THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. 14. No. 382.] | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1829 | [PRICE 2d. |
POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY
Reader! are you going out of town "in search of thepicturesque"—if so, bend your course to the classic, theconsecrated ground of HAGLEY! think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE,and THOMSON, or refresh your memory from the "Spring" of thelatter, as—
Courting the muse, thro' Hagley Park thou strayst.
Thy British Tempe! There along the dale,
With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks,
Whence on each hand the gushing waters play,
And down the rough cascade white dashing fall,
Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees,
You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade
Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts
Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand,
And pensive listen to the various voice
Of rural peace; the herds, the flocks, the birds,
The hollow-whispering breeze, the 'plaint of rills,
That, purling down amid the twisted roots
Which creep around their dewy murmurs shake
On the sooth'd ear.
Such is the fervid language in which the Poet of the yearinvoked
"LYTTLETON, the friend!"
Yet these lines will kindle the delight and reverence of everylover of Nature, in common with the effect of the Seasons onthe reader, who "wonders that he never saw before what Thomsonshows him, and that he never yet has felt what Thomsonimpresses."1
But we quit these nether flights of song to describe thelocality of Hagley Park, of whose beauties our Engraving is but amere vignette, and in comparison like holding a candle to the sun.The village of Hagley is a short distance from Bromsgrove, inWorcestershire, whence the pleasantest route to the park is to turnto the right on the Birmingham road, which cuts the grounds intotwo unequal parts. The house is a plain and even simple, yetclassical edifice. Whately, in his work on Gardening, describes itas surrounded by a lawn, of fine uneven ground, and diversifiedwith large clumps, little groups, and single trees; it is open infront, but covered on one side by the Witchbury hills; on the otherside, and behind by the eminences in the park, which are high andsteep, and all overspread with a lofty hanging wood. The lawnpressing to the front, or creeping up the slopes of three hills,and sometimes winding along glades [pg 50] into the depth of thewood, traces a beautiful outline to a sylvan scene, already rich toluxuriance in massive foliage, and stately growth. The presenthouse was built by the first Lord Lyttleton, not on, but near to,the site of the ancient family mansion, a structure of thesixteenth century. Admission may be obtained on application to thehousekeeper; and for paintings, carving, and gilding, Hagley is oneof the richest show-hous