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All persons, whether they have reflected 

 upon the subject or not, are universally 

 pleased with smoothness and flowing lines ; 

 and thence the great and general popu- 

 larity of the present style of gardening i 

 but on the other hand those who have paid 

 any attention to scenery, are more struck 

 with sudden projections and abruptnesses; 

 more struck, for instance, with rocks, pre- 

 cipices, and cataracts, than with meadows, 

 swelling hills and woods, and gentle rivers; 

 for in all such rugged abrupt forms, though 

 they may be only picturesque, there is still 

 a tendency towards the sublime ; that is, 

 towards the most powerful emotion of the 

 human mind.* The great point, not merely 

 in improvements, but in all things that are 

 designed to affect the imagination, is to 

 mix according to circumstances, what is 

 striking, with what is simply pleasing. This 

 seems the principle in architecture. Por- 



* Essay on the ^Picturesque, chap. 4,' 

 K 5J 



