CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



The most fascinating poems and romances are 

 those that run upon the thread of a single 

 personage, as in Don Quixote, or the jEneid of 

 Virgil. 



With regard to description, as applied to the 

 exterior world, or the appearances presented by 

 surrounding scenery, the representation of which 

 must be the basis of all other descriptions, the 

 following points must be kept in view : 



I. In describing any complex thing whatsoever, 

 we ought to commence by stating some great 

 general or comprehensive feature of the whole, 

 on which to distribute or attach the subsequent 

 details. If there be anything that confers a unity 

 on the object, that unity should be set promi- 

 nently forth, and the individual parts should all 

 point towards it Naturalists commence with the 

 backbone in the description of the animal frame. 

 The primary conception of the earth is a hitge 

 ball, with rolling motion and variegated surface. 

 The first epithet to be used in speaking of a 

 mountain should give the general outline such 

 as, a vast conical hill, a steep ascent, a long ridge, 

 a low flat eminence. In a mountainous country, 

 we fix upon the largest mountain-range as the 

 backbone, and represent the inferior chains as its 

 members, and we derive from these the starting- 

 points to the valleys, plains, and rivers ; and in 

 this way the detailed features preserve their places 

 in our view of the whole. The word-painter shews 

 his art in discerning, in the midst of complexity 

 and detail, some comprehensive feature that gives 

 wholeness or unity to the scene. 



The basis of the description, or the leading 

 feature to which all the rest has to be related, may 

 be either an outline or a centre ; it may proceed 

 upon a general figure of the circumference and 

 inclosure of the whole, or from some prominent 

 and commanding point in the interior. The in- 

 side of a building requires to be described by out- 

 line : we must give, in the first place, the form 

 and size of the floor, the height and the form of 

 the roof, with some striking comparison or expres- 

 sion that may serve to bring out the feeling of the 

 solid expanse in the reader's mind. This will be 

 followed up by the orderly detail of the contents ; 

 and it is well to repeat and indicate in various 

 ways the great primary notion of the form ; for if 

 this once drops out of the view, the whole pic- 

 ture crumbles into confused fragments. Satan's 

 palace in Paradise Lost is admirably pictured 

 by the appropriate expression of space and out- 

 line : 



' The ascending pile 



Stood fixed her stately height ; and straight the doors, 

 Opening their brazen folds, discover wide 

 Within, her ample spaces, over the smooth 

 And level pavement ; from the arched roof, 

 Pendent by subtle magic, many a row 

 Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed 

 With naphtha and asphaltus, yielded light 

 As from a sky.' 



A plain inclosed by mountains is a proper 

 subject for outline description. Seas and lakes, 

 encampments, and all kinds of scenery and ex- 

 panse whose character and internal arrangement 

 are determined by their inclosing boundary, or 

 by the form of their surface, must be treated in 

 the same manner. 



In picturing towns, the basis ought in general 



to be a centre, or some prominent object that 

 governs all the rest, or that is sufficiently impor- 

 tant to fix the attention as a leading feature of 

 the scene. The river running through or past a 

 town is usually fixed on for this purpose ; or if on 

 the sea-shore, the line of coast may be chosen. 

 Next to these, a great natural valley or a central 

 eminence will serve the purpose ; or lastly, some 

 of the great thoroughfares of the interior. After 

 choosing out a main trunk in this way, and 

 impressing it sufficiently on the mind, we naturally 

 follow out, first its larger, and then its smaller 

 branches ; but on all occasions we are to keep 

 starting from the great centre. 



2. In description, as practised under the tra- 

 veller's point of view, it is an important maxim 

 never to let the reader lose hold of the dominant 

 circumstances that rule the perceptions and feel- 

 ings of the observer. There are certain points 

 that determine, in preference to all others, the 

 state of the mind in any given situation. If we 

 wish to make a second person, as it were, stand 

 where we stood, and see what we saw, we must, 

 in the first place, make him clearly to conceive the 

 footing or support, the nature of the ground, and 

 the manner of resting upon it. We should indi- 

 cate whether our footing was firm or loose, rough 

 or smooth, ascending or descending, and whether 

 we walked, stood, lay, rested, or rode. There will 

 of course be the supposition that we were sus- 

 tained somehow; but it is essential to let it be 

 distinctly understood what was the exact circum- 

 stance of this first and most indispensable con- 

 tact with the outer world ; and the more surely 

 and vividly this is conceived, the more perfect 

 will be the understanding and conception of all 

 other things. 



In the second place, there should be no mistake 

 about the state of the light that prevails at the 

 time, whether clear sunshine in a blue sky, or 

 otherwise ; or if, in reference to the night, whether 

 the moon or stars were visible. The poets are; 

 particularly attentive to this particular 



' He ceased, the whole assembly silent sat, 

 Charmed into ecstasy by his discourse, 

 Throughout the twilight hall' 



In the third place, it is necessary to indicate 

 decisively the forward prospect, which, next to 

 the actual footing, engrosses the solicitude of 

 the mind, and determines the bent of the feel- 

 ings. It ought to be pointed out whether the 

 prospect is free and open, or shut and encur 

 bered ; whether it spreads out far, or closes nez 

 at hand ; whether it rises or descends. In ou 

 onward movement, this determines our hopes anc 

 fears, or the complexion of the future ; and if 

 are at rest, it controls our vision and the trains 

 thought suggested to the imagination. 



In the fourth place, and next to the forwarc 

 prospect, the writer should make known the sia 

 fiedging of his path, the close confinement, or free 

 expansion on the right and left ; for this, too, wil" 

 affect his feelings and meditations. 



In the fifth place, the roofing overhead should 

 be included. In the open air, this would refer to 

 the state of the sky ; but it becomes a more 

 essential point of description if under a roof. 



To these five points may be added the sounds 

 that salute the ear, and any other sensations ths 

 are material under the circumstances. No huma 



