stantly visited this place so much interrupted the workmen, that this measure was necessarily adopted. You recollect that in 1791, the mob here destroyed Dr. Priestley's house, for the part which he took in the French revolution. As one of the noticeable things, I saw the place where it stood. Outrages of this kind are not to be justified; but I never believed that the Doctor was forced to abandon England for our own happy country, on account of the political sentiments which he at this time published. It happened to be the last day of the fair when I arrived at Birming. ham, so that the town was filled with the drunken and the dissolute. The same kind of shows that are exhibited at horse races are always to be seen at the fairs; their immo ral tendency I have already noticed. June 3.-I left Birmingham today for Oxford. There was no one in the coach with me but a well dressed woman, who informed me she had travelled alone a long distance to see her husband, who was about embarking for Canada. I then mentioned that I had just come from America. Did you travel all the way by land? was her inquiry. The coach stopped for some minutes at Stratford, a lovely town on the river Avon. Here, you know, Shakspeare was born, and a handsome monument is erected to his memory in the church, which stands just at the skirts of the town, surrounded with trees, and occupying a most beautiful site. Irving, in his Sketch Book, or Tales, I do not recollect which, has given us a beautiful description of the spot. I inquired for the house in which the great dramatist was born. My guide, pointing to a cluster of old buildings, said there is the spot; but which house will you visit, for there are two that seem to have equal claims to the honour. I therefore gave up the enterprise, and reserved my enthusiasm and rhapsodies for less equivocal occasions. The country around Stratford is, I think, upon the whole, more beautiful and luxuriant than any through which I have yet passed. The stream called the Stour, which runs every where through the grass, adds much to the scenery. A fine rail-road is near the stage route for several miles, and a number of wagons, heavily laden, were passing continually over it. After Stratford comes Woodstock, a small town, well known for the excellent gloves manufactured in it. Here I left the coach and remained for several hours to examine Blenheim, the famous seat of the more famous John, Duke of Marlborough. P LETTER X. Woodstock, England, The palace and the pleasure grounds of Blenheim are perhaps superior in beauty and attraction to any in the world. The verses by Southey, called the Battle of Blenheim, and which are the best of the Laureate's productions, were among the first lines that I committed to memory after my nursery hymns. This circumstance, connected with some historical events so vividly painted by Scott, in his Woodstock, rendered this place peculiarly interesting. The wall which surrounds the park and gardens is about 12 miles |