Secondly. If the water were a stagnant pool, or one of those sheets of water, as they are called, in imitation of a lake, it might be objectionable to place a mansion so near its misty shores: but, where the water is constantly gliding, or in rapid motion; where a hard, pebbly bottom appears through the limpid stream, and where the banks are not swamps, or bogs, the current of the stream increases the wholesome current of the air; and its lively motion constitutes its chief interest. It should, therefore, be brought close to the windows, in a channel not too deep; as, in such streams, we do not require the still, sleepy mirror of deep water belonging to a navigable river, which Milton very beautifully contrasts, as distinct objects, "The shallow brook, and river wide."
