Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/15

 distance between the two cities. This stream, however, excites in us, as it "flows mournfully muddily on," none of those poetical ideas which seem to be necessarily connected with a river synonymous to that on whose banks the immortal Shakespeare "warbled his native wood-notes wild." But though it do not feed the imagination, the Avon has more substantial claims to our regard, since it enriches with its sluggish waters a long tract of meadows that let for 5l. an acre, and carries on its patient bosom the heavy traffic which passes betwixt the two towns. From this flat road all distant prospect is precluded, the scene being confined to the acclivities of Lansdown which rise to the right, the vale which shoots forward in front, and the ascending lands of Newton and Corston parishes to the left.

A little diversion from the turnpike on this side introduced us to Newton-Park, the seat of William Gore Langton, esq; member for the county, the noble woods of which, crowning the summit of the higher grounds in the demesne, have a particularly grand effect in a country not remarkable for massiveness of shade. The house, handsome and substantial, of modern architecture, is placed with judgment on a spot at once sheltered and commanding, taking in from one of its fronts a vol. 1.