from poets, ancient and modern, with the most artful care, in order that every word may have its appropriate feature in the scene to which it applies, compleat the list of ornaments in the famed Hagley grounds-ornaments highly in vogue half a century since, an æra in the history of English gardening when a classical mania had seized upon our improvers, after their escape from the strait lines and clipped yews of the Dutch manner, but utterly exploded as soon as good taste and common sense taught our designers of pleasure-ground, that their proper business was to assist nature, and not to destroy her; to tame her extravagance and soften her harshness, without changing her simplicity, wildness, and variety, for the operose and studied productions of artificial skill. The ruin, however, is good in its kind, and being situated upon the summit of a lofty hill, gratifies the eye with a prodigiously wide and diversified scene. The urn, also, dedicated to Pope, with this short inscription

"ALEXANDRO POPE, Poetarum Anglicorum ele

gantissimo dulcissimoque, vitiorum castigatori acerrimo, sapientiæ doctori suavissimo, sacra est. 1744."

and the pavilion, sacred to Thomson, bearing these lines

"Ingenio immortali JACOBI THOMSON, Poetæ sublimis viri boni, ædiculam hanc in secessu quem

vivus dilexit, post mortem ejus constructam, dicat dedicatque Georgius Lyttelton."

interest the imagination, and recall the recollection of those feasts of reason, in which the elegant Lyttelton indulged at Hagley with the author of the Rape of the Lock,' and the writer of the 'Seasons.' Contemplation is assisted likewise by the little parish church, which stands in the park, almost buried in trees; the plantations, indeed, are injudiciously luxuriant, as they entirely shut out this structure from the house; whereas, had a partial peep at its ancient tower or Gothic window been admitted, the object would not only have been a pleasing one in itself, but have made an happy variety in the ornaments of the ground commanded from the principal rooms.

The first apartment into which we were introduced was the hall, where we found

Six antique Busts.-A relief over the chimney. -Pan courting Diana, by Vassali.-Casts of a Corybant, of Bacchus, of Mercury, and of Venus, in four niches, copies from the Florentine gallery.Busts of Rubens and Vandyke, by Rysbrack.

In the parlour, a Landscape, the Villa Madama, near Rome, where the Pastor Fido' was first per

formed, by Wilson.-A little St. John, highly finished, the hands particularly fine, copied from Guercino, by B. le Jeune.-Madona and Child, by Rubens, the child laughing, animated, fleshy, and grand colouring.-In this room, also, we have the following portraits:

Judge Lyttelton, a picture pronounced by Mr. Granger to be a copy from the painted glass in the Middle-Temple hall, representing this great lawyer, whose name was held in such high veneration by the members of the Middle-Temple, that when one of his descendants applied for chambers within the house, it was resolved nem. con. by the benchers, he should be admitted without fine or the customary fees, in testimony of the great respect due from the whole society to the name of Lyttelton. Obiit 1481.

Lord Keeper Lyttelton, who, like his ancestor, was well skilled in the laws of the land, but too much inclined to meddle with the troubled politics of the day. On the recommendation of Archbishop Laud and Lord Strafford, he was raised to the high legal offices which he filled, for the purpose of furthering the wishes of Charles I.; and to the peerage, in order that he might serve the cause of that unfortunate nobleman; but at the commencement of Strafford's trial, he waved his privilege of

voting, because he had been a commoner when the accusation was brought up. All parties justly considered this reason as an idle excuse, since others in the like situation voted undisturbed; indeed, his whole character, as drawn by Lord Clarendon and others, exhibits too much of (what should never be allowed to enter the breast of a judge) a spirit of party intrigue. He died 1645, and was at that time colonel of a troop of horse in Oxford. Admiral Smith.

Sir Thomas Lyttelton, father of the present lord, was thrice chosen representative for the county of Worcester; appointed a lord of the Admiralty in 1727, which situation he relinquished in 1741, and retired from Parliament. Obiit 1751, ætat 66. The painting is by Van Somer.

Dr. Charles Lyttelton Bishop of Carlisle, third son of Sir Thomas; originally a member of the MiddleTemple, he practised as a barrister; but relinquished that profession for the church. He was appointed chaplain in ordinary in 1747, in the following year promoted to the deanery of Exeter, and to the see of Carlisle in 1762. Obiit 1768.

William Henry, the present lord, succeeded to the baronetage on the decease of his nephew Thomas (generally known by the title of the ghost-seer) without issue, with whom the barony became ex

tinct; but was revived in 1794, in the present peer, who had previously been ennobled by the title of Baron Westcote of Ireland.

Lieut.-General Sir Richard Lyttelton, by P. Battoni, fifth son of Sir Thomas; was early in life placed in the situation most likely to prove advantageous to those who have a turn for military affairs, being appointed page of honour to Queen Caroline; and regularly rose from an ensigncy in the Guards to the rank of lieut.-general, enjoying the offices of master of the jewel-office, governor of Minorca and Guernsey, and the dignity of a knight of the Bath. He married Rachael Dowager Duchess of Bridgewater. Obiit 1770.

George Lord Lyttelton, by West, eldest son of Sir Thomas, was early initiated in the busy scene of politics, and distinguished himself in a violent opposition to Sir Robert Walpole. On the downfall of that great minister, Lyttelton reaped the advantage of his opposition, and in 1744 was appointed a lord of the treasury; in 1754 nominated cofferer and privy-counsellor; and the following year made chancellor of the exchequer. In 1757 he retired from public life with a peerage. He has obtained a place in Johnson's Lives of the Poets,' though the biographer acknowledges, that if his poems be not to be despised, they can hardly