 633
dangerous than ever*; and if he were fully enlightened, he
would no longer remain in the situation. The mode suggested
above is plainly the most advantageous for both parties. But
where a proprietor does not care much for having his orna-
mental scenery in good taste, it is easy to reject these hints,
and go on in the beaten track.
4. Tus Woops.—The duty of a forester, like that. of the others,
consists in preserving order and beauty, furnishing timber or
copse, and providing a succession of young trees for falls of
timber, additional plantations, other uses, or decay or accident
in any part under his charge -
1. Young plantations must be properly formed, cultivated,
trained, and thinned, and the inclosure fence kept in repair.
Groves must be thinned as the trees advance ; woods, coppices,
willow beds, plantations for hop-poles, &c. must be properly
attended to, according to the peculiar culture of each. Hedge-
row timber, single trees, and even groups, must be pruned and
guarded from cattle as highly valuable trees; for it is in these
situations that timber usually gains its greatest size. In
winter, all open drains must be kept clean, and all fences
* A little learning is a dangerous thing, &c.
POPE.
4M
634 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. “BOOK If.
repaired; and in spring, all the walks, roads, avenues, and
other openings, cleared from wood or rubbish, which may
have been unavoidably laid on them during the fall of tim-
ber, in order that now they may be used as walks or drives
of pleasure. | |
2. Timber and copse must be provided, not only for the
use of the residence, and in some cases the tenantry of the
estate; but as wood includes all the distant plantations, the
management of that to be sold comes equally within the pro-
vince of the forester. He must be able to ascertain the proper
age for felling, the measurement, the value, whether of wood
or bark, whether of particular trees, or parts of a tree, or of
timber and bark in general.
8. He must form a nursery of young trees, and for this purpose
must collect their seeds at the proper seasons. When a new plan-
tation is to be formed, or an old one repaired, he can have re-
course to this nursery, which ought to contain chiefly trees of
such sorts as are much wanted,and these of many different sizes;
so as when trees are required to plant in the fields or hedgerows
they may be supplied of such a size as will be entirely out of the
reach of the cattle. He must, in connection with this, attend
to the preservation of implements, roads, &c. though the num-
ber of these under his care are comparatively few. A forester
PART II. OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 635
above all husbandmen should be well-informed in his profession,
and assiduous in his duty; for in his province trifles neglected
soon amount to immense sums. A plantation, by being neg-
lected, or improperly thinned, may turn out to be of scarcely any
value but as fuel, which, had it been properly attended to, might
have doubled the fee simple of the ground. Suppose a forester
to neglect every year planting a hundred trees which ought to
have been planted—in twenty or thirty years afterwards this
would be a loss of two hundred pounds annually, besides the
interest of that sum. Many things equally striking, both in
the rearing and sale of.timber, might be brought to shew the
importance of the forester’s office. These facts, together with
what I have seen at every place where timber is grown, and
heard from men of the greatest experience on the subject, con-
vince me of the importance of having a general inspector of
plantations and trees, such as I have mentioned in the Conclu-
sion to Puantrine: and as the preservation of a country resi-
dence, in regard to beauty, is intimately connected with this;
and as it appears to me that every other part of a rural abode
requires, and would be highly improved, both in beauty and
use, by such a general yearly or occasional. inspector, it in-
duces me, though with considerable reluctance, to give it as
my decided opinion, “ that every extensive country residence,
where the proprietor is not fully adequate to judge of these
636: OF THE PRESERVATION, &C. BOOK II.
things himself, should be occasionally, say once or twice a year,
inspected by a designer, whose province should be every thing
relating to planting, gardening, and picturesque improvement.”
This I consider just as necessary to the proper preservation of
a country residence, as a land-steward is to an estate; and I
am fully persuaded that the advantages which would result
from it, not only in stimulating sub-managers, as gardeners,
foresters, &c. to their duty, but also in shewing them more
clearly what that duty is, and pointing out errors committed,
or new improvements which might be adopted, or are adopted
in other places (and which the designer has the best opportuni-
ties of seeing), would far more than compensate the additional
expense. That gentlemen neglect this, while they carefully
provide themselves with land-stewards, can only’ be ac-
counted for by reflecting that the extensive culture and great
value of timber is of modern date, and that in those parts of
an estate appropriated to a rural residence the beauties of
nature are just beginning to be substituted for those of art.
And as these, when once made, were easily comprehended by
gardeners (for what could be easier than to trim hedges, prune
avenues, form straight or circular walks, or mow slopes, &c.),
consequently they required no real taste, or diversified applica
tion of principle, to preserve them, as the beauties of nature do, —
when thus mingled with utility.
PART It. OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 637
This proposal is not made from theory alone. It was prac-
tised in Scotland by the late Mr. Mawer, a respectable designer,
with great advantage to several proprietors. It would be un-
pardonable egotism, and to some appear like self-interest, to.
offer as further proof instances from my own practice. I shall
only observe, generally, that on several estates I have acted in
this capacity for some time past; and from only visiting them
once a year, such advantages have already arisen, as are highly
gratifying to me and advantageous to my friends. 7
fie)
r He
woe
a
oe OORT SIGE Te
ie w ci. ;
Biase
Hiaates
Ws
Witla
639
BOOK IL
PART III.
DIFFERENT STYLES OF FORMING A COUNTRY
RESIDENCE CHARACTERIZED,
AND COMPARED WITH THE MODE PROPOSED IN THIS WORK.
I wave observed in the general introduction to this volume,
that two distinct styles or manners of forming a country resi-
dence have existed: the one avowedly formal, and the other
affectedly graceful. I now proceed to compare these two
styles with that which I propose to introduce, or rather (to
avoid a term which may have the appearance of indicating
too great a love of system,) with the free manner which I pro-
640 DIFFERENT STYLES OF FORMING BOOK II.
pose, of being confined to no style or mode, but of introducing
beauties and effects suitable to the scene or situation, whatever
age or country they may be borrowed from, or by whatever
epithets they may be denominated.
CHAPTER I.
PART OF AN ESTATE TO BE FORMED INTO A RESIDENCE.
Prater XXV. fig. 1. represents a piece of ground which we may
suppose to contain from 400 to 500 acres, and of which up-
wards of 300 are to be formed into a residence. A brook may
be seen to pass through it, partly among meadows, or wastes of
copse and pasture, and partly along the hedge fences. ‘'wo
farm-houses, some cottages, and belts of planting, also appear,
which it is unnecessary to describe: suffice it to observe, that
the farm-house in the centre is on the highest ground, which
descends in varied and gentle slopes on every side to the mar-
gin of the brook, except toward the cluster of cottages upon
its banks, where it terminates abruptly in a wooded precipice
of rocks or gravel, &c.
PART IIL. A COUNTRY RESIDENCE, &c. 04:1
CHAPTER Il.
THE FORMAL OR ANCIENT GEOMETRICAL STYLE OF FORMING
A COUNTRY RESIDENCE.
Ficurs 2. represents the method in which a residence would
have been formed on such a situation a century ago by London,
Wise, Switzer, &c. Their first operations were, to clear away
every cottage, hedge, and tree. Then they levelled down the
precipice and every irregularity. Next, they formed it into
square fields and avenues, planting belts of trees between them.
Two small woods were placed on each side of the house, and
one large one near the garden. ‘The water of the brook was
introduced, through a conduit, to an oblong canal; from that,
to two round basins in the central garden ; thence to another
oblong canal corresponding with the first. From that, under
ground, as before, to two ponds in the large wood ; and then it
was carried by the side of the outer strip of plantation, until it
rejoined its former channel. The plan itself shews the rest.
I only observe farther, that nothing is done to the surrounding
fields, except the removal of the cottages. and of the belt, which
4 N
642 DIFFERENT STYLES OF. FORMING BOOK Il.
would otherwise have closed the view from the avenue. The
three shortest of these avenues are in appearance continued
through the fields by means of single rows of trees.
CHAPTER III.
THE AFFECTEDLY GRACEFUL, OR MODERN STYLE OF
FORMING A RESIDENCE.
Ficurs 3. represents the manner in which the same piece of
ground would have been laid out by Mr. Brown, or his fol-
lowers. In the first place, it is cleared, levelled, and smoothed
equally with the former, except one small cottage, which will
be sufficiently hidden by the belt. The house is built on the
highest part of the ground. All the offices are sunk under it, ex-
cept the stables; and the visible part of the house, in the form
of a cube, with an extensive front seen only from the approach
side. The brook is elevated upon the side of the rising ground,
and formed into a still river, with cascades and islands, which
may be seen from the house all round. The park being sur-
‘rounded with a belt, inclosing a ride or drive; within this the
=
ANA
AN
tl
WN
1
" |
i | j
|
AMET
\
i
iy
Wt
Ha }
TURN hil
hil il
NAA
pute)
NU
WW
IH
AN \
aleritre:
Able
hantetetl erp id de fit HE DS vans J Pp le pone wily Arowilent ul he frrasonDutry, (200 1. FAV
of f = Mt afore d Bi fiherend Weed, 2S EO, PL XAT,
” J =
Big.d, SV reseveares
, == i
a. PP A Fai | a oe i) f /
1g. A, Resear POUT Fd tit he: stile
2 gaxy
‘s
ie
os es s
a
PART 111. A COUNTRY RESIDENCE, &c. | 643
whole is diversified with clumps of different sizes, but for the
most part of the same shape. ‘The park is fed with deer, sheep,
and cattle, and the large spaces in the drive, and all the plea-
sure ground, is regularly mown. Buildings are introduced at
different places both in the drives and park. ‘he approach
walks, pleasure-ground, and a large kitchen garden, are formed,
as shewn in the plan. From all the drives, approach walks, and
pleasure ground, the objects of view are either the ornamental
buildings or the mansion, vistas being made in all places from
the one tothe other; the belt excludes all the distant country,
from the lower parts of the ground, and the clumps exclude it
from the higher parts, and from the house. It remains only to
be observed, that nothing is done to the surrounding country,
except that in the room of the cottages removed, a formal street,
under the name of an improved village, is erected at a proper
distance from the mansion and the approach. Duddingston,
near Edinburgh, is laid out almost exactly the same as this
plan. Hundreds of other places, in both England and Scot-
land, come very near it; and the general features, the belt, the
clump, the tame and still river *, abound in both countries, and
* It is with pleasure I observe, that though Mr. Repton strenuously defends
Mr. Brown, whom he styles his great self-taught predecessor, yet he disapproves
in most cases of the belt. Iam sorry to add however, that Mr. Repton’s pieces of
water, whether in his published works, or where executed, are equally to be
condemned with Mr. Brown’s. The disapprobation of the belt, too, is merely
O44. OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK If.
still continue to be formed in the same manner, whatever may
be the natural character of the situation. Plate XXII. is a
general view of a residence laid out in this style in 1804-5.
Plates XV. fig. 1. XVI. fig. 1. and Plates XXIV. XXVIL
and XXIX. represent smaller parts, or landscapes from real
scenery, laid out in this style.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHARACTERISTIC*™ OR NATURAL STYLE RECOMMENDED
IN THIS WORK, AND ADOPTED BY THE AUTHOR IN
HIS PRACTICE.
‘Ficure IV. represents the mode in which I should wish such
a situation as fig. 1. formed into a residence. The house is
placed on the abrupt termination of the rising grounds—all the
verbal ; for in all the places where Mr. Repton’s plans have been followed, it is quite
impossible to distinguish his operations from those of Mr. Brown’ s:—See Woo-
burn, Thoresby, &c. and also Appendix, No. Il.
* Tcall it characteristic, because its leading principle is to create or heighten
natural character. The other styles effect directly the reverse—they bie i a
monotony of artificial character,
PART III. OF A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 645:
offices are brought into view—all the buildings are made low,
irregular, and suited to the ground. The brook is rendered
more characteristic, as such, by forming little aits and islands,
as at A; and pools, or stagnated places,as at B; and at other
places under the shade of the grove where it isnot seen. In
_ the hollow near the house, it is spread out into a lake, varied
by prominences, islands, and wood. ‘The stable offices C, the
‘kitchen garden D, and the farm E, are all placed near each
other, and near the mansion. The wood appears in one extensive
irregular mass, crowning the large eminence, and connecting it
with the lower grounds in which the brook runs. In place of
surrounding the whole with a belt, the margin of the park every
where blends irregularly with the country ; in some places a
hedge only, in others a sunk fence, in others open paling, sepa-
rate it from corn fields ; and in several places large portions of
the park are united to the country by the use of hurdle fences.
by which means more or less of it can be inclosed and /ef out
to tenantry, at pleasure. The wood, by this plan, does not
abruptly terminate with the park, but loses itself in scattered
trees, hedgerows, and occasional strips, among the corn fields
of the neighbouring farms. Hence the beauty of the views in
walking round the margin of the park. An irregular village is
formed by scattered cottages, wood, and pasture, and from this
the approach is led to the house, with a branch to the offices
and garden—the farm road is not seen in the plan. ‘The lines
646 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK II.
representing walks are seen in different parts of the grounds.—
Those for morning and evening are extensive and open; those
for noon are entirely under the wood. Both contain consider-
able variety, whether we regard the beauty and wildness of the
park, the views of the distant corn-fields and hedgerows, the
village, the brook, the lake, or the different picturesque compo-
sitions formed by the house and offices; to say nothing of dis-
tant prospect, which in the modern practice is very frequently
hidden by the belt, and at all events is ever prevented from
harmonizing with the park by that opaque distinct boundary.
