Theory and Practice 209 



valley is so formed by nature that an inconsiderable 

 dam will cause a lake or rather broad river of great 

 apparent extent: for when 1 describe water, I never 

 estimate its effects by the number of acres it may cover, 

 but by its form, its continuity, and the facility with 

 which its termination is concealed. 



Where a place is rather to be formed than improved, 

 that is, where no mansion already exists, the choice 

 of situation for the house will in some measure depend 

 on the purpose for which it is intended and the char- 

 acter it ought to assume : thus a mansion, a villa, and 

 a sporting-seat require very different adaptation of the 

 same principles, if not a variation in the principles 

 themselves. The purpose for which the house at Bay- 

 ham is intended must decide its character: it is not 

 to be considered as a small villa, liable to change its 

 proprietor, as good or ill success prevails, but as the 

 established mansion of an English nobleman's family. 

 Its character, therefore, should be that of greatness 

 and of durability. The park should be a forest, the 

 estate a domain, the house a palace. Now, since magni- 

 ficence and compactness are as diametrically opposite 

 to each other as extension and contraction, so neither 

 the extended scale of the country nor the style nor the 

 character of the place will admit of a compact house. 



In determining effects, it is not sufficient to consider 

 merely the size of the building; but as all objects 

 appear great or small only by comparison, it is also 

 necessary to consider the size and character of those by 

 which this mansion will be accompanied. 



The surrounding scenery of Bayham must influence 

 the character of the house ; we must therefore consider 

 what style of architecture will here be most appro- 

 priate. There has ever appeared to me something 



