as Elements of Landscape, 39- 



ill the verdure which has been well styled " her universal 

 robe," but also with trees in every stage of their existence ; an 

 idea which Milton has also given us jn his exquisite descrip-: 

 tion of the creation : — . : 



1 - « Last ■; 



Rose, as in dance, the stately trees, and spread [ 



Their branches, hung with copious fruit, or gemm'd ^ 



With blossoms j with high woods the hills were crownM, ^ 



With tufts the valleys, and each fountain side; ? 



With borders long the rivers : that earth now 

 Seem'd like to Heav*n, a seat where gods might dwell. 

 Or wander with delight, and love to haunt 

 ', Her sacred shades.'* 



. Leaving, however, for the present, the dryads and hama- 

 dryads of such enchanting precincts to the poets who have so 

 well embodied their existence, we shall turn our attention to 

 " the stately trees," and endeavour to ascertain, and to point 

 out, to such of our readers as may be desirous to acquire some 

 knowledge of their varieties and character, with reference ta 

 their appearance and effect in landscape, the most striking, 

 peculiarities in each species, and the mode best adapted for 

 their delineation. In the course of this disquisition, we shall 

 have occasion to present to the young student in painting, a 

 variety of sketches illustrative of our propositions, given, not 

 from the recorded treasures of the brain, but from a more 

 inexhaustible storehouse ; being acquired by diligent study in 

 the living academies of nature, — the groves and the forests of 

 our native country. And here it may be well observed, that no 

 set of rules or examples, drawn from other men's labours, will 

 be sufficient to form an original landscape painter : we can 

 only put the proper implements into the hands of the student, 

 form in him a habit of accurate perception, and introduce 

 him to the objects best adapted for his pencil : it is for him to 

 find his own path for the future, and penetrate into the soli- 

 tudes and the recesses of the forest, where every thing will be 

 congenial to his pursuit, and where he will not have to com- 

 plain in the elegant language of Quintilian, — " Quare sil- 

 varum amcenitas, et prseterlabentia flumina, et inspirantes 

 ramis arborum aurae, volucrumque cantus et ipsa late circum- 

 spiciendi libertas, ad se trahunt; ut mihi remittere potius 

 voluptas ista videatur cogitationem, quam intendere." " Where- 

 fore the sweet tranquillity of the woods, ' the liquid lapse of 

 murmuring streams,' the soft whisperings of the summer air 

 amid the boughs, the melodies of birds, and the unrestrained 

 freedom that the eye enjoys, all attract the mind to themi- 

 selves, so that these delights appear to me rather to interrupt 

 than to promote our meditations." 



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