r>s 



The position of looking glasx 8, with respect to the light 

 and cheerfulness of rooms, was not well understood in England 

 during the last cent ury, although on the Continent the effect 



of large mirrors had long been studied in certain palaces: great 

 advantage was in some cases taken by placing them obliquely, 

 and in others by placing them opposite: thus new scenes and 

 unexpected effects were often introduced. 



A circumstance occurring by accident has led me to avail 

 myself in many cases of a similar expedient. Having directed 



a Conservatory to be built along a south wall, in a house near 



Bristol, I was surprized to find that its whole length appeared 

 from the end of the passage in a very different position to that I 

 had proposed: but on examination I found that a large looking 



glass, intended for the salon (which was not quite finished to 

 receive it) had been accidentally placed in the grcen-hou>e, at an 

 angle of forty-five degrees, shewing the conservatory in this man- 





ner: and I have since made occasional use of mirrors so placed 

 to introduce views of scenery which could not otherwise 



visible from a particular point of view. But of all the improve- 

 ments in modern luxury, whether belonging to the Architect's or 

 Landscape Gardeners department, none is more delightful than 

 the connection of living-rooms with a green-house or conserva- 

 tory ; although they should always be separated by a small lobby, 

 to prevent the damp and smell of earth; and when a continued 

 covered way extends from the house to objects at some distance, 

 like that at Woburn, it produces a degree of comfort, delight, 

 and beauty, which in every garden ought, more or less, to be 







