general scenery, they will, so far from disgracing it, add to the dignity that wealth can derive from the exercise of benevolence. Under such impressions, and with such sentiments, I am peculiarly happy in being called upon to mark a spot for new cottages, instead of those which it is necessary to remove, not absolutely because they are too near the house, for that is hardly the case with those cottages in the dell, but because, the turnpike-road being removed, there will be no access for the inhabitants but through a part of the park, which cannot then be private. I must advise, however, that some one or more of the houses in this dell be left, and inhabited either as a keeper's house, a dairy, or a menagerie, that the occasional smoke from the chimneys may animate the scene. The picturesque and pleasing effect of smoke ascending, when relieved by a dark hanging wood in the deep recess of a beautiful glen like this, is a circumstance by no means to be neglected."

As an example of a place in a mountainous country, the following extract from the Red Book of RüG, in North Wales, is subjoined: " At a period when the ancient family honours of a neighbouring country are rooted out with savage barbarity, I rejoice in an opportunity of contributing my assistance to preserve in this, every vestige of ancient or hereditary dignity; and I should feel it a kind of sacrilege in taste to destroy an atom of that old, ruinous, and almost uninhabitable mansion at RÜG, if it were to be replaced by one of those gaudy scarlet houses, which we see spring up, like mushrooms, in the neighbourhood of large manufacturing towns. I am, however, restrained from indulging, to its full extent, my veneration for antiquity, by reflecting that modern comfort and convenience are the first objects to be consulted in the improvement of a modern residence; and, therefore, I trust I shall neither incur the censure of those who know and feel the comforts of the age we live in, nor offend the genius of the place, by calling from the vasty deep the angry spirits' of Owen Glendwr of Burgontum, who formerly inhabited this domain.

"In a country like that of North Wales, abounding in

magnificent scenery, the views from the house should rather aim at comfort and appropriation of landscape, than extensive prospect; because the latter may be had from every field or public-road on the mountains; and the attempt to make a large park or domain would be fruitless, where a lawn of a thousand acres would appear but a small spot, compared with the wide expanse of country seen from the neighbouring hills. I should therefore advise the lawn to be confined within the compass of forty or fifty acres; yet, from the variety of its surface, and the diversity of objects it contains, there will be more real beauty, and even magnificence, within this small enclosure, than in other parks of many hundred acres.

However partial we may be to grand and extensive prospects, they are never advisable for the situation of a house, in ⚫ which convenience and comfort should doubtless take the lead of every other consideration. The frequent rains, and violent storms of wind, to which all mountainous countries are exposed, have taught the inhabitants not only to choose warm valleys for their houses, but have also introduced a style of architecture peculiarly suited to those situations: the small towns of Llangollen and Corwen, as well as those in the mountains of Switzerland, have all low sheds, or penthouses, under which the inhabitants may take shelter from occasional driving storms. The arcade of Gothic architecture is infinitely more applicable to such situations than the lofty portico of Greece, which is rather calculated for those warm regions where man wants protection from the vertical beams of a burning sun. I hope, therefore, that both the character and situation of RUG, will justify a design for a new house, which may possess a degree of grandeur and magnificence not incompatible with modern convenience."

There is no circumstance in which bad taste is so conspicuous, as in the misuse of ornaments and decorations; an ob

This Red Book having been written in 1793, it was before I had the advantage of my son's architectural assistance; and the design here mentioned was that of my ingenious friend Mr. Wilkins, who built one of the best houses in England for Earl Moira, at DONNINGTON, in a correct Gothic style, and under whom my son was at that time studying: for reasons, which I had no right to inquire into, the plan for the house was not adopted; in every other respect, however, my plans have there been followed in the most gratifying manner.

servation equally applicable to all the polite arts, and not less true with respect to eloquence, poetry, music, and painting, than to architecture and gardening.

Thus, for instance, a rural scene may be delightful without any building or work of art, yet, if judiciously embellished by artificial objects in character with the scene, the landscape: will be more perfect; on the contrary, if encumbered by buildings in a bad taste, or crowded by such as are too large, too small, or in any respect inapplicable, however correct they may be as works of art, the scene will be injured, and thus a thatched hovel may be deemed an ornament, where a Corinthian temple would be misplaced, or vice versa.

In this miscellaneous chapter may properly be inserted some specimens of various buildings, to elucidate the truth of an observation, which hardly seems to require enforcing; yet the frequent introduction of ornamental buildings, copied from books, without reference to the character and situation of the scenery, is not less fatal to the good taste of the country, than it would be to the life of individuals, to use medical prescriptions without inquiring into the nature and cause of diseases.

