obelifks, cafcades, fountains without end; and in a building, pillars, vafes, ftatues, and a profufion of carved wood. Thus fome women devoid of tafte, are apt to overcharge every part of their drefs with ornament. Superfluity of decoration hath another bad effect, by giving the object a diminutive look: an island in a wide extended lake makes it appear larger; but an artificial lake, which is always little, appears ftill less by making an island in it *. In forming plans for embellifhing a field, an artist without tafte deals in ftraight lines, circles, fquares; because these fhow beft upon paper. He perceives not, that to humour and adorn nature is the perfection of his art; and that nature, neglecting regularity, reacheth fuperior beauties by diftributing her objects in great variety with a bold hand. A large field laid out with ftrict regularity, is ftiff and artificial. Nature indeed, in organized bodies comprehended under one view, studies regularity; which, for the fame reafon, ought to be ftudied in architecture: but in large objects, which cannot otherwise be furveyed but in parts and by fucceffion, regularity and uniformity would be ufelefs properties, because they cannot be discovered by the eyet. Nature therefore, in her large works, neglects thefe properties; and in copying nature, the artift ought to neglect them. Having thus far carried on a comparison between gar-. dening and architecture; rules peculiar to each come next in order, beginning with gardening. The fimpleft idea of a garden, is that of a fpot embellied with a number of natural objects, trees, walks, polifh'd parterres, flowers, ftreams, &c. One more complex.comprehends ftatues and buildings, that nature and art may be mutually ornamental. A third, approaching nearer perfection, is of objects affembled together in order to produce, not only an emotion of beauty, effential to every? *See appendix to part 5. chap. z. ་ A fquare field appears not fuch to the eye when viewed from any part of it; and the centre is the only place where a circular field preferves in appearance its regular. figure. 11 2 every garden, but also fome other particular emotion, grandeur, for example, gaiety, or any other of those above mentioned. The moft perfect idea of a garden is an improvement upon the third, requiring the feveral parts to be fo arranged, as to infpire all the different emotions that can be raised by gardening. In this idea of a garden, the arrangement is an important circumftance; for it has been shown, that fonie emotions figure beft in conjunction, and that others ought always to appear in fucceflion, and never in conjunction. It is mentioned above*, that when the moft oppofite emotions, fuch as gloominefs and gaiety, ftillnefs and activity, follow each other in fucceffion, the pleasure on the whole will be the greateft; but that fuch emotions ought not to be united, becaufe they produce an unpleasant mixture t. For that reafon, a ruin, affording a fort of melancholy pleasure, ought not to be seen from a flower parterre, which is gay and chearful. But to pafs from an exhilarating object to a ruin, has a fine effect; for each of the emotions is the more fenfibly felt by being contrafted with the other. Similar emotions, on the other hand, such as gaiety and sweetness, ftillness and gloominefs, motion and grandeur, ought to be raised together; for their effects upon the mind are greatly heightened by their conjunction . Kent's method of embellishing a field, is admirable; which is, to replenish it with beautiful objects, natural and artificial, difpofed as upon a canvas by help of colours. It requires indeed more genius to paint in the gardening way in forming a landscape upon a canvas, no more is required but to adjust the figures to each other: an artist who would form a garden in Kent's manner, has an additional task; which is, to adjust his figures to the feveral varieties of the field. A fingle garden must be diftinguished from a plurality; and yet it is not obvious wherein the unity of a garden confifts. We have indeed fome notion of unity in a garden furrounding a palace, with views from each window, and walks leading to every corner: but there * Chap. 8. may The may be a garden without a houfe; in which cafe, it is the unity of defign that makes it one garden; as where a fpot of ground is fo artfully dreffed as to make the feveral portions appear to be parts of one whole. gardens of Verfailles, properly expreffed in the plural number, being no fewer than fixteen, are indeed all of them connected with the palace, but have fcarce any mutual connection: they appear not like parts of one whole, but rather like finall gardens in contiguity. A greater diftance between thefe gardens would produce a better effect: their junction breeds confufion of ideas, and upon the whole gives lefs pleafure than would be: felt in a flower fucceffion. Regularity is required in that part of a garden which joins the dwelling-house; for being confidered as a more immediate acceffory, it ought to partake the regularity of the principal object: but in proportion to the distance from the house confidered as the centre, regularity ought lefs and less to be studied; for in an extensive