of that part of it which was near the river, are Cholmondeley Houfe, now the Duke of Queensberry's; the hand fome house of Mrs. Way; and the elegant villa of Whitthed Keene, Efq. which was built from a defign of the late Sir Robert Taylor. Higher up the river, are the houses of the Duke of Buccleugh, and Lady Diana Beauclerk.

The palace, built here by the Duke of Ormond, who received from King William a confiderable extent of land about Richmond, as a reward for his military services, but which devolved to the crown, on the attainder of that nobleman, in the reign of George I, being confidered as a very plain edifice, and greatly out of repair, was, about 21 years ago, taken down, and a new palace was begun ; but that at Kew devolving to his prefent Majefty, on the death of the late Princefs Dowager of Wales, the building of it has been discontinued.

The Duke of Ormond's palace was, by his late Majefty, confirmed to Queen Caroline, in cafe fhe became Queen Dowager. The King took great delight here, and made feveral improvements in the palace, while her Majesty amused herself in her royal dairy-house, Merlin's cave, the hermitage, &c. But his prefent Majefty has entirely changed the face of the gardens. The terrace is destroyed; most of the buildings are pulled down; all the stiff grandeur of the gardens is annihilated; and the beauties, for which they were once fo celebrated, are loft in the refinements of modern taste.

Thefe royal gardens are separated from those at Kew by a wall. They are about four miles in circumference, extending from Kew, fouthward, along the Thames, toward the village of Richmond. The alterations and improve ments in them, were made under the direction of the late Lancelot Brown, Efq. (the illuftrious difciple of Kent) to whofe exquifite tafte in the embellishment of rural fcenery, the didactic poet paid this merited eulogy, while he was yet living to enjoy it :

Him too, the living leader of thy powers,

Great Nature! him the Mufe thall hail in notes,
Which antedate the praife true Genius claims
From juft pofterity. Bards yet unborn
Shall pay to Brown that tribute, fitlieft paid
In ftrains, the beauty of his fcenes inspire.
K

MASON.

Inftead

Inftead of the trim formality of the ancient ftyle, we now fee irregular groups of trees adorning beautiful fwelling lawns, interfperfed with fhrubberies, broken clumps, and more folemn woods; through the receffes of which are walks, that lead to various parts of thefe delightful gardens. The banks, along the margin of the Thames, are judicioufly varied, forming a noble terrace, which extends the whole length of the gardens.

In the S. E. quarter of thefe enchanting grounds, a road leads to a fequeftered fpot, in which is a cottage, that exhibits the most elegant fimplicity. Here is a collection of curious foreign and domeftic beafts, as well as of many rare and exotic birds. Being a favourite retreat of her Majefty's, this cottage is kept in great order and neatnefs. On the fouth, toward Richmond, is a small park, in which ftands an elegant obfervatory, that contains a complete collection of the neceffary aftronomical inftruments. Thefe gardens are open to the public, every Sunday, from Midfummer till toward the end of Autumn.

Richmond Green is furrounded with lofty elms, and adorned with good houfes. A fun-dial is placed here, which, with the railing-in of the Green, was at the fole charge of her late Majefty. At one corner of this Green, is a theatre, in which, during the fummer-season, dramatic entertainments are performed, by fome of the best actors from London.

The town runs up the hill above a mile from the village of Eaft Shene to the New Park, with the Royal Gardens floping all the way towards the Thames, whofe tide reaches almott to this village, though it is fixty miles from the fea; which is a greater diftance than the tide is carried by any other river in Europe.

Here are two alms-houses; one of them built by Bishop Duppa, in the reign of Charles II, for ten poor widows, pursuant to a vow he made during that Prince's exile. An elegant ftone bridge, of five femicircular arches, from a defign of the late Mr. Paine, was erected here in 1777. The fummit of Richmond Hill commands a moft luxuriant profpect, which Thomfon, who spent his latter years in this beautiful place, has thus celebrated in his Seasons :

Say,

Say, fhall we afcend

Thy hill, delightful Shene? Here let us sweep
The boundless landfcape: now the raptur'd eye,
Exulting fwift, to huge Augufta fend,

Now to the fifter-hills that skirt her plain,
To lofty Harrow now, and now to where
Majestic Windfor lifts his princely brow.
In lovely contraft to this glorious view,
Calmly magnificent, then will we turn
To where the Thames first rural grow
There let the feafted. eye unwearied ftray:
Luxurious, there, rove thro' the pendant woods,
That nodding hang o'er Harrington's retreat?+
And floping thence to Ham's embowering walks,
Here let us trace the matchlefs vale of Thames;
Fair-winding up to where the mufes haunt
In Twit'nam bow'rs; to royal Hampton's pile,
To Claremont's terrafs'd height, and Efher's groves,
By the foft windings of the filent Mole.
Enchanting vale! beyond whate'er the Muse
Has of Achaia, or Hefperia fung!

