540 Fountains in Gardens. 



rate, levied during the summer months upon the distin- 

 guished and rich individuals inhabiting this square, would 

 scarcely be felt. The same observation will apply to other 

 squares, the size or grandeur of the fountains varying, of 

 course, with the purses of the surrounding occupants. The 

 whole might be done by contract; and the smoky air of the 

 city be somewhat relieved in the vicinity of each fountain. 

 Had Mr. Nash been an architect equal to such ideas, we 

 should have seen something of the kind during the last reign : 

 but, though he has done much for West London, his know- 

 ledge of the sources of the sublime and beautiful seems to 

 be contracted. 



When I first visited Mr. Rowley, the ingenuity of his 

 fountains could not fail to please, as much as their diminu- 

 tiveness provoked a smile ; some of them giving one more the 

 idea of a magnificent squirt than of a fountain. I ventured 

 to recommend his crossing the Channel, to see the grayides 

 eaux at Versailles on a fete day ; and thought that he would 

 then, peradventure, incite his employers to better things; and 

 that a demand for simple and grand fountains might be the 

 consequence. 



I may appear fastidious ; but I cannot like the air of a 

 fountain encompassed by a plain walled reservoir, as in the 

 sketches of the fountains, figs. 68. and 69. (p. 215, liQ.) 

 Your friend the Young Architect will, I am sure, on consider- 

 ing the point maturely, yield to my flat stone coped reservoir 

 of the design sent herewith i^Jig. 120.); which coping, in foun- 

 tains of a rich and sculptured character, might, by diversity of 

 form, be made to harmonise. 



I intend, in my next communication, if this meets with 

 approval, to undertake a methodised arrangement of these 

 garden ornaments. I am, Sir, yours, &c. 



William Mason, Jun. 

 Nact072, Not folk, June, 1833. 



Such a methodised arrangement as that mentioned by our 

 correspondent would be a valuable addition to garden litera- 

 ture; and we shall be extremely obliged to him for it. We 

 have lately seen some of the most splendid flower-gardens in 

 England, to which fountains that had the water raised to a 

 great height by steam or otherwise would be most appro- 

 priate ornaments. As an example near town, we may refer to 

 Lady Amherst's flower-gardens, at Montreal, near Seven 

 Oaks, in Kent, which garden we visited in the course of a 

 seven weeks' tour, completed yesterday (Sept. 16.). — Cond. 



