ch this allows him,
is therefore much greater, and the difficulty of his task much more
diminished, than at first appears. To take an illustration from a sister
art, the antiquarian details may be said to represent the peculiar
features of a landscape under delineation of the pencil. His feudal
tower must arise in due majesty; the figures which he introduces must
have the costume and character of their age; the piece must represent
the peculiar features of the scene which he has chosen for his subject,
with all its appropriate elevation of rock, or precipitate descent of
cataract. His general colouring, too, must be copied from Nature: The
sky must be clouded or serene, according to the climate, and the general
tints must be those which prevail in a natural landscape. So far the
painter is bound down by the rules of his art, to a precise imitation of
the features of Nature; but it is not required that he should descend to
copy all her more minute features, or represent with absolute exactness
the very herbs, flowers, and trees, with which the spot is decorated.
These, as well as all the more minute points of light and shadow, are
attributes proper to scenery in general, natural to each situation, and
subject to the artist's disposal, as his taste or pleasure may dictate.

It is true, that this license is confined in either case within
legitimate bounds. The painter must introduce no ornament inconsistent
with the climate or country of his landscape; he must not plant cypress
trees upon Inch-Merrin, or Scottish firs among the ruins of Persepolis;
and the author lies under a corresponding restraint. However far he may
venture in a more full detail of passions and feelings, than is to be
found in the ancient compositions which he imitates, he must introduce
nothing inconsistent with the manners of the age; his knights, squires,
grooms, and yeomen, may be more fully drawn than in the hard, dry
delineations of an ancient illuminated manuscript, but the character and
costume of the age must remain inviolate; they must be the same figures,
drawn by a better pencil, or, to speak more modestly, executed in an age
when the principles of art were better understood. His language must
not be exclusively obsolete and unintelligible; but he should admit, if
possible, no word or turn of phraseology betraying an origin directly
modern. It is one thing to make use of the language and sentiments which
are common to ourselves and our forefa