. Charles Eliot, landscape architect : a lover of nature and of his kind who trained himself for a new profession, practised it happily and through it wrought much good /Charles William Eliot. tate, under the patronage of Dr. Hosack, who succeededDr. Bard as proprietor. No man ever undertook a moreresponsible service in the realm of taste applied to landscape,nor one in which it would have been easier to fail by spoilingwhat Nature had so magnificently provided. What a contrastis his work to the usual practice of the modern amateur, who,being a cultivated gentleman, considers himself quite abl
. Charles Eliot, landscape architect : a lover of nature and of his kind who trained himself for a new profession, practised it happily and through it wrought much good /Charles William Eliot. tate, under the patronage of Dr. Hosack, who succeededDr. Bard as proprietor. No man ever undertook a moreresponsible service in the realm of taste applied to landscape,nor one in which it would have been easier to fail by spoilingwhat Nature had so magnificently provided. What a contrastis his work to the usual practice of the modern amateur, who,being a cultivated gentleman, considers himself quite able tolay out his own place. With the help of a jobbing gardener,he too often first despoils the natural scene of much thatmakes its character and beauty, for the sake of introducingsupposedly decorative elements, such as strange trees and theshort-lived brilliancy of flower beds. Montgomery Place andHyde Park should teach us better. The soft and tranquilbeauty of the gentle landscape of the first named, and thebroad stateliness of the upland scenery of the second, mustimpress all sensitive minds, as no splendor of embellishmentcan. Decorative gardening, as it is often introduced in mod-. 260 SIX OLD AMERICAN COUNTRY-SEATS [1889 excellent, is foredoomed to rise in some bare field where itmust stand naked during many years. And yet, New Eng-land, not to speak of other parts of the country, abounds inaccessible park-sites, crying to be occupied, where, if there isno such mighty river as the Hudson, there is great variety oflake, hill, and mountain scenery adorned by fine trees andwoods. CHAPTER XV THE FUNCTION OF THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT It seems to be universally allowed that the habitation of man shouldbe distinct from that of the cattle that graze around him. We see thisprinciple acted upon from the palace to the cottage, which with itsdwarf wall or garden pales, broken and enriched with the simplecreepers of honeysuckle, ivy, etc., is an object pleasing to every eye aswell as to
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