than four hundred acres of ground, which is finely diversified by gentle eminences, lawns and woods. In it stands the famous oak, planted at the birth of Sir Philip Sydney, now upwards of twenty two feet in girth, and which has been celebrated by Jonson and Waller. The late Mrs. Charlotte Smith, while at Penshurst, in the autumn of 1788, composed the following beautiful and descriptive SONNET. Ye towers sublime, deserted now and drear; Sav'd by the historic page, the poets -tender lay. The MANSION which stands near the south-west angle of the park, has been much reduced in bulk of late years, a part of the buildings having been pulled down and the materials sold. It was formerly a very extensive pile, and though of irregular design, (being the work of different hands) was not wholly destitute of architectural beauty, or domestic convenience. It still contains many good apartments, but the great hall, has been divested of much of its former interest by the mania of modern improvement. This fact is thus feelingly But the real patriot, who contemplates the advanced state of our country, the energies which it has demonstrated, and the immense exertions of which it is proved capable; will bail, in these scions from overgrown possessions, the means whereby these effects are produced; and the proofs of an amelio rated state of society." deplored by a late writer.* "The hall is a noble room, and till the barbarous hand of modernization fell upon it, was complete in its appropriate costume. The writer of this memoir not many years since, remembers, when the fine timber roof was entire, when the side walls throughout were covered with pikes, lances and match-locks; and the upper end and piers with entire suits of plate armour. That of Sir Philip Sydney was pointed out to the spectator, possibly spurious, but the cheat was allowable, and a very little enthusiasm was wanting to give it reality. At the time alluded to, when the great gate creaked on its hinges, for the admission of a stranger, as he advanced, the responses of deep toned bloodhounds echoed through the house; and by the time he reached the hall, he was prepared in imagination to meet some ancient Knight of chivalrous notoriety; he viewed the place con amore. A paltry attempt at a perspective deception, yet unfinished, has been the occasion of mutilating the handsome timber roof, and of abolishing the ancient armour; and all pleasing deception has vanished." "The classic antiquary will further lament, that, whilst this marring hånd was at work, a simple, but characteristic feature of this style of building should heedlessly have been done away. In the upper part of the hall, on the side immediately opposite the door conducting to the staircase, was a small window. Amongst the recent improvements this window has been stopped up. It was an index of ancient manners, which merited a better fate. This was the window, in palaces, of the council chamber, or rather of a closet annexed to it; in: mansions of less dignity, of the Lord's room of business, whence he could look into the great hall, the usual place of attendance, and summon to him whomsoever he wanted. In this room it was that the council were sitting (as represented * Paul Amsinck, Esq. by Shakespeare in his play of Henry VIII.) whilst Cranmer was doomed to wait in the hall. Among boys, grooms, and lackeys,' Dr. Butts sees him there with indignation, and proceeds to the council; whence from an upper window, This very important window, he exhibits the strange sight to the King: insp "I'll shew your grace the strangest sight, “I think your highness saw this many a day; (pointing to the scene passing in the hall below) "The high promotion of his grace of Canterbury; *། 26 66 These are pleasing illustrations of ancient manners, which it is to be lamented that heedless and indiscriminate innovation should ever obliterate." In the midst of the old hospitable hall of this house, says Mr. King, (Archæologia, vol. remains the great fire-hearth, * VI. p. 346 and 360,) still with the old frame of iron, Though chimnies were made use of as early as the year 1307; it does not appear that the Saxon manner was generally laid aside for upwards of two centuries subsequent to that period. In King's Vale-Royal, speaking of the farm houses in Cheshire, is the following remark. "In building and furniture of their houses, till of late years, they used the old manner of the Saxons; for they had their fire in the midst of their house against a hob of clay, and their oxen under the same roof, but within these forty years they have builded chimneys” (King's work was published in 1656.) And the author of the history of CRAVEN (published only a few w years since) observes, “that the last farm-house of this ancient construction was remaining in the township of Tong with Hough near Bolton in Lancashire within the last twenty years." It will to many appear singular, that an arrangement so seemingly absurd, should have so long prevailed; but it is evident from the best authorities that our forefathers did not entertain the same opinion of a big enough, and strong enough, to hold vast piles of wood; and almost sufficient to sustain the trunk of a tree: The steps Cc smoaky house as ourselves, and this is confirmed by the lapse of time, between the introduction of chimnies.and the total