56 



wooild, on the other liand, be moulded into 

 regular curves equally imdisguised, which 

 would therefore appear in all their insipid 

 sameness : and this, I think, is a fair pa- 

 rallel between one of Nature's worst ri- 

 vers, and the best of jMr. Brown's. Such, 

 then, Avould be their respective appear- 

 ance when naked and undisguised ; and 

 were they left to grow wild for some years, 

 and the wood which might spring up pre- 

 served, still their distinct characters w^ould 

 be apparent ; in the natural bank, the irre- 

 gular turns, the inlets with projections of 

 crumbling soil being partially concealed or 

 disguised by vegetation, ^yould occasion 

 some degree of variety and intricacy; w^hile 

 in the other, the regularity of the curves, 

 and the monotony of the slopes, would 

 always be perceived, always have the same 

 insipid artificial appearance. 



To take it again in another light; sup- 

 pose that in the same level country, the 

 windows of the house looked down the 

 reach of a natural river, both the banks 

 of which were completel}^ fringed with flou- 



