PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS.
IN a small Work published in 1806,* it was mentioned (page 41), [see p. 340 of the present volume], "That we were on the eve of some great change in landscape gardening and architecture, in consequence of our having lately become better acquainted with scenery and buildings in the interior provinces of India:" it was also mentioned, that my opinion had recently been required in some great works of this style, THEN in too early a stage of progress to be referred to. This was in allusion to my having, at that time, completed the original MS., of which the following work is an exact copy. As many parts of this volume may appear to recommend a degree of novelty, to which I have frequently objected in former publications, it will, perhaps, subject me to some severity of criticism. I must, therefore, plead for candid and indulgent hearing, while I explain the origin of the following work, and endeavour to justify its intentions.
*["An Inquiry into the Changes of Taste in Landscape Gardening and Architecture, &c." [See this work, reprinted in the present volume, with the exception of what had appeared in "Hints and Sketches," in p. 321 to p. 357.]]
