OF the GENERAL SUBJECT

Summary

The scenes of nature are also affected by the general subject to which they are applied, whether that be a farm, a garden, a park, or a riding. These may all indeed be parts of one place; they may border on each other; they may to a degree be intermixed; but each is still a character of such force, that whichever prevails, the propriety of all other characters, and of every species of beauty, must be tried by their conformity to this: and circumstances necessary to one, may be inconsistencies in the rest; elegance is the peculiar excellence of a garden; greatness of a park; simplicity of a farm; and pleasantness of a riding. These distinguishing properties will alone exclude from the one, many objects which are very acceptable in the others; but these are not the only properties in which they essentially differ.

A garden is intended to walk or to sit in, which are circumstances not considered in a riding; a park comprehends all the use of the other two; and these uses determine the proportional extent of each; a large garden would be but a small park; and the circumference of a considerable park but a short riding. A farm is in some measure denominated from its size; if it greatly exceed the dimensions of a garden, so that its bounds are beyond the reach of a walk, it becomes a riding. A farm and a garden hence appear to be calculated for indolent, a riding for active amusements; and a park for both; seats, therefore, and buildings for refreshment or indulgence, should be frequent in a garden or a farm; should sometimes occur in a park, but are unnecessary in a riding.

Within the narrow compass of a garden, there is not room for distant effects; on the other hand, it allows of objects which are striking only in a single point of view; for we may stop there to contemplate them; and an obscure catch, or a partial glimpse of others, are also acceptable circumstances, in the leisure of a seat, or even in the course of a loitering walk.