VI

P R E F A C E.

fe£ts; but to confine that ftudy to fcenery
only, would, like all confmed ltudies for a
particular purpofe, tend to contradt the
rnind; at leaft when compared with a more
comprehenfive view of the fubjed:; I have
therefore endeavoured to take the moft en-
larged view pofiible, and to include in it
whatever had any relation to the charadter
I was occupied in tracing, or which ihew-
ed its diflindion from thofe which a very
fuperior mind had already inveftigated; and
fure I am,that he whoftudies the various ef-
fetts and characters of form, colour, and
light and fhadow, and examines and com-
pares thofe charadters and effedts, and the
manner in which they are combined and dif-
pofed, both in pictures and in riature,—will
be better qualified to arrange, certainly to
enjoy, his own and every fcenery, than he
who has only thought of the moft fafhion-
able arrangement of objedts; or has looked
at nature alone, without having acquired
any juft principles of feleCtion.

I be-