the more distant the building, the more generally bright it becomes,
till the distant village sparkles out of the orange copse, or the
cypress grove, with so much distinctness as might be thought in some
degree objectionable. But it must be remembered that the prevailing
color of the Italian landscape is blue; sky, hills, water, are equally
azure: the olive, which forms a great proportion of the vegetation, is
not green, but gray; the cypress and its varieties, dark and neutral,
and the laurel and myrtle far from bright. Now, white, which is
intolerable with green, is agreeably contrasted with blue; and to this
cause it must be ascribed that the white of the Italian building is not
found startling and disagreeable in the landscape. That it is not, we
believe, will be generally allowed.

34. III. Elegance of feeling. We never can prevent ourselves from
imagining that we perceive in the graceful negligence of the Italian
cottage, the evidence of a taste among the lower orders refined by the
glory of their land, and the beauty of its remains. We have always had
strong faith in the influence of climate on the mind, and feel strongly
tempted to discuss the subject at length; but our paper has already
exceeded its proposed limits, and we must content ourselves with
remarking what will not, we think, be disputed, that the eye, by
constantly resting either on natural scenery of noble tone and
character, or on the architectural remains of classical beauty, must
contract a habit of feeling correctly and tastefully; the influence of
which, we think, is seen in the style of edifices the most modern and
the most humble.

35. Lastly, Dilapidation. We have just used the term "graceful
negligence": whether it be graceful, or not, is a matter of taste; but
the uncomfortable and ruinous disorder and dilapidation of the Italian