Theory AND Practice 151 



from a house, and particularly those from the drawing- 

 room, ought rather to consist of objects which evidently 

 belong to the place. To express this idea, I have used 

 the word appropriation, by which I mean such a por- 

 tion of wood and lawn as may be supposed to belong 

 to the proprietor of the mansion, occupied by himself, 

 not so much for the purposes of gain as of pleasure 

 and convenience: this, of course, should be grass, 

 whether fed by deer, by sheep, or by other cattle, and 

 its subdivisions, if there be any, ought not to be per- 

 manent. I am ready to allow that this part of modern 

 gardening has often been egregiously mistaken and 

 absurdly practised ; I find no error so difficult to coun- 

 teract as the general propensity for extent, without 

 sufficient attention to the size, style, or character of the 

 house or of the surrounding estate. 



Extent and beauty have ever appeared to me distinct 

 objects ; and a small place, in which the boundary is 

 not obtrusive, may be more interesting and more con- 

 sonant to elegance and convenience than a large tract 

 of land, which has no other merit than that it consists 

 of many hundred acres or is encompassed by a pale of 

 many miles in circuit, while, perhaps, within this area, 

 half the land is ploughed in succession. 



The drawing-room, at present, looks towards the 

 south, but there appear to be several reasons for alter- 

 ing its aspect : 1st, because the hall and dining-room 

 command the same prospect, but more advantageously ; 

 2d, because the windows, being near the hall-door, a 

 carriage-road, which must occasionally be dirty, be- 

 comes a bad foreground ; and, lastly, the view toward 

 the east will not only be different from the others, but 

 is of such a nature as to appear wholly appropriate to 

 the place, and, therefore, in strict harmony with the 



