her as the source and fountain of our rules.

"First follow nature, and your judgment frame
By her just standard, which is still the same,
Unerring nature, still divinely blight,
One clear, unchanged, and universal light,
Life, force, and beauty must to all impart,
At once the source, and end, and test of art."

By too much attention to theory, by too close a study of books, we may
become narrow-minded and pedantic, and gradually may become unable to
appreciate natural beauties, our whole attention being concentrated on
the defects in art. We want to listen to the call of the poet,

"Come forth into the light of things,
Let nature be your teacher."

It is nature that mellows and softens the distance, and brings out
sharply the lights and shadows of the foreground, and the artist must
follow her if he would succeed. It is nature who warbles softly in the
love notes of the bird, and who elevates the soul by the roar of the
cataract and the pealing of the thunder. To her the musician and the
poet listen, and imitate the great teacher. It is nature who, in the
structure of the leaf or in the avenue of the lofty limes, teaches the
architect how to adorn his designs with the most graceful of
embellishments, to rear the lofty column or display the lengthening vista
of the cathedral aisle. It is nature who is teaching us all to be
tender, loving, and true, and to love and worship God, and to admire all
His works. Let us then in our criticism refer everything first of all to
nature. Is the work natural? Does it follow nature? Secondly, does it