197 



There are few objects that the enlightened mind of Sir 

 Uvedale has not remarked. Take the following as an in- 

 stance : 



" Nothing is so captivating, or seems so much to accord with 

 our ideas of beauty, as the smiles of a beautiful countenance; 

 yet they have sometimes a striking mixture of the other cha- 

 racter. Of this kind are those smiles which break out sud- 

 denly from a serious, sometimes from almost a severe coun- 

 tenance, and which, when that gleam is over, leave no trace 

 of it behind — 



Brief as the lightning in the cottied night, 

 That in a spleen unfolds both heaven and earth, 

 And e'er a man has time to say, behold ! 

 The jaws of darkness do devour it up. 



There is another smile, which seems in the same degree to 

 accord with the ideas of beauty only : it is that smile which 

 proceeds from a mind full of sweetness and sensibility, and 

 which, when it is over, still leaves on the countenance its 

 mild and amiable impression ; as after the sun is set, the 

 mild glow of his rays is still diffused over every object. 

 This smile, with the glow that accompanies it, is beautifully 

 painted by Milton, as most becoming an inhabitant of heaven: 



To whom the angel, with a smile that glow'd 

 Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue, 

 Thus answered." 



The great object in the above Essays, is to improve the 

 laying out of grounds by studying the productions " of those 

 great artists who have most diligently studied the beauties of 

 nature. On this subject he has in these volumes poured 

 forth the effusions of his richly gifted mind, in his contem- 

 plation of the works of those really great painters, whose 



