the conduits; after which they had an entertainment at the Banqueting Houfe. This edifice was taken down in 1737, and Tyburn is now only known by its having been, till the year 1783, the common place of execution for London and Middlesex.

V

VALENTINE HOUSE, defeat of the late Sir

Charles Raymond, bart. and now of William Raikes, Efq. at Ilford, in Effex. In the garden here is a very remarkable vine, the following account of which is taken from Mr. Gilpin's Reflections on Foreft Scenery and other Woodland Views.

"This vine was planted, a cutting, in the year 1758, of the black Hamburgh fort; and as this fpecies will not eafily bear the open air, it was planted in the hot-house; though without any preparation of foil, which in those grounds is a ftiff loam, or rather clay. The hot-house is a very large one, about feventy feet in front; and the vine, which, I understand, is not pruned in the common way, extends 200 feet, part of it running along the south wall of the outfide of the hot-houfe. In the common mode of pruning, this fpecies of vine is no great bearer; but managed as it is here, it produces wonderfully. Sir Charles Raymond, on the death of his lady, in 1781, left Valentine House; at which time the gardener had the profits of the vine. It annually produces about 400 weight of grapes; which used formerly (when the hot-house, I fuppofe, was kept warmer) to ripen in March; though lately they have not ripened till June, when they fell at 4s. a pound, which produces about 8ol. This account I had from Mr. Eden himself, the gardener, who planted the vine. With regard to the profits of it, I think it probable, from the accounts I have had from other hands, that, when the grapes ripened earlier, they produced much more than Sol. A gentleman of character informed me, that he had it from Sir Charles Raymond himself, that after fupplying his own table, he has made 120l. a year of the grapes, and the fame gentleman, who was curious, enquired of the fruit-dealers, who told him, that in fome years, they fuppofe the profits have not amounted to

lefs

lefs than 300l. This does not contradict Mr. Eden's ac count, who faid, that the utmost he ever made of it (that is, I fuppofe, when the grapes fold for 4s. per pound in June) was 841. At the lowest calculation, the profits were prodigious. The stem of this vine was, in the year 1789, 13 inches in circumference."

Valentine House was given by King William to Mrs. Tillotson, on the death of her husband the great and good Archbishop.

VAUXHALL, one of the eight precincts of the parish of Lambeth. That defperate mifcreant, Guy Faux, or Vaux, refided in a large manfion in this precinct, called Fauxhall, the fite of which is now occupied by Marble Hall and the Cumberland Tea Gardens. Hence Dr. Ducarel imagines, that he was Lord of the Manor of the fame name. In the road from Vauxhall to Wanfworth, is a fine fpring called Vauxhall Well; the water of which is efteemed highly serviceable in many disorders of the eyes, and, in other respects to be fo excellent, as to be fent for by people at a great diftance. In the hardest winters it is never known to freeze. The steps, &c. are kept in repair by the trustees of the Vauxhall turnpike.

VAUXHALL GARDENS, the most celebrated public gardens in Europe, are fituated near the Thames, in the parish of Lambeth. Of the origin of this enchanting place, Mr. Aubrey, in his Antiquities of Surry, gives this account: "At Vauxhall, Sir Samuel Morland built a fine, room anno 1667, the infide all of looking glafs, and fountains very pleafant to behold, which is much vifited by ftrangers; it ftands in the middle of the garden, covered with Cornish flate; on the point whereof he placed a Punchanello, very well carved, which held a dial, but the winds have demolished it." And Sir John Hawkins, in his History of Mufic, has the following account of it: "The house seems to have been rebuilt fince the time that Sir Samuel Morland dwelt in it. About the year 1730, Mr. Jonathan Tyers became the occupier of it; and, there being a large garden belonging to it, planted with a great number of ftately trees, and laid out in fhady walks, it obtained the name of Spring Gardens; and the house being converted into a tavern, or place of entertainment,

was

was much frequented by the votaries of pleafure. Mr. Tyers opened it with an advertisement of a Ridotto al Frefco, a term which the people of this country had till that time been strangers to. These entertainments were repeated in the course of the fummer, and numbers reforted to partake of them. This encouraged the proprie tor to make his garden a place of musical entertainment, for every evening during the fummer season. To this end he was at great expence in decorating the gardens with paintings; he engaged a band of excellent musicians; he iffued filver tickets for admiffion at a guinea each; and, receiving great encouragement, he fet up an organ, in the orcheftra, and, in a confpicuous part of the garden, erected a fine ftatue of Mr. Handel."

