300 lllufiratian of the Principles of Compofition 



Wliil the ploughman, near at hand, 

 Whiftles o'er the furrow'd land, 

 Avd the milkmaid fmgeth blythe, 

 -And the mqwer whet? his fcythe, 

 And every Ihepherd tells his tale 



ley the hawthorn in the dale. L'Allegro. 



How animated, rfow lively is the whole effect, particularly 

 . contrdfted with the following : 



Tilr civil fuited Morn appear, 



Not nick'd and frounc'u as ilie was wont 



With the Attic boy to hunt, 



P>ut kerchief'u in a comely cloud, 



While rocking winds are piping loud, 



Or uflitr'd with a fhower flill, . 



When the gull has blown his f:ll, 



Ending on the nil;, i 



With minute drops from ofTthe eaves. Il Penseroso. 



I-t is evident from the above examples that figures, colour, 

 and chiaro-jcuroj rauft ail have one tendency, or the picture 

 can never form a complete whole. 



We need not wonder at that want of information in the' 

 higher walks of art which at prefent pervades fociety, if we 

 confider the want of knowledge in thofe who make a trade 

 of teaching, and that of the number of drawing-books poured 

 on the public. Some confider neatnefs an object; others, 

 touch, the form of a tree; or uflier forth, as examples of art, 

 incorrect fkctches to copy; all being content with offering 

 a part, none teaching the combination of a whole; or that 

 \r embody a grand idea is the higheft point of human in- 

 tellect. We are in duty bound to exert o'urfelves to improve 

 the national tafte by every fair and honeft meansj and, 

 ilioukl we be i'o unfortunate as not to fucteed, we may be 

 comforted by the recollection that to labour to obtain excel- 

 lence is excellent, as well as to endure whatever may happen 

 to be the refult. 



Many deny trite utility of the arts, while others acknow- 



them as remotely nfeful only ; but this were to quef- 



ti< :i whether fight be preferable to blindnefs, fenfe to folly, 



or life to death. As ive exift in the fenfes, to give them a 



keener 



