i8o THE FORMAL GARDEN IN ENGLAND vm 



are characteristic instances of eighteenth-century 

 work. It appears, from the diary of Celia Fiennes, 

 that these gates were usually painted blue and gold. 

 The worst of it is that about the time that the 

 ironwork is supposed to want repainting, the 

 blue reaches the very perfection of its colour. 

 It has taken its place in nature, and this is the 

 difficulty about all external painting. It is no 

 use starting with delicate shades of green and 

 blue ; the colour flies and a cold uninteresting 

 gray is left. It is best to start with a good 

 strong coat of honest green, and leave it to the 

 sun and rain to bring about the refinements of 

 colour seen in old painted work. This beautiful 

 art of wrought -iron work might well be 

 employed again more freely in garden gates 

 and grilles. It is very unobtrusive, and it is 

 pleasant to come upon its subtle workmanship, 

 set in the rough surface of the garden -wall. 

 Like many other handicrafts, it has gone down 

 before the cry for cheapness. People supposed 

 that they got the sort of thing in cast-iron work 

 at a tenth of the price, and they are quite satisfied 

 with " the sort of thing," the a peu pres, 

 provided it is cheap, forgetting first that there is 

 no pleasure in a mechanical repetition even if 

 the original is good, and secondly, that cast iron 

 is a perfectly unsuitable material for gates. Cast 

 iron is brittle and heavy ; it is well enough for 

 stationary work, but it is apt to fly at a sudden 

 jar, and to gain the necessary strength it must be 