F represents a fence to guard the cattle from the front of the
mansion; Ga rail, net, or unseen fence, to preserve a space
along the margin and rivulet as pleasure ground, in which exo-
tic shrubs and flowers are to be distributed in natural like
groups and thickets. All the rest of the grounds are fed with
deer, horses, cattle, sheep, &c. ‘The kitchen garden is here
made small, because many of the culinary vegetables will be
cultivated in the fields; and no orchard is seen, as a sufficient
number of fruit-trees are introduced in the groups and plea-
sure-ground scenery. Other particulars wherein it is different
from the two former do not require to be mentioned. A drive
may be made through the park at pleasure, and through the
counrty according to circumstances. The trees and masses of
wood in the park shew that it abounds with low growths and
wildnesses. ‘The general appearance of this scheme in fig. 4.
may DprasaT ey ehly) =p ee [UNG URULUOT AD dO Ly Te PT PY TNT
4
Lire Gap arccnepiol YPuRUC). Uap P 4) fle p10) SpA Ul? povoy yogi 7D Wawa ba pit ‘sr
i é @ ve ‘ : S? (ace
See
MOTMSOULYOT OULD S20 PEMYT UOMO UOT NY DORL TEAL IE PUNT
uopnay f. jaws paporsp sy dy pages Aypypols..sr aryl Sip OSE SPY Nu LON, Off
ae t " . ~ f
7 2 i A
VEL ibd AZZ ey Uddip Py CAY COG My: PELE, ZY UIYMMIYY WiYfHL ie FUi(g Ze ) GUY YY, CGT ee fs puyol :
dyte fray Tf
PART Ii. OF A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. | 047
shews the difference between it and figures 2. and 3., in regard
to connection with the country.
Mountwhannie, Barnbarrow, Hopton Court, and Farnley
Hall, are improving according to this principle. Plates X XIII.
and XXIV. shew the difference in general effect between the
two schemes, and shew also that the mode disapproved of is
fully practised even at the present day; Farnley Hall, the sub-
ject of Plate XXIV. being laid out in 1804-5. Plates XV.
fig. 2. XVI. fig. 2. and Plates VII. VIII. XXV. and XXVIII.
shew the effect of this mode of forming a residence, in regard
to small scenes or landscapes. Plates XX XI. and XXXII. are
designs for improving the general view of two residences of
singular characters *, and are introduced to shew that the same
* Maybo (Pl. XXXI.) is situated near Dumfries : it consists entirely of fertile hills
and mountains, chiefly clothed with wood, but containing a considerable quantity of
excellent pasture, in glades and fields-on their sides, and good meadows in the
vallies. It abounds with rills, and has some natural waterfalls. The lake shewn
in this plate will be formed at the mere expense of a head, and the cascade
by altering the direction of one rill, and uniting it with another already there.
At the same time this alteration will be highly useful, by affording an opportunity
of irrigating near fifty acres of pasture, which are on a declivity not seen in this
view. ‘The rocks here shewn are at present too much concealed by wood. The
distant hill has only beena few years planted, and of course the trees scarcely clothe
the surface. The one with pointed tops of trees is covered with a plantation of firs,
which, notwithstanding their formal shapes, have, from the uncommon variety of
the surface, an excellent effect. The effect of a low waterfall, and also of the ait
or little island, are conspicuous near the approach in the foreground. The ap-
proach winds round the lake, and passes through the gate of the cottage on its
648 | OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK II.
general principles which I have endeavoured to illustrate
throughout the whole of this work, will never give the least de-
gree of sameness to scenery ; for sometimes a residence will as-
sume one character, as that of Farnley Hall (Plate XXIII.)
sometimes another of a different kind, as does Maybo (Plate
XXX.). This is exactly what we find in natural scenery.
In these three plans, Plate XV. figures 2, 3, and 4. all the
trees are represented as thinned out; had the case been other-
wise, the clumps would have appeared much more formal ; but —
there would not have been much difference in the general ap-
pearance of fig. 4. It is easy to conceive where the line of
fence would have been applied in it—the small groups would
opposite banks ; from thence, it passes under the cascade—then through a romantic
dell here unseen ; thence it ascends through a wood into a little field containing the
plain cottage shewn in the distance—on the hill opposite to this cottage appears the
ruins of Maybo Castle, which form a Jarge and grand mass. To have put any
other building in competition with it, would have been too extensive for the pro-
prietor’s views—a simple low cottage therefore is all the mansion that, with those
other improvements, was proposed by me. These cottages, and this kind of
scenery, are excellent for shewing the effects of smoke in landscape, and the
forms of the hills and rocks give a thousand modulations to the sound of the water-
falls heard from different positions. Unfortunately for the execution of my ideas,
the proprietor now proposes to sell the place. ‘Those wishing to unite grandeur,
use, beauty, and singularity, for a moderate sum, may here find an opportunity
which may not again occur during centuries. The wood is chiefly young ; but in
a few years will redeem the price of the estate. This view gives but a very imperfect
idea of the beauties which it might contain, it being done from an almost oblite. .
rated sketch taken a considerable time ago.
J. Stover sculp.
7
Mili:
fp.
en)
5 (2G,
7
ale
(=
dl,
ae
NS
Nu) ~
oe GS
~ OS
Re g
SN
wi} a5
rs
> =
SN
aS
Ws
S\s
=
ise
fief Z
head by h
of
Wee
2
»
;
oe a
selfitlly User
RE 333
nd
SSF
&
AN SS,
SES £
~ ~
YN
Se RR
y
» whonr th
ad
CHEE
»
¢
Op
iy the
ia
a
COVER
7
yz
i al Wye
L-
é
2
e
y
Ce
aZ)
| H
i
iN
i
MMI}
7 Loudon. del. C
bob, by Longman Hist Reankt! Orme Literiste Row ,
wy
PART III. . OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 649
soon have been transplanted from the masses, and sheltered from
cattle by the lowgrowths, as furze, holly, sloes, thorns. As some
may in part object to these different landscapes, from being
chosen where trees can be transplanted of considerable size, I
have introduced Plate XXX., which shews how Plate X XIX.
may be improved. by young trees alone, and chiefly Carolina
_and Canadian pop ars*, oaks, elms, and such sorts, being intro-
duced among them, to succeed the others when of a proper size.
The house is improved at a small expense, by raising a parapet
to conceal the roof, and by adding two towers, the one to the
principal body of the house, to contain a larger drawing-room
and bed-rooms ; the other above the kitchen, as sleeping apart-
ments for servants. The whole will not amount to £1000.
Besides being varied by trees, it may be assisted in picturesque
effect, at least until these grow of a proper magnitude, by
training quick-erowing creepers on it, as shewn in the view:
these may be the rosa arvensis and sempervirens, and the clymatis,
which will cover it as much as here shewn, in three years, and.
sooner if some of them are placed in pots or boxes above the
roof. Ivy, however, must be- planted to succeed these; which,
like the oaks, elms, &c. planted among the poplars and limes,
~
has a superior effect.
The trees near the house in Plates XXV. and XXVIII. are
* See Pens Glatt II. Section 2.
40
650 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. BOOK {f.
large ones, three years removed ; and there arevery few, if any,
situations where this plan cannot be adopted, if proper me-
thods be taken to remove the trees. In Plate XXV. the im-
provements are chiefly effected by young trees; the house and
offices in that Plate being improved before I was consulted.
CHAPTER V.
THE LEADING DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE AFFECTEDLY
GRACEFUL SYSTEM OF BROWN AND REPTON, AND THE
CHARACTERISTIC STYLE OF THE AUTHOR.
1. Iw regard to the whole, the modern system is to render a resi-
dence separate from the country. ‘The characteristic style of
forming, and the improvements proposed in residences already
formed on bad principles, tend to harmonize it. In regard to
the parts, modern gardening forms and places every thing
distinctly and alone; this groups and connects them with each
other and with the whole.
PART IIIf. OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 651
2. In regard to wood, the vulgar practice is to shut out the
country by a belt, and to vary the space within by clumps. The
style proposed tends to increase the expression and character of -
the situation, whatever part of the grounds that may direct to
be wooded, whether in the middle or the boundaries ; and in
place of shutting out the country, the wood diverges gradually
into hedgerows, in order as much as possible to unite and har-
monize it with the residence.
3. In regard to busldings, the common way is to conceal
every thing except the mansion. This shews every building,
not as single objects, but as component parts of the scenery.
4. In regard to water, the old plan is to produce quantity or
extent of surface, and render it as conspicuous as possible.
‘The style proposed is to produce natural character.
5. In regard to ground, the modern system is to smooth and '
form undulating surfaces: this attends to character.
6. In regard to parks, modern landscape gardening makes
them smooth and destitute of under-growths, ferns, and other
plants. This, by introducing hollies, thorns, briars, ferns,
and sometimes furze, broom, and brambles, gives them a wild
forest character which is the grand object of their formation.
652 OF THE PRESERVATION, &c. -BOOK Eff.
7. In regard to pleasure grounds, the common mode forms
many acres of lawn, which have to be kept in preservation at a
great expense, while they produce nothing. The plan here pro-
posed admits of more or less, according to circumstances and
situation ; and generally forms little that is not grazed by
sheep or covered by low flowers; so that extensive mowing is
never requisite; and generally it permits the cattle to come
within a few yards of the house *.
8.’ In regard to KITCHEN GARDENS, the modern system is
to have them large, and kept at enormous expense ; this gene-
rally approves of them small, and cultivates the greatest quan-
tity of culinary vegetables in the farm.
_ 9. The difference of expense has all along been noticed in
the course of this work; whether it relates to mansions, build-
ings, planting, water, gardens, farms, or pleasure-ground.
That it will be very considerable, must be evident from the ge-
neral consideration of the difference between assisting what
nature has already begun, and counteracting nature altogether.
I refer to the several parts of Book I.
10. Several other less striking differences in each of. these
* Green pasture, whether in pleasure-sround or park scenery, is always vo of
energy or strength of expression, unless when grazed by cattle.
2
Te
PART III. OF COUNTRY RESIDENCES. 053
heads, and differences in many other topics not here mentioned,
are to be found in the body of the work. A number of these
ideas of improvement, separately considered, are accidentally
scattered in different books, residences, or passages of country ;
but few or none of them have been put in practice by profes-
sional men; and their union in the mind of one proprietor or
artist, in such a way as to produce a distinct style of forming
a country residence, has not hitherto taken place.
655
BOOK III.
PART I.
OF THE
CHOICE OF A SITUATION FOR A COUNTRY
* RESIDENCE.
Iw choosing a situation to be formed inté a country residence,
according either to the ancient or modern style of art, all the
particulars that the purchaser need attend to are, the soil, expo-
sure, and climate, as they regard vegetation and shelter. The
choice in regard to any thing else is of little consequence;
for whatever may be the natural character or appearance of the
_ situation, the same style of improvement is universally adopted;
and hence that sameness of appearance among residences
which renders them uninteresting to all but their owners; who,
in general, seldom visit them but for a few months in a year, and
even that arises more from necessity than preference, because
they are always found more useful than beautiful or interesting.
Supposing it allowed to be advisable to introduce more of na-
656 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK ITIf.
tural character into the scenery of a residence, still it may be
observed by some, that to attempt to direct men in their choice
is useless; either, say they, because nothing can be done but
picturing out the most perfect situation, and advising all to
choose that which is simply impossible; or, because few have
it in their power to make any choice at all, and consequently
directions might only excite regret:—and lastly, because most
men act from feeling, or accidental concurrence of circum-
stances, in this matter. A very slight reflection, however, will
convince a thinking mind that these arguments are all equally
distant from truth. Nothing can be more evident, than that
the beauty, excellence, or perfection of a situation, is relative,
and depends entirely upon the mind, intention, and fortune of .
the intended purchaser; and every attentive observer knows,
that there is as great a variety of character in men as there is
in natural scenery. But as we often find that in neither is the
character indicated, so marked or expressive, as to render it
striking ; hence such men cannot be expected to know them-
selves, and of course are incapable of judging truly of their
own dislike or approbation of situations, any more than of
their opinions of individuals of their own species. When
_ scenery is not expressive, the unexperienced in it, though
they may know their own minds in other things, are yet incapa-
ble of discerning whether a situation has, or is capable of having,
such an analogy as will continue to satisfy and please their taste.
When the mind is not fully formed, or when a man is not con-
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 657
- versant with his own character, though he may have a know-
ledge of the expressions of scenery; yet, from being unable to
trace the analogy between it and his own mind, he is not quali-
fied to choose a situation which he will continue to admire.
That there is an analogy between the minds of men, and
the surrounding objects with which they have been chiefly
conversant in their younger years, admits of no doubt; that
the habitual tendency of the mind is to reflect on such
scenery, is certain, both from reason and experience; though
this bias is, perhaps, more or less great, in proportion as the
scenery is decisively characteristic or insipid. Wesee it always
happen, however, with those travellers or adventurers who go
abroad from romantic or strikingly characteristic countries.
This is particularly evinced by the natives of the Alps, the Ap-
penines, and the Pyrenees. ven gentlemen who have gone
from Scotland and Wales, and remained long in warmer cli-
mates, where they have accumulated fortunes, always return
to their native countries, and there fix, not upon plains or un-
interesting places, but upon hills or mountains, or near the sea. |
For the same reason, those who go from England, which is
comparatively an uninteresting country, do not so frequently
return; but when they do, they more commonly form a resi-
dence in the neighbourhood of London, or other great cities,
than any where else; these being the most striking features
4p
658 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK III.
in their country*, unless they have gone from some compara-
tively romantic part of it, whither, if they can, they frequently
* Hence the poverty and circumscribed ideas of such English landscape painters
as have not devoted great part of their time to the study of Cumberland, Scotland,
or Wales. Hence also the style of modern gardening, which could never have
been introduced by a person whose imagination was stored with images from pic-
turesque scenery. To the same cause may be traced the want of national music in
England, and the inferiority of such descriptive poets as have not passed great part
of their time (as did Spenser) in other countries. And how can it be otherwise?
for what are poetry or painting, but the offspring of impressions !—and impressions
can never be good where there are few good objects to convey them. I have fre-
quently found, that even such English authors as from their opportunities or pro-
fession should be remarkably conversant with scenery, are yet, from the daily habit
of seeing nothing but tameness and insipidity, so forcibly struck with occasional —
views of the grand or romantic, that their descriptions approach to bombast. Even
Mr. Whately is to blame in this respect. And what shall I say of Mr. Repton,
who seems to consider himself as the centre of all good taste in scenery? I shall
quote, from his ‘* Enquiry into the Changes of Taste in Gardening,” what he
would wish his readers to mistake for the vale of Downton; but which only con-
vinces me that he has neither an “ eye to see, nor a heart to feel nature.”
