MEMOIR OF PENNANT. 
3 
ing with tlie taste of its possessor — a large hall — 
a library, 30 feet hy 1 8, enriched with a considerable 
collection — and a smoking-room, “most antiquely 
furnished with ancient carvings, and the horns of 
all the European beasts of chase.” The pleasure- 
grounds had also fallen into a state of waste — the 
wood had been allowed to close up around the house, 
and a public path ran nearly in front ; but as the 
gi-ound was naturally capable of much picturesque 
improvement, its owner speedily set about the dis- 
play of its beauties ; and the discovery of a rich 
mine of lead enabled him to pursue his wishes to 
the utmost, which, when completed, must have em- 
braced scenes of great and varied beauty. “ I soon 
laid open the natural beauties of the place,” be ob- 
serves, in his History of Downing, “ and, by the 
friendly exchange Sir Roger Mostyn made with me, 
enlarged the fine scenery of the broken grounds, the 
woods, and the command of water. The walks in 
the new grounds, the fields, and the deep and dark- 
some dingles, are at least three miles in extent, and 
the dingle not ill united with the open grounds by 
a subterraneous passage under the turnpike-road.” 
These were his retreats when weary with the per- 
formance of the duties of an active magistrate, or 
when relaxation was needed after (nore severe lite- 
rary studies ; and he enjoyed the laying out of his 
pleasure-grounds, and the management of his woods, 
while he at the same time improved his knowledge 
