192 Gbe <3atf>en 



the lake ; the ground is irregularly broken ; 

 thickets hang on the sides, and towards the top 

 is placed an Ionic portico, which commands a 

 noble extent of water not less than a mile in 

 circumference, bounded on one side with wood 

 and open on the other to two sloping lawns, 

 the least of an hundred acres, diversified with 

 clumps and bordered by plantations. Yet this 

 lake, when full in view and with all the import- 

 ance which space, form, and situation can give, is 

 not more interesting than the sequestered river, 

 which has been mentioned as the third great 

 division of the water. It is just within the 

 verge of a wood three quarters of a mile long, 

 everywhere broad, and its course is such as to 

 admit of infinite variety without any confusion. 

 The banks are cleared of underwood, but a few 

 thickets still remain, and on one side an 

 impenetrable covert soon begins. The interval 

 is a beautiful grove of oaks, scattered over a 

 green sward of extraordinary verdure. Between 

 these trees and these thickets the river seems 

 to glide gently along, constantly winding, 

 without one short turn or one extended reach 

 in the whole length of the way. This even 

 temper in the stream suits the scenes through 

 which it passes. They are, in general, of a 

 very sober cast ; not melancholy, but grave : 

 never exposed to a glare ; never darkened with 



