MARCH. 117 



in all their varieties ; the various gradations in the tints of 

 broken ground, and on the surface of old trees, and man^r 

 others. In general, the colors of vegetation in spring are 

 beautiful ; in autumn, picturesque. The colors of spring 

 deserve the name of beautiful, having freshness, gaiety and 

 liveliness, with softness and delicacy ; but the decaying 

 charms of autumn, being more picturesque, often triumph in 

 the painter's eye, over the fresh and blooming beauties of 

 spring. The very characters of the sky and atmosphere are 

 of a piece with those of the two seasons ; spring has light 

 and flitting clouds, with shadows equally flitting and uncer- 

 tain ; refreshing showers, with gay and genial bursts of sun- 

 shine, that seem suddenly to call forth and to nourish the 

 young buds and flowers. In autumn all is matured ; and 

 the rich hues of the ripened fruits, and of the changing foli- 

 age, are rendered still richer by the warm haze, which, on a 

 fine day in that season, spreads the last varnish over every 

 part of the picture. 



In conclusion, the author makes an application of the prin- 

 ciples which he has endeavored to establish, to the prevalent 

 mode at his time, of laying out grounds. He complains 

 that the principles of painting have been entirely overlooked 

 by the improvers Kent and Brown, and by their followers. 

 With respect to the old and new styles of gardening, he 

 says formerly everything was in squares and parallelograms ; 

 now everything is in segments of circles and ellipses; the 

 formality still remains ; the character of that formality alone 

 is changed. The old canal has lost indeed its straitness and 

 its angles ; but it has become regularly serpentine, and the 

 edges remain as naked and uniform as before. Avenues, 

 vistas and straight ridings, through woods, are exchanged for 

 clumps, belts, and circnlar roads and plantations of every 

 kind ; straight alleys in gardens and the platform of the old 

 terrace, for the curves of the gravel walk. The intention of 

 the new improvers was certainly meritorious ; for they meant 

 to banish formality and restore nature ; but it must be 

 remembered that strongly marked, distinct and regular 

 curves, unbroken and undisguised, are hardly less unnatu- 



