This peculiar bias of the people of Salisbury may be ascribed to the operation of two causes : The many show-houses in the vicinity of the city, occasions a great influx of strangers, who by conversation and inquiry on the subject of the polite arts, excite a liberal curiosity; and the exertions of a public-spirited individual, who has opened a gallery for the exhibition and sale of eminent pictures. His collection is composed of many valuable pieces.

SECT. V.

LONGFORD CASTLE.

HAVING endeavoured to give some account of the city of Salisbury, &c. I shall now attempt to delineate the characteristic features of Longford Castle, a seat belonging to the Earl of Radnor, being the first object that attracted my attention after leaving the city. The road to Longford Castle, which is situated about three miles south-east of Salisbury, passes through a cultivated and inclosed part of the plain, having very fertile and well watered meadows on the left, bounded by the groves of Clarendon, &c.

As his lordship is making very material alterations in the disposition of the ground, by raising it in the vicinity of the house, and sinking it as it recedes, and proposes to have the eastle altered and considerably enlarged, from designs and plans of Mr. James Wyatt, I shall

content myself with a brief description of its present state, situation, and scenery.

The original building was erected by Sir Thomas Gorges, and his lady the Marchioness Dowager of Northampton, in the year 1591, as appears by an inscription of that date over the entrance on the north-west front. It claims our particular attention, not only from the singularity of its architecture, and the rare and valuable collection of original paintings with which it is decorated, but also from the consideration of its being continually visited by the connoisseur and man of taste, who may be gratified by a faithful description of the peculiarities of its structure, and beauties of its cabinet. The mansion is situated in a flat but fertile valley, close on the banks of the river Avon, which, contrary to the assertion of Mr. Gilpin t, flows through the grounds in a rapid and pellucid stream. It was formerly surrounded by a moat, and other military works, and is mentioned in Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, under the title of Amphiolus's Castle.

+ Elevations of the two principal fronts, and a ground plan a may be seen in Vitruvius Britannicus.

* "It stands in a vale, which approaches nearly to a flat, as the Avon which passes through the garden does to stagnation."

WESTERN COUNTIES.