Impwvements in Landscape. 293 



They are both the work of art ; but the one exhibits evi- 

 dences of design, while the other is plainly the chance work 

 of men and animals, who have trodden down the herbage 

 while travelling the most convenient course to a certain point. 

 It might be said that the irregularity, or graceful serpentine 

 course of the field-path, and the geometrical configurations 

 of the gravelled walks in the parterre, cause the difference in 

 their expression. Yet a parterre may be laid out in the most 

 irregular manner, and the field-path may be nearly straight, 

 when passing over a level ground, still the case is not 

 changed. The evidence of some special design would 

 always be apparent in the gravelled walks of the flower 

 garden and absent in the field-path. 



A loose stone wall is as strictly an artificial object as a 

 board fence. Nature, in both cases, provided the materials ; 

 and if the former has the appearance of being more natural 

 than the latter, the explanation is that the materials of the 

 stone wall are not of an artificial shape, but simply piled up 

 into an artificial collection, while those of the board fence 

 are entirely artificial in their shape. The board fence, there- 

 fore, exhibits to the sight more palpable evidences of art and 

 design than the stone wall. Hence the latter, compared with 

 the former, is less calculated to mar the naturalness of the 

 prospect. But if an object exhibit evidences of" design, 

 while it harmonizes with the general appearance of nature, 

 it seems more natural than it would if it were wanting in 

 such harmony. A naked board fence would, on this account, 

 seem more natural than one that is painted, especially if the 

 paint be white, or of any glowing color. A coat of white 

 paint carries it one remove further from nature, and presents 

 to the eye an additional palpable evidence of design. * On 

 this principle we may account for the greater picturesque 

 effect of rustic fences, or such as are made of the rude mate- 

 rials of the forest, which, though put together with neatness 

 and skill, exhibit no evidence of complicated art or extrava- 

 gant cost. Such a fence never can be made to harmonize 

 with a costly villa, or with any buildings which are highly 

 finished and ostentatious in their external appearance. As 



