176 The Art of Landscape Gardening 



less take the lead of every other consideration. The fre- 

 quent rains and violent storms of wind to which all 

 mountainous countries are exposed, have taught the 

 inhabitants not only to choose warm valleys for their 

 houses, but have also introduced a style of architecture 

 peculiarly suited to those situations : the small towns 

 of Llangollen and Corwen, as well as those in the 

 mountains of Switzerland, have all low sheds or pent- 

 houses, under which the inhabitants may take shelter 

 from occasional driving storms. The arcade of Gothic 

 architecture is infinitely more applicable to such situa- 

 tions than the lofty portico of Greece, which is rather 

 calculated for those warm regions where man wants pro- 

 tection from the vertical beams of a burning sun. 1 hope, 

 therefore, that both the character and situation of Rug 

 will justify a design for a new house, which may possess 

 a degree of grandeur and magnificence not incompatible 

 with modern convenience. 



There is no circumstance in which bad taste is so con- 

 spicuous as in the misuse of ornaments and decora- 

 tions ; an observation equally applicable to all the 

 polite arts, and not less true with respect to eloquence, 

 poetry, music, and painting than to architecture and 

 gardening. Thus, for instance, a rural scene may be 

 delightful without any building or work of art, yet, if 

 judiciously embellished by artificial objects in character 

 with the scene, the landscape will be more perfect ; on 

 the contrary, if encumbered by buildings in a bad taste, 

 or crowded by such as are too large, too small, or in 

 any respect inapplicable, however correct they may be 

 as works of art, the scene will be injured, and thus 

 a thatched hovel may be deemed an ornament, where 

 a Corinthian temple would be misplaced, or vice versa. 