The facility with which a country carpenter can erect small buildings intended for ornament, may, perhaps, account for their frequency; but I am not ashamed to confess, that I have often experienced more difficulty in determining the form and size of a hovel, or a park entrance, than in arranging the several apartments of a large mansion; indeed, there is no subject. on which I have so seldom satisfied my own judgment, as in that of an entrance to a park.

The custom of placing a gate between two square boxes, or, as it is called, a "pair of lodges," has always appeared to me absurd, because it is an attempt to give consequence to that which in itself is mean; the habitation of a single labourer, or, perhaps, of a solitary old woman, to open the gate, is split into two houses for the sake of childish symmetry;" and very often the most squalid misery is found in the person

*

As this absurd fashion of a pair of lodges deserves to be treated with ridicule, I cannot help mentioning the witty comment of a celebrated lady, who, because they looked like tea-caddies, wrote on two such lodges in large letters, GREEN and BOHEA.

thus banished from society, who inhabits a dirty room of a few feet square. *

It is the gate, and not the dwelling of the person who opens it, that ought to partake of the character of the house, where architectural display is necessary; and this principle seems to point out the true mode of marking the entrance to a place. Instead of depopulating villages, and destroying hamlets in the neighbourhood of a palace, I should rather wish to mark the importance of the mansion, and the wealth of its

[The existence of so many lodges, containing accommodation of this description throughout the country, by the sides of the public-roads; and of equally miserable houses for gardeners, in the back sheds of hothouses in kitchen-gardens, almost everywhere; shews how very little sympathy there exists between the rich and the poor in England. The cause of this, we believe to be, in most cases, want of reflection, and ignorance of the moral fact, that the more extended our sympathy is for our fellow-creatures, the greater will be our enjoyments. Another cause of the miserable accommodation in the lodges at gentlemen's gates, and also in gardeners' houses, may be traced to the want of sympathy with those whom they consider beneath them, on the part of architects, landscape gardeners, and builders. The greater number of these persons being sprung from the people, necessarily have more or less the character of parvenus, when introduced into the society of the higher classes. Observing in this class the contempt and disdain with which they look on the mass of the people, they naturally avoid everything which may remind either themselves, or the society into which they have been introduced, of their low origin. Hence they fear, that, to advocate the cause of the class from which they sprang, to be thought to care about their comfort, or to suggest improvements in their dwellings, would remind the employer of their origin, and be thought derogatory to their newly acquired station. An architect, or a landscape gardener, therefore, who has sprung from the people, is rarely found with the moral courage necessary to propose, to the rich who employ him, ameliorations of any kind for the poor. In the course of thirty years' observation we have found this to hold good, both in Scotland and England, and in the former country more particularly. How many improved plans of kitchen-gardens, and new ranges of hothouses, have there not been carried into execution in Scotland, since the commencement of the present century, and yet how few improved gardeners' houses have been built within the same period. Mr. Repton, having been born a gentleman, was under no such dread as that to which we have alluded, and we find him continually advocating the improvement of cottages. It is clearly both the duty and interest of the higher classes, to raise, by every means, the standard of enjoyment among all that are under them. Humanity dictates this line of action, as well as prudence; for it would be easy to shew, that, if improvement did not pervade every part of society, the breach between the extreme parts would soon become so great as to end in open rupture. The more the comforts, enjoyments, and even luxuries, of every servant, from the highest to the lowest, are increased, the more will they be useful, assiduous, and attached to their masters. Every servant feels this, and by every master it either is or will be felt.-Gard. Mag. vol. iv. p. 46. See also the same work, vol. viii. p. 257 to 266. J.C.L.]

domain, by the appearance of proper provision for its poor dependants; the frequent instances I have witnessed, where the industrious labourer had many miles to walk from his daily task, have strongly enforced the necessity, not to say the humanity, of providing comfortable and convenient residences for those who may have employment about the grounds. It is thus that the real importance of a place might be distinguished by the number of cottages, or, rather, substantial houses, appropriated to the residence of those belonging to the place; this would truly enrich the scenery of a country, by creating a village at the entrance of every park; it is not by their number only, but by the attention to the neatness, comfort, and simple ornament of such buildings, that we should then judge of the style of the neighbouring palace; and whether the houses were of clay and thatched, or embellished with the ornaments of architecture, there would be equal opportunity for the display of good taste.

The entrance to HAREWOOD PARK, from a large town of the same name, may serve as a magnificent specimen of this kind of importance; and although, in this instance, the character and peculiar circumstances of this splendid palace are properly supported, by the regularity and substantial manner in which the town is built and ornamented, yet, in more humble situations, the same attention to the repair and neatness of the adjoining cottages, would confer adequate propriety to this mode of entrance. Various specimens of this attention may be seen in the roads near the following places:-BABWORTH, BETCHWORTH, BUCKMINSTER, CATTON, LIVERMERE,