DIRECTION OF THE APPROACH. 



55 



should sometimes be at issue ; but in all such cases the 

 practiced eye of the proprietor, or a competent judge 

 in such matters, should at once settle disputed points. 



The "Approach" is of no consequence, as giving a 

 continuous view of the mansion. On the contrary, it 

 savors of ostentation in the proprietor. A striking 

 glimpse from a turn or two in the roadway leading to 

 it, is all that is necessa^ to impress upon the visitor 

 the commanding position of the dwelling as the chief 

 feature of the concern. — Ed. 



Direction of the Approach. — The position and 

 direction of the principal approach, in respect to the 

 surrounding country, are subjects which require mature 

 consideration. When the nature of the ground and 

 other circumstances permit, it should lead toward the 

 house from that side of the park on which the nearest 

 city or town of the district is situated, this being the 

 direction in which the greatest number of visitors may 

 be expected to arrive, and in which the social relations 

 of the proprietor will cause him most frequently to 

 travel. Kailways, however, have now become means of 

 communication of equal, if not superior, importance to 

 the public roads ; and hence facility of access to railway 

 stations is more frequently sought for, and in many 

 cases secondary approaches are, on that account, being 

 converted into principal ones, and even new ones formed. 

 In new places this necessity should be taken into account 

 at first ; and if the principal approach cannot be made to 

 afford a good and ready way to the railway station, as 

 well as to serve the general purposes of the mansion- 

 house, a second, scarcely inferior to the other, must 

 necessarily be formed. Independently of railways, a 

 second or even third approach to the mansion-house, 



