165 



before it was disturbed ; but it appears a 

 great refinement, which therefore will be 

 admitted with difhculty to say — that what 

 is unnatural and artificial (particularly with 

 regard to ground) should be done, or left, if 

 done already, in order to produce certain 

 painter-like effects, that these raised ter- 

 races, Sec. accord with the manifest art of 

 all that belongs to building and architec- 

 ture, that by contrast they give a greater 

 relish for the natural undulations of the 

 grounds in other parts, that they admit of 

 more striking and varied ornaments than 

 mere earth and grass, and form a just gra- 

 dation from highly embellished, to simple 

 nature; just as the polished lawn or grove 

 does afterwards, to the wilder wood-walks 

 and pastures.* 



* Mr. Brown has been celebrated for the bold idea of 

 taking down Richmond terrace. The word bold, must 

 always be misplaced in speaking of his works, and here as 

 usual. Had he loosened the ground of a high, but regu- 

 larly sloped bank of a river, and turned for some time the 

 current against it, in order to take advantage of the breaks 

 and varieties which that current might occasion, — it would 

 have been bold ; for then, in opposition to common-place 



