495 
1822.] Excursion ihrou 
Duchess of Dorset; Bounds, Somer- 
MH, and (lie ruins of Mayfield palace. 
While at Pensl urst, 1 was led to 
compose the following lines on hearing 
its 
CHURCH CLOCK. 
Hark! slowly strikes the solemn midnight 
bell, 
And sudden startles with its awful knell; 
Again it vibrates on the list’ning ear. 
And breathes around an anxious, pensive 
fear : 
At every fleeting hour its varying chime 
Loudly proclaims the silent lapse of time ; 
The deepen’d sounds, still floating on the 
wind, 
Infuse a fearful horror o’er the mind. 
L. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
EXCURSION through NORTH wales 
in I S 19. 
Continued frcm No. 361, p. 360. 
FTER we left the castle we strolled 
through the town, which is un¬ 
commonly mean, dirty and disagreeable. 
It was once, we understand, the prin¬ 
cipal town in the county, and carried 
on no despicable trade w ith Ireland: 
it cannot certainly now boast of any 
such distinction, for it has dwindled 
into an insignificant village scarcely 
containing 500 inhabitants. Remount¬ 
ing our horses, we quitted Harlech 
without regret, and soon found our¬ 
selves traversing a secluded tract, on 
our way to the Vale of Festiniog, in 
w hich the beautiful little inn of Tan-y- 
Bwlcli is secludingly situated. We 
reached it before 3 o’clock, and fortu¬ 
nately found apartments unoccupied, 
which we engaged for a day or two, that 
we might leisurely take our fill of the 
beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood. 
Having dined and rested ourselves, 
we walked into the vale so celebrated 
for its beauty, and for the health and 
longevity of its simple and retired in¬ 
habitants. It was a lovely afternoon 
when we strolled arm in arm down 
this beautiful valley, and the rich wood§ 
with which its boundaries are clothed, 
glowed brightly in the beams of the 
glorious sun. The elegant description 
of the valley of tile kingdom of Am- 
hara, by Dr. Johnson, is particularly 
applicable to that of Festiniog ; for all 
the blessings of nature seem to be con¬ 
centrated within its limits, and all the 
evils extracted and excluded. With 
scarcely a sigh of regret, and with 
feelings far different from those of the 
discontented 'and querulous Rasselas, 
we could there pass the remainder of 
rh North JFales. 
our days, pitying those whom u fate 
had secluded from this seat of tran- 
auillity, as the sport of chance and the 
slaves of misery.” 
Here, in this sweet sequester’d vale, 
The philosophic man might find 
A calm—a scene—a solitude, 
To solace his reflective mind. 
Here might his days of study pass— 
As softly—innocently too, 
As from the polished mirror melts 
The breath’s warm evanescent dew. 
Here many a lessou might be glean’d 
To bend the lofty port of pride j 
Here tacit monitors might teach 
The waves of passion to subside. 
And, oh ! while low at Nature’s shrine. 
The incense of man’s praise is given, 
Its grateful purity might make 
His soul a denizen of Heaven ! 
44 With the woman one loves,—the 
friend of one’s heart, and a good study 
of books,” writes the accomplished 
Lord Lyttleton to his friend, Mr. Bower, 
44 one might pass an age in this vale, 
and think it a day. If you have a 
mind to live long and renew your youth, 
come with Mrs. Bower, and settle at 
Festiniog. Not long ago there died in 
this neighbourhood an honest Welsh 
farmer, who was 105 years of age. By 
his first wife he had thirty children, 
ten by his second, and four by his third : 
his youngest son was eighty-one years 
younger than his eldest, and eight hun¬ 
dred persons descended from him fol¬ 
lowed his body to the grave 1” Mr. 
Bingley relates another instance of age 
and fecundity in this vale, which though 
far short of the above, in point of num¬ 
bers, is sufficiently great to prove the 
salubrity of the place. 44 Jane Price, 
who died in the year 1694, had at the 
time of lieu death, twelve children, 
forty-seven grand-children, and thirteen 
greatgrandchildren,”. She must have 
been a very profitable vessel! 
We were so much delighted with our 
ramble, that we did not return to the 
inn till a late horn-, and before we re¬ 
tired to rest, we arranged a short ex¬ 
cursion among the hills for the morrow. 
But the ensuing morning was cloudy 
and sunless, the heavens were over¬ 
spread wijtk gloom, and although no 
rain fell, we had every reason to anti¬ 
cipate wet. However, as the w ind w r as 
high, and there w'as no likelihood of 
the rain falling immediately, we or¬ 
dered the horses and determined to 
ride a few miles up the country, and 
follo wing the road which winds over the 
southern extremity of the vale, w r e soon 
arrived at two waterfalls of the river 
Cynfael. 
