DRESS GROUND. 75 



observations are founded upon the principles 

 of taste. He tells us the use of a fosse is 

 merely to provide a fence without obstructing 

 a view : he here takes it for granted that no 

 view is to be obstructed ; his prescription is 

 of universal application : a corn-field, a road, 

 or a common ; a neighbouring gentleman's 

 seat, a mill, a town, or a village, are equally 

 objects to be shown ; at the same time, he 

 admits these objects to be discordant to all 

 within. 



It is in such circumstances as this that the 

 study of landscape in pictures, as well as in 

 nature, appears to be essential in qualifying 

 an improver for his profession. Such study 

 would have shown the author of the above 

 observations that composition, not view only, 

 is the object to be aimed at. How, for in- 

 stance, would the nicest concealment of the 

 fosse ever reconcile to the eye of a landscape 

 painter such ground as we were considering 

 a few pages back, where one uniform slope 

 passes across the eye, with no contrasting 

 form to balance it? 



Mr. Mason, in his Essay on Design in 

 Gardening, treats the subject of fences as 

 follows : — 



