woman's cloak; and whether the
blue is smoke, sky, or water.

It seems to be appointed, in order to remind us, in all we do, of the
great laws of Divine government and human polity, that composition in
the arts should strongly affect every order of mind, however unlearned
or thoughtless. Hence the popular delight in rhythm and metre, and in
simple musical melodies. But it is also appointed that _power_ of
composition in the fine arts should be an exclusive attribute of great
intellect All men can more or less copy what they see, and, more or
less, remember it: powers of reflection and investigation are also
common to us all, so that the decision of inferiority in these rests
only on questions of _degree_. A. has a better memory than B., and C.
reflects more profoundly than D. But the gift of composition is not
given _at all_ to more than one man in a thousand; in its highest range,
it does not occur above three or four times in a century.

It follows, from these general truths, that it is impossible to give
rules which will enable you to compose. You might much more easily
receive rules to enable you to be witty. If it were possible to be witty
by rule, wit would cease to be either admirable or amusing: if it were
possible to compose melody by rule, Mozart and Cimarosa need not have
been born: if it were possible to compose pictures by rule, Titian and
Veronese would be ordinary men. The essence of composition lies
precisely in the fact of its being unteachable, in its being the
operation of an individual mind of range and power exalted above others.

But though no one can _invent_ by rule, there are some simple laws of
arrangement which it is well for you to know, because, though they will
not enable you to produce a good picture, they will often assist you to
set forth what goodness may be in your work in a more telling way than
you could have done otherwise; and by tracing them in the work of good
composers, you may better understand the grasp of their imagination, and
the power it possesses over their materials I shall briefly state the
chief of these laws.

1. THE LAW OF PRINCIPALITY.

The great object of composition being always to secure unity; that is,
to make out of many things one whole; the first mode in which this can
be effected is, by determining that _one_ feature shall be more
important than all the rest, and that the others shall group with it in
subordinate positions.

This is the simplest la