<¢ Downton Vale, near Ludlow,” (is) ‘¢ one of the most beautiful and romantic
valleys that imagination can conceive. It is impossible by description to convey
an idea of its natural charms, or to do justice to that taste which has displayed those
- charms to the greatest advantage, ‘ with art clandestine and concealed design’.”—
So much by way of contrast, before proceeding to the description; and so much
for the objects to be described, which the reader will perceive are ** its natural
charms,” and the manner in ‘ which taste has displayed them.’’—He proceeds thus:
<< A narrow, wild, and natural path, sometimes creeps under the beetling rock close
by the margin of a mountain stream. It sometimes ascends to an awful precipice,
from whence the foaming waters are heard roaring in the dark abyss ‘below, or seen
wildly dashing against its opposite banks; while, in other places, the course of the
tiver Teme being impeded by natural ledges of rock, the vale presents a calm
glossy mirror that reflects the surrounding foliage. The path in various places
crosses the water by bridges of the most romantic and contrasted forms; and,
branching in various directions, including some miles in length, is occasionally va-
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE: 659
return. The reason of this is obvious; the natives of both
kingdoms, when abroad, and reflecting upon thei native
countries, naturally picture to themselves its most striking
features, which in Scotland and Wales are hills and mountains,
and in England generally large towns and cities; and as both
have been accustomed, in contemplating their native scenes, to
ried and enriched by caves and cells, hovels, and covered seats, or other buildings
in perfect harmony with the wild but pleasing horrors of the scene.” Now I beg
that the reader, who has not seen Downton, will endeavour to conceive an idea of
this scene in his mind. If he abide by this description, as this author is pleased to
call it, I know not what he will conceive of it; certain it is, no painter could ever
make a drawing from any one part of it, which would be recognized as in the faint-
est degree like Downton. I will not carp at the epithets bestowed, such as “ the
most beautiful, &c. which can be conceived,” though it is far inferior to hundreds of
- others; nor shall I notice equal errors in the choice of words in the description, be-
cause I am aware that in this respect I may have frequently erred myself in the
course of this volume; I object only to the want of those great features which cha-
racterize Downton Vale, and distinguish it from most others in England. ‘These are,
a continuation of steep mountains on one side; the abrupt termination of irregularly
level grounds on the other; and, what we have not the smallest idea of from the
above sentences, a rich canopy of old wood which covers both the banks!!_ What
could a painter have done without this mountain and these woods?
What better are Mr. Repton’s sketches in his ‘‘ Hints” and ‘* OBsERVATIONS?” -
what do they display, but “‘ a kind of superficial ingenuity, well calculated to take
the lead in drawing-schools and academies, which, assuming all the airs of genius,
often passes for that quality among inaccurate observers; a glittering tinsel kind of
talent, which rarely attains to eminence; which belongs more to the hand than to
the head; and most commonly ends in a manufacture of mannered insipidity, and
unfeeling mechanism*.” Witness Mr. R.’s foreground trees, which are neither
imitative of general nor individual nature; and most of them are such as eould
not possibly exist at all. See his Views of Welbeck in ‘‘ Hints and Sketches.”’
* Shee’s Rhymes on Art, p. 25, first edition.
660 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK Ift.
extend their imagination, and grasp the idea of them as it were
across the ocean, so both are desirous when returned of being
near it, orat least having a distant prospect from their dwelling,
in order to give exercise to the same habits. I have generally
found in almost every case, that gentlemen, when retiring from
a city life in their own country, and wishing to choose a coun-
try residence, have preferred those situations which had most
analogy with the scenes rendered familiar to them by habit in
their younger days.
Similar sentiments indeed exist in every mind, though sel-
dom with the same energy, and often warped by the pernicious
effects of commerce, or the long habit* of living in great cities.
* "The anecdote of a marine officer, who at his villa erected a building in imita-
tion of the quarter-deck of a ship, and the greatest part of his time used to walk in
it alone, is sufficiently known. Most sailors indeed, when on shore, seldom make _
long excursions, but generally walk backwards and forwards upon the same spot.
Wherever we are placed, we become in time habituated to certain objects, the ab-
sence of which gives us pain, in proportion as those objects have been analogous to
the mind, and according to the length of time that we have been habituated to them.
To this source the reader may trace an endless diversity of pleasures and dislikes,
‘which he will perceive take place in others upon the presence or absence of things
to him perhaps uninteresting. It is this which gives the chief interest to the house
in which we were born, the school in which we were taught to read, the dress of
our youth, and thousands of other recollections of departed joys; which, as a great
poet observes, are remembered with a painful pleasure. As a contrast to the ge-
neral remark of sailors never making long excursions, I may add, that those who
have been long ‘abroad almost constantly delight in extensive prospects; perhaps
from the coincidence of all their past lives having been spent in the prospect of
more complete happiness at a future period. For illustrations of these observations,
see a beautiful little poem on ‘‘ The Influence of Local Attachment,”
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 6061
To. assist such persons to discover the real tendency of their
sentiments in this respect, and to enable them to choose situa~
tions analogous .to their own minds, or to the objects which
they have in view, is the purpose of the following remarks;
which I am led to make, not merely from reflection on the
subject, but also from having often observed some who, having
made choice of situations highly excellent in themselves, but
not calculated to promote the recurrence of those ideas which
-had become necessary to their happiness, have thereby, in some
of the finest residences which the country affords, been com-
pletely miserable. There is a small residence in Surry, within
thirty miles of London, which possesses, I believe, more advan-
tages, both in regard to beauty and profit, than any other
within that distance of the metropolis. It contains the most
recluse and sequestered scenes, and at the same time commands
the most extensive prospects, containing London, Windsor, the
Thames, and many other striking objects. The purchaser
having left London, and taken possession, after staying a few
months found himself dissatisfied, and began to make altera-
tions and improvements. These finished, he was equally un-
solaced with his situation; though unable to make any parti-
cular objection to it, yet continually indicating a want of
something further. A friend of mine, having occasion to spend
several days with this gentleman, soon discovered the grand
reason; which is simply this, that the house is upwards of a
ma
662 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK IIt.
mile from the turnpike-road. Another residence I know in
Scotland, in the immediate neighbourhood of a large town. It
is highly romantic, though close to the post road. The house
is good; but, being hidden in a hollow among trees, is from no
quarter seen till the visitor is close upon it. The proprietor
purchased this place, as being by common consent a very fine
one; but he having made his fortune by merchandize in the
town was (laudably) desirous to have other people know it (in ~
order perhaps to stimulate them to do likewise); and conse-
quently this recluse situation, both of the house and of his new
improvements, gives him continual pain, because he neither
sees nor is seen; and, however astonishing it may appear to some,
who do not make allowance for diversity of taste, he has begun
to build another house close by the margin of the public road.
I only mention these things with a view to shew, that had both
proprietors been duly aware of the object they had in view
when they proposed purchasing a residence, they might easily
have saved themselves no inconsiderable expense and anxiety,
and much discontentment; tempers of mind which when united
form the greatest of all human evils.
Beside the foregoing reasons which induce me to make some
remarks on the choice of a country residence, and which refer
chiefly to the happiness of the individual, there are others
which concern the beauty of the country in general, and the
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE, 663
improved application of taste to landscape. The wealthy
merchant, by not fully considering the objects in view, often
purchases estates replete with beauties to which he is either
quite insensible, or attaches no value; and therefore he often
destroys them, to give place either to mere utility, or to that
kind of taste which indulges in the fanciful decorations com-
mon at Vauxhall, Ranelagh, Kew Gardens, and in most villas
near London. These may be applied much easier to places of
little natural beauty ; and consequently less expense would be
incurred, not only in purchasing such, but also in erasing wild
scenery, to give place to these more polished and artificial de-
corations. And where utility is the chief object in view, a
- purchase can always be made to most advantage where natu-
ral beauty does not exist, and where the other kind has never
been attended to. Fine slopes and levels, and good fences and
roads, suit this object, and are easily met with in every part of
England.
The consequence of a proper attention to these hints would
be, that purchasers would get what they wanted at the least
expense; and that those who had landed property to dispose
of, would sell it at its greatest value. ‘The following reasons
shew how this might be accomplished.
1. A proprietor about to sell, by advertising the true cha-
‘
664 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK Iix.
racter of his ground, would excite the attention of all those
whose object in view was such a character; consequently a
more violent competition would take place than when the in-
tended purchasers were mixed; some wishing to have it; others
indifferent, and many attending only with a view to purchase
in case of its appearing a bargain.
2. A gentleman wishing to make a purchase would attend
only to such estates or situations as suited his particular object
in view; and though he purchased these at a somewhat higher
rate than usual, yet having less to expend in counteracting
either nature or the operations of the former proprietor, it be-
_ comes in the end the cheapest bargain; and, as the character is
just such as he wanted, it is also the most pleasant one.
Tam far from supposing that ever any thing of this kind will
take place upon a large scale, and in a suitableness to the dif-
ferent class of purchasers which are to be taken notice of; but
I have been induced to offer these hints, from often observing
with deep regret, that some of the finest scenery in the united
kingdom falls into the hands of purchasers, to whom it not only
appears of no value above the ordinary appearance of nature,
but who hate, and consequently as faras in their power destroy,
what they can neither enjoy nor turn to profit. I could illus-
trate this by referring to three of the finést estates in the west
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. . 605
of Scotland. Had some such plan as the above been adopted,
these estates (not to mention the many hundreds of others
which are occasionally falling a prey in the same manner)
would have been gladly purchased by gentlemen eager to pos-
sess a naturally grand and romantic situation:—either a situ-
ation which they might have purchased and improved with
comparatively little expense: or, one where much improvement
might have taken place with excellent effect, and which would
have been applied had it fallen into the hands of a suitable
proprietor. But by the present mode the’ finest scenery is
grasped by a contracted mercenary person, who- perhaps not
only offends taste by his whimsical improvements, but who by
neglecting his own real interest injures that of the community.
Such unfortunate occurrences are shocking to those who view
the country, not merely as it is, but as it might be, and are
highly adverse to the progress of taste. Those who do not
understand these matters themselves, if they value the own
interest and happiness, and the improved beauty of the coun-
try, should not fail to consult others, previously to purchasing
landed property..
- After these general remarks, which are designed to shew the
propriety of attending to the object in view in purchasing land
to form a residence, I proceed to discriminate, in few words,
4 Q
; te mia ms
a Sa
666 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK IIT.
/
some of those objects or intentions which are most prevalent
among citizens and wealthy gentlemen.
i. Heatru. The lowest object that any citizen can have in
view, in wishing a country-house, is to promote the health of
his family. This is commonly done; and few evils in regard
to taste result from misunderstanding either in the physician or
the merchant himself. TI shall only remark, that if besides a
mere house, a small garden were always procured, or formed, an
hour or two of labour in it every day, whether to ladies or gen-
tlemen, (for there is employment ina garden suited to every sex
and age, from the tying up of flowers, hoeing, pulling weeds, &c.
to digging or trenching) would tend much more to their health
than the pernicious custom of sea-bathing; a practice which
when often used, is, independent of the dangerous influence to
morals from herding together at watering places, so strikingly
unnatural, so seldom performed by other land animals, and so
pernicious to vegetables*, that it is astonishing it does not
strike every one accustomed to reflect on the deaths which
* In this I do not allude to vegetables which grow in our atmosphere, where the
temperature of the water and the vegetables are the same; in that case, it would do:
no harm to man; and if higher than the medium of his temperature, or if his tem-
perature were too high, bathing would do good; but I refer to plants in hothouses
being often drenched with cold water, which always brings on an incurable anasarca,
a tabes, or general debility.
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 607
take place at, and shortly after returning from, bathing-places.
In the self-practice of medicine, perhaps, more than in any
other science, mankind are blindly led by those who are no less
truly blind themselves *.
2. Prorir is the next object that may induce some to retire
to the country. They should choose a farm, either near or dis-
tant from the metropolis, according to the manner in which
they mean to turn it to profit; whether alone, in which case
they should generally move to some considerable distance from
town; or in connection with some other art or profession, or
some particular mode of disposing of produce, and in such cases
they should remain as near it as possible.
* Were it not interfering with the province of the divine and the physician, J
should ask, whether the fashionable custom of attending bathing-places be more
injurious to the health or the morals of the middle ranks of society? If my obser-
vations be not correct, they injure no one; if they are just, (and it is for those inte-
rested to prove them not so) I hope they will not be without their effect. It cannot
however be controverted, that the frequency of indiscriminate bathings, often within
either the view or the hearing of different sexes, has contributed gradually to un-
dermine the ramparts of public decorum, has given existence to a general laxity of
principle approaching impurity of mind and sentiment, and has left us too much
reason to fear that not only modesty, but chastity, have suffered by our continental
neighbours; and that the disgraceful manners of the reign of Charles II. also im-
ported from France, are about to be revived! The attentive observer of men and
manners, and the real patriot, will see much to lament in such practices; as he well
knows, that dissolute manners are always the forerunner of those horrors which at-
tend the subversion of religion, laws, liberty, and perhaps even our enviable con-
stitution. |
608 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK IIf.
