as an Eleme7it of Landscai^. 245 



dependent on the different aspects of morning, noon, and even- 

 ing ; on sun and on shade ; on the colours of the sky and the 



101 



clouds; on the clearness or haziness of the atmosphere, and its 

 consequent powers of refraction ; on opposition of colour ;. oa 

 the situation of the spectator; and on many other contingen-^ 

 cies, all independent of the local colour of the object, yet all 

 strongly affecting it. It is impossible, therefore, I repeat, to 

 give, in any written description, with tolerable conciseness, 

 sufficient instruction for selecting the colours necessary to 

 depict these objects, so constantly varying in their hues. A 

 few simple tints on the pallette, and an hour*s study in the 

 forest, will be more instructive than a volume of remarks. 

 The attention and minuteness with which a lover of nature 

 will examine a favourite object, and the truth with which he 

 will consequently be enabled to describe it, are so strongly 

 evidenced in the following passage, extracted from the works 

 of the amiable writer before quoted, that I shall make no 

 apology for transcribing the whole passage : — "I have often 

 stood," says he, " with admiration before an old forest oak, 

 examining the various tints which have enriched its furrowed 

 stem. The genuine bark of an oak is of an ash colour, though 

 it is difficult to distinguish any part of it from the mosses that 

 overspread it; for no oak, I suppose, was ever without a 

 greater or less proportion of these picturesque appendages. 

 The lower parts, about the roots, are often possessed by that 

 green, velvet moss, which, in a still greater degree, commonly 

 occupies the bole of the beech, though the beauty and bril- 

 liancy of it lose much when in decay. As the trunk rises, 

 you see the brimstone colour taking possession in patches. 

 Of this there are two principal kinds; a smooth sort, which 

 spreads like a scurf over the bark ; and a rougher sort, which 

 hangs in little rich knots and fringes. I call it a brimstone 

 hue by way of general distinction, but it sometimes inclines 

 to an olive, and sometimes to a light green. Intermixed with 



