S9 



*' Wherever symmetry is useful to the ^^^^ 



" soul, and may assist her functions, it is 



" agreeable to her; but wherever it is 



" useless, it becomes distasteful, because 



" it takes away variety: therefore things 



*' that wc see in succession ought to have 



" variety, for our soul has no difficulty in 



"seeing them: those, on the contrary, 



" that we see at one glance, ought to 



*' have symmetry;, thus at one glance we 



" see the front of a building, a parterre, 



" a temple; in such things there is always 



*' a symmetry which pleases the soul, by 



" the facility it gives her of taking the 



" whole object at once." 



It is upon this principle that I have 

 frequently advised the most perfect sym- 

 metry in those small flower-gardens which 

 are generally placed in the front of a 

 green-house or orangery, in some inner 

 part of the grounds, where, being secluded 

 from the general scenery, they become a 

 kind of episode to the great and more 

 conspicuous parts of the place. In such 

 small inclosures irregularity would appear 

 like affectation. Symmetry is also allow^ 

 able, and indeed necessary, at or near 



