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position and grouping of objects, than the 

 manner in which the general outline of the 

 town appears to yield and vary according 

 to the shape of its foundation; with now 

 and then a counter-acting line, that gives a 

 zest and spirit to the composition. Not a 

 projecting rock or knoll, no " coigne of 

 vantage" but is. occupied: the buildings 

 advancing, or retiring from the eye, accord- 

 ing to the nature of their situation; while 

 the happy mixture of trees completes the 

 whole. Much of this is probably owing to 

 lucky accident, as well as to judicious de- 

 sign; but what if Mr. Brown, or any of his 

 followers, had been employed to lay out 

 such a town according to their conceptions 

 of scenery! what gunpowder-plots should 

 we have had, as at Powis Castle,* not to 

 procure, but to get rid of the effects of ac- 

 cident, and to reduce the whole to their 

 system of monotony ! As I recollect my ad- 

 miration of the circumstances I have just 

 mentioned at Tivoli, so I remember my 



* Letter to Mr. Repton. 



