30 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



acquainted with the geography of the coun- 

 try, to whom the owner of tlie house pointed 

 out this fortunate circumstance, informed him 

 that he might, if he chose it, see from his 

 lawn seven churches, by removing the trees 

 that hid them. In an evil hour he listened to 

 the tempter, and when, some time after, in 

 passing through the neighbourhood, I called, 

 in expectation of seeing what had been so 

 happily begun as successfully completed, I 

 found the proprietor seated on a bare lawn, 

 contemplating through a telescope his seven 

 churches. I have here stated a literal fact, 

 and, I fear, not a solitary instance, in which 

 the love of prospect has triumphed over taste, 

 comfort, and convenience. 



An extensive distance is no doubt highly 

 interesting. The indistinctness of its com- 

 ponent parts, and its susceptibility of variety 

 from every passing cloud, offer that constant 

 invitation to curiosity which excites the sensa- 

 tion of cheerfulness in the mind of the be- 

 holder. But while 



" the rude unskilful eye 



" Which wild variety with zeal pursues, 



" And still is pleased the more, the more it views," 



