PART I. 



A COUNTRY RESIDENCE. 



607 



property of the proprietor permit the full expression of the na- 

 tural characters, and also that these characters which nature 

 presents are agreeable of themselves; but there may be situa- 

 tions where the reverse of this is the case ; and some of those 

 shall next be noticed. 



1. Suppose a situation where the soil is good, but the surface 

 a perfect flat, and expressive of nothing but mere extent. 

 This is certainly not a favourable situation, especially if water 

 be absent; but still it is capable of immense improvement; 

 and the character of beauty or grandeur maybe raised by 

 wood* and buildings placed in a manner corresponding with 



* The reader will always recollect, that when I mention woods, or the character 

 which may be communicated to landscape by trees, nothing is further from my 

 view than the general insipid and monotonous mode of planting. On the contrary, 

 I always consider trees as capable of producing character in two ways : first, from 

 the particular kinds employed ; and, secondly, from the usual disposition of trees in 

 general. I hesitate not to say, that neither modes are understood by improvers. 

 How different the character of a park on a perfect flat, where common trees, as 

 oak, elm, &c. and undergrowth of thorns, briar, furze, is disposed in the forest style, 

 from that of modern clumps, open groups, and dotting 1 But how much superior, 

 even to this, must be a park where not only the trees are disposed in the forest 

 style, but these trees themselves are singular characters, such as cedars, pines, cy- 

 presses, and the undergrowth junipers, savin, arbor vitse, arbutus, &c. By this 

 mode the most insipid fiat would be rendered superior to the finest parkin England. 



While mentioning this subject, it is with pleasure that I express my general ap- 

 probation of the mode of planting adopted at Fonthill : a situation which, without 

 doubt, is capable of being made one of the finest residences in England. I must 

 remark, however, that there are certain littlenesses — rock-works, collections of roses, 

 flower knots, dug patches, &c. creeping into the general scheme, which, unless 