3. The pisPLAY OF WEALTH is a very common object in
view, whether we look at the petty villa or white box of the
tradesman ; the fanciful cottage, decorated villa, and gothic
(in the original sense of the word) lodges of the merchant or
banker; or the more extensive elevations, deer park, and large
garden, of the wealthy and independent gentleman. In all
cases, the site should be as conspicuous as circumstances will
permit. On asmall scale, this may be done by choosing a situ-
ation near town, and close by the highway; in more enlarged
plans, by fixing on naked hills or parks, and cutting down such
trees as hinder them from being well seen from the road. ‘The
house should always be made as large as possible, and in par-
ticular should have an extensive front; it should be very high,
and either coloured bright red, pure white, or yellow, or painted
of various colours, good examples of which may be seen in
many of the fancy villas around London*. The form should .
be singular as well as the colour; hence every device which
can be fallen upon to invent and execute fanciful cottages,
gates, or lodges, is entitled to praise; and hence also a house,
or even the offices of different kinds, may be made to assume
the appearance of gothic churches, towers, or castles, or of
Chinese pagodas, or moresque temples or refectories, &c.; they
may even be painted in the style of ruins, and some of the glass
of the windows broke, and some cracks made in the walls and
* See the description of Confucio’s palace, in Cowvrer’s Letters on Taste.
PART In FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE: 669
doors, to make the whole still more rural* and natural. In
extensive residences, that grand or rather sublime invention
of Mr. Repton’s, of placing the family arms on “ the milestones,”
or on “ stones with distances,” and also appropriation by temples
and porticos may be very properly adopted; and when the
plan is finished, painted and lettered boards must be fixed
up in proper public places, warning vagrants to beware of
walking in the grounds, to take care of spring guns, &c. and
offering a very large reward to those who shall discover often-
ders. Many other things may be done in a corresponding.
. style with these, which it is not necessary to mention here, as
they will be understood from this specimen.
4. A very common object in view, in choosing a situation for
a country residence, is TO INCREASE THE CIRCLE OF AMUSE-
MENTS. ‘The chief thing requisite here is, to fix upon a good
neighbourhood where there are always a great number of
visiters. The grounds should be extensive, and, if possible, they
should in general be laid out in the fashionable taste, and every
beautiful, new, or proposed fashion should be adopted as soon as
developed: this is sure to attract company and admiration.
5. Frequently, when a person of obscure birth has made an
immense fortune, he is desirous of laying the foundation of
* See Bradley’s Husbandry; also “* The Connoisseur,” by Mr. Town.
070 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK III.
what may be called a rFamiILty Name. ‘This laudable desire* is —
commonly best accomplished by the performance of great and
generous actions, or by heroic worth; but it may also be done
by the formation of an extensive and noble residence; espe-
cially if in a comparatively wild and uninhabited country. A
proper choice may be found in Wales, the north of England,
amid the mountainous scenery of Scotland, or in Ireland.
Every thing should be done in the grand manner; but all the
while under the modest and worthy intention of encouraging
art. ‘he mansion should be in the castle or abbey style—the
establishinent extensive; the new-acquired family arms should |
in some cases be emblazoned on proper parts of the building,
both externally and within ; extensive improvement, and ame-
lioration of the surrounding peasantry, should be a chief ob-
ject of the proprietor. By this and by generous deeds he will
gain extensive reverence and esteem; he will pass through life
with respect from the already great families; and the succeed-
ing heirs will reap the benefit of his exertions and pa-.
tience, by being recognized as of the same rank and worth. An
opposite conduct will produce very bad consequences to the
proprietor in his own life time, and will much disturb the feli-
city of his descendants.
6. The IMPROVEMENT OF THE COUNTRY; whether in regard |
° x . . 5 oe
* See some excellent remarks on this subject in Mr. Roscoe's Lorenzo de Medicr.
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 671
to husbandry, taste, or the comfort of the inhabitants, is a
noble object, and will be more universally approved of, by
both present and future generations, than any other species of
worth, whether heroic, political, or literary. Mankind in ge-
neral look to such persons as to a common father and pro-
tector; and the most enlightened philosophers justly consider
them as among the true promoters of human happiness. Nume-
rous and excellent situations may be found in every quarter of
the country; but the mountainous parts of it, and such as are
inferior in regard to culture, will produce the greatest benefit ©
to society, and most fame to the benevolent proprietor. There
he may clothe the rocky mountains with wood, the heaths and
moors with corn-fields and pasture, and the morasses with lakes
and meadows;—there he may erect villages, churches, , far-
meries, and cottages, and every thing which may diffuse around
universal content;—there undisturbed by political factions,
cruel enemies, or deceitful friends; he may live beloved and
-reverenced, by his dependants and neighbours.
7. The choice of a situation, in order to gratify a NATURAL
TASTE for the country and rural life, requires little discussion.
Those who have this in view should previously endeavour to
distinguish the peculiar turn of their sentiments. They may
then either choose a grand, romantic, cheerful, gay, solitary,
672 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION ° BOOK ITt.
wild, or cultivated situation, as the result of their enquiry
dictates. |
‘
8. Some retire to the country merely through DisGUST AT
PUBLIC LIFE. ‘These should choose a solitary situation, or at
least one distant from the capital, of a character and in a coun-
try and neighbourhood analogous to their intention; where
they mean to close their life “ amid books and solitude,” amuse
themselves by the pursuit of rural science or rural sports and
amusements, or engage in the improvement of their estate;
and by promoting the comforts of the neighbouring peasantry
ensure their gratitude, and the name of “ poor man’s friend.”
This practice will amply compensate the lost friendship or ill
usage of “ that sea of sin, a wicked world.”
9. There are a few who retire to the country TO INDULGE IN
GRIEF for past misfortunes. It is true, the reverse of this prac-
tice commonly takes place; yet there are some pure and _ vir-
-tuous minds that even the present age cannot vitiate. ‘Those,
when under affliction, can find no solace in flattery, corruption,
or a vortex of amusements, which may dissipate the time of the
idle, but never touch the soul of the truly good. ‘There can be
no true solace in the hour of keen affliction, but by reposing in
~ the Deity, or contemplating his attributes and laws in the works
of nature;—but nature, either in man or in material objects, 1s
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 673
not to be found in towns; he therefore flies to unfrequented
places in the country, lives in the company of truth, and con-
verses, with birds and flowers. His friends ought to choose a
cottage, or a comfortable, apartment in a decaying castle, situ-
ated among woody scenery or copse, and intermingled with
lawn, rivulets, and old gardens or orchards which have long
been neglected, and through all which he may wander unmo-
lested by care, and undisturbed by any other society than that
of a faithful domestic. This domestic may by degrees intro-
duce sensitive plants and tamed animals to him, as mimosa noli
me tangere, asses, cows, lambs, at first; and afterwards birds,
leverets, dogs, and horses. ‘The first class of these, by amusing
or becoming attached to him, will excite his attention or love
in return; the second, by indicating cheerfulness, vigour, and
animation, will by sympathy excite similar feelings and ex-
ertions; and thus by degrees restore him to health, and fit him
for the active duties of life.
10. The last purpose that I shall take notice of is, where a
person has in view TO FEEL AND ENJOY ALL THE APPEAR-
ANCES OF NATURE. He requires few directions; his habita-
tion, whatever it be of itself, whether an obscure cottage or vil-
lage garret, will be a situation, if possible, where “‘ nature, un-
confined, displays all her graces.” His property is all nature;
and, knowing no bounds to his estate, he may therefore change
| 4A R
674 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK III.
his residence at pleasure. Content to receive from man only
what are called the necessaries of life, he is sure of enjoying the
most sublime mental luxuries which heaven and earth afford:
—and whether he opens his eyes and beholds the rising sun
dispersing the clouds which empurple the distant horizon, or
shutting them contemplates that variegated circle of colours
which is formed by the compression of the eyelids—whether he
remarks the “ green blade which twinkles in the sun,” or “the
huge oak which in the forest grows,” his soul is alike exalted
in the discovery of divinity.
‘¢ He looks abroad’ into the varied field
Of nature; and though poor, perhaps, compared
With those whose mansions glitter in his sight,
Calls the delightful scenery all his own. —
His are the mountains, and the vallies his,
And the resplendent rivers. His t’enjoy
With a propriety that none can feel,
But who, with filial confidence inspired,
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye,
And smiling say, ‘ My father made them all’.”
COWPER.
I shall close this part of the work by addressing a few cursory
remarks to those interested in a country life; which, like the
foregoing, are the result of observation on the actual state of
civil society.
1. A person sensible of having a bad situation, without the
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 675
power of changing it, need not despair of rendering it interest-
ing. Nature has beauties suitable to every style of country,
even the most indifferent: if these be transplanted with taste,
they will always please; and the most insipid situation that
can be conceived may, by introducing and cherishing natural
beauties, be rendered much superior to the greater number of
what are in the present day called fine places, where all is art
and ostentation. Even country residences which have faults
that offend at first, such as where the house is much exposed,
the climate moist, the prospect dreary, &c. will, after a little
habit, not only become agreeable, but more interesting to the
proprietor, than one comparatively mild, and more attractive
to the first view ae
2. In order to become enamoured with a situation, persons
should be carried to it in fine weather, and if possible when
the heart is mild, unprepossessed, and susceptible of whatever
* There is an error, both in contemplating the choice of a residence, and of a
partner for life, which is generally prevalent. Most men picture such objects as are
mild and pleasing to the view, and free from faults or singularities; and then ima~
gine that if they could possess such, they would be happy. But this isa mistake:
mere negative goodness, whether in women, men, or situations, soon cloys and
palls upon the mind, without the animating influence of faults and singularities
Domestic jarring is often the soul of domestic happiness, by exciting at other times
more strong emotions of reciprocal affection. A journey made free from accidents,
narrow escapes, and singular occurrences, is so uninteresting as soon to be forgotten
by the traveller; and even the period of life itself, if it were possible for it to pass
without these, would be a mere blank in the memory. Every thing in nature is
affected by the principles of contrast.
676 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION BOOK IIt.
impressions may be made on it. Much, if not the greater part, _
depends upon these circumstances at our first view of a place;
and the impression then made is generally so strong, that it is
difficult to remeve it, even when afterwards convinced by rea-
son or experience that it was wrong. This every traveller must
have felt; and it accounts for the different opinions which
tourists have viven of the same place. It teaches the great
propriety of bringing up in the country all children who are to
inherit, or who may probably become able to purchase, landed
property: and of introducing an heir, who has never seen his
inheritance, under the most favourable circumstances possible.
It shews also the great importance of educating the heirs of
entailed residences upon these estates; that when they become
possessors, they may discharge what propriety and duty re-
quires with pleasure to themselves and advantage to all their
dependents. This is commonly neglected at present; and too
much power is left to stewards, who soon become haughty and
petulant, and materially injure both landholders and tenants.
Every trifle of this kind deserves attention—From the slightest
Caine often result great effects; and every thing which tends
to reconcile or excite landed proprietors to live more upon
their estates, and to encourage rural industry, and promote the
introduction of good taste, is worthy the attention of either a
refined or benevolent mind.
3. A proprietor ought generally to retain the same residence
PART I. FOR A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 6077
or residences all his life. This will prove an interesting source
of pleasure and instruction in oldage. At that period of man’s
life, memory is often incapable of retaining the operations ofa
week oraday; while the actions of former years, and especially .
of youth, remain indelible on the mind. Hence, by the assistance
of the eye—by looking upon what he accomplished many years
ago, the trees that he planted, or the fields that he improved,
or by frequenting the scenes of infancy, the most lively pic-
tures are realized, and are sure to entertain, where those of the
greatest painter or writer that ever lived would have no effect.
I may add, that a virtuous mind, taking into view the good
which he has done to society in these periods, will look back
on the past with complacency, and forward to the future with
hope. Unfortunately, there are few in high life who have it in
their power to experience these pleasures, which are without
doubt the greatest that old age can enjoy: yet still there are
some who, from sympathy, as well as a general knowledge of
human nature, can appreciate such pure enjoyments.
4, Man isananimal formed for society; and whatever be his
love of nature, or whatever kind of her productions he most ad-
mires, unless an enthusiastic connoisseur in one class of objects
only (and then he ceases to be a man of general taste) he will
never find his happiness complete without domestic enjoyments.
This may seem rather tfifling to be mentioned here; but it
678 THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION, &cC. BOOK III.
is too much neglected, and has a bad tendency on the indi-
vidual, and on society at large, in several points of view. Let
the reader recollect what Shenstone suffered on this account*.
Lastly, it may be observed, that unless true religion and ex-
tensive moral reflections enter into all our studies of nature,
persons of delicate taste and uncorrupted minds will never
enjoy true happiness, even in a country residence. There isan
intellectual repose and refined mental pleasure, which arises
from the relative contemplation of all nature—from the dis-
covery and contemplation of the links-of that endless chain by
which every thing is connected, and by the perception of that
wonderful EXPRESSION or MIND which pervades the whole
universe. ‘There is as great a difference perceived in nature by
studying it in parts, either as a painter, sculptor, or botanist,
and studying it in this way, as there is between the expression
of a marble statue, and that of a graceful woman. ‘The one
mode of study has no necessary connection with the moral ac-
tions of men; the other tends to regulate and harmonize them +.
The one contracts the mind; the other contributes to the ful-
lest developement of the human: faculties, which is, without
doubt, ro ANSWER THE END OF OUR EXISTENCE.
* “ Domestic life in rural leisure past!
Few know thy value, and few taste thy sweets.”
+ See Hartley on Man, Bates’s Rural Philosophy, ec.
679
BOOK ITT
PART II.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS WITH
A VIEW TO PROMOTE RURAL IMPROVEMENT,
AND
PARTICULARLY THE IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES.
