AVENUES. 



133 



on a level surface, or on ground with a slight and uni- 

 form rise. A close avenue, composed of two rows of 

 trees, and planted on an undulating surface, has al- 

 ways a poor look; on the contrary, even in such situa- 

 tions, where there are breadth and mass, as in the 

 compound avenues at Windsor, the effect is fine. 



The question may be asked, " What is to be clone 

 with an old established avenue ? " We may answer, 

 partly in the words of Mr. Gilpin. "The avenue," 

 says he, " is in general so destitute of composition, by 

 cutting the landscape in half, that the introduction of 

 it must depend upon the circumstances of the place 

 itself. On the other hand, where time has invested it 

 with dignity, and the rest of the scenery is coeval with 

 it, temerity rather than judgment would dictate its 

 destruction. Breaking it by partial removal is, I 

 think, equally injudicious." With the opinions here 

 expressed we heartily concur. We venerate an old 

 avenue, with its double or quadruple rows of ancestral 

 trees. ~No sacrilegious axe ought to be lifted up against 

 them, even though they divide the landscape in two. 

 The destruction of a magnificent range of limes, or 

 elms, or chestnuts, hallowed by immemorial associa- 

 tions, is too great a sacrifice to any prevailing taste, 

 however excellent ; and if by breaking is meant the 

 removal of the greater part of the trees, and the pre- 

 servation of such a small residue as will mark the 

 position of the old lines, the effect would be worse 

 than a total removal. 



In the dressed grounds, avenues, without injury to 

 the general effect, may sometimes be formed through 

 some of the large masses of wood ; but in these cases 

 the trees should not be placed at greater distances than 



