440 The Emhellishment of Dwellings. 



distinction ; and in the greater part of his writings he treats 

 exckisively of the beautiful as applied to rural and architectu- 

 ral decorations. He has bestowed some few remarks on 

 expression ; but they are of such a character as to show that 

 he had not a full appreciation of the nature of these effects. 



It is remarkable that variety, which is one essential ingre- 

 dient of the beauty of forms, is considered by Burke, and 

 after him by Sir Uvedale Price, one of the qualities of the 

 picturesque, as distinguished from the beautiful. Irregularity, 

 rudeness and roughness are classed by them in the same cat- 

 egory with variety. This is an error that greatly diminishes 

 the value of the speculations on these subjects, which these 

 two eminent authors have contributed to English literature. 

 After Mr. Price, there are many who, following his authority, 

 believe that nothing intrinsically beautiful can likewise be 

 picturesque, and confine this latter term to ugly objects which 

 have the power of exciting certain peculiar emotions, such as 

 a dilapidated house, or an old branchless trunk of a tree. I 

 would suggest to these theorists, that the picturesque quality 

 of such objects is not their ugliness, but the representation of 

 something once beautiful, valuable or magnificent; now ruined 

 by the hand of time. The reason why an old building or 

 an old tree is more picturesque than a new building or a young 

 tree, is founded on the poetic sentiment associated with the 

 remains of antiquity and the ravages of time. An old dilap- 

 idated house awakens the poetic sentiment of melancholy in 

 some minds ; in others it is connected with interesting ro- 

 mantic images, with curious ancient customs, with old people 

 of a by-gone generation, and with the legends and traditions 

 of fireside romance. It gives origin to a pathetic flow of 

 sentiment, and the quality that produces this influence on the 

 mind is its picturesque expression. In the case of the ruined 

 tower or castle or palace, it is the historic associations attached 

 to them that produce their picturesque eff"ect ; and it is the 

 idea of rustic simplicity, suggested by the unadorned cottage 

 of the peasant, that confers upon the latter a similar expression. 



We are charmed with the apparent indications or expres- 

 sion of certain amiable virtues, such as humility, resignation, 



