158 OUT-OF-TOWN PLACES. 



his duty so to illustrate them as to make them command 

 the acceptance of the multitude. He has no right to 

 ignore the onlook of the world, and be careless if the 

 world condemns or approves. 



A high railway embankment traversing the low 

 lands of a country estate, if at a good remove from 

 the homestead, is not so awkward a matter to deal 

 with as might at first be supposed. A few years of 

 well-tended growth in a forest screen may be made 

 to exclude it altogether ; but care should be taken 

 lest such screen, by its uniformity, should present the 

 same tame outlines with the embankment itself. To 

 avoid this, the woody plantation should flow down in 

 little promontories of shrubbery upon the flat ; it 

 should have its open bays upon the embankment it- 

 self, disclosing at intervals a glimpse of the passing 

 trains ; and, above all, the bridge or culvert, which 

 keeps good the water-courses of the land, should be 

 distinctly indicated, and might have its simple deco- 

 rative features. 



All this, if picturesque effect only is aimed at : 

 but if it be desirable to utilize such monster embank- 

 ment, it may be remembered that its shelter, if look- 

 ing to the south, would almost create a summer cli- 

 mate of its own, and would make admirable lee for 

 the forcing-houses of the gardeners, and for the 

 growth of whatever plants or vegetables crave the 



