Lonsdale Magazine, 1820, vol.1
p.171
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Lonsdale Magazine, 1820, vol.1 p.171
breezes - the face of nature under one broad and universal glare is not propitious to the feelings of the anxious spectator; but this monotony can only be of short duration; because the declining sun, in the rotundity of woods and trees, the projections of rocks, the irregularity of hills, and the recesses of mountains, produces shadows; these gradually expanding, uniting, and finally, on the setting of the sun, pervading the whole landscale, exhibit almost infinite variety of form, of tone, and of colour. "An assemblage of beautiful objects in harmonious combination, when under the influence of a fine atmosphere, and lighted from a sky partially obscured by clouds, is a field for study, much to be coveted by all who wish to profit by the exhibitions of that great master - nature. "A scene thus circumstanced, by its succession of partial illuminations, is a repast replete with every delicate variety that can gratify the sentimental mind, and, by its extraordinary changes, 'gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.' Hills and rocks, woods and trees, and the haunts of men, by the all-searching rays of the sun, are dragged from 'purple' obscurity and painted in 'burnished gold.' "Such scenes are chaste and beautiful, even with the sameness of a summer's verdure, but infinitely more so in the variable dress of autumnal tinting, and fortunate is that traveller who, externally comfortable, shall intellectually refresh himself from so lovely an assemblage of the works of the Almighty Creator of the universe." The time of the day, he observes, has a powerful effect on the beauties of the Lake scenery. "Twilight, in the absence of the moon, is a fine, a most interesting period. The sun illuminating the canopy of heaven, reflects its lustre on the earth below, and gives a delicate distinction to every distance on the picture, and to every object its due place, in all the regular gradations of aerial perspective. "What can be more refreshing to the feelings of an artist, than to observe the localities of colour subdued and almost amalgamated with the floating atmosphere; the foreground in chastened tones and tints, and the distances swimming in celestial blue? The stillness of evening is highly favourable to the contemplation of such scenes, when without a breath of air to give a rustling to the trees or a ripple to the lake, the sweet murmurings of the tumbling waters vibrate only on the ear, save when the bleating sheep, or the barking of a shepherd's dog, momentarily interrupts the solemn and impressive silence: the component parts of the landscape become momentarily less evident, and 'darkness visible' is succeeded by total darkness. "Surrounded by the melancholy gloom of night, how different the views of the artist and lover to those of the 'lean unwashed artificer,' who at the very moment greedily swallowing sedition is all agog to hurl destruction on his rulers, who in their turns are as anxiously providing means to prevent its execution. "In mildly cloudy weather the vapour on the mountains sometimes travels horizontally, by which their summits are hid from the eye of the anxious spectator; but when ascending or descending mists shall roll upon the surface of gigantic nature, when some castle-like rock alternately of the deepest air tints and most celestial light, shall seem as hung in clouds, the powers of the pencil are frequently suspended, and the mind employed in comparing the greatness of nature with the littleness of art."The atmosphere, he remarks is continually varying its colour; and that artist who wishes to copy nature in her most captivating moments, will avail himself of this property, and select that colour which is best adapted to his purpose. "Now the colours of which air is composed are blue, red, and yellow, and an infinite variety of tints is derived from their mixture. Air is never of one self-colour only; nor of two colours: but it is often of two colours, with but little of the third; thus it is frequently composed of blue and red, which make purple, with a small quantity of yellow; at other times of red and yellow, with no great quantity of blue; and often of blue and yellow, which make a green, with a small portion of red. "Of all atmospheres those inclining to the yellow and green are the most unhappy; and the most grateful to the feelings those of a grey, some- |
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