Whateli/s Observations on Windsor Castle. 149 



would, in general, be the most proper models, both in cha- 

 racter and dimensions. 



From all this grandeur the transition might be immediate 

 into scenes of perfect rural simplicity, if the paddocks below 

 the Great Park towards Old Windsor and Frogmore were 

 converted into a farm. Many of the hedges and hedgerows 

 which divided the old fields still remain ; and the several 

 divisions might be applied to different species of husbandry. 

 Arable lands might be intermixed with pastures and meadows, 

 and the succession of these be interrupted by a hop-ground 

 or an orchard ; or they might be distinguished by a cottage, 

 a barn, or a dairy, a stack of corn, or a haymow. Copses 

 and little woods frequently intervene, which would afford 

 opportunities for further variety, and the whole is perfectly 

 retired ; no neighbour is in sight ; no great road within hear- 

 ing: '• and such a contrast to the magnificence which surrounds 

 it, such a peaceable retreat from the parade of royalty, would 

 occasionally be a most interesting part of the domain. 



On the other side of the Great Park is the Forest, a vast 

 tract, where the ground is often beautiful and sometimes 

 romantic, but generally barren ; and the home view is com- 

 monly dreary, though the offskip is frequently agreeable, but 

 the soil will produce several kinds of trees. Large fir plant- 

 ations are reckoned among the beauties of some of the finest 

 countries in Europe ; they would create a new character of 

 country here, and be at the same time peculiar and orna- 

 mental. In many places our own forest trees would flourish, 

 and derive from the contrast a singular effect ; but it is not 

 necessary to cover all the wild with wood. The forms of the 

 ground, though bare, would in some spots be sufficiently 

 interesting, and in others the dreariness of the waste might 

 be broken by an object great and savage, and adapted to its 

 character, but the building may be of the most ordinary ma- 

 terials and coarsest execution ; for it is to be seen only from 

 a distance, and it should appear to be rude and desolate. A 

 representation of Stonehenge or Palmyra, under all these 

 circumstances, would not be an extravagant attempt. 



But the whole forest is not a desert; many parts are culti- 

 vated, lodges antl seats are dispersed all about it, and roads 

 might be conducted with ceaseless change through the enclo- 

 sures, the wikls, and the woods, amidst scenes always interest- 

 ing or beautiful, and from one agreeable prospect to another. 

 This vast range of ridings extends every way over a space 

 beyond a day's journey in circuit, and is still within the 

 domain. The whole extensive royalty lies all together, and 

 presses close up to the palace ; it differs in every circum- 



L 3 



