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much wooded; afterwards we turned off the great road and for the rest of the way it was dreary with high hedge rows on each side and not a house to be seen; before we reached Northampton it was later than was pleasant to travel, but not so dark as to prevent our seeing the town as we came in; it was by far the prettiest I had yet seen in England, the Inn we alighted at was very old and dismal; we sat in an old fashioned large ball room all night and had a good supper prepared for us by Mr. Dawson; there is a fine chime clock in a church just by the Inn, which chimes every quarter of an hour and plays Britons strike home, every four hours; in the middle of the night we were awakened by it.

Thursday 12th.-Saw the outside of the Church, it is erected in memory of Charles 2nd, who gave a sum towards repairing the town and old Cathedral. Bought cheap laces, which are made all about the country. From Northampton we came to Newport, and from Newport to Woburn, a very neat town then to Dunstable, where we bought some hats and boxes of the manufacture of the town; then to St. Albans, we dined there and set up for the night; the country we came through this day was for the most part rich with fine seats particularly from Northampton to Newport; from Newport to Woburn there was a great variety, near the former you mount a great chalk hill from which you have an extensive prospect; up the hill you are attended by some of the people that live about, who make it their business with great mallets in their hands to keep up the carriage when the horses stop to rest; for this piece of service you give them some halfpence. From this the road to Woburn lies through deep sandy hills which are all finely planted by the Duke of Bedford; in this road you meet some romantic spots. At St. Albans Mr. Dawson left us to hurry on to London; my mother and I went to see the Cathedral; it was shewn us by the clerk a fine venerable old man who had been forty years in his office. The outside has nothing to boast of but its size, but when I entered I was astonished indeed, it is not so elegant as Lichfield, but the size and the great air of antiquity delighted me; the aisle is painted and wonderfully fresh ; it is in compartments in each of which are in Saxon Characters I.H.S. The old clerk who was sensible and intelligent told us the abbey had been founded by Offa King of the Mercians, which is the more likely as there are some arches towards the middle of the aisle not in the Gothic order like the rest of the buildings but of the Saxon. Our conductor then clapped his hands which produced the most extraordinary vibration, rattling over our heads like thunder. Between the great aisle and the choir is the belfry where you stand under a large dome, part painted and part glass through which you look up at another painted ceiling; from this you go into the choir there the ceiling alters, the compartments instead of the letters are filled with coats of arms; as you walk up the aisle you go over many tombs on

which you see the marks of inlaying; they had all been inlaid with brass, there is one remaining entire, but all the rest were taken away by Oliver Cromwell who plundered the Abbey and made a stable of it. In the wall on each side of the altar there are the burying places of some of the priors inclosed by great iron gates. Under the altars there are four nitches in which stood little figures of the Four Evangelists in gold which were also taken by Oliver Cromwell; we then went into one of the side aisles, at the end of which you are shewn the monument of Humfry, the good Duke of Gloucester; it is only scratched out in black on the wall with a Latin inscription. The clerk then unlocked a door which leads into a place now used as a vestry room, it had once held St. Alban's shrine, which was of massive gold; we saw the marks of six feet on the floor; on one side of this place is a gallery of cut stone in which the monks used to watch the shrine every night, on the other side there is an iron grating for the people to look through at it, but there is a wall built up now, the grating remains on the outside, we saw it; in the side aisle from which we entered what was most interesting was the vault of Duke Humfry, our venerable conductor unlocked a trap door which discovered a flight of stone steps at the bottom; this had not been discovered till eight years ago, we saw the stone coffin which contained the bones of that famous man; the old clerk told us that he himself remembered the flesh on the bones and the hair on the head and it had been preserved with some spirit which had evapourated when it was exposed to the air. In the middle of the ceiling of one of the cross aisles there is a rough old painting of the Martyrdom of St. Alban. There is also an altar piece in the choir the Last Supper,' done by James Thornhill, it is so much faded there is no forming any judgment on it. This great building is 550 feet in length by 60 in breadth and the height of the cross aisles 350. There is a great deal more than we saw now turned into a school. We remained at St. Albans that night and set off the next morning at seven for Barnet, where we found a good breakfast which had been bespoke for us by Mr. Dawson. From St. Albans the country begins to have the appearance of approaching near the great city by the superior degree of cultivation and the frequency of the villages and villas. We dressed at Barnet, and then set out for London; the first thing remarkable in this road is Finchley Common, a fine green plain surrounded by the neat little villas of the citizens, just off Finchley Common we came into Highgate where the great citizens come out of a Saturday to spend Sunday in a little recreation. From Highgate you roll down a steep hill almost on London, which you now see part of it at least, and indeed even that appears to a person coming from the country a continuation of the town. About four miles from London we observed a soldier with a knapsack on his back, he had sat down on a stone and appeared quite overcome and so ill that my mother stopped the carriage and called

