50 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



out the rocks would be destitute of the feature that 

 yields them their principal charm. From the sight of 

 the rocks also comes that feeling of alliance with past 

 ages of the world, which tends greatly to elevate the 

 mind with sentiments of grandeur. 



The New England stonewall, as a portion of land- 

 scape scenery, is generally considered a deformity. 

 Still it cannot be denied that the same lines of wooden 

 fence would mar the beauty of the landscape a great 

 deal more. On account of the loose manner in which 

 the stones are piled one upon another, as well as the 

 character of the materials, this wall harmonizes with 

 the general aspect of nature more agreeably than any 

 kind of wood-work or masonry. It seems to me less 

 of a deformity than a hedge or any other kind of a 

 fence, except in highly cultivated and ornamented 

 grounds. In wild pastures and lands devoted to com- 

 mon agricultural purposes, the stonewall is the least 

 exceptionable of any boundary mark that has yet been 

 invented. A hedge in such places would present to the 

 eye an intolerable formality. 



One of the charms of the stonewall is the manifest 

 ease with which it may be overleaped : it menaces no 

 infringement upon our liberty. When we look abroad 

 upon a landscape subdivided only by these long lines 

 of loose stones, we feel no sense of constraint: the 

 whole boundless range as well as prospect is ours. An 

 appearance that cherishes this feeling of liberty is es- 

 sential to the beauty of a landscape ; for no man can 

 thoroughly enjoy a scene from which he is excluded. 

 Imagine to what extent the peculiar beauty of the 

 ocean would be marred,, if certain portions were in- 

 closed by a fence for the exclusive advantage of some 

 proprietor! Fences are deformities of prospect which 



