Whatever is most remarkable for Antiquity, Grandeur, Elegance, or Rural Beauty; VECT INCLUDING New scenes arise, new landscapes strike the eye, THE SEVENTH EDITION, CORRECTED AND IMPROVED. a 8 Lobl LONDON: 1794 Gen. Tofs. & 382 ON the utility of a work of this nature it is scarce dom perhaps, can present more attractive scenes, than the environs of London; in which the man of leisure may find amusement, and the man of business the most agreeable relaxation. With respect, indeed, to rural scenery, the country, described in the following Tour, does not exhibit Nature in her more fublime and stupendous views: it presents no savage mountains crowned with perennial snows, no vast extent of uncultivated wild, no tremendous cataracts, no wonderful expanse of waters; but rural elegance and rural beauty appear in their most fascinating forms. Royal palaces, magnificent seats, and elegant villas interspersed, afford inexhaustible gratifications for curiosity; in fome, the finest collections of paintings, inestimable antiques, venerable decorations of ancient splendour, or all the exquisite embellishments of modern art. Extensive prospects charm the eye with undescribable variety: the landscape, less extensive, invites the pensive mind to contemplation; or the creative powers of Art exhibit an Elysium, where nature once appeared in her rudeft ftate. To assist the inhabitants of the Metropolis, or its occafional visitors, in the choice of their excursions, is a principal object of this publication: to be an entertaining companion in these excursions, is another. With this view, the Editor has not only defcribed whatever he found curious in the works of Nature or of Art, but where any place has been diftinguished by some memorable circumstance, he has not forgotten how much the incidental recollection of it may improve the fources of conversation, nor what pleasure a well-cultivated mind may derive from contemplating the favourite retreats of the be A 2, nefactors |