4§11.] 
wrious habits; for, where sobriety and 
utility end, luxury begins. 
Walthamstow, James Hatt. 
Dec. 15, 1810. 
2 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SER, ‘ 
r WAVING, during an excursion last 
summer through some of the 
north-western counties, paid a visit to 
Hagley and the Leasowes, and having 
visited Hagley first, I was much struck 
with the vast difference between the ap- 
pearance of that and the Leasowes. Of 
Tlagley, my opinion can be conveyed in 
few words; it is elegance itself: and the 
very {reat neatness in which it is kept, 
does great credit to-Lord Lyttelton. As 
_ for the Leasowes, it is in complete ruin, 
as far as neglect can make itso. Bat 
I must say, that there exists yet a certain 
romantic air, not dependant upon order 
or neatness, which struck me very forci- 
bly indeed, and sufficient to make it now 
well worth the attention of all lovers of 
picturesque beauty. The ascent by 
Miss Dolman’s Urn is beautiful, and, in 
my opinion, equals any description by 
“poets or painters. Had there been an 
Album in the house, I am not sure that [ 
might not have offended hospitality by 
the following lines: - 
Rude truth, ingenuous, must the minstrel 
sing, 
Who midst these wilds hath wandered with 
' ‘regret; ; 
Behold! o’er ruins wave our Shenstone’s 
groves, 
And the long €rass round many a poet’s urn, 
Rankles and rots ; where erst the classic seat 
Which Lyttelton or Thomson deign’d to 
SS 
Lies down the gross-fed ox. or roving sheep ~ 
Herd and intrude; no welcome visitants, 
Save to the wight whom Fate hath o’er these 
shades . 
Unseemly plac’d; the waters roll reproof, 
And many a spring a gurgling censure 
heaves. 
Spirit of Shenstone, ne'er forgive the wrong, 
The foul offence against the laws of Taste ! 
And ye, O sylvan shades! who even now, 
Amid the ruin rudely scattered round, 
Inspire the song of other days, and wake _ 
Buch better feeling, which even Shenstone’s 
; self 
Might envy the possession ; mark the steps 
Of that unseemly wight, whose foul neglect, 
Your very roots shall tell; O let hint hear 
Nor linnet, nor the thrush, nor nightingale, 
_ Amongst your quivering teaves; but in their 
SP ttead™ - ; 
Let the ofl’s daily and nocturnal hoot 
For ever round his dwelling still be heard 
Moytury Mag. No. 209. 
4 ¢ 
Excursion to the Leasowes. 
VW 
Ye waters murmer not; ye groves your 
shade 
Withhold ; and let the summer sun’s hot ray 
Scorch him in punishment for such foul 
wrong. ? 
I cannot conclude upon this subject with= 
out observing, that to nevlect a plan of 
such acknowledged beauty as the Lea+ 
sowes, is, in my opinion, nolight offence. 
Such situations become in some sort a 
national concern, and the character of 
Englishmen is involved in the disgrace, 
What, shall it be said, that, at the com. 
mencement of the nineteenth century, 
our taste jor the elegant and the beautiful, 
is gone; that what has been nursed with 
so much care, is neither regretted nor 
disapproved, in being suffered to go ta 
ruin! Forbid it genius! Forbid it men of 
taste! Forbid it inhabitant of the Leas 
sowes! whoever thou art; and let not the 
next summer pass without some attempt 
to renew the former beauty and elegance 
of the domains of the admired Shen- 
stone, ret 
Whilst upon the subject of poetry and 
poetic ground, I may be permitted to filk 
up the corner of the sheet by a close, 
translation of those beautiful lines of 
Catullus, quoted a few Magazines past, 
insyour Lyceum of Ancient Literature, 
beginning ‘* Ut flos in septis secretus,” &c. 
Some copies, I observe, have “ Nullo cons 
vulsus aratro;” your’s is, ‘* Nullo contusus 
aratro,” in the next line. Perhaps the 
difference is not very material; however, 
I prefer convulsus. 
As springs the flower in gardens fenc’d 
around, 
Unknown to beasts, no plough disturbs the 
ground ; : 
Soft airs improve it; sun and’showers con 
spire, ; . 
Of youths and maidens many the desire ; 
The same when ¢topp’d, ‘its beauties all dea 
‘ cay’d, cand 
No more’s desir’d by any youth ar maid 5. 
So, while the virgin yet untouch’d remaing, 
She’s dear to ffiends, belov’d of ali the 
swains; : 
But when deflower’d, her charms no more 
appear, : 
Or sweet to youth, or,tothe maidens dear. 
Jan, 2, 1811. SOMERSETIENSIS. 
; =e , 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine 
SIR, : 
HAVE but just séen the remark of 
Londinensis, p. 41i. He calls no 
names, and I will reply with the respect 
which he seems to merit. I beg him to 
recollect the Marine Society, the deei- 
C siom 
