1800, Ae 
fifty, including the fervitors. Of thefe, 
twenty-three were nuns, ‘and eleven no- 
vices. | 
The gardens, &c. are in a very ruinous 
ftate. But Chinefe fummer-houles and 
diamond walks, and other reliques. of the 
_frippery of falfe tafte, prevent the lover of 
mative fimplicity from bewailing the ne- 
lest. In’a pifturefyue point of view, de- 
_ folation iffelf is preferable. to the {pruce- 
nefs and affetation of artificial fcenery. 
In the centre of the diamond walk is a 
grotto, a favourite retreat, it feems, of the 
~ Duchefs of Queenfborough and the poet 
Gay; and in which, according to the 
tradition of the neighbourhood, they com- 
*pofed the famous Beggars Opera. : 
Stone-Henge was the next object of our 
attention. On the date and materials of 
this gigantic and venerable ruin, I am not 
antiquary enough to enter into any dil- 
_ pute; I fhall«leave it, therefore, where 
Stukelys and other profound inquirers have 
deft it, in the palpable obfcure of learned 
conjecture. Perhaps, however, it may be 
worth obferving, that, while I was in 
Derby, I underftood, from Dr. Darwin, 
that we are about to be favoured with ano- 
‘ther hypothefis upon the fubject, which, 
if well fupported, is likely to make fome 
noife in the f{cientific world. A young man 
devoted to the ftudy of natural philofophy, 
_ by comparing thefe fragments with fome 
Oriental buildings of fimilar firuéture, 
whofe ufes are well authenticated in their 
refpe&tive countries, thinks he can demon- 
{trate Stone-Henge to have been a fort of 
aftronomical temple, or architectural orre- 
ry; defignating the pofition and revolu- 
tions of the planets, and connected with 
fome fyftem of religion, which muft, of 
_ courfe, have prevailed in this country at 
the time when it was founded. Such a 
theory muft refer the origin of Stone- 
Henge, at leaft, as'far back as the time of 
Druidical fuperftition ;—if not to a date 
even more remote than the earlieft of our 
authentic records. But perhaps I injure 
_ an ingenious dilcovery by inaccurate re- 
. prefentation; and on a fubjeét fo curious, 
‘I would fharpen, not blunt, the edge of 
public curiofity. 
Fonthill and Wardour Caftle being the 
_ Bext objects of our curiofity, we proceeded 
acrofs the plain to Wizterton Stoke ; where 
we ftopped at about two o'clock, to take 
_ fome refrefhment, and to make our ufual 
Anquiries. This village is pleafantly fitu- 
ated (like Amefbury), m a little {cope or 
hollow of the plains, and is wafhed by a 
. Yivulet of the cleareft water, which, crof- ~ 
fing the read at thig place, Aows babbling 
Pedeftrian E xeurfion through England and Wales. 
231 
along through Berwick St. James, Up- 
pington, and Stapleford, where it empties 
itfelf into the Willy. The generality of 
the cottages lie by the brook-fide, to the 
left of the road. By the way, al! the 
brooks and rivulets, however imall, that 
interfeét this immenfe plain, have their 
banks {cattered with villages and hamlets; 
and the traveller, who fhaould be unfortu- 
nate enough to lofe his way in this defolate 
country, will do well to follow the courfe 
of the firft ftream he meets with, and it 
will be (ure to conduct him'to fome hu- 
man habitation. Of nve cottages that lay 
by the road fide, four were im a ruinous 
and miferable ftate. Oneof them is quite 
uninhabitable, and two ethers almott 
tumbling down. Naked mud walls, and 
crazy thatches, are the order of the day. 
The caufe of this devaftation may be fet 
down ina fingle word—Monopoly. Farms 
are rapidly accumulating into a few hands.* . 
There ts one farmer in the neighbourhood 
who rents between Sool. and roool. per 
year, and a fecond whofe concern is not 
much inferior in magnitude. Some {mal- 
ler farms, however, are ftill to be met with 
in the parifh, which are rented as low as 
Yoo, 70, or even 601. a year; and there 
are even a few cottage farms with juft land 
enough to keep a cow or two, which have 
been held in the fame families from father 
to fon for feveral generations. The mere 
cottagers have all of thern bits of garden, 
but none of them graze a cow upon the 
common. However, there isno difficulty 
in procuring milk; a circumflance eafily 
to be accounted for, from the exiftence of 
{maller farms in the neighbourhood. The 
little cottage farmer never turns his poorer 
neighbour from his door, who comes with 
his halfpanny in his porringer for milk for 
his little babes. 
| (To be continued, } 
mere i Bae = 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR; | 
F you are not already furfeited with 
_ the fubjeét of longevity, you may be 
willing to admit into your Magazine the 
following lift of Portuguefe, who have at- 
tained to more than tog years of age. 
Thefe inflances are (with two or'three exe 
ceptions) taken from Portuguefe Court 
Kalendars, of different years, at the end of 
which the publifhers ufually add ** curious 

* The introduétion of machinery into the 
manufacturing towns has alfo its thare of in- 
fluence in the defolation of -villages. See 
DLebtiord Batch. 
and 


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