would be acknowledging (what I protest against) that the art of landscape gardening ought to be under the dominion of

fashion.

If this terrace were constantly an object of view, or very materially offensive to the general scenery of the place, its linear direction might cut the composition, and destroy its effect as a natural landscape: in its present situation it is merely a foreground, or frame, to a pleasing picture, and the view from hence is so fine, so varied, and so interesting, that the spectator must be fastidious indeed, who could turn away disgusted, because it is seen over a clipt hedge, or with a broad flat walk in its foreground. A beautiful scene will always be beautiful, whether we view it from an alcove, a window, or a formal terrace; and the latter, in the height of summer, may sometimes answer the purpose of an additional room or gallery, when there is much company, who delight to saunter on such an esplanade; while the intricacies of a winding path are better calculated for a solitary walk."

"The ancient dignity of character in the house at COBHAM would be violated by the too near intrusion of that gay prettiness which generally accompanies a garden walk; yet convenience and comfort require such a walk at no great distance from the house. * I shall, perhaps, astonish some of the improvers in modern serpentine gardening, by declaring that, as an appendage to this ancient mansion, I would prefer the broad and stately mall along a straight line of terrace, to their too frequently repeated waving line of beauty.

This sort of walk may, I think, be still farther encouraged, where it already in some degree exists, to the north of the kitchen-garden, which, falling from the eye, might easily be concealed from the park by a shrubbery kept low; not to intercept the view towards the opposite bank in the park, while it would give an imaginary increase of depth to the vale beneath. And, to remove the objection of returning by the same walk, a second terrace might be carried still higher on the bank, and, by the style and accompaniment of its plan

Twelve years ago, when I first delivered these opinions, they were deemed so contrary to modern practice, that I was cautious in defending them. I have since more boldly supported my original opinion, and rejoice that the good sense of the country admits their propriety.

tation, all sameness would easily be obviated, perhaps, by making one of them a winter walk, planted chiefly with evergreens and shrubs.

To justify my opinion, it is necessary to guard against a misconstruction of what I have advanced, lest I may be accused of reviving the old taste of gardening.

I do not recommend the terrace as an object of beauty in all cases, but of convenience; for the same reason that I advise the proximity of a kitchen-garden, provided the principal apartments do not look upon either.

Our ancestors were so apt to be guided by utility, that they at length imagined it was in all cases a substitute for beauty; and thus we frequently see ancient houses surrounded not only by terraces, avenues, and fish-ponds, but even stables, and the meanest offices, formed a part of the view from the windows of their principal rooms. I am far from recommending a return to these absurdities; yet, in the rage for picturesque beauty, let us remember that the landscape holds an inferior rank to the historical picture; one represents nature, the other relates to man in a state of society; if we banish winter comforts from the country seats of our nobility, we shall also banish their inhabitants, who generally reside there more in winter than in summer; and there is surely no object of greater comfort and utility belonging to a garden and a country mansion, than a dry, spacious walk for winter, sheltered by such trees as preserve their clothing, while all other plants are destitute of foliage.

"Vernantesque comas tristis ademit hyems."

[Dreary winter has stripped off the green leaves.]

I will add the opinion of a very able commentator, who, mentioning “this self-evident proposition, that a rural scene

"In the summer season the whole country blooms, and is a kind of garden, for which reason we are not so sensible of those beauties, that at this time may be everywhere met with; but when nature is in her desolation, and presents us with nothing but bleak and barren prospects, there is something unspeakably cheerful in a spot of ground which is covered with trees, that smile amidst all the rigours of winter, and give us a view of the must gay season, in the midst of that which is the most dead and melancholy."-Spectator, No. 477.

And the great Lord Bacon says, " In the royal ordering of gardens, there ought to be gardens for every month in the year."

in reality, and a rural scene on canvas, are not precisely one and the same thing," says, "that point in which they differ here, is not itself without a guiding principle: UTILITY sets up her claim, and declares that, however concurrent the genuine beauty of nature and picture may be, the garden scene is hers, and must be rendered conformable to the purposes of human life; if to these every consonant charm of painting be added, she is pleased; but by no means satisfied, if that which is convertible to use be given absolutely to wildness."-Elements of Criticism.

The natural situation of BURLEY differs from that of every other large place which has fallen under my consideration. To say that the house stands on a lofty hill, would be giving a very imperfect idea of its situation; on the contrary, it ought rather to be described as a magnificent palace, built on the extremity of a vast plain, or, what is called by geographers, a table mountain, from the brow of which it boldly commands an assemblage of wood, water, lawn, and distant country, spread magnificently at its base.

