116 Gilpin's forest soenert. 



wlien it has outgrown all the more unpleasant cir- 

 cumstances of its youtli — when it has completed 

 its full age — and when, like Ezekiel's Cedar, it has 

 formed its head among the Ihich Iranches. I may 

 be singular in my attachment to the Scotch Fir ; 

 I know it has many enemies, and that may per- 

 haps induce me to be more compassionate to it : 

 however, I wish my opinion in its favour may weigh 

 no more than the reasons I give to support it. 



The great contempt, indeed, in which the 

 Scotch Fir is commonly held, arises, I believe, 

 from two causes. 



People object first to its colour. Its dark, 

 murky hue, we are told, is unpleasing. With 

 regard to colour in general, I think I speak the 

 language of painting when I assert, that the 

 picturesque eye makes little distinction in this 

 matter. It has no attachment to one colour in 

 preference to another, but considers the beauty 

 of all colouring as resulting, not from the colours 

 themselves, but almost entirely from their harmony 

 with other colours in their neighbourhood. So 

 that, as the Fir Tree is supported, combined, or 

 stationed, it forms a pleasing tint or a murky spot. 



