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To my profession belongs chiefly the external part of architecture,* or a
knowledge of the effect
of buildings on the surrounding scenery.
WELBECK.]           As every conspicuous building in a park should derive
its character from                that of
' the house, it is very essential to fix, with some precision, what that
character ought to be; yet the
' various tastes of successive ages have so blended opposite styles of architecture,
that it is often diffi-
' cult, in an old house, to determine the date to which its true character
belongs. I venture to deliver
it as my opinion, that there are only two characters of buildings; the one
may be called 15eripendi-
cular, and the other horizontal. Under the first, I class all buildings erected
in England before, and
during the early part of, Queen Elizabeth's reign, whether deemed Saracenic,
Saxon, Norman, or the
* I am happy to defend my predecessor, as well as myself, from the imputation
of blending architecture with garderning, by the following
extract of a letter from the celebrated author of the ENGLIsH GARDEN:
c I have lately had some correspondence with Mr. Penn concerning the intended
monument you mention," (to Gray, the poet, who
is buried in the church-yard, adjoining to Stoke Park), " and finding
that he means to consult you on the subject, I have presumed to tell
him, that he will do well if he gives you the absolute choice of the spot,
as well as the size of the building which he means to erect to
my excellent friend's memory: for though I hold the architectural taste of
Mr. Wyat in supreme estimation, I also am uniformly of
opinion, that where a place is to be formed, he who disposes the ground,
and arranges the plantations, ought to fix the situation at least,
if not to determine the shape and size of the ornamental buildings. Brown,
I know, was ridiculed for turning architect, but I always
thought he did it from a kind of necessity, having found the great difficulty
which must frequently have occurred to him in forming a
"picturesque whole, where the previous building had been ill placed,
or of improper dimensions.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
ASTON, April 2 4, 17 9 2.                                               
                         " W. MASON."