211 



more distant views of houses in the coun- 

 try those are the most generally pleasing* 

 where trees and masses of wood inter- 

 vene, and where consequently the base is 

 not seen : now, in such views, the porticos 

 and the breaks below the summit, are often 

 in a great degree concealed, and the line 

 of the roof, being the part opposed to the 

 sky, becomes principal ; in which cases the 

 advantage of towers, and of whatever va- 

 ries that line, is obvious. 



Sir Joshua Reynolds is, I believe, the first 

 who has done justice to the architecture of 

 Vanbrugh, by shewing that it was not a 

 mere fantastic style, without any other ob- 

 ject than that of singularity, but that he 

 worked on the principles of painting, and 

 has produced the most painter-like effects.* 

 It is very possible that the ridicule thrown 

 on Vanbrugh's buildings by some of the 

 wittiest men of the age he lived in, though 

 not the best judges of art, may in no slight 

 degree have prevented his excellencies from 



* Sir Joshua Reynolds's Thirteenth Discourse. 