EE
Perruaps I may be here allowed to mention a few induce-
ments to rural improvement, in addition to some which have
occasionally been suggested in the foregoing pages. Man, in
whatever stage of society he may be placed, isa social and de-
pendent being: the lower classes look to the wealthy and pow-
erful for protection; while the wealthy, in return, derive
their dignity and consequence from the lower classes. In con-
sequence of this relation, there are certain duties that belong
to each party, which are to be reciprocally performed, and are
enforced by certain motives peculiar to each. The duties of
both would proceed from necessity or attachment in the first
680 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK III.
‘instances; but as society improves, and public bodies or com-
- Munities agree to submit to certain laws and regulations, the
duties of the poor, from being the result of mere necessity or
attachment, become such as, if neglected, are punishable by the
laws of their country, as a violation of order; while many of the
duties of the wealthy, in place of being dictated by the prin-
ciple of self-defence or aggrandizement, in consequence of a
superiority in mental energies, flow from the more noble prin-
ciples of benevolence to all around, Jove of country, and national
improvement. If at any time they seem to forget the impor-
tant duties of their stations, they are recalled to them, not by
laws of compulsion, but by awakening their natural sense of
honour and virtue; and in this case, the literary men of the
age never fail to effect for the general good what the clergy
do for individual happiness: the former appeal to humanity
and justice, the latter to religion and piety; and the utility
of both to society is perhaps seldom sufficiently known or
appreciated.
1. In the first place, rural improvement demands attention
from its general INFLUENCE ON sociETY. As it comprehends
the introduction both of beauty and utility, this is effected in
several ways. By the cultivation 6f what has been hitherto
neglected, and by the superior management of the whole, an
increase of produce and national riches takes place. ‘The late
years of scarcity have shewn the importance of attending to
PART IT. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 681
this particular; and when we consider that the real wealth, pros-
perity, and population of a country depend ultimately upon
the improvement and cultivation of the soil (as all political
economists confess), this will appear a most important consi-
deration. 2. By the more extensive and vigorous employ-
ment* of the lower classes, they will be enabled to subsist
more comfortably; they will thence be incited more generally
to the married state, and that also at an earlier age, and conse-
quently the population will be increased in a great degree.
This effect is just a consequence of the former, and is of the
last importance. 3. The influence of good taste and beauty
in rural scenery, upon the lower classes, may at first view appear
— unworthy of notice ; but a little reflection will convince us of
the contrary. ‘The very lowest classes of the peasantry are in-
fluenced by it+. In naked, uNvartep, inhospitable, and bar-
ren countries, such as immense tracks of heath, moss, or sand, °
they will be destitute of strong passions, incapable of lasting
* All good plans for ameliorating the condition of the lower classes will terminate
ultimately in giving the peasant an opportunity of bringing his labour to a free
market, and in introducing benefit societies for the aged and helpless. Destroy the
poor rates, public charities, and servitudes, and introduce benefit societies, though
only in a few places—they will soon become general—the poor will be more em-
ployed by the rich than they are at present, and will soon arise from penury and
dejection to spirit and independence.
+ For many important particulars belonging to this subject, I refer to Faulkener’s
*« Kffects of Climate and Country upon Society ;’ and Home’s ‘“ Elements of
_ Criticism,” and ‘* Sketches of the History of Man,” also ‘* Montesque’s Essays.”
4s
682 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK III.
attachments; and will make indifferent soldiers or servants. In
the same kind of surface under cultivation, but without any
display of rural beauty, they will be coarse in address, cruel to
their families, and jealous of strangers; as in several parts of Ire-
land, France, and China. Even in England, those cottagers in
countries uninteresting though well cultivated, as Devonshire
and Wiltshire, are in general, rude and barbarous, compared
with those in the same counties near gentlemens’ seats, or beau-
tiful scenery; and far inferior in respect both of cleanliness and
elegance of mind to those in Hertford and Surrey. Neither
however have much of that kind of attachment to native coun-
try, and even to situation, which the peasantry of Cumberland,
Scotland, and many parts of Ireland, have. Born amid moun-
tains and rocky scenery, such objects make strong impres-
sions, which commence in infancy, and, mncreasing as they ap-
proach to manhood, became indelible. From the nature of the
human mind, every thing connected with these objects, whether
relations or employers, is drawn into the same vortex of asso-
ciation; and hence, whether such peasantry are allowed to
remain in-their own country, or are impelled to go abroad,
their native mountains every where present themselves to the
imagination, and with them their parents, relations, beloved
females, neighbours, or landed gentlemen.
All these effects belong to objects of taste, and shew that it _
PART II. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 683
may have influence on even the lowest of mankind. With re-
spect to the tradesman, and all between him and the man of pro-
perty, or, in common language, the independent, its influence
cannot be doubted, in civilizing, improving, and refining their
manners*; in rendering them docile, tractable, and in every re-
spect better members of society. Many other arguments might
be added to prove this, but certainly it is not necessary.
When we consider how much the existence, prosperity, and
internal peace of a state, depends upon these qualities in the
lower and middling classes, the importance of a general intro-
duction of taste in scenery will appear. What might not be
done in Ireland, in the civilization and improvement of the
lower orders, by the introduction of taste among the higher and
middling classes? The arts illuminated Greece in the midst of
universal gloom! What has freed Britain from the slavery of an
all-erasping clergy, or the feudal institution of a turbulent no-_
bility, but the general introduction of better taste, both in senti-
ment and the arts? It is chiefly owing to the liberty enjoyed in
this kingdom, that modern gardening was so soon adopted, and
spread so generally over every part of the country. Even this
alone strikingly proves the universal influence of general taste.
* T do not speak of towns and cities, where, by xendering artisans too rich, it
very frequently introduces corruption and vicious habits. Nor do I speak of the
fine arts, which I consider to be far inferior in their effects upon the generality of
men, to rural beauty, because less calculated to sooth and harmonize. See Bates’s
Reflections.
684 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK III.
2. Let the landed proprietor and the independent consider
the effects of rural improvement upon THEIR ESTATES, THEM-
SELVES, AND FAMILIES. Their estates are greatly increased in
value, either by being productive of mere annual rent for a
given surface, by containing a greater quantity of woods or
young plantations, or by being more admired as a residence,
and consequently capable of producing a larger sum if brought
to the market as such. It is true, this last particular does not
hold in entailed estates; but it may be observed that there are
few of the ornamental parts of a residence but what are valu-
able even to life-renters—thus lawn is excellent pasture; trees
in every form or situation are highly valuable; rocks seldom oc-
cupy any space of horizontal surface, being always found more
or less perpendicular; water is valuable for the purposes of irri-
gation, horticulture, rearing fish, or driving machinery; and few
or no buildings ought to be erected but what are of real use.
The effects of the objects of taste upon the human mind are
extensive, and are calculated greatly to enlarge the sphere of
enjoyment, and to increase real happiness. The most exalted
pleasure consists in the exercise of the social affections and of
the imagination*. These a taste for rural scenery has a direct
tendency to produce; for in admiring or contemplating na-
* Patey, in his essays on Human Happiness, places it, 1. In the exercise of the
social affections; 2. In the exercise of the faculties, either of body or mind, in the
pursuit of some engaging end; 3. In the proper constitution of our habits; and
lastly, the enjoyment of health.
i
PART Il. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 685
ture, we find an order, harmony, and beauty, which captivate
the soul and expand the faculties of mind, coincide with and
promote the love of virtue, and check the selfish passions; while,
by storing the mind with the most pleasing, varied, and sublime
images, the imagination is thence enabled to select, combine,
and, if not to “body forth the forms of things unseen,” at least
to conceive abundance of pleasing imagery, wherever we may
be placed. Thus no vacuum in life ever need occur, no mo-
ments which we are at a loss how to spend, norany spent which |
will not afford pleasure in future contemplation—whatever cir-
cumstances we may be placed in, whether in liberty or confine-
‘ment, abroad or at home, in the gaiety of youth or the serenity
of age, still we can draw upon the endless sources of the ima-
gination for a supply of ideas suited to circumstances which
may pass across our minds, or which we may wish to converse
or reflect upon. Scenery or the objects of taste, used in any
other way—mere feeling, without judgment or discrimination,
either in reading poetry, viewing nature, or examining pictures,
may serve very well as pastime while youth and vigour last;
‘but when these fail, our pleasure or amusement in such sub-
jects will be curtailed in proportion to our want of knowledge
or judgment. The progress of human happiness is from the
pleasures of sense to those of pure intellect.
.
With respect to the influence of rural improvement on our
families, the difference between children, especially females,
686 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK IIT.
educated in the country by private tuition, and those sent to
public schools and colleges* in towns, is $0 great, and the
effects which would result from it are so extensive, that, were
this alone attended to, it would in thirty years effect a revolu-
tion in the manners of the higher classes ;—a revolution highly
advantageous for the state, honourable to the subjects of it, and
conducive to the immediate happiness of parents, no less than
to the future welfare of their children. The present system of
female education and manners is every thing that it ought not
to be, the latter counteracts the indications of natural charac-
ter by habitual dissimulation; and the former prevents all
mental energy by centring every thing in a few superficial ac-
complishments.
5. Let the wealthy man consider the consequent effects of a
CONTRARY PRACTICE to that which has been recommended—
either of living in the country without doing good—or squan-
dering immense sums of money in town. By the former prac-
tice, the improvement of property is neglected ; hence both the
public and the proprietor suffer loss. Life passes away with-
out being interesting to the possessor, while its approaching
termination gives inward pleasure to the neglected peasantry,
whose comforts it was his duty to promote. Old age ap-
proaches; he is a burthen to himself; death comes and rids
* 'This is not meant to apply to all our seminaries of education, many of which
are unexceptionably disciplined.
PART II. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 687
the country of an incumbrance; the stately hearse enters the
church-yard,—he is deposited, and for ever forgotten :— there
is a secret rejoicing in the village, from the hopeful qualities.
‘
of the young heir.
An occasional or annual visit and stay in town, may with
some have a good effect, by way of contrast to the coun-
try *, and is perhaps essential to the promotion of that com-
merce which is so advantageous to this kingdom. But let me
not be ‘thought meddling, with matters foreign to this work,
when I mention that the major part of a yearly income squan-
dered there, on modern entertainments, is pernicious both to
those who indulge in them, and to the community. With re-
spect to those who indulge in them, it must have one of these
two effects upon their minds—either these things prove cum-
bersome and disagreeable—or produce happiness. If the
latter, then it must follow, that when m the country they
receive pleasure from it only as variety of company makes it
approach to the nature of a city life. But the variety of the
country can never equal the diversity of city amusements: on
the contrary, it has a continual tendency to produce an oppo-
* ¢¢ Tt is the privilege of the man who has opened to his mind, by observation
and study, ail the springs of pleasant association, to delight by turns in the rudeness
of solitary woods, in the cheerfulness of spreading plains, in the decorations of re-
fined art, in the magnificence of luxurious wealth, in the activity of crowded ports,
the industry of cities, the pomp of spectacles, the pageantry of festivals.”
Edinburgh Review, No. XIV. page 315.
688 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK IIi.
site effect, and to awaken that which the other entirely pre-
vented—treflection: hence it is plain, and no votary for these
things can deny it, that such as are remarkable for indulging
in city entertainments one half the year, are miserable the other
half*.
The effects of rural scenery are every where, upon all its ad-
mirers, and at all times, the same; they bring every noble
principle of the mind into action, and allay the vicious or selfish
passions and inclinations, by promoting good nature, and every
social virtue: thus the pleasures of the country elevate man
to his proper dignity, while by continued beneficence to man-
kind he enjoys and diffuses universal happiness.
The effect of indulging in city amusements tends to the de-
struction of property, either by requiring the whole or more than
the annual income, or, even if less than that be applied, it tends
* In youth, from natural gaiety and levity, a city lifemay amuse; but what must
be the feelings of an aged votary to such things? Supposing that from fortune and
tolerable health he is still able to witness them, yet what entertainment can he have
from pleasures in which he is unable to partake, and enjoyments which serve only
to remind him of his age and condition.—But what must be the state of those whom
these things have left in poverty, disease, and involuntary retirement? The old
age and grey hairs of such are never venerable, but always despised, even by those
equally devoted, and speedily approaching to the same end. View either the aged
and healthy or the aged and infirm votaries to these pursuits in a relative capacity
as a parent, husband, friend; view his children, his wife, their society, manners,
and practices !!
PART IF. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 689
to ruin, by never making any return of interest, as does pro-
perty expended in the country. By leading to an increased
establishment and expenditure, it often ultimately, either in
the present or succeeding generation, ends in disgrace, penury,
and total extinction of name. 'The effects of this mode of life
upon mankind and the state are dangerous, by increasing the
wealth and wickedness of cities, promoting effeminacy, extra-
vagance, and luxury, in the sons of the wealthy; which, if
brought up in the country, or in comparative simplicity, might
have proved more serviceable to it, as proprietors, representa-
tives, or soldiers*. Add to this the number of male servants
kept, which of all other classes of servants are the most cor-
rupted, and which greatly contaminate the simplicity and com-
parative innocence of country peasantry. Irom these pernici-
ous wretches, otherwise employed, the country might derive
considerable advantage, either in agriculture or national
defence.
A. If wealth, power, and distinctions, be bestowed upon
some individuals for the GENERAL Goop, how shall they an-
* «How, in the name of soldiership and sense,
Should England prosper, when such things, as smooth
And tender as a girl, all essenced o’er
‘With odours, and as profligate as sweet,
Who sell their laurels for a myrtle wreath,
And love when they should fight?” &c.
AT
- 690 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK Itt.
swer for using them in such a way as tends to the general
wreck of nations, the corruption of society, or the distresses of
the poor ?——How shall those excuse themselves, who in one
night’s entertainment, or gambling, have squandered as many
thousands as would have rendered hundreds of their fellow-
creatures comfortable for life?—perhaps too the widows or
orphans of those very men whose united exertions constitute
their wealth and security are in want and misery! If spent in
the country, in judicious improvements, such sums would have
produced an increasing ratio of advantages, which would have
continually accumulated, from the present time to the termi-
nation of our existence as a nation. Spent in this way, it is
a momentary flash, which dazzles only to increase the effect of
the succeeding obscurity.
