very distinct character from any of the prospects before described. Park Place includes an area of 400 acres ; an extent of ground, perhaps, that comprises as great a variety of interesting prospects, as any of similar limits in the kingdom.

On a well-chosen eminence, near the southern quarter of the ornamented grounds, stands a curious vestige of the manners of antiquity. This is denominated a DRUID'S TEMPLE, and consists of forty-five large unhewn stones, which were formerly situated in the Isle of Jersey. These were presented to General Conway by the inhabitants of the Island, as a testimony of the respect and gratitude due to his vigilance as a governor, and to his amiable qualities as a man. This singular and curious gift was accompanied by the following appropriate and forcible inscription, which is cut on a large slab, and placed among the stones of the temple.

Cet ancien Temple des Druides
decouvert le 12me. Août, 1785,
sur le Montagne de St. Helier

dans l'Isle de Jersey ;

a été présenté par les Habitans
à son Excellence le General Conway,
leur Gouverneur.

Pour des siécles caché, aux regards des mortels,
Cet ancien monument, ces pierres, ces autels,
Où le sang des humains offert en sacrifice,
Ruissela, pour des Dieux, qu'enfantoit le caprice.
Ce monument, sans prix par son antiquité,
Temoignera pour nous à la postérité,

Que dans' tous les dangers Cesarée* eut un père,
Attentif, et vaillant, genereux, et prospere:
Et redira, Conway, aux siécles àvenir,
Qu'en vertu du respect dû à ce souvenir,

Elle te fit ce don, acquis à ta vaillance,
Comme un juste tribut de sa reconnoissance.

The Latin name for the Island of Jersey.

The

The stones which compose this temple are all standing, and were so carefully marked when taken down, as to be re-erected on this spot in their original circular form. They were discovered in the summer of the year 1785, on the summit of a rocky hill, near the town of St. Helier, by some workmen who were employed to level the ground as a place of exercise for the militia, and before that time were entirely hidden with earth, which appeared raised in a heap, like a large barrow or tumulus. The circumfe rence of the circle is sixty-six feet; the highest of the stones nearly opposite the entrance, is about nine feet. They are from four to six feet in breadth, and from one to three in thickness. The entrance* or passage measures fifteen feet in length, five in breadth, and four in height. The circle opening to the area contains five cells, or cavities, varying in depth from two feet four inches, to four feet three inches. The coverings of these cells, and of the entrance, are of stones from eighteen inches to two feet thick. When this temple was removed, two medals were found; one of the Emperor Claudius; the other so obliterated as to be unintelligible. The accounts of the history and antiquities of Jersey are very imperfect, yet it seems probable, that this Island was once the seat of Druidical worship. So lately as the year 1691, when Mr. Poindextre wrote some tracts concerning it, there were no less than fifty assemblages of rude stones, which that gentleman considered as Druid temples or altars; yet nearly the whole of these antique memorials have since been demolished. When, or by whom, the present structure was covered up is unknown; but it is supposed to have been buried by the Druids themselves, to preserve it from the violence and profanation of the Romans. This curious structure seems to be a combination of the Cromlech, the Kistvaen, the stones of Memorial, and the pure Druidical or Bardic Circle. It is a very singular relict of British antiquity, and highly deserving of preservation as a vestige of the customs of remote ages.

HURLEY.

The annexed Print represents the entrance, which is a kind of projecting portico, covered with large stones.

HURLEY. Mr. Ireland, in his Picturesque Views on the river Thames, observes, that "the fascinating scenery of this neighbour hood has peculiarly attracted the notice of the clergy of former periods, who, in spite of the thorny and crooked ways which they have asserted to be the surest road to heaven, have been careful to select some flowery paths for their own private journeyings thither; among which ranks Hurley, or Lady Place, formerly a mo nastery." In the Domesday Book, Hurley is said to have lately belonged to Edgar; but was then the property of Geoffrey de Mandeville, who received it from William the Conqueror, as a reward for his gallant conduct in the battle of Hastings; and in the year 1086 founded a monastery here for Benedictines, and annexed it as a cell to Westminster Abbey, where the original charter is still preserved.

On the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Hurley became the property of a family named Chamberlain, of whom it was purchased, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by Richard Lovelace, a soldier of fortune, who went on an expedition against the Spaniards with Sir Francis Drake, and erected the present mansion on the ruins of the ancient building, with the property he acquired in that enterprize. The remains of the monastery may be traced in the numerous apartments which occupy the west end of the house; and in a vault beneath the hall some bodies in monkish habits have been found buried. Part of the chapel, or refectory, also, may yet be seen in the stables, the windows of which are of chalk; and though made in the Conqueror's time, appear as fresh as if they were of modern workmanship.

The hall is extremely spacious, occupying nearly half the extent of the house. The grand saloon is decorated in a singular style, the pannels being painted with upright landscapes, the leafings of which are executed with a kind of silver lacker. The views seem to be Italian, and are reputed to have been the work of Salvator Rosa, purposely executed to embellish this apartment. The receipt of the painter is said to be in the possession of Mr. Wilcox, the late resident.

During

During the reigns of Charles the Second, and James, his successor, the principal nobility held frequent meetings in a subterraneous vault beneath this house, for the purpose of ascertaining the measures necessary to be pursued for re-establishing the liberties of the kingdom, which the insidious hypocrisy of one monarch, and the more avowed despotism of the other, had completely undermined and destroyed. It is reported also, that the principal papers which produced the Revolution of 1688 were signed in the dark recess at the end of this vault. These circumstances were recorded by the late Mr. Wilcox, in an inscription written at the extremity of the vault, which, on account of the above circumstances, was visited by the Prince of Orange after he had obtained the Crown; by General Paoli in the year 1780; and by their present Majesties on the 14th of November, 1785.

The Lovelace family was ennobled by Charles the First, who, in third year of his reign, created Richard Lovelace, Baron Hurley. John Lord Lovelace, his grandson, is represented, by Ashmole, as 46 an active zealot against James the Second, and very instrumental in the Revolution of 1688; prodigal of his large paternal estate, which he much wasted, and was avite virtutis degener hæres.” The title became extinct in 1736; and the most valuable part of the estate was about that time sold to the Greeve family, and afterwards to the Duke of Marlborough. The other part, consisting of the mansion-house and woodlands, to Mrs. Williams, sister to Dr. Wilcox, who was Bishop of Rochester about the middle of last century. This lady was enabled to make the purchase by a very remarkable instance of good fortune. She had bought two tickets in one lottery, both of which became prizes: the one of 5001. the other of 20.0001. From the daughter of Mrs. Williams, it descended to Mr. Wilcox, son to the Bishop, in the year 1771.

BISHAM is a pleasant village near the Thames, about two miles from Hurley, and almost opposite the town of Great Marlow, in Bucks. The manor-house is a very ancient building, but has been repaired and altered at different periods. It appears to have been erected by William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, in the

year