Thefe beautiful gardens are faid to be the firft of the kind in England; but they are not fo old as the Mulberry Gar dens, (on the fpot now called Spring Gardens, near St. James's Park) where King Charles went to regale himself, the night after the Restoration, and formed an immediate connection with Mrs. Palmer, afterward Duchefs of Cleveland. The trees, however, are more than a century old, and, according to tradition, were planted for a public garden. In the Spectator, No. 383, dated May 20, 1712, Mr. Addison introduces a voyage from the Temple Stairs to Vauxhall, in which he was accompanied by his friend Sir Roger de Coverley. It appears to have been, at that time, a place of great refort. Long after, we find, in the Connoiffeur, No. 68, a very humorous defcription of the behaviour of an old citizen, who, notwithstanding his penurious difpofition, had treated his family here with a handsome fupper.

The feafon for opening the gardens commences fome time in May, and continues till toward the end of August. Every evening (Sunday and Friday excepted) they are opened at half after fix.

On entering the great gate, to which you are conducted by a fhort avenue from the road, you pay two fhillings for admittance. The first scene that falutes the eye, is a noble gravel walk 900 feet long, pianted on each fide with a row of stately elms, which form a fine vifta, terminated by the representation of a temple, in which is a tranfpa

rency,

rency, emblematic of the gratitude of the proprietors of the gardens to the public, for their liberal encouragement.

Advancing a few steps within the garden, we behold to the right a quadrangle, which, from the number of trees planted in it, is called the Grove. In the centre of it is a magnificent orchestra of Gothic conftruction, curiously ornamented with carvings, niches, &c. The ornaments are plaftic, a compofition fomething like plafter of Paris, but known only to the ingenious architect who defigned and built this beautiful object. In fine weather the mufical entertainments are performed here by a felect band of the beft vocal and inftrumental performers. At the upper extremity of this orcheftra, is a fine organ; and, at the foot of it, are the feats and deíks for the musicians, placed in a femicircular form, leaving a vacancy at the front for the vocal performers. The concert is opened with inftrumental music at eight o'clock, after which the company are entertained with a fong; and in this manner feveral other fongs are performed, with fonatas or concertos between each, till the close of the entertainment, which is always at eleven.

In the front of a large timber building, which you approach with advantage from the middle of the great room, is a painted landscape of great magnitude, called the Day Scene. Before dufk, this is drawn up, to exhibit the new cascade introduced this feafon, with a very natural reprefentation of a water-mill and a bridge, well illuminated by concealed lights. About half past nine the curtain is drawn up, and, at the expiration of ten minutes, let down again, and the company return to hear the remaining part of the concert. A glee and catch, in three or four parts, are performed in the middle and at the end of the mufical bill of fare, which always confifts of fixteen pieces every night.

In that part of the grove which fronts the orchestra a confiderable number of tables and benches are placed for the company and, at a small distance from them, fronting the orcheftra, is a large pavilion of the compofite order, which particularly attracts the eye by its fize, beauty, and ornaments. It was built for the late Prince of Wales; and his grandfon, the prefent Prince, has often fupped in

it. The afcent is by a double flight of stone steps decorated with baluftrades. The front is fupported by pillars, and the entablature finely ornamented in the Doric taste. In the cieling are three little domes with gilt ornaments, from which defcend three glafs chandeliers.

Behind this pavilion is a drawing-room, built likewife for the Prince of Wales; and to this a new entrance was made this feafon, from the outfide of the gardens, for the admittance of any of the royal family.

The fpace between this pavilion and the orchestra may be termed the grand rendezvous of the company, who conftantly affemble in this part, if the weather be fine, to hear the vocal performers, and, as foon as the fong is ended, ftray about the gardens. The groups of figures varying in age, drefs, &c. moving about on this occafion, cannot fail to give great vivacity to the numberless beauties of the place.

The grove is beautifully illuminated in the evening with above 2000 glafs lamps, which glitter among the trees, in addition to which a great number of variegated lamps are interfperfed, which appear exceedingly brilliant, and produce a fine effect.

In cold or rainy weather the mufical performance is in a rotundo. This rotundo, which is 70 feet in diameter, is on the left fide of the entrance into the gardens, nearly opposite to the orchestra. Along the front, next the grove, is a colonnade, formed by a range of pillars, under which is the entrance from the grove. Within this room, on the left hand, is the orchestra, which is inclofed with a balustrade. The front is fupported by two pilafters and two columns of the Ionic order, embellished with foliage from the bafe, a confiderable way upward. On the fides of the orchestra are painted Corinthian pillars, and, at its extremity is the organ. In the centre of the rotundo hangs a glafs chandelier, under which, if the spectator looks around, he may fee himself reflected on all fides, in fixteen fquare looking-glaffes, ornamented at the top with feftoons of artificial flowers. Round the rotundo is a convenient feat, and above each of thefe looking-glaffes is a ffh-window, decorated with a curtain of pink linen, with filver fringe, which correfponds with the colour of all the