5. There is a laudable vanity inherent in the human mind,
which prompts us to many actions from the LOVE OF PRAISE,
admiration, or gratitude.—These rewards all persons may |
easily attain, from the most retired lady or gentleman, who
can only act as a village physician, to the wealthy peer or
prince, who ameliorates the condition of a whole district. The
pleasure and satisfaction which results from doing good to the
poor of the country, even in curing diseases, is so great, that
I would advise those who prefer a country life, and have not
an opportunity of engaging in extensive improvements, to pay
PART II. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 601
some attention to the study of medicine. Every benefit, of
whatever kind, properly bestowed upon the deserving of the
lower classes, is sure of producing unfeigned gratitude and at-
tachment from individuals, and praise and esteem from the
country-folks in general*.
Every good improver is not only rendered conspicuous
among his neighbours, but is admired by society at large, and
valued by all wise statesmen, as of real benefit to society.
The authors of great and extensive improvements not only ob-
tain the approbation and praise of the present age, but are
handed down to futurity with a lustre which never can be sul- |
lied by changes of government or society ; and it deserves to
be remarked, that both the praise and utility of military or
political worth is confined either to the period of its actual
existence, or afterwards chiefly to one nation; while that of
him who promotes the arts of peace and rural improvements
spreads into all countries, and passes with increasing power
through successive ages +.
* No pleasure is equal to that of true and unfeigned gratitude; it is so great
as even to be desired by Divinity ; for what is divine worship but the expressions
of gratitude?
+ If I may judge from the general taste for drawing among the higher classes,
perhaps the duties of a country life may yet have sufficient charms. If to the study
of drawing, that of botany, and in particular of trees, were added, it could scarcely
fail of rendering verdant scenery and horticulture peculiarly interesting.
692 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK IIT.
6. Tu GLORY OF NATIONAL CHARACTER is a motive which
will have considerable influence with every patriotic mind,
whether that glory respects the heroic or the polite arts. One
great branch of what I have been endeavouring to recommend
for the encouragement and protection of the wealthy originated
in, and is almost peculiar to, this country: 1 mean THE PIc-
TURESQUE IMPROVEMENT OF RURAL SCENERY. Here then is
a source of national fame which every patriot should be eager
to advance; and which of itself, if carried to that pitch of per-
fection of which it is capable, will rank Great Britain with
Greece and Rome in an infinitely more noble and original man-
ner, than ever can be done by the mere imitation of arts in
which the nations of those countries excelled. Here is an art
OF OUR OWN INVENTION, and one the subjects of which ever
have been, and ever will be, the admiration of all mankind!
Let us cultivate this art with vigour, let us render our coun-
try not only conspicuous for giving birth to it, but for bring-
ing it to perfection |
Surely if any motive can influence the patriotic, it must
be this; especially’ as, unlike poetry ar painting, picturesque
improvement is so nearly connected with the interest and
riches of the individual; not to say that it far exceeds these
sister arts in conferring happiness on all who are engaged
in it. I trust there are still many ready to patronize the
PART II. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 693
arts in this kingdom. Asa British subject, though less able
to accomplish, yet no less eager in the desire of her glory,
let me entreat all such to evince their patriotism by reform-
ing the style of the pleasing and useful art of forming coun-
try residences. If what I propose as additional improve-
ments are not so, then let them be rejected, and their author
neglected; but if they are considered as otherwise, let the great
and the wealthy encourage their introduction by their protec-
tion and influence; and the whole country will soon see their
excellence, and be induced to adopt them, not less from the
common principle of imitation or fashion, than from conviction
of their intrinsic worth.
Though I am aware that the habit of studying one particu-
lar subject may give it a more than just importance in the
general scale of moral agency, yet I think I have expressed
myself with abundant moderation. I am perfectly willing to
leave every thing to the cool reflection of the reader. I only
offer these imperfect sketches to excite more forcibly his at-
tention to what passes in his own mind.
Lastly, To shew in one point of view what may be the in-
fluence of all those motives on an individual, let us suppose
the representative of an ancient and noble family arriv-
ing in his native country after a long absence, engaged in its
i
694. ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK Itt.
defence,—or from resigning the cares and toils of a political life
in the capital, retiring to his paternal inheritance ; let us sup-
pose that, impelled by a love of country, a sense of duty, gene-
ral benevolence, the prosperity of his family, and a desire of
transmitting the name of his ancestors unsullied to posterity, he
proceeds to improve his estate. ‘Those hireling managers, and
injurious usurpers of authority, who corrupt the poor, and do
justice-only to favourites, fly before his presence. His tenants _
and peasantry, before overburthened and sunk in misery, sloth,
and ignorance, sufficient to incur the dislike of those who look
only at effects without considering causes, now rise into their
proper situation, fulfil their duties, and gain the approbation of
their landlord. Improved cultivation is introduced, and by
this example diffuses itself over the most distant parts of the
estate, producing the smiles of plenty and content, in the room
of want and wretchedness. On his own residence, see barren
mountains become clothed with wood; and on their bleak sides,
which formerly produced only heath or moss, now cattle and
sheep crop the sheltered glades of pasture; or the furrows of
golden ridges appear in wavy parallels across the dectivities. In
a mountain recess thus surrounded, see the ancient castle arise
on anabrupteminence, which shoots forward from the larger
and wooded hills. Near it flows.a rapid stream, which has its
source amid the distant mountains. From them it flows in a
romantic glen, beneath canopies of wood and impending rocks,
PART If. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 695
until, washing the adamantine base of the castle, it bursts into
liberty, and forms an ample lake, encircled by the park or
forest, and beyond that on one side a fertile plain: all which,
from the lake, forms a noble foreground to the distant woods
and mountains. On one of the islands in this lake is placed the
parish church and burying-ground ; conspicuous at a distance,
they seem, by being debarred from common access, more
forcibly to excite the piety, reverence, and frequent attendance,
of the simple country folks. In the still clear morning of “ the
hallowed day,” the rural nymphs and swains, in gay simplicity
of dress, meeting the eye in variegated clusters, glide over the
resplendent waters in little boats and gallies, directing their
progress from different shores to the heaven-pointing spire in
the island of pines and cypress. Thence, when the hymn of
praise, borne on breezes over the waters, and echoed from the
cliffs of the neighbouring islands, has ascended into air, and :
mingled with the songs of birds and angels, they retire to simple
fare in cleanly cottages, sheltered by woods, and decorated.
with gardens and woodbines. Among those cottages, which
are judiciously scattered at different parts of the grounds, that
their possessors may cultivate and guard plantations, preserve
fences, Or herd flocks, or that the smoke from the chimney of
the deserving widow may enliven the side of a woody hill or soli-
tary elen, the worthy proprietor takes delight to walk, to view
the progress of his trees, and hear the little histories and ac-
606 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK Iff.
counts of the progress made in their several occupations. They
all view him with an eye of reverence and esteem as their kind
father and protector.
Ashe Ad eAAeES in life, he carries with him his son, who is to
succeed to a populous and enriched estate. He bestows his
best advice with all the affection of an aged father, and all the
wisdom of a man who has studied human life in every stage,
visited different countries, and had more than a common share
of knowledge and experience. He recounts the condition in
which he found the estate that he is about to leave, mentions
the general plan of improvements that he adopted, and the
ample success which followed it. He advises him to tread in
the same footsteps, if, like him, he wishes to approach to old
age with respect and esteem, and look forward to futurity
with hope and confidence. He recommends to him a country
life, and the constant study of the comfort of all his depen-
dants, as the true way of being happy himself. He then
commits to him the particular care of some veterans who had
been his faithful companions in battle, whose old age he had
undertaken to provide for, and who were likely to survive him.
Soon after this he quietly expires.** on a seat in the Saxon
* Some perhaps may think this rather an unpleasant circumstance to introduce
here. Ihave heard of a gentleman who was content to lose the view of a distant
prospect from his library, (after a drawing had been made out, shewing what would.
PART II. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 697
alcove at the end of the western terrace, where in an evening
of September he had sat down with his family to admire the
splendour of the sky, the gloom of the distant mountains,
the reflection of the evening sun, and the lengthened shadow
of the islands upon the still expanse of the lake. A few
days afterwards, about the same hour in the evening, his
remains were conveyed over these waters, and interred in
the family vault of the burying-ground, in the presence
and amid the praises and tears of every individual upon
his estate; for all were present, men, women, and chil-
dren, even infants upon their mothers’ breasts wept aloud
from the general sympathy:—all were deeply affected, that all
might ever remember their father and friend—he that freed
them from villany and oppression—and rendered their lives
comfortable and happy*.
be the excellent effects of removing a high wall), merely because a celebrated Jand-
scape gardener suggested, by a sketch upon this drawing, that it was possible for a
hearse to be seen on a public road which happened to be in the middle distance of
the scene. Such weak ideas only excite contempt. Such a proprietor as I am de-
scribing above, has answered the end of his mental existence here, by cultivating his
intellectual powers, and doing good to mankind. What should he fear in yielding
to general laws, which as they are natural and inevitable, so they must be necessary
for accomplishing the purposes of our creation—THE PROGRESS OF MIND. Even in
the soil, what remains of man performsa requisite part in the general agency,
and, moved by the grand system of action and reaction, contributes to the beautiful
economy and endless appearances of nature.
* As a proof that the lower classes ‘really do feel in this way, when they are
convinced of the good intentions of their benefactors, I might refer to some estates
A U
698 ON RURAL IMPROVEMENT, AND BOOK III.
Perhaps this isa picture of rural felicity, rather as i¢ might be,
than as tt is; but there can be no conclusive arguments against
presenting such pictures ; on the contrary, they have an im-
portant application—they shew what man may attain to, per-
haps with greater ease than he can accomplish any important
purpose of common life; for such a life may be spent, similar
effects produced, and similar happiness enjoyed, in every ©
country, and by every one who is enabled to purchase a small
estate, or a very few acres. Possession being taken, he has only
to give his mind to it—if he has turned his thoughts to the sub-
ject before, he will take care to increase its beauties by attending
to character, use, and economy: and will most probably have
purchased in the most romantic parts of the country. A sum
of money necessary for purchasing, in a smaller or larger degree,
may be attained by every industrious citizen—expended in this
way, the pursuit of it is worthy of commercial engagements
even in the Indies—children, ‘strongly impressed with this end
with which I am acquainted, in England, Wales, and Scotland; but I rather men-
tion a different instance, which will shew the same thing perhaps more strikingly.
In the low country of Scotland, the reaping is chiefly performed by men and wo-
men from the Highlands. All these, from different roads and parts of the coun-
try, necessarily meet on one road before they embark at North Queensferry to cross
the river Forth to Mid Lothian. A gentleman in Edinburgh, remarkable for his
benevolence, annually presents every individual from the Highlands with a loaf
and tankard of ale just before they embark. For this they are so grateful, that the
name, abode, and good deeds of that gentleman are spread through every part of
the west Highlands of Scotland. I myself have heard them mention the circum-
stance with tears of thankfulness in their eyes; evidently not for the value of the
donation, but the benevolence and consideration displayed by the donor.
PART II. IMPROVEMENT OF RESIDENCES. 699
of commerce, and view of a country dwelling, would imbibe
ideas which, being so congenial to nature, would remain with
them through life—would tend to make them sober, industrious,
and frugal, whether abroad or at home; and after spending
their youth in the toils and fatigues of commerce—after being
thus versed in human life, they would be duly prepared for a
life of retirement and domestic happiness in the country.
700
CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE.
Iw every part of this work I have had two objects in view; in
the first place, to lay down rational principles of action; in the
second place, to apply these principles to the practical pur-
poses of forming and improving residences. If I have suc-
ceeded so as to make myself understood, the reader will per-
ceive that this art, which has no other foundation among its
professors than whim, caprice, or fashion (and in which one of
them (Mr. Repton), who has attempted to discover fixed princi-
ples, has displayed only confusion and incongruity in the at-
tempt), is founded in beauty, use, and adaption to the proprietor ;
which, applied to a residence as a whole, may be comprehended
in one epithet, UNITY OF CHARACTER*. If, in treating of any
part of this whole, it appear that I have failed in the application
of general principles, the blame must be attributed to the author,
and not to these principles. [ flatter myself, however, from
* Thus the principles of taste, and of all the polite arts, are ultimately resolved
into those of common sense ; for what is character or expression, (the end of all
these arts,) but just objects appearing to be what they really are.
CONCLUSION. 701
their simplicity, that few errors of this kind have been com-
mitted. But still, as in residences formed agreeably to these
laws, the effects to be produced do not depend upon minutie—
the course of a walk, the slope of a lawn, or the situation of
any single object,—but in the general propriety and suitable-
ness of parts, the principal masses and grouping of wood, build-
ings, &c.: so the utility of the principles detailed in this work |
does not depend upon the trifling exceptions which might be
made to their universal application; or the inadvertencies
which an author may unavoidably commit in detailing their
effects. All nature has irregularities, and even peculiarities;
and as the painter, in rejecting the last, still adheres to her .
essential laws and general appearances, so if the reader con-
-ceives that I am right upon the whole, let him proceed in the
same manner in forming his judgment of the foregoing pages.
i ee
; to
BREN 5:
ty
£ i bs | I
Ha eat)
a
‘MOY, LAISOULHRT OULD XY SITY Tenyy suey Ag oogk- te aby POUT TA
LO) PY HAG, bP ot 1;
re ‘biet9 “p
Sh
Lt, AAV.
