presented themselves to his view, or at most, as if nothing was wanted, but his own penetration and judgement, to find them out. The walk should, therefore, be conducted in such a manner, that the breaks might be natural, yet the points of view obvious, or requiring nothing but a few blocks or stones to mark them. A stranger, at least, wants no seat here; he is too eager, in the early part of his walk, to think of lounging upon a bench.

FROM the cold bath he would ascend the steep, near the top of which, a commodious bench or benches might be placed: the fatigue of ascending the hill would require a resting place; and there are few points, which afford a more pleasing view than this; it is grand, without being too broad and glaring.

FROM these benches he would enter the forest part. Here the idea of Nature in her primitive state would be strengthened: the roughnesses and deer to the right, and the rocks in all their native wildness to the left. Even Llancot might be shut out from the view, by the natural shrubery of the cliff. The Lover's Leap, however (a tremendous peep), might remain; but no benches, nor other work of art, should here be seen. A natural path, deviating near the brink of the precipice, would bring the viewer down to the lower corner

of the park; where benches should be placed in a happy point, so as to give a full view of the rocks and native wildnesses, and, at the same time, hide the farm houses, fields, and other acquired beauties of Llancot.

HAVING satiated himself with this savage scene, he would be led, by a still rustic path, through the labyrinth-when the shrubery, the lawn, with all its appendages, the graceful Wye and the broad silver Severn, would break upon the eye, with every advantage of ornamented nature; the transition could not fail to strike.

FROM this soft scene, he would be shewn to the top of Windcliff, where, in one view, he would unite the sublime and beautiful of Persfield.

SECTION THE SECOND.

STOWE.

THE next place we went over, previously to the composition of the foregoing part of this work, was STOWE, near BUCKINGHAM, the seat of EARL TEMPLE, now the MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM:

a place which, on many accounts, claims an early attention*.

STOWE is a creation of art, a contrast to Persfield. It was among the first places which were formed on the principles of modern taste; and might be said to give birth to the PROFESSION; as being the seminary in which the genius of the great professional Artist, Brown, was unfolded.

STOWE is situated in a cultivated country, with a surface somewhat billowy, but without the advantage of bold distant views, to give it feature and effect. The ornamented grounds are extensive; containing, we were told, near four hundred acres; defined by a sunk fence; and including a dip or shallow valley, through which a rill naturally ran.

Out of these slender materials; by the means of this tame valley, and this inconsiderable stream; all that is beautiful at Stowe has been formed: the rest is planting and masonry; the mere work of men's hands: facts which prove the excellency of the art of which we are writing; evincing its in a very extraordinary manner.

infant powers

This place was seen in October 1783.

THE grounds were originally outlined by LORD COBHAM. The lower, or "old part," was laid out by Love (to whose history we cannot speak). The upper, or "new part," by BROWN, whose works, we believe, remain as yet the only public records of his history! *

1

THE old part is marked by a LAKE, or irregular piece of water, of about ten acres in extent; producing in itself, and with the wood on its margin, a pleasing effect; but the cascade, which is occasionally played off from this reservoir, is a trick unworthy of Stowe, and the art to which Stowe owes the beauties it possesses. A waterfall, in a tame site, is unnatural; and the circumstance of waiting until it be let off, renders it almost ridiculous.

THE new part is equally marked by a RIVER, formed with judgement, and good effect; as occupying the lowest ground; winding, naturally, in the bottom of the valley.

*The above particulars we had from an intelligent guide, who had lived forty years at Stowe, and who shewed the gardens some years for BROWN; adding, that BROWN lived eleven years, as gardener and bailiff at Stowe: that, during the latter part of his servitude, he had the liberty of laying out grounds for others; that he made the Duke of Grafton's great water, while he lived at Stowe; and that from Stowe he went to Blenheim.

THESE WATERS claim the best attention of the rural artist: they are, indeed, the almost only subjects of study, at Stowe. The PLANTING having been done, at different times, by various hands, and under a varying style of embellishment, has probably undergone much alteration, and has acquired a stiffness of outline, and a heaviness of composition.

THIS heaviness of style is increased by a profusion of BUILDINGS; thrown across each vista, and guarding each glade*. Art has evidently done too much at Stowe. It is over wooded and over built: every thing appears to be sacrificed to Temples; an elegant arrangement of lawn, wood, and water, is seldom to be seen, in open day-light, in these grounds. We recollect but one: this is between the Palladian Bridge and the Gothic Temple, about half way up the rise; where a sweet view of the river, with the lawns and wood on its banks, is caught: but this view being unmarked, it must frequently be passed unnoticed.

* These BUILDINGS, we learnt from the same authority, are all by BROWN; except the Temple of Venus by KENT (circumstantial evidence that he had some share in the planting), and except the Rotundo, and the Temple of Bacchus, by SIR JOHN VANBURGH. Mr. Walpole, however, mentions GIBBS, as having had a part in these erections.-Anecd. of Painting, Vol. IV. p. 94.