BEAUTIES AND PRINCIPLES OP THE ART, 
61 
rent modes of laying out grounds, there are certain universal 
and inherent beauties, common to all styles, and, indeed, 
to every composition in the fine arts. Of these, we shall es- 
pecially point out those growing out of the principles of 
UNITY, HARMONY, and VARIETY. 
Unity, or the production of a whole, is a leading principle 
of the highest importance, in every art of taste or design, 
without which, no satisfactory result can be realized. This 
arises from the fact, that the mind can only attend, with plea- 
sure and satisfaction, to one object, or one composite sensation, 
at the same time. If two distinct objects, or class of objects 
present themselves at once to us, we can only attend satisfac- 
torily to one, by withdrawing our attention, for the time, from 
the other. Hence the necessity of a reference to this leading 
principle of unity. 
To illustrate the subject, let us suppose a building, partially 
built of wood, with square windows, and the remainder of 
brick or stone, with long and narrow windows. However 
well such a building may be constructed, or however nicely 
the different proportions of the edifice may be adjusted, it is 
evident, it can never form a satisfactory whole. The mind 
can only account for such an absurdity, by supposing it to 
have been built by two individuals, or at two different times, 
as there is nothing indicating an unity of mind in its com- 
position. 
In Landscape Gardening, violations of the principle of unity 
are often to be met with, and they are always indicative of 
the absence of correct taste in art. Looking upon a landscape 
from the windows of a villa residence, we sometimes see a 
considerable portion of the view embraced by the eye, laid 
out in natural groups of trees and shrubs, and upon one side, 
or, perhaps, in the middle of the same scene, a formal avenue 
