THE HORSE CHESTNUT. 



41 



the Horse Chestnut are not such that they could 

 be represented with effect, if at all, in a picture. 

 It is then as an ingredient in a picture, not as a 

 feature of a real landscape, that he declares it to 

 be ^^a heavy, disagreeable tree. It forms its 

 foliage generally in a round mass, with little ap- 

 pearance of those breaks which we have so often 

 admired, and which contribute to give an airiness 

 and lightness, at least a richness and variety, to 

 the whole mass of foliage. The tree is, however, 

 chiefly admired for its flower, which in itself is 

 beautiful ; but the whole tree together in flower is 

 a glaring object, totally unharmonious and unpic- 

 turesque. In some situations, indeed, and among 

 a profusion of other wood, a single Chestnut or 

 two in bloom may be beautiful. As it forms an 

 admirable shade, it may be of use, too, in thicken- 

 ing distant scenery, or in screening an object at 

 hand ; for there is no species of foliage, however 

 heavy, nor any species of bloom, however glaring, 

 which may not be brought, by some proper con- 

 trast, to produce a good effect." Whatever truth 

 there may be in this criticism, it is certainly over- 

 stated, and the remarks which we have made on 

 the Beech,* another of the trees which the same 

 author is pleased unequivocally to condemn, will 

 equally apply in this case. One picturesque 

 beauty it certainly does possess, and that in a 

 high degree : its massive and luxuriant foliage 

 casts a rich, deep shadow which is eminently 

 beautiful in bright, sunny weather. Hence an 

 avenue of full-grown Chestnuts, if the ground be 

 not too even, and the trees planted not in an 

 exact line, is not without attraction even to an 



* Vol. i. p. 323. 



