138 



Architectural Gardening. 



forms. Such are a few of the feelings resurrected by contem- 

 plating Art objects. Sometimes an over zealous patron of Hebes 

 •^nd Bacchantes and Yenuses, intersperses his domain so thickly 

 ^vith his favorites, that the eye tires with their constant recurrence, 

 and in the place of contributing an agreeable finish, assume a stiff- 

 ness and formality very much out of keeping, and really makes 

 one think that the gratified proprietor has turned idolater, and 

 given himself, body and soul, over to his idols. This remark, 

 however, cannot apply to the London Horticultural Gardens at 

 Chiswick, which are profusely filled with marble, for they are 

 all exquisite gems of art, and individually possess a world of 

 beauty. Horace Walpole being an Art critic, however, advises 

 retrenchment. But his judgment will not pass current with the 

 man of taste who has visited Strawberry Hill — the most incongru- 

 ous pile of lath, stone and mortar, constructed since Babylon's 

 tower was chronicled as an architectural monstrosity. Walpole 

 himself, a great admirer of sculptuary, did not indulge his passion 

 at Strawberry Hill otherwise than in interior decoration, whicli he 

 carried to an excess inexcusable in a man of his stamp. 



Statuary may be introduced with propriety near entrance gates, 

 parapets of terraces contiguous to the house, or may be elevated 

 on tastefully wi'ought columns, but alwaj'S in the vicinitj' of ar- 

 chitectural objects. In geometric gardens they are frequently dis- 

 covered embellishing centres formed by walks converging to a 

 common source. They are also fitting occupants for temples, 

 where the latter form the termination of a vista. 



The cottage, Mr. Downing says, may have its vase, but where 

 tlie building is small, the basket vase made of bits of wood and fill- 

 ed with flowering plants, is in better keeping than those made of 

 any more highly artificial materials." 



One rule regarding planting, either a vase or statue cannot. 



