ing, and picturesque, as will be per-bellishing the grounds, sold the whole ceived on reference to the annexed to John Macnamara, Esq. of whom View. it was purchased in 1783 by the present noble proprietor.

The prevailing opinion is, that St. Leonard's Hill was a Roman encampment; and the discovery of some antique coins, many of Vespasian, Trajan, and the Lower Empire, with some spear - heads, and a curious brass lamp, has considerably strengthened this notion. A field on the demesne, named the Hermit's Field, which some time since contained a well, called the Hermit's Well, cor

The pleasure-grounds are beautifully romantic, and the shrubberies tastefully laid out. The entrance to the grounds from the Windsor road is by a very pretty rustic lodge, which displays great taste in its arrangement. Its form is pleasing, and the exterior is covered in a fanciful manner with the bark of trees, while some portion is constructed of the actual stems and unbarked blocks, presenting their rude surface for the support of the jessamine and flower-roborates the traditionary saying, ing plants that adorn it.

that St. Leonard's Hill in former

The Duke of Gloucester, after em- | times was the abode of a hermit.

IVER-GROVE,

THE SEAT OF LORD GAMBIER.

succeeded more than any other architect in forming a general whole, which, when viewed at a distance, possesses a magnificent and imposing effect. This mainly results from the towering elevations and bold projections in which he so much delighted.

THIS house is situated on Shred-|| Still it is generally admitted, that he dings-Green, in the parish of Iver, between Uxbridge and Windsor. Though small, it is a fine specimen of the taste of Sir John Vanbrugh, whose works, generally speaking, possess an originality, and a picturesque and stately appearance, that are not to be met with in any other master: there is a boldness and a masculine feeling, as exemplified in the present moderate-sized mansion, which is the result of a breadth of parts, always aimed at and observable in this artist's works. Though he had the good fortune to raise many edifices on an extensive scale, they are costly without grandeur, and large without sublimity. The heaviness that pervades the buildings erected by him gave rise to the well-known couplet:

Lie heavy on him, Earth! for he
Laid many a heavy load on thee.

The present specimen, though small, possesses all those characteristics: it was built by Sir John for the widow of Lord Mahon*. The pleasure-grounds and garden are laid out with great taste; the whole exhibiting a snug and comfortable appearance. It was purchased by the present noble proprietor of Mrs. Colborne, relict of F. Colborne, Esq.

*Lord Mahon fought a duel with the Duke of Hamilton, which proved fatal to them both.

THE CONFESSIONS OF A RAMBLER.

No. VI.

I HAVE said that Mr. Mortimer's || don-by those who were not so richly

endowed with the gifts of Fortune; for to hint at the possibility of one man or woman being inferior to another in America, is a high misdemeanour. The son, I have already said, was a finished coxcomb: he wore a short nankeen jacket, white jean trowsers and waistcoat, and straw hat; and never stirred out without an immense umbrella, to protect

arrival was the signal for our removal from Smith's hotel to the house of a friend of his, Mr. Brown, a merchant, whose family consisted of himself, a wife, two daughters, and a son, with an establishment of three female and two male slaves. We found our host and hostess hospitable, well-disposed people; their daughters showy and rather agreeable girls; and the son quite a cox-him from the rays of the sun. Incomb. Compared with the same class in England, this family was many degrees behindhand in civilization; the extent of the daughters' accomplishments was reading and writing, the latter without much attention either to orthography or grammar, and a very superficial knowledge of music. They had been taught to dance; but their movements bore a greater resemblance to the oscillations of an elephant, than to the elegant motions of a votary of Terpsichore. Of music they knew nothing, and their native "wood-notes wild," as their fond mother termed the sounds which they sometimes emitted, were as unharmonious as can possibly be conceived. Yet they were goodhumoured, and less pretending than we found most American women; and they were excellent housewives in one respect: they understood the art of cooking in perfection, though it was but seldom that they exercised it. I should add, that their dress was according to the English mode of two years previous; and I found that the London fashions were followed here by those who set the ton, and imitated, at an humble distance, by their inferiors-I beg their par-dited an English lady. The only

deed in America I soon found an umbrella indispensable, and no gentleman was without one: if the sun shone, it was used by way of parasol; and if it rained, it served as a shelter from the storm. The youth I am alluding to was occupied in his father's counting-house all the morning, and was extremely eager in pursuing the main chance: the afternoon he devoted to drinking large tumblers of grog, apple-toddy, or whiskey punch; or in frequenting the taverns, and playing fives, shuffleboard, billiards, or any other of the games of chance or of hazard which were practised at those places of resort. Gaming and drinking, I soon found, were the two great pursuits, next to that of getting money, of the young Americans.

Of Mrs. Brown I can only speak in terms of kindness; she was a very motherly sort of body, and thought she could never do enough to render her guests comfortable. She took care that we should have substantial meals, and that every delicacy of the season should be found upon the table, of which she did the honours in a way that would not have discre

manufactures to his countrymen. He was usually habited in a pair of open trowsers, and a long coat, something

drawback on the pleasure we all felt in her society was her inquisitiveness. We had been told that this was a distinguishing feature in the Ame-like our surtouts, made from a spe

cies of cotton cloth of American manufacture; and when he saw his wife and daughters dressed in the silks or linens of England, he would exclaim,

rican character; but at the hotel we had experienced very little inconvenience from it. Mrs. Brown, however, was never weary of asking questions; morning, noon, and night, she" Aye, there they go! What can came with her budget of inquiries, to which we were obliged to find answers; and I believe, before we quitted Baltimore, she was as well acquainted with every incident in our lives as we were ourselves. The daughters had a spice of their mother's disposition; but, to me at least, their cross-examinations were more agreeable than those of Mrs. Brown. What man can be angry when a young and pretty girl takes it into her head to feel interested enough about him, to make his history, conduct, character, and prospects, the subject of her inquiries?

you expect from the common herd, when the wife and daughters of old John Brown, who was the friend and companion of Putnam, and who shed his blood to establish the independence of his country, must decorate their persons in the fripperies and gewgaws of the unnatural parent, against whose tyranny we were forced to rebel?"-" Well, well, John,” the old lady would say, we must do as our neighbours do; and we are not the worse friends to America because we dress ourselves in the Englishers' goods."-" Aye, father," said the young Brown, " and how should we The old gentleman was quite a be able to live if every body was of character. He had been a lieutenant your opinion? You know as well as in the revolutionary war, and had I, that all our money is made by sell, imbibed a great dislike to the Eng-ing English manufactures; and I fanlish: hence, perhaps, arose the friend-cy we should drive a dull trade if ship between him and Mr. Mortimer, every American was to take to wear. who, both publicly and privately, ing cloth of domestic make." Here made no scruple of abusing the land I chimed in. "You should reflect," of his birth, and of ascribing the said I, "that your taxes are chiefly most iniquitous motives to its govern- defrayed from the duties on your ment. Englishmen he represented foreign imports, most of which come as the natural enemies of America; from England. If you become a and he could scarcely think any one manufacturing nation, the expenses of them honest, unless he left his of your local and general governcountry branded with the character ments will require a larger sum to be of a seditious demagogue or a trai- raised by direct and internal taxation: how would that agree with your habits and predilections?" Here Mr. Mortimer burst out into an invective against all tax-gatherers and those who lived upon their produce; and a warm political dialogue ensued,

tor.

With such a man it was not likely I should long agree: but of that hereafter. Mr. Brown would not wear any garment manufactured from English goods, though he gained his livelihood by selling British