him over to her to give him some trifle; she asked him what regiment he belonged to, he said the 30th that he had been discharged for illness, and that he had long lain in an hospital in London unable to begin this last journey to his own country to die with his friends which he now scarce hoped even to accomplish. Where was he going to-to Liverpool-what was his country-Ireland-what part-the county Down-Oh! whereabouts—a town called Banbridge; he then described exactly the spot on which he was born, it was my father's estate and he gave him a blessing before he knew how welcome that blessing was to us. It was an odd and pleasant adventure to us and I hope a lucky one to the poor man who was enabled by it to pursue his journey more comfortably. London as we came into it did not at all surprise me. Mr. Dawson met us at the end of Albemarle Street and conducted us to the Leycesters, where we were introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Leycester and their son Mr. L.; and Mr. D., then took us to see the lodgings he thought of for us, which we liked very well; they are at the house of an agreeable French milliner in Duke Street, near all our friends. We dined at Mr. L.'s, where we were introduced to the two Miss L.'s, Mr. Dumbleton, Miss Pery and Mr. W. Lushington; the latter set us at home in his coach at ten o'clock as Mrs. Leycester was going out.

Saturday the 14th.-Mr. Dawson breakfasted here. Mr. Mrs. and Miss Leycester came to see us, also Lady Blackwood, Miss Pery, Mr. Dawson, Mr. Benson, and Lord Hillsboro' who desired us to go and dine at Hanover Square every day we were disengaged; he made us promise particularly for Monday and charged mother to employ him for everything wanted to be done; some time after he had left us he returned again and roared at the window that Lady Salisbury would be glad to see us the next day at two o'clock; Mother thought it would be better to rest this day so we did not stir out, and in the evening Mr. T. Dawson came in and Lord Erne.

Sunday the 15th.-Lady Hillsboro' called and took us to Lady Salisbury whom we found in her bed of state ill; it was her last day of giving caudle; the child3 was to be christened in the evening, the christening suit was on the bed, it was most magnificent and ridiculous. I did not see much of the house this day, but what I did see was grand indeed. We next called on the Leycesters and there were two coachfulls to Kensington Gardens; on the way thither we went down Hyde Park which is far inferior to the Phoenix Park at Dublin, it was much crowded with carriages and horses, walking in the garden; I should have liked it better had I been more used to not seeing any faces I knew, or had known the Miss L.'s enough to make remarks on the strange figures we met, which were equal in oddity and superior in quantity to what one meets on a Sunday night at the Rotunda in Dublin; the Brownlows were the only ones we met there that we

3 James Brownlow William, second Marquis.

knew. The Queens Palace which you see from this is by no means fine, but a heavy brick building; in one of the walks there is a pretty view of the Serpentine River but it is only the great quizzes that walk there. We went home with the L.'s to dinner, Miss Pery and Mr. Tilotson, another cousin of my mother's; in the evening we went to Lady Blackwood's where we saw Mrs. Ryder who was very low, Lady More, Mr. and Mrs. Dallas, Miss Blackwood and Mr. Fitzgerald; it was too dark to see their paintings, which I regretted greatly. We came home early.

Monday the 16th.-Miss Pery, Lord Clanbrassil, and Mr. Fitzgerald in the morning. We then went to pay visits; we were let in at Lady Londonderry's; I had never seen her before and though I had heard more of her than any one in the world, she greatly exceeded my expectations; we dined at Lord H.'s there was no one but my Lord and my Lady, the Marquis of Downshire, and D. Burton; they played cards till ten o'clock and then we came away; Lord Barrington came in in the evening and slept the whole time we stayed.

