131 



All persons, wliether they have reflected 

 upon the subject or not, are universally 

 pleased with smoothness and flowing lines; 

 and thence the great and gcneiTil [)opu- 

 laritj of the present style of gardening : 

 but on the other hand those who have paid 

 any attention to scenery, are more struck 

 with sudden projections and abruptnesses: 

 more struck, for instance, with rocks, pre- 

 cipices, and cataracts, than with meadows, 

 swelling hills and woods, and gentle rivers; 

 for in all such rugged abrupt forms, though 

 they may be only picturesque, there is still 

 a tendency towards the sublime ; that is, 

 towards the most powerful emotion of the 

 human mind * The great point, not merely 

 in improvements, but in all thing-s that are 

 designed to affect the imagination, is to 

 mix according to circumstances, what is 

 striking, with what is simply pleasing. This 

 seems the principle in architecture. Pof- 



♦ Essny on the PicturesqtiCj chap. 4. 

 K 2 



