way along the meadows by the river side 

 without much difficulty, yet it is hardly 

 worth his while ; the road, which is rather a 

 pleasant one, leaves the river a little on the 

 left, and following it for about two miles we 

 reach Brocket Hall and park, the seat of 

 Lord Melbourne. Brocket Hall was 

 erected about a century since by James 

 Paine, who has given elevations and plans 

 of it, and of the bridge he here built across 

 the Lea, in his work entitled " Views, Plans, 

 &c." The house is a brick edifice, of a 

 somewhat striking appearance, and the Lea 

 spreads out before it into a spacious lake. 

 Altogether it is well fitted to afford a re- 

 freshing retreat from the care and strife of 

 political contests. 



The Lea runs through a corner of Hatfield 

 Park, leaving Hatfield considerably on our 

 right. There is nought in the town to call 

 us out ^f the way. Hatfield Park is of vast 

 extent, and though rather level, is consider- 

 ably diversified in its aspect by the pro- 

 fusion of noble trees it contains. In it are 

 said to be some of the finest oak, elm, and 

 ash trees in the county. At a corner of one 

 of the avenues on the northern side of the 

 park is an old oak, called the " Queen's 

 Oak," from a tradition that when Elizabeth 

 was a prisoner here, it formed the boundary 

 of her daily walks. It is much decayed, 

 only one of its main branches remaining ; 

 but the decayed part has been carefully 

 covered with a cement, and a railing has 

 been placed around it to preserve it from 

 curious visitors. Hatfield House is the 

 property of the Marquis of Salisbury, and is 

 of enormous size. One of its wings, it will 

 be remembered, was destroyed by fire a few 

 years back, when the dowager marchioness 

 was burnt to death. The part then de- 

 stroyed has been rebuilt, and we believe 

 large alterations have been made in various 

 parts of the mansion by the present marquis, 

 who has an inclination for building. The 

 place possesses much historical interest ; 

 Elizabeth, as we have said, was a prisoner 

 here ; after her accession to the throne she 

 gave Hatfield House to Lord Burleigh, the 

 ancestor of the present Marquis of Salisbury. 

 Charles I. was also for a short time con- 

 fined in it. The interior of the mansion is 

 said to be very splendid, and it contains a 

 good many excellent pictures ; but it is to be 

 regretted that the public are excluded from 

 seeing them, or from inspecting the building. 



By this time the Lea has become a river 

 of tolerable size, and from Hatfield Park to 

 Hertford is much more beautiful than in the 

 earlier part of its course ; and it increases 

 in beauty till it enters the latter town. The 

 grounds on either side are hilly and well 

 wooded, and handsome houses, rustic cot- 

 tages, with ever and anon a distant spire 



peeping from among the trees, relieve the 

 way from everything like monotony. 



A short distance before we reach Hertford, 

 the Lea is joined by the river Maran, a 

 lovely little stream, which has its source a 

 few miles from King's Walden. About two 

 miles before its union with the Lea it passes 

 through Panshanger Park, whither we will 

 retrace it. Panshanger is not near so large 

 as Hatfield Park, but from the greater 

 variety of surface much more beautiful. 

 Indeed there is so much that is attractive 

 about it, and altogether it is so delightful a 

 spot for a day's visit from London, that we 

 shall extend our notice of it a little beyond 

 our usual limits. 



Panshanger belongs to the Earl Cowper, 

 who, with a liberality deserving grateful 

 notice, permits the most free access not only 

 to his park and grounds, but to his picture 

 gallery, and both contain more than enough 

 to repay a pilgrimage. Before we enter the 

 gallery, let us saunter awhile along these 

 slopes, and among these groups of lofty and 

 picturesque trees, and then beside the 

 flowery banks of that clear, bright, and 

 rapid little stream, and watch its silvery 

 tenants poising themselves against the cur- 

 rent, or darting briskly after some luckless 

 insect. A brief converse with the works of 

 nature will form no unfit preparation of the 

 mind for an enjoyment of those works of 

 man we are about to examine. There is a 

 rich and varied succession of views all over 

 the park, but the main attraction is the 

 famous oak. This is a most majestic tree, 

 surpassed perhaps in size by many, but 

 equalled in beauty by none. At least we 

 never saw, nor remember to have heard of, 

 any that can be compared with it. It stands 

 alone in a " bottom," in the private garden, 

 and its wide branches spread out unobstruct- 

 edly in every direction. According to 

 Arthur Young, in his " Survey of Herts," it 

 was called the Great Oak in 1709. Strutt, 

 in his " Sylva Bntannica," fol., 1822, says it 

 contains one thousand feet of timber, and is 

 nineteen feet in circumference at a yard from 

 the ground. The trunk rises from its roots 

 with a graceful curve, and the main 

 branches separate from it in a regular yet 

 varied and free manner, such as to render 

 it quite a model of form as an oak. Its re- 

 markable symmetry causes it, as is the case 

 in a fine statue, or well-proportioned archi- 

 tectural edifice, to appear smaller than it 

 really is. All who see it, express surprise at 

 its largeness when they stand beside its 

 trunk. When clothed in the full luxuriance 

 of its foliage, nothing in the shape of a tree 

 can surpass the harmonious grandeur of its 

 appearance. Even when denuded of its 

 leaves, it is a noble object ; in some respects 

 more noble than before. 