Tuesday 17th. The two Miss Leycesters, Mr. Fitzgerald, my mother, and I, in the coach, and Mr. Dawson and Leycester, riding, went to the review at Blackheath where we were much entertained; we got a tolerable situation where we had a very good view of the troops, but did not get so near the King as we wished, we then went to Greenwich with an intention to see the hospital, and all that is worth seeing there, which is a great deal more than we saw that day as the gentlemen were impatient to return to town, however we were delighted with the chapel and hall, which was all we then saw. As we approached near this immense building, which is far beyond anything I had yet seen, I was struck with admiration and pleasure to see an edifice appropriated for so noble a use as for the support and comfort of so many old seamen, and to make the evening of their days, who had spent the mornings of them in the service of their country. The whole scene here pleased me much the number of little boats besides two large vessels sailing down the Thames, the richness of whose banks together with the magnificence of the building by which we stood gave one a great idea of the prosperity of the Kingdom. We first were shewn the chapel which is only just finished; the ornaments are light, elegant and well executed, those on the walls consist chiefly of paintings, either done by Cipriano or exactly in the same style, and where the light answers you might be deceived and take them for bas reliefs; in the middle of the aisle there is an anchor and cable inlaid in stone, the prospect of which is so perfect that though there is no shading you think the end of it quite raised off the ground; there is also a fine altar about which I ought to know a great deal as an old sailor stood up with a white wand in his hand and in an audible voice described to the whole company the different merits and meanings of the piece, but he was so tedeous and stupid

that by hindering me from getting near enough to the picture, he prevented me from trying to learn that for myself which I never could from him so we left him to continue his harangue, and those of his auditors who had not patience proceeded to the hall. The deceptions here were in two colours, once thought wonderful, but I was glad to observe how much the style of painting is improved on; after the paintings of the same sort in the chapel they appeared nothing; the shadows are quite strong and harsh instead of the beautiful softness of colouring which deceives the eye so much in Cipriano's; the ceiling is painted in colours and much finer in its kind than the black and white figures on the wall, it is allegorical, and seems finely imagined, but I was so confused by the attempts to explain of another old man, who held forth here, besides our large party, that I could not consider it as much as I wished and hope to do another time; after seeing this we were hurried to town where we arrived safe but tired to death of the wind and dust which was excessive; we all separated immediately and mother in pity to my head, which ached sadly, sent an excuse to Lord Hillsboro's where we were engaged to dinner but the servant who had been sent with the excuse returned; he brought three tickets from Lady H. for her box at the Opera at the Pantheon; this tempted us and we determined to go. As soon as we dined we set off to Mrs. Leycester to get her to go with us, as Lady H. had sent three tickets, and then to the Strand which is near the City to buy a gown my mother wanted for the next day; returned dressed in a quarter of an hour, went to Mrs. L. who was not ready, so drank coffee there, and then proceeded to the Pantheon. There are now two opera houses, both supported by different parties, the Pantheon and the Haymarket, the former is of the court party and the latter that of the opposing; when the old opera house was burned down they fitted up the Pantheon as a temporary thing, and got a license from the King; when the new one in the Haymarket was finished the managers of it applied also for a license which was refused by the High Chamberlain, (Lord Salisbury) as he said they did not choose to license two at a time, and as they had once granted it to the other they could not take it from them again; as there were some gentlemen of consequence who interested themselves for the new theatre and who were chiefly in opposition they thought they were illtreated by the Chamberlain; party runs so high that there are many who would not go to the Pantheon for the World, though they must like it better as they are afraid to dress or act regular operas at the other. The Pantheon is certainly very small and is under great disadvantages from the stage being so confined, but it is altogether fitted in most elegant style. The scenery beyond anything I have yet seen, the only fault I could find was in the curtain that drops between the acts, which is a confusion of figures strongly coloured representing Poets and I don't know what Graces and Satyrs, Poets

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