To every view belongs a light which shews it to advantage; every scene and every object is in its highest beauty only at particular hours of the day; and every place is, by its situation or its character, peculiarly agreable in certain months of the year. The seasons thus become subjects of consideration in gardening; and when several of those circumstances which distinguish a spot more at one time than another happen to concur, it will often be worth the while to add to their number, and to exclude such as do not agree with them, for no other purpose than to strengthen their effect at that particular time. Different parts may thus be adapted to different seasons; and each in its turn will be in perfection. But if the place will not allow of such a succession, still occasional effects may often be secured and improved without prejudice to the scene when they are past, and without affectation while they continue.

The temple of concord and victory at Stowe has been mentioned as one of the noblest objects that ever adorned a garden; but there is a moment when it appears in singular beauty; the setting sun shines on the long colonade which faces the west; all the lower parts of the building are darkened by the neighbouring wood; the pillars rise at different heights out of the obscurity; some of them are nearly overspread with it; some are chequered with a variety of tints; and others are illuminated almost down to their bases. The light is gently softened off by the rotundity of the columns; but it spreads in broad gleams upon the wall within them; and pours full and without interruption on all the entablature, distinctly marking every dentil: on the statues which adorn the several points of the pediment, a deep shade is contrasted to splendor; the rays of the sun linger on the side of the temple long after the front is over-cast with the sober hue of evening; and they tip the upper branches of the trees, or glow in the openings between them, while the shadows lengthen across the Grecian valley.