disappointment the first time I approached 

 Bath, notwithstanding the beauty of the 

 stone with which it is built, and of many of 

 the parts on a nearer view. Whoever con- 

 siders what are the forms of the summits,, 

 how little the buildings are made to yield to 

 the ground, and how few trees are mixed 

 with them, will account for my disappoint- 

 ment, and probably lament the cause of 

 it. 



When a town built nearly on level ground, 

 is viewed at a distance, the summits of the 

 houses are of much less consequence. ; for 

 they then either disappear totally, or are so 

 blended with each other that their shapes 

 are scarcely distinguished. But observe 

 how those buildings, which are meant to 

 have the principal effect in the general 

 view of a town, are varied and adorned ; 

 observe what are the objects which then 

 strike our eyes either in real cities, or in 

 those with which the fertile imagination of 

 painters has enriched their landscapes ; 

 towers, domes, columns, open arches, clus- 

 ters of pillars with all their finished orna- 



