706 PICTURESQUE STYLE OF FLOWER-GARDENS. 



scientifically employed, a higher grade of 

 accompaniments must be introduced. 



" While the spectator rests/' says 

 Morris in ' Essays on Landscape Gar- 

 dening/ " the rustic or the decorated seat 

 gives opportunities for examining some 

 natural or artificial beauty which might 

 not otherwise have received any parti- 

 cular attention. These resting-places 

 afford to kindred tastes an opportunity of 

 pointing out to each other innumerable 

 effects and combinations that else might 

 have been unnoticed. They are the points 

 whence the highest gratification of the 

 spectator is derived, and they contribute 

 the most satisfactory reward to the land- 

 scape gardener." 



The choice of garden-seats, as well as 

 of the spots on which to place them, 

 requires a degree of taste and judgment 

 apparently seldom bestowed on the sub- 

 ject. There should always be some kind 

 of analogv between the seat and the scene 

 of which it forms a part ; and, for this 

 reason, rustic seats should be confined to 

 rustic scenery ; and the seats for a lawn, 

 or highly-kept pleasure-ground, ought to 

 be of comparatively simple and of archi- 

 tectural forms. 



In the disposal of seats, some should be 

 placed in the sun, and some in the shade ; 

 and, when placed by the sides of walks, 

 gravelled recesses ought to be formed to 

 receive them. All garden seats, except 

 the rustic, should be painted stone-colour, 

 as harmonising better with vegetation 

 than any other colour; and, of all co- 

 lours, the most unfitted for the purpose is 

 green. 



The hermitage is a species of resting- 

 place, and was much more in vogue in 

 former times than now. They associate 

 better with grounds of the picturesque 

 style than with any other. It may be 

 said of them, as of all similar garden 

 devices, that they have lost caste since 

 the introduction of so many new plants. 

 Formerly, when our gardens possessed 

 few plants, art was called in to make up 

 the deficiency in variety. Now plants 

 have multiplied, and a different style 

 of arranging them has taken place. The 

 attention of the owner is pretty well 

 occupied, during the gardening season, in 

 making additions to his collection, and in 

 arranging and re- arranging these, so as 

 to produce a harmony of colouring, and 



to keep up that effect for as long a period 

 as our short seasons will admit of. 



All these kinds of structures have been 

 condemned by most of our modern writers 

 on garden arrangement and landscape ; 

 but, in peculiar situations, and under cer- 

 tain circumstances, they have their inter- 

 est notwithstanding. However, like choos- 

 ing the situation for a mansion, a temple, 

 or a seat, or even viewing a painting hung 

 against the wall, all depends on the posi- 

 tion the object is placed in, and the point 

 from which it is to be viewed. 



Retired and sequestered situations are 

 the proper place for a hermitage, and, at 

 the same time, a position that could be 

 easily defended in the event of intrusion, 

 and from which some natural beauties can 

 be seen. In this respect, the hermitage at 

 the Falls of the Bran, near Dunkeld, as 

 well as the one at the Falls of Acharn, near 

 Taymouth, are excellent examples ; while 

 that which existed some years ago in the 

 royal grounds at Frogmore was in as 

 bad taste. 



The furniture should be of the most 

 simple description possible, and nothing 

 artistical admitted excepting books ; and 

 these should be of the philosophic caste. 

 The deception of placing imitation books, 

 however splendidly they may be gilt and 

 lettered on the back, may lead to deserved 

 exposure. 



Grottos, like hermitages, are admitted 

 as adjuncts into picturesque grounds. 

 Those at Painshill and Oatlands were 

 superb of their kind. The former was 

 placed so that it could be approached by 

 a boat from the river Mole, a portion of 

 which flowed through it. It has long 

 been suffered to go to decay ; and the 

 latter, once extremely rich in specimens of 

 conchology, is now to be spoken of as a 

 thing that was. It was entirely broken 

 up, and the fragments sold a few years 

 ago. It was buried in the side of a bank, 

 and admittance gained to it through a 

 labyrinth passage; and immediately in 

 front of it was situated the grand royal 

 cemetery of dogs, in which reposed the 

 ashes of all the favourite animals of that 

 family, who had the good fortune to gain 

 the love, affection, and esteem of their 

 royal mistress, the late Duchess of York. 



Caves, caverns, and subterraneous pas- 

 sages, in rocky localities, may be indulged 

 in. The two former are to be regarded, 



