428 PICTURESQUE IMPROVEMENT. BOOK I„ 



is ever the most important; and as it is always within the ope- 

 rations of the improver, it can be disposed at pleasure. The 

 disposition of the foreground ought to be more particularly at- 

 tended to at the mansion, and all buildings, seats, and walks, 

 whither the spectator is generally conducted, and where he natu- 

 rally expects the best compositions or views. The operations 

 upon the foreground depend upon two things — its own natural 

 character, and that of the distances : and the general principle, 

 in guiding these operations, is, that the whole should harmonize. 

 Thus if the middle distance be entirely covered with wood, a 

 foreground of ground only is unsuitable ; a few trees must be 

 added, not only to strengthen the distinction between these 

 component parts, but to unite them in character, and thus to 

 strengthen the effect of the whole composition. These trees 

 should even bear some relation in form and mode of growth to 

 the distant wood or grove with which they are to assimilate : 

 a foreground of poplars, or weeping birch, would ill suit a mid- 

 dle distance evidently of oaks, elms, or firs ; that is, if these 

 trees were so near the eye, as evidently to shew their charac- 

 teristics. It is true, we frequently meet with this incongruity 

 in the country ; but then it is the effect of cultivation, or par- 

 ticular nature, and is to be rejected because inconsistent with 

 her fundamental laws. 



The middle distances of many views come within the province 



