170 



GARDENS OLD AND NFW. 



THE HOUSE FROM TUB RIVER. 



being only a means of walking up and down stairs in the open 

 air, the suggestion bring, one suppose-, that the Italians have 

 deliberately chosen t<- t-rm their gardens on steep declivities. 

 The choice is not always deliberate, but those are unfortunate 

 who have no well- accentuated slopes for their gardenage. 

 A witiy writer, Mr. Sieveking tells us, replied to the critic, 

 that the Italian could find but little pleasure in the melancholy 

 monotony if an Hngl sh park, and least of all in a large extent 

 of level lawn ; and that if you told him he was to contemplate 

 Nature tiit'sst\f, be would probably answer that he saw in it 

 only Nature shared. Now at haston Hall Nature is certainly 



THE UPPER TLRRACE. 



not over-dressed ; neither is it shaved ; there is a happy 

 combination of effects such as we cannot but admire, and the 

 house and the garden are as one. 



On the south side lies a lovely expanse of turf, and there 

 also, as part of the architectural creation, lying between the 

 two bays of the structure, is the great conservatory. Then 

 the Temple Walk leads through a very pleasant region of the 

 garden, and the long terrace, with its hedges and slopes and 

 its fine statuary, forms another attractive feature. Particularly 

 worth}' of note are fine flower vases, elegantly sculptured and 

 adorned, which are upon the upj'er stairway, by the bridge, 

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and in other parts of the 



grounds. They add interest 

 to the place, and, from the 

 same point of view, the noble 

 garden seat on the raised walk- 

 may be mentioned But in 

 short wherever we go in such 

 a garden as this, lying so 

 advantageously in regard to 

 situation, designed with so 

 much skill, and kept in sucii 

 a state of perfection, we cannot 

 fail to discover m my charms 

 and mai.y beauties of the 

 garden world. It has been 

 said in these page.; that the 

 character of the house should 

 be borne out in its surround- 

 ings, and we see that this is 

 eminently the case at Easton 

 Hall. The outlook from the 

 terrace over the valley has 

 nearly all the elements to be 

 sought in the best English 

 gardening the varied slope, 

 the abundance < f flowers, tha 

 water, the noble b.idge, and 

 the many features of interest 

 bey on I. 



