338 



fersected by walks and green alleys all 

 edged and bordered, that there is no escap- 

 ing from them ; they act like flappers in 

 Laputa, and instemtly wake yon from any 

 dream of retirement. The borders of thes€ 

 walks are so thickly planted, and the rest 

 of the wood so impracticable, that it seems 

 as if the improver said, " You shall never 

 wander from my walks; never exercise 

 your own taste and judgment, never form 

 your own . compositions : neither your ejes 

 nor your feet shall be allowed to stray from 

 the boundaries I have traced :** a species 

 of thraldom unfit for a free country. 



There is, indeed, something despotic in 

 the general system of improvement; all 

 must be laid open ; all that obstructs, le- 

 velled to the ground ; houses, orchards, 

 gardens, all swept away. Painting, on 

 the contrary, tends to humanize the mind : 

 where a despot thinks every person an in- 

 truder who enters his domain, and wishes 

 to destroy cottages and pathways, and to 

 reign alone, the lover of painting, consi- 

 ders the dwellings, the inhabitants, and the 



