civilization, and refinement; and the particular style of ornament we wish to recommend is, that which is best adapted to the state of refinement that now prevails in this country; leaving individuals to vary it, as their own peculiar taste may direct.

BEFORE we proceed farther, it may be necessary to explain what it is we mean, by nature, and natural. If, in the idea of natural state, we include ground, water, and wood, no spot in this island can be said to be in a state of nature. The ground, or the surface of the earth, as left by Nature (or the convulsions of Nature), remains, it is true, with but few alterations; yet, even here, (especially among rocks and steep acclivities, the noblest features in the face of Nature), we frequently find the hand of Art has been at work. Again, though rivers may still run in the channels, or nearly in the channels, into which Nature directed them; yet waters, taken generally, have been greatly controuled by human art. And, with respect to wood, we may venture to say, that there is not a tree, perhaps not a bush, now standing upon the face of the country, which owes its identical state of existence to Nature alone. Wherever cultivation has set its foot,-wherever the plow and spade have laid fallow the soil,-Nature is become extinct; and it is in neglected or less cultivated places, in morasses and mountains,

in forests and parochial wastes, we are to seek for anything near a state of Nature,-we mean in this country. And who would look for the standard of taste, who expect to find the lovely mixture of wood and lawn, so delightful to the human eye, in the endless woods of America? We may therefore conclude, that the objects of our imitation are not to be sought for in uncultivated Nature. The inhospitable heaths of Westmoreland may astonish for the moment, may be the pleasing amusement of a summer's day, and agreeable objects in their places; but are they objects of imitation under the window of a drawing room? Rather let us turn our eyes to well soiled, well wooded, well cultivated spots, where Nature and Art are happily blended; leaving those who are admirers of Art, merely imitative, to contemplate Nature on canvas; and those who wish for Nature, in a state of total neglect, to take up their residence in the woods of America.

of

FAR be it from us to rebel against the laws of Nature, or to question, in any wise, the perfection of the Deity. A state of nature, in the eye Omniscience, is undoubtedly a state of perfection. But, in the littleness of human conception, something is wanted, to bring down natural objects to the level of human comprehension. What object in nature is in a state of human perfection? Even

in the finest woman, a female critic will discover faults: and, in the handsomest horse, a buyer will point out what, in the human eye, appear as imperfections. Did ever a landscape painter find a scene, purely natural, which might not. have been improved by the hand of Art, or which he did not actually improve by a stroke of his pencil? A striking feature may sometimes be caught, where little addition is wanted; but in a rich picturable view, which will bear to be placed: repeatedly under the eye, a portion of lawn is requisite*, and, in the wilds of nature, we know of no such thing.

Mr. GRAY, whose letters to Dr. WARTON, describing the natural scenery of the North of England, have been held out as models of their kind, corroborates our idea.

Just beyond this, opens one of the sweetest landscapes that • art ever attempted to imitate. The bosom of the mountain spreading here into a broad basan, discovers in the midst • Grasmere Water; its margin is hollowed into small bays, with bold eminences, some of rock, some of soft turf, that half conceal and vary the figure of the little lake they com'mand: from the shore a low promontory pushes itself far into ◄ the water, and on it stands a white village, with the parish⚫ church rising in the midst of it: hanging inclosures, corn⚫ fields, and meadows green as emerald, with their trees, and hedges, and cattle, fill up the whole space from the edge of • the water: and just opposite to you is a large farm-house, at ⚫ the bottom of a steep smooth lawn, embosomed in old woods ⚫ which climb half way up the mountain side, and discover

THEREFORE, Our idea of natural, is not confined to neglected nature, but extends to cultivated nature, to nature touched by art, and rendered intelligible to human perception: and we venture to recommend, as objects most worthy the study and imitation of the artists, such passages in nature, as give the highest degree of gratification to cultivated minds in general: passages like the followingNo matter whether produced by accident or design— no matter whether it occur in a forest or a parkor whether it occupy the corner of a common, or fill up a conspicuous quarter of an ornamented ground:-a lofty wood hanging on a bold ascent; its broken margin flowing negligently over the bosom of the valley lying broad and bare beneath, and falling gently to the brink of a river, winding gracefully along the base.—We further beg leave to add, in this place, that if a passage like this-especially if the vale be occupied by cattle, and the whole scene enlivened by the presence of the sun, and animated by the fleeting shadows of clouds, sweeping its varied surface-is incapable of conveying a degree of gratification to the mind

⚫ above them a broken line of crags, that crown the scene. Not a single red tile, no flareing Gentleman's house, or gar⚫ den walls, break in upon the repose of this little unsuspected paradise; but all is peace, rusticity, and happy poverty, in ⚫ its neatest, most becoming attire.'

Gray's Letters te Dr. Warton, p. 181.

of any of our readers, we have no hope of entertaining such a mind, in this part of our performance.

SECTION THE SECOND.

THE SITE.

BY the Site we mean, not only the place itself, but likewise so much of the surrounding country as may fall immediately within the view, and unite with the near grounds.

If the place be already suited to the surrounding country, and to the particular purpose for which it is intended, the assistance of art is not wanted, the business of the artist is precluded. If it be nearly in this state, the touchings of art are only required. But if the place be greatly deficient, as places in general are, then it is the duty of the artist" to supply its defects, to correct its faults, and to improve its beauties,'

EVERY PLACE Consists either of ground alone, or of ground and water, or of ground and wood, or of ground, water, and wood.