s before assigned, may chiefly be
attributed the disfigurement which the Country of the Lakes has
undergone, from persons who may have built, demolished, and planted,
with full confidence, that every change and addition was or would become
an improvement.

The principle that ought to determine the position, apparent size, and
architecture of a house, viz. that it should be so constructed, and (if
large) so much of it hidden, as to admit of its being gently
incorporated into the scenery of Nature--should also determine its
colour. Sir Joshua Reynolds used to say, 'If you would fix upon the best
colour for your house, turn up a stone, or pluck up a handful of grass
by the roots, and see what is the colour of the soil where the house is
to stand, and let that be your choice.' Of course, this precept given in
conversation, could not have been meant to be taken literally. For
example, in Low Furness, where the soil, from its strong impregnation
with iron, is universally of a deep red, if this rule were strictly
followed, the house also must be of a glaring red; in other places it
must be of a sullen black; which would only be adding annoyance to
annoyance. The rule, however, as a general guide, is good; and, in
agricultural districts, where large tracts of soil are laid bare by the
plough, particularly if (the face of the country being undulating) they
are held up to view, this rule, though not to be implicitly adhered to,
should never be lost sight of;--the colour of the house ought, if
possible, to have a cast or shade of the colour of the soil. The
principle is, that the house must harmonise with the surrounding
landscape: accordingly, in mountainous countries, with still more
confidence may it be said, 'look at the rocks and those parts of the
mountains where the soil is visible, and they will furnish a safe
direction.' Nevertheless, it will often happen that the rocks may bear
so large a proportion to the rest of the landscape, and may be of such a
tone of colour, that the rule may not admit, even here, of being
implicitly followed. For instance, the chief defect in the colouring of
the Country of the Lakes (which is most strongly felt in the summer
season) is an over-prevalence of a bluish tint, which the green of the
herbage, the fern, and the woods, does not sufficiently counteract. If a
house, therefore, should stand where this defect prevails, I have no
hesitation in saying, that the colour of the neighbouring rock