Mater 155 



length of the way. The even temper in the stream 

 suits the scenes through which it passes ; they are in 

 general of a very sober cast; not melancholy, but 

 grave ; never exposed to a glare ; never darkened with 

 gloom; nor by strong contrasts of light and shade 

 exhibiting the excess of either; undisturbed by an 

 excess of prospects without, or a multiplicity of 

 objects within, they retain at all times a mildness 

 of character which is still more forcibly felt when 

 the shadows grow faint as they lengthen ; when a little 

 rustling of birds in the spray, the leaping of the fish, 

 and the fragrancy of the woodbine denote the ap- 

 proach of evening; while the setting sun shoots its 

 last gleams on a Tuscan portico, which is close to 

 the great basin, but which from a seat near this river 

 is seen at a distance, through all the obscurity of the 

 wood, glowing on the banks, and reflected on the 

 surface of the water/' 

 Here are good words about flowers on the waterside: 



"One beautiful way in which flowers can be used, 

 especially those distinguished for the brightness and 

 clearness of their colouring, or for their tall stalks, 

 is to plant them in moss and among wild vegetation 

 along the edge of a brook or some other piece of 

 water. The reflections in the water and the play 

 of their movements thus doubled clothed with a new 

 charm this scene which is altogether natural." 1 



Throughout all these quotations, however, no one 



1 Hirschf eld's Theorie der Garden Kunst, Leipzig, 1777. 