plan, it hath a fine effect to lead the mind infenfibly from regularity: *The influence of that connection furpaffing all bounds,. is vifible in many gardens, remaining to this day, formed of horizontal plains forc'd with great labour and expence, perpendicular faces of earth fupported by maffy ftone walls, terrace-walks in ftages one above another, regular ponds and canals without the leaft motion, and the whole furrounded, like a prison, with high walls excluding every external object At first view it may puzzle one to account for a tafte fo oppofite to nature in every particular. But nothing happens without a caufe. Perfect regularity and uniformity are required in a house ; : and that idea is extended to its acceffory the garden, efpecially if it be a fmall fpot incapable of grandeur or much variety: the house is regular, fo muft the garden be; the floors of the house are horizontal, and the garden must have the fame pofition: in the house we are protected from every intruding eye; fo inuft we be in the garden. This, it must be confeffed, is carrying the notion of resemblance very far: but where reason and tafte are laid asleep, nothing is more common than to carry refemblance beyond proper bounds. regularity to a bold variety. Such arrangement tends to make an impreffion of grandeur: and grandeur ought to be ftudied as much as poffible, even in a more confined plan, by avoiding a multiplicity of fmall parts. fmall garden, on the other hand, which admits not grandeur, ought to be ftrictly regular. Milton, defcribing the garden of Eden, prefers justly grandeur before regularity: Flowers worthy of paradife, which not nice art Paradife loft, b. 4. A hill covered with trees, appears both more beautiful and more lofty than when naked. To diftribute trees in a plain requires more art: near the dwellinghouse they ought to be fcattered fo diftant from each other, as not to break the unity of the field; and even at the greateft diftance of diftinct vifion, they ought never to be fo crowded as to hide any beautiful object. In the manner of planting a wood or thicket, much art may be difplay'd. A common centre of walks, termed aftar, from whence are feen a number of remarkable objects, appears too artificial, and confequently too ftiff and formal, to be agreeable: the crowding. withal fo many objects together, leffens the pleasure that would be felt in a flower fucceffion. Abandoning therefore the ftar, let us try to fubftitute fome form more natural, that will display all the remarkable objects in the neighbourhood. This may be done by various aper. tures in the wood, purpofely contrived to lay open fucceffively every fuch object; fometimes a fingle object, fometimes a plurality in a line, and fometimes a rapid fucceffion of them: the mind at intervals is roufed and cheared by agreeable objects; and the fcene is greatly heightened by the furprife occafioned by ftumbling, as it were, upon objects of which we had no expectation. See chap. 4 Attending Attending to the influence of contraft, explained in the eighth chapter, we discover why the lowness of the ceiling increases in appearance the fize of a large room, and why a long room appears ftill longer by being very narrow, as is remarkable in a gallery: by the fame means, an object terminating a narrow opening in a wood, appears at a double distance. This fuggefts another rule for diftributing trees in fome quarter near the dwelling-houfe; which is, to place a number of thickets in a line, with an opening in each directing the eye from one to another; which will make them appear more diftant from each other than they are in reality, and in appearance enlarge the fize of the whole field. To give this plan its utmost effect, the space between the thickets ought to be confiderable and in order that each may be feen diftinctly, the opening neareft the eye ought to be wider than the second, the fecond wider than the: third, and fo on to the end *. By a judicious distribution of trees, various beauties may be produced, far exceeding what have been mentioned; which will appear as follows. A landscape fo rich as to ingrofs the whole attention, and fo limited as fweetly to be comprehended under a fingle view, has a much finer effect than the most extenfive landscape that requires a wandering of the eye through fucceffive fcenes. This confideration fuggefts a capital rule in laying out a field; which is, never at any one station to admit a larger profpect than can easily be taken in at once. A field fo happily fituated as to command a great extent of profpect, is a delightful fubject for applying this rule: let the profpect be fplit into proper parts by means of trees; ftudying at the fame time to introduce all the variety poffible. A plan of this kind executed with tafte will: * An object will appear more distant than it really is,. if we feparate it from the eye by lines of different coloured evergreens. Suppofe the lines to be of holly and laurel, and the holly, which is of the deepest colour, next the eye: the degradation of colour in the laurel, makes it appear at a great distance from the holly, and confequently removes the object, in appearance, to a greater diftance than it really is.. |