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has given such consummate proof of good 

 taste in some of the improvements of his 

 own place, Downton Vale near Ludlow, 

 one of the most beautiful and romantic 

 valleys that the imagination can conceive. 

 It is impossible by description to convey 

 an idea of its natural charms, or to do 

 justice to that taste which has displayed 

 these charms to the greatest advantage, 



" With art clandestine, and conceal'd design." 

 Vale at A narrow, wild, and natural path, some- 



Downton 



described, timcs crccps undcr the beetling rock, 

 close by the margin of a mountain stream. 

 - It sometimes ascends to an awful preci- 

 pice, from Avhence the foaming waters are 

 heard roaring in the dark abyss below, or 

 seen wildly dashing against its opposite 

 banks; while, in other places, the course 

 of the river Teme being impeded by na- 

 tural ledges of rock, the vale presents a 

 calm, glassy mirror, that reflects the sur- 

 rounding foliage. The path, in various 

 places, crosses the water by bridges of 

 the most romantic and contrasted forms; 

 and, branching in various directions, in- 



