370 
TI1E COTTAGE GARDENE11 AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— August 19, 1850. 
introduction of two exceedingly rustic buildings — bee- 
houses, 1 think, of the most common-place design, and 
having ordinary thatched roofs. Why they were placed amid 
so much that bore the highest polish of art, 1 will not 
attempt to explain. Certain it is, their presence was ob¬ 
jectionable in the superlative degree. They were entirely 
out of character with everything around them. Of course, 
buildings might have been appropriately placed there, but 
they should have been in harmony with the scene of which 
they were to form a part. Contrast is a desirable element 
iu garden scenery, but care must be taken that it does not 
degenerate into mere harshness and incongruity. Had 
these rustic buildings been isolated from the general scene., 
and rendered detached objects, or associated with scenes of 
a consonant character, they would not only have been 
tolerated, but, with a little improvement in style, could have 
been rendered highly appropriate and interesting. 
It must be borne in mind that any given object may be 
in itself exceedingly beautiful, but that it may become 
either worthy of our admiration or our censure entirely 
from the position which it may happen to occupy. 
In the Victoria Park there is (or at least there was a year 
or two ago, and I will presume it still remains) a Chinese 
temple. It occupies a most promiuent position, and is, of 
course, a conspicuous object from very many situations in 
the park. Now, its style is entirely at variance with every¬ 
thing around ; it is conspicuous in its isolation, and as such, 
is, as I think, an incongruity. If a Chinese temple, or 
any other extravagance, is admitted into scenery (and there 
is no reason why, under proper subjection, it should not), 
by all means place it in a retired position, not thrust it 
forward. 
Another illustration of this position. No one will deny 
that a Weeping Willow is a beautiful object; yet it is 
certainly more beautiful when bending over a stream or 
pool of water than in any other situation. Wherever we 
see this tree, we immediately associate with it the idea of 
dampness, of water; and on this principle I hold it to be out 
of place on the lawn of a pleasure ground, if at a distance 
from water. In such a position 1 would never introduce it, 
superlatively beautiful though it unquestionably is in itself. 
An artificial object, as a building, for instance, may be 
too important for its position. It may assume a degree of 
dignity, when, perhaps, its real office is a very humble one, 
or, perhaps, it lias no office at all. A thing should in some 
degree seem to be what it is. This axiom requires con¬ 
siderable qualification, but it is a safe principle for guidance; 
it should he appropriate to its position and uses, and nothing 
more. It may, of course, be ornamented, hut not so as to 
I disguise its real object. If this be true, what shall we say 
of the railings in front of the British Museum? I make 
the allusion in all humility, but I cannot refrain from 
observing, that those very railings appear to me to be one 
of the most conspicuous examples of bad taste in the 
metropolis; not in the railings themselves, but in being 
i worse than useless in forming a screen where no screen is 
required. 
I This giving to an object an appearance entirely at 
I variance with its true character and uses is productive of 
very many absurdities, not only in architecture, as far as it 
relates to gardening, but in many other arts also. I 
conceive that every building may he rendered pleasing in 
itself, and judiciously ornamented in character with its 
professed uses ; and that to dress it in a borrowed garb, in 
direct opposition to that character, is, as a principle, in false 
taste. If it he desired to build a dairy, or a cottage, which 
shall be ornamental in themselves, why make a castle of 
one, and a mimic church of the other? And so of many 
other buildings. 
Not far from London there is an estate, the home grounds 
of which possess many attractive features, both natural and 
artificial. There is, however, one absurdity of the first class 
which, as illustrative of the preceding remarks, I will briefly 
describe. As you approach the mansion by the carriage- 
road you catch a glimpse of a church-spire, or, at loast, 
what you believe to be one, pointing above the trees a few 
hundred yards distant. The natural conclusion, of course, 
is that, as in numerous other instances, a church has been 
erected upon the domain for the use of the proprietor, his 
dependents, and neighbours. In making a tour of the 
grounds, a visitor would naturally direct his steps towards 
it. Its presence iu the landscape gives birth to associations 
which, though perhaps of a melancholy character, are, 
nevertheless, pleasing, and the mind derives a large amount 
of pleasure from such associations. AVell, upon arriving at 
what is supposed to be a church, you find yourself in a farm¬ 
yard, surrounded by all necessary characteristics, and the 
church, a barn ornamented, or disfigured, by an imitation 
church spire. Disgusted with the imposition, you turn with 
contempt from what would otherwise he a pleasing and in¬ 
teresting sight. 
