372 Garden Libraries. 



only question is, how far this vapour is entitled to be called malaria f. We 

 have the misfortune to be able to answer that question experimentally. 



So limited a spot, and without distant prospect, admits of but little effect 

 in a picturesque point of view ; and the smoke of the neighbourhood pre- 

 cludes all hope of creating much interest from the more rare ornamental 

 plants. It is unfortunate that the high bank of earth, which some of the 

 newspapers compared to the mountains of Westmoreland, should come so 

 near to one wing, and project so much in front of the palace, and that it 

 should not have been thought worth while to vary the outline either of its 

 base or summit. It might have conveyed some distant allusion to an un- 

 dulating ridge of low hills ; but, instead of that, it is merely a lumpish 

 mound of earth, — the bank of a great ditch. There is nothing about it 

 which can help the imagination to a single idea belonging to a natural sur- 

 face ; and it is not to be wondered that the writers in the newspapers 

 recalled the idea of the mountains and lakes of Westmoreland as a relief 

 to their minds, since nothing is more natural than to fly from one extreme 

 to the other. Gilpin, however, in his " North of England," complains of 

 some of the hills about the lakes being hog-backed ; and to these the com- 

 parison in the newspapers probably alluded. This mound, however, is not 

 completed, and perhaps something may be done in putting in the timber 

 trees. The water is still farther from being finished, and will require a 

 good deal of management. We entirely approve of the manner of group- 

 ing and massing the shrubs, and also of most of the minor undulations of 

 the surface. • In one part of the mound some large bays and retiring 

 recesses of turf are wanting, to break the uniformity of its planted surface ; 

 but with the exception of this part of the work, the putting in of the 

 shrubs and trees has our entire approbation. 



It is painful to dwell either on the alterations in the grounds or on the 

 situation of the palace, because it is obvious that the expense of all these im- 

 provements is just so much money thrown away. A man must be something 

 less or more than a king to keep his health in that palace for any length of 

 time. It would have been much better to have opened the grounds to the 

 public, united them with the Green Park, and left Buckingham-house as it 

 was, for the use of pensioners or old servants. If it is essential that the 

 king should have a palace in London, we should prefer one raised on the 

 banks of the Thames, in the manner of the palace and gardens of Babylon. 

 The platform of such a palace should be higher than the highest part of 

 Somerset buildings or the Banqueting-house, and should display an acre 

 or more of terraced gardens. One acre of elevated platform, highly en- 

 riched with plants and sculpture, and with London and its environs for 

 distant scenery, would afford more splendid and healthier enjoyment than 

 twenty acres laid out in the style of Buckingham Gardens. Recluse 

 enjoyment might be had at some of the country palaces. The idea of the 

 king wandering after it in a dense fog behind Buckingham-house, is not 

 very sublime. But if a Babylonian palace would be too expensive, there 

 is the circular part of the Regent's Park, or, what is naturally the best 

 situation about London, though accidentally the worst, Greenwich Park. 



Art VII. Garden Libraries. 



Our suggestions as to garden libraries have met with universal approbation 

 among gardeners, and though from various circumstances many are pre- 

 vented from carrying them into effect, still there are a number who will be able 



