: 
124 
“tage that had neither cow nor land, to 
accept occafional contributions, that they 
might avoid being rateable to’ the adjoin- 
ing parifh. But mark the difference 
“The farms, and even the parfonage eftate, 
are now all monopolized by one man; 
there is not a fingle cottager who has ei- 
“ther a cow ora bit of land in the village, - 
_and the parifh is opprefled with a heavy 
poor’s rate. : 
Having ‘collected what little informa- 
tion we could in the village of Willy, we 
purfuedour way in a direétion almioft due 
fouth, up the hill beforeus. From hence 
we commanded a pleafing view of the val- 
‘Tey and fcattered villagés before defcrib- 
ed. 
“The general face of the country now 
‘became at once more hilly and more fer- 
tile. Large flocks of fheep animated the 
downs, and bleated along the plain below ; 
‘and, after we had proceeded fome few 
‘miles, coppices became frequent, not only 
“upon the fides, but even the tops, of the 
‘hills: but not'a houfe was to be feen all 
the way, till we came in fight of 
Fonthiil. ‘The noble appearance of 
‘this manfion, its grounds, and farround- 
ing plantations, as viewed from the bleak 
and fterile downs, made a very forcible 
impreffion upon us. It was a palace and 
‘an Arcadia, rifing by enchantment amidft 
‘the dreary wafte, and we promifed our- 
felves a fpeftacle of united tafte and {plen- 
dour. 
Two tracks, marked both by wheels 
and footfeps, acrofs the greenfward, 
branched off from the road, and feemed 
to point towards this celebrated refidence 
of the moft opulent of Britith fubjects. 
But thefewe declined, from the fuppofition 
that the high road would condué us to it 
‘by a more circuitous perhaps, but proba- 
bly a more favourable, appreach. But we 
‘foon found that we were miftaken in our 
calculations, and were deviating confide- 
rably from our way. Some work-people 
in a haytfield, to whom we now turned 
afide, correted our miftake, and a {mall 
foot-path led us to the village, the pleafant 
approach to which is threugh a fhort 
winding path of fine trees. : 
The cottages of this populous but 
fcattered village are moftly of ftone, the 
roofs being thatched, and exhibit an ap- 
pearance of {ome comfort, in comparifon 
with cthers that we had ften. The inha- 
bitants, however, appeared to be immerf- 
ed in the moft ftupid ignorance, and 
fearcely competent either to the aniwering 
ot the comprehending of the moft fimple 
eueftion. All the information of any fort 
A Pedeftrian Excurfion through England and Wales, [ March x, 
or defcription we were able to colle& from 
them was, that in our route from Amef- 
bury hither we had purfued altogether the 
wrong road, 
We had no fooner entered the park than 
we were ftruck with the vaft extent, the 
majefty, the beauty, the tafte of the fur- 
rounding grounds and piantations. Every 
thing is in a ftyle of greatnefs, and cor- 
refponding elegance; and, faftidious as I | 
confefs myfelf to be upon the fubject of ar- 
namental pieces of water, &c. I could.not ~ 
refufe my admiration to that which (pread 
its finuous courfe before us. It was not 
a little f{mirked-up pond, furrounded with 
meretricious crnaments, and nick-named 
a lak ; enor a petty canal pounded up with 
dams and grotto work, with a clump of 
trees at one end, and a bridge at the other 
to conceal its terminations. It is the ri- 
ver Nadder itfelf that is condusted through 
thefe grounds ; and though naturally but 
a petty fiream, its bed, through the coarfe 
grounds (as far atleaft as we traced them) 
is fo fpread and deepened, and its finuous 
windings prejerved in a ftile of fuch irre- 
gular fimplicity, that it aflumes, in fome 
degree, the character of a confiderable ri- 
ver. In fhort, it has breadth and continu- 
ity, and art has worked upon fo largea 
fcale, that, notwithitanding the appear- 
ances of neatnefs, and coniequent tame- 
nefs, about the margin of the ftream, one 
is almoft difpofed to confider it as the 
mere work of nature. The great number 
of majeftic fwans that fingly, and in 
groups, curve their long necks, and fpread 
their ruffled plumage before the breeze, 
enhance the beauty of this fine piece of 
water. 
When our attention was fufficiently re- 
leafed from the contemplation of thefe 
objects, to confider whither we were going, - 
we perceived that we were on the wrong 
fide of the river to arrive at the. houfe;_ 
and after in vain endeavouring to obtain 
any intelligible direétion or information ~ 
from ablundering clown who happened to 
come up to us, we turned back to the vil- 
lage in queft of lodgings, meaning to fuf- 
pend our further obfervation.till the morn- 
ing: At the King’s Arms, however (the 
firtt houfe in this village we fhould have 
come to, i we had come by the right 
road), no bed was to be had; but we 
were informed that there was another inn » 
(the Beckford Arms) at the, other end of 
the grounds, in the way to Wardour 
Catthestiry. 2 ead 
We now entered the fuperb pleafure- 
grounds, through a magnificent. arch of 
ftone that fepavates the two wings of the 
porter’ 
a 2a 
o Z 
oe ~ 
i nen etc 
Tae 
So 
i 
