i S 1 7.] Objects 071 Kcw- Green 



tlte viilfjar faith in ghosts, omens, for- ahont tliirty 

 tune-telling, fatality, an<i witchcraft. 



On niy right iny attention was at- 

 tracted hy the battleiiients of a ucw 

 Gothic hnildiiig, which I learnt, from 

 the keeper of an adjoiiiinp; turnpike, was 

 called Kew Priory, and is a summer 

 retreat of a wealthy Catliolic maiden 

 lady. Miss Doughty, of Kichmoud-Hill, 

 after whom a street has recently been 

 named in London. Learning that the 

 lady was not there, I turned aside to ob- 

 tain a nearer view; and, ringing at tiie 

 gate, in the hope of viewing the inte- 

 rior, a female, who opened it, told me 

 that it was a rule of the place, that nu 

 man could be admitted besides the Rev. 



]Mr. , the Catholic priest. I learnt 



that the I'riory, a beautiful erection on a 

 lawn, <-ousisted merely of a chapel, a 

 room for rerroshnicuts, and a library; 

 and that the lady used it for change 

 of .scene in the long afternoons of 

 the summer season. The enclosed 

 space contained about 24 acres, on the 

 banks of the Thames, and is subdivided 

 by I'ilton's invisible fences. Behind 

 the Priory, there is a house for the baililf 

 and his wife, a capacious {)heasantry, an 

 aviary, and extensive stables. Nothing 

 ca'.i be more tasteful as a jilace of indul- 

 gence for the luxury of wealth; but it is 

 exposed to the inconvenience of floods 

 from the river, wiiich sometimes cover 

 the entire scitc to a considerable depth. 

 Another quarter of a mile, along a 

 dead flat, brought me upon Ivew-Giiekn. 

 As I approached it, the woods of Kew 

 and Richmond-gardens presented a va- 

 ried and magniCcent foliage, and the 

 pagoda of twelve stories rose in splen- 

 dour out of Jhe woods. Richmond-hill 

 bounded the horizon on the left, and the 

 .sinoky atmosphere of Brentford ob- 

 scured the air beyond the houses on 

 Kew-Green. 



As I left the lane, on my left, I beheld 

 the long boundary wall of Kew-Cardcns, 

 on which a disabled sailor has drawn in 

 chalk the effigies of the whole British 

 navy, and over each representation ap- 

 pears the name of the vessel, and the 

 number of her guns. He has in this 

 way drawn about SOO vessels, each 

 five or six feet long, and extending, with 

 intervening distances, above a mile and 

 a half. As the labour of one man, the 

 whole is an extraordinary performance ; 

 and I was told the decrepit draughts- 

 man derived a competency from passing 

 travellers. 

 Kevv-Qu^en is a trianguljir aica of 



509 

 acres. Nearly in the 

 centi-c is the chapel of St. Anne. On 

 the eastern side is a row of family 

 houses; on the north-western side a 

 better row, the backs of which look on 

 the Tiiames; and on the south side 

 stand the boundary walk of Kew-Gar- 

 dens, some erections for soldiery, and 

 the plain house of Ernest, duke of Cum- 

 berland. Among other persons of note 

 and interest who reside here, are tlie 

 two respectable daughters of Ste- 

 phen Duck, the poet, who deserve to 

 bo mentioned as relies of a former 

 age. In the western corner stand the 

 buildings called the Palace, in which 

 George III. passed many of the early 

 years of his reii^n, and near which he 

 began a new structure a few years 

 before his confirmed malady — which I 

 fM ihc Bastile Putace, from its resem- 

 blance to tiiat building, .so obnoxious to 

 frc«?dom and freemen. On a former 

 occasion, I have viewed It.s interior, and 

 I am at loss to conceive the motive for 

 preferring an external foru), which ren- 

 dcre<l it impracticable to construct 

 within it more than a series of large 

 closet.s, boudoirs, and rooms like ora- 

 tories. The works have, however, been 

 suspended since the inihappy seclusion 

 of the Royal y\rchitect; and it is impro- 

 bable, at least in this generation, that 

 they will be resumed. The foundation 

 i;i in a bog close to the Thames, iuid the 

 principal objrct in its view is the dirty 

 tow n of Brentford, on the opjjosile side 

 of the river. 



I had intended to })roIong my route 

 to the western corner of the Green, but 

 in passing St. Anne's Chapel, I found 

 the pew-openers engaged in wiping the 

 pews and washing the aisles. I knevr 

 that that child of genius, Gainsbo- 

 iiouGH, the painter, lay interred here; 

 and, desirous of paying my l/'.mage to 

 his grave, I enquired lor the .scite. As 

 usual, in regard to this class of people 

 they could give nic no information; 

 yet one of them fancied she had heard 

 such a name before. I was therefore 

 obliged to wait while the sexton or 

 clerk was letcJied, and in the interim 

 I walkeil into the ciiapcl. I was, ia 

 truth, well re-paid for the time it cost 

 me; for 1 never saw any thing prettier, 

 except Lord Le Despeneer's exquisite 

 structure at West Wycombe. As the 

 royal family usually attend here when 

 they reside at Kew, it is su|)crbly fitted 

 up, and the architecture is in the best 

 tuttc. The scats fur the family fill 



the 



