wings by Corinthian colonnades, was the boast and pride of the midland
counties. The surrounding gardens, equalling in extent the size of
ordinary parks, were crowded with temples dedicated to abstract virtues
and to departed friends. Occasionally a triumphal arch celebrated a
general whom the family still esteemed a hero; and sometimes a votive
column commemorated the great statesman who had advanced the family a step
in the peerage. Beyond the limits of this pleasance the hart and hind
wandered in a wilderness abounding in ferny coverts and green and stately
trees.

The noble proprietor of this demesne had many of the virtues of his class;
a few of their failings. He had that public spirit which became his
station. He was not one of those who avoided the exertions and the
sacrifices which should be inseparable from high position, by the hollow
pretext of a taste for privacy, and a devotion to domestic joys. He was
munificent, tender, and bounteous to the poor, and loved a flowing
hospitality. A keen sportsman, he was not untinctured by letters, and had
indeed a cultivated taste for the fine arts. Though an ardent politician,
he was tolerant to adverse opinions, and full of amenity to his opponents.
A firm supporter of the corn-laws, he never refused a lease.
Notwithstanding there ran through his whole demeanour and the habit of his
mind, a vein of native simplicity that was full of charm, his manner was
finished. He never offended any one's self-love. His good breeding,
indeed, sprang from the only sure source of gentle manners, a kind heart.
To have pained others would have pained himself. Perhaps, too, this noble
sympathy may have been in some degree prompted by the ancient blood in his
veins, an accident of lineage rather rare with the English nobility. One
could hardly praise him for the strong affections that bound him to his
hearth, for fortune had given him the most pleasing family in the world;
but, above all, a peerless wife.