397 



want of all thai is picturesque, and of all in- 

 terest whatsoever, in a continuation of naked, 

 edgy lines ; for where there is nothing to de- 

 tain the eye, there is nothing to amuse it. I 

 may add, that wherever ground is cut with a 

 sharp instrument, it has that ideal effect on the 

 eye ; it is a metaphor which naturally prevails 

 in many languages, where Hues, from what- 

 ever cause, are hard and edgy. When An, 

 Caracci speaks of the edginess of Raphael 

 compared with Correggio, he uses the ex- 

 pression, cosi duro, 8c tagliente — ■ couleurs 

 tranchantes, &c 



P. 307, 1.1. It is difficult to define with any precision, 

 vvhat may properly he called the bank of a 

 river : in its most extended acceptation, it may 

 mean whatever is seen from the water ; I wish 

 it to he taken here in its most confined sense, 

 as that which immediately rises above the 

 water till another level begins, or some distinct 

 termination. This, in certain instances, will 

 be very clear; as where a flat meadow (but 

 not sloped down to the water by art) joins the 

 river. Jt will be equally clear, where the gene- 

 ral bank is steep, if a road be carried near 

 the bottom; for such an artificial level will 

 form a distinct near bank, and one which would 

 be distinctly marked in a picture. The highest 

 part to which the flood generally reaches, is 

 h1|q a verv usual boundary and in rr»~ cf 