The view from the principal suite of apartments, however rich and varied in itself, becomes much more interesting by the power of contrast, because the great plain to the north affords no promise of such views, and, therefore, the surprise occasioned by this unexpected scenery, is a subject worthy the attention of the improver: the effects of surprise are seldom to be produced by art, and those who attempt to excite it by novelty, or contrast, are in danger of falling into puerile conceits. But where, as in the present instance, much of the natural sublime exists, this effect should be increased by every means which does not betray the insignificance of art, when compared with the works of nature.

For this reason, if the approach were brought along the straight line of avenue, gradually ascending, the situation of BURLEY would lose much of its sublimity by anticipation.

Like those described by Sir William Chambers, in his "Chinese Gardening."

The prevalence of fashion, in all subjects of taste, will at times have its influence, but as fashion is more the effect of whim and caprice, than of reason and argument, it has been my great object to rescue landscape gardening from its fascinating power; and, while accommodating myself to the wishes of those who consult me, to the customs of the times, or to the peculiarity of various situations and characters, I hope never to lose sight of the great and essential object of my profession, the elegance, the magnificence, and the convenience of rural scenes, appropriated to the uses of a* gentleman's habitation.

This may be equally effected, whether we revert to the formal fashion of straight walled gardening, or adopt the serpentine lines of modern improvers, under the pretended notion of imitating nature. But there is a certain dignity of style in BURLEY, which, like the cumbrous robes of our nobility, neither can nor ought to be sacrificed to the innovation of fashion or the affectation of ease and simplicity.

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Mr. Burke justly observes, that "a true artist should put "a generous deceit on the spectators, and effect the noblest designs by easy methods. Designs that are vast, only by "their dimensions, are always the sign of a common and low "imagination. No work of art can be great but as it de"ceives;† to be otherwise is the prerogative of nature only.” This precept seems to have been overlooked in the attempts to modernise BURLEY: the spacious court, surrounded by a colonnade, has been frequently quoted as a wonderful effort of art and when the distant country was excluded by a wall, by the village, and by trees beyond it, this ample area was undoubtedly one of the most striking appendages of a palace.‡ But the moment one side of the quadrangle is opened to the adjacent country, it shrinks from the comparison, and the

* By this term I mean to express scenery, less rude and neglected than the forest haunts of wild animals, and less artificial than the farmer's field, laid out for gain, and not for appearance: or, in the words of a celebrated author, "to create a scenery more pure, more harmonious, and more expressive, than any that is to be found in nature itself."

[+ See our note on this subject, p. 77.-J.C.L.]

Lest this should look like an implied censure on the person by whose advice the wall was removed, I must acknowledge that, till I had seen the effect, I might have adopted the same error, in compliance with the prevailing fashion of opening lawns.

long fronts of opposite offices seem extended into the vast expanse, without any line of connexion. This comparative insignificancy of art is nowhere more strongly exemplified than in the large wet docks of Liverpool and Hull while the margins of the river are left dry by the ebbing tides, we look with astonishment at the capacious basins, filled with a vast body of water; but when the tide flows to the same level, and the floodgates are thrown open, the extent and importance of the river convert these artificial basins into creeks or mere pools. It is, therefore, only by avoiding a comparison with the works of nature, that we can produce the effect of greatness in artificial objects; and a large court surrounded by buildings, can have no pretensions to be deemed a natural object.

After removing the wall, which formed the front of the court, a doubt arose whether the present gate and porter's lodge should or should not remain, and how to approach the house to the greatest advantage.

*

There is a certain point of distance from whence every object appears at its greatest magnitude: but in cases where symmetry prevails, the distance may be rather greater, because exact correspondence of parts assists the mind in forming an idea of the whole. I should therefore conceive, that the effect of surprise, of magnificence, and of the sublime, in this effort of art, is greatly injured by seeing the interior of this ample court, before we arrive at the entrance gate; because that is nearly the spot where the eye is completely filled and gratified by the surrounding objects. But as this view should not be momentary, I suppose the road to continue from the gate in a straight line, till it falls into a circle with the colonnade; and here the broad road may be intercepted with posts and chains, to direct carriages into that course which displays the whole area to the greatest advantage, passing nearer to the side colonnade; shewing that in perspective, and presenting the house at the angle to shew its depth. The manner in which this is effected by sweeping round the court, is not to be described by painting; because every step varies the position of the several parts, as they advance or recede perspectively.

• This subject has been discussed in Chapter II.