430 



Picturesque Promenades near Dorking. 



[June 1, 



Ailing up the chasm between two ranges 

 of majestic hills; which, to a no- 

 vice, might appear a most promising 

 site for the enjoyment of every social 

 comfort. Such an illusion may dazzle 

 and deceive tlie admiring beholder 

 when at a distance ; but a more cir- 

 cumspect research proves that rational 

 expectation to be iU-fouude<l. That a 

 country unrivalle<l in its local beauties, 

 and unparalleled in sublime attractions, 

 should not have produced a higher de- 

 gree of human happiness appears too 

 paradoxical to be passed over. 



Social intercourse in every county 

 town, appears gradually to diverge 

 into a secondarjr object of concern, un- 

 less when connected \vith private ad- 

 vantage, while a certain vituperative 

 officiousness precludes the introduc- 

 tion of those public amusements, 

 which are known to be co-operalive 

 with its general promotion. Interest 

 sways with its wonted bias, and con- 

 sequently suffers nothing to intervene, 

 ■which might at first sight seem detri- 

 mental to the immediate concerns of 

 the population. What appears more 

 despicable to a liberal mind, than a 

 countiy town with its several petty 

 sovereignties of rank ? What more in- 

 sYjlfing tlian the superciliousness of the 

 rich ; the assumption of the would-be- 

 great ; the clamorous stupidity of the 

 lower orders ; in sliort, the pertinacity 

 and empiricism of the feic whose sole 

 object it is to be tlie bane of the ?»««;/ .' 

 The town of Dorking, however, 

 possesses many local advantages for 

 the enlargement of its social spliere. 

 The most conspicuous of these would 

 ■be in the respectability of its inhabi- 

 ^'tants, were it not for the petty demar- 

 ' cations which they suffer to intermeddle 

 with all their actions, and stir up a 

 spirit of mischief-making inveteracy 

 --against each other. Public improve- 

 • inents are followed up with unwearied 

 "Miligence, and notwithstanding the 

 '•thecks they sometimes receive from the 

 Repression of industry, are manifest in 

 every feature of the town and neigh- 

 bourhood. The wealthy possessors of 

 the estates in the vicinity are constantly 

 •^projecting additions and embellish- 

 ^Wents, which, while they largely cou- 

 ^iribute to the beauty of the country, 

 ■ tend also to raise the prospects of trade 

 and enterprize. A public spirited in- 

 dividual some time ago added to his 

 ' establishment, a spacious and chastely- 

 elegant assejnbly-room, at a very con- 

 siderable expense; audas the prosperity 



of country towns must in great measure 

 be kept up by intercommunity of trade, 

 it becomes the duty of the inhabitants 

 to supjtort the undertaking, by coming 

 fonvard to form quarterly, instead of 

 annual dnlls. Occasional concerts, too, 

 would gratify the lovers of music ; and 

 public dinners on occasions of public 

 festivity, would tend to keep up convi- 

 vial mirth among those who delight in 

 " the feast of reason and the now of 

 soul." 



Literature has neverliieless found a 

 sufficient number of votaries in this 

 small town to establish a Book Society 

 among the gentry, and a Magazine So- 

 ciety among the townsmen. Book- 

 knowledge, however, loses many of 

 its fascinating attractions by too close 

 an intimacy, and requires frequent 

 incentives to preserve its popularity, 

 otherwise it would be thought little 

 more of than as a means of filling 

 up the surplusage of time. The 

 literary circle of Dorking might 

 soon obtain the desideratum, the want 

 of which is so strikingly evident among 

 them, by forming Societies for the dis- 

 cussion of moral, political and philoso- 

 phical topics, selected from tlje floating 

 incidents of life, according to their re- 

 lations to the public welfarci ' '• 



" witti sense i'ieiiD^d" - 



Learning' digested well- 



Unstudied wit, and humour ever gay, 



To raise the sacred hour, to bid it smile. 

 And with the social spirit warm the heart." 

 Thomson. 



These institutions, partaking some- 

 thing of the character of dilettanti- 

 societies and conversaziones, would 

 enable them to form more accurate 

 estimates of the merits of general lite- 

 rature, and by connecting much prac- 

 tical information in the various branches 

 of science, with a fund of unceasing 

 interest, would cultivate and enrich the 

 mind, and impart an additional relisii 

 for researches of a higher order. Dor- 

 King would then present inducements 

 for the winter resident, as well as the 

 summer visitor ; and when divested of 

 its scenic charms, the pleasures of its 

 well-regulated amusements, would in 

 some degree compensate for their ab- 

 sence, by the urbanity of society, and 

 by good taste and liberality of senti- 

 ment in the inhabitants. 



A little to the right of Dorking, is 



the Deepdene, the classical estate of 



Mr. Thomas Hope, embellished by the 



taste and ingenuity of its possessor. The 



:• !•' romantic 



