40 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



without which no satisfactory result can be realized. This 

 arises from the fact, that the mind can only attend with plea- 

 sure and satisfaction to one object or one composite sensation 

 at the same time. If two distinct objects or class of objects 

 present themselves at once to us, we can only attend satisfac- 

 torily to one, by withdrawing our attention for the time from 

 the other. Hence the necessity of a reference to this leading 

 principle of unity. 



To illustrate the subject, let us suppose a building, one 

 half of which is constructed of wood, with square windows, 

 and the remaining half of brick or stone, with long and nar- 

 row windows. However well such a building may be con- 

 structed, or however nicely the different proportions of the edi- 

 fice may be adjusted, it is evident it can never form a satis- 

 factory whole. The mind can only account for such an ab- 

 surdity, by supposing it to have been built by two individuals, 

 or at two different times, as there is nothing indicating a unity 

 of mind in its composition. 



In Landscape Gardening, violations of the principle of unity 

 are often to be met with, and they are always indicative of 

 the absence of correct taste in art. Looking upon a landscape 

 from the windows of a villa residence, we sometimes see a 

 considerable portion of the view embraced by the eye, laid 

 out in natural groups of trees and shrubs, and upon one side, 

 or perhaps in the middle of the same scene, a formal avenue 

 leading directly up to the house. Such a view can never 

 appear as a satisfactory whole, because we experience a con- 

 fusion of sensations in contemplating it. There is an 

 evident incongruity in bringing two modes of arranging 

 plantations so totally different, under the eye at one moment, 

 which distracts, rather than pleases the mind. In this exam- 

 ple the avenue taken by itself may be a beautiful object, and 



