ttbomas IKHbatelE 181 



at the foot of a very sudden ascent, the upper 

 part of which is covered with wood. In one 

 place it presses close to the covert ; retires from 

 it in another ; and stretches in a third across a 

 bold recess, which runs up high into the 

 thicket. The trees sometimes overspread the 

 flat below : sometimes leave an open space to 

 the river ; at other times crown the brow of a 

 large knoll, climb up a steep, or hang on a 

 gentle declivity. These varieties in the situa- 

 tion more than compensate for the want of 

 variety in the disposition of the trees ; and the 

 many happy circumstances which concur 



In Ksher's peaceful grove, 

 Where Kent and nature vie for Pelham's love," 



render this little spot more agreeable than any 

 at Claremont. But though it was right to pre- 

 serve the trees already standing, and not to 

 sacrifice great present beauties to still greater 

 in futurity, yet this attention has been a re- 

 straint, and the grove at Claremont, considered 

 merely as a plantation, is in delicacy of taste, 

 and fertility of invention, superior to that at 

 Esher. 



Both were early essays in the modern art of 

 gardening : and, perhaps from the eagerness to 

 show the effect, the trees in both were placed 

 too near together : though they are still far 