expulsion of the Saxon manner. It should be remembered that COAL (the smoak of which though not more troublesome, is much more prejudicial than that from WOOD) was then an article, if not wholly unknown, at least, very confined in its use. The following interesting passage of HOLLINGSHED (prefixed to his history, and which some ascribe to Harrison) while it serves to illustrate the above, will at the same time convey a very adequate notion of the progress made in arts and refinement at the period alluded to. Speaking of the increase of luxury; he says, "neither do I speak this in reproach of any man, God is my judge; but to shew that I do rejoice rather to see how God has blessed us with his good gifts, and to behold how that in a time wherein all things are grown to most excessive prices, we do yet find the means to obtain and atchieve such furniture as heretofore has been impossible; there are old men, yet dwelling in the village where I remain, which have noted three things to be marvellously altered in England within their sound remembrance. One is, the multitude of chimnies lately erected; whereas in their young days, there were not above two or three, if so many, in most uplandish towns of the realm (the religious houses and manor-places of their Lords always excepted, and peradventure some great personage); but each made his fire against a rere-dosse in the hall, where he dined and dressed his meat. The second is, the great amendment in lodging: for, said they, our fathers, and ourselves, have lain full oft upon straw pallets, covered only with a sheet, under coverlets made of dagswaine or hopharlots, (I use their own terms) and a good round log under their head instead of a bolster. If it were so, that the father, or the good man of the house, had a mattrass or flock bed, and thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself to be as well lodged as the Lord of the town; so well were they contented. Pillows, said they, were thought meet only for women in childbed; as for servants, if they had any sheet above them it was well; for seldom had they any under their bodies, to keep them from the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas, and rased their hardened hides. The third thing they tell of, is the exchange of treene platters (so called, I suppose, from tree or wood) into pewter, and wooden spoons into silver or tins. For so common were all sorts of treene vessels in old time, that a man should hardly find four pieces of pewter, (of which one was peradven in some parts of the house, are vast blocks of solid oak; and the floor of the first state-room, and of many others, are ture a salt) in a good farmer's house. Description of Britain, chap. X. Again in chap. XVI. In times past, men were contented to dwell in houses builded of sallow, willow, &c. so that the use of oak was in a manner dedicated wholly to churches, religious houses, princes palaces, navigation, &c. but now sallow, &c. are rejected, and nothing but oak any where regarded, and yet see the change: for when our houses were builded of willow, then had we oaken men; but now that our houses are come to be made of oak, our men are not only become willow, but a great many altogether of straw, which is a sore alteration. In these the courage of the owner was a sufficient defence to keep the house in safety, but now the assurance of the timber must defend the men from robbing. Now have we many chimnies; and yet our tenderlins complain of rheums, cattarrhs and poses ;then had we none but rere-dosses, and our heads did never ache. For as the smoak in those days was supposed to be a sufficient hardening for the timber of the house, so it was reputed a far better medicine to keep the good man and his family from the quacke or pose, wherewith, as then, very few were acquainted. Again in chap. XVIII. Our pewterers in time past employed the use of pewter only upon dishes and pots, and a few other trifles for service; whereas now they are growing into such exquisite cunning, that they can in a manner imitate by infusion, any form or fashion of cup, dish, salt, or bowl, or goblet, which is made by goldsmiths craft, though they be never so curious, and very artificially forged. In some places, beyond the sea, a garnish of good flat English pewter, (I say flat, because dishes and platters in my time begin to be made deep, and like basons, and are indeed more convenient both for sauce and keeping the meat warm), is almost so precious as the like number of vessels that are made of fine silver. If the reader is curious to know the hours of meals in Queen Elizabeth's reign, he may learn it from the same author. "With us the nobility, gentry and students, do ordinarily go to dinner at eleven before noon, and to supper at five, or between five and six at afternoon. The merchants dine and sup seldom before twelve at noon, and six at night, especially in London. The husbandmen dine also at high noon, as they call it, and sup at seven or eight; but out of term in our universities the scholars dine at ten." Froissart mentions waiting on the Duke of Lancaster at five o'clock in the afternoon, when he had supped. "These hours are still more early. It is hard to tell why all over the world, as the age becomes more luxurious, the hours become later. Is it the crowd of amusements that push on the hours |