Theory and Practice 173 



we shall pronounce the situation to be flat also, although 

 the ground immediately near the house be varied and 

 uneven ; whilst, on the contrary, if the road winds its 

 course over gentle hills and dales and at length ascends 

 a steep bank to the house, we shall always consider it as 

 standing on an eminence, although the views from the 

 house may be perfectly flat. 



I have, therefore, watched with nice attention the 

 first ideas which have occurred to me in visiting any 

 new subject; and if a more intimate knowledge of it in- 

 duces me afterwards to alter my opinion, I then inquire 

 into the causes which influenced my former false judge- 

 ment, that I may by this means increase or diminish 

 them accordingly. 



One of the first objects of improvement should be 

 to adapt the character of the grounds to that of the 

 house; and both should bear some proportion to the 

 extent of property by which they are surrounded. 



At Stoke, in Herefordshire, the house and park are as 

 perfectly separated from each other by a turnpike road 

 as if they were the property of different persons ; and 

 both are seen from that road in the most unfavourable 

 points of view. Of the house little is visible except the 

 roof and chimneys ; and with respect to the park, which 

 naturally abounds with the most pleasing shapes of 

 ground, richly clothed with wood, the road passes so 

 immediately at the foot of the declivity that the whole 

 appears foreshortened, and all its beauties are entirely 

 lost. To divert the course of this road, therefore, be- 

 comes the first object of improvement. 



I have, on several occasions, ventured to condemn 

 as false taste that fatal rage for destroying villages or 

 depopulating a country, under the idea of its being 



