and ballusters leading to the porch, and that stone seat near the door?

ANGLER.-Aye, so please you; and do not forget some of those shady trees: but above all, the beacon on the top, which has served his beloved Hero to bring her Leander home, and recalls the olden times of our forefathers: for learned Mr. Lambarde, in his Perambulation of Kent, brings this word from the Saxon 'Bechnian, which is to call by signe, or beck-on, 'when they were made of great stakkes of wood, 'but were ordained by King Edward the Third to be highe standards with their pitch-pots,' in the fashion you here see it.

PAINTER. Tis worthy of all my little skill: an enchanting spot, and nothing neglected for its adorning.

ANGLER. Was it built by merry Mr. Rolston?

HOST.-The same; and those smooth stones were brought from the quarries of Sheen, some miles off; and my master told him to do his utmost; because his resolution was to have a little apartment for his own espe

A PERAMBULATION OF KENT, containing the Descriptive Hystorie and Customes of that Shyre, by William Lambarde, of Lincolnes Inne, Gent. 1576. 12o. He was one of the most eminent antiquaries of this country, and declared by the great Camden to be as distinguished for learning and piety. He was appointed Keeper of the Records in the Tower, of which he presented an account to her Majesty, under the title of Pandecta Rotulorum. This, with other great works, did not see the light till published by his grandson in 1635. His tomb may be found in the church of Sevenoaks.-ED.

H

cial privateness, where he might feast his eye with these prospects, and so retired from the world, that no one might interpose between him and the vein of his thoughts. For he is so inclinable to be in love with books, that he will sometimes pass his day in a continual study. ANGLER. I remember, in that poem prefixed to his COMPLETE ANLGER, he says,

'Dear solitude, the soul's best friend,

'That man acquainted with himself dost make,
And all his Maker's wonders to intend;
With thee I here converse at will,
And would be glad to do so still;

'For it is thou alone that keeps't the soul awake.
'How calm and quiet a delight

'It is, alone,

'To read, and meditate and write,

'By none offended, and offending none!'

PAINTER.-Well, it is a place, of all others, where a man may secretly create an ideal world around him, free from all the accidents of fortune. And how tempered in our thoughts and wishes should we all be, if we could oftener regale ourselves with such spiritual repasts of study and contemplation! But come, I have designed the tower in black and white; and now let us within.

HOST. This way, Sirs,-and so to the top. Here is the beacon and the marks of the torchlights, that have many a night guided my master on his return to the Hall.

ANGLER.-Look over this mirador, and see the garden below embroidered with roses, and other choicest plants and flowers.

PAINTER. It is a little paradise: there is such a concealed artfulness in these contrivances, as makes them like a cultivated nature.

HOST.-This we use to call the garden of the tower, and every flower and shrub hath been planted and watered by the hand of his Countess.*

ANGLER.-And here Mr. Cotton occupies many hours with great pleasantness to himself, in writing those histories you spoke of?

PAINTER. It is not to be wondered at; for so peaceful a spot might well kindle the thoughts of a less cheerful writer.

ANGLER. But look! what is yonder? a house by the side of the river, in the shade of

some trees!

HOST. That, Sir, is the FISHING-HOUSE. ANGLER. And the Dove, that winds through the vale like a snake?'

HOST.-The same.

ANGLER. What a sylvan prospect is here! I am transported with the desire of a view.

nearer

PAINTER.-Say you so? then let us proceed towards it; for I am no less impatient.

HOST.-Well, Sirs, now you are come down from the tower, I will bring you to the river, along a by-path.

ANGLER.-Aye, here it is, by the side of that bench of stone underneath the chesnut trees:

The second wife of Mr. Cotton; Mary, the daughter of Sir William Russell, and widow of Wingfield Cromwell, Earl of Ardglass.-ED.

but have a care, brother, or you may stumble down.

HOST.-This way, so please you, Gentlemen; by this unorderly path under the ash trees; but look to your heels; for here are high rocks, and somewhat difficult.

PAINTER.-So-ho! Mr. Marsh, I cannot hold pace with you.

ANGLER.-Why what's the matter, Brother? PAINTER.-Not so fast; I am like to tip over. HOST.-Here, Sir, take my hand, and put your foot on this root; so, you are safely down.

ANGLER. And here is the Dovв! as limpid as the Heliconian springs!

PAINTER.-Come, master, give over your ecstatics, or clothe your thoughts in some poetic lines.

ANGLER.-Stay a while: for I see a little temple before us, fit for the shrine of the muses. HOST.It is the FISHING-HOUSE; and I have brought the key, that you may go in and look about you.

ANGLER.-Then I beseech you unlock at once; for I have a passionate desire to put my foot into this retreat dedicated to anglers!' What do you think of this, brother? is it not prettily contrived?' mark the cipher carved in the front, on the keystone of the door, which represents the first letters of Mr. Walton's and Mr. Cotton's names, underneath those inviting words, PISCATORIBUS SACRUM, 1674.

PAINTER. Indeed a choice spot for a fishing-house!

ANGLER.-Aye, you see 'it stands in a kind of peninsula. And you may remember how Mr. Cotton promised VIATOR, he should see his fishing-house upon the margin of one of the 'finest rivers for trouts and grayling in England.' Mr. Walton's name and his twisted in cypher declare the near affinity of love between those happy anglers.

PAINTER. By and by I must make a draught of this, for the neat building, and this grove of trees, and the Dove, make it all a most engaging landskip.

ANGLER.-And now we could only desire one thing more ;-to enjoy the company of those loving fishermen, and see them take their recreation, and hear them sing together some choice songs. But come, I am full of expectation for what we may find within.

HOST.-Gentlemen! the door is open! ANGLER.-Well, this is marvellously contrived what a delight for fishers! all the wainscoting covered with landscapes, and cheerful anglers on the banks of the river, sitting in the shade of rocks, or casting their flies into the stream.

PAINTER.

And fishes most delicately painted on the oak wainscoting.

ANGLER.-Aye, spotted trouts, and graylings done to the life.

HOST.-And here are the portraits of Mr. Walton and Mr. Cotton, on the panels of the beaufet.

ANGLER. And indeed very handsome and becoming figures.