O vale of blifs! O foftly-fwelling hills!
On which the Power of Cultivation lies,

And joys to fee the wonder of his toil.

Heav'ns! what a goodly profpect spreads around,
Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and fpires
And glitt'ring towns, and gilded ftreams, till all
The stretching landscape into smoke decays.

Thomfon's refidence was at Rofedale House, now in the poffeffion of the Hon. Mrs. Bofcawen, in Kew-foot Lane. Here he died, in 1748, and is buried in the church, under a plain grave stone, with no other infcription than his name.

RICHMOND PARK, or NEW PARK, in Surry, fituated between Kingston and Richmond, is one of the beft parks in England. It was made in the reign of Charles II, and inclosed with a brick-wall, faid to be eleven miles in compass. In this park there is a little hill caft up, called King Henry's Mount, from which is a profpect of fix counties, with a view of London and Windsor Castle.

The New Lodge in this park, built by Robert Walpole,

* Highgate and Hampstead.

+Now the Duke of Clarence's, at Petersham.

K. 2

first

1

firft Earl of Orford, is an elegant ftone edifice, with wings on each fide of brick It ftands on a rifing ground, and commands a very good profpect of the park, especially of the fine piece of water. This park is the largeft as well as the most beautiful of any within the environs of London, except that of Windfor; for though it has little more than a wild variety of natural beauties to fhew, yet these are such as cannot fail to please those who are as much delighted with views in their rudeft appearance, as in all the elegance of art and design.

RICKMANSWORTH, a market town in Herts, 18 M. F. L. is situated in a low moorifh foil, on the borders of Bucks, near the river Coln. In the neighbourhood is a warren-hill, where the found of the trumpet is repeated twelve times by the echo. In this place is Bury Park, the feat of William Field, Efq.

RIPLEY, 23 M. F. L. in the road to Portsmouth, has a chapel of eafe to the parish of Send. It is one of the prettiest villages in the county, and was formerly famous for cricket-players. Colonel Onflow has a handsome house on the beautiful green.

RIVERHEAD, a village near Sevenoaks, fo called from the Darent rifing in its neighbourhood. Adjoining to this place is Montreal, the feat of Lord Amherst, Baron Holmfdale, which is the name of the valley wherein it is fituated. In the park is a column erected to perpetuate the happy meeting of this noble lord and his brother, who, after having been engaged on different fervices, in diftant parts of the globe, during the last war but one, gained honour both to themselves and their country, were permitted, by the favour of Heaven, to embrace each other on their native fpot. Here is alfo an hermitage whose beautiful folitude is enriched with the following lines, faid to be composed by a female poet :

While neighbouring heights affume the name
Of conquer'd lands well known to fame,
Herc mark the valley's winding way,
And lift to what old records fay.
"This winding vale of Holmesdale
"Was never won nor never fhall."
The prophefy ne'er yet has fail'd;
No human power has prevail'd

and

Torob this valley of its rights,
Supported by its val'rous wights.
When foreign conqueft claim'd our land
Then rose our sturdy Holm'fdale band,
With each a brother oak in hand;
An armed grove the Conqueror meet,
And for their ancient charter treat,
Refolv'd to die, ere they refign'd
Their liberties in gravel-kind,
Hence Freedom's fons inhabit here,
And hence the world their deeds revere.
In war and every virtuous way,
A Man of Kent ftill bears the day.
Thus may our queen of valleys reign,..
While Darent glides into the main;
Darent, whofe infant reed is feen,
Uprearing on yon bosom'd green,
Along his wid'ning banks may peace
And joyful plenty never cease!
Where'er his waters roll their tide,
May heav'n-born Liberty refide!".

RODING, the name of eight parishes in the western part of Effex, diftinguished from each other by the appellations of Abbot's, Berners, Beauchamp, Eythorp, High, Leaden, Margaret, and White. They take their common name from the river Roding, which flowing through them, from Canfield, falls into the Thames below Barking. They are celebrated for excellent arable lands, and execrable roads Roding Berners is supposed to be the birth place of Juliana Berners, daughter of Sir James Berners, of that parish, who was beheaded in the reign of Richard II. This lady, who was Priorefs of Søpewell Nunnery, was one of the earliest female writers in England. She was very beautiful, of great fpirit, and loved mafculine exercifes, fuch as hawking, hunting, &c. With these sports she used often to recreate herfelf; and fo thoroughly was the skilled in them, that she wrote treatises of hunting, hawking, and heraldry. "From an abbefs difpofed to turn author," fays Mr. Warton, in his Hiftory of English Poetry, "we might reasonably have expected a manual of meditations for the closet, or felect rules for making falves, or diftilling ftrong waters.

K 3

But