LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
249 
one above the other, in many ornamental compartments, similar to 
those over the main entrance. At each end of the centre part of the 
house are square towers, somewhat lower than the middle one, and 
covered with pyramidal slated roofs bearing large gilt vanes. 
The whole exterior, from the amplitude of the parts respectively, 
has an imposing effect ; nor are the apartments within less striking 
from their spaciousness, the massive grandeur of their fittings-up, and 
ornamental finishings of the ceilings, cornices, and panelled walls. 
The baron’s hall, of “grey renown,” is a noble room, splendidly deco¬ 
rated with the portraits of the former possessors of the estate, and with 
the real coats, and arms, and banners of some ancestors "who distin¬ 
guished themselves in the wars between the rival houses of York and 
Lancaster. 
The library is also a spacious room, and contains many thousand 
volumes, very accurately classed according to the subjects of which 
they treat. One compartment contains divinity, another British and 
foreign law, another history, and so forth. Here there are also cabinets 
with glazed fronts for objects of natural history, for optical and mathe¬ 
matical instruments, recesses for globes and maps, &c. &e. The pic¬ 
ture gallery extends nearly the whole length of one of the wings up 
stairs. There is also a fine collection of paintings by the old masters 
hung about in other apartments, all of which are on the same magnifi¬ 
cent scale. 
His Lordship, whom v r e luckily found at home, and disengaged, 
received us with the utmost cordiality, and after an hour’s conversa¬ 
tion, ordered his horse, kindly offering to ride with us round the out¬ 
skirts of the park. 
We could not have had a better conductor, as his Lordship not only 
led us through those scenes which he himself considered the most 
interesting, but also described vffiat alterations had been made in his 
own time, and in that of his uncle, whom he succeeded. 
On leaving the house, I observed that the domestic offices formed a 
large square court behind the mansion, thickly environed with forest 
trees; and still farther in the rear, his Lordship told us the gardens 
formerly stood ; but that, ci about four-score years ago, it became the 
fashion to dislike kitchen gardens near a house; and to comply with 
the reigning idea, and the decrees of the then arbiters of fine taste, my 
good uncle, in an evil hour, consented to the demolition of the con¬ 
venient old garden, and removed it dovm into that hollow on the left, 
which we shall see more of presently. My uncle very soon repented 
of w r hat he had so precipitately executed; and I have had much cause 
to regret that my garden, in which I always take-delight, is so far 
VOL. V.—NO. LX I. K K 
