LANDSCAPE-GARDENING. 



597 



larger than it really is. In my opinion, therefore, 

 Michael Angelo was altogether mistaken when he 

 said of the pantheon: " It is a wonder upon earth, 

 but I will elevate it in the air,'' hoping thereby to 

 obtain still greater effect. By giving the dome of 

 St Peter's the same dimensions, he realized his 

 boast ; yet how unfavourable is the result! Erected 

 upon an enormous mass of building, the dome looks 

 comparatively diminutive and unimportant ; while 

 the pantheon, placed in a suitable point of view, 

 has for centuries been an object sublime as the vault 

 of heaven. Were they put upon the summit of 

 Mont Blanc, the pyramids would appear no larger 

 than sentry-boxes; and Mont Blanc itself, viewed 

 from a remote distance, appears of no greater size 

 than a heap of snow. Great and small, therefore, 

 are only relative terms. It is not according to 

 what it actually is, but according to what it shows 

 itself to the eye, that we form our estimate of any 

 object; and it is precisely here that a wide field 

 opens itself to the landscape gardener. The tree, 

 for example, which, although a hundred feet high, 

 does not shut out the horizon, when situated in 

 the middle ground of the prospect, would, were it 

 only ten feet in height, do that, if no more than a 

 few paces from us. Consequently, by a skilful 

 management of the foreground, we may most 

 easily, and most speedily, produce important ef- 

 fects, and give a striking physiognomy to the land- 

 scape." 



But what, the reader will ask, is to be under- 

 stood by "fore-ground?" A real landscape is not 

 like a picture, where the eye is confined to a single 

 point of view; for what is foreground in one situ- 

 ation becomes middle ground, or distance, when 

 beheld from another. Very true : the same fore- 

 ground cannot possibly remain; yet, although we 

 cannot retain the same, there should always be a 

 foreground, that is, along the whole of the direct 

 course through which the spectator passes. It is 

 with reference to such course that the landscape 

 gardener must work ; this he must consider a series 

 of stations from which so many pictures are to be 

 viewed ; casual ones there may be, to be obtained 

 by desultory and random rambling in any direction, 

 and, indeed, in beautiful scenery they can hardly 

 fail to occur ; but, as concerns the actual laying 

 out of the grounds, it is only certain definite points 

 that -can be subjects of study, and other results 

 and combinations must be left more or less to 

 accident. 



In the foreground itself, as well as elsewhere, 

 there must be variety; otherwise, whatever merit 

 it may possess in itself, it would appear too man- 

 nered. Diversity of shape, of colour, of light and 

 shade, must all be secured ; and every advantage 

 must be taken of inequalities of surface in the 

 ground : gentle undulations and swells, abrupt 

 breaks and hollows, may all be turned to account 

 for this purpose. The larger features of landscape 

 are not equally under our control : should nature 

 have been niggardly to the site in this respect, we 

 can do little towards counteracting her parsimony, 

 save in the way of planting, imparting to the scene 

 variety of verdure, and the richness of sylvan 

 luxuriance. From the tangled thicket to the light 

 open grove, between the interstices of whose foli- 

 age the sunbeams dart and flicker upon the rich 

 grassy sward from the plant and shrub, to the 

 majestically spreading tree all these may be 

 formed; though, in regard to objects of the last- 

 mentioned class, it must be confessed that they 



require more than the growth of a few summers 

 for their development, nor, unless previously ex- 

 isting on the spot, can they very conspicuously 

 adorn an entirely newly-formed place. On that 

 very account are they all the more to be prized and 

 cherished when we actually possess them, as orna- 

 ments of the scene not to be replaced by ourselves 

 or our immediate successors when once destroyed. 

 Independently of their nobleness as objects of 

 sight, the aspect of venerable trees and woods 

 exerts a powerful influence over the mind ; there 

 is a charm even in the very monotony of a dense 

 and uninterrupted screen of wood, and, when 

 viewed from an eminence, such an expanse of 

 foliage and verdure partakes, like the ocean, of 

 the sublime. 



In conformity with the character of the scenery 

 should be the character of the house, whether that 

 be castle, Grecian edifice, manorial building, or 

 cottage ornee. To scenery possessing an abrupt 

 romantic character, and the site limited to a small 

 extent, the castle is well adapted : its towers har- 

 monize with the rocky steep. Gentle undulations, 

 with sufficient extent for lawn and shrubberies, 

 are best graced with a Grecian edifice, which 

 courts variety and cheerfulness ; while the man- 

 orial building loves to be tranquilly embosomed in 

 the deeper shades of a woody and romantic scene. 

 The cottage ornee and the forest-lodge may be 

 appropriately placed amid picturesque and rural 

 scenery. 



In regard to the site of the house, it ought 

 rarely to be placed on the highest point of the 

 domain, particularly if that point is of considerable 

 height. Nor should a house be placed parallel to 

 a river or a valley. The best situation for a house 

 is on a platform, with a rising ground behind it, 

 and a depth below it, and the windows of the liv- 

 ing rooms of every house in this col<\ climate 

 should face the south. To preserve these entire, 

 the entrance hall should be placed in some other 

 quarter. Every house should be constructed so as 

 to conform with the extent of the domain, the 

 immediate ground on which it is placed, the scen- 

 ery it commands, the shelter requisite to comfort 

 within it, and the access to it. The manorial 

 style can admit of much greater picturesque effect 

 than any other, in conjunction with the offices, by 

 giving greater extent and variety to the pile, than 

 can be obtained in any of the square-like styles of 

 architecture. Indeed, the irregularity in the man- 

 orial building is highly beneficial, both in the var- 

 iety of the outline, and in the light and shadow 

 resulting from it, the want of which is so obvious 

 in the square flat surface of so many of our modern 

 houses. 



Though too much stress should not be imposed 

 in forming a particular character for the approach, 

 yet, it must be confessed, much enjoyment may be 

 derived from it, as a drive or a walk through scenes 

 which may not be accessible to the windows of 

 the house. An approach, as Mr Gilpin truly says, 

 should appear as an unstudied road to the house ; 

 and the scenery which it should command should 

 depend on the nature of that seen from the resi- 

 dence. If there the view is extensive, the ap- 

 proach should wind through a humbler path; but 

 should the house be confined among trees or rocks, 

 then it should display all the variety and beauty 

 of landscape which it is possible to obtain along its 

 course. It should break off at a large angle from 

 the public road, and avoid all curvilinear sweeps. 



