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a plan more objectionalle in its consequences; for as the essen-
tial characteristic of a Villa near the metropolis consists in its
seclusion and privacy, the walk which is only separated from
the highway by a park paling, and a few laurels, is not more
private, though far less cheerful, than the path in the highway
itself. To this may be added, that such a belt, when viewed
from the house, must confine the landscape by the pale to hide
the road; then by the shrubs to hide the pale; and lastly, by
the fence to protect the shrubs; which all together act as a
boundary more decided and offensive than the common hedge
betwixt one field and another.
The Art of Landscape Gardening is in no instance more
obliged to Mr. Brown, than for his occasionally judicious intro-
duction of the Ha! Ha! or sunk fence, by which he united in
appearance two surfaces necessary to be kept separate But
this has been in many places absurdly copied to an extent that
gives more actual confinement than any visible fence whatever.
At Streatham the view towards the south consists of a small
field bounded by the narrow belt, and beyond it is the Common
of Streatham, which is in parts adorned by groups of trees, and
,in others disfigured by a redundance of obtrusive houses. The
common in itself is a cheerful object, and from its distance not
offensive, even when covered with people who enjoy its ver-
dure. Yet if the whole of the view in front were open to the
common, it might render the house and ground near it too
public; and for this reason, I suppose, some shrubs have been
placed near the windows; but I consider that the defect might