76 



It may naturally be expected, that 

 having entered into so much detail with 

 respect to the banks of artificial lakes and 

 rivers, I should say something of their ge- 

 neral shapes. I have already observed, 

 that the character of a lake, and not. that 

 of a river, should in most cases be the 

 object of imitation, and in this opinion I am 

 more and more confirmed. A lake admits 

 of bays and inlets in every direction ; and 

 where the scene is confined, every source 

 of variety should be sought after : a lake 

 is a whole, and that whole, upon a smaller 

 scale, may be completely imitated ; but 



tion or congruity, is very pointedly ridiculed by the Abbe 

 de Lille in his poem on Gardens. The two lines, like 

 most of his verses, are easily retained, and will be recol- 

 lected with equal pleasure and profit — 



Et dansun sol egal, un humble monticule 

 Veut etre pittoresque, et ne'st que ridicule. 



All that I have said, will serve to strengthen, not to coun- 

 teract the force of that just satire, and the principle on 

 which it is founded ; for I have shewn the method by 

 which connection may be restored, and incongruity veiled 

 and disguised, even where such hillocks had been formed, 

 and by which they may in a great degree be united with 

 ihc rest of the landscape. 



