106 Conservatory at the Grange. 



with all the proportion and effect of which the space was capable, 

 and approached by a stately and well-contrived staircase — 

 a disposition which seems peculiarly appropriate to situations 

 like the Grange, where the advantage of elevation commands 

 an extensive view over a fine country, well wooded, and 

 with great variety of landscape. The Grange has always been 

 a favourite spot in the annals of taste, and contained, at one 

 time, a very line and curious collection of paintings. 



A few years ago, Mr. Drummond, in whose possession it 

 then was, conceived the idea of converting the exterior into 

 the aspect of a Grecian temple, (^.11.) which was ac- 



11 



complished with great skill by Mr. Wilkins, as far as that 

 object was concerned. The basement was formed into a 

 magnificent pedestal for the portico, and the attic story, and 

 its roof, were suppressed and concealed behind a massive in- 

 tablature. It is a question, (which however is not the subject at 

 present,) how far those cumbrous proportions, and that Doric 

 severity, which according to Vitruvius were reserved to honor 

 the major deities, are applicable to the purposes of villa 

 architecture. 



Be that as it may, situated on a gentle declivity, and slop- 

 ing towards a fine piece of living water, with terraces surround- 

 ing the east and west fronts, embosomed in wood which 

 covers the surrounding heights, and approached by mag- 

 nificent avenues, it has the effect in the landscape, of those 

 ideal scenes, which indulged only in the painter's imagination 

 are hardly expected to be realized in nature. Those ponderous 

 proportions which encumber the spectator on a near approach, 

 like the tragic mask, communicate in the distant view all the 

 characteristic traits that belong to that severe architecture, 

 and give all its expression. 



The present taste of the exterior is not more in accordance 

 with the original architecture than with its real convenience, 



