Large Private Places 39 



require but a little attention from art to mark the re- 

 sidence of a noble possessor ; yet, as there are a few 

 instances in which the interference of art can openly be 

 acknowledged, those few should not be neglected. 

 Buildings, however simple, if in character and not too 

 numerous, will more than anything contribute to dis- 

 play magnificence. 



Woods enriched by buildings, and water enlivened 

 by a number of pleasure-boats, alike contribute to mark 

 a visible difference betwixt the magnificent scenery of 

 a park and that of a sequestered forest: the trees, the 

 water, the lawns, and the deer are alike common to both. 



There is another distinction betwixt park and forest 

 scenery on which I shall beg leave to state my opinion, 

 as it has been a topic of some doubt and difficulty 

 amongst the admirers of my profession, viz. how far 

 gravel roads are admissible across the lawns of a park : 

 yet surely very little doubt will remain on this subject 

 when we consider a park as a place of residence; and 

 see the great inconvenience to which grass roads are 

 continually liable. 



I have endeavoured to discover two reasons which 

 may have given rise to the common technical objection 

 that a gravel road cuts up a lawn : the first arises from 

 the effect observed after an avenue has been destroyed, 

 where the straight line of gravel, which formerly was 

 less offensive while accompanied by trees, becomes in- 

 tolerable when it divides a small lawn directly through 

 the middle. The other arises from the effect which even 

 a winding turnpike road has in destroying the seques- 

 tered and solemn dignity of forest scenery : but in a park 

 a road of convenience and of breadth proportioned to 

 its intention as an approach to the house for visitors 

 will often be a circumstance of great beauty; and is a 



