II 



THE LAYING OUT OF A PARK OR ESTATE 



' AYING out grounds, as it is called, may be 

 considered as a liberal art, in some sort, like 

 poetry or painting; and its object like that 

 of the liberal arts is, or ought to be, to move the 

 affections under the control of good sense; that is 

 those of the best and wisest ; but speaking with more 

 precision, it is to assist nature in moving the affections, 

 and surely, as I have said, the affections of those 

 who have the deepest perception of the beauty of 

 nature; who have the most valuable feelings, that 

 is the most permanent, and most independent, the 

 most ennobling, connected with nature and human 

 life. No liberal art aims merely at the gratification 

 of an individual or a class: the painter or poet is 

 degraded in proportion as he does so; the true ser- 

 vants of the arts pay homage to the human kind as 

 impersonated in unwarped, enlightened minds. If 

 this be so when we are merely putting together words 

 or colours, how much more ought the feeling to pre- 

 vail when we are in the midst of the realities of things; 



of the beauty and harmony, of the joys and happiness 



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