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nity, would of course be most desirous of 

 studying; excellent hints, however, with 

 regard to the general forms of lakes, might 

 be taken from pools on a scale so very di- 

 minutive, as to excite the ridicule of those 

 who attend to size only, and not to cha- 

 racter. But .as Gainsborough used to 

 bring home roots, stones, and mosses, from 

 which he formed, and then studied fore- 

 grounds in miniature ; and as Leonardo 

 da Vinci advised painters to enrich and 

 vary their conceptions by attending to 

 stains and breaks in old walls, that is, to 

 the lucky effects and combinations which 

 in the meanest objects are produced by 

 accident and neglect, — I ma}^ venture to 

 recommend many of the pools in old gra- 

 vel pits on heathy commons, as affording 

 most useful studies in this branch of land- 

 scape-gardening. Such lakes in minia- 

 ture strongly point out the effect of acci- 

 dent and neglect in creating varied and 

 picturesque compositions, with the ad- 

 vantages that might be taken of such ac- 

 cidents; and they, likewise, shew, what 



