20 IfntroDuction 



beauties or defects. As stated in the volume 

 on the River Wye : " The following work pro- 

 poses a new object of pursuit, that of examin- 

 ing the face of a country by the rules of pic- 

 turesque beauty" 



A fair illustration of his method of criticism 

 may be found in the following extract written 

 about Chepstow: "It is a pity the ingenious 

 embellisher of these scenes could not have 

 been satisfied with the beauties of nature which 

 he commanded. The shrubberies he has intro- 

 duced in this part of his improvements, I fear, 

 will rather be esteemed paltry. As the embel- 

 lishments of a house, or as the ornament of 

 little scenes, which have nothing better to recom- 

 mend them, a few flowering shrubs artfully 

 composed may have their elegance and beauty, 

 but in scenes like this they are only splendid 

 patches which injure the grandeur and sim- 

 plicity of the whole. 



' Fortasse cupressum. 



Scis simulare : quod hoc ? . . . 



Sit quidvis simplex duntaxat et unum. ' 



It is not the shrub which offends, it is the 



