Art Out-of -Doors 



keener vision, a truer artistic sense, than 

 they. It was not an architect, it was Mr. 

 Olmsted, who first saw how greatly the 

 Capitol, on the side which faces the city, 

 might be improved by the addition of a 

 wide and high architectural terrace. The 

 beauty of the building itself has been much 

 increased by this terrace, which adds to its 

 apparent height and thus betters its propor- 

 tions ; and it is now integrally united by 

 the terrace to the sloping gardens which 

 stretch away in front of it. 



What has been done here might with cor- 

 responding advantage be done to some large 

 country houses that I happen to remember, 

 while I know others that would be utterly 

 spoiled if the simple way in which their 

 foundations rise from the soil were disturbed 

 by terracing, or by formal arrangements of 

 any sort. There is no rule — there are only 

 principles ; and these principles only an ar- 

 tist vrho knows something of both architec- 

 ture and gardening is likely to apply with 

 justness. No definite ideal can be cherished, 

 to the exclusion of others, by a person who 

 wants to produce good results upon canvases 



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