DAWN OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 559 



down that hill through these woods, it becomes still more 

 enlivened." 



Of the " second " or " romantic " situation, he considers 

 the sentiment to be created by it is that of composure 

 rather than of grandeur. He still recommends the Gothic 

 for houses intended for use, but with regard to the archi- 

 tecture of ruins they may be of Grecian form ; the planta- 

 tions should consist of evergreen groves, the trees set very 

 near each other in the quincunx order, sometimes produc- 

 ing "long straight walks," and "long arched walks." 

 Water here should be smooth and quiet, and if a river, it 

 should be made to lose itself at the end in a thick wood, 

 and may be shaded in its course with Weeping Willow and 

 other trees. A small stream may be made to run purling 

 over pebbles, and if a waterfall or cascade is introduced, 

 the water should not be broken, but made to fall in one 

 regular sheet. " It is difficult to give directions for the 

 management of the ground in such situations ; smoothing 

 into a flat is always against taste ; and yet, perhaps, it 

 would here flatter the indolence of the mind." Again, 

 " The best disposition is to throw the ground into smooth 

 walks, following the course of the water and hills ; a soli- 

 tary walk in a deep valley, by the side of a smooth water, 

 and covered by the shades of the neighbouring hills and 

 woods, is the very region of melancholy." This is one of 

 the very few points in the essay in which I do not find my- 

 self at one with the author. I would not " flatter the 

 indolence of the mind," nor could I feel happy in "the very 

 region of melancholy." A garden and its surroundings 

 may very properly be designed and planted for rest and 

 meditation, but it is going a little too far, in my humble 

 judgment, to provide for indolence and melancholy. The 

 change of scenery presented by a varied and picturesque or 

 beautiful garden is the safest rest, but as to melancholy, is 

 it not dangerous to cater for its gratification ? 



The third situation is that of a champaign rich country 

 full of gentle inequalities. " The sentiment which it creates 