=> =
===
HH
rig, Scudpl,
CMLL,
¢
a
SOUL G
«
MPN a fre
PU
Ve
hfieay oe the as
4 Vee
NS)
Ss
SS
N
dD
S
SN Ne
WS =~
BN N
See yi NEES
S
NES
SOS
~ 3
ONSEN
J
oD fron ihe.
a
ipo
a
‘4
J outa, a, we)
Lien F i
é
& Orme, Paternoster How
Longman. Hurst, Rees
1 91 1806, by
MOM ESO PUL I SY GUT UMUC TAY Oi (2 ,. LOA Pe any
FOP eopnET Tf
TILE 7
FU. AL
J Loudon.
ins
7a
verted. by hts Devoted Servant
Aw
S
Ns
a]
=
GOR
) ah
ny
eRe
7
2
/
&
BS S
a8
Ss
UN wham this Hate ts respe
é
7.
APPENDIX.
STRICTURES ON MR. REPTON S MODE OF USING SLIDES AND
SKETCHES, AND ON HIS MANNER OF OPERATING WITH
THE PRINCIPAL MATERIALS OF LANDSCAPE.
INTRODUCTION.
Iw the foregoing Work, I have occasionally offered some remarks both on
Mr. Repton’s writings and his alterations upon Residences. In this Ap-
pendix I do not propose to enter into a minute examination of the latter ;
but merely to point out what appears to me to be the grand errors
in that author’s practice and directions. In making these observations
I have advanced nothing in opposition to candour and truth. At
the same time, as Mr. Repton in his writings displays the highest
opinion of his own merits, and an unfair contempt for his cotemporary
professors of modern landscape gardening; as he arrogates unmerited
distinction as an artist, and claims the important right of “ guiding
the taste and improving the scenery of his country” *; and as I consider
this taste in many things as ratsE supemeEnT, I consequently have been
more particular in my criticisms, and more decided in my conclusions re-
* « And while you~ ee tnied to raise the glory, and secure pe best interests, of the —
country ; I was content to guide its taste and improve its scenery.”
« Odd Whims and Miscellanies,’ Dedication to Mr. Windham, page 9.
704 . APPENDIX.
specting the practices of such a professor, than I should otherwise have
been. Unfortunately for truth and good taste, Mr. Repton’s writings are
so expensive as to come into the hands of few ; otherwise this unpleasant
task would probably not have been requisite in this work. Had Mr.
Repton submitted his writings to the public with that deference which
every one equally confused in his notions of theory, and ignorant of the
different branches of husbandry, ought to have done, I should never have
opposed either his opinions or practices in any other way than by stating to
the world what I conceived to be good taste in my art, leaving every one to
draw the inference; or make the application, according to his own ideas.
But it is otherwise ; and Mr. Repton’s manner of writing, and his authority
with one class of the public, more than even the errors which exist in al-
most every page of his folios, have drawn from me these strictures. I do not
hesitate to say, that Mr. Repton has a considerable share of what may
be called ¢insel ability in his art, and, compared with his cotemporary
followers of Mr. Brown, he is perhaps deservedly at the head of his profes-
sion. At the same time I am of opinion, that the want of practical know-
ledge, and the study of nature, will ever prevent him from blending beauty
with utility and economy in such a way as to make any considerable ad-
vances in the art. ‘This will appear evident to every man of good taste,
from that sameness and-tameness of manner which certainly must be
allowed to prevail in his red-books, published works, drawings, and
especially the residences which have been improved under his directions. |
Avoiding an analysis of this Gentleman’s writings, as unsuitable to my
design, I seize only on what appear to me the errors most inimical
to good taste, and the true interest of proprietors. These divide them-
selves into— ; | ;
1. Mr. Repton’s mode of using slides and sketches ; and,
2. Elis mode of operating with the principal materials of landscape.
I|
}}]
{I
} |]
Hi
|
Sig iT
WV Fife
A. Sketth to shew the mode of using Slides as practise by UP Repo. by comparing the Engraving onthe Slide with that under t the tacility of deception by
exeattion ts evident.
705
APPENDIX. No. L.
An Inquiry into the Merits of Mr. Repron’s Manner of using Slides with
Sketches, as displayed in his published Works* and private Red-books,
or MSS.—(See Plate XX XIL.)
T po not question Mr. Repton’s right to the merit of having first applied
slides, or folding slips of paper, to sketches for improving landscape scenery ;
_ though I deny what he affirms in several parts of his works, that he is
the inventor of them. Slides upon a similar plan have long been in use
for various purposes, and were employed by the late Mr. Walker, of
Edinburgh, in teaching astronomy upwards of thirty years ago. My
business, however, is to inquire into their merits, which will be easily dis-
covered when their intended use is explained. The only avowed purpose
for which these can be used is to save the expense or trouble of making
two landscapes where it is thought one and a half, or less, may suffice.
Thus, where one landscape is made to shew the present state of the
grounds or scenery, as Plate XXIX.; and another to shew the effect of
the intended improvements, as Plate XXX. ; the slide, or slip of paper,
as in Plate XX XII., supersedes the use of the first ; by containing on it
all those parts of the ground whereon the alterations are made. Now the
question is, whether this is equally candid, and gives the same degree of
* These works are: ce Ents and Sketches on Landscape Gardening,” published
1794; and, “ Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening,” .&c.
published 1805-6.
AX
706 APPENDIX, NO. I.
advantage to both landscapes, as the other method, viz. XXIX. and XXX.?
Iam decidedly of opinion that it isnot, and for the following reasons :
1. Supposing the objects drawn upon the upper slip of paper to be ex-
actly the same as those on the under one—equally well executed, and
equally agreeable subjects : the upper one would never please so much as
the one under it, because the line which marks the boundary of the slip
disturbs the harmony of the one composition, while by contrast the other is
improved.
2. The active principle of curiosity inherent in the human mind will
ever prevent full satisfaction from flowing from that whereof the slip forms
a part; for while we know that the slip is capable of being lifted up, the
mind wil! be in anxiety till that be effected. This would be strikingly
proved, if the best subject were placed upon the slip, and the landscape
in its present state placed under it. Reason might convince a scientific
person that the upper one was preferable ; but those who judge chiefly from
feeling, and from what strikes the eye, would, unless there was a very ma-
nifest. difference of character between the two, be best pleased with the
one under.
3. By having the two states of the landscape so connected in represen-
tations, it becomes impossible to give them a fair comparison. Every.
time that we compare any object in the upper one, or on part of the slip,
with the same object improved in the under.one, we discompose the slip,
which, while it increases our dislike of the upper scene, adds to our preju-
dice for the secure and permanent effect of the one below. ‘This of itself
is so powerful a reason against slips, that no one devoid of prejudice can
ever decide in their favour.
These are reasons to shew the inutility of this contrivance, which are valid,
though perfect justice were done to both drawings. I shall next shew,
APPENDIX, NO. I. OT
that the artist, by the slightest difference in execution, may render the
one disagreeable, and the other highly beautiful, though ‘the subject of
both were equally good. This will form another striking argument against
the application of slips; especially when I remark, ‘that this is universally
the practice of Mr. Repton. And if this has been-done by their supposed
inventor and recommender, what may we not expect from imitators,
should any such appear ?
1. The mere execution of either the draughtsman or engraver may ren-
der the one decidedly superior to the other. Now, from the difficulty of
comparison mentioned above (3), this is not easily discovered, especially
by those unacquainted with the principles of art, to whom such slides and
sketches have been addressed, and by whom alone they have been ap-
proved of. In proof of this, see Plate XXXII. which is introduced
chiefly to shew to those readers who have not seen Mr. Repton’s work,
what slides are.
2. The distribution of light may effect the same purpose still more
strongly ; and in buildings, those which in the reality would be disagree-
able, may in the picture appear remarkably beautiful.
3. Colour may effect the same thing in a still more powerful manner than
either light or execution; as Mr, Repton’s works strikingly evince. In
sketches for the improvement of grounds, colour should seldom be made
use of, except for particular objects; forms are what deserve attention ;
and in rural improvement it is chiefly in the disposition or modification of
them that real and permanent beauty can be produced. In sketches, co-
lour on trees and ground may effect any emotion in the superficial observer ;
they may render him in love with the most disagreeable forms and
erouping, and disgusted with the best.
It would have been easy to have illustrated all these arguments against
708 APPENDIX, NO. I.
slides; but the whole is evidently a mere piece of quackery, as must,
from what has been said, appear to every one. He that alters grounds oy
buildings from such deceptive schemes, proceeds on a basiss too precarious
for any but those who care not about spending money to no purpose, or
who have minds incapable of discerning what is really beautiful.
From these brief observations two things result :
1. That stiprs, though used with the utmost possible accuracy and
fairness, are still liable to deceive ; and, in point of doing justice to the
present and improved state of the snbjects, are much inferior to separate
landscapes.
2. That the artist, if so mclined, has by this mode a much better op-
portunity of deceiving in the execution than by the other ; and to these I
might add, for the consideration of Mr. Repton and his admirers, that in
every slide, in his two large works on Landscape Gardening, this unfair
practice is adopted ; for the truth of which I need only appeal to those who
are in possession of his works. In all Mr. Repton’s Red-books that I haye
seen, this practice is carried still further; but as these are private property,
I avoid referring to particular instances.
709.
APPENDIX. No. If.
. Strictures on Mr. Revton’s published Works * on Landscape Gardening 5
and chiefly on his Mode of operating with watrr and woop, the two
principal Materials of Landscape.
Tus art of forming Country Residences may be divided into two parts ;
that which relates chiefly to BEauTY, Or VISIBLE EFrEcT; and that which re-
lates chiefly to uritrry and conventence. Laying aside all metaphysical dif-
ferences about abstract principles, the practical directions or operations which
telate chiefly to beauty, or visible effect, may be included under crounp,
ROCKS, BUILDINGS, WATER, and woop. The first two deserve little consi-
deration here, because whatever may be an author’s principles or opinions
concerning them, it is certain that no wise man will ever attempt any ex-
tensive operations upon either. The effect of surLpiNGs is certainly of con-
siderable importance; but any remarks which occur in Mr. Repton’s
writings respecting them are too trifling to deserve attention. The temples,
covered seats, bridges, and such decorative edifices as occur in the plates.
which accompany these works, are similar to those commonly to be met
* To the two works mentioned in the last article, I may here add, “ An Inquiry into,
the Changes of Taste in Landscape Gardening; and, ‘ A Letter to Uvedale Price, Esq.”
published together in 1806.
710 APPENDIX, NO. Il.
with in improved places, and are now justly rejected by men of taste, as
gaudy, affected, and useless. I refer to plates HI. VI. VII. XIV., &c. of
« Hints and Sketches,’ and plates V. IX. XUI. XVI. XXV. and
XXXVI. of “ Observations.” |
With respect to crounn, the author observes, “It is always with reluctance
that L advise much alteration in the surface of ground ; because, however
great the labour, or expensive the process, it isa part of the art from which
the professor can derive but little credit; since his greatest praise must, be,
that the ground looks, when finished, as if art had never interfered.” One
would imagine that nothing could be a greater credit to the professor than
to have his works of art mistaken for those of nature. This is, however,
not the author’s opinion: he has recommended occasionally the removal
of hills, or their creation ; sometimes a road must ostentatiously be carried
round a hill, to display property; at another time a tunnel must be cut
through it, to display the art of the professor: Lrefer to Mulgrave Castle,
Michelgrove, &c.
But water and woop are\the grand materials of landscape gardening.
All improvement of grounds may be said to depend on their management ;
and therefore it is on the author’s remarks upon them, that I propose to
offer some strictures, in addition to those made in the foregoing parts of
this: work which. treat on these subjects.
The subject of watrr is treated at the greatest length in “ Observa-
tions.”’ The contents of Chap. III. are, Water—it may be too naked
or too much clothed—example from West Wycomse. Digression concern-
ing the approach—motion of water—example at Apunstrop. Art must
deceive to imitate nature—cascade at Tuoressy. The rivulet—water at
Wenrworras described—A river easier to imitate than a lake—A bubbling
spring may be imitated—A ferry-boat at Hotxusam—A rocky channel at
Harewoon.
APPENDIX, NO. Il. 711
‘
As Mr. Price has written a long chapter in the second volume of the
’ on the subject of forming pieces of water,
« Essays on the Picturesque,’
upon principles directly opposite to those of Mr. Brown or Mr. Repton,
it may be expected that the latter will here offer something in defence of
his own practice, and that of his predecessor. He shrinks, however, from
the full extent of the controversy, apparently sensible that he could not
lay down any fixed principles for this part of his practice. He offers only
a very few hints, of which the reader shall be enabled to judge by
quotations.
‘¢ The observations in the preceding chapter, concerning the reflection
of sky on the surface of water*, will account for that brilliant and cheerful
effect produced by a small pool, frequently placed near the house, although
in direct violation of nature; for since the ground ought to slope, and ge-
nerally does slope, from a house, the water very near it must be on the
side of ahill, and of course artificial. Although I have never proposed a
piece of water to. be made in such a situation, I have frequently .advised
that small pools so unnaturally placed should be retained, in compliance
with that general satisfaction which the eye derives from the glitter of
water, however absurd its situation. It requires a degree of refinement in
taste bordering on fastidiousness, to remove what is cheerful and pleasing to
the eye, merely because it cannot be accounted for by the common laws of
nature ; I was not sorry, however, to discover some plea for my compliance,
by considering, that although water ona hill is generally deemed unnatu-
ral, yet all rivers derive their sources from hills, and the highest mountains
are known to have lakes or pools of water near their summits.”—In this
* “ Tn artificial rivers, the quiet surface doubles every object on its shores; and_ for
this reason, I have frequently found that the surface could be increased in appearance by
sloping its banks; not only that which actually concealed part of the water, but also the
opposite bank ; because it increased the quantity of sky reflected on the surface.” This
is illustrated by adrawing!! Besides the bad taste displayed in this. passage, it shews that
the author’s object in forming pieces.of water is just,the same as Mr. Brown’s.; that is, to
display quantity, not character,
712 APPENDIX, NO. II.
manner, no circumstance, however adverse to nature or propriety, can
ever occur, which may not be argued into good taste ; and no deformity
will ever exist, for which we may not discover “some plea by consi-
dering” different parts of nature. This is embracing an error which Sir
Joshua Reynolds was so anxious to guard against, that of copying pecu- —
liarities for general nature.
