34 XanOBcape Hrcbftecture 



applicable to the vicinity of any other building; and 

 every temple in the garden ought to have its concomi- 

 tant formal slopes and plantations, or the conformity 

 may be reversed, and we may reasonably contend 

 that the building ought to be irregular, in order to be 

 consistent with the scene it belongs to. The truth is 

 that both propositions are erroneous, architecture re- 

 quires symmetry ; the objects of nature freedom ; and 

 the properties of the one cannot with justice be trans- 

 ferred to the other. But if by the term no more is 

 meant than merely design the dispute is at an end ; 

 choice, arrangement, composition, improvement, and 

 preservation are so many symptoms of art, which 

 may occasionally appear in several parts of a garden, 

 but ought to be displayed without reserve near the 

 house ; nothing there should be neglected ; it is a scene 

 of the most cultivated nature; it ought to be en- 

 riched; it ought to be adorned; and design may be 

 avowed in the plan, and expense in the execution. 

 Even irregularity is not excluded ; so capital a struc- 

 ture may extend its influence beyond its walls, but 

 its power should be exercised only over its immediate 

 appendages; the flat form upon which the house 

 stands is generally continued to a certain breadth 

 from every side; and whether it be pavement or 

 gravel may undoubtedly coincide with the shape of 

 the building. The road which leads up to the door 

 may go off from it in an equal angle, so that the two 

 sides shall exactly correspond: and certain orna- 

 ments, though detached, are rather within the pro- 



