Yet, at the very summit of this thin arch, large blocks, twelve in number, and each weighing a ton, are set on, and held there by the simple lateral pressure of the other stones of the thin arch, These blocks are seen from below carved in roses. Ten or twelve feet above this arch is a light roof, covered with lead, from which the view is very extensive. A very large and power. ful organ and its screen divide in two parts the length of the chapel. That screen, made of dark wood, was carved all over with the utmost care and labour, near three centuries ago; and the true lovers' knots, and other ornaments, are allegorical of the then recent union of the unfortunate Anna Boleyn with Henry VIII. This king, notwithstanding the atrocity of his character, was the friend of letters, and a benefactor of the uniyersity. The most celebrated of the colleges at Cambridge is Trinity College, founded by him. We saw there a very fine statue of Sir Isaac New ton in white marble, by Roubiliac. The artist has contrived to make a good drapery of the professor's robe. Sir Isaac Newton holds a prism in his hand, and looks up. His features are large, and regular; and the expression of his countenance simple and sagacious,-not unlike, I think, to Montesquieu's. The apartment of the philosopher is shewn. The University library is very large, and contains 90,000 yolumes. Dr Clarke,

whose voyages are before the public, has enriched this university with antique marbles, rare manuscripts, and plants; and he has deposited in the library a very curious cast of Charles XII. the mould having been taken on his face four hours after his death at Frederickshall. The hole made by the ball is visible a little above the right eye. The mouth has a remarkable expression of contempt, and, upon the whole, it much resembles the portraits seen of him. I was employed in sketching this cast, when one of the under librarians objected to its being done, without permission being previously obtained; another, however, stepped forth in defence of the arts, and said the permission was not necessary. During the altercation resulting from this conflict of authorities, I finished my sketch, which is very like; and did not fail to shew my gratitude to the good-natured librarian. We had a letter of introduction, but the professor to whom it was addressed being absent, our only passport to the curiosities of the place was one which is very generally welcome, and in England, perhaps, more so than any where else.

There is a botanical garden attached to the university, and a lecturer, but who does not lecture; his chair is a sinecure. The garden appears well kept; but the plants grow and flourish in vain; the students, as we learnt from the

gardeners, having no taste for this exotic fodder. Cambridge is, or was formerly, the whig univer sity, and Oxford, on the contrary, in the high tory principles. Our guide informs us, that Cambridge may boast of the sublimity of Milton, the enthusiasm of Gray, the great discoveries of Ba con and of Newton, the penetration of Milner, and the erudition of Porson; and among its children reckons, besides several holy martyrs, Cranmer and Latimer,-Ridley and Wishart:→→ he might have added to the illustrious men, Pitt, -and, I believe, Fox also. The guide I have mentioned is a little book, containing the history of the place, and a description of all its curiosi ties. There is no place of any note in England which has not its printed guide, with which the servants of the inn are eager to furnish you. This one informs me, that, during the period of revo lutionary fanaticism which led Charles I. to the scaffold, Cambridge, notwithstanding its whiggism, suffered more than Oxford.

Some miles beyond Cambridge we found, at one of the inns, a boy of eighteen, seven feet nine inches high! I had never seen a giant, and had no idea of the effect. When sitting, his chair seemed likely to be crushed by his weight, as well as the table on which he rested his elbow ; his feet and hands were particularly enormous; and when he rose, and crossed the room in two

strides, with his head appearing to touch the ceiling, it was still more extraordinary a man above the middle size could easily pass under his arm. This monstrous disproportion with sur rounding objects overthrew all received ideas, almost as much as if houses had been seen moving, and dogs and horses with wings flying in the air. If this appears an exaggeration, I can only refer to a sight of my giant. He confessed that he could not lift a greater weight than ano. ther man, and a walk of four or five miles was a good deal for him. His voice was strong, but without being in proportion to his body; big bones, but not yet well covered with muscles, and he did not look as if he had done growing. He does not eat much; his large mild eyes looked heavy, but he spoke sensibly. He told us that his father and mother, brothers and sisters, were all of common size.

June 29.-London, after such a long residence in it, appears like a sort of home; we are preparing, however, to leave it for a very long tour, by the West of England, Scotland, and return by the East. Aliens are required in time of war to apply at the alien-office, every three months, for a license to reside; a British subject must join in the application. For such a journey as ours I have been required to name the principal places through which we are to pass, which does

not exactly agree with our wandering plans, and threatens difficulties. I am far from blaming any proper precautions; but there seems to be very little to fear here from spying, or from a surprise; the publicity of every thing renders the one useless, and the sea renders the other impossible,

Before leaving the capital, I have to remark, that formerly it was subject to frequent visitations of the plague. From 1592 to 1665 this frightful epidemic appeared five times; viz. 1592, 1603, 1625, 1636, and 1665, carrying off one-fifth of the inhabitants each time. At the last period, (1665) 97,000 persons perished by the plague in London;* (as many as 1200 a-day.) The following year (1666), the great fire destroyed 13,200 houses out of 66,000, that is, the fifth part of the city; but it was the part the most crowded, old, and ill-built; and since that time

The plague carried off 300,000 victims at Rome, under Nero; that is three out of ten, instead of two out of ten as in London; and much more recently at Marseilles, in 1720, the plague destroyed 50,000 inhabitants; that is to say, probably more than half the number, as Marseilles, in its most prosperous times (1780), contained only 90,000 inhabitants. The great plague, which ravaged the whole earth during fifty-two years, from 542 to 594, depopulated entirely and left empty a number of towns.