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speech, but, they say, true; and my Lady Shrewsbury is there, it seems.' But with all his skill and his vice,

"In squandering wealth was his peculiar art,"

as Dryden says, and his vast fortune was speedily dissipated, and his mansion and estates were in a few years out of the reach of his enjoyment. His end was not quite as Pope described it :—

"In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half hung,
The floors of plaster and the walls of dung,
On once a flock-bed, but repaired with straw,
With tape-tied curtains, never meant to draw;
The George and Garter dangling from that bed
Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red,
Great Villiers lies."

But there is no doubt that, " ruined, both body and mind, fortune and reputation equally," this favourite of the monarch and pride of the court spent his last days in contempt and comparative poverty. Of the Countess, it has been said that there is a sort of poetic justice in the way in which her fate passes unrecorded, and that we may fairly judge she too died in poverty and obscurity. But her fate is not quite unknown. She found a second husband in a man of an ancient and honourable family, and no doubt we should find on her tomb that she "lived respected and died lamented."

Cliefden was for some time the summer residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the father of George III. The most memorable occurrence connected with his abode here is of a literary nature. The Prince, Johnson tells us, was at that time struggling for popularity, and by the influence of Mr. Littleton,

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professed himself the patron of wit; to him Thom, son was introduced, and being gaily interrogated about the state of his affairs, said, that they were in a more poetical posture than formerly; and had a pension allowed him of one hundred pounds a year." In consequence of this connexion, Thomson wrote, in conjunction with Mallet, his Masque of Alfred, which was first performed at Cliefden, in August, 1740. The Masque, which is dull enough to have been altogether Mallet's, has gone to the limbo appointed for all such productions; but one song has survived-" Rule Britannia "—and is not likely to die as long as our wooden walls last. The Masque hints that the Prince was to be another Alfred, but he was

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Villiers's house was destroyed by fire in 1795; the present mansion stands on the site of the old one, of which some small portions are preserved in it. Although a far less ambitious structure than the former, the present is a spacious and noblelooking building. It is now the seat of Sir George Warrender. To Cliefden succeeds Taplow Court, the seat of Earl Orkney. The grounds of Taplow are lower than those of Cliefden, and of course the prospects are less extensive, but they are such as would be of great attraction elsewhere, though here overshadowed by their giant neighbour. Many of the closer scenes, and those in which only a peep of distance comes in between a break in the trees, as well as some of those in which our river plays the chief part, might be transferred at once to canvas, so exquisite is their composition. By the river is a cavern that has at some unknown time been cut in

the chalk cliff. Taplow church is modern and placed lower than the old one. From the churchyard there are fine views over the river. Taplow itself is but a small place, but there are some picturesque houses and cottages about it. Just here are some mills that have an uncommonly attractive and pleasing appearance; they are connected with some islands, and, with their foaming weirs, the woods of Cliefden beyond, and our river in front, make a pretty picture.

Maidenhead is a market-town of one long street; but there is nothing whatever in it to stay the feet of a rambler. The public buildings are a chapel and a gaol. But the chapel is a modern and altogether common-place one, and the gaol we have nothing to do with. Maidenhead is not the original name of the place. It is called South Eadlington by Leland, and Sudlington by Stow. Camden says it received the name of Maidenhead from the head of one of the ten thousand British virgins, reported to have been killed by Attila, having been kept here: but as it was at first called Maydenes-hythe, or Mayne-hythe, it is more probably supposed to have owed its name to a large timber wharfage which there was near where the bridge now stands

hythe signifying in Saxon a wharf or quay. Maidenhead is not a separate parish, but stands partly in Bray and partly in Cookham; it has, however, a chapel, the minister of which is elected by the mayor and corporation, and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop. The bridge over the Thames is a very fine one of six arches; it is of stone, and was erected towards the close of the last century, from the designs of Sir Robert Taylor: but it is far surpassed in grandeur of design by the

bridge which, just below it, carries the Great Western Railway over the river, which is probably the finest brick bridge in England.

There is a railway-station at Maidenhead, and I would suggest this as an excellent place for a day's excursion. Thanks to the day-ticket system, the cost of the journey from London is but small, and on this best of railways the time consumed in travelling is brief. At Maidenhead a boat may be hired, and with little fatigue or expense a delightful day may be spent. All that is pleasant along the river lies upwards; but that, as has been seen, is most pleasant. The boat may be moored by the cottage under Cliefden, and the grounds (I believe, all but the most strictly private part) are open to the visitor. It is a favourite place for pic-nic folks, and there is down by the river a spring in great reputation for tempering the sherry. The Londoner who has not been here, has little conception how beautiful his river is.

Passing under the railway bridge, we enter upon a portion of our river that is a perfect contrast to that we have just left. The country on each side is low, and long beds of osiers line the river, only the square tower of Bray church, rising from a clump of large trees before us, at all relieves the way. The name of Bray is sure to recal the memory of its" vivacious vicar," who, "whatsoever king did reign, would still be Vicar of Bray." Fuller, after quoting the proverb-the sole one of this county" The Vicar of Bray will be Vicar of Bray still," gives this account of both parish and parson :- Bray, a village well known in this county, so called from the Bibroces, a kind of ancient Britons inhabiting thereabouts. The vivacious

vicar thereof, living under King Henry the Eighth, King Edward the Sixth, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, was first a Papist, then a Protestant, then a Papist, then a Protestant again. He had seen

some martyrs burnt (two miles off) at Windsor, and found this fire too hot for his tender temper. This vicar being taxed by one for being a turncoat, and an inconstant changeling-'Not so,' said he, ' for I always kept my principle, which is this, to live and die the Vicar of Bray.' Such many, now a-days, who though they cannot turn the wind, will turn their mills, and set them so that wheresoever it bloweth, their grist shall certainly be grinded." (Worthies,' Berkshire.) The well known ballad makes the vicar to have lived in later times, turning windwards from the days of Charles the Second to those of the second George. For the honour of Bray, it must be added that the church records refute both. But barring specialities, there is truth in the story, and the race is not extinct yet. Bray itself has not much in it that is of interest, but about a mile from it, at Ockwells, formerly Ockholt, there is a very curious manor-house, now used as a farm-house. It is of the time of Henry VI., and is one of the most interesting relics of the kind left. The old house is of a singularly picturesque appearance, with a number of projecting wooden gables and some curious windows. In the interior is a fine hall, belonging to which there are an open wooden roof, now hidden by a flat ceiling, a handsome bay-window, and a large old fireplace. In the hall windows is some painted glass. There was formerly a chapel attached, but it and some portions of the house were burnt down about

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