1811.] 
and waddles or rolls ungraceful'y in his 
walk. He has a piercing black eye, and 
takes a great deal of snuff, his face and 
clothes being discoloured by it. Habi- 
tual good temper appears to be the pre- 
vailing quality of his mind, and he bears 
no outward sign of anxiety to recover the 
fortunes of his family. Ifhe is not too 
easy, and too likely to be misled by favour- 
ites, I should think him the very man 
under whom a people might live happy 
under their laws, without disturbance 
from his ill-humour or ambition. 
In short, Louis XVIII. carries in his 
appearance so much of the well-fed citi- 
zen, or easy country gentleman, that one 
of my sons, a little boy of seven years of 
age, who had been used to see pictures of 
Kings with crowns on their heads, and 
generally dressed in armour, could with 
difficulty be persuaded that that gentle- 
man was a King; and he sometimes 
amuses us by stalking or waddling across 
the room, and exclaiming, “I am a 
King !” 
We afterwards met with His Majesty 
at Oxford, where he recognized us, and 
we left that city at the same instant, his 
Majesty for Gosfield, and I, with my fa- 
mily, for London. ~ : 
On our route, T amused myself in pro- 
jecting a plan for his restoration, which, 
ror the sake of the peace of Europe, I 
conceived, and still conceive, may be 
effected, by his publicly announcing to 
the French people 
1. A general amnesty. 
9. Property to remain as it is, or as 
a life interest in the occupier; and ina 
disputable cases, to be referable to arbi- 
tration, 
3. Military, and other promotions and 
preferments, to be respected so far as re- 
gards rank and pay. 
4, A solemn pledge to be made to 
establish a constitution, in spirit hke that 
ef England, and to govern according to 
laws made by a free legislature. 
5. The limits of France to be the great 
rivers and chains of mountains. 
_ 6. Equitable indemnities to families 
who have lost their estatesor preferments, 
7. Yoleration in matters of religion. 
8. General risings to take place on 
fixed days. 
Perhaps, however, such an extinction 
Letters from Cheltenham. 
209 
of Injuries, and concessions of Civil Lis. 
berty to the People. 
Common Srnsz. 
es a5 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
LETTERS DESCRIPTIVE of CHELTENIHAM 
and tts vicinity.—No. VII. 
Cheltenham, August 21, 1808. 
i eee distance from Winchcombe to 
Hailes is within the limit of a mo- 
derate walk, and we observed at intervals 
in our way thither, many traces of the 
original footpath that connected these 
adjoining monasteries in the days of their 
prosperity. 
The village of Hailes consists of a few 
respectable farm-houses and picturesque 
cottages, prettily scattered round a neat 
rustic church. The venerable ruins of 
the abbey are beautifully situated in 3 
rich tract of meadow land, bounded on 
the north and east by gentle and well- 
wooded declivities. ‘Their present ex- 
tent and appearance afford ample proof 
of former magnificence and splendour, 
but alas!” : a ae 
‘§ Where reverend shrines in Gothic grandeur 
Stood, 
The nettle or the noxious nightshade 
_ Spreads} Late 
And ashlings wafted from the neighbouring 
wood, 
Through broken arches wave their trembe 
ling heads.”” 
This, which was a mitred abbey, was 
founded by Richard earl of Cornwall | 
and king of the Romans, who being born 
in 1209, was still in his childhood at the 
death of his father, King John. As he 
advanced to manhocd, he was distin- 
guished as much for wisdom and prue 
dence in the cabinet, as for valour and 
skill in the field. In the year 1256 he 
was elected to the Roman crown, and 
soon after visited Germany with a splen- 
did train, and was there invested with 
the insignia of royalty. His estate was 
princely, and was reported to be equal 
to the expenditure of 400 marks a-day 
for ten years; indeed, he seems to have 
been no less conspicuous for opulence. 
than his brother Henry III. for poverty, 
Hlis treasures, however, were consides 
rably diminished by the contest for so a 
reignty, so that he is said to have re 
@urned from Germany “a_ poorer king 
of prejudices is expecting too much of than he went out an earl.” 
human nature; and Louis and his cour- 
tiers may probably prefer Exile, the spi- 
The monastery of Hailes was erected 
and endowed in pursuance of a vow which 
_ rit of Revenge, and the hppes of arbitrary 
he made when exposed.to imminent dan. 
* Power, toa Kingdom, with Forgiveness 
ger of shipwreck on his return from Case 
coizne, 
