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tion from art to mark the residence of a noble possessor; yet as there are
a few instances in which
the interference of art can openly be acknowledged, those few should not
be neglected. Buildings
however simple, if in character, and not too numerous, will more than any
thing contribute to dis-
'play magnificence.
' Woods, enriched by buildings, and water, enlivened by a number of pleasure-boats,
alike contribute
to mark a visible difference betwixt the magnificent scenery of a park, and
that of a sequestered
forest: the trees, the water, the lawns, and the deer, are alike common to
both.
There is another distinction betwixt park and forest scenery, on which I
shall beg leave to state
' my opinion, as it has been a topic of some doubt and difficulty amongst
the admirers of my profes-
' sion, viz. How far gravel roads are admissible across the lawns of a park:
yet surely very little doubt
will remain on this subject, when we consider a park as a place of residence;
and see the great in-
convenience to which grass roads are continually liable.
I I have endeavoured to discover two reasons which may have given rise to
the common technical
objection, that a gravel road cuts ul2 a lawn; the first arises from the
effect observed after an avenue
has been destroyed, where the straight line of gravel, which formerly was
less offensive, while ac-
companied by trees, becomes intolerable when it divides a small lawn directly
through the middle.
The other arises from the effect which even a winding turnpike road has in
destroying the seques-
tered and solemn dignity of forest scenery: but in a park, a road of convenience,
and of breadth
proportioned to its intention, as an. approach to the house for visiters,
will often be a circumstance
of great beauty; and is a characteristic ornament of art, allowable in the
finest inhabited scenes of
nature.'