COUNTRY VILLAS. 213 



and secure, comniancls so much respect on accoiuit of these qualities, that 

 other points are not thought of: we cannot hesitate to use a passage that has 

 apparently been so often traversed by others before us ; and that we may 

 fancy has been only made for the convenience of exploring what lies beyond. 

 Were such a tunnel to appear to be constructed of raw brick, or stone newly 

 dug from tlie quarry, the question would arise in the mind of a stranger, why 

 it had become necessary ; imd suspicions might arise as to some trick or 

 deception about to be played oiF; or that some advantage had been taken in 

 the way of making the place appear larger or better than it really is. 



310. Supposing the subsoil to he very wet, and incapable of being drained to 

 any great depth, then, instead of conducting the walk under the approach in 

 a tunnel, we would carry it over the road on a bridge. In this case, the 

 approach road should be placed in the bottom of a hollow, and the bridge 

 should be sufficiently wide to allow of a plantation being made on each side 

 of the road over it, so as to conceal the approach from the spectator on the 

 walk. In short, the approach should appear rather to pass through a short 

 tunnel than under a bridge; and the same remarks as to age, di'yness, light, 

 strength, &c., will apply, as in the case of the sunk tunnel for the walk. 

 Many persons, in such a case as this, would propose to carry the walk over 

 the approach road, on some kind of iron bridge ; perhaps even one on the 

 suspension principle ; but such bridges, though excellent in themselves, and 

 admirably adapted for useful purposes, are the very reverse of rural or pic- 

 turesque. Their lightness does not at all harmonise with the forms of trees 

 and shrubs, and of the rough surface of their trunks and stems ; and the asso- 

 ciations connected with iron and its manufacture are much more at variance 

 with rural life than those which arise from the works of the builder or car- 

 penter, to which mankind have been accustomed from the most remote ages. 

 Where it is desired that the grounds of a residence should appear truly rural 

 and picturesque, we would allow of no iron gates, iron hurdles, or wire fences ; 

 much less of tree guards of iron, iron seats and benches, iron trelliswoik, iron 

 stakes for plants, &c. Where, however, a high degree of elegance and finish 

 was to be joined to the picturesque, such as near the house, we would allow 

 of a wire fence, to separate tlie lawn from the park, paddock, or sheep walk; 

 and, for grand mansions, castles, and pnlaces, we would admit of highly 

 wrought entrance gates ; but this is as far as we could go. Of course, we do 

 not object to iron in the construction of veranda*, glazed structures, &c., 

 where it assumes an architectural character, and is, besides, disguised, so as 

 to appear like wood. Our principle is, that we object to iron, where, from 

 the form of the article, the material of which it is composed is obvious to the 

 eye of every spectator; and, consequently, its use interferes with rural and 

 picturesque beauty. 



311. A rustic seat. — From q in fig. 119. p. 207., where ihe walk emerges 

 from the tunnel, it gradually rises till we arrive at the seat r. From this seat, 

 which may be a rustic thatched structure, in the manner o'l fig. 123., with a 

 wall behind, and open arches in front supported on rustic pillars, a good view 

 of the entrance front of the house is obtained, which will have a somewhat 

 striking effect upon a stranger, his last view of it having been the very oppo- 

 site side, viz. the conservatory front. The construction of this seat is as 

 follows : — The whole of the ground on which it stands, being dug out to the 

 depth of 2 ft., is filled in, to within 6 in. of the surface, with concrete ; or with 



