ST. LEONARD'S HILL, THE SEAT OF EARL HARCOURT.

ent importance to be fit for the occasional residence of Wm. Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who took great delight in retiring for a short time to this beautiful spot, when he was secretary at war. It came into the possession of the Countess-Dowager of Waldegrave, afterwards Duchess of Gloucester, who added so considerably to the old building as to render it truly comfortable. A colonnade extends from the conservatory in front of the

THE very fine situation of this elegant abode must be seen to be appreciated. It stands on the brow of a commanding and finely wooded hill, in the immediate vicinity of Windsor Forest, and surrounded by an immense extent of the richest country. Our View of the House is from the Lawn, shewing in the distance Windsor Castle, which is seen to most advantage from this spot, and forms, with Eton College, a principal feature in this noble scene, which || breakfast-room and hall to the main extends across the rich uplands of building, forming a pleasing connecBuckinghamshire, and embraces tion, enriched with columns and deMiddlesex and Surrey. The house corations in the Roman Doric order, is very irregular in its construction, which, with its treillage, the variety which is generally the result of fre- of plants and flowering shrubs that quent additions. The site was for- grace the entrance, and its irregu merly occupied by a gamekeeper's ||larity of surface, produce an effect lodge only, but it became of suffici- in the highest degree elegant, pleasVol. III. No. XV.

S

ing, and picturesque, as will be per- || bellishing the grounds, sold the whole ceived on reference to the annexed to John Macnamara, Esq. of whom View. it was purchased in 1783 by the present noble proprietor.

The prevailing opinion is, that St. Leonard's Hill was a Roman encampment; and the discovery of some antique coins, many of Vespasian, Trajan, and the Lower Empire, with some spear - heads, and a curious brass lamp, has considerably strengthened this notion. A field on the demesne, named the Hermit's Field, which some time since contained a well, called the Hermit's Well, cor

The pleasure-grounds are beautifully romantic, and the shrubberies tastefully laid out. The entrance to the grounds from the Windsor road is by a very pretty rustic lodge, which displays great taste in its arrangement. Its form is pleasing, and the exterior is covered in a fanciful manner with the bark of trees, while some portion is constructed of the actual stems and unbarked blocks, presenting their rude surface for the support of the jessamine and flower-roborates the traditionary saying, ing plants that adorn it.

that St. Leonard's Hill in former

The Duke of Gloucester, after em- times was the abode of a hermit.

IVER-GROVE,

THE SEAT OF LORD GAMBIER.

succeeded more than any other architect in forming a general whole, which, when viewed at a distance, possesses a magnificent and imposing effect. This mainly results from the towering elevations and bold projections in which he so much delighted.

THIS house is situated on Shred- || Still it is generally admitted, that he dings-Green, in the parish of Iver, between Uxbridge and Windsor. Though small, it is a fine specimen of the taste of Sir John Vanbrugh, whose works, generally speaking, possess an originality, and a picturesque and stately appearance, that are not to be met with in any other master: there is a boldness and a masculine feeling, as exemplified in the present moderate-sized mansion, which is the result of a breadth of parts, always aimed at and observable in this artist's works. Though he had the good fortune to raise many edifices on an extensive scale, they are costly without grandeur, and large without sublimity. The heaviness that pervades the buildings erected by him gave rise to the well-known couplet:

Lie heavy on him, Earth! for he
Laid many a heavy load on thee.

The present specimen, though small, possesses all those characteris| tics: it was built by Sir John for the widow of Lord Mahon*. The pleasure-grounds and garden are laid out with great taste; the whole exhibiting a snug and comfortable appearance. It was purchased by the present noble proprietor of Mrs. Colborne, relict of F. Colborne, Esq.

* Lord Mahon fought a duel with the Duke of Hamilton, which proved fatal to them both.

127

THE CONFESSIONS OF A RAMBLER.

No. VI.

I HAVE said that Mr. Mortimer's || don-by those who were not so richly

"

arrival was the signal for our removal endowed with the gifts of Fortune; from Smith's hotel to the house of a for to hint at the possibility of one friend of his, Mr. Brown, a mer- man or woman being inferior to anchant, whose family consisted of him- other in America, is a high misdeself, a wife, two daughters, and a meanour. The son, I have already son, with an establishment of three said, was a finished coxcomb: he female and two male slaves. We wore a short nankeen jacket, white found our host and hostess hospi-jean trowsers and waistcoat, and table, well-disposed people; their straw hat; and never stirred out withdaughters showy and rather agree-out an immense umbrella, to protect able girls; and the son quite a cox-him from the rays of the sun. Incomb. Compared with the same || deed in America I soon found an class in England, this family was umbrella indispensable, and no genmany degrees behindhand in civili- tleman was without one: if the sun zation; the extent of the daughters' shone, it was used by way of parasol; accomplishments was reading and and if it rained, it served as a shelter writing, the latter without much at- from the storm. The youth I am tention either to orthography or gram- alluding to was occupied in his fa'mar, and a very superficial knowledge ther's counting-house all the mornof music. They had been taught to ing, and was extremely eager in purdance; but their movements bore a suing the main chance: the afternoon greater resemblance to the oscillations he devoted to drinking large tumof an elephant, than to the elegant blers of grog, apple-toddy, or whismotions of a votary of Terpsichore. key punch; or in frequenting the Of music they knew nothing, and taverns, and playing fives, shuffletheir native "wood-notes wild," as board, billiards, or any other of the their fond mother termed the sounds games of chance or of hazard which which they sometimes emitted, were were practised at those places of reas unharmonious as can possibly be sort. Gaming and drinking, I soon conceived. Yet they were good- found, were the two great pursuits, humoured, and less pretending than next to that of getting money, of the we found most American women; young Americans. and they were excellent housewives Of Mrs. Brown I can only speak in one respect: they understood the in terms of kindness; she was a very art of cooking in perfection, though motherly sort of body, and thought it was but seldom that they exercised she could never do enough to render it. I should add, that their dress her guests comfortable. She took was according to the English mode care that we should have substantial of two years previous; and I found meals, and that every delicacy of the that the London fashions were fol- season should be found upon the talowed here by those who set the ton, ble, of which she did the honours and imitated, at an humble distance, in a way that would not have discreby their inferiors-I beg their par-dited an English lady. The only