The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 382, July 25, 1829Various
General
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 382, July 25, 1829
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
[2] _Show-houses_ is a very appropriate term for such of the
mansions of our nobility and gentry as are open to public
inspection. Hagley is extremely rich in treasures of art. A mere
catalogue of them would occupy the whole of our sheet; but we
must notice two curiously carved mahogany tables, which cost
£200.; four exquisitely carved busts of Shakspeare, Milton,
Spenser, and Dryden, by Scheimaker, and bequeathed to George,
Lord Lyttleton, by Pope; the portrait of Pope and his dog,
Bounce; a fine Madonna, by Rubens; several pictures by Vandyke,
Sir Peter Lely, Le Brun, &c. &c. the Gobelin tapestry of the
drawing room; the ceiling painted by Cipriani; and the family
pictures, among which is Judge Lyttleton, copied from the
painted glass in the Middle Temple Hall.
Much as the visiter will admire the refined taste displayed within the
mansion, his admiration will be heightened by the classic taste in which
the grounds are disposed. A short distance from the house, embosomed in
trees, stands the church, built in the time of Henry III.; with a
sublime Gothic arch, richly painted windows, and a ceiling fretted with
the heraldic fires of the Lyttleton family, whose tombs are placed on
all sides; among them, the resting-place of the gay poet is
distinguished by the following plain inscription:--
This unadorned stone was placed here
By the particular desire and express
Directions of the Right Honourable
GEORGE, LORD LYTTLETON,
Who died August 22, 1773, aged 64.
Leaving the church we ascend to the crest of a hill, on which stands the
Prince of Wales's Pillar. From this point, the view is inexpressibly
beautiful, in which may be seen an octagon seat sacred to the memory of
Thomson, and erected on the brow of a verdant steep, his favourite spot.
In the foreground is a gently winding valley; on the rising hill beyond
is a noble wood, whilst to the right the open country fades in the
distance; on the left the Clent hills appear, and a dusky antique tower
stands just below them at the extremity of the wood; whilst in the midst
of it, we can discern the _Doric temple sacred to Pope_. This exquisite
gem of the picturesque is represented in our Engraving.
In the adjoining grove of oaks is the antique tower; in a beautiful
amphitheatre of wood, an Ionic rotunda; and in an embowering grove a
Palladian bridge, with a light airy portico. Here on a fine lawn is the
urn inscribed to Pope, mentioned by Shenstone:
Here Pope! ah, never must that towering mind
To his loved haunts, or dearer friend return;
What art, what friendship! oh! what fame resign'd;
In yonder glade I trace his mournful urn.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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