Page:The reign of George VI - 1763.djvu/199

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OF GEORGE VI.
173

hind the palace, the vast woods of oak and beech, almost joined the building. The King laid out a grass lawn, to the back front, half a mile long, and a quarter broad, and round it to a considerable distance, made it beautifully picturesque: the appearance of art was entirely banished; nature was never forced, but assisted: he dug an immense piece of water, of one hundred acres, and raised a mountain by it; which is certainly one of the most beautiful spots in the world: by means of a prodigious quantity of masonry, he formed many precipices, which in some places almost hung over the water, these were covered with mould to a great depth, and the whole hill presented the view of one beautiful hanging wood of beech, here and there adorned with a little temple, or spire, peeping just above the trees; which made the whole most beautifully romantic: from off thehill,