Roads and Paths 



less pretentious, easier to build and to drive 

 upon unless the land be perfectly flat, more 

 beautiful in itself, in truer harmony with 

 the character of our buildings, and less de- 

 cidedly artificial. 



But as all roads and walks are palpably 

 artificial, no matter how they may be de- 

 signed or of what material they may be 

 composed, it is not good art to make too 

 evident an effort to conceal the fact. The 

 real reason for the existence of the drive — 

 its utility — should always be acknowledged 

 to the eye as well as practically secured. 

 This means that even when the approach is 

 curved it should not circle about to an ex- 

 cessive degree, irrationally increasing the 

 distance that must be traversed before the 

 house can be reached, and, when its course 

 is overlooked from the house, wearing an 

 unmeaning, wandering look, English wri- 

 ters on landscape-gardening often deplore 

 the fact that, in the effort to make a display 

 of magnitude in the estate or to show vari- 

 ous efi'ective points of view, an approach 

 has been so laid out that it is positively irri- 

 tating to the visitor ; — when he thinks he is 



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