All such absurdities should he studiously avoided. There 
should bo no attempt at trickery, either in the park or in 
the comparatively limited boundary of the garden. A'aiiety 
and contrast can be effectually secured without such aids. 
Sudden changes from one character of scenery to another; 
detached objects of a pleasing nature, enshrined, as it were, 
in some little, domain of their own, subordinate, yet forming 
an integral part; a walk carried to some eminence, from 
whence a distant and pleasing view can be obtained, and 
anon leading through an overhanging canopy of foliage, aro 
a few of the many modes in which variety iu garden sceneiy 
may be obtained. No garden is too small to admit some of 
them. Contrast and variety should be prime elements in 
garden scenery, hut they must never be obtained at the ex¬ 
pense of unity of design, of harmony of parts to the 
whole, and, lastly, of convenience. 
There is yet another quality demanding a passing notice. 
It is one which exercises a powerful effect upon the mind, 
and from which, in fact, a large, if not tlie largest, share of 
our mental pleasures are derived ; 1 mean the pleasure of 
association. It may be thought that this can scarcely 
demand attention in designing a garden. Very often it 
need not; hut, on the contrary, very many instances do 
occur in which it should be recognised, and when it would 
be unpardonable to neglect it, even at the sacrifice of some 
other important, though, in comparison, minor matter. 
Iu remodelling old gardens, or iu forming a new one, any 
object or scene to which pleasing or valued associations are 
attached should be brought prominently into notice, or 
otherwise preserved, according as the nature of the object, 
and the event of which it is commemorative, may demand. 
Many an otherwise ordinary scene or object will derive im¬ 
portance from associations connected with it. The value of 
such associations may be confined to private individuals, or 
they may be of national importance; in either case they are 
equally of consequence as sources of mental gratification. 
As belonging to the former class of associations, one ex¬ 
ample forcibly occurs to me. On the hanks of a beautiful 
artificial lake in a park in Leicestershire the visitor finds a 
stone seat., having two hands clasped carved on the back. 
Here two attached friends separated, when one of them was 
about to make a journey of some duration. They never 
met again. AA’hen death had arrested the wanderei', this 
scene where the parting took place became at once hallowed 
ground to the survivor; for him a thousand pleasing though 
sad associations will ever cling around the spot., even though 
the monument itself shall have crumbled into dust.— 
George Lovell, Landscape Gardener , Bayshot . 
GRAND CAIRO—HALIM PASHA'S GARDENS. 
AVe visited the gardens of the Harem of Halim Pasha, 
brother of Said Pasha, governor of Egypt—a ride of three 
miles from Cairo—through au umbrageous avenue of syca 
mores, forming an arcade all the way, and certainly we 
required it, as the sun was blazing hot and approaching his 
zenith. AVe now entered, anti a scene of cultivated grandeur 
burst upon our sight, and tlio odour of the orange-blbssom 
scented the passing zephyrs, while trees laden with lipe 
lemons, apricots, oranges, and nectarines, glittered in the 
sun. 
Having with us a dragoman in his Eastern livery as 
cicerone, he led us to a fine pavilion, where we enjoyed 
awhile the cooling breeze before we proceeded along the 
countless walks of this luxurious paradise, which contains 
eighty acres. All was beauty and enchantment. The 
shadowy walks, the clustei'ing trees, the varied flowers, and 
the delicious shrubberies, thickened as we approached, and 
