Our worthy conductor, perceiving we were great amateurs of painting, and careful that nothing of consequence should be passed unnoticed by us, particularly wished us to examine the performance of a young artist then at Wrexham. A copy, amongst others, of a painting of Rembrandt’s, taken by Mr. Allen from a celebrated picture, in the possession of Lord Craven, was most ingeniously executed. The subject is an old man instructing a young boy; the attention of the latter most admirably preserved; the head of the former, and the hand particularly, most highly finished. Without any exaggeration, this painting would do credit to the most scientific painter, and be esteemed invaluable; it is therefore to be hoped, from the hands of so young an artist as Mr. Allen, that this performance will be disposed of where judges of painting may view it with a critic’s eye, and recommend its merits to those who can afford to encourage industry and ingenuity.
Our friend’s invitation to his hospitable parsonage, and agreeable family, was too kindly urged possibly to be refused: and, in our way to
MARCH WIEL,
we visited the seat of P. Yorke, Esq. The grounds and plantations are very extensive; and the bowery walks, while they afford refreshing shelter from a summer’s sun, allow partial views of the counties of Cheshire and Shropshire, with the Wrekin and Brydyork Hills; in short, through these groves
“How long soe’er the wanderer roves, each step
Shall wake fresh beauties, each short point presents
A diff’rent picture—new, and yet the same.”
The tower of Wrexham, and the town itself, as occasion offers, is a nearer and an additional charming object. In an alteration of the walks, a few years since, were discovered below the surface of the ground the shattered walls of an ancient castle. These fragments Mr. Yorke has left unimpaired, and they remain a memento of the vicissitudes of fortune: the entrenchments round the castle, and likewise the original site of the keep, are still very apparent.
The house itself is very indifferent: Watt’s Dyke runs through part of the grounds. In a parlour opposite the garden we observed some fine paintings of the Hardwicke family. Mr. Yorke has dedicated another room to the royal tribes of Wales, [279] where the arms and lines of the descent, as far as they can be traced, are emblazoned and hung up.
In the coolness of the evening our hospitable host conducted us to the neat and elegant little country church of March Wiel, lately cased with stone; and in the year 1788 ornamented with a new painted window, by Mr. Egington, near Birmingham. The twenty-one compartments contain the arms and crests of the Middletons and Yorkes, with rich transparent borders. This window is undoubtedly very elegant, but the subject, in my opinion, more adapted to a ball than an ornament to a church window. The high tower appears not in proportion with the body of the church.
Deeply impressed with sentiments of gratitude towards our reverend friend, and sensible of his hospitality and kind intentions, we took our leave of him early the next morning, and pursued our route to