as Garden Ornaments, . 487 



work ; and, as I shall express my meaning most plainly by an 

 example, I will briefly state the effect of a few ornaments of* this 

 kind which I have placed in my own garden. The garden con- 

 sists of only twelve beds, of a moderate size, on nearly a level 

 surface of turf. The design of the beds is regular ; and there 

 are broad spaces of turf between them. On two sides of the 

 garden are some large trees and thick shrubberies ; the house is 

 on another side; and, where the fourth side joins, a small piece 

 of half-kept ground, a fine old walnut tree, a large holly, some 

 box trees, junipers, laurels, and other shrubs, are grouped upon 

 the turf, forming a sort of half screen, through which you see 

 (over the rough ground) the trees and shrubs which bound the 

 premises. The whole is on a very small scale; but as the ends 

 of the walks are concealed, and a little intricacy is created by 

 the groups of shrubs, it appears from the house to be more 

 extensive than it is. When the garden was completed, a some- 

 thing seemed wanting to give it a picturesque effect. I thought 

 it not half so pretty as it was in the wilderness state in which I 

 found it when I came to the house, after it had been neglected 

 for ten or twelve years, during which time the trees had actually 

 smothered the place, the garden flowers had grown wild, and 

 every thing was in a condition of " most admired disorder." 

 Now the trees were thinned out, and the whole reduced to exact 

 order, the result was an effect of neatness and prettiness, which 

 looked bald and uninteresting after the picturesque charm of its 

 former wildness. In short,-it wanted the addition of some kind 

 of ornament to give it a picturesque effect. When I was con- 

 sidering how to produce this effect, a manufactory of earthen 

 garden vases in the neighbourhood suggested the ambitious idea 

 of urns and pedestals ; but they were too expensive and much 

 too grand for a cottage garden. As large flints could be easily 

 procured, I thought of doing something with them ; but I could 

 find no proper place for anything in the way of rockwork, which, 

 however well executed, generally looks ridiculous on a tame 

 even surface. There was nothing to be done, therefore, but in 

 the wooden rustic way; and I began the work of embellishment 

 by attaching a small rustic seat (Jig. 80.) to the trunk of the 

 old walnut tree, which stands on a hillock at one corner of the 

 ground, whence you look upon the flower-beds. When the 

 seat was finishing, and I sat down to observe the general effect 

 of the little scene before it, I found, to my horror, that, besides 

 seeing what I wished to see, the flowers, and the shrubs around 

 them, an unlucky bend in a walk opposite let in a full view of 

 an ill- looking office, which I thought I had effectually concealed ; 

 in short, that the termination of the miniature landscape was 

 the ash-pit. What was to be done now ? I could not find in 

 my heart to take down the seat, which, with very little assist- 



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