Architecture and Gardening

119. The union of architecture and gardening has been better managed in Italy than in any other country; for, as G. L. Meason observes, the gardens were often designed by the same hand as the architecture and the sculpture; and hence all �concur in the general effect to produce perfect harmony.� The gardens are frequently laid out �in different stages following the slope of a hill, and presenting a great variety of stairs, fountains, alleys of trees, and flower plots, the whole terminated by a summer-house or casino.'