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moment the walk is entered upon. 

 Hence every straight walk should 

 have an object at each end, such as 

 a seat, an alcove, an archway, a 

 gate, a door, a statue, a fountain, 

 &c. A winding walk, on the con- 

 trary, requires no object at the 

 farther end to allure the spectator ; 

 because every turn has the effect of 

 an object by exciting his curiosity 

 and inducing him to advance to see 

 what is beyond. Where one walk 

 abuts upon or joins another at a 

 nearly right angle, it becomes sub- 

 ject to the same laws as a straight 

 walk ; and opposite to the abutting 

 point or place of junction there 

 ought to be a seat, a statue, or some 

 other object, partly to form a ter- 

 mination to the abutting or joining 

 walk, and partly to serve as an 

 obvious reason why the one walk 

 joins to the other at that point 

 rather than elsewhere. At the 

 same time other reasons for the 

 junction at that point may exist or 

 may be created ; for example, . the 

 surface of the ground may be favour- 

 able, or trees and shrubs may be 

 planted so as to render it appa- 

 rently impossible to join anywhere 

 else. It has been said, that in 

 laying out winding walks nature 

 should be imitated, and the track 

 of sheep in pastures, or of wild 

 animals on commons, have been 

 held up as examples : — 



— " The milkmaid's careless step 

 Has, tln-ough you pastvu-e green, from 



stile to stile, 

 Imprest a kindred curve ; the scudding 



hare 

 Draws to her dew-sprent seat, o'er 



thymy heaths, 

 A path as gently wavhig." — 



But to imitate such walks would 

 be to copy vulgar nature; and 

 therefore art refines on these lines 

 by rendering them more definite and 

 elegant. In short, by exhibiting in 



them a choice of form or line for its 

 own sake ; because of the various 

 lines or parts of lines found in acci- 

 dental foot-paths, or in the tracks 

 of hares, some must be more agree- 

 able to the eye than others, and it 

 is only these agreeable parts which 

 are to be imitated, and combined in 

 garden scenery. All this is founded 

 on the recognition of a principle 

 which is, or ought to be, the found- 

 ation of all the fine arts ; viz. that 

 nature is to be imitated, not to be 

 copied. To copy nature exactly as 

 she appears before us is the pro- 

 vince of common art, and may be 

 pleasing to many minds ; but to 

 minds of culture and refinement, 

 nature requires to be copied in such 

 a manner or in such a medium as to 

 show art. If this were not the case, 

 and if we were to copy footpaths 

 exactly, then we should, of course, 

 not gravel them, or define them by 

 regular edges. Hence, when one 

 walk joins another, the angles of 

 junction should never be rounded off 

 in that extreme degree which is 

 found in public roads ; where, in 

 turning out of one path into ano- 

 ther, an obtuse or rounded angle 

 seldom fails to be found. The 

 appearance of such an angle in 

 garden scenery, whether in carriage- 

 roads or foot wallcs, destroys all 

 allusion to high art : and hence, 

 in all gardens containing winding 

 walks which are much frequented, 

 the junctions of these walks with 

 others should be protected by trees 

 and shrubs, or by vases or other 

 architectural objects, in such a 

 manner as to render this rounding 

 of the angles of junction impossible. 

 The construction of walks, more 

 especially on soils which are not 

 naturally dry, and on surfaces which 

 are not level or nearly so, requires 

 considerable skill. The inclination 

 of the walk from one point to 



