198 Landscape Gardening 



that have cost between one and two hundred thousand 

 dollars; and every one of which either already has been, or 

 soon will be, enjoyed by others than those who constructed 

 them. This is the great and glaring mistake of our wealthy 

 men, ambitious of taste, - - that of supposing that only by 

 large places and great expenditures can the problem of 

 rural beauty and enjoyment be solved. The truth is, that 

 with us, a large fortune does not and cannot (at least at 

 the present time) produce the increased enjoyment which 

 it does abroad. Large estates, large houses, large estab- 

 lishments, only make slaves of their possessors; for the 

 service, to be done daily by those who must hold aloft this 

 dazzling canopy of wealth, is so indifferently performed, 

 servants are so time-serving and unworthy in this country, 

 where intelligent labor finds independent channels for itself, 

 that the lord of the manor finds his life overburdened with 

 the drudgery of watching his drudges. 



Hence the true philosophy of living in America is to be 

 found in moderate desires, a moderate establishment, and 

 moderate expenditures. We have seen so many more ex- 

 amples of success in those of even less moderate size, that 

 we had almost said, with Cowley "a little cheerful house, 

 a little company, and a very little feast." * 



But among those who undertake too much, by far the 

 largest class is that whose members do so through ignorance 

 of what is to be done. 



Although the world is pretty well aware of the existence 

 of professional builders and planters, still the majority of 

 those who build and plant in this country do it without the 

 advice of experienced persons. There is apparently a 

 latent conviction at the bottom of every man's heart that 

 he can build a villa or a cottage and lay out its grounds in 

 a more perfect, or, at least, a much more satisfactory man- 

 ner than any of his predecessors or contemporaries. Fatal 

 delusion ! One may plead his own case in law, or even write 

 a lay sermon, like Sir Walter Scott, with more chance of suc- 

 cess than he will have in realizing, in solid walls, the perfect 



* An extremely sound philosophy for any land or any age. -- Editor. 



