34

LANDSCAPE GARDENING

should have fallen a sacrifice to the undistin-
guishing and desolating hand of the modern
system of improvement. Upon what prin-
ciple of grandeur, of harmony, of propriety,
or comfort, has the exchange been made ?
It seems to be universally allowed, that the
habitation of man should be distinct from
that of the cattle that graze around him. We
see this principle acted upon from the palace
to the cottage ; which, with its dwarf wall or
garden pales, broken and enriched with the
simple creepers of honeysuckle, ivy, &c. is an
object pleasing to every eye as well as to that
of the painter. The variety of material, of
form, and of colour, with the light and shadow
which pervades the whole, are the secret
source of this pleasure. Strip the cottage of
these accompaniments, and what eye can fail
to regret the destruction? 44 What such rustic
44 embellishments,” says Sir Uvedale Price,
44 are to the cottage, terraces, urns, vases,
44 statues, and fountains are to the palace
44 and palace-like mansion.” * It will be
* I will here remind the reader of my professed object
in these pages, as expresed in the introduction to them ;
viz. to concentrate and render more practically useful the
principles of true taste, diffused through the whole of Sir