In the next sentence, the author affirms that “ baldness in artificial
pools is pleasing to the less accurate observer,” and that such “ delight in
a broad expanse of light on the smooth surface reflecting a brilliant sky.”
I can only conceive this to hold true of those whose understandings would
be satisfied with Mr. Repton’s mode of arguing the subject; for I can
scarcely conceive any one satisfied with baldness, or the mere reflection
of a sky, when trees, broken banks, stones, and varied tints of soil, could
be reflected in connection.
A few trees were cut down in an island at West Wycombe, to shew a
better view of the house, which thus forms the example of water being
too much clothed!!! A sketch-is introduced with a slide, to shew this !
while the author adds in a note, that ‘** Mr. Brown has been accused of
cutting down large old trees, and afterwards planting small ones on the
same spot ; the annexed plate may serve to vindicate the propriety of his
advice.’” This and the drawing shew that the water is now reclothed, that
the trees were cut down in order to shew the house from the approach, and of
course that it is no example at all. Mr. Repton proposes to introduce a
rocky brook which may be seen from the house, and a cascade, at
Thoresby ; because, as it is so near Derbyshire, (only thirty miles distant ! !)
“the violence done to nature by the introduction of rock scenery is
allowable.” The former attempt is unworthy of notice; on this last I have
already made some remarks in the foregoing work, page 399. Here I have
only to state another argument for this practice. “ Having condemned,”
Mr. Repton observes, “ the ill-judged interference of art. in the disposition of
the ground and water at Tuoressy, it may perhaps be objected, that I now
APPENDIX. 713
recommend an artificial management not less extravagant ; because I pre-
sume to introduce some appearance of rock scenery in a soil where no
rock naturally exists; but” (mark the ingenuity of the argument) “ the
same objection might be made with equal propriety to the introduction of
an artificial lake in a scene where no lake before existed !”—Such reasoning
deserves no remark.
Arguments of a like nature are introduced to shew, that at Wentworth it
is much easier “ to imitate one large river, than several small lakes ; espe-
cially as it is much easier to produce the appearance of continuity, than of
such vast expanse as a lake requires.” Ifa vast expanse be the charac-
teristic of a lake, and sézll continuity that of a river, then this may be
true ; but while from nature we can place breadth, and progress, in the room
of these epithets, we may reject the reasoning as no less false than the
water at Wentworth is displeasing. I have elsewhere disapproved of the
water at that residence ; and on a future occasion shall give some views
from it, and contrast them with others, shewing what it might have been,
or may still be made, at much less expence than has been incurred in
forming Mr. Repton’s river. Mr. Repton, however, assumes it as a prin-
ciple, that a “ river is much easier to imitate than a lake ;” so that we may
thence bid adieu to all character in pieces of water formed by him or his
followers. Is it extraordinary, that a person who thus overlooks the cha-
racters of nature should be bewildered on every occasion ?
A ferry-beat is proposed for Hotxaam, which is here said to be of a
« novel construction :” and in Hints and Sketches is called an “« Invention.”
(By the way, Mr. Repton does not say an invention of hisown.) The direc-
tions for using it, however, chiefly attract notice: “ the surface or deck of
this boat may be covered with gravel and cement, having a hand-rail on each
side ; thus it will ina manner become a moveable part of the gravel walk.”
This is a puerile conceit, which will please children. In a philosophical
point of view, it tends to destroy the characteristic difference between
AY
714A APPENDIX,
sailing and walking. A true disciple of nature, or an improver of good
taste, will preserve the character of every circumstance of this kind with
the utmost care, as tending to render scenery striking and interesting, to
mark particular scenes, and to make lasting impressions on the memory.
In every excursion among scenery (and indeed in every thing in life) they
are the little contrasts of this kind that fix themselves upon the memory ;
and on fature recollections such ideas, being always the first which are pre-
sented to the mind, lead to the whole chain of relative circumstances by a
beautiful order and connection.
The boat alluded to, may be useful in crossing a narrow ferry, where mere
utility is kept in view: but, in picturesque scenery, good taste will avoid
such incongruities. It is of a piece with the rest of Mr. Repton’s im-
provements, they tend to prettyness, which, like puns in conversation, may
produce momentary amusement.
The following passage concludes the observations on water: it 1s to jus-
tify the retaining of two small ponds which are upwards of a hundred
feet above the level of a serpentine river; all which are seen adjoining each
other from the windows in the garden front of Harewood Hall. See
Plate XVI. fig. 1.
«“ Where two pieces of water are at some distance from each other, and’
of such different levels that they cannot easily be made to unite in one
sheet ; if there be a sufficient supply to furnish a continual stream, or only
an occasional redundance in winter, the most picturesque mode of uniting
the two is by imitating a common process of nature in mountainous coun-
tries, where we often see the water in its progress from one lake to another
dashing among broken fragments, or gently gliding over ledges of rock,
which form the bottom of the channel: this may be accomplished at Hare-
woop.” In description, the impressions from which are often very different
from those of real nature, this might have some plausibility ; for certainly
APPENDIX. 715
water tumbling down a rocky steep, and uniting itself with a rapid stream,
(as is further shewn in the drawing to illustrate this subject,) is very pic-
turesque ; but at Harewood, where not one drop of water flows from these
upper ponds, proposed to be thus united with the lower river, except in
great rains, or in time of high floods in winter, and where, in place of a
rapid stream below, we have a serpentine river, as still and tame as that
of Wentworth ; how is it possible to make the application? Fortunately,
the good taste of the proprietor triumphed over such reasoning; and, as I
have formerly mentioned, and suggested by a plate, the upper ponds are
to be planted, and the lower river changed into a lake.
Before I leave Mr. Repton’s chapter on Water, I beg to refer the reader
to his remarks on the same subject in “ Hints and Sketches,” Chap. IV. or
to the “ Enquiry into the changes of Taste,” page 90 to 95; which contain
some remarks, mostly taken from the Hints and Sketches, less erro-
neous than those in that work, but still true indications of Mr. Repton’s
manner of arguing and false practical taste. I must confess that
I never read these passages without being astonished that any man could
submit them to the world. If any reader does not feel similar sensa-
tions to mine in perusing them, it can only be accounted for, by reflect-
ing that the effects of description on the mind are often very different from
those subjects of real nature which gave rise to them; and that the gene-
rality of readers, and even judges, not having beheld the scenery alluded to,
are not competent to separate the impressions, or judge of their difference.
Had I not seen the water at Harewood, I should probably, from the same
causes, have passed over the above quotation altogether, from not strongly
feeling the misapplication of the reasoning.
From these extracts, either alone, or in connection with those pieces of
water which have been formed under Mr. Repton’s direction, the reader will
perceive,
Ist, That the author has no general or fixed principles upon which he
proceeds.
716 APPENDIX.
9d, That his precepts, reasoning, and practice, are in direct violation
of natural taste ; and,
/
3d, As a consequence, that there is no absurdity in regard to effect
which he may not produce, and no limits, or certain data, in regard to the
expense, in which those who follow his directions may not be plunged.
Woop, the next, and by far the most important material, is described in
Chapters IV. and V. Every reader must be aware, that almost the whole
art of picturesque improvement consists in planting and the management
of wood; and also, that this material, being highly profitable, affords an
excellent opportunity of blending utility with beauty, and, of course, of
rendering the most pleasing scenery of a residence highly profitable.
When an author like Mr. Repton, of so much “ experience,” who has dis-
tributed his opinions in “ nearly two hundred red books,” who has “ guided
the taste and improved the scenery of his country” for nearly twenty
years, and who now sits down to deliver the result of his experience, in
order to “ establish fixed principles in an art which he elevated to dig-
nity,” and in which he alone “ united theory with practice,” it may rea-
sonably be supposed, that some very important particulars and excellent
principles would be developed for the instruction of mankind. In no to-
pic of rural affairs could instructions be so well received, because in no ma-
terial of landscape is the proprietor of landed property so much interested,
whether we regard the beauty or value of his estate. But Mr. Repton
dismisses the subject of planting in less than ten pages, without the least
hint of any general rule or principle, without a single new idea, or any
practical directions which could convey instruction either to the designer
or the practical planter !! The management of wood in Chap. V. contains
little more than along quotation from Whately, and a tedious description
ofa drive at Bulstrode. Nothing is said on either subject in “‘ HINTS AND
sketcues!” In the “ Enquiry into the cuaneags or TasTE, &c.” a few hints
are given, in pages 21, 2,3 and 4; but they are either absolutely erroneous,
or contradictory to experience, as the following paragraphs will shew,
APPENDIX. 717
«¢ The last fashion of drive which Mr. Brown never made is an open drive,.
so wide that it never goes near the trees, and which admits such a current,
of air, that the front trees are generally the worst in the plantation; add
to this, that two narrow slips of planting will neither grow so well, nor be
such effectual harbours for game, as deeper masses, especially when the
game are liable to be disturbed by a drive between them. The belt may
be useful as a screen; but, unless very deep, it should never be used as a
drive, at least till after the trees have acquired their growth, when. a drive
may be cut through the wood to advantage.” The first passage in italics, is
directly contrary to what takes place in experience; for in a widedrive, as
well as on the outer margin of a wood or grove, the trees are uniformly the
largest and most beautifully shaped. Every woodman knows, and any
“one may observe, that the second practice would inevitably produce wind
shakes, as may be seen in all parts of the island, from the openings lately
made in the platoons in Kensington Gardens, to the public roads cut
through the Scotch fir woods in Perthshire.
« It is not only the line of the modern belt and drive that is objection-
able, but also the manner in which the plantations are made, by the in-
discriminate mixture of every kind of tree. In this system of planting,
all variety is destroyed by the excess of variety, whether it is adopted in
belts or clumps, as they have been technically called;” (This ideais taken
from Mr. Price’s Essays; but Mr. Repton, not knowing how to reduce it
to practice, would thus proceed: he says,) “ for example, if ten clumps be
composed of ten different sorts of trees in each, they become so many
things exactly similar; but if each clump consist of the same sort of
trees” (that is, if one clump were of larches, another of Scotch firs, a third
of beeches, a fourth of oaks, a fifth of chesnuts, a sixth of thorns, and: so on)
they become ten different things, of which one may hereafter furnish a
group ‘of oaks, another of elms, another of chesnuts or of thorns, &c.”
Clumps of mixed, kinds are bad; but this mode would produce a dis-
tinctness and incongruity which would be incomparably worse. By such
a practice, unity, connection, and variety, would be set at defiance.
718 APPENDIX,
“ Tt is difficult to lay down rules for any system of planting, which may
ultimately be useful to this purpose ; time, neglect, and accident, will often
produce unexpected beauties! The gardener or nurseryman makes his
holes at equal distance, and generally in straight rows; he then fills the
holes with plants, and carefully avoids putting two of the same sort near
each other; nor is it very easy to make him ever put two or more trees
into the same hole, or within a yard of each other: he considers them as
cabbages or turnips, which will rob each other’s growth, unless placed at
equal distances ;” page 23. ‘The first sentence in italics I positively deny;
and though I could refer to my own practice in several instances, both in
extensive plantations and shrubberies, where the same general principles
are followed, I rather refer to Fonthill, where this, as far as regards Mr.
Repton’s argument, is done in the most complete manner. I also refer to
the practice of a planter whose writings, as they are well known, may pro-
bably be in the author’s possession; I mean Marssatu’s PLantine AND
Rurat Ornament, third edition, minute 8th, pages 351 and 352. What
can we learn from the rest of the sentence, but that things are in a bad
_ state, and that there is no help for it—We must just continue to have our
trees planted “ as cabbages or turnips*.’”’ ‘The above quotations are the
only passages in the whole of Mr. Repton’s writings which, in my opinion,
have the least pretence to scientific directions for planting ; and I am sure
they are such as never were, nor ever will be, followed either with success,
or effects agreeable to good taste and utility.
But I have only enumerated the general heads of Chapters IV. and V.
of “ Observations, &c.;” and therefore, in justice to Mr. Repton, I shall
particularize them (in italics), and add under each head a remark or two.
* T have lately had an opportunity of examining the red book from which the author
takes these remarks ; which, if possible, more fully convinces me that he neither compre-
hends Mr. Price’s ideas on the subject, nor understands the mode of putting any plan
ef this kind into practice.
APPENDIX. 719
« Cuaprer iv. Or piantine for immediate and for future effect.”
This is to shew, that Mr. Brown planted clumps with a view of producing
future groups; but, had this been the case, Mr. Brown would have studied
connection and general effect in these clumps relatively. ‘ Clumps, groups,
and masses.” We are shewn what these are on a plate; the one of arti-
ficial scenery, the other natural; the last is of ugly nature, and contains
two compact lumpish masses which every man of taste would avoid looking
at, which no painter would copy, nor any picturesque improver wish to
introduce into scenery; it is obviously an indirect attempt to shew that
clumps are xot unnatural, in the same way as the view of the Thames from
Purley (given in “ Observations,”) is probably selected out of many other pre-
ferable views, to. shew that even serpentine rivers sometimes exist in nature.
«* New modes of planting wastes and commons.” ‘This is merely using
deciduous trees and thorns in place of firs, and planting them large and
irregularly ; the difference of effect is shewn on two views, and the inven-
tion ascribed to Robert Marsham, Esq. of Stratton. “ The browsing line
described ; example, Mitton Assey.” ‘This is merely the line formed by
cattle cropping the lower branches of trees. “ Combination of masses to
produce great woods ; example, Coomse Lopes.”