1801.] 
ductive of much good. With a view of 
promoting the eftablifhment of fimilar in- 
ftitutions this outline of its plan is laid 
before the public through the medium of 
your valuable Magazine, by 
BENEVOLUS, 
eee 
A PEDESTRIAN EXCURSION through 
ENGLAND and WALES, during the 
SUMMER 9f 1797+ 
(Continued from page 125. of Vol. 11.) 
URGER.* At the entrance of this 
village, we obferved fome fubftantial 
houfes and cottazes of ftone: the latter 
moftly thatched. The extenfive gardens 
of the public-houfe (the Arundel Arms), 
are ornamented in the [/iagtox ttile, with 
leaden ftatues; a fpecies of foppery we 
did not expect in fo remote a fituation. 
Being informed that the grounds about 
Wardour Cajfile, were open tothe ua- 
taxed obfervation of every one who chofe 
to walk in them, we entered accordingly, 
and purfuing the principal walk to the 
left, which is fhady and winding, arrived 
firft at a beautiful, though fomewhat mu- 
tilated, tri-corned little altar of earthen- 
- ware, and then at a fylvan temple in which 
is a caftof Diana. In purfuing this wall 
our attention was occafionally attracted by 
urns, and fragments of buildings that had 
been fuffered to go to decay, and by feats of 
rude rock-work, that commanded fineopen- 
ings to the rich champaign fpread before 
us. .Of this the fummit of a hill to which 
the meandering paths at length conducted 
us, afforded a ftill more extenfive view. 
But the principal obje&t of our fearch was 
the ruins of the old cattle ; whofe fhattered 
towers, overgrown with ivy and elder, as 
they firft broke upon our fight, excited our 
Veneration, but a nearer approach fome- 
what damped thefe enthufiaftic fenfations ; 
nor could we behold without difguft the 
taftelefs patch work of modern ruins, old 
walls, and grotte-work, Grecian arches, 
trim parterers and {mooth-fhaven green. 
Here are alfo fome remains of the Man- 
fion that was built foon after the deftruc- 
tion of the caftle, and which, in its turn, 
was deitroyed by the prefent lord, when 
he built the prefent refidence. ‘The lower 
part of thefe remains are “now converted 
* In the former part of this Article, Mon- 
thly Magazine, for March, p.125 mifprinted 
Bangor. - For ** coarfe grounds,” in the fame 
Article, p. 124, 1.23, read, §* courfe of the 
grounds.”* | 
- 
Pedeftrian Excurfion through England and Wales. 
105 
intoa ftable; above is a room which we 
were fhewn, and which contains feveral 
prints, from fubjeéts taken from the civil 
war, in the time of Charles I. and alfo 
two paintings, one of Socrates inftructing 
Alcibiades, the other of his Brother Phi- 
lofopher, throwing away his Wooden Dith 
on feeing a Poor Man drink, fill more 
philofophically, out of the palm of his 
hand. 
As it was now paft fivé o’clock we could 
not fee the houfe: that is to fay, the whole 
of it could not be fhewn to us: to thofe 
apartments that were at liberty however 
we had accefs, The chapel is, I believe, 
confidered as the fineft place of Catholic 
devotion in England ; and it is certainly 
very beautiful — if beauty be indeed an 
epithet reconcilable with that impofing awe, 
which the decorations here accumulated 
irrefiftibly produce. The paintings, fix. 
in number, are moitly copies. Of thefe 
«¢ The Marriage’ in: Cana3” dhe 
Altar Piece, ** Chrift taken down from 
the Crofs 5”? and particularly «* The Af 
fumption of the Virgin,’’ appeared to us 
to be the beft. ; 
Among the other paintings that parti- 
culary interefted us, were two fine Sea- 
pieces in the drawing-room, ‘* Moonlight 
contrafted with the effects of Fire,’’ and 
‘¢- A Shipwreck,’ by Vernet, “ An Old 
Man,” by Titian, and ‘* John the Bap- 
tift,"* by Raphael. But that which above 
all arrefted our attention, was ‘* Jofeph of 
Arimathea and the Virgin, begging the 
Body of Chrift.”. The whole picture, 
according to my untutored tafte at leaf, 
is mafterly ; and that paffion and feeling 
which conftitute the foul both of painting 
and poetry, are here moft powerfully 
concentrated. The countenance of - 
Mary in particular is perfectly thril- 
ling. I gazed till the whole fcene was 
realized before me, and I felt the artift in 
every nerve. : 
The farms in this neighbourhoed, if we 
were rightly informed, like tlrofe every 
where elfe, are getting into fewer hands. 
There are, however, {till fome fmall ones, 
atabout 301. or gol. ayear.. Wages from 
6s.to7s. perweek. Little or no {pinning 
for the women and children : the latter of 
which, till they are able to follow the 
plough, can earn nothing, fome of them 
may then at ploughing-time get 4d. per 
day. d 
me Arundel, during the dear feafon, 
relieved their difreffes by donations of 
bread; and parifh afhftance eked out the ° 
fcanty 
